Bon Voyage, Brad and Tricia

Last night, I met Brad and Tricia Stiles for dinner in North Beach.They stopped over in San Francisco en route to the Big Island. Before dinner, we had drinks at Vesuvio's (made even more famous with that verse about it in our much ballyhooed or bellyached song about cruising North Beach - email me privately for the lyrics). Rob Bleetstein and I got there just ahead of our out-of-towners and secured the only available downstairs table, right inside the door, facing out on to Columbus and Kerouac. I caught a couple of glimpses of Mark Schwartz as he walked by. Not long after the Stiles' arrived, a long black stretch pulled up in front of City Lights. I didn't give it much thought: nowadays, most of the time when you see vehicles like that, it is either teenagers on prom night or a large group of Japanese tourists. Surprise! This time, it was Nicholas Cage. He actually looks very handsome in person. He headed down Columbus toward his uncle's restaurant but in a few minutes, he was back on the street in front of City Lights, got in the limo and rode off into the night. And here I thought that table was a bad choice because we were sort of in the doorway and thus, in the line of fire for any incoming cold air.

After drinks, we moved the party across the street to E Tutto Qua where we met up with Deb Grabien. That restaurant has the best beet and arugula salad I have ever had (in addition to great pasta). We had a great meal. The Stiles' had to get up and leave for the airport this morning at 6:30 so we made it a relatively early evening. Yee-gawds!

Speaking of Rob Bleetstein, he told me that there are some great new NRPS hats and patches coming up so keep watch for them at the upcoming shows!