I don't want to turn this into some kind of lame-ass self-help jerk-a-thon (how's that for hyphens?), so allow me to be brief in the intro:

It's come to my own attention that since stopping regular comprehensive exercise and a proper diet about 1.5 years ago my bod just isn't as rad as it was.  In an effort to reverse these effects I've started making changes despite work/money/time doing everything it can to stop me.

To that end, I've been eating heaps better lately.  Fortunately the gain in energy has happened quickly, so now it's just a matter of planning and dilligence.

As for exercise, I submit the following update, and I will mostly likely include a brief line item with my recent exercise from now on if for nothing else than for verification.

MON - I went for a bike ride (which for me is about 20mi on the Burke Gil)
TUE - I went for a swim (my first swim in OVER 1.5 years!) did 42 lengths (compared to my usual 50 from days past)
WED - I went for a bike ride. This one really kicked my ass because of the wind.
THR - I went for a swim (happy to report back up to 50 lengths)

Today I ate some wheat cereal for breakfast (I did splurge for iced coffee though, but next week it's back to tea).  After the swim I made a turkey sammich on a pita.

For me the best part is my hair smells like chlorine.  Call me crazy but I love that smell. 

There will come a day when I will enjoy ballooning to Orson Welles-sizededness and become the dirty old man that I'm destined to be.  That day, however, is not for a while yet, so it's back to the exercise.

MAY StB Playlist yo:

The Cars    Here She Comes Again
Paula Abdul    Cold Hearted Snake
Bruce Springsteen    Dancing In The Dark
Debbie Gibson    Only in My Dreams
Justin Timberlake    SexyBack
Young MC    Busta Move
The Sex Pistols    No Feelings
Men At Work    Land Down Under
Def Leppard    Pour Some Sugar On Me
The Clash    Rock the Casbah
The Cars    You Might Think I'm Crazy
War    Spill The Wine
Marvin Gaye    It's A Desperate Situation
Offspring    Come Out and Play
Foreigner    I Want To Know What Love Is

I'm still working off a huge Cars kick I went on a few weeks ago. Turns out Sexyback was a huge hit.

Still reeling from the awesomeness of that show, I happened to locate their setlist from the event.  It's contained below, and note the amount of original and traditional Mexican folk songs on it.

Also, Conrad (the bass player) made sure to give a shout out to Lark in the Morning, a world music instrument store who lent him a guitarron when his was damaged in transit.  Woo-hoo!

1st Set:

• La Pistola Y El Corazón
• El Cuchipe
• Canto Veracruz
• El Cascabél
• Saint Behind The Glass
• Porro Por Pedrito
• Maricela
• One Time, One Night
• Chuco’s Cumbia
• Teresa
  ---
  2nd Set:
• Lil' King of Everything>
• Will The Wolf Survive?
• Hold On
• Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Tease
• Luz De Mi Vida
• Sabor a Mí
• When The Circus Comes
• Don’t Worry Baby
• Kiko and the Lavender Moon
• Soy Mexico Americano
• Volver, Volver
• Guantanamera
  ---

  Encores:

• I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)
• La Bamba>
• Good Lovin’>
• La Bamba

Well, what a weekend.  After a mid-week weekend this one was also pretty sweet.

First off, I don't understand why this just isn't "the way".  Allow me to present an option: 9-hour days for 4 days a week for 90% pay.  I'd stay an extra hour a day in order to have a four-day work week.  Heck, I wouldn't even mind if that day rotated around.  I don't always need a three days weekend, and turns out have WED off is pretty awesome.

Anyhow, back to the report:

FRI
FRI was Spin the Bottle.  Pretty tight show all around.  I had an actual light plot to work with, which was fun. Got pretty tipsy and had some nice chit-chat with folks.  Kendra stopped by after her gig downtown and we danced and chatted and whatnot.  A dear friend told us some pretty gruesome news about their health, which took several days to settle in.  Kendra has an extra toenail leftover (long story) that we are going to use in some spell work to try and affect the situation.

SAT
Kendra packed and took off for Portland, where Hands of Kali were performing as part of some dark-themed fashion show.  I had Alicia Dara come over for a studio session, and we realized our little pet project has about 8 potential songs right now. 

After she left I poured myself a whiskey and spent the whole night either working in the studio or watching the live-action Tick off of Netflix.  I probably spent about 12 hours doing this, and it was awesome. That's right, when the missus goes away I watch cartoons and make music ALL NIGHT LONG.

SUN
We reschedule band practice, so I took this opportunity to do NOTHING.  I stayed in bed until some obscene hour, mostly staring at the ceiling and playing with the cats.  I also watched some Battlestar Galactica and Lost I needed to catch up on.  It was the perfect boring day.  I did eventually get up in time to let the cats out and do some work in the yard on continuing to improve the "cat proofiness".  I also did some plumbing repairs on our shower and did about four loads of laundry.

And believe it or not that's about it.  I worked in the studio a little bit more, had some light dinner, and then we went to bed.  It was pretty awesome I have to say.

We've also been planning and chatting about stuffs.  This is a map that shows Youbou, a small town located on Vancouver Island in Canada. Details may follow, but there's a good chance Youbou will be a nice place to be in AUG sometime, quite possibly the 15-17th. Yes, that's a great time to be in Youbou.

It also hasn't escaped my attention that Spring is attempting to flirt with us again.  Hopefully it'll stick around for more than a one-night-stand this time. 

I took WED off from work.  Kendra had canceled her classes for that evening (more on that in a moment), and realizing the whole day was free suggested I do the same so we could get some work done together.

Well, as things happen to happen with us, we also realized that meant we had TUE night available to do whatever we wanted.  So realizing Beltane was right around the corner and that somewhere in the summertime is our 5-year anniversary (we think), we decided to celebrate.  As a result, we got far less work done on WED than we had hoped, but still feel pretty good about it.

And then, on WED night we went and saw LOS LOBOS.  It's not a secret that I'm a huge Los Lobos fan, and they come so very rarely to this are of the country that it's pretty darned mandatory to see them.  This time they played at frickin' Benaroya Hall as part of the Seattle Symphony's "popular culture" series.

As one would expect, they busted out a strong set of their traditional Mexican folk music, of which they are masters.  But slowly but surely they gravitated towards some more electric and rockin' tunes.  By their second set (and oh yes, there was an intermission) they had cranked things up and got the whole place jumping around.  I could talk in detail about how amazing every single one of them is, since they're all masters of more than one instrument (guitarist David Hidalgo is a virtuoso on no less than SIX), I was pleased to see they brought along their "drummer in residence" Cougar Estrada, who has been playing with them for the last few years.  This particular set really gave him a chance to shine, and holy cow he's brilliant. Ceasar Rosas, the other main guitarist/singer (there's actually three including Louie Perez... and bassist Conrad Lonzano also sings quite a bit now too...) handled most of the banter, and when a person jumped onstage towards the end of their La Bamba/Good Lovin' medley, he danced with her while still playing his guitar with one hand.

It was my first time at Benaroya Hall, and holy cow the sound there is excellent.  It seems every seat is fantastic as well. 

We got home and watched another of the very rare live-action Tick series which you can stream for free from Netflix and then passed out. It's great way to break up a week lemme tell ya.

I feel old.  Here's why:

I listened a new album today in its entirety, and it was awful.  Truly dreadful.  I figured, "Oh, it's probably a case of me being old and out of touch with the zeitgeist and this is what the kids get off to these days."

Then I thought, but damn, I'm listening to the NEW MADONNA ALBUM.

And sheesh, she's FIFTY.  Plus, she has made music since I started liking music, so it's not like EVERYTHING has moved on, or stagnated.

This record though... UGH.

Okee, you wanna make a record that shows you're still hip.  Still hip with AMERICANS, since you've been cutting discs with euro-disco peeps for several records now.  So you line up the usual suspects to produce the thing: Timbaland, Timberlake, *yawn*....

But damn girl, you're MADONNA!  You realize these guys have already spread their seed with every knockoff of yours from the ages of tween to.... well 20-something?  you're gonna go back for sloppy seconds from Nelly Furtado's hit makers? Really?

And it shows.  The music is pretty limp, and only the odd 70's throwback sounds or riffs really give the music any life at all.  Despite her millennial quest for vocal legitimacy, Madonna is not a good singer.  She's a dancer, a business woman, and a powerhouse entertainer, but she's not a cooing bird.  So her vocals get the Paris Hilton treatment and get diced and auto-tuned to death.  Well okee, now you've got no personality on a MADONNA record.  Instead you got the Timber-Twosome interjecting lines, name-dropping Madonna's...er... name all over the place.  Because we NEED to be told that.  There's no other way we'd know who the heck it was.

Look Madonna, if you're gonna switch up the pace on a record and use hitmakers, you can't make it sound JUST like the other records they make.  Since they've already used absolutely ALL of these production tricks before, it sounds like you came WAY late to the party.  Not fashionably late either, like, everyone's moved on to the AFTER party and here you finally show up to the regular party.... oh girl....

And really, okay, look... you're fifty.  I ain't saying you CAN'T make a dance record, sheesh do whatcha want.  But really, at 50 you had better bring something to your dance record.  All the kids can crump now, a high kick isn't gonna impress anyone.  But that's okay, you've got an edge... you've been making these records for a million years.  Back when getting Nile Rodgers to produce your album was a coup because he's in CHIC fer fucks' sake!  If you're gonna make a dance album, don't make one of these faux-80's hip-hop dance records... they're done to death by kids without a fingernail's worth of your cred.  Make a legitimately OLD SCHOOL dance record.  Like, with a real band and some seriously deep funk grooves.

I had totally pegged you for ripping Amy Winehouse's bag on this album, you should have.  You should have made the Dap Kings meets Abba album that only someone who was there could make.  Instead you made an Ashlee Simpson outtake album. 

Don't do that Madonna, it makes me feel old.  And really, it sounds like crap.  Did you just say "and on and on the beat goes" about 50 times in that song? ACK!

I don't normally wax regarding things in the news.  I'm pretty desensitized to most things that cross my existence that take place "out there", and there are no winners in discussions about politics, so I try and keep aware but otherwise keep quiet since there are so many more exciting things to talk about that happen right in front of my face.

THIS STORY though, blew my mind.  Most horrible things that happen have really already happened before, and now you just hear about how many magnitudes worse it is than any previous time.  Tales of abductions and imprisonment for years are of this kind. But let me break down some relevant stats about this particular case:

Perpetrator: FATHER
Victim: DAUGHTER, "abducted" at age 15,
Duration of Abduction: TWENTY FOUR YEARS
Number of children victim gave birth to during abduction: SEVEN
Father of children: CURRENTLY PRESUMED TO BE THE VICTIM'S FATHER
Unusual Detail 1: girl was kept in a secret room in the house with enough facilities for herself and three children (one died and three others were given up for adoption)
Unusual Detail 2: the wife of the perpetrator was allegedly COMPLETELY UNAWARE her own daughter was being kept prisoner in their house, and had been told she had run away.

Seriously... wtf?

Well, what a weekend!

On FRI, just after work, I raced over to Annex to help troubleshoot some technical thingees before zipping over for drinks for a co-worker's bday.  We went to 10-Mercer, a hoity joint in Lower Queen Anne that is apparently known for their mussels.  I just had a pretty pricey manhattan.
 Fortunately, I had "pre-liquored" at Annex, so the one was just fine.

I got home just in time to run some errands with Kendra before we headed out to the b-day celebration of Rick Miller, he of the Half Brothers and his own badass musical self.  It was a great pleasure to know everyone at a party and actually be excited to see them all.  We had a hoot, and got pretty darned drunk if I do say so myself.

Upon getting home and winding down we pulled a couple of Tarot readings, which was very interesting in its own right.

SAT, waking up rather groggy, we got some breakfast and coffee and I set to work on the yard.  I don't know if anyone noticed but it was TOTALLY FUCKING GORGEOUS OUTSIDE.  Kendra held her classes outside, and after turning the compost bins and prepping some soil for planting (yeah yeah I know, we're late... whatevs), I then headed out for a bike ride.

After all this activity, we really weren't energized for another night out.  We did consider getting a fire going in the firepit and randomly inviting people over for a nightcap and relaxation... but we always seem to have bad turnout when we do that.  So, we rented Shoot 'Em Up instead and had a great time watching it.

SUN
Well, got up (late) and did some housework, then off to rehearsal.  Of course, the rain finally came when I was on the West Seattle Bridge on the scooter, not a very friendly place to be.  Between the wind, the wet, and the cars still thinking they're on I-5, it was a bit of a white-knuckler.

Now I've just eaten and it is time to relax.  Front-loading the weekend can be fun sometimes, I didn't mind SAT and SUN being anemic at all.

Oh, I dunno, just walked around ON TOP OF THE FRICKIN' SPACE NEEDLE.

This is you can see I'm ON TOP of the Needle.  Beneath where I'm sitting is a machine room and below THAT is the observation deck.



I'm quite zen with the whole thing, especially when the rest of the puny city cowers beneath my tremendous height.  For the record right past those light fixtures is some wires for the outer halo and then WHOOSH, nothing but air until the ground.

I've been hoping to get on top of the needle for a while now, so it's quite a highlight after several weeks of posting about work being overwhelming.

Well, despite a pix-free couple of posts (I'll make up for it tomorrow), and pretty boring stuff too (I did yard work yay!), I capped my weekend off by going to the Half Brothers CD Pre-Release show.  As usual, most of their guests were members of the "Awesome" army and collectively everyone strutted talent that makes mere mortals crap their pantaloons.

We almost got a dog today too, but it didn't pan out.  Now that the yard is all ship-shape I'm even more interested in the concept.  Details as they develop.

No wait sunny.  WTF is going on around here?! I reckon it's actually pretty exciting actually, the changing weather with each passing minute.  But boy does it make it hard to plan a day.

FRI
Got some studio work done at long last, then zipped off to see Illuna play at ToST.  We missed the opener and just couldn't make it to the closer.  Hey after a week like the last one I'm surprised I got out of the house at all.  Still it was nice to get out and about even if it was brief.

SAT
What a good day!  Got up and went to Costco of all places.  Don't worry we didn't go in.  We just blew a cool $600 on new tires for the jeep (I know don't remind me, I need to eat mac and cheese for months to pay it off), and apparently we had to go back to "have our nuts tightened".  Now how can you pass that up?

Well turns out it's as non-technical as it sounds.  They just took a lug wrench to the wheels and snugged them all up.  Not even a power tool involved.  Sheesh.  Surely it's a scam to get us into that warehouse to buy tons of stuff we don't need for extremely attractive prices. 

Not to be swindled, we instead went to the SODO Denny's.  Hoo ha now THAT is an eatery lemme tell ya.  Everyone there is either: Old, poor, or mentally unstable.  I loved it. 

Well, we got home and it was GORGEOUS out.  So I rolled up my sleeves and did some yard work.  We've been long overdue to re-cat-proof the backyard, and I've been storing up supplies to do it.  So, I got some tools, chicken wire, some spare fence planks, and went at it. 

After about an hour of good ole sweat and labor I'm pleased to report the fences are mended, the holes are patched, and the yard is as cat-proof as it's gonna get. 

About ten minutes after I finished, it was snowing out.  WTF?

I visited a studio outside of town to talk about recording some project there, had a few beers, then came home and worked on more stuff until Kendra came home and we wound down relatively early for us.

SUN
Well, so far so good.  Got some coffee, did some laundry, did some dishes... you know real exciting rock star type stuff.
Now it's off to rehearsal.  Then maybe another show if I get out on time.

He likes to sleep.  A LOT. 

After some ridiculous time-shifting of my weekend, and basically playing Russian Roulette with my circadian rhythms, I got home from work on a frickin' MONDAY of all things, and scarfed down some food.  Then, I went to bed. 

Now it wasn't actual bed. Real bed, the kind where you pray and hope you stay asleep for 8 hours, knowing it's not possible because there's an alarm clock telling you that you'll be lucky to get 6 or 7 hours of sleep. Mmmmm....  Anyway, no, this was just a nap.  A much needed nap.  I slept for probably, oh, 2 hours or so.  Pretty good.

Then I got up and walked around somewhat dumb.  I notice when you sleep longer than you should (naps for me are best when they're 20 minutes long) or when you don't normally, it affects your mental capacity.  So, being pretty dumb, I drank some milk and made a feeble attempt to look at email, and then watched an episode of Mr. Show.  Now THAT is great for when you've got the acuity of a 5 year old.

Then, I tossed back a melatonin and went to bed.  BED bed. With barely a "nighthoneyiloveyou" escaping my lips I was out.

7:30am, the alarm starts, and I felt like I was on Oxycontin.  I couldn't speak properly, my balance was off, and my sensitivity to temperature was extreme.  After hitting the snooze button more times than Animal hits the drums in an episode of the Muppet Show, I dragged myself out of bed, stepped in cat barf, and tried to figure out where I was supposed to go next (the shower).  Wow, that's some good stuff!

Even after the hot shower woke me up and I scooted to work (also a waker upper) AND I had some coffee (nuff said), I was still a little stupid. 

Now it's TUE evening, I have a work meeting after work (how is that even possible?) so soon it will be WED and the only thing I will have accomplished is stepping in cat barf and  watching Mr. Show.  That's pretty weak.  Like, guy who lives alone in an apartment full of newspaper down by the airport kind of weak.  I'm due to donate some blood but I wonder if I do it now I'll give all the recipients a case of the "duhs".


In other news, my haircut kicks ass.  Far less maintenance, far fewer bad-hair days. 

I love recapping the weekend because as I sit here and caffeinate for the day and slowly backtrack through the last few days I'm usually surprised by something I've completely forgotten about from only 48 hours ago.  Maybe our generation will put the positive spin back into memory loss.  It's like a drug man, wtf happened two days ago?!

FRI
Went for another bike ride, which felt great.  I certainly didn't set any speed records but it felt awesome to just get my heart rate up and break a sweat.
Whiskey cocktails (that means "with ice") and a loooooooooong studio night.  So long it became Saturday, a feat I haven't pulled off in a long time.  The Fog People record is much better for it too, having taken a ridiculous bite out of it.

SAT
Well, it was SO awesome out.  Spring just literally plopped it's best day down right on our heads.  I couldn't tell if it meant the summer would come fast and be brutally hot or if it was a tease and we'd go back to grey coldness for a little while longer... guess we know the answer to that now. 

Anyhow, it was SO awesome I decided to pretend I was a cat and basically slept for stupid amounts of time.  It was divine.  I must be growing up finally, because I think getting socks and underwear for my birthday and 8 hours of sleep are both incredibly sexy things.

I was still kind of wiped come SAT evening, as was the lady. But we took a shower, shook it off, and hustled down to Annex for the theatre's 21st birthday party.  This was also with the awesomeness.  It's nice to be in a room where every time you turn around there's someone you know and like and can just start talking to.  Of course the drawback is that were so many people I didn't even get to say hello to. But we busted out a little Kemango (patent pending), had our fair share of cocktails (and overstuffed the tip jar to the tune of $40-odd dollars), and I may or may not have agreed to do something for a show of some sorts in the future.  If someone actually tries to hold me to it I hope they have the courtesy to remind me what it is I may have agreed to do. 

When we got home it was deep in the AM, so we threw on a Mr. Show and I immediately lost all sense of reality and then passed out.  I don't think they should let people watch that show in unsupervised conditions.

SUN
Wowzerz, that weekend went by fast (sort of).
Fog People rehearsal (actually a private show for stuffed animals). Then busted out some mad crazy tarot readings for just about anything I could think of.  We slowly drifted off with a great sense of enthusiasm about everything in motion currently. Hazaa!

Turns out There Will Be Blood was frickin' AWESOME.  Flawless? No, definitely not.  But my fear of the movie being a runaway train of Daniel Day-Lewis waving his huge acting penis around was completely unfounded.  Despite the movie's near THREE hour run time, I was engaged hard core right from the opening.

I'll spare the play-by-play, it's enough to just say the flick was riveting.  It's interesting reading some other commentary and reviews about the movie, which really go to great lengths to talk about how completely evil Daniel Day-Lewis' character is.  I don't quite see it that way (despite the beating and drinking and whatnot), and the undertone of the chiseled work ethic that galvanizes someone was strongly resonant.  In fact it's later on when they try and tack on some Charles Foster Kane or Howard Hughes type business that it seemed to unfocus the tiniest bit.  The entire opening sequence, a word-free incredible character introduction, is a classic.

And after going gaga for the music in the flick I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was done by Johnny Greenwood, he of the cute guitar playing in Radiohead fame.  It is unorthodox and very intense, totally awesome.

And now I know wtf everyone means when they talk about drinking my milkshake.  Damn you Daniel Day-Lewis and your milkshake drinking-ness!

And with that, two pix of "The Daniel".  Funny until juxtaposed with his gay laundry owning prior self I totally missed the Freddy Mercury resemblance...

























x

I have no problems with the fact my desire to seek out intellectually challenging and emotionally intense entertainment had been dulled quite a bit.

When the day is over, and I'm winding down trying to shut down some of the higher processes of my brain, I don't want to watch a documentary from Honduras about women who smuggle gold, heroin, and rare cars inside of their ovaries or some such.  I don't need to see a hidden camera of a torture camp in the Dominican Republic in order to know there's wrong in the world.  What I want is some laugh-out-loud satire with some generation-oriented references and quick dialogue and I ain't afraid to say it.

So, last night my stomach was feeling a little wonky, and it was time to wind down.  It was only 9:30pm and we were heading towards bed, which delighted me to no end.  Kendra came back with two flicks from the store: There Will Be Blood and Walk Hard.  Now I loves me some Daniel Day-Lewis as much as the next person, but I can't help but feel at THREE HOURS LONG the movie really exists only to allow him to run wild in it, smearing every frame with his deliciously un-tameable acting chops.  Scorcese could barely reign him in, after all, I doubt poor Paul Thomas Anderson was able to focus him like laser beam.  And three hours of ANYBODY chewing scenery is a but much for me when the rest of the flick is probably sad people waiting around for Daniel to show up and light up the frame.  Don't get me wrong, I'll see it, but in a more controlled and lucid environment, not when I've had a melatonin and a beer and want my dreams to be free of intense, screaming madmen.

So, Walk Hard it was.  Now despite this pre-rant, I'm also a film school grad and somewhat of a movie snob.  So it was with great delight that at only 4 minutes into the movie I was already snorting beer through my nose at what was happening on the screen.

Will Ferrel and John C. Reilly have done a few flicks together now.  But where Will has chiseled his schtick into a formula that is so: "instant funny, just apply to occupation of choice"(race cars, ice skating, pro basketball, weathermen, Santa's elves), John C. Reilly has taken the far better road with this flick.

Sure, it helps to understand some of the parodies he trumps out, but like Spinal Tap the archetypes are so strong that I had no problems rolling with any of it.

Music: hilarious.  Acting: holy cow talk about uncredited cameos! Some of the most amazing parts were sitting there wondering how the hell they got any of the following people to play themselves in this movie: Lyle Lovett, Jewel, Jackson Browne, EDDIE FUCKING VEDDER.  Plus most of The Office cast were tucked into this movie and in some major roles. 

Of course, it's not a perfect flick.  There's some miscoordination when they choose to intercept real life (though Jack White's Elvis was a total surprise), and the arc falls a little flat in the third act (which is so predictable as to be the clarion call for '0x cinema).  But the movie doesn't give in to fart gags and penis jokes like weaker films doing this would do (of course, there IS a penis reference that reoccurs...)

In fact, what I really liked about the movie is that instead of cringe-worthy dialogue as characters go through very predictable motions, the characters in this movie instead say EXACTLY what the plot is doing at that moment.  "Oh no Dewey, looks like you're gonna have to write a song.  A song that encompasses your entire life and everything you've experienced up until now.  Your masterwork."

Tim Meadows was also great as the gateway-drug introducing bandmate.  His initial rant about marijuana was so hilarious, and the pauses so perfectly timed.

Normally when the side-man who is almost TOO good goes off on their own it doesn't yield gold.  Great cinematic comedy is a team effort, after all, and taking the super-funny side-guy out of the equation and saddling them with the lead responsibility is a great recipe for NON-FUNNY.

In this case, however, John C. Reilly hits it pretty good.  Since most things happen TO him, he takes it all with the chops and talent he's already developed, instead of trying to turn the flick into his shot at stardom.  I hope he goes back to character parts in bigger budget movies, but in this case I was right on board the whole time.

Well, not a bad weekend at all really.

FRI
Got a haircut.  It's pretty short.  It was an impulsive move, something men in their "golden years" of hair shouldn't do very often, but the response has been positive.
Spin the Bottle.  Pretty all-consuming too after arriving early to setup.  Hung out late and drank afterwards until Kendra did a surprise drop-in after her own show downtown.  The mix was a huge hit. Kendra and I got home and stayed up a few more hours winding down and catching up after a crazy week and launch into the weekend.

SAT
We actually slept in a little bit, and then I went to the home store and tried to ignore everybody (this was pre-coffee).  Managed to get by goods and get out without the death march that is getting stuck in line normally is like.

Finally fixed the frickin' fence!  It technically is the neighbor's fence, but I didn't mind fixing it.  Of course, that neighbor's landlord is a major butt-face. A week after complaining to me about the lack of lid on our garbage can, our garbage can magically disappeared.  Totally gone.  Nothing like this has ever happened at our house either, which of course makes me pretty suspicious.  But, I fixed the fence anyway, and got us a new can.  Is this really what people in the burbs freak out about regularly?

SAT Night
Went out to see a show in Fremont, carting along Alicia Dara as my substitute special guest date (Kendra was previously booked).  Of course getting to music nerdz out to a KEXP-sponsored music night was ripe for us to critique, and the night didn't disappoint.  I was interested in seeing two of the bands, and while they were good they didn't bring anything to the live show that blew me away.  The first band in particular seemed like it consisted of insurance claims adjusters and the mail room clerk from a small town.

Let me tell ya, people, Fremont is a meat market now.  What a shame.  The staff at the High Dive were pretty cool, so big ups to them.  Random post-frat dudes though? I'm all set.  When the aggro art-punk band came on I watched all the dudes start to pogo, with their beer cup held high, and tell you it was 1993 again.

Had a great hot dog on the street, with cream cheese on it.  Mmmmmmmm good.

I got home SAT night and Kendra was just wrapping up a tarot reading, so we chilled out some more and crashed.

SUN
Rehearsal was pushed back an hour, so we ate breakfast and eased into our day.  Spent some time in the studio an then schlepped off to rehearsal.  Afterwards Kendra and I hit up the video store after trying in vain to find a movie worth paying for and failing horribly.  Of course, we didn't fare much better at the video store:

I am Legend.  BLAH!  OMG, how dumb is the average American movie-goer? You know, the ones who support $100million tent-pole movies that Will Smith stars in?  Because they sure made it so that movie was about as easy to understand as cardboard.  It's not "SYMBOLISM" is you TELL US WHAT THE FUCK THE SYMBOL IS! Plus, sheesh man does the good guy HAVE to be the most honestly pure American wholesome blue-blooded, CHRISTIAN, hero?  I'm okay with taking a few liberties with a book if it's because the medium of cinema allows you to enhance the story, but COME ON!

"Oh, we're re-making Dracula... but this is a mainstream Tom Hanks vehicle, so how about instead of a vampire, he's a neuro-surgeon who saves the spinal cords of puppies... and he crash lands on an island of cats... and he saves all kittens and wins over the cats, but then a troop of puppies also crashes on the island, and he has to help them all love each other... oh and a dance scene, we need that too.  Oh and he teaches them all 'America the Beautiful'.... we'll call it: Dracula."

So, yeah, I am Legend?  How about "I am AWFUL". how do you go wrong with a premise like that?  End of world, zombie/cannibal/vampire manimals... I mean COME ON!  Plus, oddly enough the CGI was pretty crappy.  Will Smith's pecs, however, have never looked better.

The prepping for Spin the Bottle is now happening in such a methodical way, and with such heavy hitters (as far as theatrical production goes), that it's a casual fun time just getting the space ready for the show.  Dare I say it's almost European.

Annex's new space is looking AWESOME now that the ceiling is in place. And ounce for ounce they serve the cheapest and strongest drinks in town.  yowza.

The show was great, and definitely an upswing from the last few...which though good I think suffered from "60 Seconds Max", which kind of leaves a talent vacuum in it's wake for a few months.

Anyhow, the acts were all short and direct, which always leads to a good show.  An upright bass player whose name escapes me was a particular highlight.

And, as usual, the Annex After Party is a pretty great place to be.  The energy slowly unspins as people get drunker or more tired or leave, and the conversation bucks tradition and actually gets better as the night goes on.

Plus, there are new promo photos for Annex's next show, S2, that are so freakin' good I couldn't stop staring at them all night.  Really amazing stuff.

And then there's the little tale of the monthly mix, which if I may toot my own horn was a HUGE hit.  Turns out new wave and britpop are a great combo. (and yes, I'm on a big Cars kick lately)

Placebo    20th Century Boy
The Cars    Shake It Up
Blur    Girls And Boys
Real 2 Real    I Like To Move It
The Cars    Just What I Needed
Pulp    Common People
The Clash    Train in Vain
Kim Wilde    Kids In America
Zombies    Time of the Season
Buggles    Video Killed the Radio Star
Talking Heads    Burning Down the House
Manfred Mann - The Mighty Quinn
Culture Beat    Mr.Vain
The Cars    My Best Friends Girl
Blur    Song 2
Steely Dan    Do It Again
Michael Jackson    Billie Jean
Red Hot Chilli Peppers    Love Roller Coaster
Black Sabbath    Sweet Leaf
The Cars    Let's Go
Bob Seger    Hollywood Nights
Guns n Roses    Nightrain
Leo Sayer    More Than I Can Say

haha, a double reference!  Annex's last show was, of course, Keep the Light ON.  But what I'm talking about is a little different...

Whilst keeping abreast of events in the blogosphere (a statement so pretentious I use it whenever I can), I came across some Earth-benefitting event where you turn your lights off for an hour.  This was last week, and happened between 8pm-9pm.  I said to myself, "Self, hey why not?" and shared this info with Kendra, who immediately declared that time to be dark hour in our house.

Of course that sounded great on paper, but implementing it required a LITTLE bit of work.  Not only was I working in the studio that night, but Kendra had troupe practice and some classes to teach.  So, we gathered all our candles and prepared.

Somehow in our preparation, we managed to interpret the meaning to be "no power", so although the stealth items like the hot water heater, the upstairs clock, refrigerator, and so on remained powered, we shut down most everything else.

So at 8pm, Kendra is in the middle of troupe practice, I'm working in stuff, the video camera is running, and lord knows what else.  We turned it all off, put camera on batteries, a boom box on batteries so she could continue her work, and I caught up on paperwork and practiced some guitar for an hour. 

It reminded me of when we'd lose power when I was a kid, and we'd all get candles and play board games until it came back on.  It really fosters a familial intimacy.  After troupe practice, some of Kendra's students came in for their lesson, and after 9pm when we were allowed power and lights again, they declined the artificial light option, and had a candlelit lesson instead.  I did break down and turn the computers on, but otherwise left the candles burning.

It was very pleasant, and a theme I suspect we'll port into our projects, parties, and social lives if not for anything else than for the aesthetic.  But it was nice feeling for the briefest of moments that we might actually be helping a bit by minimizing our consumption of resources.  So to celebrate I went outside and lit a gasoline covered tire on fire.

Okay, I didn't do that last part.

By now most "hipster periodical reading" folks will have heard of the Skillet.  In short, an Airstream trailer running around various hoods serving up gourmet blue collar grub.  As you can imagine, it's set a small, bittersweet fire in my heart.

On the plus side, it's always in a ghetto: the CD near 23rd and Madison(right near where I live), down in SODO (right near where I work), and Ballard(uh..I don't do anything in Ballard except eat my favorite Indian food). 

On the minus side, it's now swarmed upon by all manner of folk.  Welders, laborers, executives, arty-farty hipsters, etc. I always seem to miss out on the dang fries but lemme tell ya... OMG GOOD!!!!

I don't know how many puppies are killed and how many times the Baby Jesus cries every time a Kobe beef patty is made... but I tell ya there's plenty of puppies and Jesus can ressurrect himself so who cares.  Hella good burger that is!

Even better, the Skillet web site has a Google calendar... so now I can track the bugger effectively.  Oh yes, my gleaming chrome deliciousness, come to me....

Here's a grab from their menu:

lunch

 http://www.skilletstreetfolod.com/menu.htm

the burger, grilled kobe “style” beef, cambazola, bacon jam, arugula, brioche, handcut fries

 

 

lemongrass braised pork sammy, ginger aioli, slaw, brioche, handcuts

 

Pappardelle, pecorino,

organic peas, pancetta, oregano,caramelized shallot,  charred crumbled crostini, first press olive oil

 

 

san juan islands halibut fish and chips, coriander ginger tartar sauce

 

poutine, herby gravy, white cheddar, herbs

 

cookies and milk

 

thanks

ssf

 

RE: the last post.  YES it was indeed an April Fool's gag.  We apologize to anybody whom experienced any discomfort.  Sheesh we even had a good friend COME BY THE HOUSE.  That's love!

It actually was a somewhat targeted gag, so again apologies for anybody that was "collateral damage".  Fortunately it looks like most people didn't give it too much credence.

Truth is, we're great, as always.  In fact we've been having honest to goodness discussions about the oft-spoken commitment ceremony, and we've even engaged a custom ring designer with some jibber jabber.  (It's all about the bling, yo.)

So, in closing, Kendra and I are each other's mates and partners and relentlessly devoted to each other.  We now return you to your regularly scheduled bloginess.