...And They're Useful Too!

For those among you who thought we were just two decorative people here is proof we occasionally do useful stuff too. A recent wind storm blew down a section of fence between the next door property and the property we care for that is also next door (If you understand, fine. If you do not you should not be reading this blog.)

A day at Pixar Studios

Mommy and I were invited by Ben and Valerie to be guests at an event at Pixar in Emeryville whereat various vehicles were on display and the food was free! Valerie sent some pix from Pixar...

Near the front entrance fiberglass models of various Pixar elements are on display.

Rare Saturday

 Thanks to the Price family Mom and I got a trip on kayaks on Tomales Bay. Here are some photos.

 After a hard day of kayaking and snacking and loafing on a beach we needed a break. We chose to go to Fish, a restaurant in Sausalito. Trivia: nearby Otis Redding wrote "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay". Yep, this is where is happened. The fish is good. The pasta is hand made.

Best Fathers' Day Ever

 At Greens in S Francisco overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay. Aria drove up from Socal, Mina came from ID, Francesca flew out from MI (Mommy helped), Bethany drove over, Christina came up from Socal. All to surprise me for Fathers' Day. There is no greater gift than my girls.

 Francesca, Aria, Me, Mina, Christina, Bethany. Mommy arranged everything.

I thought I was the only one who thinks hammocking can get extreme.

John K and I visit Enzo and Marica

John and I had a meeting at the plant in Bra, Piemonte and I had to attend the opening of the Museo ABET Laminati all in June. We went by Enzo's house. John/Enzo/Marica and I and sat on his terrace overlooking Le Langhe. What a joy to work with people I love!

Amateur Review of Iron Man 3

Here's the thing - I grew up reading Iron Man comic books. Somehow, Stan Lee came up with fascinating artwork, story lines and character development of Iron Man and his various enemies. He did it with low resolution printed pages. He did it every month.

Now we have high res movies with seemingly unlimited CGI and years in between to create them. The first two were solid successes. IM3 managed to fall short. The character of Tony Stark, billionaire bon vivant has peaked in its development; he's rich popular smart with access to many women but with a soft spot for Pepper Pots. Done. This time the writers added anxiety attacks. That was their best shot?

We have seen Iron Man. In IM2 we saw Jim Rhodes be an Iron Man. In IM3 it seems the next phase is more Iron Men. Jim Rhodes, the Mandarin, Pepper Pots, even unmanned drones all become Iron Men/Women. Are we done? Amazingly, it is Tony Stark who lacks the Iron Man through most of the movie. We see a low battery version, a partial arm/leg version, a dead dragging through the snow version. I kept thinking, "Y'know what keeps going though my mind? Where's Iron Man?" (BTW, the best line of the movie for me is Tony Stark, "Y'know what keeps going through my mind? Where is my sandwich?"). Also, don't miss Stan Lee's cameo as the judge in a beauty contest.

All this aside, go see it. Fun. Mindless fun.

daddio

Marmee's Birfday

Here we are in Calistoga getting ready for our bike ride to St. Helena.

I am standing in front of one of the many cute houses there in Calistoga

Same pix from far away for perspective

Daddio folding up the bike rack before we start our trek

Here is my favorite house on the Silverado Trail, notice the wrap around porch and lots of fantastic windows looking out on the vineyard.

We just had to stop and take pictures of the rows of lupine in between the vines, it smelled like Heaven.

Here is another shot of that house

This is a castle up in the hills as seen from the Silverado Trail, Aileen was telling us that you can tour it. Some wealthy guy actually had stones and artisans brought over from Italy to build it. It really does look just like the castles we just saw in Italy in Feb where our ancestors are from. Pretty cool.

This is where we ate lunch in St.Helena

A cool truck we saw on our way back up to Calistoga on Hwy 29

This was after our first course, Daddio had the chopped salad, I had the beet salad and we also had some fried Calamari and mozzarella with bruschetta

Daddio's  scallops

My gnocchi, yum!

I would definitely come back

The following 4 pix are of cute houses in Calistoga

After our 20 mile ride.

I was pretty tired, but it was a beautiful ride and a fun birthday I will not forget.

 Thank you to my girls for the wonderful Cuisinart Food Processor and the poem that made me cry, I love you guys!!!!!!!!!