Last night, Cheryl and I joined Jonathan Strahan -- just arrived from Australia -- for dinner at the Thirsty Bear Brewing Company (where I drank possibly the fifth or sixth glass of beer in my life, as I like their vanilla ale) before heading to the Oracle Arena for the Bruce Springsteen concert. Cheryl has reported better than I could about this. I agree with her about the acoustics up where we were (section 203, row 16) being pretty poor. But I'm not a Springsteen fan, so I don't know the lyrics of his songs to begin with.

I also, like Cheryl, was pleased by Springsteen taking the opportunity to speak against the erosion of our civil rights in the USA, and to make a statement about immigration with his closing number. No doubt this won't please the people who think that all dissent is disloyalty. I wonder how his comments -- cheered in Oakland -- are received in the Heartland of America?