My pre-birthday trip to the city to see the Go-Betweens perform at Slim's was no less godlike than expected. After a relaxing train ride working on revising my NIH grant, i met up with V and subsequently Naomi in the city. We attempted to try something new and have dinner at Citizen Cake, and were even successful in getting a table as walk-ins. However, shortly after sitting down we realized 1) this was no cheap dining, and 2) there was only one vegetarian dish on the menu, of questionable appeal. So we absconded to old faithful Chai Yo, after which V and i dropped Naomi off at home and headed to Soma and Slim's. We caught about half of openers The Court And Spark's set, featuring an interesting countryfied cover of Depeche Mode's "Policy of Truth". The venue wasn't too crowded, but for some reason everyone was standing five feet from the stage during the openers. We made our way to the front, stage left by the end of their set, and sure enough as soon as tCaS said good night, everyone took four steps forward. Don't let the opening band think you're interested, people. We were able to get a spot right against the stage, and as such were able to the read the set list. It looked fantastic ... lots of highlights from their latest album Oceans Apart, and plenty of older favorites. The band entered shortly thereafter, Robert Forster decked out in a black and white herringbone suit while Grant McLennan opted for the more casual jeans and t-shirt. They were joined by new Go-Betweens in the drummer and bassist, who brought a playful mood to the evening. Diving straight into "Magic in Here" from their reunion album The Friends of Rachel Worth, i was enthralled. Highlights included "Boundary Rider" and "Darlinghurst Nights" from Oceans Apart, and classics "Was There Anything I Could Do?", "Streets of Your Town", and "Spring Rain". The band reemerged for no less than four encores, hitting more highs in personal favorite "Head Full of Steam" as well as "Dive for Your Memory", "Too Much of One Thing", and "Cattle and Cane". Wow. I can't even begin to convey how great this show was.

The dogs were thrilled to have us home when we returned from our late night, and we slumbered in anticipation of a day of cleaning. Have to get the house ready for Ana and Arlene! We did our best before picking them up in San Jose at 7:45pm. Ana was raring to go after being cooped up in a plane all day. We tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to feed her dinner at Red Robin, before hitting the market and heading home. I passed out somewhere around 11:30pm while Ana was still a Tazmanian devil-esque whirlwind.

And then i turned 31.

Sunday we met up with my parents and Hilary and Jeff for a father's day/birthday brunch at the Cheesecake Factory in Palo Alto. That was nice and relaxing, and got us energized for an afternoon of paint shopping. We settled on a scheme for our bathroom, and i began to ponder modifications in the living room. I've come to the realization that the phone/cable wall jack we had Bud install is not sufficient for our new DirecTV/VoIP setup. This afternoon i'll be installing a new 3 panel jack, with 2 electrical sockets, 2 coaxial cable attachments, and 2 phone jacks. That will necessitate cutting the wall to place a larger junction box, and shutting off the electricity so i don't fry myself.