Yesterday (02/06/2013), Anna and I returned to the
Dueling Pianos show at Johnny Foley's Irish pub in San Francisco. We'd been there before, on Anna's birthday last year, and had a great time--we actually stayed until just after midnight (those of you who know us will know what this means).
This time we didn't stay quite until midnight--11:30, I think. The two dueling pianists were different from the pair we'd seen last year, not quite as fun, musically, but perhaps a little edgier in the comedy department.
If you haven't seen a piano bar show like this, put it on your bucket list. Some players are a little risque, some crass, and I'm sure there are some that take things too far. But when the entertainers are just right (an appropriate combination of musical and comedic talent), it's an amazing experience. The players are typically the kind of musical genius, of which most of us at least know one or two--they can play by ear, they have an immense mental library of lyrics, and they can flip from country to rap to heavy metal in the blink of an eye. The premise, only loosely employed, is that bar patrons can bid on requests, and the players must play the currently highest-bid song. If you don't like a song they're playing, bid up your own song instead.
Of course, there are some staple tunes that the musicians are probably tired of playing--Piano Man, Hotel California, Johnny Be Good, Sweet Caroline, etc. Rarely do they ever play a whole song from start to finish, and often times they roll from one to another without even batting an eye, modifying the lyrics on the fly to tell a joke, or drop some innuendo on unsuspecting listeners. But all the comedy and sometimes-crudeness aside, the music is really something to behold.
Both times, I've felt a little bit like a kid at the circus--grinning from ear to ear, swept away by the music and the banter and the musical genius we're witnessing.
The only downside is that they generally start so late at night--9:30 in this case. If the show started at a more reasonable hour, we'd probably go again and again.
For now, I guess we'll make it an annual affair.
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On Friday (02/08), we spent most of the day working, of course, but had lunch with a small AirBnB Meetup group. We met Matt and Jennifer from Chicago, who run an upholstery business and a SCUBA diving training business, and were traveling to San Franscisco for fun. We also met Lenny, an AirBnB engineer, part of the new Meetup division they're starting. Ironically, Lenny actually knows Jessica, our AirBnB host (whom, unfortunately, we will not be able to meet personally). 
On Sunday (02/10), Anna and I participated in the Love 'em or Leave 'em Valentine's Day Dash, a 5k race through Golden Gate Park. It was actually a fairly low-turnout event, probably less than 500 runners total. Loved seeing the kids' dash--some as young as 3 and 4 years old, I think.
