Whiskey Makes Me Crazy

September 28, 2015

I was in a serious drinking mood this last Friday and so was Kalenar.  In addition we might have 2 new members of the pantheon, time will tell.  Here is how I will refer to them.  First is Anastazia which means rebirth and fits her personality and would make her the patron of new beginnings and new outlooks. Second is Tius which is a Romanized version of Tyr God of War and Justice, and Tius is definitely a warrior.  He would be the patron of warriors and it works.  I am evaluating the pantheon to see if what everyone oversees works, more on that later. 

So this is a short and sweet post, just going to hit the highlights.  On Friday 9/23 I was in the mood to drink and so was Kalenar.  He bought wine and the infamous eggnog Liqueur and Lord Darksteel bought a bottle of Concannon.  I invited Anastazia and Tius over and then I proceeded to drink pretty much 3 quarters of the Concannon along with a vodka Greyhound a big glass of Riesling and 4 beers.  Kalenar had 1 and 1/2 bottles of wine by himself, Lord Darksteel had his share of intoxicants and Anastazia got drunk on shots and beer.  Tius was her driver so he only participated with 2 drinks.  From there we talked of many things and swore undying loyalty and such and such and ruled the world as we saw fit.

Saturday 9/24 we ordered from Mulan and we watched Masters of the Universe with Dolph Lundgren (an awful film but fun if you play along) and then I went to bed as the others stayed up and watched their beloved bad horror movies (this is something I DO NOT DO for I am not a fan for this genre.)

Sunday we played D & D and all was right in the world.  Nothing big for the weekend but then again it was good to get back to the feasting purpose of Kalehalla!!!!

A Huge Sigh of Relief.

I have just let out the breath I have been holding for the last 4 weeks.  The financial stress and emotional roller coaster of my children's mental health issues has finally found a small respite.  Money flowed into the resource column and the medication has been restored and balanced so right now we are on calm waters.

Kalenar got home from Delaware with a killer dragon tattoo and seems much more relaxed.  I have enjoyed having James the dog around because he is a kindred spirit with me and it is funny because he does not like people taking him away from me when he is chilling so I kind of like that he has a possessive streak.

Gialdron my Awesome Son!!!

The Hunger & The Fight (Part 2) Playlist

The only true activity this weekend was Karaoke night with work friends.  This was on Saturday 09/19 at The Highlander and it was very fun.  The coolest thing ever was that Gialdron went with me as my driver and he sang "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies and NAILED IT!!! COLD SOBER!!!  The entire bar was on their feet at the end.  I wish I had video of it.  There is another video of me sing "Drunken Lullabies" but it is on Instagram so I will share the original one that is on YouTube and hope you enjoy until the next post.  One last thing The Hunger & The Fight (Part 2) by The Mahones came out and it is amazing so please take the time to listen.

Survival

It is good to have James home, I love this dog.

At this point I am writing the post as a defense mechanism for all of the stress the last 3 months have involved so please bear with me as I get to a point where my lifestyle is meshing again.  This is not to say that I have not had great enjoyment over the period.  A more accurate portrayal is that I have prioritized much needed time to blow off steam in the middle of a time frame of day to day survival.

Not much happened this weekend, on Friday I had a very good night of drinking and conversation with Lord Darksteel, Monsieur OneTrack, Bomba and Vladimyr.  Gialdron was also there and he was in a relativity mellow mood (the calm before the storm.) 

Mulan Chinese Restaurant Menu

On Saturday, Gialdron had the beginning of a breakdown that has brought renewed pressure on our household and so we went into a holding pattern that allowed us to persevere and move forward.  I am intentionally not going into details for this is not the purpose of this blog.  Just know being a parent of an autistic adult who has an intrinsic paranoia against the Medical Field is very stressful.  After I had meditated and found some measure of solace, I finished out the day by getting some Chinese food from Mulan and watching Lawrence of Arabia.

On Sunday we dealt with more aftermath and fallout from the day before but it was a far more productive day. We then moved into the week and I ask Odin to help have the wisdom to face these battles with the right measure of tactics and compassion.

The Long and Winding Weekend.

9/10/2015
Just a quick recap of last weekend. 

Nikki Lane

Social Distortion

Thursday 9/3 was Social Distortion and it was an AMAZING show but Gialdron was having a very hard Autism day and inside The Depot it can become stifling but a great show!!!  I enjoyed both opening acts Drag the River and Nikki Lane and I even bought Nikki's CD.  A Social D show was the same way I found out about Lindi Ortega and I have loved her music ever since so I have high hopes for Nikki Lane.  Mr. Ness and company were awesome and I will never miss a show whenever they come close to where I am living.


Drag the River

Selfie 09/04/2015

Friday 9/4; I had the day off and dealt with financial issues for the month so that Kalenar could head off for his 2 week long trip to Delaware.  When the day was done, I took a signature selfie and settled in for a long night of inebriation and Celtic Punk.

Saturday 9/5; I had to parent consequences for The Wee Dancer and waited all day for her to get her room cleaned and her laundry done and AARRGGGHHH!!!!  Then Les Morgan came over with her thrall and we went to The Republican for a pint and a shot.

The Republican

The Layover

Sunday 9/6; I laid down the law and The Wee Dancer suffered the consequence of me getting angry.  So all I did was watch Defiance, list CDs on E-bay and watch her CLEAN HER ROOM. Then Bomba came over and we drank beer and watched Anthony Bourdain's Layover series and the night went well.

Monday 9/7; we finished the cleaning and the laundry but I was visited by The Raven Queen (my mother) and forced to go through boxes of crap that she hoarded from my college years.  I am very cross about this because it was not I who hoarded it and when I told her to throw it away she ended up bringing it to me.  In addition she had an intense burning need to get the electrical short in the Jeep fixed so I dealt with her mania over that as well.  The Wee Dancer and I saw Tomorrowland which I enjoyed.  Lastly I dealt with a grand maul tantrum from Gialdron because he can't take control of his life.  More on that issue later when I can process my thoughts but just know this Autism is a blessing and a curse and dealing with it my whole life with him has caused me to be very tired and at times I barely cling on to hope.  On this note I will not leave you, instead I highly recommend you listen and watch this Foxy Shazam video for Oh Lord and feel good!!!

Just Checking In

August 25, 2015


This is just a check in post, no true agenda.  Life has been hectic getting The Wee Dancer into middle school and the world does not stop when we are having a struggle living.  Over the last while I have been listening to a awesome new music and favorite old music as well.  Here is a list of bands I have enjoyed listening to over the last ten weeks;

The Tossers

Rancid

The Bay Street Bastards

Lindi Ortega

Matilda's Scoundrels

The Interrupters

Authority Zero

Show me Island

The Rumjacks

The Dreadnoughts

Make sure you click on the links and check out each artist's music and news.

Other than that life has just been hectic and good.  I am looking forward to seeing Social Distortion on September 3rd with Gialdron and hanging out with the pantheon.

June 12, 2015 The Leaving and End of a Sanity Break

Gadeal 12, KY 1

So I have been on a self imposed exile/sanity break since just before my birthday.  Too many things have been going on including the end of the school year, my son Gialdron having health problems and my brother Ferfian being hospitalized as a result of many years of hard living (Ferfian is loosely translated as Wild Man and that is exactly what he represents, a force of hedonism and freedom as nature rather than deity.)  With this plus my own feelings of melancholy I am in a mood where I do not want to do much of anything but mindless activity.  My melancholy comes about several times a year but recently this bout has lasted longer than normal and I feel that it is not leaving any time soon.  I have been cynical and lonely of late and the two help feed the black dog and make it settle in and get comfortable.

First things first, on the Kalehallan Calendar June is the month that The Wee Dancer goes to spend time with her mother Eris the Anarchist for a few months so I have named the month Gadeal (Welsh for leaves.)  I am not sure how I feel about my wee one being gone, on one hand it will be a break but I already miss her terribly and I am feeling more alone because she is not there.  I truly think it is important that her and her mother enjoy themselves to the fullest and the experience for both of them should be wonderful.  It does however present a problem for me.  As you have seen over time the meeting of the Lords has been less frequent and people evolve.  I live with Kalenar so I see him all of the time and Lord Darksteel has been over regularly.  The last time I saw Bomba, Vladymir and Les Morgan was over the camping weekend which was fun but we are going on 2 weeks since then.  With less of a social agenda going on I find myself in my own thoughts and feel lonely which is compounded by the melancholy.  In the past I would force interaction by creating events and such but now I do not want to be the social agent and in charge of what we do, I want others to take that and let me be in the backseat for a bit.  However because people live their own lives it is easier for them to just be insular in their own pods and as a result we are not doing anything until I start planning again.  Plus I believe that the melancholy is not just affecting me, I think more members of the Lords are suffering as well.  So I will keep posting intermittently until such time as I am ready to actively take back my role as head of the Pantheon.  I am considering using this summer as a quest for wisdom much like my patron Odin has done.  It could be that me remaining alone in my life is the sacrifice I must make to see insight into the world I want (it is similar to Odin sacrificing his eye to gain a drink from Mimr's Well.)  I can only see what is good for all if I am not blinded on what is good for two which is what a man in a relationship must do.  We shall see.  By Hovud and Gungnir until next time, drink and live well and fight the battles with honor.

May 19, 2015: Recap of the Hang and Chill Weekend, Preview of The Sad but Good Weekend

Maximus 19, KY 1

It was a perfect Hang and Chill weekend.  Lord Darksteel, Kalenar and myself were able to hang and huka and have a beer with a wee bit o whiskey and eat to our hearts content.

So Friday Lord Darksteel came over and we started the XBOX One played some games and ordered take-out Chinese from our new favorite neighborhood eatery Mulan.  Yes Mulan which has stills from the movie hanging on its walls and the logo uses the same font as the movie.  This became a selling point for Kalenar because he loves the movie (the only Disney show he likes better I think is Beauty and the Beast which if there was a French Cafe named Belle's Place I think he would live there.)  This was the third time we went to Mulan because we have been testing it out to recommend.  I have liked everything I have ordered (except the orange chicken which had a bit to much zest in it)  The go to favorite is the boneless pork rib appetizer, but the sweet and sour, the fried rice, potstickers, General Tso's and egg foo yung are all amazing as well.  Better yet we can call in and pick up and it is next to a 7-11 so we can get beer at the same time.

After we picked the food up I bought The Kingsmen.  This was an awesome movie, good action, fun story and some surprising stunts from Colin Farrell. The best part was how Samuel L Jackson played his role and the cynicism of the class war present in an underlying tone of the film.  I recommend it highly.

Saturday started with breakfast from Jim's (standard American diner with solid food and good coffee.)  When we were done there the rest of the day was spent chilling in Kalehalla, drinking beer and playing video games.  Regina Elsa came and took The Wee Dancer to a movie (live action Cinderella which I was never going to go to.)  I was glad for that because they both need to see each other more.  Later that night Utsukushi Shinigami came over to spend the night since she was taking The Wee Dancer to Discovery Gateway on Sunday.  Later Saturday Lord Darksteel, Kalenar and I went to Sizzler for a steak which was surprisingly well made and then came home and chilled with video games for the rest of the night. Sunday was just a chill D&D day and the weekend was over.

So in regards to this weekend, it is Memorial Day here in the States and at Kalehalla that is an important day of remembrance because Kalenar and I both served in the military.  I will most likely go see my father's grave on Saturday and then we will game for the rest of the weekend.  I am going to go see The Interrupters and The English Beat on Thursday with Regina Elsa and I will let you all know how the weekend went.  

Last thing of note the weekend of the 30th is my birthday and we will be reinstating the camping trip to Willard Bay, hopefully I will have video to post but who knows.

May 12, 2015: Recap, Family

Maximus 12, KY 1

I am pleased to announce that Kalehalla has a new water heater.  That is the extent of our weekend.  Saturday morning we put in the new water heater, then Lord Darksteel and Les Morgan came over and we ate steamed salmon and asparagus.  Then we proceeded to empty bottles that were almost gone.  We finished off the Linne Aquavit, the most recent Concannon, the Stoli, the Jager, made a dent in the Amsterdam Gin and drank every beer that was left in the house.  It needed to be done so we could go buy more and have room for it.

Sunday was Mother's Day and I made sure to call The Raven Queen.  I also made sure to send messages to the most important mother's in my life first Eris the Anarchist, second Chariskalee (who is just an amazing old friend who I do not see enough) and lastly my wonderful En Sile Sigrdifa whom I admire for all of her strength.  That is all that I do for Mother's Day.  I wish the most important mothers in my life good tidings and then I go forward.  Some might say that what I do is not enough for the woman who raised me in this world, but I say be honorable to your matriarch ALL days not just one chosen for the sake of retail.  In regards to the mothers of my children I respect you for that but we are not involved any longer and my treatment of you is based on your treatment of me.  One does not correspond with me so I do not correspond with her and one makes it a point to be involved so I honor her for that.  As for the others, they are the only ones I respect right now.  The holiday is now a "let us make every woman a mother because of the potential or they have pets or whatever."  I find no value in that, it is the same as getting a prize for participation, not that meaningful.  In addition I am fed up with the single mothers usurping Father's Day because "they do both jobs" I do both jobs and do not want Father's or Mother's Day recognition, IT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY AND MY PRIVILEGE, I DO NOT NEED A REWARD.

Babuchka & Utsukushi Shinigami

The Grey Knight

Now on a side note, All of my children took the time and made their way up to the Raven Queen's house to honor her.  All of them did this without being prodded, Regina Elsa, The Wee Dancer, Babuchka, The Grey Knight, Utsukushi Shinigami and Athletwyr all came and visited and Gialdron called from his work to wish the Raven Queen well.  I am very proud of my children.

Regina Elsa & Gialdron

I am only including pics of the kids 16 and over....

May 7, 2015: Weekend Recap/Preview/Life Goes Fast

Maximus 7, KY 1

Life goes fast!  Somehow Avengers on Saturday turned into a melding of days that have just blurred in my consciousness.  At least some tasks have been completed.  I made sure to schedule the camping weekend and reserve the campground at Willard Bay.  I sent out invitations and created the Kalehalla events that are for sure taking place this month.  I made sure that The Wee Dancer's dance classes were on the schedule and a bunch of other tasks that life requires of us.

Well back to the weekend.  Avengers Age of Ultron was epic, I loved the movie and would highly recommend it.  That being said, I walked away with that transitional movie feel that I get whenever I walk away from a second film like The Two Towers or Empire Strikes Back.  I feel that everything done in Ultron was done to set up Captain America Civil War (which should just be called Avengers 3)  So needless to say I can't wait for that.  It was wonderful to see my sons and enjoy the experience with them as well.

We have a house project here at Kalehalla this weekend so there might not be much time for a social gathering.  Our water heater went out, so Saturday is the day we replace it.  Needless to say after doing a task such as that Whiskey and Beer shall be in order.  I am contemplating a night at Piper Down or The Republican so we shall see.  I also have been wanting a night out with the girls because I have not seen Bomba or Les Morgan much lately and it is important for me to spend time with everyone in The Lords.

News on the success of the water heater will be in next week's post and if any misadventures happen I will let everyone know.  Until then By Hovud & Gungnir!!!

05/01/2015 Weekend Preview; Avengers Assemble!!!!

Maximus 1, KY1

I have not had enough time to breathe this week, literally, my ailments turned into a bronchitis which I have to be very careful with since my lung problem a few years back.

I did want to take the time to announce what we are doing this weekend and by the title it is obvious that it is the premier weekend for Avengers; Age of Ultron.  Needless to say since the 3rd comic I owned when I was 7 years old was an Avengers Comic, I am going and taking my two oldest sons Gialdron and The Grey Knight.  Lord Darksteel and Kalenar are coming as well.

I am not worrying about the Wee Dancer this weekend Eris the Anarchist is in town to spend time with her daughter.  I truly love Eris, what a great Ex wife.  She loves her daughter and looks out for me (as much as in her nature) and she is good people.

So it is one of the few weekends we go see a movie in a theater. I am not a person to justify movie theaters unless the event is Epic.  I believe that the new consumption of media has become very unique in this time.  At Kalehalla we only pay for Internet, no phone line, no cable.  Then we utilize Hulu Plus, NetFlix, Amazon Prime and Sling TV (with HBO during Game of Thrones season).  So we would have Internet anyway which means our total entertainment bill per month (factoring in the 3 way split I do with Gialdron for Prime) is $56.76 and if we want to watch a Premier League Soccer or an Angels Baseball game we hook up a laptop (or even watch on the laptop which is what I do for my CBS shows)  Not to bad considering what some people pay per month and they do not even get the free 2 day shipping from Amazon (which pays for itself 20 times over.)

So now I am going to go spend some time with The Grey Knight and I shall talk to you all next week on the recap.

April 27, 2015: Weekend Recap

Dia 27, KY1

I had a truly enjoyable experience this weekend.  I was given the opportunity to judge the Utah PTA State Battle of the Bands at American Fork Jr. High on Saturday 4/25.  In addition Lord Darksteel, Kalenar and myself brainstormed some crowd funding ideas and we watched some wonderfully good and bad movies.


To start off, Friday night we decided to get some chicken, come home, watch Netflix and smoke Huka.  This can be a truly normal Friday night at Kalehalla so we just chilled and watched.  Kalenar chose the movie which was a Swedish film with English subtitles name Ragnarok.  We were impressed with the film on several aspects and I would recommend the movie.  The cool thing about this film though was what it inspired us to talk about.  The concept of the film is that a Swedish archaeologist was finding the origins of the Viking myth Ragnarok The Twilight of the Gods, end of the world.  Kalenar stated that he would love to do that for a living (discover how myths came into being and finding the primal origin) but how would you make money?  I said we could crowd source it as a hobbyist entertainment web project and we started throwing around ideas.  Now this concept of the origins of myths has been intriguing to me since I started this blog because I want to use this as the creation of my own mythology.  People in the world are interested in who they are and history does a fine job stating what has happened before.  These are not enough which is why man has turned to a metaphysical, community or spiritual need.  I find this concept solidified by a 2011 Ted talk by Alain de Botton, an atheist who describes how not to be dismissive of this need but instead how to embrace it and make it your own.  Now back to this conversation about the origins of myths.  Neither Lord Darksteel, Kalenar or myself are scholars.  We are individuals who have diverse interests and knowledge, we are everymen which allows in my opinion this concept to be truly unique.  Scholars have a tendency to sit in their ivory towers and state that only they are correct and are not willing to give credence to how the masses interpret the world.  I argue that the primal world where myths started, did not have scholars, and even if you accept the cynical views that religion was organized to make money or justify morality or create a distraction for the masses (all of which have truth), the mythologies came from men trying to explain something that the nature of man needed explained.  That is why we love the myths we love, the myths speak to us in an almost magical way.  We don't believe them as truth, we like the stories because they are universal.  The concept of this project is basic, find the origin of the myth whatever it may be.  Will we find it?  Probably not but the entertainment is in the journey and that journey is what the project is.  More on this later.

Fired Pilots at The Loading Dock

The Battle of the Bands happened on Saturday, Dia 25.  This is a fun event and my friend Victor and his wife have been the PTA reps over this the last 2 years.  I enjoy listening to the new bands and I hope to find talent.  Two bands in particular held my attention this year.  The 3rd place band Life on Edge and the 1st place band Fired Pilots.  Life on Edge is a truly musical group of students out Hillcrest High School,  very innovative song writing and all are technically proficient.  I hope to hear more of them.  Fired Pilots have a truly unique approach to the angsty, melancholy alt band.  The sound is cleaner in a lot of ways than the grunge where this genre developed, in addition the youthfulness of the group adds a unique perspective.  I hope to hear more of them as well and I will be having a free consulting session with the band in 2 weeks. 

So a basic weekend no fuss.  Last note Les Morgan showed up on Saturday night and hung with us which was cool.

April 23, 2015: Feeling Better; Recaps and Previews

Dia 23, KY 1

So after about 5 days of feeling like I have been hit by a truck, I am finally feel better and want to write something.  Last weekend I had a wonderful brunch with The Lords to celebrate Gialdron's birthday.  Everyone with the exception of Les Morgan attended and it was a good time.  To note it did start a bout of Gialdron's rage which has vexed most my week, but that is how it usually goes with people on the autistic spectrum.

The other thing we did was start building a fence in the backyard for the dogs.  Kalenar was his usual one minded self which is very handy when you are getting things done.  Lord Darksteel came over and helped (a huge amount and I thank him profusely.)  It was especially awesome because Lord Darksteel broke his diet and had the most amazing queso smothered burrito at Barbacoa for lunch that he ate himself delirious.

This weekend is very low key because I am judging the Utah PTA State Rock Band Festival for the 2nd time.  I enjoy doing this because it allows me to be involved in a way that puts my passion for working class music forward.  Rock music is the peoples music and accessible but that does not make it any less important than the classics.  People postulate all of the time about what amazing pieces Mozart would compose now and I laugh because in my mind He would be not Mozart but Wolfgang and be a Pop entrepreneur on the level of Bruno Mars or Pharrell.  Beethoven would be an alternative/hipster and Wagner would write German Metalcore that appeals to fringe supremest groups.  Now I do not truly know what would happen but before you dismiss it entirely realize Pharrell Williams participated in high school band and owes that to where he is now, read the story here.

There have been many other things on my mind this week.  I am in a holding pattern of sorts until some life events happen that will increase my mobility.  Right now a number of things I want to do are not able to be given full attention for the very fact that I rely on public transit.  Personally I am not a fan of driving and if I had my druthers I would actually live in Downtown Salt Lake City where a car free lifestyle is easier to achieve.  Downtown is not as child friendly and Kalenar gives me a grand opportunity to live in Kalehalla so I take advantage of it.  Because of this the lifestyle is harder.  The fascist right-wing community governments in the South end of Salt Lake County are not public transit friendly therefore the frequency of buses is not what it should be.  As a result my pursuit of happiness is limited to the graces of what public transit does exist and the kindness of friends.

Lastly I am leaving you with a video of the new Hellcat Single by the band Wichita "Mrs. Magoo"
because it is AWESOME!!!

Sick Of Being Sick

This week I have come down with a nasty cold and I will write as soon as I am feeling better!!!

April 17, 2015: Weekend Preview "The Warrior"

Dia 17, KY1

This is the weekend I celebrate the birthday of my first son.  In this blog he is known as Gialdron, Patron of Passion, Rage and Food.  I love this young man with all my heart and soul even at the times he is full on berserk.  In the old world Gialdron would be a true Berserker (Bear Warrior) taking upon him the fury of Odin and Thor to defend and provide for the tribe and destroy our enemies.  I bring this up because in today's modern time we see these traits as "defective" or a "mental illness".  The reason for this is that we no longer have to go to war against a local tribe to gain the necessities of life so the traits that have genetically evolved over thousands of years of existence are misunderstood.  Gialdron is a High Functioning Autistic by today's terms, he is brilliant but lacks the ability to recognize emotions in others and also lacks the ability to process his own emotions without a great deal of effort.  This causes a number of problems in his life but he is forever fighting the war to stay in control and I have seen such amazing progress over the years that he has lived with this.  Now I am grateful that we live in the modern world for if this were the old world I would not have been able to enjoy the last 3 to 5 years with my son.  The reason for this is that the life expectancy of a front line warrior was 16 to 22 years due to the incredibly violent nature of their lives. 

Gialdron has gone on to live his passion, he works in a high end kitchen and enjoys this, he has slowly developed close friends that are loyal to him. He is loved by The Lords of Kalehalla and we honor him by naming his birth month after his passion for food.  I hope to have many more years with my son. So join me in saying Happy Birthday!!

His actual birthday was Dia 13 but we are celebrating this Sunday Dia 19 at Piper Down for an amazing brunch.

April 14, 2015 Weekend Recap The Anchorage, Barbaloot Suitz and The Republican.

Dia 14, KY1

just a reminder Chadivus plays the Tuba

For a first concert outing of the year I find myself strangely contemplative considering how fun the show was and the new sounds I heard.  I am still planning on writing a review about Regrow but I am going to have to let life settle down a bit.  Suffice it to say I am still a huge fan of The Anchorage and believe in this local scene.

So to business, the show was very fun.  I forget how much I love Kilby Court but I also remember why it is a hard place to watch a show.  Kilby has such a nice open air courtyard and it allows for a very natural conversation area and pre-show bonding.  It also has a rough time with acoustics and stuffiness because the actual stage area is too small.

The opening band was named Barbaloot Suitz and it is actually a duo featuring Jonali on guitar and vocals and McFish on Trombone.  This band intrigued me to the point that I felt moved to contact them.  The sound is very innovative and I enjoy how they are trying to experiment with abrupt tempo changes and tone colors (especially when the trombone mimics and matches Jonali's ethereal vocals.)  I see a huge amount of potential with what they are trying to achieve but I also see that it is going to take hard work and fine tuning to make it into a viable, growing musical group (then again all groups of excellent caliber do take hard work and fine tuning so I am excited by their possibilities.)  The trombone work is good, McFish has a solid tone with a good match of mellow and harsh (although I would like to see him explore some pedal tones in places.)  I wanted to hear him break forth with some Frank Rosolino style technical passages on his solos but that is a huge thing to ask considering who Rosolino is.  I think Jonali's guitar technique is solid in general but needs a little bit of technical

work on tempos and I would like to see her play a hollow body electric over an acoustic/electric just to get better depth of sound when mixed.  As said though her vocals are ethereal and create a haunting melodic focus for the music, which I love.  They might also consider adding a bass voice either as a stand up bass or a tuba (but I am partial to the tuba just sayin)  I think it would add a tonal base to grow the sound of the entire ensemble from and allow a  strong reference for intonation and rhythm.  Lastly a rhythm section would be cool as well, however I would look at an alternative drum set using Afro-Cuban percussion and tonal percussion (a marimba or vibraphone would add some cool harmonic and rhythmic options.)  Just some observations from a long term musician and person involved in the music world, thank you for indulging me.

Now onto The Anchorage.  As said I will write more when I review Regrow however this band ROCKS live.  The horns are in your face but even better since I reviewed Bridges, their ensemble playing is electric with all of the strengths that I liked even stronger and the opportunities to improve were all improved.  Derek's vocals are very good live and the bass playing was amazing. This band has impressed me even more than before and I was very grateful and humbled to hear them.  What made the experience even better is that the show was packed and everyone enjoyed the performance.  I am looking forward to more great and amazing music from this band.

Lastly after the show Lord Darksteel, Monsieur OneTrack and myself journeyed to The Republican to enjoy a pint of Guinness and a cider and talk about music.  We talked punk rock and ska and many other styles.  We discussed philosophy and honor and enjoyed each others company without pressure to impress.  This is why I enjoy the Republican because even with its hipster clientele, it still is an old world Irish pub complete with cement floor, wooden chairs and tables, shuffleboard, drinking songs and the best poured Guinness in the state.  Overall a great weekend.

I almost forgot, WATCH THE NEW DAREDEVIL SERIES ON NETFLIX, so amazing!!!