Friday evening. Went to San Francisco to meet up with Jon B. and Cynthia's parents, at the SF Main Library. (Cynthia had already gone to The City earlier, for rehearsals prior to the San Francisco Girls Chorus concert.) Met her charming folks, and we had dinner at a Japanese restaurant in J-Town. Alas, the dish I recommended for Jon (something called a "Japanese pizza" was way too alien for his taste, and all he could manage was a bite or two of it! haha. Well, at least he had the sashimi (raw fish) beforehand, so he didn't starve. I guess Jon you could write about this on YOUR weblog, eh?)

Chorissima's concert was just amazing, and quite touching--it was the conductor's farewell concert, and she struck me as a dynamic, wonderful person in addition to being an outstanding choral director. The girls were quite obviously moved, at the end, as they all sang a farewell song together. This group is truly professional, and reminded me of my days as a concert chorus member too. In the pic above (and on the link below) Cynthia is in the first row, fourth from the right.

check out more Chorissima pix here.
(increment "chorus1.jpg" to "chorusX.jpg" -- just 1 for now. more later.)

Saturday morning, i got up early and caught the BART train to Dublin/Pleasanton, where David's mom Angela picked me up and we drove to Livermore, met up with dad Steve, who had dropped off the boys at their band staging areas. We found our way to a nice spot along the parade route and waited for the bands to come along. It felt like I had landed in a different country... I was clearly no longer in Berkeley! There were rodeo participants in horse carriages, giant horses (like those in the Budweiser commercials), cowboys ("gunsels"? haha), mysterious Shriners, little boy scouts scooping the horsepoop from the road, masses of little girls in hula outfits, a 'barbecue band,' and lots more. Both David and Daniel looked resplendent in their uniforms. David's LHS marching band is a serious outfit! Quite smooth and polished, both musically and marchingly. :-)

We couldn't stay for the whole parade, as the Hunters had to go to Berkeley for their grandpa's birthday party. So, shortly after the boys' bands passed, Steve and Angela and I found them at their de-staging areas, we dropped by their house for a little while, so they could change into party clothes, and to pick up Brownie too. Playing with the sweet and friendly 3-yr. old chocolate labrador, i missed my dad's black lab Keo in Maui!

check out more Livermore pix here.
(increment "livermore0.jpg" to "livermore12.jpg" note: large JPGs ahead! if you've got a slowish connection, be patient if you really want to see the pix. haha. the pix are mostly for the benefit of the Hunter household, who have the benefit of digital cable.)

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