Shaking and Baking at the Potato
The Boys in the Boat, Sushi Tomoki, Hootie & The Blowfish, Paige Bueckers, Escaping Escargot
Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This issue includes new music from my favorite artists, a book about boys in a boat, a sushi bar next door to The Baked Potato, a band from South Carolina, a women’s college basketball star, and a slimy snail. I hope you like the picks and pics.
In Roger’s bracket pool, our family holds 6 of the top 13 (out of 120) positions heading into the Final Four. 3-year-old Noah (with a bit of advice from his papa) is in first place. I am in second and 13th, Barb is in 4th and 11th, and Tracy is in 10th. Unfortunately, our Spartans lost a tough one to Auburn on Sunday, so Tracy will not be the ultimate winner. But it was a fine season for both Michigan and Michigan State. Barb, Roger, and I look forward to seeing some great games this weekend in San Antonio.
My brother David played two killer sets at The Baked Potato in LA on Friday. We caught the first show with Roger, Cristi, and David’s friend Claudia. We were joined at our table by Steve Porcaro (of TOTO) and his friend Heather.
This was our last night with Roger and his family before they flew home to Maryland the next day. It was the culmination of a wonderful week of family fun.
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Fave Five 130: Shaking and Baking at the Potato
Rapid Rowing (The Boys in the Boat), Studio City Sushi (Sushi Tomoki) South Carolina Singers (Hootie & The Blowfish), Hooping Husky (Paige Bueckers), and an Escaping Escargot.
Fave Five List: Ten New Releases by My Favorite Artists
Ten of my favorite artists released new albums or EPs last month:
Book Best Bet
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
Barb read this and recommended it to me. I liked it a lot and also enjoyed the movie version.
From Amazon: The number one New York Times best-selling story about American Olympic triumph in Nazi Germany, the inspiration for the PBS documentary The Boys of '36, broadcast that coincided with the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 80th anniversary of the boys' gold medal race.
An irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.
It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew team was never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and Great Britain, yet they did, going on to shock the world by defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler. The emotional heart of the tale lies with Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not only to regain his shattered self-regard but also to find a real place for himself in the world. Drawing on the boys’ own journals and vivid memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, Brown has created an unforgettable portrait of an era, a celebration of a remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary young man’s personal quest.
Daniel James Brown grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Diablo Valley College, the University of California at Berkeley, and UCLA. In 2024 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Washington.
He taught writing at San Jose State University and Stanford before becoming a technical writer and editor. He now writes narrative nonfiction books full time. His primary interest as a writer is in bringing compelling historical events to life as vividly and accurately as he can.
He lives in the country outside of Seattle, Washington with his wife, a dog named Quincy, and some honeybees. When he is not writing, he is likely to be birding, gardening, fly fishing, reading American history, or chasing bears away from the beehives.
Restaurant Recommendation
Sushi Tomoki 3791 Cahuenga Blvd, Studio City, Los Angeles, CA 91604
This place is next door to The Baked Potato. We dined there before the show with David, Claudia, Roger, and Cristi. The meal reminded me that sushi on the west coast is much fresher and tastier than in the Midwest.
Yellowtail Sashimi with Yuzu Sauce
Akami (lean tuna) Sushi
Red Snapper and Salmon Sushi
Albacore Sushi
California Roll
Tempura
Marvelous Musicians
We saw the band for the second time at the March 8, 2025 benefit show in Santa Barbara. I bought Cracked Rear View in 1994 and liked the hits on that CD. We saw the reunited band perform at Pine Knob Music Theatre on Aug 16, 2019, with Barenaked Ladies opening. I like the two duets Darius Rucker recorded with Nanci Griffith: "Gulf Coast Highway" and "Love at the Five and Dime."
From Wikipedia: Hootie & the Blowfish is an American rock band that was formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band went on hiatus in 2008 until a full reunion tour in 2019 when they released their first new studio album in fourteen years, Imperfect Circle. As of 2019, the band had charted sixteen singles on various Billboard singles charts and recorded six studio albums. Their debut album, Cracked Rear View (1994), is the 19th-best-selling album of all time in the United States, and was certified platinum 21 times. In 1986, they adopted the name Hootie & the Blowfish, a conjunction of the nicknames of two of their college friends. The band is routinely featured in articles and polls about badly-named bands. Rucker is often mistaken as being the "Hootie" in the band's name.
Hannah Jane
Only Wanna Be With You
Time
My Playlist
Sports Star
Take a look at Paige’s numbers in earning Spokane Region 4 Most Outstanding Player and leading UConn to the Women’s Final Four:
35.5 PPG
55.6 FG%
62.5 3-pt FG%
4.5 RPG
3.5 APG
2.0 BPG
3.5 SPG
From Wikipedia: Paige Madison Bueckers (born October 20, 2001 in Edina, Minnesota) is an American college basketball player for the UConn Huskies of the Big East Conference.
Nicknamed "Paige Buckets", Bueckers attended Hopkins High School in Hopkins, Minnesota and was ranked as the number one recruit in her class by ESPN, receiving national high school player of the year honors. In her first season at UConn, Bueckers became the first freshman to earn a major national women's college player of the year award, winning all four for which she was eligible. She led UConn to the Final Four of the 2021 NCAA tournament and set program records for assists by a freshman and single-game assists. Bueckers missed most of her sophomore season with a left knee injury but led her team to the national championship game. She was ruled out for her junior season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Bueckers returned in the following season, being named a unanimous first-team All-American for a second time and leading the Huskies to the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA tournament.
Bueckers has won three gold medals with the United States at the youth international level, including at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, where she was named Most Valuable Player. She was a Youth Olympic gold medalist in 3x3 basketball and has played for the senior national 3x3 team. Bueckers was recognized as USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year in 2019.
Picture Pun
Moving his cargo at a snail’s pace.
