nye

tonight we are heading to oakland.  paul and greg are doing another show.  it'll be interesting to spend nye almost totally surrounded by strangers.  we have twelve beers and one bottle of champagne.  oh and a mint tin full of weed.  looks like a fun night to me. 

i'm happy we both have tomorrow off and can spend another day lazing about watching movies together.  

for what it's worth, Happy New Year to you.

7:18:49 PM    say what? []  trackback []

on christmas eve

we went to a Turtleneck Party.  good food, good beer, good music, good friends...all around goodness :)

on christmas day

we slept til two then watched movies til bedtime. 

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in the news...

there was an earthquake in these parts this morning, at 11:16am.  my mom called me around noon and asked about it.  i said "what?"  i didn't feel any rumbling or rolling and yes i was awake, just barely.  estimated at 6.5, the thing did manage to kill two people who, unfortunately, were near an old unreinforced building, near the epicenter.

in other news...

there was a huge power outage in sf this weekend, about a third of the city was without power.  but not in my neighborhood.  i had no idea anything was wrong 'til sunday.  doh.  funny that it did effect a huge shopping/commerce area of downtown the saturday before christmas. 

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some pics from wednesday night

3:44:21 PM    say what? []  trackback []

the wall

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check it out

my friend's new webzine, SassyGeek is live!  go take a look and if you feel like it, submit an article!  i'd submit one but well, i don't usually write articles, i can barely write a blog entry more than two or three paragraphs long!

12:37:27 PM    say what? []  trackback []

thinking...

i want to set up my own domain and move my blog there.  i'd like to get started on this in a couple of weeks but my question is, can i move my salon blog to my own domain/server?  and just how would i do this?  and do i have to continue to use radiouserland for my weblog publishing?  i'd like to actually switch to movable type but also be able to keep this past year or so of blogging on my site. 

help! 

12:12:05 PM    say what? []  trackback []

vh1's 100 greatest artists of hard rock

led zeppelin comes in at number one with black sabbath at number two. 

the list

did your favorite band(s) make the list?  i was happy to see the pixies, fugazi, pearl jam, jane's addiction, husker du, the sex pistols, NIN, nirvana and countless others i grew up listening to.  also, the old school rock i love...zeppelin, cream, the who, aerosmith, etc, etc.   

note from greg, there would be no nirvana (coming in at number 6) if not for the melvins, who were not on the list.

right now on the turntable led zeppelin II :)

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the homeless

today, i walked to walgreen's on market and 9th.  on 11th street, which greg and i call "pee street" i passed by 3 homeless men.  one guy was pushing his overflowing shopping cart somewhere and two other guys were sitting on the curb sharing a smoke and talking.  then on market street, i passed by a lady in a santa hat with a sleeping bag wrapped around her and a cardboard sign which said "anything helps" (on my way back home, i gave her a cigarette.)  across the street, 4 or 5 people were lounging in the sun in front of fox plaza.  and of course, in front of walgreen's there was the guy that's always in front of walgreens, "spare change?" he asks everyone coming and going.  usually, i never have change and tell him, "sorry buddy, no change, hang in there."  but today, i gave him 21 cents and he gave me a big smile.  i felt like shit though.  how can my change do anything for him?

a couple of weeks ago, the san francisco chronicle (online: sfgate) had a five day series on the homeless called "Shame of the City," i meant to post the links but got distracted.  i'm lazy and easily distracted, remember.

anyway, the first article, The Island begins with:

They live - and die - on a traffic island in the middle of a busy downtown street, surviving by panhandling drivers or turning tricks. Everyone in their colony is hooked on drugs or alcohol. They are the harsh face of the homeless in San Francisco.

this island is about three blocks from my house.  greg and i have walked by the island many times since our move to the city.  one of the first things i noticed about san fran was the homeless.  there are just so many of them!  seeing people sleeping on the sidewalks and in doorways shocked me,  in minneapolis, i'd only seen people sleeping outside once, they were encamped under a bridge.  here, it's a nightly sight.  some sleep right out in the open, others sleep in tents, some use their shopping carts, cardboard and blankets to make tents.  

The inhabitants live hand-to-mouth, sleep on the cement and abuse booze and drugs, mostly heroin. There are at least 3,000 others like them in San Francisco, social workers say. They are known as the "hard core," the people most visible on the streets, the most difficult to help.

all five of the articles in the series are worth the read (just ignore some of the formatting errors and typos) and don't forget to look at the pictures.  after reading these, my emotions were all over the place.  revulsion, sadness, pity, dispair, anger.  but in the end, this is just a part of living in san francisco.  eventually, the city will find someway to bandage this problem but i doubt it will go away completely.  some people want to live this way and they should be allowed to.  others want to get off the street and should be able to realize their dreams with help from the city and government agencies. 

go to: Shame of the City to read all the articles and to view the pictures.  do it, do it now!  the pictures are especially moving and some are very graphic.  The second article about the homeless family is very heartbreaking.  i really feel for those kids.  just please read...

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ps

oi, it's over, newsom defeats gonzalez...

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local election

today, there was an election today for mayor and district attorney of san francisco. 

i'm particularily interested in the mayoral race, i really want matt gonzalez, the green candidate, to win.  it's refreshing to see people excited about politics and voting.   while at work, at ameoba records, walking down the street in the last few weeks, i've had random convos with strangers about today's election.  i think third parties are important to the future of politics and besides, i'm tired of current state of affairs.  time for something new, something different.  i was all for jesse ventura in 1998 in the minnesota governor race, that was pretty thrilling, for politics :)

anyway, watch the results here.

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plus one

my sis and her hubby are proud new parents today!  early this morning my sis gave birth to her first child.  he's a big one, 9 lbs 11 oz, 22 inches long and a 15 and a half inch head, yowzers!  i had a feeling he'd be a big baby as mom gave birth to 5 big babies (i was over 9lbs.)  my mom is positively glowing (while she sounded like she was glowing when we talked on the phone today.)  he's the first grandbaby in my family and both my mom and dad were happy when they found out that finally a grandkid was on the way.  and now he's here.  very exciting!

i hope to talk to my sis soon to personally congratulate her.  i can't wait to meet the new one but, unfortunately, i won't be heading back to minnesota 'til this summer.  pictures will have to suffice for now i guess. 

congrats sis, i love ya!

3:03:23 PM    say what? []  trackback []

goddamn laughing attacks!

AHAHAHAAHAHAHAH

AaHAHAHAHAAHAHA

HAAHHAAHAA

HAHHAHAHAH

AAHAHAHAHHAHA

HAHAHAHA

heeheehee...i can't stop laughing.....

5:29:09 PM    say what? []  trackback []

today's listening enjoyment

zappa.com

Flower Punk

Hey Punk, where you goin' with that
flower in your hand?
Hey Punk, where you goin' with that
flower in your hand?

Well, I'm goin' up to Frisco to join a
psychedelic band.
I'm goin' up to Frisco to join a
psychedelic band.

Hey Punk, where you goin' with that
button on your shirt?
Hey Punk, where you goin' with that
button on your shirt?

I'm goin' to the love-in to sit & play
my bongos in the dirt.
Yes, I'm goin' to the love-in to sit & play
my bongos in the dirt.

Hey Punk, where you goin' with that
hair on your head?
Hey Punk, where you goin' with that
hair on your head?

I'm goin' to the dance to get some action,
then I'm goin' home to bed.
I'm goin' to the dance to get some action,
then I'm goin' home to bed.

Hey Punk, where you goin' with those
beads around your neck?
Hey Punk, where you goin' with those
beads around your neck?

I'm goin' to the shrink so he can help me
be a nervous wreck...

(Just at this moment, the 2700
microgram dose of STP ingested by
FLOWER PUNK shortly before the
song began TAKES EFFECT: before
your very ears his head blows up...
leaving a bizarre audial residue all over
your teen-age record player!)
Hey Punk! Hey Punk! Hey Punk!
Punky! Punk! Hey Punk! Punky!
Come and go...come and go...
Polly, do I ever have a lot of soul?
I think I love you!
Questi dominga?
Have you seen that nose eating?
I wanna know for sure!
Leave my nose alone please!
What 're you trying to do?
Listen! ...

This is one of the most
exciting things that's ever
happened to me
You know, every time I think
about how lucky I am to be in
the rock & roll industry
It's SO exciting
You know, when I first got into
the rock & roll business
I could barely even play the
changes to this song on my, on
my guitar
But now I'm very professional
I can play the guitar
I can strum it rhythmically
I can sing along with my guitar
as I strum

I can strum, sing, dance,
I can make merry fun all over
the stage
And you know, it's so wonderful
to...
It's wonderful to feel that I'm
doing something for the kids
Because I know that the kids
and their music are where it's
at

The youth of America today is
so wonderful
And I'm proud to be a part of
this gigantic mass deception

I hope she sees me thrilling,
yes...
I hope she sees me dancing and
thrilling

I will say: "Hello Dolly!"

Is the song over?
Boy, this is really exciting,
making a rock & roll record
I can't even wait until our
record comes out and teen-agers
start to buy it

We'll all be rich and famous!

And when my royalty check comes
I think I'm going to buy a
Mustang
No, I think I'll...I think I'll
get a Corvette
No, I think I'll get a Harley
Davidson
No, I don't think I'll buy any
of those cars
I think what I will do is I
will buy both
No, I don't do that either
I think, ah, I'll go into real
estate
I think I'd like to...
I think I'd like to buy a house
in ... Boulevard
No, that wouldn't do any good
Gee, I wonder if they can see
me up here, twirling that
tambourine and dancing...

Maybe after the show
One of the girls who sees me up
here, singing and thrilling my
tambourine and dancing, will
like me
And she will come over to me
And I will walk
I will walk up to her and I
will smile at her
And I will impress her and I
will say: "Hello, baby,
What's a girl like you doing in
a place like this?
I'm from a rock & roll band,
I think we should..."
Is the song over?

5:15:15 PM    say what? []  trackback []

so this is winter?

i gotta tell ya, i can get used to this!  it rained three days this week and today is gloriously sunny and warm.  the coldest night so far was the night we went to oakland for the UL show.  and that night it felt like a nice cool fall evening in minnesota.  the trees still have all their green leaves, no yucky brown landscapes like fall/winter (before or after snow) in minnesota.  our windows are still open, we haven't closed them all once since we've been here.  the weather does throw me off a bit, it seems unreal that christmas is fast approaching.  it sure doesn't feel like christmas time. 

1:38:53 PM    say what? []  trackback []