hep!

yesterday was our surprise holiday family outing day. the only instructions were to wear gym shorts and shoes, and give up your Sunday from 11-4.

first, we went to the Circus Center in SF for a flying trapeze session with three instructors.

the whole thing is set up in a big old gym near Kezar Stadium. first you sign your life away on a waiver, then, when it's your turn, you climb a 30-40 foot ladder and maneuver onto this little platform. There's a big net below, but not while you're climbing the ladder!

Once you're in position, they say ready, you bend your knees, then it's "Hep!" That means jump! Swinging, you wait for the next cue, to put up your legs. Finally you take your hands off the bar and swing upside down, with back arched, and knees over the bar.

the first time i went up i totally cheated and did all the stuff they showed us without waiting for them to tell me to. i got what i deserved, though, by doing this giant belly flop onto the net while everyone laughed at me. the second time i followed instructions and it was better.

the last time i went it was for the big Catch. The youngest instructor climbed onto another trapeze, swinging back and forth about 25 feet in front of me. he gave the instructions, the timing was perfect, and he caught me as I swung with my arms out!

Rad. Everyone did it except for my youngest sis. We're all paying for it with sore muscles today. Next we went to Andronico's to buy food to donate to St. Anthony's. Finally, we had a big lunch at the Beach Chalet. The view of Ocean Beach was pretty despite the rain.

It was a fun day.

cupcakes

Three finals down, one to go. Contracts, I will break you!! mwahahaha

• interviewed for britt's armenian genocide paper. never felt more armenian. forgot to mention a few things, that Borat's co-star is armenian, and speaks it the whole film; that Hitler said, after all, who remembers what happened to the Armenians? before deciding to go ahead with the Holocaust, and other random thoughts.


• movies: princess mononoke, finding forrester, the big lebowski, quantum of solace, casino royale, the great debaters, fear and loathing in las vegas, brazil


• other: Clue, photoshop, sushi on california (Chin's), Kara's Cupcakes, cold weather, christmas lights, Mario Kart for DS, shave and a haircut


• homemade: tortilla soup, massive salads, cupcakes (see picture), artichoke/mayo pita dip (thanks britt) and a Cucumber/oatmeal facial following a milk steam bath/mask. Presidio Inn and Spa is open for business!


• goodbye to brian, see you deutschman


• wiki'd: ted williams


• love Freedom

Microwave "usable", but still needs repair

George the Landlord and two older Russian gentlemen said the Presidio Inn microwave was still usable, despite its mechanical problems. The three made their way into the Inn on Weds. morning and in short order, diagnosed the gear-grinding type noise as a motor problem. "The heat rays" are not affected, one of the repairmen said with an accent. George then told Peter that the machine could be used.

The repairmen had threatened to break some of the custom woodwork to remove the built-in microwave, but they did not want to hurt such fine carpentry. George agreed to call the original installer.

Later, George told Pete that the original contractor would be out Monday to see it, in the morning or afternoon. He asked that the area of the kitchen be cleared out, "so none of your things get broken."

In other words, clean up yr dang apt!

Photo 179

Photo 179
Originally uploaded by Monster Pete

me and britt happened to be wearing the same thing, inverted of course. she had been gone for three days, and when i picked her up at the train station, this is what we saw. i think she was mad at me until she noticed our uncoordinated coordination. it's hard to hate your opposite.

HAJI SPRINGER FEAT. CHINGO BLING

it's here. the tandoori tamale.

beautiful seizure

the other night, on a crowded BART train leaving a Warriors game, a young man had a seizure. he convulsed and tensed up and frothed at the mouth. i just stood there watching while people around me either left the area or tried to help, depending on their level of medical expertise.

Tina, my friend, a dentist, was the first on the scene. she didn't really know what to do, she said later, but did scream for someone to tell the driver to stop the train because of a medical emergency.

we're in the middle of the tunnel, came the reply from somewhere, and can't stop.

then came a nurse and a young guy and an older man, who i had noticed as very drunk moments before. he stood over the victim, as he recovered from the seizure, with his hand on his neck. in a slurred, overly dramatic way, he said to the victim, "ok... ok... shhhh... shhhh..."

i looked at the girl the victim was with, and she was distraught. somebody came to hug her, and i started to tear up.

deep thoughts

my parents are probably mad at me for not seeing me in some time. this hasn't happened since i've lived in the bay area. i think it's probably ok b/c after all, i'm all growed up and going to law school, likes they wanted. you can't have yr cake and eat it too.

one more black man living off the government...

just kidding. i'm learning about his 26-yr-old speechwriter now. karazy!

Exploring Music

I study the violin. My teacher is Luan. She has been here ten years from Shanghai and is married to a sick old Armenian man.

I teach Luan conversational English and she teaches me conversational violin and Mandarin. She gives me relationship advice but makes me promise not to tell my girlfriend.

I like the Chinese songs she teaches me. They are more fun than the Suzuki, Western (Handel, Vivaldi, Bach) finger-benders. The slides and trills of the Oriental music sooth my nerves. The high notes make my fingers climb the neck and step daintily, taking the body of the violin in my palm. I owe the violin shop all kinds of money for the rental instrument, which I have not paid for in months.

Today, I finished my lesson as the girl after me and her mom looked on. The girl is around 4 years old, with medium brown curls and a 1/10 size violin. They are both very cute. Her dark brown eyes stare at me intently like I'm on trial and she's the judge. I need to play violin to keep from thinking about lawyering all the time.

I played her violin the other day. It was miniature but sounded and looked great. I guess size isn't everything. It depends on how you use it.

Palin 2012 and My Reason for Being

and this



I'm totally obsessed with PalinAsPresident.com. What will I do after the election? Lack direction and a funny place to retire to online.

Motorcade caught on tape on Lake Street

Guess who's in town:
A. Your mom
B. Sexy Sarah
C. Tina Fey
D. Diane Feinstein

ack ack ack

plane flying over boats

This is an FA-18 Hornet's approach of Alcatraz Island just before striking the key missile placements of a group of ex-US military specialists-turned-kidnappers seeking to restore honor to their fallen comrades.

Oh, wait, that was The Rock.This was just the Blue Angels.

america's next top model

been enjoying life as much as school allows.

• movies - the firm, vanilla sky, mary poppins, the cable guy, control room (doc), who killed the electric car? (doc), smart people, volver


• blue angels and the presidio on bike with britt


• jack in the box (near the bus station in SF - this place is in another dimension), in'n'out, hamburger haven on clement, chevy's, pizza at 24th and potrero in the mission with Keith


• keith's new apartment at 22nd and harrison is rad, empty, and cold. anyone looking for a place? he's got two extra bedrooms.


• I acted as an agent for my friend trying out for America's Next Top Model. We stood in a hot line for hours down on Powell and Market. She was fantastic, and Britt and I were her fans. The girls really wanted to be on TV, dancing with the CW sign and all. Aw.

art is in the house

my girlfriend britt fancies herself an artist. i think she's pretty good.

"in love, in san francisco"

"Brittany Flower"

in the trees

trapeze baby i'm up in the trees
tight rope walk it, yeah come to me
don't mean it to be hard / i'm just naturally tall
you can fly here while the others fall

skydiving is for the rich and the cool
me and you are jumping in the kiddie pool
i'll take you for a swim at your own risk
then i take you under for a lesson in bliss

no fancy meals its do it yourself
bisquick, tea and throw on your belt
coming and going all day long
no privacy until its dawn

at the inn at the inn, they come and go
me and you is all we know
at the inn at the inn, we feel safe
dishes and clothes all over the place

keith comes to town, chris is down
mike was here, and marc's around
its brian and corinna and oliver too
mia, tina and james and my family--just a few

at the inn at the inn, they come and go
me and you is all we know
at the inn at the inn, we feel safe
strutting around like we own the place

st. great

The new Metallica record is great. The solos make me jolly and the palm-muted four-tone sixteenth note loops (i.e. the part just before the 7-minute mark of the new "The Day That Never Comes") find a special dark place in me and live there like warm, wet trolls brewing alcoholic soup with steam and smoke rising out of chimneys into the cold afternoon. These are really long songs btw, with a median duration of 8 minutes or so. There are some nice chords in "All Nightmare Long." Kirk Hammet studied jazz at San Francisco State so he knows his fretboard. I also liked Suicidal Tendencies back in the day, so Robert Trujillo's bass is welcome addition. Suicidal actually opened for Metallica when I saw them in like 1996, along with Candlebox. hehe.

Afternoon coffee is great. that's one thing i enjoyed in bolivia, having the coffee lady come around every afternoon with your favorite cup. they drank it pretty sweet, generally, but for some reason it was a much better, richer, fuller sweet than our saccharine selections. Not sure why. But coffee makes more sense to me in the afternoon, when you have time to enjoy it and a full stomach to combat, than morning cuppa joe. Who has time to stop for coffee in the AM? Certainly not me.

What's facebook for? Keeping in touch. I think it's silly that companies would force you to join. If you see peoples' faces every day, why would you want to see their facebook too?

volcano! - Africa Just Wants to Have Fun

fantastic... aaron takes a walk in the park. he says he didn't get a cold, despite singing half naked in the rain, but did get "plenty of bug bites."

Also, he adds, "that milk smelled like ass. milk sux." well, it looks good on you.

Way Down Low in Soma

the penny dreadfuls, dustonius maximus, the obsessors at Beale Street Bar, Thurs. Sept. 11

Cheap live entertainment in San Francisco is hard to find without either a giant wait or no parking. For its well priced offerings and generous cocktails alone, the Beale Street Bar in SOMA demands attention. But its architecture too draws your eye. Surrounded by shiny, tall, buildings, the squat two-story structure with its moat of patios and parking lots makes a statement. Not one but two staircases, one of them circular, make their way to the rooftop stage. It's survived redevelopment and is here to stay.

The show cost $5. It was worth every dreadful penny. The Penny Dreadfuls opened with their mix of rock'n'roll, emo, punk and pirate tunes. They were very energetic. The vocalist Brian, who my girlfriend says is "pretty hot," is a journalism major at the Univ. of Nevada-Reno. The band hails from the "biggest little city in the world." Some say they're too emo, but I think they don't whine too much. They spin pretty catchy, energetic anthems.

Next up was Dustonius Maximus, presumably named for lead songwriter Dustin. The new band plays largely instrumental, jazzy, rockish, ska-ish songs. Kincaid (sp?) fronted with a lyrical trumpet, alternating between bluesy and jazzy and high and low. He actually smiled a lot, too. He and sax player Dan did a nice backing vocals job on one song, a rootsy Jamaican/Chris Murray/Jack Johnson type chill out island riddim, ska/rocksteady thing. The most fun, though, was the closing cover of Tom Waits' "Down in the Hole." Dustin's low voice easily slips into the gravely garble of Waits, and the arrangement was respectfully playful. Dustin actually lives not far from the crooner, in Petaluma, Calif.

The Obsessors closed the show. Ducky my pal played drums. The lead singer got in the crowd's face, and the guitar section - one gorgeous white Keytar played by an equally gorgeous woman (think Lisa from weird science, the TV show), and a straight-out-of-the-80s rocker dude with long hair and a white Flying V - backed her up with brass knuckles.

boli looks for new via

Three American ambassadors to Latin American countries were expelled in the past week or so. bolivia, venezuela and honduras. the first two i understand - the US is none too pleased with indigenous-people-liking, state-power asserting honchos with their hands on plenty of gas reserves -- petrol in Venezuela and natural gas in Boli.

Bolivia is seriously threatened with secession of the eastern states. They are the ones rich in oil reserves. They oppose Evo Morales, the first indigenous leader of the country's history, who wishes to spread the oil wealth to some of the indios, the indigenous inhabitants of the western states.

My friend Numayr sent me a PDF of propaganda from Bolivian politicos aligned with Evo Morales, the coca-leaf-grower turned president. Incidentally, Morales spoke to our class when I studied abroad there in 2001. The PDF doesn't show much proof of US conspiracy in the secession of the eastern states, but gets the point across that Goldberg, the former ambassador, has a little too much knowledge of how to split up states for coincidence. He played a lead role in the breakup of Serbia/Montenegro and Kosovo.

here's a decent commentary in Alternet from some Venezuelan gov't PR hack

mightymorphin night ranger

Friday night is geek night at the Presidio Inn. Check out our latest creation.

mightymorphin night ranger
Originally uploaded by Monster Pete

playing conductor

School is cool, not too hard. at least not yet.

I went to the SF symphony with Dort, to the community "All Concert" for senior groups. Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) picked out a somewhat experimental program, in keeping with the philosophy of the city, he said. We explore "new ideas and languages" through listening to music, the conductor said. The program began with Lontano for Large Orchestra by György Ligeti, which Dort correctly identified as movie background music. "Sinister," she called it. Ligeti's music has appeared in Kubrick films like The Shining and 2001, according to the program. I liked it.

Before the cacophonous piece started, MTT hummed a lick he said we'd hear in the piece. He has a good voice. Who knew. I never heard the melody, though.

I wonder if Metallica will ever play with the SF symphony again. Somehow I doubt it.

The next piece was more conventional, a bit jazzy. It was Concerto in D minor for Two Pianos and Orchestra by an "urbane, insouciant" Parisian, Francis Poulenc. Sisters Katia and Marielle Labéque played grand pianos across from each other. One was more showy than the other. I tried to imagine which I would be. I'm a gemini, though, so I get to be both.

The second half of the show was just one raucous Prokofieff opus, Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Opus 100. It was all brass and drums, with some clutch reed and flute loops. If you doubt its badass-ittude, just know that it won the Stalin Prize in 1946. When it debuted the year before, gunshots of celebration could be heard as Prokofiev raised his baton to start the performance; Soviet forces had just crossed the Vistula River en route to victory over Germany.

No encore needed.

On Weed

"Sometimes, San Francisco works really hard to maintain its reputation." - Chris S., upon smelling marijuana smoke as we left the Giants baseball stadium.

Court date

As my girlfriend defaced a 100-year old structure in the gorgeous hills north of the Golden Gate Bridge, a park police officer stopped his SUV on the nearby road while looking in our direction.

This date just took a turn for the worse, I thought.

But, like most things lately in and around the Presidio Inn on Lake Street, the good times continued to roll.

The Giants scored enough runs to win Wednesday night. I took in the game at AT&T Park with Chris, the Inn's most recent guest, along with friend Jake and his bro and bro's wife. The sauerkraut Italian sausage was great, but the bun lacked moisture. Chris said the veggie dog was okay.

Me and babeskins and Chris and friends ate at Herbivore on Valencia St. on Thursday. We were exceptionally late, which the married couple didn't appreciate, though they had beers, and each other, so I don't see the big deal. I had the vegetable lasagna. It was a little spicy and the cheese (fake) was not really very creamy, unfortunately. But it was filling. Babeskins got the ravioli, again, spicy, but pretty filling and good. Food came quick. Chris's vanilla milkshake was good but i wouldn't pay 4 whatever for it, and it wasn't very thick. The salads were great. I'd probably go back there with other vegan eaters.

Finishing law school for the week, I settled in at the Inn on Saturday. Today, I went on a date. It started with an errand, taking back Legally Blonde and Borat to the video store (remember those?), and got better. Jamba Juice (Razzmatazz with soy for me) and then the Marin Headlands.

Skins and I had already exited the vehicle once in the Headlands, taking in the breathtaking views of the entire Bay Area. The second time we parked, we did so with the intent of checking out the outlying gun turrets and bunkers overlooking the Pacific Ocean's entrance to the Bay.

We got an unexpected history lesson after my GF wrote "I (heart) Pete" on the wall of a bunker.

"These are 100-year-old structures," the park trooper told us, and defacing them is a felony. He took our IDs to check our criminal histories, and asked us repeatedly whether we had weed, reefer, marijuana, or alcohol -- you know, "IPA, PBR," he said as I opened my trunk to be searched. If he weren't an officer of the law, I'd say he was jonesin'.

We didn't have any warrants out on us, the car checked out, and the marker was washable ink, meant for writing on windows.

"Have fun," the officer told us, as he handed the marker back.

And did we ever. We petted some horses, drove through a one-lane tunnel and then hit Sausalito's main drag. On the rocks near the bay, I did my best to give my girlfriend crabs. Those little suckers wouldn't sit still long enough for me to grab them, though.

The Bridgeway Cafe served us hamburgers, juicy with strong buns. The staff was friendly, and once the SUV moved, our sidewalk table had a great view of the sunny Bay.

A butterfly fluttered past us as we walked to my car. Stopping by the water's edge, not wanting the date to end, I tried once again to get crabs, but failed. Oh well, maybe next time.

summer movie round up

The Dark Knight (2008) -See RealGoodBuddies

Clueless (1995) - See for stoner humor, Alicia Silverstone (whither?), computer-assisted clothing ensemble choices, and heavy doses of before-its-time environmentalism, in the form of global warming and Pismo Beach Disaster Relief work.

Gummo (1997) - See for parentless Kids, self-destruction and depressed Southern life. Directed by Harmony Korine, who wrote the Kids screenplay. The backstory is that a town destroyed by a tornado still suffers its effects, with father- and mother-less children, etc.

I like the idea of a look back at a neglected town, but this movie leaves me feeling pretty hopeless. You get the feeling these people did not exactly have perfect lives before the event. There are touching moments, like when quiet Solomon works out with jury-rigged dumbbells in front of his basement mirror while his mother tap dances in her deceased husband's tap shoes. This movie makes me miss basements (see Chicago). But the only time Solomon smiles is while he sweet talks a mentally-handicapped girl he (or maybe his friend) paid to screw. I'm not sure what lessons I'm supposed to take from that.

The film makes good use of music, specifically black or death metal, arranged to cat-killing scenes. It was scary.

Wherever I may (not) roam

SF Chron: Singer's metal fence has heavy impact in Marin

I dreamed about seeing Metallica last night, then I see this in the news. It's a sign. Don't go to Marin.

tao of pilaf

tao of pilaf
Originally uploaded by Monster Pete

yin yang. i made dinner for my gf. we had pilaf, mandarin orange chicken, cream corn, and leftover pizza. plus vino (barefoot pinot grigio). dessert? rocky road peanut butter cookie sandwich. mmmm.

society

Empty Room Society, with Security:
Coatholding Society (dan's just a guest member):

fun times dudes and dudettes

I quit my job last friday (yay!) but start law school soon. I've been fooling around in The Grandpas and writing and photographing.

keith tanner came to stay and we saw the giants beat his dodgers nicely on sunday.

work had a nice going away party for me with Rocco's italian food delivered. i got a pen in appreciation for my five years of work and to inspire me to keep writing.

ate veggie (but you'd never know it) vietnamese at Golden Lotus in downtown oakland. we did not get robbed. it was fun, with brian and corinna, both soon to move to Germany. aw.. :(

did i mention i quit my job :)

incoming

incoming
Originally uploaded by Monster Pete

penguins are pretty friendly. they played with us through the glass at the newly remodeled california academy of sciences. the place opens to the public next month. click on the penguin to check out my Flickr page with more images.

Back to Bach, my Fort-e

I finished a Chinese song in violin, and moved back to Bach's double violin concerto in D Minor.

Had a scare - I thought I lost my HD but really just moved my entire user's folder into some obscure place on my computer. Don't do that. And back up!!! Thanks Apple Store genius guy for finding it.

Made a nice fort with Britt in my living room. We used a circus-tent type roof with a main pole for support, secured with ropes, pulleys and copper wiring around a chair, a doorknob and the Eiffel Tower; inside was a loft, and grass, fire, stars and lake. Ground padding not very comfortable - will bring inflatable mattress next time, and camera.

Posted some Flickr items: mac dre in memorium, Little Saigon celebration.

Going to USF Law School, unless Hastings hastily lets me in.

Enjoying handing out What Now My Love EPs. Get yours while supplies last!

Reading: Nonrequired Reading 2007 and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz, old Tape Ops, Cosmo
Watched: Good Shepherd, Breach

Richard Snakedick and the Snakedicks

Our debut performance in Sunnyvale, CA. Richard (James Stewart), Monster Pete, Cory McCullough and Micah Turney do Depeche Mode, Black Sabbath, the floor, and AC/DC.

Weezer - El Scorcho

I unearthed some lost video from B's Pseudo Bachelor's Party 2008. Lights my fire.

So 2.0

Check out my first SFist thread

what's done tasted good

• On June 28th, Fresno was the place.


• The next day, San Jose showed me the way.


• The 30th of june, I helped britt move


• First of july, same, dude


• july the two, played a tune. (still doing the Chinese thing in violin)


• third of july, out with work crew. (julie's supper club and extreme pizza and sex in the city (tv) and scrubs at james').


• fourth of july, never left the house. explosions in the sky were all about.


• fifth of july, you don't need to pry, we walk through presidio to GGBridge to Crissy Field under a beautiful sky. Ate many free wild blackberries, so ripe and moist and warm, foraged along the road in presidio, yummmmm.
  
  
  blackberry
  Originally uploaded by Monster Pete
  
  saw stanford basketball players running on the sand; cold feet were part of the plan.
  
  
  cold feet
  Originally uploaded by Monster Pete
  
  
  

baby phat

baby phat
Originally uploaded by Monster Pete

at a Fresno car show, 6-28-08. photo by brittany owens.

Q: What do you call a hippy's well-kept time card?

A: Good times

My company's installing a palm reader to keep track of your hours. It's kinda creepy.

gemini

american gothic cheesecake factory


yadhtrib yppah

Sunday, my actual birthday, was golf and lunch at the Club with fam. Unstuck my sink with my landlord. It was a good day. Didn't even have to use my AK.

cave in

the Nation had a good piece on Nick Cave. i agree with this blogger that it's refreshing to see something non political yet raw in the magazine. makes me want to check out this "grinderman" album. could it live up to the hype? well, judging the Flash-only site, not so much. Who wants Flash? You can't link to anything, steal images/sound.... boring. And it hardly works on Safari. Yeesh people.

dumplings satisfy rumbling monster stomachs

My mom collects children's books. Not books that belonged to kids, but books meant for children. I liked the colorful pictures and creative story lines. I could talk for days about them.

As I ate dumplings tonight on Clement with Mona and Brittany, I remembered this Japanese story, The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumpling. A talented dumpling entrepreneur chases a lost snack to the underworld. She is enslaved by monsters, who treat her well and love her food. Nonetheless, she misses home, and escapes by boat and magic paddle. Furious, the monsters drink the river to stop the old woman from rowing to freedom. You'll have to read the rest.

I also remembered Tikki Tikki Tembo, but I think the name is more memorable than the story.

riding high

pretty relaxed weekend. walked lake merced and saw Indiana Jones with dort. watched MMA action with James and Tina. fixed a flat and rode with Masa to Sausalito. So windy, the tourists got blown off their bikes. poor tourists.

week in review

• brunch at carol's


• beer party at micah's


• menlo park, palo alto, fraiche, 27 dresses, home cooking, vino


• violin lesson


• fiery furnaces with brittany, food at Mel's (van ness)


• sex in the city with brittany

moby on moby

Check out Moby doing a director's commentary with his new album. He sounds genuinely sad the rave scene is done. I remember in Bolivia, the soundtrack to the TV news photo montages of 9/11 was Moby's concept album, the famous one Play. That was seminal. I also went to a rave in Bolivia but I don't remember hearing Moby. Anyway, rave on, dude. And do more punk covers like this.

Thanks for the link Brittany.

memorial weekend

Dort had me pull off 280 in Daly City as we drove south to the Peninsula. She wanted to pay tribute to her husband at his resting place.

We drove around the big military cemetery looking for the grave. Thousands of little American flags planted by Boy Scouts and larger ones lining the road for Memorial Day flapped in the breeze. The gentle wind, sunny sky and green grass sloped down from the top of the cemetery toward the Bay.

We stopped a couple places. Dort got out and read the names on the white tombstones. Everything looked the same. Finally she signaled me. They had removed the tree that used to show her where her husband lay. Only a flat stump remained.

Dort said she felt better that the tree was gone because the roots made her uncomfortable. I got uncomfortable hearing that, visualizing tree roots burrowing into Uncle Ski's casket.

There are women buried there, too. Dort said they were the wives of service members. I did not ask if Dort would be buried there. She later said the place is full, though, so that answers that question.

old friends, new toilet

I've got mucho news lately. I'm still picking law schools, btw.

• dinner with dad at Joey and Eddie's, used to be Moose's; used to be good.
  
• playing with video cameras at work. I covered a "truck blessing" at Port of Oakland and Burmese protest in front of Singaporean embassy. They're pressuring Singapore b/c they head ASEAN, which can theoretically help cyclone victims.


• locked out of apt. twice. saved by Dort.


• fish dinners at dort's, twice


• Numayr called as he walked home from a party in Manhattan. We agreed that we weren't suicidal, which means we're optimistic people. He asked whether I feel guitly for kicking Mike S. out of What Now My Love without proper notification. I agreed to apologize to Mike.


• Mike S. called on his last night in Boston, as he walked one last time to the train station or something. he was upbeat and perceptive. i was in a funk for some reason and he picked up on it.


• wandering Bay to Breakers, before meeting David and lunching in Darla's and shooting from the De Young Tower.


• dinner with Brian at Naan 'n' Curry after watching a performance by Ascend Dance, a mix of rock climbing and dance. They synced one male-female number to The Mission theme song :). B said he and Corinna will move to Germany in a year.


• saw performances by "scratch guitarist" The Genie and kid rock-ish The High Decibels.


• watched Spencer Nakasako's films Refugee and a.k.a. Don Bonus about Cambodian-American identity formation. boys cry.


• watched Gonzo, the Hunter S. Thompson story at the SF Int'l Film Fest.


• biking the Headlands.

Meshugga Beach Party at Bay To Breakers 2008

The Chosen Surfers rocked out on JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park.

bay to breakers 2008 - USA!

these model citizens yelled "free tibet" after this discourse. then a firefighter made them get down and they didn't actually die doing it. I think that's a beer in the left one's hand.

death by street view

Top 15 Google Street View Sightings
Street View Fun
Blurs to come

Death lurks in my parents' driveway (I blurred the addy):

go green with me

my favorite Green-related musical ventures:

-The Moldy Peaches feat. Kimya Dawson and Adam Green
-Another Green World, album by Brian Eno
-"I'm seeing red" by Minor Threat (I'm colorblind)
-Green Day, natch
-"Moneytalks" by AC/DC

Jet Li and Jackie Chan

brutal, on court and off.

Tom Waits Press Conference

say hi to yr mom for me Tom.

harvest coming

word is, the orange trees in Menlo Park are coming into ripeness. time to pick. anyone want some juicy ones?

mother and son

mother and son
Originally uploaded by Monster Pete

mother and family spoke to Oakland mayor ron dellums after parents feared ICE would raid their elementary school.

ladies night

man i don't know what to say about this company: BigTime. maybe monster pete + the chiefs don't have enough ladies' nights and special reasons to see our band, besides our music.

What Jesus Would Eat

If He were in the Bay Area, where would He feast?

I know He likes His loaves and fishes. The salmon population is hurting, so local chinook is off the menu. I'm sure He would not want anything frozen and transported too far. He had no motorized transportation in His day. Christ's a locavore.

Mercury levels threaten one's health if you eat too much fish from the Bay. Once a month is okay, per NPR. If you are eating out, according to CBS 5, We Be Sushi and Blowfish as well as Whole Foods pass the test.

For bread, He'd probably go to the workers' co-op Arizmendi. Jesus was all about people power, and that sourdough on Fisherman's Wharf is too darn expensive, plus it just sits out getting dusty.

After the meal, He would have to get a good view of San Francisco. He might walk across some water. In Oakland, He'd find Mr. Brians and his new golden wok(search DO THE WOK OF LIFE). But I suspect the Lord could make a wok golden just by peeing on it or some such thing, so He might not be impressed.

If He came over my place, the menu would be simple. Probably salad, pasta, toast and meatballs or stir fry. But He'd get to listen to the new Maven, at which point the devil within would bubble up and out and succumb to the pulsating sounds, leaving the Lord with a full stomach and empty conscience. Then we would find a good, free MIT course to take. I'm thinking kitchen chemistry.

'going commando' no joke, pros say

Real life commandos are reclaiming the phrase, "Going commando." Performing on duty without undergarments is no easy task, U.S. troops say. Hearing the phrase bandied about in popular culture does little for company morale. Check out the news brief.

Frosty needs a visa

Dort walked up to the counter at McDonald's and ordered two "Frosties" the other day, meaning ice cream cones. The young South Asian-looking woman at the counter charged her for some other ice cream item, more than two cones cost. Dort soon found the error, and asked for two "cones" instead.

"Cones" used to be called "frosties," Dort explained later. She ought to get hip to the new lingo, she concluded.

I can't blame her for using the term she used all her life to order a cone from McDonald's. So why should I get irritated when she says all immigrants should "get in line" like her parents, who came the "right way"?

I shouldn't. I'll just tell her calmly, "Our government no longer serves that."

Focus- Hocus Pocus (live '73)

yeah this is good dude. MPTC covers the beginning, lead guitar takes the vocals. we don't do it near this fast though.

menlo pizzle

the weekend was on the peninsula, house sitting with dorty:

breakfasts: Ann's, Cafe Borrone
lunch: In'n'Out (Daly City)
dinners: Pasta?, leftovers
desserts: Starbucks, Fraîche
considered: SCU law but skipped reception day, same for USF.
watched: four-hour Jane Eyre (Masterpiece Theatre), Harry Potter (Prisoner of Alzkabizzle)
hiked: Windy Hill

Kindergarten VP?

check out the original post

This is a streaming MP4 video - you'll need Quicktime 6 or later to view it.

in!

got into USF law. ya-hoo.

got some good music, Simply Saucer's "Cyborgs Revisited." Raucous, spacey, surfy, garagey, poppy, rocky stuff.

they're just a minor treat

• watching "The Russians are Coming" on TV with Dort
BBQ at bro's place to watch stanford women win basketball semifinals
using our new Rebel Xti camera at work
Amoeba music's scan and listen system to preview their CDs for sale. out of 5 or 6 i tried (among them, new Radiohead, autechre, squarepusher) all but one worked.

pseudo bachelor's party 2008

here's a video/slideshow i made in iMovie and iPhoto for B's "pseudo" bachelor's party. it was pseudo because he was already married. they had a quick ceremony to get the immigration papers in order.

The slideshow's rated PG-13. the songs are "California Man" by Cheap Trick, One More Time by Daft Punk, and California by NES (B's former band.)

Drillbit Taylor

 photo by chris o.
grpas_tough
Originally uploaded by Monster Pete

turtle's egg

• cheap Chinese on Clement with Mona


• work buys lunch (!) at Thai Basil


• Sisterz of the Underground b-girl breakdancing show with Medusa performing. later, a guy at a pizza parlor threatens to punch elena and me in the face for saying "larry king" and "ann coulter," respectively. he meant it in the best way possible.


• Easter egg hunt for kids at Dort's Armenian Church. Walked lake merced and watched Miss Pettigrew.


• attempted to fix bike with landlord


• Easter lunch at the Olympic Club.


• walked Crissy Field


• girl named Bunny calls me on Easter Sunday.

harold and peter

UPDATE: Here's the Cho interview - 'Harold' Star Sets Bar 'High' for Asian Actors


me and actor john cho. he wouldn't say how he hurt his hand, other than it was "doing something really important on set." right.

he dug my star trek sweater, by the way. he's gonna be Sulu in the next ST movie.

Mr Rogers Sweater Day -MARCH 20!

one for (from) spinal tap

Abba Drummer Found Dead in His Garden

life imitating art imitating life. i swear i was thinking about Spinal Tap's gag about band members dying in freak gardening accidents and spontaneously combusting last night. weird. then i see this today. i was checking SFGate for news about this Tibetan protest i was just at at the Chinese consulate. some guy threw a couple giant rocks at the place and i failed to shoot him (with my camera). dang!!!!

the weekend was good.

• interviewed John Cho (Harold & Kumar, American Pie, West 32nd) in a roundtable with other asian media (Berkeley's Hard Boiled student paper and Philippine News).


• munchies and French lesson at le Boulange, Hayes Valley, with k.tanner and Chris O.


• monster tom, er pete, show at Homestead Lanes, followed by a Monkey dance party


• sis played basketball at Olympic Club


• dinner at Spruce in Laurel Heights with bro and wife

lit death match/ web analytics wednesday

my editor Andrew Lâm won the literary death match tonight. most of the stories were about sex, drugs, or both, whereas he sung a about his dead grandma's death and brief resurrection, and how she was rad about his bisexual exploits. he won by naming three songs before his competitor did. some white guy Lawrence Gallagher sung them. it seemed a bit white-biased, but Andrew won with his grasp of showtunes, i.e. On The Street Where You Live - From 'My Fair Lady' and Green river or something. he missed the radiohead (Creep), as did his competitor. weak.

before that we loaded up on knowledge, drinks and Mediterranean snaks at the Web Analytics Wednesday at Varnish fine arts gallery/bar. it was tasteful and popular.

drinks at some hayes valley gay bar closed the night, with free Paxti's chicago-style pizza, one Hawaiian (weird on deep dish) and one sausage, zucchini and mushroom or something. courtesy of a patron. schweet.

appletalk like a fun dip in sweaty pools underneath your head

it's a new day in the neighborhood when Xiu Xiu meets Larsen for daydrinking out back by the barn until rot turns up on the picnic bench, when you fall through and meet your maker in space, playing a game of backgammon until grandma relives you, relieving herself while you relive the past, did it ever taste so good? chop up the melting pot and smoke it because we used to have seasons home girl.

Sweet Suicide

BK at Ocean Beach has a drink mix chart on the soda fountain...Black and Gold, other mixes. we used to call a mix of everything in the fountain -- including water -- a Suicide. never tried it.

i'm partial to two-thirds coke and one-third Dr. Pepper... could be a Dolly Whirlwhip.

James Stewart Unleashed

I enjoyed Jamie Stewart’s music and personality during high school. We would go see his crazy fun band I.B.O.P.A., a.k.a. the Indestructible Beat of Palo Alto, which later morphed into Ten in the Swear Jar and Xiu Xiu. Eventually my band ended up recording some music at his house, Fort Awesome. We caught up before he headed to Europe, in the FALL of 2004. I forget if this ever got published.

PM: How are you?
JS: I’m feeling incredibly happy about music stuff but tired. It’s is kind of all I'm doing right now. It’s kind of awesome, kind of unnerving, just in so far as the scope of my life. There are not a lot of interesting things going on in Seattle, besides going on hikes.

PM: So you do live in Seattle?
JS: Yeah. My computer broke yesterday and it had all my work on it and I had nothing to do all day. It’s charming in a boho kind of way. What are you doing?
PM: I was playing this weekly thing at Jungle Copy in Palo Alto. It was cool. I went on a little trip, kind of haven’t gotten back into the swing. I hope to do more open mic-ey stuff.

JS: Where did you go?
PM: I flew to Mexico City. It was near the end of the summer, and I still think in terms of school year, and summer, you know. I flew down to Mexico City and stayed with some American kids. Mexico City is alright. I went on bus to El Salvador and Nicaragua -- a lot of busses. But it was fun, it was a good trip.
JS: That’s remarkable -- that’s really wonderful. I would love that.
PM: I’ll put some pictures on the Internet. I went fishing with these kids -- I didn’t get any pictures, but you know it’s like a fishing story, so, I mean, the fish were really big, you know.
JS: Where?
PM: Near the border of Costa Rica, in Nicaragua, in this bay, San Juan del Sur.
JS: Did you catch anything?
PM: Yeah, I caught a barracuda.
JS: Are you kidding? Omigod.
PM: Ate it, too, yeah. I thought they were joking when I asked what the fish was.
Where have you been this year?

JS: We did two full U.S. tours and then a full Europe tour, then a short tour of mostly Canada and a couple of U.S. shows for eight days. This year we played every major city in Canada, which is not that hard. There are only eight of them. Canada is strange and beautiful hard to describe. In two weeks, we’re going back to Spain and France and Portugal.
PM: I drove from Chicago to Vancouver, Canada. East of [Vancouver] is the prettiest place ever.
JS: We did one drive Chicago to Seattle in like one drive -- 38 hours. Someone had to get back to school. It was a beastly drive. It got to be like this thing on drugs after a while.
PM: Do you do much drugs?
JS: Do I? No. But driving for like thirty eight hours without stopping was like being on drugs, bad drugs, homemade drugs.

PM: I talked to Kimya Dawson. She liked being on the road alone.
JS: I definitely liked it. The transition between that and coming home is weird. It takes like a week to figure out what the fuck is going on again. But, yeah, being on tour is really great. It’s good stuff.
PM: Who have you toured with? Do you have a varying cast of characters in Xiu Xiu?
JS: Lately, my stuff has been me and Caraleena on every tour this year. I'm sure it will just be she and I [in the coming tour].

PM: Why did you get political on the last album, for the first time?
JS: It’s impossible not to have that conversation. It’s impossible not to think about the current situation in a desperate and terrified way and think about it pretty [inaudible].
PM: Pretty comfortably? Is that what you said?
JS: No, I said constantly but comfortably would be really perverse and bizarre.

PM: What do you think of the press you’ve gotten? Are you satisfied?
JS: I kind of had stopped reading it because it kind of freaks me out. My publicist works really hard and I appreciate that because if we get better press and better turnout. But if it’s bad, I get all bent out of shape. If it’s good -- reading a whole lot about what other people think about what you're doing, it disestablishes what happening in the present moment. I’m never averse to doing interviews, or people writing about it, I just need to keep it out of my brain or I get very spun around, whether or not it’s good or bad.

[I forget what was said here. - Ed.]
PM: My dad’s doing a marathon. I was gonna go out to Chicago.
JS: How is your dad
PM: He gets cranky a lot. I think it’s cause he gets up early to work out. But he’s doing good. He always talks about moving, moving houses.
JS: What do you think about that?
PM: I guess I could see where he’s coming from but I think it’s kind of a device -- a way to compare, get perspective.
JS: That’s not so bad, is it?
PM: It’s like with my job…I spend like half my time at work looking for another job.

PM: You’re not religious at all?
JS: Me? No, I'm totally religious. I'm really private about it, it’s not something I wouldn't discuss but not something I would foist on anybody.
PM: Do you have practices?
JS: I pray a lot and I meditate a lot. I haven't gone to church in a long time. I've been kind of wanting to go back. I think all of the positive stuff about religion -- loving yourself and other people and God -- are the good parts. The crazy, judgmental, using-religion-as-an-economic-and-political-tool is ridiculous. Anything that anybody thinks is true is generally true in their spiriutual life, but i also think a lot of dangerous, damaging things abot religion are true. How about you?
PM: I like being able to give up sometimes, and just say, ‘God will take care of it.’ And living here with the family, I definitely see the worth of just like going to Church and being quiet, for like, an hour a week, together.
JS: I'm not totally averse to church, just not sure where to go. It’s hard to find the right place, that’s for sure. I think God's smart enough not to get freaked out about people needing to do something and not go to Church.

PM: What about music? Do you work a lot, on the computer?
JS: We have the same set up we've always had --
PM: -- like Pro Tools
JS: -- like, how much time? I try to work on music for at least eight hours a day, not always on purpose but writing stuff, Pro Tools, or work on stuff for touring -- not always touring but getting arrangements. That’s the goal: to put in a full days work [laughs].
I think because it’s my only job right now I feel some Protestant work ethic that I need to respect the position I am in, that I need to give it as much time as I can do productively during the day.

I also get freaked out that the fact it’s my only job, it will all come crashing on itself. And it also is incredibly satisfying and enjoyable to work on music every day, not like a burden, but kind of have to set this standard work week way of doing it.

PM: You will not tour as much next year?
JS: This year we will tour not anything as much as we did last year. Weirdly, I think the whole tour schedule for next year is kind of planned. Which I guess is kind of a normal thing to do but I was getting all freaked out about shows next August, but like, fuck, it’s October -- I need to chill out.

PM: There were rumors you were just moving north, that you were actually living in Canada.
JS: I wish! We will be in Spain on the next election. We certainly could stay. The reason I wanted to move back to California more would be to be with my family more, so obviously moving back to Spain would be the opposite.

PM: I hope they don’t pull some Cat Stevens on you.
JS: [laughs] Maybe that would be a sign from God. I'm really interested in geography. I bought all these flag stickers from Middle Eastern countries. I was going to put one on my guitar case, but they'd never let us on a plane, ever. It’s really gross to think about, actually incredibly gross to think about the potential effects of a piece of vinyl with glue on it.

PM: So you want to get closer to your family?
JS: Stuff didn't go as well in Seattle as I thought on a personal and social basis. There’s not a whole lot of reasons for me to stay here, I could never take this city very seriously. It doesn’t seem to be working that hard at being anything but pleasant. Some of my best friends from Alaska just moved back to the Bay Area. It’s not like any relationships here will go away. My sister in the Bay Area just had a baby.

JS: Where do you want to live ultimately?
PM: I think Hawaii was the first thing that came to my mind --
JS: -- not a bad choice.
PM: I went there once, it looked like Latin America but the roads were good. I’m going to Chicago next weekend.
JS: I love Chicago, it’s definitely someplace I would live if it were not for the brutal weather. I'm just not wired for it.

PM: Back to music. Is there anyone that you would like to tour with or collaborate with? And -- part b -- were you going to collaborate with The Police?
JS: The Police? No, but that would be awesome. I’m going to Italy next week to collaborate with Larsen, with this really beautiful Italian band, these humongous tribal goth leather daddies that play the most incredible delicate beautiful music I've ever heard. It’s really funny because it comes from these bear-loving black magic leather guys.
Xiu Xiu generally has turned into a collaboration with all my favorite friends bands...cows and 7yr rabbit cycle and deerhoof and all my fav bands, four fav existing bands generous contributions to the last record...setup with continuous collaborations with other bands which is really lucky for me.

PM: I saw Oxbow play last week.
JS: I really, really want to ask the singer if he could do something with us.
PM: Cool. I guess they played a bad show with Deerhoof. I know Dan, the bass player.
JS: He lent you that organ, right?
PM: Yeah.
JS: We still have some bell of yours --
PM: -- my tuner, too.
JS: [Laughs] As I remember, I got that in a fair trade. We still use it.

PM: Do you ever sit back and listen to your music?
JS: Definitely not, for the same reasons as the press. If I think it’s bad, I think I 'm a shithead. If it’s good, I think the new stuff I’m working on sucks. I feel confident we did the best possible job we could have when we put it out, I don't feel we slacked. Any post-perspective other than, ‘we did our best job,’ would be unproductive. Once in a while I hear it by accident. It takes me a minute or two to recognize it because live versions are so different.

PM: Do you ever wonder -- obviously, you didn’t have to be a musician -- but do you wonder about a different musical path you could have taken?
JS: The one we're doing is how I've always wanted it to be set up. We’re fortunate to work with the labels we are working with. Anytime I would want to do something different I could. I’m not in that position to have a label that wants like five more records that sound like the last three. I know that at some point I will stop working on pop music and work on more compositional based music.

PM: How would your composed music differ?
JS: I don't know. Probably, the emotional process be the same as far as doing something that comes from a very open place, hopefully. It’s not something I have any experience with whatsoever, besides listening to it.

PM: Your dad produced Billy Joel stuff?
JS: He did Tom Jones, produced Piano Player, he did good stuff. I learned a lot from him.

PM: Have you always been playing music?
JS: When I was about fourteen, I started my first band but I didn't get really serious about it till I was like 25. It’s been a pretty sort of slow and gradual ascent toward working on it all day obsessively which is where I'm at now.
PM: Did you say descent or ascent?
JS: Ascent, but [laughs] that’s a valid question.

PM: How did you meet [longtime collaborator] Cory [McCullough], for instance?
JS: I feel incredibly lucky considering how I met him. He went to San Jose State and was in a music program with a couple other people I was playing with, who recommended him as a guitar player. We tried played with him, but it wasn't working out. But there was nobody else, so we asked him again. He is the greatest musical partner -- I feel really lucky to keep working with him on stuff. I think more than anybody he understands what Xiu Xiu is trying to do -- another reason I want to come back to the Bay Area.

PM: I guess that’s what we’re working at, is what Xiu Xiu is trying to do.
JS: That is something I always refrain from answering. I have a very clear idea --
PM: -- but you can’t tell it to anybody?
JS: No, but I don't think it’s any of our business to change what somebody thinks that we're up to. We're trying to make music that is meaningful to people but not trying to tell anybody how it is meaningful. If anybody wants to attach something to us we're not going to fuck with that, work it into something we want it to mean. Subconsciously, knowing what we think can influence somebody's perspective.

PM: Your fans are probably pretty personal and give you a lot of feedback. I remember the story where somebody made underwear and sent it to you [stained with blood, for like a month straight]?
JS: When we played in Calgary somebody made silk screened versions of those panties, what they thought they would look like, and were throwing them at us while we were playing. I recently got a jar of urine, frog bone. Lately, people have been giving us artwork that they worked on. That has been incredibly wonderful. There's one artist I met just through mail, James Morrison. I actually had been a big fan of his, he's doing a cover for us. I don't know necessarily that I get a lot of feedback but people are really remarkably generous to us. It’s funny that the underwear thing is what sticks in peoples’ minds.

PM: A lot of people I know are turned off by your music.
JS: People definitely really seem to like it or not like it.
PM: You feel there are other bands they could listen to?
JS: Absolutely. I don't know. It’s really sort of an incredibly freeing feeling that you don’t have to make somebody like what you're doing. A lot of the other stuff I worked on previously was worried about making people like it. That really makes it not really ring that true.

PM: Have you found any new foods that you like lately?
JS: I’m not that into food. I’ve been making some collard greens in stir fry.

PM: I remember you went to Vietnam one time. Any more trips planned?
JS: I really want to go to Mexico and Mongolia and Brazil. Actually, I had been planning a trip to Iran before Sept. 11 and had gotten about half that together, but obviously Sept. 11th happened. If there is ever a Middle East again I would like to go there, anywhere.

It would be really amazing to tour in Mexico. We put out a record on a Spanish label, but the publicist is Mexican. We've been doing a lot of interviews.

PM: Are there any instruments you want to play that you haven’t played?
JS: I've been listening to a lot of Appalachian music, which is where my family come s from. I’m not interested d in playing banjo in Xiu Xiu but interested in the instrument. I bought a little recorder a little while ago that I've gotten pretty good at playing. My cat hates it.

PM: Are you in a steady relationship?
JS: Not for about six months
PM: How long have you had the cat?
JS: [Laughs] I decline to answer.

PM: Do you ever go into the studio?
JS: No, just at home. The way that we work is slow it would economically impossible [to go into the studio]. We work on stuff in really, really tiny steps. We tried to do it once, just go in four days and bash stuff out ...it turned out good but compared to the other stuff we did it didn't fit in really well, was missing a certain feeling. We made an attempt to do something else, homestyle way works best.

A lot of stuff is written as it is being recorded. In a studio, it would take a lot of time. We don't make enough money to make that possible. KRS spends a lot of money having it mastered well, which makes up for any mixing foibles on my part.
PM: Mixing foibles --
JS: -- which I'm sure you know all about.
[He lost some music my band recorded with him - Ed.]

PM: [Back to the question about where I’d like to live], I would love Mission Bay [in San Francisco.]
JS: I think Oakland would be better, for the amount of space I need to work on music.

PM: Do you play sports?
JS: No.
PM: But you used to work out?
JS: I used to. After I move out I'll start going to the gym again.
PM: You can go with the Oxbow singer.
JS: I think I’d last about five seconds with him.

PM: What have you been listening to -- any pop, or mostly classical lately?
JS: Some composer I don't know how to pronounce -- Kinchelli, I think -- then, like, friends’ bands mostly.

PM: What do you think about iTunes?
JS: Because people like to pay for it, it is good. I have very mixed feelings about people burning CDs off the internet. For a band our size, it really cuts into us being able to make a living. On the other hand, frequently people will tell us that's how they heard about us then came to a show. I don't have any decisive feelings about it. But I think burning stuff for free is the same as stealing from a store or merch table. I don’t think music should be free. I think if someone wants it to be free, [fine]. But if someone wants it to be for sale, then circumventing that, it’s...

PM: What was your most memorable show in the last year?
JS: Not necessarily the best -- we played Napoli, Italy in a 2500 year old Roman aqueduct. It was underground, part of a church. The floors were not flat but at a pretty steep slant. Our equipment kept tilting, so we were holding them up with bricks and with roman carvings, things that could be in a museum. The show was mobbed, insanely sold out. We played in the remains of this peculiar arched venue. We were in the aqueduct beneath the church. I’m very certain I will never forget it.

PM: What’s the best thing you’ve ever heard about your bands, or music?
JS: We played at this metal club and they had posters of every show. Beneath the band names were descriptions: ‘Moth Rape, death hating speed metal from Austria.’ They were written anonymously. Under Xiu Xiu was written, ‘undisputed masters of introspective creepy noise pop.’ Next to all these metal bands it was out of context
-- next to, ‘Lightning Fad, blood spurting speed riffs.’ It was pretty funny.

PM: The Cactus Club closed down a few years ago.
JS: No love lost.

PM: What are you wearing?
JS: Underpants and a rock t-shirt. What are you wearing?
PM: Carhart shorts, a black sweatshirt and a IBOPA shirt.
JS: [Laughs] [IBOPA was Jamie’s band in San Jose years ago. - Ed.]

PM: The music gets you up every morning?
JS: Absolutely -- luckily, actually.

PM: You would study composition?
JS: I would need to. What I'm interested in doing, I don't know it.

PM: Do you have any idols -- [Frank] Zappa, your dad, a female?
JS: I definitely have idols, I don't think any in a careerist way, but musically for sure.

PM: What’s your favorite holiday?
JS: Christmas. What’s your favorite?
PM: Christmas. Wait, maybe Labor Day.
JS: [Laughs]

chauncey

60 minutes covered the Chauncey bailey murder. it's pretty good IMHO. i feel like they could have dug deeper into Oakland PD and political establishment but it's a short segment.
CBS video

GDC 08 - indulgenze

so mike's leaving today, as is flury. we had good times. since tuesday, we hung out at King of Siam thai food on Thursd. night, near union square. i got mixed seafood noodle (egg) soup, just spicy enough.

friday night i went to D. Pham's dinner party - menu:

1. Leek Vegetable Soup
2. Wild Alaska Salmon
3. Baby Back Ribs with Lemongrass
4. Salade Russe (Russian Salad)
5. Vietnamese Too Broken Rice Mixed with Chives and Olive Oil
6. Apple Strudel with Cherry Garcia ice cream

so good. just so good. watched The Girl in the Cafe with Bill Nighy and Chinaman (Kinamand), set in Denmark.

saturday lunch on Polk and Green, plus hot tea w/cognac.
warehouse party/show in Oakland with Mr. Brian's (No Doctors) other band Say Anything, a krunk funk mix of indie math rock with trumpet and vox and an electric banjo played like guitar. yay.

bri. crotty bought drinks in the missions then a post GDC video gamer party there too... Jenn Frank in the hizouse.

gossip about NU kids closed the night.

pork daze

What I do at work:
-facilitate meetings between mainstream and ethnic media
-promote better relations between racial and ethnic groups
-train staff to use video, audio, photo and text publishing tools

What I really do at work:
- Come up with great stories that mainstream news outlets cover as their own
- Search for and post ethnic porn.
- Distribute the latest versions of pirated software and train staff to use images from a variety of online sources without attribution.

last night

- chicken pho at Out the Door in SF Centre: tasty soup but small portions. doesn't have the chutzpah of Turtle Tower's giant bowls in Little Saigon (Tenderloin SF).
- Flury and Shitface in town for the game dev's conf ie. Nerdcon. very exciting. Pretty dude-licious scene though. i can see where lara croft's assets came from.
- the no doctors at the stork club. they got 'normal'... fun show though and their songs are like actual songs, not so noisy. at all. Chauncey was very charismatic and happy. he just got married.

v-day

to dinner
aunt in tow
eat some food
let my heart go

restaurants
too much line
food court
saves some time

chicken bowl
a la carte
noodles, rice
choices hard

familiar face
shiny space
mall's fine
clear my mind

dinner

tonight's fare was Mac'n'Cheese a la Hangover. A perfect mix of bland, carb-heavy ingredients balanced by a healthy green salad with cucumbers and kidney beans.

The mac'n'cheese: with broccoli and chicken; leftovers. The healthy dose of cayenne pepper I added to it when I made it Wednesday was reduced to a hint of spiciness. This tells me the pepper loses potency as the food sits in the fridge.

The salad: The Caesar dressing was too much for the meal, adding to the cheese in the mac and the Parmesan that came as part of the salad mix. Are you supposed to skin cucumbers or not? Is it just a flavor thing? Or does the skin make your fingernails shiny or something? I like them with skin. The Caesar in a bag salad thing is a good buy at $1 with my Safeway club card.

All in all a healthy, filling bunch of American favorites.

tanlines be-gone

i edited my family holiday card picture last night. we're just on time to send it out for a belated Chinese New Year's. i had to excise my little sister's tan lines from the vacation shot, from my bro's wedding in Cabo, and i gave us all better tans with some color correction.

i considered submitting my law school app to more schools, just to make ppl read the essay, but not sure it's worth the $60-75 fee.

dinner with dort at stonestown mall tonight. bday dinner at a fancy art gallery for bro's wife tomorrow.

super blog

listening on the radio is a new experience:

• great segue between a Rolaids Plus Gas Relief ad read by the announcer and the great "pressure" brought by the Giants' defense -- "Talk about pressure!"


• faint strains of "Free Fallin'" in the background during halftime interviews.... why don't they broadcast some of the live music?

search

• songs i've recently searched for tab or lyrics to: Cliffs of Dover - Eric Johnson; Under the Bridge - RHCP; Put your Records on - Corinne Bailey Rae; You Love Me - Kimya Dawson; Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold - Townes Van Zandt


• terms I . looked up for law school essay: addled; belied; leafleting; "the three tenors"


• number of articles i have recently read referencing Lew Christensen, SF ballet pioneer: 2


• bowls of Golden Grahams i ate tonight: 2

starving musician blows air hot. sizzle

• Got back to Menlo Park today. mom got dad a windmill garden ornament, a big cast iron sculpture thing for their anniversary. i think my dad liked it, but wanted something maybe more manly like.



• we watched syriana. dad got mad at my sister for her not wanting to bring friends to the house. they say she's embarrassed by our small house or something, compared to her friends' houses. which is pretty amazing, considering the size of our house.



• i argued with dort on saturday. she did not want me to help brian move out of his apartment. considering how much my body hurt after moving, i see where she's coming from -- that it was a big favor that i didn't have to do. i'd rather live in a world, though, where i can call on friends when i need them, like Dort's friends call on her. and i have eaten more than one good meal at brian's apartments. but is my self esteem too low? probably.
  
  I oughta read Da Jesus Book.



• montner pete played last night to a rad crowd on a bar's tiny stage. micah's new drum set, with see-through colored plastic drums, reminds me of toys I had as a kid. Tre put a noise-responsive lighting system under the drums to light'em up. Rush would be proud. Also jeanie said tom was being more outgoing on stage, a positive development. now to get him behind the mic (!).

legal daze

lawyers just *gotta use the bigs words:

"In making admissions decisions, the school gives substantial weight to numerical indicators... Yet numbers alone are not dispositive." - Boalt

here's a gem from the Complete Lawyer.com

"Lawyer Jokes Exist For A Reason -
Superior intellect or outstanding professional reputation are never reasons to accept or forgive bad manners or questionable social behavior."

i.e. just because you're better than everyone else doesn't mean you should act like it.
maybe the problem is believing in something like "superior intellect".

and there's your dose of wisdom from a hopeful law school applicant. (i'm trying to use more sarcasm).
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i did yoga for the first time last weekend; it was fun. i tried not to stare at the other people; the shirtless man next to me's giant back zit was one point of fixation
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i read carol's post about not being good at giving affection. flury said the same thing to me. i think i need to work on it too. but there's definitely more hugs from the San Jose crowd than the SF. i guess we're too hip or something, though i thought we were all hippies.

yerba mate, hierba buena

there's been an influx in maté consumption in my office lately. we're getting massive shipments of the south american tea from a consultant, who also brings his new french press. the water cooler conversations are getting more exciting.

Update: this stuff tastes terrible. the french press, which came free along with the mate, just broke. así es.

Mulan Rogue

CDs from library:

The Flying Luttenbachers - Revenge
pretty cool. i see where the No Doctors came from, with hard to pin down guitars and rocky beats. It could use some yelly mic-in-mouth vox though.

Philip Glass - Glassworks
eh...heard it all before...then it repeated itself. the "dance" pieces do a lot more for me than the ponderous opening tracks. i am so over this stuff. (except when Kronos plays it).

Jelly Roll Morton - 1923-24
ok pretty good but got annoying, all sounded same after a while, and a little too happy. it's him solo on the piano playing his jazz standards. i like the liner notes, talking about how rad New Orleans jazz is compared to the civilized Dixie stuff. it also emphasizes the importance of melody, which i'm working on in my stuff.

Some classical guitarist plays Vivaldi's Concerto in C and some other things with an orchestra -
The instrumentation alone turns me off on a lot of this. i'm sorry but it sounds so canned. at least the music is lively. Vivaldi is vivid, vivacious and voracious. i do a couple of his pieces on violin.

merzbow - dharma.
yeah, i vacuumed a couple months ago and though i didn't record that, or the sound of my microwave and static on the TV, i pretty much got my fill. this is an aural enema.