Day 27 - An Ace Dinner is Served

We both awoke this morning feeling rather disorientated as we were, as explained yesterday, spending the night at Alicia's. John even spent several seconds staring at the wall wondering where his bedroom door had gone (it's at the exact opposite end of the room to where it had been at Mary & Bob's). However, moments later, once all logic and common sense had been regained, we leaped out of bed with breakfast on the mind. As per usual, Alicia failed to disappoint on the provision of a splendid selection of fresh fruit, cereal, bagels and even scones.

After hearing of Andy Murray's success in the US Open quarter final, we decided to try and find out what time today's semi final game against Rafa Nadal was being broadcasted. However, the task didn't prove too difficult as we simply turned on the TV set and lo behold the game had just begun. Not only that, we were watching it in HD on Alicia's state of the art widescreen TV, so we sat back and boy did we enjoy. We needn't tell the Brits this as we sure you'll all know, but our good Scot was 2 sets up against Nadal (yes folks, you read that correctly and no we weren't imagining it) when play was stopped for the day due to torrential downpours. Simply typical... we come to the USA... experience drought-like conditions everywhere we go... then as soon as Murray is hammering the best player in the world, it gets rained off (?!) in true Wimbledon style. Anyway, you can guarantee the J's will be glued to the TV set for the conclusion of that one tomorrow.

Mid-way through the afternoon, ourselves and Alicia departed for Bob & Mary's where there was to be held a large family gathering. The distinguished guests also included Lance & Shannon (Alicia's big kids and, of course, grandchildren of Bob & Mary), Lee & Kyle (also grandchildren of Bob & Mary), Amy (Lee's wife) and Big Lee (father of Lee & Kyle). Once we had been introduced to those we had not met before, we all sat down outside as the sunlight trickled down over the pool. With chilled beverage in hand, and snacks not far away, we enjoyed a pleasant few hours chatting in the shade before we were called in for the meal. Once all 11 of us had been seated we enjoyed a taste-bud-tingling feast worthy of a Royal gathering, or even a Jonas Brothers lunch break. As we can sense your tongues wagging, we will of course inform of you of the precise components of this mouth-watering culinary odyssey... bbq chicken, potato salad, green salad, some other form of salad, sweetcorn and sourdough bread. Followed up, naturally, with a wide selection of desserts. After another enjoyable couple of hours at the dinner table, we made good use of the finals moments of sunlight by heading outside for quick impromptu frisbee demo and coaching session. We expect to see Lance, our principal student, pulling off an 'upside down indigenous pull to a quad-spinning electrolyte with a backflip' next time we see him. Shortly later it was time to say goodbye, so we said our farewells and waved everyone off from Bob & Mary's doorstep.

From that last sentence, you may have gathered that we are staying back at Bob & Mary's tonight, so hopefully John won't be scared that his door has disappeared tomorrow morning. It had been a wonderful afternoon/evening and we'd both really enjoyed meeting Joe's extended family. To finish off the day with a night-time dip in the swimming pool which, when lit up, was just too tempting to resist. This time the diving contest branched off into spontaneous physical comedy during which many a humerous water entrance was patented ('the cell phone', 'the momentary distraction' and 'the lifeguard pose' being just a few). We also discovered a rather cool camera mode which produced some spectacular shots, some of which we have decided to exclusively treat you to below...

Once we'd dried off and warmed up, we spent some time chatting to Mary & Bob and now we are nearing bed time.

We hope everyone is well,

J 并且 J

PS. We apologise for the distinct lack in range of photos from today, imparticular from the family gathering/meal. We were having such a good time that we completely forget to get any snaps which was a rookie mistake of the highest order.

PPS. A big shout out goes to Edd, who successfully publised his first comment yesterday (about time!)

Day 26 - One Giant Leap

The main headline in the bay area (and, indeed, throughout the world) this morning was that the J's were involved in an early rise shocker. In a scandalous move, they threw the regulations of wind-down week out the window, and were up and fully concious before 8.15am, perhaps surprising themselves as much as the global community. The decision was deliberate however - we wanted to spend this afternoon in the city, and so we got up early to make time for a few essentials this morning.

A great breakfast once again kicked things off, and after catching up on the day's actual news, and just 'goofing off' on the sofa, this was followed by a couple of phonecalls home. For the first time since results day (day 4), both of us spoke to our immediate families, which was good fun, it was nice to have a bit of a catch up. We were filled in on crucial information from the UK, including Manchester City's (an english football club) sudden takeover by a group from Abu Dhabi and the feedback from the family visits to watch hit movie 'Mammia Mia'; which was generally very high (we're not quite convinced, but have reluctantly consented to seeing it ourselves). We also fortunately had the chance to reassure Joe's mum that no kidnappings had taken place during the San Jose / San Francisco leg of the trip with Arthur 'wait...you're here?' Coddington (see comments on day 20 for the background to this).

Due to our making-time manouevre of getting up pre-noon, we also had time to fit in another swim, which was again immensely enjoyable. The heat was reaching 100 degrees farenheit (for Brits, obviously just use the simple Temp cel = (5/9)*(Temp far-32) formula to convert to Celcius), which, of course, is hot. Hence, the pool was great to dive into, particularly as the water had cooled down nicely overnight, as Bob had left the cover off in a wise tactical move. After more aquatic antics, we hit the showers, and a short spot of primping/packing/lunching ensued...we were then ready to make our way into the City for the afternoon.

Bob dropped us off at the ferry terminal in Marin, and we quickly bought our tickets before, in a dash James Bond would've been proud of, running onto the ferry just in the nick (jonas) of time. We sailed away smoothly to 'Frisco, checking out a map of the city en route just to make sure we had our bearings. Once we arrived at the SF ferry terminal, we spent quite some time shopping around here, as the building is attractively designed with a good range of fairly unique stores. Obviously, we can't reveal our exact purchases in specific detail, as they're mostly gifts/souvenirs...but as a tantalizing clue, it may suffice to say that John picked up a thrilling magazine, the cover of which was graced by a certain curly-haired trio. We moved on from the tween-literature section to check out a variety of downtown stores, and dabbled in confectionary, clothing, and some rare novelty items.

When our consumer instinct was satisfied, we walked back towards the piers, as we had arranged to meet Alicia, Shannon and Lance, at the latter's (extremely swish) apartment. Tonight, they were taking us to a baseball game at the (relatively) new stadium in San Francisco, where the home team of the San Francisco Giants (yaaay!) were playing out-of-towners the Pittsburgh Pirates (Boooo...!). We started the evening with a walkaround tour of the Stadium with resident baseball consultant Lance, and the views of the bay from the stadium (it's close enough to the water that home runs hit out of the stand are likely to end up in it) were particuarly spectacular. We got some classic baseball food - a 'Giants dog' hot dog for both of us - and sat down to watch the game. Unfortunately for the home side, the Pirates were in swashbuckling form, and got off to a much stronger start, from which the Giants never really recovered. However, this didn't stop us having a great night, and learning the complete rules of baseball, down to loaded bases, batting averages, and the curious 7th inning 'stretch' (we'd suggest Wikipedia again, for those not familar). We departed shortly after said stretch, and it had been an extremely cool experience, that we'll have to repeat one day.

We then made our way back on the BART system to Orinda, and we're now here at Alicia's place for the night, where she's already provided us with some (welcome) warm bagels to round off the evening.

Night night (or good morning...),

The San Francisco J and Jiants.

Day 25 - Escape to Alcatraz

In accordance with wind down week regulations, the J's once again had a lie in until the late morning today. Joe's trip to the bathroom before 10am fortunately went unnoticed by the authorities, so he escaped federal punishment (a young Frank Morris, if you like) by the skin of his teeth. Along with John, he then masqueraded as a law abiding citizen as they both alighted their beds shortly before 11am. After this initial integration into society, they were served up their daily breakfast rations, pushed through the breakfast bar.

As recreational hour began, the J's took advantage of their hard earned swimming privileges (only available to the most well behaved convicts). This saw the continuation of yesterday's inmates free form diving contest, the results of which are a source of great pride between cellmates. John raised the bar with his backwards half twist with a two-handed wave, all though Joe took no prisoners and responded with a full twist with a single-handed wave. The judges were left undecided as to who should take home the prize of a second helping of grits at dinner, so, once the jury had been consulted, it was their strong conviction that this should be split between them. Satisfied, the J's returned to their cells to continue the day's routine.

As you may have gathered, there is a prison theme running through today's prose. The reason for this of course, is that today we paid a visit to the historical landmark that is Alcatraz Island - most famous for it's years as a maximum security prison between 1934 and 1963. As the famous quote goes - "If you broke the rules, you went to prison. If you broke the prison rules, you went to Alcatraz". Famous inmates included Robert "The Birdman" Stroud, Al "Scarface" Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Joseph "Crime Wave" McCrave and John "Hammer Head" Coxhead.





Following a ferry trip across the bay from Marin to San Francisco, we then boarded another boat to carry us over to Alcatraz. We were particularly excited, having watched the famous movie "Escape From Alcatraz" earlier this week (as regular readers will of course know). The visit was an immensely fascinating experience, just to walk around 'the rock' was a strange, eerie sensation. The highlight was a 1 hour award winning audio tour around the cell house which not only gave detailed descriptions and historic information on all areas, but also included voice clips from past inmates and officers. This gave it real depth and evoked a ghostly, intense atmosphere. Just to see the living conditions of such a high-security prison cell was a powerful, hard-hitting insight (the deep indentations upon the wall of 'Hammer Head' Coxhead's cell are still visible). Also, the tour provided us with the true story behind the 1962 escape (featured in the film we had watched) and showed us the very cells used in the plot. For all those unfamiliar with the 'dummy head' escape, its an incredible tale, well worth reading about, and we'd strongly recommend seeing the film.




Once we'd fully exhausted the sites and tours that Alcatraz had to offer, we made our way back to the boat. Before journeying back to Marin, we called in at 'Peet's Coffee & Tea'. Set up in the 60's, Peet's was the original inspiration for, now rival, Starbucks and is a very popular coffee house, especially within California. As new devoted Mocha fans, both J's ordered one of the White Chocolate variety (we thought we'd resist the tuxedo today) and were both of full of praise for both its smooth texture and spellbinding taste.




Around 8pm, we finally arrived back in Marin and were greeted by Bob who kindly collected us from the pier and brought us home to a delicious meal of lasagna that Mary had prepared. We've since had a relaxing evening of freestyle video viewing and laid back conversation.

Sadly the prison curfew has now been called for the night so its time to head for our bunks before Warden catches us sneakily using the computer in his office,

Inmates #J426 and #J513

Day 24 - A Wave of Relaxation

This morning, once again, we had the luxury of no specific set plans, and so, whilst we awoke slightly earlier than yesterday, there wasn't a great deal of the morning left to greet us. Once we had gathered our thoughts and come to our senses, we were again treated to an ideal breakfast - this time sausages, eggs, toast and fresh fruit were the order of the day.

As the early part of the afternoon came upon us, we proceeded to pull our full, hard-working efforts into 'flaking out' on the couch. This, for our British readers, essentially means that we didn't do a lot - we just had an enjoyable time relaxing, catching up with Bob and Mary, and discussing Google's plans for a new web browser (the expert opinion is that its function and style appear good, but it's completely unnecessary in a saturated market). If you were to come to Bob and Mary's, also, you would realise that once you're sitting in front of the window, it's fairly hard to get up; mainly due to the spectacular views of San Francisco bay that are visible though it. After reluctantly standing, then, we persuaded ourselves that it would be a good idea to attempt some basic tasks such as showering and changing.


This risky gamble paid off, and once changed, we could then relax again, and also indulged in a bite to eat (the rumours are that two beef and egg sandwiches were consumed somewhere along the line), deciding finally to get up for good and take a dip in Bob and Mary's outdoor pool. The 'dip' actually turned out to be more of an aquatic marathon, with several hours of water-based entertainment following. The action, as you can see from the video below, included the eargerly-anticipated 'additional dive' from this year's Olympic men's finals (Joe, after much thought, went with the backwards half twist with a wave), some impressive freestyle frisbee performances, and....a bit of actual swimming too.

Circa 7pm, we were called in for tea, and so finally dragged ourselves out, and quickly dried off. We then had a great evening meal together (OK, we'll tell you this one too - it was Sirloin Steak with a selection of mashed potato, peas and bread...rounded off with a dessert of strawberries and cream), and kept our political radars in check by getting the latest from the Republican National Convention.

We then prepared to turn our attention more towards the Galactic Republic...as, yes, we had decided to make our first ever visit to a US movie theater (we're adopting that spelling because we're here) to see, of course, the new star wars film. 'The Clone Wars' was playing in the local theater down at 'Larkspur Landing', and so, leaving plenty of time to get in before the crowds, Bob took us down and dropped us off. We entered the relevant screen, choose the best seats in the house, and waited for those crowds. Then we waited some more. We needn't have worried. The staff at Larkspur had clearly had word that the J's were on their way, and so reserved each seat for our comfort and viewing pleasure. There wasn't another soul in the house, and so we sat back to enjoy our private 'critics' screening. Five minutes before the film (midway, obviously, through discussing the events at the end of the preceeding 'Star Wars'), however, we were struck dumb by an unexpected pleasure. The teaser trailer for 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' burst onto the screen, and since neither of us had seen it yet, and both of us are, admittedly, quite big fans...it was a truly hair-raising, goose-pimple inducing event. Clone Wars itself was also very enjoyable, and our critics' conclusion is that it had done what it set out to acheive, and was a fun Star Wars spin-off, which was aesthetically thrilling, and gave some new depth to the saga.


And now, having chattered about both screen spectaculars, here we are - yes, sitting down and chilling out, looking forward to another lie in as wind-down week continues.

That's all for now folks,


J with extra J sauce

Day 23 - In A Golden Gate State

Having been extremely busy for the entire trip so far, day 23 was our first chance for a full-blown lie in... so we took it. All we saw of the morning was a brief moment of blurriness around 10am when we disabled our alarms, before falling straight back to sleep (why we'd bothered to set them in the first place, we're not quite sure). We finally dragged ourselves out of the oh-so-comfy beds for breakfast (or should we say brunch) shortly after noon. After a delicious feast of cereal, bagels and fresh fruit, we quickly changed and packed our bags, as today we were moving location once more - this time only further along the SF bay to Marin County.

However, before moving into our new house, we decided to have a day out with Alicia at Golden Gate Park in SF. The park, for those who have never visited, is fairly big... actually, it's astronomically big. Our first point of call was the De Young Museum which boasts an observation tower giving great panoramas of the surrounding area. In addition, the De Young presently features an exhibition by prodigiously prolific artist Dale Chihuly. Dale, as most of you probably know, is most frequently lauded for revolutionizing the Studio Glass movement by expanding its original premise of the solitary artist working in a studio environment to encompass the notion of collaborative teams and a division of labor within the creative process. With this in mind, we took the opportunity to take a look at his fine glacial achievements, and we were by no means disappointed. The exhibition was genuinely spectacular, you can see this for yourself below (we did actually take these snaps ourselves - as is the case with any photo appearing on this blog).




Also within the park is the 'Japanese Tea Garden' (the oldest of its kind in the US) so we decided pay a visit. The garden was quite simply beautiful - home to a stunning array of oriental architecture and a range of floral extravagance. After slowly meandering over the many bridges and walkways, we found ourselves sitting in the garden tea house enjoying a pot of Jasmine Tea and a couple of fortune cookies (apparently, fortune cookies were actually invented in that very garden!). Joe's foretold of a thrilling time yet to come, while John's simply told him that he has a charming and courteous attitude.





Following the reassurance about our future (and present) lives, we took off in search of the Shakespeare Garden. Now, this garden plays host to 150 different species of plant, all of which are mentioned at some point in one of Shakespeare's plays (Commenters challenge for the day: come up with Shakespeare quotes referencing a species of plant - no cheating!). We stood awhile and watch'd o'er the garden, until whence the moment came to parteth. Henceforth, we legged it out of the joint.


Next up was the Golden Gate Park Disc Golf course (yes, it actually has one... they're surprisingly common out here). We hadn't really come for a full round so just played a couple of holes to demonstrate to Alicia how it's done. However, we by no means claim to be experts - a point that was proven shortly later when we were testing out discs from a makeshift stall. During our brief test period, we both managed to send a disc flying powerfully into a large set of tangled shrubbery, intertwined with huge brambles and nettles. Thankfully, some of the embarrassment was saved as we each managed to retrieve the stray discs. Our new found fondness for Disc Golf (we've heard rumours that large groups of our freestyle fanbase are now getting critically worried about our allegiance to the sport... don't panic guys, we'd never do that to you) was then boosted as Alicia kindly treated us each to a driver!


The final stop in golden gate park was the buffalo field - where, you guessed it, resides a herd of buffalo. Having never been acquainted with these fury beasts before, both J's were eager to say hello. Sadly, the buffalo were not so eager, and wouldn't even so much as turn round properly for a photo.


Insulted, we left the park, and headed over to the Cliff House for a meal. Some may be shocked to discover that the Cliff House is a restaurant located on a cliff - quite how it got its name, we have no idea. With stunning views of the coast, we enjoyed a delicious plethora of culinary delights. John selected the 'Grilled Marinated Fulton Valley Chicken Breast' which was served up with chopped italian sausage, beans and spinach. Joe was so dazzled by his pasta shell dish that he cannot remember its full title or any of the accompanying ingredients. Alicia went with the Frutti Del Mare (fruits of the sea), another seafood pasta combination. After cleaning up the plates (we left what we didn't like), we gazed at the glorious sunset taking place over the ocean before leaving for Marin.



On the way to Marin, we had a brief stop to look out at the Golden Gate Bridge (which was thankfully much more visible than it had been on our last visit). Shortly later we arrived at Bob & Mary's, who are to be our new hosts as we settle down and relax for a few days. We've been informed that we'll be "operating at a slower pace" whilst here, a change for which we are ready.


Don't forget today's Shakespeare challenge,
All the best,

J & J'eth

Day 22 - Beware of the Hair

Today started with another round of the unofficial 'packing challenge'; a highly competitive event that takes place everytime we have a change in accomodation location. The challenge? Cram our ever-increasing amount of stuff into our stretched bags. The competition? It's us versus the suitcases. Once victorius (though narrowly so), we moved onto the real essentials - a good dose of cereal, a quick online surf, and a discussion with Arthur about the day's oncoming schedule.

First on the list was a visit to a relatively local chocolate factory ('Scharffen Berger', for all you cocoa conuisseurs). Welcoming any further food-related expereiences, we went along eagerly, anticipating our free samples. Our eagerness, however, was topped by that of our tour guide for the day - an enthusiastic individual who went by the name of Danny. Whilst his facial hair may not have been to everyone's taste - the chocolate provided certainly was (we tasted from dark to light, for the sake of our pallets...apparently), and we spent a thrilling half an hour being educated on the ins and outs of chocolate-making. Then, of course, it was time to see the machines themselves, and for this we donned some exceptional headwear/chinwear (one net covered standard hair, another the lower region of the face to guard against facial hair malting possibilities). Making sure that we were adequately quarantined and posed no conceivable risk to the hygene of the factory, we stepped in and took a quick peek in the melangeur, amongst other intruiging contraptions (as we don't recall the names of any others though, they were evidently not that intruiging). We then took a quick scan around the gift shop, resisted, and made an exit.

Following a brief tour of the local area - which included such modest sites as Pixar HQ, and a main office of 'Wham-O' (the company that patented the Frisbee...if you're reading this blog you really ought to know that already), we quickly went back to base at Arthur's to collect our cases. We then preceeded to our lunch option for the day...a true American-style BBQ held by John - not our John, obviously (he couldn't cook a BBQ!), by a friend of Arthur's, who was hosting a get-together to celebrate moving into his new studio. The place itself looked great, and the food achieved a hypothetical full marks from both of us.

Our potential afternoon jam had been sadly called off due to high winds and high temperatures (a 'hot hurricane'), but after enjoying the grilled chicken on offer, we compensated with a round of disc golf (for the unfamiliar...the clue's in the name). We played at Arthur's local course in San Leandro, where the wind was less due to a more sheltered location, and had a surprisingly enjoyable round, speaking as hard-core freestylers. We went out initially with some freestyle discs for saftey, but soon graduated to the real deal, and were driving and putting proper golf shots all over the shop (though not all went in the baskets, admittedly). No plans to retire from freestyle quite yet though - so all fans...relax.

Once replenished with yet another Starbucks beverage, we said our final farewells to Arthur. Although our stay with him has been a relatively short one, it's been one of the most enjoyable parts of our trip so far - and at least his great personality makes up for his somewhat limited freestyle abilities...only a 6-spinning scarecrow at the beach? Pah! He dropped us off at the BART station (Bay Area Rapid Transit...not inspired by Homer's son), and we enjoyed a smooth ride up to Orinda, where Alicia collected us and drove us back to her place.

It's great to be back up around the bay area, Alicia is a perfect host, and we're looking forward to spending a relaxing week between here and Marin County, with many trips into 'Frisco on the cards. We've spent the evening relaxing and watching the classic and highly relevant 'Escape from Alcatraz' (no, we're not planning an escape...but we may well visit the actual prison).

It's time to leave you there for another day,

Happy September! (Best wishes to everyone re-starting school back home...)

J / J

Day 21 - Tuxedo Junction

For our first breakfast at Arthur's, we were not only treated to our much-loved combo of cereal and fresh bagels (he's certainly been reading the blogs), but we were also provided with visual entertainment in the form of an all-access pass to his freestyle video archive. When enjoyed alongside such visual delights, the bagels and cereal tasted even better! It was the ideal way to prepare oneself for an energetic day of freestyle play down at Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

Today was the day of Summershred 2008; an event arranged each summer which features a pairs tournament and hour upon hour of jamming. We arrived at the beach at about 11am, where we were joined by fellow freestylers Carl Dobson, Doug Korns, Skippy, Mike Esterbrook, Melissa Trail, Tam Wolfe and Keith Armstrong (many of whom, the J's were meeting for the first time). Once our batteries were fully charged with Powerade and Power Bars, we joined the jam field. The conditions took a while to accustum to (northern California coast lines are substantially cooler than those of the south, and the wind was very strong), however we soon settled in to the jam and many a great co-op was executed. In the early afternoon we had the Open Pairs competition which featured 4 teams... Team J finished 2nd, with Arthur & Skippy taking 1st, Carl & Doug in 3rd and the trio team of Mike, Melissa & Tam taking 4th. After the results had been announced, there was of coure time for more jamming in a now very strong wind (a wind speed of 16mph was recorded at one point!). Despite this, the valiant freestylers persued for another hour or so, before deciding to call it a day at around 4pm.

Back in San Leandro, we called in at a local Starbucks for a well-earned beverage. We made some enquiries into the flavours of chocolate Mocha on offer and were told that in addition to the dark and white choc flavours, a combination of the 2 could also be done. In fact, two nicknames for this such combination were also thrown into the mix with the waiter telling us it can be referred to as either a 'Tuxedo' or a 'Michael Jackson'. For the both of us, it was our first Starbucks Mocha and we both thoroughly enjoyed it... it may well become a regular order from now on.

Back at Arthur's, we spent another hour or so utilising our archive pass, before painfully dragging ourselves away from the screen in order to ready ourselves for an evening out. At 8pm, we departed for Zachary's; an Italian restaurant in Berkely that is a personal favourite of Arthur and Chadi (a close friend of Arthur's, who was also joining us for the meal). The pizza was of an interesting form, with an extremely deep base that is very unique and probably best falls into the family of the Chicago deep dish pizza's. In fact, the pizza is so thick/deep, that it has outraged a few Italians, notably Lui (a freestyler from Rimini, who came across them when staying with Arthur a few years ago) who refuses to accept that they can actually be classed as pizza. When they finally arrived on the plate, they were no dissappointment... absolutely delicious and incredibly filling. Between us, we only managed to get through half of what we'd ordered but thankfully none was wasted as it can be brought home and re-heated.




The rest of the evening has been sent back at Arthur's drooling at yet more of his archive!
Another great day reaches its end,

Ciao for now,

$JJ