John and Marita Visit

Our previously local friends moved to southern California a couple years ago and they came up north for a visit June 18-23. We had a great time. John and Marita arrived Thursday 6/18 evening and we saw them again on Friday 6/19, Sunday 6/21 and Monday 6/22. We kept the food and the activities low key, relaxing and enjoying our time spent together.

Costco to the rescue for our meals. We had Chicken al Fresco one night, Stuffed Bell Peppers the next night, and, on a third night we ate leftovers from each of those other dinners calling it "a night to remember". I only needed to add rice, or a salad, or fruit, to round out the meals.

We had planned a local Chinese restaurant, the Yin Yin for our Monday night meal, only to learn they were closed on Monday's. Oh well, that was poor planning on my part. But we recovered on the fly with plan B, not as elegant but satisfying, fast, and easy. Marita and I hopped in the car and drove out to get an assortment from Panda Express.

Snacks were not at all overlooked — Costco to the rescue again. Some snacks were even healthy! All the peaches from the flat were delicious, the best I have had the past several seasons. Often times grocery store peaches are the right color and soft enough but they rot rather than ripen fully. These were awesome, sweet and just the right texture.

We watched some television. John and Marita recommended the movie Holiday in the Wild. They had already seen it but were willing to watch again with us. They urged us to find it and turn it on via Netflix (where it was free, by the way). The Africa and elephant scenes were amazing and well worth the time invested watching. I recommend it.

Frank and John had a lunch date on Monday with their colleagues from the lab, aka The Beam Boys, where they watched the classic movie Dr. Strangelove. The six guys ordered in pizza and there was a popcorn cook off for the connoisseurs comparing different recipes and techniques. The popcorn cooked in avocado oil and drenched in butter won.

John and Frank also bonded over watching YouTube. As evidenced in the photo, both employed their habitual watching techniques. There is companionship even in slumber. Marita and I finished off a 500 piece jigsaw puzzles while the guys "took a break" and "relaxed".

We assembled several puzzles during their visit: one with 500 pieces and two with 300 pieces each.  All were Ravensburger and large-pieces format that went together like a dream.

We played a few round, of Rummikub, some just with Marita and me (while the guys "watched" YouTube), and other rounds with all four of us. We modify the game to include a 3-D version. Our set is a Target exclusive that has four different wild card jokers: regular joker, double joker, mirror joker, and color change joker. Per the rules, the player who gets rid of all his tiles first is the winner. We play that when someone becomes tile-less, we all work together to see if now, with what is on the table, we can all go out. We all agree this final skirmish is the most fun and challenging part of the game.

We spent  most of the time talking and enjoying being together. John and Frank are the same age and Marita and I are within one year of each other so we all have a lot in common and share the challenges of the "golden years". We tried to repeatedly steer the topic away from the "Organ Recital" (health issue discussions) common among the elderly. We were moderately successful. We were never short on topics of mutual interest, and we laughed a lot. Here is a cute poem about the "golden years".

I cannot see, I can not pee.

I cannot chew, I cannot screw.

My memory shrinks, my hearing stinks.

No sense of smell, I look like hell.

The golden years are here at last.

The golden years can kiss my ass.

And one final joke to end this blog post:

A senior citizen was talking to his friend about getting married. "Yep!" he said, "I finally found someone." His friend asked, "Is she a good cook?" The man replied, "Naw, she can't cook." "Well, is she wealthy?" "Nope, poor as a mouse." Exasperated, his friend asked, "Then why on earth are you marrying her?" The man beamed, "Because she can still drive!"

Back to the Future

Saturday, June 6th, Frank and I went to the matinee performance of the musical Back to the Future at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.  The night before we watched the movie to refresh our memories and get more out of the stage production. For the plot of the musical see this Wikipedia article. We collected our programs and settled in to our seats, our usual Row 12 seats 45,47 on house right.

The show was great! The costumes were colorful, the dancing energetic, and the lead did an excellent job that I could almost believe it was Michael J Fox up there playing the role of Marty McFly. Biff and the Doc also gave talented performances, just as I remembered those characters to be - dumb and eccentric respectively. But I think the real star of the show though, was the Delorean that appeared majestically and magically during a thunderous blackout and subsequent blinding lightning bolt.

The staging was also awesome with an added engaging feature. Some of the backdrop was three-dimensional and some was projected, and you could not tell which was which. At one point Frank was certain the Delorean was projected — until the driver door lifted up and Marty stepped out of it. The speed scenes of the car racing through the town of Hill Valley were artistically and flawlessly achieved with a real 3-D and projected blend. How they spun around and maneuvered that car within the confined rotating space of the stage was truly impressive. 

The music numbers were peppy and enjoyable, although understanding the lyrics was not a strong point for either Frank me. Reading the lyrics the night before the show would have been beneficial, but then that would have seemed like homework. Watching the movie was enough prep. Although may words were not clear I got the gist of the song's meaning and could soak up the enthusiasm of each. The songs were all new, so not familiar, except for one. When Marty plays his guitar and sings Johnny B. Goode I recognized that musical number and relished his performance of it. 

At the end of the show an image quoting the mutilated brilliance of Bif was projected."Make like a tree and get outta here!" We crept along with the exiting crowd way to the lobby,  not at the precise speed of 88 mph but we got there eventually, and finished off our outing with some poster photos in the lobby.