The French Market Celebrates Bastille Day With World Cup Championship!

The French Market was like the happiest place on Earth yesterday, when on the very day they had long planned for their annual Bastille Day celebration, France played in the World Cup final - and won! You've never seen more happy Frenchmen and women - except for maybe in actual France.

I was a bit torn as to who to root for, as I love my Frenchies, but my dearest friend back home is married to a Croatian man, and when I was home for a visit recently, we were cheering for Croatia all the way - like wearing the merch cheering. I looked at it as a win-win, because I'd really and truly be happy either way ... and let's face it, it's really a bunch of men kicking a ball around, so the world would still continue to spin around, whatever the outcome.

The French, however, were all in. Because it was also the Bastille Day shindig, the stage was already set with the tri-color bunting and flags everywhere. There was a t.v. set up inside and outside, to better watch the riveting match that really was not reflected well in the final score of 4-2. Croatia played wonderfully, but France got the ball in the net two times more and that was that. Venice erupted in cheers (in French) and cars waving flags drove back and forth between The French Market and Zinqué, with French happiness at a zenith. You couldn't help but share in their joy as people were lifted off of the ground in ecstatic embraces between countrymen/women. The elation was truly infectious.

Champagne flowed as people got their faces and bodies painted in the red, white, and blue of France, and French Market owner, Agnes Martinez, beamed at the sight of so many of her friends and fellow French folk went crazy with that special kind of jubilation that seems to only come from winning soccer games ...

... and maybe Can Can girls! When the Moulin Rouge type girls made their entrance to the French Market patio, the people gathered erupted in cheers again, and rowdily cheered on the dancers kicking up their heels to the classic French anthems. It was about as close as you could get to Gay Paree without actually being there, and everyone was loving it.

Bastille Day is already a packed to the rafters affair each year at The French Market, but to have it coincide with the World Cup Final - it was super extra tight squeeze in there. They had all the French specialties going (Croque Monsiuer, etc ...), as well as non-stop refilling of the celebratory bubbly, and they did it all with smiles - and berets on! Kudos to the hard workers that are there ever day, but especially in the mad house that was yesterday! Love you guys!

French Toast (The French Market mascot) was there to oversee it all, and perhaps played the good luck charm role that was needed to lift France over Croatia, without the extra time that Croatia had been forcing the whole tournament. Whatever it takes!

I was so happy for my French friends, looking around at how over the top happy they all were. It was a doubly special day for them all, and it was a delight to celebrate with and for them on a perfect Summer day on Abbot Kinney!  Vive La France!!

O.G. Trike For Sale!

We were out on a foggy sunset walk last night at the beach, and when we strolled past Hinano's, I noticed a little trike locked up there ... and its little sign announcing it for sale.

Classic Venice Beach Tricycle 

38,000 Original miles - ALL WEST OF LINCOLN (mainly Speedway and The Boardwalk)

Pretty sweet off jumps and handles like the old roller coaster before it burnt down 

Safety bar removed for extra ballsy-ness

Vintage marine layer oxidation w/candy apple red

Imagine yourself in the cockpit of this little beauty! 

$150,000 OBO

Price includes lock/chain

Enquire (sic) @ Maui & Sons

Best offer takes her on Saturday at 2:00

Pretty sweet off jumps! I love it. I love fun people. Keep up the good work of fun, everyone! We need it now more than ever. It seems a little steep to me, but you know Venice these days ... I just hope it goes to a good family.

XOXO.

Reggae Night At The Pier!

Last night was Reggae Night at the Santa Monica Pier for the Twilight Dance Series. The star of the evening musically was Sister Nancy, but the real center of attention was the beautiful night sky.

Each Thursday, I hear a giant bike squad go by, blaring a huge old school boom box. They ride as one big group, and it always makes my day. We exchange whistles and waves, and it lets me know it's time to get on the road to the Pier myself. I love them, and this time got my camera going just in time to catch a little of it to show you what I mean. Awesome.

We all needed a walk (and all lack working bikes at the moment), so we set off on foot. It could not have been a more perfect night for a Summer stroll, and it also gives you the chance to better things out than if you're flying by on a bike or a car. Like these cool members of another bike posse, all decked out in lights, and I liked to think, rasta colors.

By the time we got to the pier, the sun had set, so it was time to lie back on the blanket in the sand and look for some straggler meteors. We saw none, but there were distractions. The Twilight Concert Series folks have GOT to figure out something about speakers for the people (thousands!) on the sand that honestly have to have extra bionic ears to eke out one bass note. There also used to be a screen facing the sand, so the Sand People could also catch a glimpse of the action. Not anymore.

There is nothing better than a Pier concert to show off what it's like to live and love Summer in Southern California ... but it's a total zoo up on the actual pier (especially if you have kids and/or dogs along) so it would be excellent if we chillers on the beach could see and hear too.

After a while of stargazing and knowing that somewhere over there was actual music, we decided to head back, knowing that we could actually hear the music better on the wind. Sure enough, right about by Shutters, we heard the distant strains of "Bam Bam" ... and all was well.

One Love, Rastas! So fun. So happy to be back in the land of Good Vibrations! Yes I.

The Replacements Live At The Hollywood Palladium!

We'd been excited for months about The Replacements getting back together and playing at The Hollywood Palladium, and I'm actually still super buzzed from last night's show. It was so fun, I felt like I'd time traveled back to Minneapolis to back in the DAY. That was helped by literally bumping into friends from back in the day every few feet it seemed. SO. FUN. Especially because absolutely everyone there was all the way into it. The whole time.

I went in to this show kind of off duty because the plan was to simply rage and feel and love it all without taking notes and photos (and I didn't have my rad photographer Paul G. with me either). So that's what I did, but now today am so hyper about it that I still have to write something to share with you how awesome it was. This band ... !



For the die hards, here is the stellar set list:

I'm In Trouble
Kissin' In Action (with a little Sabbath thrown in - Iron Man)
Little Mascara
Color Me Impressed (I was)
Love You Till Friday (I did)
Maybellene (Chuck Berry cover)
Treatment Bound (when Tommy said they all used to be a mess on stage and now he went to the                                      gym. Where he was on the treadmill for nine whole seconds before he needed a                                    cigarette.)
Take Me Down To The Hospital
Waitress In The Sky
Valentine
Achin' To Be
Kiss Me On The Bus
Nobody
I Will Dare
Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out (with a little Hendrix "Third Stone From The Sun")
Sixteen Blue
The Ledge
I'll Be You

Whole Food Blues (awesome)
Can't Hardly Wait (And my friend Deb was there who wrote and directed the movie of the same name and I was so happy for her that they played it!)
Bastards Of Young
My Boy Lollipop (Barbie Gaye cover)
Never Mind

Then they left the stage and the sardine-like crowd roared for more. If you know my friend Shane and I at all well, you know that we LOVE the song "Skyway". LOVE. I also learned that singing that to girls in a real skyway was Shane's high school game. Smooth. But we are not people - nor should you be - that yell out requests, and I said, "It's going to happen organically. It's going to. I know it. But time was running out. Then Paul Westerberg came out alone, with just a 12 string acoustic. He played his solo act song, "Ghost On The Canvas". Then ... suddenly, the opening chords to "Skyway"! And Shane and I died happy. Then rose again to have the moment captured. Which it really wasn't, but you can probably tell our heads are beaming and about to explode with joy. Such a beautiful song, such a special treat of a moment with great friends and memories. Thanks, Paul!

The rest of the band came back out for the next encore and we got "Left Of The Dial" and the fantastic "Alex Chilton". Right about here was when I seriously contemplated dropping down off the balcony to stage dive across the entire Palladium floor. It just felt like the right thing to do, almost required. The guys suggested I stay put, so I settled for dancing around like the girl in the Sia videos.

The wonderful Replacements left the stage again, but there was such a thunderous roar for more that they came back out and played - aptly - "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5 (!) then closed out the night with "I.O.U." Phew. The lights came on and everyone was spent from the rock and the loudness of it all, but the happiest exhaustion you can imagine.

The merch line was endless, the lines for street dogs outside were endless, and the total fun of it all seemed endless too, as we kept bumping into more (super happy) people we knew. I even walked smack into one of my dearest friend's brother-in-law in town from Minneapolis! The celebration continued on in the parking lot with everyone raving on about what was their favorite song, swapping show stories from back in the day, and altogether not wanting the night to be over.

So, I guess I'm saying you probably want to get there when they come to your town. It's a damn good time, even without a Minneapolis connection. The Replacements are BACK, People!