Some Great Guitar Pickin'

A quiet day spent trying to keep cool...It was 95 yesterday until some rain storms blew in..Sparky briefly contemplated a trip to Alaska in our future, but hey, it's in the nineties in Alaska, too!

"All-time highs were recorded elsewhere, including 96 degrees on Monday 80 miles to the north in the small community of Talkeetna, purported to be the inspiration for the town in the TV series, "Northern Exposure" and the last stop for climbers heading to Mount McKinley, North America's tallest mountain. One unofficial reading taken at a lodge near Talkeetna even measured 98 degrees, which would tie the highest undisputed temperature recorded in Alaska.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2013/06/19/unusual-record-setting-heat-wave-baking-alaska/#ixzz2WlpjnO6r

We stopped off at Ocean Blues supper club last night to hear George Worthmore....he's a fantastic guitar picker and acoustical guitar player. Sparky likes the hats he wears. This one makes Sparky think of "Charley Weaver" who was really Cliff Arquette, comedian/actor, that short guy with the mustache on Hollywood Squares...Here's Charlie...

And here's George....George is funny, too, and can he play guitar!

One thing we like about Sarasota, is the high quality and variety of music offered in the city...You can go to many, many places to hear all kinds of music--blues, rock and roll, funk, and classical.

George has played backup guitar for Bo Diddley, Lou Christie, and The Platters. He's also an interesting guy. He lived in South Africa for 12 years and operated the world famous Blues Room, the country's award winning, number one live music venue. He's also an actor, having performed with Ron Perlman, William H. Macy, and Robert Vaughn. 

So we were delighted to be able to see him this evening at one of our favorite music venues, Ocean Blues.

George plays everything from classical pieces, ragtime, to raunchy Delta blues songs. He's a storyteller, too. We learned a lot about him this evening, that he got hit by a car which almost derailed his career and how he basically did his own therapy to recover the use of his hands so he could keep playing. In and around some fantastic picking, and a guest guitar artist doing a duet with George, (sorry we didn't catch his name), George talked a bit about how important music is in our lives and how our souls need music....Amen!

We thoroughly enjoyed hearing him this evening!

A big announcement coming soon........Stay tuned....  :-)

Music to Our Ears

We never get tired of hearing great music at Ocean Blues....It's that time of the week again...Monday nights Jazz Jam at Ocean Blues. They have different music every night of the week but Monday just happens to be one of our favorites so far. We enjoy the people watching, the musicians greeting each other and jumping in to play, the camaraderie of the players and the customers, the atmosphere of Ocean Blues...It's cozy, intimate and friendly....

Steve Arvey and Company...

There are regulars--Steve on the guitar, Bryan Post, the drummer, another Steve--the trumpet player and Michael Dempsey, the bass player. Sparky is just going to have to be better about acknowledging the rest of these great musicians and get their names down pat. Steve, the trumpet player, has some cool shirts that he wears.

He came over to talk to us for awhile. He knew that Eldy made brass instruments for famous players and for schools. Steve had a gadget he designed to work with students in the schools, to teach them how to improvise and play their own music. It was very cool, but we didn't have a CLUE as to what he was talking about as he launched into the very long and technical musical side of how this little wheel worked. Sparky is sure a music teacher would have appreciated it a whole lot more. But we were impressed, none the less.

Steve Arvey was really working his hot sauces last night. He has several now that he's selling. Must be a blues musician thing going on, selling hot sauces. Remember the "Sauce Boss" who came to Myakka River State park this past winter? We didn't buy any of Steve's sauces this evening...Both of our stomachs and tongues just aren't able to appreciate that really hot stuff!

But we sure do appreciate the music! Great jamming last night....There was a new keyboard player from Brazil, Regis Moriero who lent a Latin bossa nova feel to the music for awhile. Steve did a great job on guitar as always...He has the most infectious grin when he's enjoying his buddies playing along with him. He played an original song he wrote which was just wonderful!

We were happy to be at Ocean Blues..they are always so welcoming to their patrons....Food is great, music is wonderful, it was a great night!

The Best of Sarasota, Part II

Sarasota, FL       High:  81     Low:  64

Sparky blew it! Wouldn't be the first time....  :-)  (Glad she said that, and not me, says E.)  When she did the "Best of Sarasota" list, she forgot our favorite place to hear great music---Ocean Blues! Ocean Blues is on Hillview Street in Sarasota, near the hospital.  Great food, great music seven days a week, and the most hospitable and friendly wait staff....

It was Monday night, and you know by now, Monday night is Jazz Jam Night at Ocean Blues, so off we went with very special guests--Terry and Pat Walker, the couple that we met from the NAARVA rally here at Sun 'n' Fun. Pat and Terry have been following our blog since the first day we started full timing back in 2010! They are from Atlanta, GA. They love live music just as we do, and expressed an interest in going to hear the jazz jam at Ocean Blues....

Another great night spent in great company!

The music was wonderful! Steve Arvey, our favorite musician was there along with Brian Pope, our favorite drummer, Ed Kinder, a fantastic keyboard maestro, and Bruce Glassburg, an amazing trombonist. There were many more new players that kept coming up to the stage-- a guy with bongo drums, so that sparked a set of samba type music....A new base player by the name of John DeWitt joined the group. We had a wonderful night of jazz and toe tapping rhythm....

Sparky had her usual pizza which was terrific, Eldy had the great fresh pretzels, and Pat and Terry tried some sandwiches which were very good, they said. Sparky would have taken photos of Pat and Terry's food, but thought that might be a little extreme. (That was a blessing, that would have been a little embarrassing and a bit much! says E.)

Eldy talked trumpets with Steve Rolland, one of the trumpet players who regularly comes and plays on Monday nights...

It was another great night for music! We really love Ocean Blues....

Some more "Best of Sarasota" in Sparky and Eldo's opinion.....

Best Seafood Restaurant:  Anna Maria Island Oyster Bar, Eldy says EVERY time we've been there, "It's the BEST fish I have ever had, bar none!" We did mention this before, but having just ate there again, we decided to give it it's own special category!

Best Alternative Beach: When Siesta Key gets ridiculously crowded, head over to Coquina Beach. Anna Maria Island. It's huge, the shaded path/sidewalk walkway that runs along the beach is gorgeous, and there's a little market there every Sunday.

Best Moderately Priced Restaurant: The Lazy Lobster on Longboat Key...The Amelia burger...mushroom glace sauce over an Angus burger with a stacked, pressed cheesy potato bake on the side that is absolutely out of this world. They have two locations, but we have only been to the one on Longboat Key. Barnacle Bill's Seafood--Downtown Sarasota--We like this one for the "early dining special" for 11.99. Get served before 5:15 to get this price.

Best Kept Museum Secret: Museum of Art and Whimsy--a small quirky little museum with unusual art and sculpture with an outdoor sculpture garden across the street.

Best Mexican Restaurant--Mi Pueblo--really fast service, friendly wait staff, and excellent food. Closer to authentic Mexican food than your usual American Mexican restaurant.

Best Authentic Local Sarasota Experience--drum circles--Siesta Key Beach every Sunday, Nokomis Beach every Wednesday and Saturday about an hour before sunset....

OK, NOW Sparky thinks she's covered the best of Sarasota..... :-)

The Big 6-5 and Noodlers

Sarasota, FL      High:  86      Low: 63

Oh, boy....Eldy turns 65 today, April 14th....It's the BIG ONE! Sparky got a chuckle out of her young cousin's comment the other day on Facebook, "can't believe I made it to nineteen!" Well, you can sure say that about reaching 65, right? And he's made it to 65 without heart problems, any kind of major illness and not having to take ANY meds! Wow!

He doesn't like celebrating birthdays at all, and HATES a fuss being made over him...Sparky is just the opposite. You'd better remember HER birthday if you are her significant other, (it's July 18th, you gotta a ways, yet) and she will ONLY be a young 63. But she's definitely got the aches and pains to complain about, so not so sure about the young part. But this is not about Sparky, this is about ELDY. How are we going to celebrate? (oh, brother, guess I'm stuck celebrating, cuz my woman is bound and determined to make a big deal out of just another day, fusses E.) We're gonna have a CAKE, and a present, a little one....and we're gonna go out to eat! (Kinda figured that, says E.) Sparky's choice because she's got a cool place all picked out...(You can see why we're gonna go out to eat if you have been reading our blog. Sparky definitely isn't going to make me my favorite birthday dinner, which is probably fried chicken or my mom's recipe for homemade noodles from scratch and beef/gravy, because Sparky hates to cook!) And she isn't a very good one, either. Uh, yeah, a home cooked birthday dinner probably ain't gonna happen, so out we will go....

Saw a beautiful roseate spoonbill today out in the Lakewood Ranch lakes and ponds, that beautiful planned community one exit down from Fruitville Road where Sun 'n' Fun is....



A shy bird, it flew away before Sparky could get close enough to capture it's fuchsia  beauty as it was "spooning" the pond banks....

Spent some time in the pool today....Sparky is now officially a member of the "Noodlers Club"...That's where you grab a pool noodle, plop on your sunglasses and a hat....Sparky decided to hop on down to the pool with a noodle and see what's cool about noodling in the pool. Now note that she did NOT say, "canoodling" which is something you do in the privacy of your own home unless you are a male teenager besotted in love with a hot young chick and don't care who sees what in public.  We recently saw a young man in a local restaurant, (WHOA, Sparky! Never mind! warns E. They get the picture! ) It was bad enough that Sparky was thinking, GET A ROOM, for Pete's sake! Sparky only saw mature adults enjoying themselves in the pool today...Young families were there, too, but mostly just us older folks trying to cool off.

Sparky digresses...OK, so---- noodling is hanging out in the water with your pool noodle and friends...Sparky thinks it's a riot that everybody wears sunglasses and hats in the pool, guess they don't care about clothing in the pool as long as you don't submerge yourself, but Sparky doesn't wear sunglasses--tch! tch! tch!, and doesn't wear a hat--tch! tch! tch! (That means not a smart move) and so she got a sunburned face today. But she sure enjoyed talking with her friends in the pool today...fellow pickleball players and crafters and all around great people who we've met in the past few months we've been here. By the way, in case you are one of those people who doesn't like to wear sunglasses, your eye doctor will tell you that's REALLY bad...macular degeneration and other eye problems can be traced back to not protecting your eyes from the sun, especially Florida sun. So Sparky's girls, if you are reading this blog, your mother says, WEAR SUNGLASSES!  Like they are going to follow their mother's advice...   :-)  Sparky wishes she had listened to her mom telling her all those years to wear sunscreen and a hat. Now she's got tons and tons of ugly brown and scaly spots to show for years and years of sun exposure. (Boy, Sparky is really all over the place today, isn't she?)

Time to come home and get ready for Ocean's 11 band at Ocean Blues in downtown Sarasota. They play from 7:00-9:00 PM every Saturday night...Always a good time and wonderful, wonderful music.....If we get back in time, Sparky will add to this post, if not, stay tuned for tomorrow...Venice Shark Tooth Festival is on tap as well......

Jazz Jam at Ocean Blues

Sarasota, FL       High: 79      Low:   58

One of our very favorite places to go in Sarasota is Ocean Blues, a blues supper club with great atmosphere and really great food, and REALLY REALLY great entertainment in the form of talented local talented blues, rock, and jazz musicians. On Monday nights, it's Jazz Jam Session...So guess where we were last night? :-)  One of our favorite guitar players, Steve Arvey, was there.

Sparky's daughter, Kelly, introduced us to Steve Arvey a couple of years ago when she came to visit us, and we try to get to see him when we are in the Sarasota area. He plays all over, he's known internationally, and he often plays  the southwest Florida area when he's in town. He's a renowned electric guitarist.

Last night was a terrific night, with LOTS of guest artists....Sparky is sorry that she doesn't know the names of all the guests that were there, but it was an amazing display of many talents--one, a very talented violinist by the name of Lisa....

Some terrific drummers, a young man by the name of James..Some AWESOME trumpeteers--Shane was a standout trumpet player...

We caught a couple of names here and there, and of course, Steve Arvey put on a great show as always....

Steve kind of sponsors the evening and pulls in some wonderful performers...It's a big draw for the club. Different nights have different types of music, so if jazz is not your thing, you can come out another night and hear folk, acoustic, Latin or other types of music....check out the Ocean Blues calendar:
                                          Calendar of events at Ocean Blues

Another trumpet player started setting up his instruments at the table right next to us. Eldy struck up a conversation with him, as Eldy used to MAKE trumpets, flugelhorns, coronets, trombones and marching brass instruments.

We didn't catch his name, but he played his flugelhorn and trumpet and was terrific. The place really started "crankin' up", as the evening went on...

Eldy buffed the trumpets for Clint Eastwood's movie, "The Bird", a movie about Charlie Parker. Eldy has buffed instruments and spoken many with some of the top 100 jazz players over the years to get custom specifications for their instruments that they purchased from Blessings Music Company in Elkhart, IN where he worked 43 years--Red Rodney, Ira Sullivan, Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass, for starters. AND--Eldy personally buffed MOST of the herald horns for the L.A. Olympics, working 90 some hours a week to get the horns done for the Olympics. He was one hard working dude in those days!

The music was just wonderful---toe tappin', booty shakin', and all around enjoyable! Check out Ocean Blues on Hillview Street when you are in Sarasota...it's great!