Had a great time today in downtown Oakland at the 4th Annual Oakland Art & Soul Festival. Weather was nearly perfect—kind of hot in the sun, but with a refreshing breeze coming off the bay.

Lots of vendors—food, art, crafts, etc—and at least four stages of diverse entertainment. Ting and I enjoyed heaping plates of food from the folks who run TJ's Gingerbread House (you'd know it if you passed it on the street...) — excellent jambalaya, and a surprisingly spicy sauce on the red beans and rice (or maybe it was the sausage that was spicy... I dunno, I was in food heaven!).

After blowing off most of Mindy Smith's set to search out grub, Ting and I parked ourselves at the KFOG stage, dead center, about 60 feet back, for a decent set from Patti Griffin (who's headed back into the sweetly saccharine Nancy Griffith territory, from the sound of today's show), and a wildly rockin blast from Los Lobos to close the afternoon.

JDA and Diane joined us just as the set change occured, and just before the scene congealed from mildly crowded to insanely crowded. Good timing!!! Ran into a bunch of the usual suspects (and a few unusual ones too), but no other wheelies.

Los Lobos ended their set with a pretty energetic version of the Who's 'My Generation' — complete with the rumbling bass solo from Conrad, who must have been practicing to get that one down...it's certainly got to be harder than the riff that opens the Other One!

Following the show, a bunch of us retired to the Pacific Coast Brewing Company, where we were treated to a wide variety of refreshing beverages. I'm tempted to say that the Blue Whale IPA was the best, though I had only a sip or two, being more attracted instead by some of the other choices on the long drink menu. Next time I think I'll start off with a sampler, assuming they have one to offer!

Hope that everyone else had a nice Sunday!!!