ttb

celery
green onions
ice cream (pistachio)
english muffins
turkey sausage or bacon
cheese
some kind of beef

I'm reading this article on sfgate about San Francisco's water supply. Basically it's about how San Francisco spends the budget on bottled water when it has a supply to one of the cleanest waters in the country (Hetch-Hetchy). It's not so much the article as it is the good quotes:

Matt Dorsey, spokesman for City Attorney Dennis Herrera's office, which spent about $7,000 on bottled water last year, recently turned on a faucet in the sink in his City Hall office to show why he and his colleagues rely on bottled water.

"Do I really need to respond?" he said while a liquid as brown as a Louisiana swamp poured out of the tap. A few days later, however, the water ran crystal clear.

Bottled water is one of the few perks city government can offer its employees, Dorsey said.

"We can't compete with downtown firms with salaries or plush offices, but damn it, we provide a water cooler and free paper cups," he said.

damnit Lindsay

I'm seriously beginnning to wonder if Lindsay can win one more Grand Slam before she retires. oh well, even though Justine was the one who beat Linds, I hope she wins the Open.

sigh, moving on:
recent purchases
Jimi Hendrix - the BBC sessions
Zabriske Point soundtrack (v)
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (never heard this one before. HIGH HIGH expectations but if it's anything like the two tracks on Zabriske Point, it will exceed expectations)

The New World

"... a masterpiece almost beyond belief"

That's a quote from a review of The New World on sfgate.com (click on quote). It may be a bit of an exageration, but I would easily say that it is the best film of 2005 (although the film defies comparisons). It's amazing how a film like this can even be made in Hollywood.

Malick's approach to the story is at first a romance but only towards the second half did it become clear to me that the film is actually about "Pocohantas" and her spirit. I know that sounds cheesy but one has to see how Malick tells it. The development of her character is incredible and Colin Farrel's character, John Smith is just a supporting character to her. Q'Orianka Kilcher who plays the main character is fantastic, perfect.

Malick uses techniques seen in his other films (Thin Red Line or Days of Heaven) like multiple voice overs, the minimalist dialogue, and long shots of nature.

I only realized how beautiful and satifying the film is when the end credits rolled. It's definitely not going to be for everyone (in fact a handful of people walked out) but if you like his films you will not be disappointed.

GO LINDSAY!

out of control

I've been buying music like crazy. Purchases made in the last week ((v) indicates vinyl):

White Stripes - White Stripes <- haven't heard yet
The Clash - London Calling <- haven't heard yet
The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute <- so far not to my taste
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew <- Spanish Key: Jesus Zombie Christ on a pogo stick!
Sonic Youth - Dirty (v) <- I have the regular cd and this one kicks even more ass (the deluxe edition)
Excuse 17 - Such Friends Are Dangerous (v)<- Carrie had her riffs even back then
Introducing Cadallaca - no title (v) <- Two Beers Later
Stereolab - Refried Ectoplasm [switched on volume 2] (v) <- those wacky Stereolabbers. beautiful vinyl.

I guess I've been compensating for my all or nothing relationship with music and it's been at least 4-5 years since I've been this into music. I'm totally fascinated by something so mechanical and abstract that can affect us on an emotional level. And yet I often find myself unable to identify with music as a communal medium (pop music?). Anyways, it's a lot of fun to try to play the guitar parts while listening.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

For the past five years or so I have played Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech on this holiday. I hope you will too.

You can either stream or downloade it here:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm

ifret

I usually rock out with my air guitar on my way to work and today I realized that my mini ipod's width is almost the size of a fretboard and my Radioshack headphone cord is pretty long so I have to wrap it around...

rock. out. I can actually check my fingering now on my air guitar.

So far I've figured out the basic riffs or melody or whatever to these songs:

Jumpers
Everything ("bassline" only)
John Cage Bubblegum
Turn It On
Modern Girl
Ballad of a Ladyman
Was It a Lie?
Jenny
purr

It's interesting how simple they are (again I'm not talking about the whole thing or the riffs, more I guess the rhythm) usually a combination of three or four notes. What is difficult is to move my finger(s) as fast as in the songs.

For me there are two major revelations about playing the guitar: 1.each fret has a fixed note. 2.the relationship between the strings allows me to take shortcuts instead of sliding up and down the entire fretboard, I can move up or down the strings.

I'm still wobbly on the technical stuff, but it's getting clearer and I really should nail things like these down soon.

cough cough

I called in sick yesterday. I was, wait for it, sick of work.

I woke up around 9am and just lay there for a bit... yup. I had a good photo of me from my bed with my camera pointed at the window. But it looks like the net or I ate it up.
But I do have a photo of the camera I use since I get so many comments about what camera I use for my amazing photos. One of the perks of work is this phone/camera thing. yesirree


coffee + soup + tower records

I actually got up around 9AM which means I could have still gone into work and just lost a few hours but by now I was pretty angry about dealing with work so I decided it was worth the day off. I moseyed onto to Pete's Coffee and got my usual medium Americano with room. I then moseyed again to the Harvest Market few stores down and got myself a tomato vegetable soup which was fairly mediocre but it was my day off so it was just fine. I sat down outside to eat and stared at the Tower Records across the street. So, get this, I moseyed yet again this time Frogger-style to Tower Records and checked out some stuff.


laundry

I got home (didn't get nothing) and did some laundry.


Amoeba + guitar strap!

I went to a guitar store on Haight (where I previously had picked up a 10w Marshall's amp and two picks, one blue one yellow (go blue), and a 15' cord) and saw this awesome camo cloth strap with a US insignia (I think the star and bars one). It would be such a rockin' contrast to my HK guitar but not 58 dollars rockin'. So I ended up with a superplain black nylon one (see in photo below). That's cool I'm not performing at the Fillmore anytime soon.

I sauntered over to Amoeba and a few minutes inside someone approached me and told me that I had to check my "bag." I wish I had taken a photo of it because this alleged bag is about the size of my palm but fair enough, as I head up front to the bag check-in, I can hear walkie talkie all around me talking about me carrying a bag. damn, I mean Amoeba probably has a lot of theft but it really looks like their security budget could be pretty high.

I picked up a few good stuff: CD: Quasi (featuring birds) and Bratmobile (Ladies, Women and Girls) vinyl: K.D. Lang (Ms. Chantelane remix), the Gossip + Le Tigre (Standing in the Way of Control 12").

Later on I went to Barnes and Noble with Alecia and we got there 10 minutes before they closed. What book store closes at 9PM??? Alecia guessed that it was the neighborhood (it's near the wharf).

Later that night I installed the strap and rocked out. Playing while standing is actually kind of nice. Photo includes me writing out the chords/riffs or whatever of various songs on S-K's Dig Me Out album. I broke the plastic wrapping on it because the phonograph with it's cue function is actually quite useful for notations.

In other news my ipod won't sync and I still have to write up my final installament of my trip to PDX.

everyone is a freakin' dj

Being the consummate consumer and collector that I am, I had to buy something S-K in PDX and I did. Apparently Portland has a noticeable vinyl scene and so I picked up a few of their "records"















When I returned to SFO I started an Amoeba Music habit which led to this:















a cheap Radioshack turntable, on sale for 69 dollars and 99 cents, hooked up to my pre-amped speakers for my computer. I asked Steve how much a Technics turntable cost and he said the standard is 400-500 dollars new. Forget it. This will do just fine and it does. In fact, I'm reminded of that "classic" argument about CD vs. vinyl for audio quality and I almost believe that vinyl does sound cleaner and fuller.

Anyways, I am able to listen to all the B-sides and dance remixes.

Sleater-Kinney in Portland (part II)

I had no problems finding the Crystal Ballroom about 8 blocks from my hotel. At this point the rain was on and off seemingly every other hour. I didn't care about getting too wet because I knew shortly it would stop.

On my meandering way (I had 2 hours to walk 8 blocks) I stopped in a few music stores. I think each one had a poster of S-K somewhere. This is their homebase for sure. I also noticed a sizeable selection of records (but it appears that the cassingle has gone the way of the dodo). How little did I know what vinyl will do to me by the end of the trip.

I walk past the address and I don't see any signs for the Crystall Ballroom. I see posters for the concert but no "CRYSTAL BALLROOM." Instead there is a bar/restaurant called "Ringlers." I decide to try the local beer (what am I Rachel Ray?!) and holy crap, I almost choked from the cigarette smoke in the place. Strange that a green city like Portland would not ban smoking indoors. Anyways, I ask a fairly cute waitress about the Crystal Ballroom. It turns out that I was in the right place but the stage is on the third floor.

The beer was ok. I phoned Alecia and my family to past the time and a few minutes after 7pm. I see the zealots beginnning to line up so I get in line in the rain. I was about tenth in line. I went down my playlist of S-K songs on my ipod and went on sleater-kinney.net on my phone and followed the lyrics to the songs.


Just after 8PM the doors opened and damn it if it really wasn't on the third floor. I climbed the wooden spiraling staircase which opened to a pretty large concert hall and staked my spot right behind the front line of fanatics who also weren't going to give up their space. And I waited. and waited.

8:30PM - I realized that I will prbably have to go to the bathroom at some point. Sleater-Kinney would probably be on around 11PM. The people around me (couples) were nice enough to "watch my spot" for me while I dashed to the bathroom ("We have a runner!").

9:10PM - Is that... It's Janet!!! I yell out, "JANET!!!" Her ex, Sam, sets up on what looks like a beat up wooden box which turns out to be a really cool keyboard. Janet takes the time to sign a poster that he took down from somewhere. Quasi starts off with Janets bass drums beating the living crap out of me. She hits hard and holy crap she looks amazing doing it. Throughout the set she will look over at Sam in a way that I kept thinking, "damn, she's actually pretty hot." ok, sorry had to say it. Quasi is interesting. At one point Sam uses the keyboard as a percussion instrument and Janet sings and plays the guitar (!). I will definitely pick up their cd.

10 something PM - Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - I like them. I've never heard of them before but they put a lot of energy and fun into their performance. They can get silly at times but it doesn't detract from their performance. I like Stephen's performance on the guitar, very animated. Then there's the bassist. My new theory is that any girl who plays the bass guitar increases their attractiveness by 50%.

11:30PM - Corin enters stage right to setup ("CORIN!!!") She's wearing a cute ruffles shirt thing and jeans. She looks pretty much how I have seen her.

Carrie enters about 5 minutes later. wow. She's hotter than any photos (except maybe the photos I've seen of her in "Group"). She's wearing a blue shirt and jeans. She tunes her guitar and at the first distorted note, the crowd screams. She rocks.

They start out with the Fox. The crowd goes into headbanging mode. yup, fanatics up front. Corin's voice is unbelievable. How does she sing so effortlessly? Again, Janet's pounding is overwhelming. I've seen a video where S-K is testing out the Fox in front of a crowd before they released the Woods and back then the audience looked like they weren't quite sure what to make of it. This night, everyone knew how the Fox went to the beat, the bridge, whatever.

I should not that by this time, 11:30PM I am pretty much spent and the crowd has squeezed in even closer to the front and I'm almost on autopilot. I have spent the last 4+ hours standing up.

I don't remember the order of the setlist:

Oxygen
Wilderness
What's mine is yours - Carrie opened with her "experimental" guitar solo
Jumpers - the crowd really started jumping
Modern Girl
Entertain - I noticed Carrie doing the same gestures as in the live video I have
Roller Coaster - "my sweet cherry tomato"
Everything - fantastic! I will never understand why they left this one out on the cd.
Let's Call It Love - With the first note, I yelled at the top of my lungs, but... the guitar solo was really off. :o( Corin sang "I got a long time for love!" slightly different. Hard to describe but like she delays or draws it out "I... got a long time for love!"
Get Up - the crowd loved to sing along to this one, mostly "GET UP!"
Sympathy - My first love. I'm so glad they sang it at my first S-K concert. perfect.

For encore they performed - Ironclad, an older S-K song I didn't know and they brought up the Jicks for Fortunate Son which got really rowdy.


random notes: Carrie's mic kept tiliting down to the point where an audience member gave her a swiss army knife screw driver to tighten it but that didnt' fix it and it looked like Carrie was getting pretty pissed off. Eventually duct tape fixed it of course.

Corin's guitar is beautiful, some kind of cherry or dark wood satin finish thing.

Carrie is is so over-the-top so amped. She did a few windmills on her guitar and I can watch her all day. amazing.

I think being up front is one of the worst places as far as sound quality is concerned. Most songs sounded off balance and I had trouble hearing the words. As I mentioned earlier Carrie's solo in Let's Call It love sounded even more off. Maybe because she was trying to play something that was improvised?

Why didn't they sell posters? Granted the pink poster was nothing fancy.. but that is all the more reason to sell them? I went back the next day to see if they had any but they were all gone.

Overall, it was an amazing experience. Next time I think I will stand a bit further back to enjoy the performance, but this time I got to see them up close and how incredible they are.

next: my new year's and how I got home (yes I rode on a bird)

Sleater-Kinney in Portland (Part I)

My trip to Portland for the Sleater-Kinney concert was exactly what my friend had said: I will never forget where I was on the last weekend of 2005. It all went by so fast but it was amazing.

On the morning of my flight, I woke Jason up by playing the Woods cd and did a last minute check on my flight. He dropped me off at OAK and as he was driving off and I was checking in, I realized that I had the monthly MUNI fastpass that was about to expire at the end of the month. Jason could use that since he was staying at my place to celebrate the new year in the city with Bobby who had flown in from NYC. I ran out and caught him just in time.

"Join the rank and file... on your TV dial!"

"Screw it. This frickin' Yahoo! maps blows." - It was not able to recognize the airport codes, at least the mobile edition.

enjoying a Foster's with Carrie, Janet and Corin

On the plane I got lucky and got a seat next to the emergency exit. It was a full flight... who flies to PDX for new year's? I also sat next to a guy named Nick who I chatted with the entire time (1 hour 15 minutes). He was a born and raised Oregonian who was returning from the Oregon Ducks bowl game in San Diego. He has two kids, a daughter and a son. He lives in The Dulles ("where?" "The Dulles"). We talked about Bush (Reggie), dune buggy (he has one with a 600hp 327) and all the mountains in Oregon. I was planning on listening to S-K and maybe getting some sleep but this was actually a pretty good experience. He recommended that I check out the "Oyster Bar" for some great seafood stew.

"PDX! yay."

I hopped on the light rail "MAX" which took about 20 minutes to get to Pioneer Place, THE place for shopping in Portland apparently. The Mariott was only about 3 blocks away and theres a Peet's on the ground floor! I check in and the room is big and the king sized bed is extra comfortable. I can sleep parallel to the headboard. That's luxury. I took a quick shower and went for a bite to eat (+ coffee). I went back to Pioneer Square and almost ate at Sbarro which I hadn't since the footy days of hangin' out at Lennox Mall in Atlanta... but then I was drawn to the free samples of "Bourbon" chicken at another fast food place which claims to have its roots in Louisiana (fried rice???). Still I ended up getting the combo plate (#1) pero no estoy tener dolor mi estomago.

A brief rant: After lunch I went to the Apple store to replace the TWO sets of earbuds that Lindsay had chewed and punctured. They had these replacements with extra features and they wanted $39.00: FUCK. THAT. (this is the only time in my blog I will say fuck). I just could not justify the price. Fortunately I found an Office Depot (where I am STILL a stockholder) where they had Sony earbuds for... $9.99. The Office Depot associate and I had a good laugh about the ibuds. Epilogue: When I returned from PDX, Lindsay prompty shredded the Sony earbuds.. I just don't know what to do with her.

That's it for now, part II coming up.