And the blues play on

I don't visit bars as much as I did back in my 20s, or even my 30s, but there is something unbeatable about just the right bar.

Sometime I have a craving for a neighborhood hangout, a little hole in the wall spot where the bartenders and waitresses know your order and have your drink waiting for you by the time you reach your bar stool.

Other times, I have a craving for a sports bar, a place to hang out and grab a burger and a beer while watching a game.

But on some occasions, I really want a place with some high energy, a place that buzzes with electricity from the patrons and a band playing life music. In the months after I moved to Salem, whenever I would ask people I met where was the best place to go for nightlife in town, one of the names that inevitably cropped up was Lefty's Pizzeria and Blues Club.

It was my kind of joint, fitting many of my favorite tastes for food (pizza), beer (microbrews) and music -- in this case, blues.

Blues as been a favorite musical genre since college. Anyone with a taste for blues will tell you, there is nothing like hearing blues live, because like the music it inspired, jazz, musicians improvise during a performance, giving even classic blues songs their own fingerprint.

Unfortunately, I have not had listened to a lot of live blues. But now, living back in the Pacific Northwest, it seemed like I would get more opportunities to do so. Portland has a vibrant and respected blues scene and plays hose every year to the Waterfront Blues Festival. As I came to learn, Lefty's was considered by many one of the best blues venues for live music in the Northwest.

In my early explorations as an iPod owner, I discovered a podcast based out of Portland that talked about the Portland and Northwest blues scene and featured music from artists based here, or who have some connection to Portland and the Pacific Northwest. The podcast, PDX Bluescast, became an immediate favorite.

Sadly, the PDX Bluescast has not had a new episode in over a year now. And now this month came word that Lefty's had closed.

But the blues itself does not die. Just as the legends of the genre eventually pass on, the music itself is passed down to new generations of musicians. And fortunately, I have found a new place to satisfy my thirst for blues, but this one's based a little farther south -- south of the equator and across the Pacific to be precise. My new home for the blues, and the new podcast I turn to for a mix of classic blues and emerging voices is the Salty Dog Blues N Roots Podcast from Melbourne, Australia.

So thanks, Salty, for satisfying that craving, both salty and sweet, tangy and twangy, like a slice of pizza with pepperoni and pineapple and a liberal dose of Tabasco.

RIP Lefty's and the PDX Bluescast. You are missed, but we can all take comfort in the fact that the blues plays on.

Dietary Catch-22

I took the unusual step of buying groceries the other day, which is something I'm not prone to doing. To say that my refrigerator and cupboards are usually bare would be an understatement. But I thought that maybe I would stock up on some food in an effort to save a little money and perhaps eat a little healthier.

But having food in the house reminds me that I have the unfortunate tendency to eat when I'm bored. I tried getting healthier types of foods and one of my frequent snacks the last few days has been oranges. However, I am afraid that I may end up eating too much just because there is stuff here to eat. Ordinarily, on a weekend, it may not be altogether unusual that I only eat one meal a day if I have to leave the house to forage for grub. Dealing with traffic near my house on weekends can be a nightmare, so I tend not to relish going out into that mess.

But what I really need to do is find new stuff to do. Different things. Develop some hobbies or interests that get me out of the house. Fortunately I spent part of the weekend out of town and it's beginning to look like I will have obligations out of town for the next three weekends, so maybe that will help keep me occupied and from enduring insufferable boredom.

It's sort of ironic. When I was younger I used to get myself involved in all sorts of stuff. I had to carry a calendar book to keep things straight and make sure I didn't have conflicts or had enough time to get from commitment to commitment in time. It would get to the point where I was overbooked and would get overwhelmed with events and activities. Somewhere along the way I learned to say no and avoid overbooking almost to the point of not committing to do anything or go anywhere at all. I took relaxation and doing nothing to the level of art form.

But I think the time has come to get back out there. Say yes now an again to invitations, get out and enjoy some of the local events, spend time with family and try to make some new friends. It's either that or sit at home, wasting time and eating my way through the week's groceries in a couple of days.