I played this not-so spooky music during the Morning Show on Halloween and I thought you’d like to see a video of this cute showpiece for violin.

Here’s Maxim Vengerov and friends

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On Thursday afternoon, I had a great time MCing the KDFC Classical Christmas 4 CD Release Party at the Arterra Condominiums in San Francisco’s Mission Bay.    The Bay Area’s Cypress String Quartet performed two sets in the lobby.   Cecily Ward, Tom Stone, Ethan Filner and Jennifer Kloetzel played some dances by a composer I’d never heard of before.  Jennifer told me that when Ervin Schulhoff was just a boy, Antonin Dvorak discovered his piano talent and encouraged his parents to pursue his education.   In his late teens and early 20s he went on to win two major Mendelssohn awards.  He became attracted to the avant-garde music of the 20s, then American Jazz.   Schulhoff later became a communist.    He died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1942 at the age of 48.   His music was largely forgotten for more than 60 years until the Cypress String Quartet discovered some of his dances and began performing them in concert.   They’ve now recorded them on their new CD.

I’m still officially on vacation, hanging out at home and trying to finish "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak.    I was talking with a friend the other day and I have no idea how I missed this but….You must check out the new vampire show on HBO titled True Blood.   It began back in September but I missed it so I am trying to watch all 8 episodes that have aired so far.   I love Comcast "On Demand."

Tonight, Tim and I celebrate Halloween and our anniversary by having dinner at our favorite San Francisco restaurant…Millennium.  It’s a 5-star vegan place in the lobby of the California Hotel on Geary and Jones in the Theater District.  We celebrate many special occasions there with family and friends.    The 5 course Prix Fix menu is a wonderful culinary experience. 

Enjoy our first rain of the season this weekend and don’t forget to adjust your clocks.   Fall back one hour Sunday.   Goodnight John Boy!

Another incredible night of music on Wednesday.  This time with Angele Dubeau and La Pieta at Yoshi’s SF.  I remember when we first started playing their CDs.  We almost always commented about the fact that they were all women.  Now that seems so incidental.  They’re just great musicians with Dubeau leading the way on violin.  I swear she can play anything, from tango to jazz to Vivaldi and Gluck and movie music in between.  We even got some Rolling Stones for an encore, believe it or not.  Pictured above is Dubeau with myself and our wonderful Marketing Director Val Robichaud.

A great show here at the KDFC studios last night with cellist Zuill Bailey.  These special lobby concerts just keep getting better and last night’s concert was incredible.  Not only is Zuill an amazing cellist but he is so engaging and personable.  He walked us through one of the Bach Suites for Solo Cello, talking about how he approaches each of the "dances" that make up the suite.  But this wasn’t some pedantic lecture.  He described why he loves the cello  (the only intrument you have to hug to play!)  and what makes his very old cello (1693) so unique. You can get an idea of the fun we had last night be clicking the video at www.kdfc.com.

Get the first word on future Intimate Concerts by joining Club KDFC.  (We never share your name!)

I’m officially on vacation this week.   I managed to take off a few days back in June but this late October vacation is really my first all summer.   I will be at Yoshi’s San Francisco Wednesday night, October 27th for the Angele’ Dubeau/La Pieta’ concert.  I’m really looking forward to the show.   A few weeks ago I was running errands and visiting friends in the City.  I made a point to stop in the Fillmore District and check out all of the changes.   Yoshi’s is only a block from the legendary Fillmore Auditorium (on the south side of Geary).    I love to study the history of the Bay Area and California.   The Fillmore District has such a rich, and tragic history.   I’m optomistic about some of the changes being made in the neighborhood designed to reinspire the jazz and music scene.  I hope to see you there.

Sunday, November 2nd I will be attending my second full day of lectures at One Day University.   It’s a brilliant idea.    The brains behind it have hired some of the brightest professors from Cal-Berkeley, Stanford, Yale, Harvard and many of the nation’s finest schools.   They then design a full day of lectures, four in all, at campuses around the country.   So far, One Day University is in 11 cities, mostly on the East Coast and now in San Francisco and Los Angeles.  The local campus is located at UC-San Francisco’s sprawling new complex behind the Giants Ballpark, in the new Mission Bay District (on 3rd Street heading toward Dogpatch).   The lecture hall is state of the art, comfortable, easy to get to with ample parking.   This Sunday, one of the lectures will be about Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.   I’ve listened to it three times in the past few days (Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by Daniel Barenboim).  I hope to share a few things about it when I return to the air.

Enjoy the week, the cooler weather, the coming of fall, and the return to Standard Time this Sunday.  Ciao for Niao.

If you’ve got adult children, you’ve likely been in this situation.   You’re all together, hanging out, eating, laughing, arguing, pushing buttons, grooming each other like chimps… 

…and for an instant, the sounds become muffled, you escape within yourself and feel like a fly on the wall.   You’re observing the Circle of Life.  I had that experience recently as my partner and I had a lunch party for my oldest son, his girlfriend, and my niece and nephew. 

It’s been years since we’ve all been together.    My niece Megan will be 31 soon.   Jamey just turned 27.   My son Jaisun will be 30 in March.   When they were kids, we lived 900 miles apart.   Summer visits were special.   Adulthood has estranged them yet it all melted away as we sat down for lunch.   It was comfortable and joyful.   The ties that bind. 

I watched them as they were looking at photo albums and it was at that moment when the world slowed down.   The chatter became a din and I became aware that the “kids” were now the adults.  They had become the new caretakers of the family. 

I discovered that I have faith in this new generation.  All 10 of my mother’s grandchildren are diverse, talented and artistic.  Each has a unique sense of humor.  They have their own foibles and sorrows and yet seem less encumbered by them as my siblings and I were at their age.   

Today, I feel a sense of relief that it’s no longer up to me, if it ever was, to keep it all going.   The passing of the baton has happened.   And it’s all going to be OK.

This story is so strange but apparently this is not a new phenom; they do it in Japan all the time.  What is it?  A musical road.  An asphalt road with grooves of varying sizes carved precisely so that when you drive over it at 55 mph you "hear" a tune.  In the case of this groovy road in Lancaster, California the tune is The William Tell Overture.   Take a listen: 

 
Silliness for sure but kind of fun!

Thought I’d share some photos of our stay in one of the luxury residences at the Infinity in SF. What do they say in real estate…"location, location, location." My wife and I live in the City now, but don’t enjoy the convenience of the Infinity’s location or bennies. We hardly ever get to the embarcadero or the Ferry Building so it was a treat to have all that right out our front door. I’ll be hosting a party on Sunday (10/19) from 2 to 4pm at the Infinity at 301 Main at Folsum in the Infinity’s Club Lounge. We’ll have hors d’oeuvres and wine and you’ll have the chance to see all the open models. Really spectacular views and amenities. The two story townhouse around the 31st floor with the view over South Beach and the marina was the one we fell in love with. Wow! Here are some pictures of the view 21st floor view from our one bedroom unit. See you there!

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With our Alphabet Soup Week underway, it got me thinking about the inspiration for great music.  What motivates a composer to create? The sheer beauty of the Amalfi Coast inspired me to wish I were a composer so I could capture it all in some art form.  I guess I’ll settle for the art of digital photography.  (Yes, I was able to recover my deleted photos. Not inexpensive, BTW)  Our 24 hours in Positano were marked by a very dramatic "Tempesta di Mare" with thunder and lightning all night long.  Turned out to be the only non-sunny day of our trip. Guarda!

MONDAY
According to a food survey, people who eat the most of these tend to have a higher education and income.
SALADS (Winner-Erica Johnson, Emeryville)

TUESDAY
The Pentagon has 7,000 clocks, 131 stairways, 284 restrooms, 13 elevators and 691 of these.
DRINKING FOUNTAINS (Winner-Robert Reidy, SF)

WEDNESDAY
THIS IS A PRIZE AT FIVE FIRST!!!    NO WINNER IN THE TIME ALLOTTED.   I stumped you for the first time ever!
In 1928, talking movies were shown here for the first time.
IN AIRPLANES

THURSDAY
43 years ago, this Beatles song hit #1 on October 9th, 1965, on John Lennon’s 25th birthday.
(The Paul song…)  YESTERDAY (Winner-Chris Nolan, SF)

FRIDAY
Actress Eva Gabor played this game with Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show in 1966 and the game became an overnight sensation.
TWISTER (Winner-Therese Porter, SF)