Hopstretch

Pork loin, stone fruit chutney, quinoa, various veg. Steve, the placemats are cheap plastic from Ikea — sorry. [emoji6]

This band has clearly listened to a LOT of Talk Talk. NTTAWWT.

Need to dig that out. Thanks.

Update on the wine situation. Not great but better than initially feared: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/business/wineries-california-wildfire.html Another positive -- kids and I tried to sign up to help out at the nearest evacuation center and were turned down because they'd already had such a flood of volunteers that all spots were filled for the next few weeks. Their school PTA is putting together backpacks of toiletries, stationery, stuffed animals, pajamas etc. for kids in the affected areas, so we assembled a couple of those and dropped them off. Classroom was already half full of bags on the first day of the effort -- nice to see.

https://www.theringer.com/2017/10/11/16457626/soccer-world-cup-2018-us-qualifying-bruce-arena-christian-pulisic-future?

Agreed. It is a pity. I think the grassroots is in good shape though. Whether that translates into better results up at the top of the pyramid one day -- who knows?

Not so much.

This is a solid nostalgia hit. Although I wasn't moved quite as much as some of the ladies (of a certain age) in the audience ...

Still v. smoky here. Probably not all pot byproduct.

Less happily, Coffey Park area of Santa Rosa before and after ...

OK, that's a keeper. Well done sir.

Antonoff is just killing it at the moment. He also co-wrote and produced Lorde's Melodrama. And his own output is just as good, in my opinion, which is pretty rare.

This is a bit of a departure. She's almost willfully eclectic but definitely worth checking out the prior output. Has real guitar chops too which should interest you?

There was a FB thread with the winemakers/employees of the estates going back and forth last night and this morning. Obviously a lot of confusion — let’s hope for the least worst outcome!

Fire has already destroyed a bunch of great wineries — Darioush, Chimney Rock, James Cole, Reynolds, William Hill and Signorello have all gone up in flames. Absolute tragedy for the region and the industry. [emoji853]

New album next week, produced by Jack Antonoff (Bleachers). I am hyped!

Just gets better ... https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/10/equifax-breach-fallout-your-salary-history/

Yeah, we are covered in drifting ash up here. It's a bit nerve-wracking to wake up at night to so much smoke and not know whether the source is local. I went around the perimeter at 3:00 am looking for fire glow, couldn't see any so went back to bed. It's very, very dry everywhere ...

You're going soft on us?

Despite Grahame's relentless negativity, I hooked up the 4K Apple TV tonight and now my screensavers look way better.

Very sorry to hear. RIP to a good man gone far too soon.

Happy birthday!

Do intend to. Like most of the other stuff, still figuring out how it all works ...

Like this much better live than on the record.

Or wine hauler!