The Colts are in a doozy down in Baltimore. It is knotted at 25, going into overtime. The Colts were up by 17 before Lamar Jackson pulled a few rabbits or birds out of his proverbial hat.
I was toggling back and forth between Giants-Dodgers and NFL/MNF but did catch the announcers lauding Chris Strausser’s leadership of the offensive line.
Chris was Gunn’s quarterback in 1981. He says he was co-MVP of the league along with Jim Harbaugh (future Bear and Colt and current Wolverine NCAA head coach).
Chris was a friend since 7th grade, 1976. He came to my bar mitzvah. I played flag football both 7th and 8th grade at Terman but he played full-contact tackle football for Palo Alto Pop Warner.
Injuries and the lack of a growth spurt made him a late comer for the Titans. He played behind: Nick Sturiale, Joe Oliveira, Phil Wessels, John Corbett, Danny McCalister, Shapur Taleghani, Bill Parker. Reminds me, excuse the digression, that Geoff Gibbs ’79 claims plausibly that he might have been Gunn’s QB were it not for the 9th graders and 8th graders joint promotion his year. I.e. he never had the chance to lead Terman 9th graders and had to compete with Danny McCalister a year younger without ever leading his team.
Chris has coached for San Jose State, Boise State, Washington Huskies, Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts. I am guessing he has as many seasons as a pro coach as Harbaugh, and remind me: who is still competing in the NFL?
I hope the Colts pull this one out.
edit to add: 31-25 Ravens in OT; Jackson to Brown, not to be confused with Jackson Brown. 37-for-43 442 yards for Lamar Jackson. Has 34 victories before age 25 tied with Dan Marino for greatest start for a young QB. Which is 140.5 rating on 100 point scale.
Diunna Greenleaf Houston legend soon to be worldwide
I don’t believe I had heard of Diunna Greenleaf until I walked into San Jose’s Greaseland Studios last Monday, one week ago and kissed her cheek. I might have been my first kiss, exceptin’ my wife and my hound since before the bad times. It was her birthday, I also bought her flowers from a nearby CVS and a book on the history of Santa Clara County, that had a band on the cover, circa 1900.
Terry asked me to drive her to the clinic to get the Phizer booster. I didn’t realize we were going to San Jose, to the Stanford clinic near Good Sam until we were turning the car around in the driveway.
We got there about 40 minutes early and rather than idling in the lot I decided I’d look for a coffee shop. But then it hit me that we were near Greaseland, Kid Andersen’s secret locale where more than 100 blues sessions have been cut, to quite an effect.
I went by Wells, withdrew a handfull of bills, like a Michigan bandroll by way of South Side of Chicago by way of Downtown North Palo Alto — land of unicorns – and said “let’s do Palo Alto on Thursday”.
BLUF: I’m on pace in 2021 for 400 posts on Plastic Alto and 32 shows, my all time record, at Earthwise Productions.
Trying to recall Trying to
I have 3,159 published articles on Plastic Alto, a wordpress format. On the internet. Despite hating the internet. I know, cognitive dissonance. Some of those posts have just a headline, like 10 words. Some have 10,00o words, like the treatise on the history of jazz in palo alto, which i admit, is experiental and repeats sections, like in a music compostion.
Today I am merely totally the number of posts each month this year. Then adding one photo per month. Like the Jimmy Buffet song about taking a week off to try to recall the whole year.
I have four or five shows left this year. I might break my career best which is 32. In about 1999. I’m somewhere around 20. The four shows left are Mary Gauthier at Mitch Bowl, a week from today October 17 at 2 p.m. Also the day before with David Boyce Philip Greenlief Tenor Sax duo, at Lytton Plaza, unless the cops are there with guns drawn in which case we will use the overhang from the shuttered Stanford Theatre, or somewhere else on Uni. At 3 pm. With Jonathan Lagunte Bautista doing a quick preceding segment on alto, at 2:45, but not sitting in. Actually, the Mary Gauthier (“go shay”) has Jaimee Harris either sitting in or preceding or both. And also Sylvie Simmons will introduce Mary and Jaimee and do one or two or at most three songs on uke. And I will do next to nothing, say closer to 10 words and not 10,000. There might also be a doctor or two or at most three from Stanford checking our temperatures no that’s a joke; there will likely be a doctor who signs, stay tuned. And stay masked and vaxxed. Sings not signs. And then, if I can extend this graph Sylvie Simmons comes back three weeks later, to perform and host and help curate A Leonard Cohen Tribute. Which will go on sale tomorrow or later today. With or more acts added. And then entonces after than November 12 Thursday hit there is eight nights later, eight crazy nights no doubt, a Friday, November 20 concert featuring Barbara Manning, a fav. Barbara Manning and the SF Seals played the Cub on May 5, 1995, google says 9,655 days ago. She is playing head of three-act bill with The Corner Laughers featuring one of my favorite people what is her name its early on a Sunday and i am kind of peot beet like the poets beat the like poets Karla Kane. Our first work together after a pretty long courtin’ period. She and her hubby I think his name is Koi. And maybe baby, too. The perscussionist. (Who I saw doing some Bonzo Bonham licks a whiles back at Palo Alto World Music Day which I call Palo Alto World(wide) Music Day or Make Music Palo Alto or Fete De La Musique but is not world music even if you have a 4-y0 half-Vietnamese percussionist. Anyhoo I digress. Twenty-twenty one. Almost done. And about 100 days before my berfday. Fiddyeight. Okay, where is the spirit line of this parenthetical riff?)
Tommy Foley, former Gunn wrestler and track star, and Dar’s nephew, busking at bagel stop
Then I am likely not doing any live shows until my birthday weekend of January 28, 2022 wherein I am doing three shows on consecutive nights with Caroline Davis a reeds player and her quartet which is latin cognate for three others like maybe a bass, a piano and maybe guitar or horn. A residency. Which is a first for Earthwise. In 2020, before the troubles, I had Patty Barber doing home and away, Earthwise Palo Alto and also Earthwise Occidental up near Marin or Sonoma, but not as far as Sea Ranch Sonoma Medicino line Gualala. Earthwise is both adapted to its niche and creepy. In the sense of a vine extending along side our home, but also sinosphere or whatever that Laura Veirs song I was tripping on a whiles back which was just in the New York Times the creature not the Laura Viers song or my 10 or more tributes to it. But my wife, Terry Acebo Davis likes to throw away all my clippings. I can update with the tame of the tubular thingy. Tommy Jordan one of my favorite musicians and believe you me worth falling into a fountain over, just sent me a picture of his father coincidentally also named Tom and I wrote back “Chico and the Man”.
So I mean to update this
oh I also wrote to Matt Merewitz apropos of Charles Rumback, Caroline Davis, Mary Gauthier, Jeff Gauthier a list of 216 artists I’ve worked with including 10 who are his current clients, he has about 60. Maybe he will help get the word out about my three big shows with Caroline Davis, despite his being thousands of miles away, I don’t even know where, Philly or New York I think
Terry Acebo Davis Bernardus Carmel Valley
to put up some photos likely more than 10, closer to 20 that sum up the old year whole year rather synecdoche or whatever and a few ringers or red herrings, mostly things I’ve show and not just ripped. I admit that out of the 42,336 photos on my phone there are 10 or so that are porn, I’m only human. My wife has about that many that she sneaks of me, like on the john. Again, only Holman. K? C? (that’s a jokey reference to Karen Holman thought I am not sure whey I thought of her in reference to toilets or porn…I also have a lovely portrait of Margo Davis shot in front of Bell’s Books recently, but I keep looking for it to no avail. Here in Plasty, which is a Ornette Coleman reference
I also have 3,568 videos mostly of my dog and then of music.
In February we snuck away to Sea Ranch near the Sonoma – Mendocino border, where we also, on a previous trip, saw a house concert featuring Chronos Quartet
January
February: 17 posts
Terry modified Alice Neal
Kind of a random place for this but when Quarantunes came out — the music service produced by local preppy students, I bookmarked some images of Julia Rose Segal of Palo Alto who is now a Stanford ’25 and was profiled in the Stanford Daily. Her song “Maybe Its A Sign” reminds me of Laura Nyro at the same age, Swing Out Sister and “Both Sides Now“. And she’s certainly more Olivia Rodrigo than Doja Cat, despite being the latter’s coreligionist, we infer. NJGat she is.
Jazz singer we met at the new courtyard bar in Menlo Park, the Oak Room I think, is his name Nate Pruitt of Primary Colors?
March: 10 posts
April: 22 posts
May: 26 posts
Steve Cohen is in Vegas this week and had Maria K the biggest bluffer at his table — he’s a dealer but to Duffy his like a second daddy. Steve and Eric passed a lot of the pandemic on campus, where they were born and therefore here in downtown north with Terry and I.
June: 27 posts
My $1,000 European glasses and detail of a $500,000 Lobdell I think we were at Cantor.
July: 30 posts
This museum guard said she wants to be an artist, but did not respond to my invitation to create content for Plastic Alto
August: 33 posts
My sound vendor Andy and I went to the Giants and were standing only, while Fannie Mae here was dance the night away
September: 41 posts
A lot of my photos are reacting to other media, very post modern, yes?
October (first 10 days): 13 posts
Beautiful European woman and friend of Axon Orkestra on Ramona last Friday, an encore from the Mayor’s Together Again Palo Alto tapas series produced by Earthwise
edit to add: a partial score from Fantasy Football the GFL, Gunn Football League formerly Gunnational Football League a tribute to Gnational Football League which I saw as a pun or coined term on “national” but I may not have noted “gnat” as in “small”:
DuffyDogs 5, GoldBlooded 8 and I forget if my oponent is my Gunn and Dartmouth classmate and 9th grade hoops teammate Gregory Sterling Nerland Esq or his spawn who looks, acts and goes to the hole in hoops like Lynn Tracy, my Dartmouth classmate. GoldBlooded which I think is a Warriors reference versus Maple Laners which is beyond me, formerly Jack Russell Terriors. Davante “Da Bag of Nuts” Adams of Barron School but Paly not Gunn so far is 1 point 4 targets 2 rec 51 yards if you believe what you read on the internet.
Terry and I took Aleta and Fanny to the Gregory Porter show, You’ve come a long way, baby
edit to add:
I’m sure she’d rather have fans her own age but I’ve been tracking the underground Palo Alto music scene, including CoHo and current undergraduates for many years, so I look forward to discovering Julie Rose Segal ’25 — reminds me of Vienna Teng who was also known as Cynthia Shih at Stanford. There’s some women from Palo Alto making waves in music like Remi Wolf and Molly Tuttle, 23 and 26. There’s a great grad student just arrived from LSU called Taylor Goss, plus Frost is bringing amazing music, which is inspirational. The first rock star from Palo Alto was Grace Slick, maybe JRS will be the next. (post to Stanford Daily)
and1:
What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
andandand: a reality check is that I keep nodding off at 10:13 on a Sunday night between couting the number of posts in February and updating the post…
I am at 257 posts and about 60,000 visitors this year.
Mark Leland and i at age 14 would sneak vodka from our parents liquor cabinets, grab our tennis racquets— we both played JV for Gunn when Gunn was nationally regarded —crank Van H
Kid Andersen’s Greaseland studio in San Jose hosted Houston-based blues singer Diunna Greenleaf this week to cut a session featuring Jimmy Pugh as co-producer and organist, and also the producer and talent scout Noel Hayes of South San Francisco.
The record will include Billy Taylor’s “I Wish I knew How it Would Feel To Be Free” — made famous by Nina Simone — “Mama Told me to Not Trust a Man” and something by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. “Mama told me, girl don’t ever trust no man”, rather.
Mark Weiss of Earthwise Productions arranged a special live performance for today at 2 p.m. at Cogswell Plaza, at Lytton and Bryant streets, downtown Palo Alto. (Three blocks from where Earthwise brought a run of 15 shows last month, and Hawktail/Tommy Jordan co-bill last Saturday, game day).
There is an art exhibit that lights up at night at Lytton Plaza, pre-empting the most spontaneous of Weiss’ inclinations upon meeting miss Diunna.
Miss Diunna is celebrating her 64th birthday this week. We still need her, we still feed her as the poet wrote.
This is Earthwise’ first concert at Cogswell Plaza after numerous shows in 27 years at Spangenberg, Cubberley (four spots), Mitchell Park bowl, the JCC, The Art Center, City Hall Plaza, Johnson Park, Cali Ave (near Zombie Runner, facing towards Joannies), Stanford CoHo, Border’s Books, Bell’s Books.
Earthwise welcomes Mary Gauthier free and outdoor at Mitch bowl on Sunday 2 pm October 17. Jaimee Harris and Sylvie Simmons also appear. Simmons and Gauthier both have books to sign as well. (Maybe this is Earthwise Sing and Sign..)
Cogswell Plaza is named for Elinor Cogswell the longtime editor of the Palo Alto Times (where Mark Weiss, concert promoter, busted his novice as a sportswriter and newswriter in 1981 and 1984). The park, remodeled in 2012 to no discernable effect, also features a grove of redwoods dedicated to the five Palo Alto Police officers who died in service, dedicated in 2012.
Diunna Greenleaf is roughly the 100th blues artist to record for Kid, who is from Norway but came here 20 years ago to play with Charlie Baty and the Nightcats. He cut a track with Nancy Wright, Mitch Woods and Bob Margolin for Lions With Wings in 2020 during the covid shutdown that cancelled Earthwise’s series at The Mitch. Earthwise at the Mitch resumes on Nov 12 (Leonard Cohen tribute featuring Sylvie Simmons and others) and Nov. 20 (Barbara Manning SF Seals, The Corner Laughers, Clean Girl and the Dirty Dishes).
“I recommend Ike’s Sandwiches at Lytton and Waverley before the show” Weiss said, who added that he would discuss there should be a Diunna Greenleaf namesake sandwich honoring the performance. “I will bring it up with ‘The Man'” Or his mama.
Gunn is 4-1 and #34 in the CCS but have more wins than 11 higher ranked teams.
Face Lynbrook Friday which means seven more touchdown Lord willing and the creeks don’t rise(I mean Los Altos, this week, Lynbrook next, and by the way only Los Gatos, Aptos, Palma, Menlo, Leigh have more points than Gunn’s 200 so far.)
I met Taylor Goss at Coupla and invited him to play my Hawktail show Saturday
I met a tall surgeon whose son is being recruited for Dartmouth and then got transferred to a biology professor whose son is a cellist and she said she’d write program notes for my Octavia Butler jazz oratorio proposed production;
I met a math teacher at Stanford who has never seen the piano on the fourth floor;
Interestingly I had just clicked on a note from my dentist confirming an appointment Tuesday– Haniger’s uncle is Tim Mulcahy my dentist. That is, to Palo Altans’ the former Mitty star is a Mulcahy, which means hoops or water polo, Mitch is a black sheep; there will be no drilling, Tuesday in the chair with Stan, who is Tim’s protegee. (note a previous edition misidentified the pedigree of the Mariner slugger, who prepped at Mitty and Cal Poly SLO, and now has 101 career dingers.
Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss 