Back To The Future (sort of...)
This Saturday (Aug 02), The Internationals™ go "Back To The Future". They will be performing at Little Switzerland in El Verano (that's basically Sonoma, CA) from 8:00 pm to midnight.

Little Switzerland is an old haunt for The Internationals™ -- as well as many of the Chico Bavarian Band -- so this is truly a "Back To The Future" kind of event.

Many of us used to pop in there way back in our college days -- which is a bit farther back than most of us want to admit... (OK, OK, just because the handheld calculator was invented about the same time that we started college doesn't mean we're old. Just chronologically challenged!) We especially enjoyed the house band back then, but they've since moved off to greener pastures (Hi Al; hope all is going well.)

So The Internationals™ will be providing this Saturday's entertainment for -- as it says on the Little Switzerland web site -- "Polka & More"! The doors open at 5:00 pm, and the band starts at 8:00 pm.

If you haven't checked out Little Switzerland, it's worth the drive wherever you are. The new owners have the place is in terrific shape! It is a truly wonderful place for an evening of good food, good music, and even an adult beverage or two! :-)

(And no, this is not a paid endorsement. I just genuinely like the place!)

Prost!
- posted by Frank @ 4:01 PM

 
The Internationals Are At Teske's This Saturday!
Don't forget that The Internationals will be at Teske's Germania this Saturday night (7/26). They'll be playing from 6:30 pm to 11:30 pm, out in the patio (weather permitting of course, but that shouldn't be a problem...).

Teske's generally does not take reservations for the patio -- seating is usually first-come first-served when the boys play. If you need directions to Teske's, you can find the address and phone number on The Internationals 2003 Schedule Page, or on Teske's web site.

Prost!
- posted by Frank @ 5:10 PM

 
The Guestbook Challenge
As many have noted, the Guestbook is getting a significant amount of spam these days. I'm currently checking it every day or two and removing the offending entries in the hopes that the spammers will get tired of posting to a system that keeps erasing their entries. Unfortunately, they may be much more patient about such things than I...

So we'll see how it goes. If this continues to be a problem, I'll look into alternatives -- perhaps there's a way to block certain URLs or IP addresses. If not, then I may ultimately have to shut the guestbook down. (I know what you're thinking; "oh no... anything but that!") We shall see.

Program Note: Don't forget to check out the next performance of The Internationals. They'll be playing at Teske's Germania in San Jose (CA) on July 26th.

Prost!
- posted by Frank @ 5:32 PM

 
Links Page Updated
Just a quick note to let you know that I've updated the Links Page. It had been a while...

There was only one dead link -- I've left it on the page in case it comes back to life, but noted that it's currently out of commission.

I also added a few new ones. I figured it was about time...

Prost!
- posted by Frank @ 3:34 PM

 
CBB Logo
I just added the CBB logo to the header of this page. Now it looks a bit more like it belongs to the site.

OK, so yes, this page is turning out to be my latest toy... but hey, you have to start somewhere!

And I like toys! :-)

- Frank

- posted by Frank @ 5:21 PM

 
Welcome to the Chico Bavarian Band BLOG...
So what's up with this, you say? Read on...

OK, so we have had two locations on the site that have become favorites of spammers; the Guestbook, and the Message Board. The Guestbook gets about a 50/50 ratio of real visiters and spammers, so I diligently try to keep up with spam removal on that page. The Message Board, on the other hand, is considerably worse. In fact, it has been used almost exclusively by spammers for some time now.

So I decided to eliminate one source of spam completely. If you came here looking for the Message Board, you are not lost: indeed, you found it -- or more accurately, you found what it has become -- the Chico Bavarian Band BLOG!

This way I accomplish two things; (1) I only have to kill the spam on the Guestbook, not the Message Board. (2) I can post stuff about The Chico Bavarian Band, as well as our friends and cohorts The Internationals, and any other "stuff" that I feel might be of interest to someone somewhere. It may be Oktoberfests, Faschings, or any other German, Austrian, Swiss or Bavarian event that might come along. Or it may be about something totally different. Who knows...

By the way, if you don't know what a BLOG is, it is "web speak" for "Web Log", and is pretty much just the ramblings of whoever's writing it -- which in this case is me. (If you are over the age of 40, there's a good chance you had no idea what a BLOG was until you got here. No problem. If you are under the age of 40 and don't know what a BLOG is, you've probably been living on a remote island somewhere.)

And who am I, you ask? I am the webmaster for The Chico Bavarian Band (this site), The Internationals, The San Carlos Community Band, and The Santa Clara Valley Section of the American Radio Relay League.

I'm also a charter member of The Chico Bavarian Band, a member in (reasonably) good standing of The San Carlos Community Band, and a life member of the ARRL.

So we'll see what comes of this little endeavor. I suspect it will be like many of my undertakings; I'll spend a lot of time on it at first, and less time as the months and years pass. But who knows... maybe this will become the central point of contact for European music news for all of the San Francisco Bay Area! (Hey, it could happen...)



- posted by Frank @ 3:27 PM