"Peak of Summer" Tomato Festival

One of the adventures I love most is finding unique festivals to attend. A few years ago I attended the Ostrich Festival in Chandler, Arizona. (That's another story.) This month I attended the "Peak of Summer Tomato Festival" in Hollywood, California. This festival was part of the local Farmer's Market.

I never knew there were so many varieties of tomatoes.

As part of the festival there was a sampling table of about 15 varieties of tomatoes. Have you ever heard of a black cherry tomato or a mahogany, mango or evergreen tomato? I hadn't and, of course, I had to taste every one.

The Japanese and Brandywine were especially sweet. The mango and pineapple tomatoes each had a hint of the fruit and the black cherry did have a black cherry taste to it.

There was also a great tasting event where the guest chef hollowed out a large tomato and you got to personally stuff it with different herbs and cheeses. The favors blended so well and the taste just exploded in my mouth. I can still taste the tomato as I am writing this.

Check it out for next year at http://www.farmernet.com/events/event-info?event_id=1785

Rockstar in INXS

On August 17th I invited my girlfriend over for dinner. We were having a wonderful evening when abruptly she announced that she had to go home to watch "Rockstar in INXS". It was a funny moment.

She said it was her favorite show and that she watched it and then called her girlfriend after the show to discuss the details.

Fast forward a couple of days...
On Friday, August 19th I was going to the Hollywood Bowl with another friend and was meeting up with her at a local mall. While I was waiting for my girlfriend I went window shopping. As I was walking through the mall I happened upon a radio station giving away prizes. I walked up to see what they were doing and couldn't believe my eyes. They were giving away tickets to the taping of "Rockstar in INXS."

I asked if I could put my name in the drawing and they said they were on the last name. I decided to put my name in anyway. They drew the name for the last pair of tickets but the person wasn't there. (You had to be present to win.) They pulled another name. That person wasn't there. They pulled another couple of names and those people weren't there. Finally, they drew, you guessed it, my name. I couldn't believe it. Three days ago I didn't know who INXS was and now I was off to the taping.