So again today I filled in for “the vacationing Hoyt Smith”.  (I’m looking forward to being “the vacationing Dianne Nicolini” very soon! )  Anyway, I set my alarm for 4:10am and then a second alarm for 2 minutes later.  As usual when I work for Hoyt, I don’t get that deep REM sleep thing going so I’m usually awake and staring at the clock well before the alarm can go off.  Along about 4:08 I turn the alarm off so I don’t wake Jim.  Then I tiptoe out of the darkened room and into the bathroom next door.  A good hot shower is the only thing that seems to get me more or less awake.  A bowl of grape nuts and I’m out the door.  It’s amazing to me to see all the folks already on the road.  They can’t all be disc jockeys, can they?  I look forward to seeing the smiley newspaper guy at West Oakland BART where I buy the Chron for a quarter. Almost all the riders around me are asleep.  This I wouldn’t dare.  I might wake up to find myself at SFO and late for work.  Walking from Montgomery BART to Howard Street at 5:00 am is a mix between go-getters and sleeping homeless bodies in doorways.  Thank goodness for the cheerful kids up early at our Starbucks.  “Make that a Vente!”  By the time, I come into the studio I’m almost human and there to greet me is one of my favorite humans, Betsy O’Connor.  Couldn’t do it without Betsy leading me through the obstacle course that is the Morning Show.  Much more complicated than my usual 11 to 3pm.   So right now, we’re in the middle of the “Blend at 10″ and all I can think about is eating and napping.  Sometimes life is so basic.  Talk to you tomorrow at 11:00 and not a second earlier!

Of course, I totally jinxed it by saying out loud that I hadn’t had a cold in nearly a year.  That was it.  That’s what caused me to wake up Tuesday morning with a sore throat.  That’s always the first sign for me, a painful sore throat.  That’s how I know it’s a cold and not just hay fever.  So, to medicate or not to medicate?  This time around I’m going a la natural.  That means lots of hot tea and as much sleep as I can manage.  ‘Course, it’s difficult to sleep when you can’t breathe!  Enough whining, already.  I’m so lucky to be only mildly under the weather.  And I should be apologizing to you and all our KDFC listeners who have to put up with my snotty stylings on the air.  Sorry about that.  I’ll be better tomorrow. Unless I’ve just jinxed it again!

It’s great to be back in the City of Light. Winter is not in a hurry to leave Europe this year. We spent Easter Sunday in Bruges, Belgium and it snowed! Actually we were treated to three of the four seasons in our two days there. All the while it was just darn cold. Somewhat warmer in Paris and there is always a cozy cafe to duck into to share a coffee and some delectable treat. We have rented an apartment on the Left Bank to celebrate our tenth aniversary of our engagement. It’s great to have your own kitchen and washer and dryer, oh and the killer view down the street to the towers of Notre Dame. We are really feeling at home here as we make our way around and my five years of first year french is really being put to the test as I head to the market to buy ingrediants for the evening meal. I’d forgotten how wonderful all the food is here (how could I?) and the music as well. Posters all around our neighborhood advertising things like a Chopin and Liszt piano recital at a nearby church aglow in candlelight. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons across the Seine in another church setting. Yesterday as we explored The Marais (a neighborhod on the other side of the Seine from us) we came across a fascinating music shop filled with ancient instruments, many of which I’ll admit to having never seen before. The old proprietor took great delight in demonstrating them to the folks who wondered in. Great music, food, art, wine and people. Paris.

au revoir

hs

The combination of one of my favorite pieces and the SFS debut of the world’s most celebrated young conductor was an occasion not to be missed.   Friday night I was thrilled to be front and center at Davies for Stravinsky’s The Firebird led by Venezuelan conducting sensation, Gustavo Dudamel.  So after all the hype, was he the real thing or did the emperor have no clothes? First of all, Firebird was the perfect vehicle for Dudamel as he guided the SFS through the mysterious slow passages and the dramatic big statements. This is a piece that really shows off almost all the principals of the orchestra.  And they shone!  Bill Bennett haunting on his oboe, Tim Day going to town on flute, Stephen Paulson on the bassoon and Dave Herbert brilliant as always on timpani. Alexander Barantschik’s solo violin was key.  And Dudamel is fun to watch as he conducts.  His curly mop of hair reminiscent of a brunette Harpo Marx,  bouncing in time with the music.  Based solely on the reaction of the SFS musicians after the performance, Dudamel’s a keeper.  The players have a tradition of tapping their bows against their music stands and stomping their feet for the guest artists they really like and the musicians were going crazy on Friday night.  It’s difficult to believe this guy is only 27!  Can’t wait for his return to San Francisco.

MONDAY
Legend has it that St. Patrick drove these out of Ireland
SNAKES (Winner-Marguerite Jedson, Oakland)

TUESDAY
According to a coupon maker, this is the most commonly recognized food aroma in the world.
PEANUT BUTTER (Winner-Francis Classe, San Jose)

WEDNESDAY
Sandlot baseball originated in this San Francisco neighborhood
CIVIC CENTER (Winner-Dorothy Pett, SF)

THURSDAY
The US has the third best quality of life in the world according to International Living.   Name either the #1 or #2 country.
TOP-10:  FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, US, LUXEMBORG, GERMANY, AUSTRALIA, ITALY, NEW ZEALAND, SPAIN, NETHERLANDS
(Winner-Robert Ward, Carmel)

FRIDAY
This tree was consecrated to the god of thunder because it’s the most likely tree to be hit by lightning.
OAK (Winner-Carol Davidson, Berkeley)

Have a great weekend.

On Tuesday I was working at my desk before my show and was craving an iced tea.   My favorite coffee shop, Peet’s, is just a block away but I went instead to the Starbucks on the ground floor of the KDFC building.    I didn’t realize it but Starbucks now sells books and this cover caught my attention.

It’s a father’s story of his son’s addiction and it’s one of the most compelling and tragic stories I’ve read in a long time.  And it’s full of hope as well.  The author is David Sheff who lives in West Marin.   I don’t ordinarily recommend books but…
Now….have you read anything lately you’d like to share with me???      

My Lunch Box trivia question today hit a chord with listeners who fondly remember hours spent coloring inside and outside the lines with Crayola Crayons.  The question had to do with the re-naming of a few of the colors.  Apparently, Crayola has only done this three times in its history.  In 1959, they changed Prussian Blue to Midnight Blue because nobody remembered what “Prussian” meant, especially not children.
For reasons that seem obvious to me, “Indian Red” became “Chestnut” but shockingly not until 1999. And my question today had to do with the color formally known as “Flesh”.  What was it changed to in 1962 when the company acknowledged that not everyone had the same skin tone?

The answer coming up but first some thoughts on crayons.  My winner today, Jenine Betshart, waxed poetic about the smell of crayons, “Like opening a box of spring”.  I got a call from a listener who has a magnet on her fridge which reads, “Every morning is like a new box of crayons.”   Remember that feeling?  All the points of the crayons nice and sharp!  Just yesterday I was attempting to describe the color of a new dress and I said, “Purple. Not lavender or magenta but real purple, the purple of a purple crayon.” 

Did you guess the name of the crayon formally known as flesh? 

Peach.

We were musing about a social networking site for the post-50 crowd the other day. I came up with “Face-lift Book”. No? Yeah, probably a lawsuit in the making. This is as close as I’ll come to “My Space”. Thanks for checking in with me.

I realized the other day about how nice it is to have a “partner”. Some prefer to go it alone, some have no choice. I’m lucky as I have two partners; my wife Jacquie and my friend and co-host Betsy O’Connor on the Morning Show. I feel they both “complete” me. I won’t say I’m lost with out them, but they sure make my life experience more fun and just…better.

We try to make your life better and more fun with a great prize opportunity weekday mornings at 6:30am during the Commuter Quiz. This week we’re sharing tickets to hear marvelous violinist Nikolaj Znaider next Wednesday at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. Our Whiz Kid Wednesday caller number one today was Lou from Santa Rosa. She knew that the thing a doctor, a mailman and Dominos have in common is…they all “deliver”. Clever gal. Good luck tomorrow.

The weekday Blind Date at 8:30 this morning was from the year Bach wrote the Triple Piano Concerto in c and John and Charles Wesley founded the Methodist sect in Oxford, England. That was…1730.

hs

Each weekday during the noon hour, I challenge you (I hope it’s challenging) with Lunch Box Trivia.  If you missed this week’s questions so far, here you go:
(Scroll down for answers)

Monday

Today’s Top 5 searches on Yahoo.com include recipes for this.

Tuesday

You are floating on a barge through the intricate canals of this major European city which consists of about 90 islands connected by more than 1000 bridges.  Where are you?

Wednesday

Which Anthony Minghella film won 9 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director?

Answers:

Corned Beef and Cabbage
Amsterdam
The English Patient  (1996)

For St. Patrick’s Day, I wanted to share with you my grandfather’s recipe for this yummy treat.

Sift together: 4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 cup sugar

Add 2 tablespoons carraway seeds
Cut in 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
Mix in 2 cups raisins

Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups buttermilk with 1 beaten egg and 1 teaspoon baking soda. 
Pour this mixture over dry ingredients and stir with fork until moistened.

Knead the dough briefly on a floured surface. Form into a ball and place in a greased iron skillet.
Be sure to mark the top with a cross with a knife to keep the devil away!

Bake in oven for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Begin checking for doneness after 40 minutes. Enjoy!