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Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
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7:59 am
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| Thursday, April 24th, 2008
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6:48 pm
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This video's been making the rounds.
Wanna know why? BECAUSE IT'S THE GREATEST VIDEO IN TEH WORLD.
You have to sit through the whole thing...you can't dismiss this as Bollywood trash (because it's Tamil, not northern Indian).
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(4 hosers | take off, eh!)
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| Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
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9:46 am
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I have nothing to say, except that this is awesome.
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(take off, eh!)
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| Thursday, February 28th, 2008
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9:49 am
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| Monday, February 25th, 2008
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9:47 am - Random Jumbles n' Stuff
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After dinner Friday evening we stopped at Foster's Freeze. While Eileen was inside getting a cone, I heard on NPR that Teo Macero had passed away.
I really don't think there are words that could accurately describe his influence on jazz and modern music. An analogous description could probably be "the George Martin of jazz", but that would still be selling him short. George Martin's high-water mark was the Beatles, but Teo kept getting better...more challenging...and more involved. His concept "the album as art" and his use of tape editing broke ground that really had never even been tread upon, even in the "far-out" jazz world. His techniques were revolutionary and he never really got the fame that his talent so richly deserved. So I'll just say "thanks, Teo".
Saturday we watched "The King of Kong" which started as an absurdist, "Spinal Tap meets geeks who would even get wedgied at a Star Trek convention", but really ended up being this amazing tale of misplaced hero worship, determination, ego, and an actual David vs. Goliath battle...a Mr. Smith Goes to the Arcade sort of vibe. And of course, by the end of the move, you're not only rooting out loud for the good guy science teacher, but you're standing up & yelling at the "arcade record-keeping establishment" & their emperor with no clothes (but with a super mullet & tie...seriously, Billy Mitchell may have a Donkey Kong machine in his own home but he sure as hell doesn't own a mirror).
After that we checked out The Darjeeling Limited. It's pretty much as I had feared: a hipper-than-thou, so friggin' smart & "clever" in that Wes Anderson way of filmmaking that by the third act you simply couldn't care less about the characters and whish they'd just all catch Delhi Belly and go away. The high point of the flick, though, is the use of three awesome Kinks tracks from "Lola versus Powerman and the Money-Go-Round, Part One" (which is a completely and woefully underrated album...srsly).
As for the Academy Awards last night, yay for "No Country", yay for DDL, and Amy Ryan was ROBBED right there on national television in front of 1 billion people plus Belgium.
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(2 hosers | take off, eh!)
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| Friday, February 15th, 2008
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4:51 pm - Movies
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Watched Juno last night. Great, great flick, although for a 16 year-old Juno was just a <I>wee</I> too smart & clever. But who cares. It's a great flick. And yes, Michael Cera always seems to play the same type of character, but he plays it <i>so friggin' well</I> that I personally don't care.
Fantastic soundtrack, too.
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(take off, eh!)
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| Friday, January 25th, 2008
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5:05 pm - Tunes from yesteryear...
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I've been going through boxes & milk crates of all the CDs and videotapes that I've collected over the years and have been paring down the collection. There's just so much stuff that I don't listen to anymore and quite frankly can't imagine myself ever getting into again. Some of the stuff on the "maybe" list has been ripped to mp3 so I can listen to it on our new wireless media player (which will be the last non-baby purchase of any consequence for a long, long time). I went through a huge Rollins Band phase in college, and I collected an absolute ton of promotional CD stuff from the Weight CD release (which wasn't all that great) so all that stuff is going to be put on eBay, as well as all the promotional Primus stuff I have. There's also a lot of stuff I just don't want around anymore...tastes have changed a bit, and some purchases were just bad ideas in the first place (Jane's Addiction's Kettle Whistle, anyone?) so I'm in the mood to liquidate that crap as soon as possible.
But I've found some real great stuff from yesteryear...not exactly the pinnacle of musicianship, but fun nonetheless (like Diamondhead! Yippee NWOBHM!)
current music: Diamondhead - "Sweet and Innocent"
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(take off, eh!)
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9:26 am - RPM
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| Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
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6:50 am
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OK, this past weekend I finally finished <I>Dogs of War</I>, thus completing my Equatorial Guinea-centric reading curriculum. It was a fairly decent book, I guess, but there were about 100 pages in there up until they set out on the boat to launch the coup where <I>nothing</I> happened. I mean, look; Frederick Forsyth wrote a very interesting "How to Throw a Coup in pre-Schengen Europe" type of book, but I really don't need 100+ pages describing a complex money laundering scheme. And the end of the book was kind of a cop-out, but that's just my opinion.
So the next book I've cracked is <I>No Country for Old Men</I>. I saw the flick a couple of months ago and it's stuck with me, so I'm reading the book to try and figure out a little bit more about what's going on. I get the grand-scheme general theme in the book/film, but I know there's more to it in there. It's an easy read...I hope to finish it this week and then dive head-first into <I>The Fate of Africa</I>, a 700+ page tome on post-colonial Africa. <I>That</I> will be uplifting.
current music: Miles Davis - Freedom Jazz Dance
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(take off, eh!)
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| Thursday, January 17th, 2008
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9:31 am
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OK, I've been immersed in a bunch of new music lately. Here's the deal-i-o: Zappa: A couple of weeks ago I got the new Zappa/Wazoo release. It's quite good, actually, but I can see why Frank himself didn't release it. Not my favorite FZ-postmortem release, but good nonetheless. Miles Davis "On The Corner" box set: Christmas swag supreme. Again, I've had 90% of this material for years, but having it all in one concise box with all the extra goodies is just wonderful and makes me smile. 1965-1972 era Miles Davis is possibly the greatest music ever created. Go ahead, prove me wrong. Happiness is a steaming hot bath, a glass of cabernet, and listening to "He Loved Him Madly".
Mars Volta: I got a leak of the new CD "The Bedlam In Goliath". I've had two major obstacles to getting into MV: 1) the music is sometimes too chaotic and hard to draw a bead on, and 2) they (and their fans) are so galactically pretentious and "artsy" and whatever that I just have had a hard time cutting through the BS. Really, should junkies from El Paso have such big egoes? Probably not. But the new CD is very good and I'm enjoying it immensely. It definitely requires additional listening to determine if it "has legs".
And actually I've had some very sad news regarding a good friend of mine, and the MV CD actually fits into what has been going through my brain in the past 24 hours.
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(3 hosers | take off, eh!)
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| Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
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3:42 pm
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Excellent editing...
Whenever I see something like this, I can only imagine how much footage someone has to watch to get enough usable footage. Oh well. It's funny. Good job, dude, whoever you are.
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(take off, eh!)
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| Friday, January 4th, 2008
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6:44 am
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OK, I'm going to keep the political posts to a minimum...but the latest Christopher Hitchens article on Slate is pretty right on, IMHO. It's shameful that the media essentially decides for the people who is the "front runner" and who isn't. A friend and I have this discussion all the time: is the network news apparatus terrible (and must be dumbed down) because the average consumer/US voter is so stupid, or is the average consumer/US voter so stupid because the network news apparatus is terrible. Chicken/egg.
Never before has the school mascot episode of South Park been so appropriate.
It's raining like a mutha here right now and will continue throughout the weekend, so I just may get some supplies on my way home from work so I can whip up Dean Ween's Sunday Sauce. To me it seems a perfect antidote to cold, rainy weather. Actually, it seems like the perfect antidote to just about anything.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
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(take off, eh!)
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| Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008
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10:29 am
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| Monday, December 17th, 2007
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6:41 am
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So apparently Dan Folgelberg passed away yesterday. I had heard the name, I had seen an album cover or two, but to be honest the above Bloom County strip was my only "real" exposure to the man. Obviously, yesterday's news caused a bunch of people to post some of his music, and hey...it wasn't bad. I'm not going to run on out and buy the complete Dan canon, but y'know...for the whole "70's singer-songwriter with beards & string accompaniments & denim" sort of vibe it's all right.
Today we get cabinets installed in the garage so now another "room" in the house is "done". The next project will be to get the nursery all up & ready for May. Oh, and did y'all hear? It's a boy.
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(take off, eh!)
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| Monday, December 10th, 2007
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6:49 am - I Swallowed A Bug...
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Against all reason, against all hope...Francis Ford Coppola finally released Hearts of Darkness on DVD. This is one of the all-time great documentaries. It's nearly better than Apocalypse Now, and just as dramatic. And what makes it better? Ordering it and using a $10 gift certificate from Boston Scientific I got when I filled out some friggin' survey. Hooray!
Today a coworker and I will be lining up early to get Los Lobos tickets. They're playing at the Opera House again in a few weeks. Those of you who read my ramblings know I'm a sucker for our local opera house as a performance venue; each seat is very good, the sound is tops, and it's simply a gorgeous place to see music or theater. Your wine dollar at work, folks!
Wednesday begins the "garage renovation". I've cleared out 95% of the stuff from there and by midweek we'll be ready for the polymer flooring to be put down, and then a week from today we get cabinets put in. One more part of the house complete...a few more to go.
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(take off, eh!)
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| Thursday, November 29th, 2007
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7:31 am
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OK...short update.
Eileen and I went to the Van Halen concert in Sacramento two nights ago. Now, when I was in junior high & early high school, VH was my favorite band. Hey, I had just started playing guitar, who else to idolize than Eddie Van Halen? So on November 21, 1988, I went to the original Arco Arena in Sacramento with my friend Mason. It was my very first concert, so I was very excited, you see. I spent all of $18.50 for the ticket and made sure I had another $20 for a t-shirt (the cost of which I don't recall at this time). My mom dropped us off, and we saw the show. The opening act (Private Life) stunk on ice, the mix was terrible...but then again, the acoustics in the venue stunk back then, which earned it the name "Echo Arena". And it was Van Hagar, so there wasn't a lot of "older" material. Plus, you have to remember that this was Sacramento. In the eighties. Loads of mullets, jean jackets, dye jobs, acid wash...ugh. And it was scary for a lil' 13 year-old like me in his freshman year at a Catholic high school. People smoking strange things and acting crazy and holy crap, man, she just flashed the Sammy!
It was a great show, though, and very soon I was seeing many concerts in the few locales in Sacramento that had all-ages shows: Cal-Expo, the new Arco Arena, the Cattle Club...
So cut ahead 19 years later, and here I am taking my pregnant wife to the David Lee Roth version (the real version, I guess) of VH. First of all, the tickets cost about 9 times what 1988 tickets cost. Second of all, the t-shirts were friggin' $40. So no t-shirt this time around, sorry Ed. But hey, we're not HERE for $40 t-shirts and $6 hot dogs. We're here to see the show, and they put on a great one. Yeah, they're old, and time has taken its toll on voices and stamina, but the sound was pretty damned good and the setlist was tops. Somebody Get Me A Doctor, Mean Streets, Unchained, Is This Love, Atomic Punk, DOA, I'm The One, Romeo Delight...man, what a night.
And the crowd...wow. 1988 + 19 years + Sacramento + $140 tickets = interesting people. We saw "normal squares" like us...folks coming to see the show, bringing their kids, etc. Whatever. And then there were a few folks in their 20's who may have seen VH on some of their more recent but drug-addled outings (but may not remember the DLR frenzy of the 80's). And then there were the lifers. These are the folks who...well...have "kept rocking". Air guitar and posturing...smoking garbage weed bought from their step-sons who go to Del Campo High...wearing the leather "rock" vest like Murderface from Metalocalypse...ugh. But again, these folks were older and it's not like I had to worry about them screwing with anybody or even getting too drunk because unlike 1988, 90% of the crowd was over 30 and probably had to get up early for work the next day. Everybody was well behaved (although we did run into some fine specimens leaving the parking lot).
So hey, Van Halen was a great time, and I'd love to see 'em again if they come around and have the spare change...because y'know, it's the most I've ever spent on a single concert ticket...
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(take off, eh!)
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| Tuesday, November 27th, 2007
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12:09 pm - Carry on my wayward son...
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| Monday, November 19th, 2007
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7:06 am
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| Friday, November 16th, 2007
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6:56 am
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Imagine your town. Got it? People milling around, doing daily business, etc.
Now imagine your town with 43,000 extra people in it. 43,000 people from all reaches of the globe...sort of like a business casual version of the Star Wars cantina scene. THAT, my friends, is what Oracle OpenWorld was all about. Now, San Francisco isn't really "my town", but I've been there more times than I can count and like it so very much. And good lord, I can't possibly imagine this thing getting any bigger. It was completely choked with people, and it seemed like just a few more folks would simply cause the entire complex to collapse.
The sessions were so-so; some were complete duds, but some were absolutely excellent. A real mixed-bag. After attending about eight of these, I've gotten to the point where I can pick the better sessions based solely on the title, but I accidentally got suckered into one or two stinkers. But a few were nicely timed to coincide with a few issues that we're currently tackling ourselves. Good face time with certain vendors of note, as well, so that was a good reason to attend as well.
And the conference-ending party at the Cow Palace? Here are the names who performed, grouped into the areas in which they performed (but mostly out of chronological order):
Billy Joel
Some African musician who I cannot recall
Stevie Nicks w/ Mick Fleetwood
English Beat
The Smithereens
Lenny Kravitz
Some lame DJ
Some other group
There were massive tents erected with full bar & buffet (completely free, of course). I checked out The Smithereens, who I like very much and last saw 10 years ago in San Diego. After their set I grabbed some food & wandered over to the "Lenny tent". At least 5,000 people in this tent...probably more. I was a big Lenny Kravitz fan way back when (the first three albums) but he really has eaten a big plate of suck in the past ten or so years. I left about 15 minutes into his set when he embarked on a 10-minute "American Woman" jam. Ugh.
I saw Billy Joel for about 15 seconds. He was singing a ballad. I left.
Stevie Nicks was actually pretty decent (complete with a Waddy Wachtel sighting, no less). But again, you have to be a real Stevie Nicks fan to hang out for her lesser-known material, so back I went to Lenny, where he was wisely dipping into his back catalogue.
After all that, I went back to the Stevie Nicks stage, saw her finish up her set, and waited for the English Beat to start. I didn't stay for the whole set, but they played extremely well and were a lot of fun. I split back to the bus line to catch a ride to downtown.
So the conference was a relative success and a good time. We *really* lucked out with the weather, too...it was nice to stop lugging around an umbrella after a week in Seattle & Vancouver.
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(2 hosers | take off, eh!)
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| Friday, November 9th, 2007
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9:15 am - In Canuckistan
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OK, quick wrap up of the past week:
SEATTLE: Landed, checked in to Warwick (good location), Pike's Market (cool), rehearsal dinner, saw last half of Billy Childs Sextet at the Triple Door, courtesy of Christian, breakfast at Julia's (so-so), wedding, reception (wonderful time...the bride planned everything perfectly), dropped off Eileen at SEA-TAC, 174 bus to Museum of Flight, saw the first Air Force One, dinner with Christian and Cynthia at Dahlia Lounge (quite good), walked around Seattle a ton, saw the 25th anniversary release of Blade Runner at Cinerama, and had insane sushi at Saito's.
Jumped the train to Vancouver. Best $25 I've spent on transportation in ages. Mostly gorgeous scenery along the water. Saw over a hundred great herons and seven bald eagles.
VANCOUVER: Staying on Robson, huge hotel room, tons of Asian influence, more sushi for lunch, lots of rain + west Robson at night = Blade Runner vibe, Vancouver Art Museum (Georgia O'Keeffe) Gyoza King (hooray!) BC wine tasting, Stanley Park, Aquarium, Totem Poles, kick-arse Malaysian food, Granville Island, so-so "Canadian" small plates, too much more BC wine, Commercial Drive, saw American Gangster (ANOTHER Ridley Scott film this trip).
Today I'm going to take the ferry over to the Vancouver Museum and see what's up there. Tonight I have tickets for the Canucks game versus the Avalanche. Tomorrow I fly home. SF for five days starting Sunday.
That's all for now.
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(1 hoser | take off, eh!)
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curious