Pixies, 11.08.2009, Fox Theater, Oakland.



















They were AWESOME.












Kim Deal's bass skills, up close and personal: AWESOME.















Black Francis' voice: AWESOME















Joey Santiago and David Lovering were also AWESOME, but we were on Kim's side, and drums obscure David's face, so the pics we have of them are quite limited. But if you're interested, see more of Trevor's excellent photos here.

Anyway, the awesomeness was in large part because I think they are getting along, and happy.



















Even Joey Santiago smiled a couple of times. Really!

Terrific show. Well worth the $30 t-shirts (!) I know, I felt kind of like a sucker buying one, but it had a crab on it! And the band's gotta get paid, yo.

They were also offering "USB sticks" (or flashdrives) that you could buy after the show with video and recordings of the performance. I've never seen that before, but what a cool idea. I didn't get one, but then lo and behold, your friendly Bad Librarian posted how you can get an official and totally Pixies sanctioned live recording of Doolittle.

P.S. -- I wore my David J shirt because Black Francis is playing with David 12.08.2009 at the Echoplex in LA. I thought he might say something, but my big surprise instead was Kim Deal cheering at my shirt when they did their farewells after the last encore. Badass (Fender) bass players unite!

For shame.

Maine Gay Marriage Law Repealed

We prevailed because the people of Maine, the silent majority, the folks back home spoke with their vote tonight.

Silent majority -- but how funny is it that the word "silent" speaks volumes. These voters are silent because denying gay people the right to marry is hateful and unconstitutional. These voters are silent because the last time there was so much hatred and fear and religion-mongering around marriage in the US it was because people of two different races -- like my mother and father -- wanted to marry and be recognized and have their lives, their liberty, their happiness.

Some knew what was right then, and thanks to them, anti-miscegenation laws were overturned. The people who worked to overturn anti-miscegenation laws are heroes.

We all know how history has looked upon those who opposed mixed-race marriages.

These voters are silent because no one wants to go down in history as full of fear and hate, and as someone who would strip rights from another human being. They know how it looks, how it's wrong, and may they be shamed enough to do what is right someday soon.

Recipe for happiness:

One beautiful 1968 Wurlitzer jukebox:



















A questionable, but free, pool table:



















$1.50 PBRs, and it's not even happy hour:



















Courtesy Servente's.

Under the Macarthur overpass, Telegraph and 36th, 2 a.m.

If only there were more potluck Halloween parties:

Meathand














Gross, but love this! Am going to creep my friends out with this at next potluck. I bet I can make a vegan "other hand" version too for the hippies. Awesome.

As for you hardcore domestics, where a mere meathand is unimpressive and just won't do, check this out.

Happy Halloween!

Holy badass.

steampunk laptop

Echo and the Bunnymen, The Fox Theater, Oakland, 10.22.2009. I had a smile on my face all night.



















First in line! And so worth it -- was on the rail.

The orchestra (in the back) that was brought in for the Ocean Rain portion of the set played like the devil was after them:















But they were probably just afraid of Ian McCulloch. Seriously. There was a point when Ian merely pointed at a roadie offstage, and the touring bass and rhythm guitarists between them visibly jumped. He also told various persons in the audience to fuck off at least twice. And yelled obscenities at the lighting folks. And told the audience he liked wearing sunglasses because it meant he couldn't see them, and he liked it that way. But then you see him finish singing 'Stormy Weather' and he smiles to himself and says, "I just love singing that song" and you just love him to pieces for being so curmudgeonly.

I know, I'm gross.

Here's Will Sergeant and Ian McCulloch. I wonder if they still can't stand each other. Each never looked at or acknowledged the other and stayed exactly where you see them for the whole set. Will still kicks ass on the gee-tar. Some things never change.















And Oi: Ian McCulloch at 50. He had such a gorgeous gorgeous voice, and dammit, he still does when he wants to. When he sang "screaming from beneath the WAA-AA-A-AA-A-AVES" during 'Ocean Rain' you could hear his limitations but he fucking nailed it. The secret? He was sucking down cough drops and Remy Martin, but no smoking onstage. Anyway, his voice was just fantastic. I can't help but feel everyone should hear him sing live, if you can bear his disdain for you and the rest of the audience. He's a charmer, that one!

But the sad thing is, the man sang with his hands in front of his face the whole time, with the lights directed at the audience. The verdict in the front row was vanity. C'mon, we know you were really beautiful when you were young, and we also know you're not 25 anymore! Get over it! So, that said, this is the closest one gets to a face shot.















Dammit, one of these days I'll get myself a press pass and take some decent photos. Then again, I was on the rail, which was 10 feet from the stage, which should have contributed to photo decency. But as you can see the lighting made the iPhone limitations even more apparent (EDIT 10.24: it seems it was the same for the pros too). Wouldn't have mattered anyhow -- we were repeatedly warned NO FLASH or the show would be cut short. Ian Ian Ian. :)

Anyway, GREAT show, loved and savored it like it was something you get to see only a few times in a lifetime, highly recommended. Are there really only 3 dates in North America? Shame.



See you at the barricades babe
See you when the lights go low joe

KMFDM, The Regency Ballroom, San Francisco 10.15.2009

Trevor and I kept asking ourselves, "Were we ever really this angry?" :)









































This guy was in front of me, and he was so stoked he was pumping his fist the entire time. He was, and probably continues to be, completely awesome:



















While they played a couple of songs from my favorite album, Nihil, they didn't play my favorite from that album, 'Juke Joint Jezebel.' And they didn't have cool girl shirts. Boo. But it was still a fun show. Haven't been to a show in a while where I got other people's sweat on me, and where there was a pit!

Thank you, Rachel Maddow.

The Canadian Arms Whisky Club's first annual pumpkin carve-off was a rousing success:















My entry:















And Trevor's:















Also a big yay for my first (successful, it seems) try at vegan mac and cheese for Sanchez, and for composting or recycling almost all of our waste. We are such hippies.

Waiting for November with bated breath.



Thanks to Mark for bitching about missing this show and posting the link. They WILL tour again!

Had a blast this weekend at the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco's Speedway Meadow.

Walking in on Saturday, Trevor and I found a backstage pass bracelet on the trail. What fantastic luck, as we were both able to meet Neko Case and Hayes Carll, two of the folks we were absolutely thrilled to see on the bill this year.

Hayes is very soft-spoken and sweet (and he smelled great, especially for wearing wool in the sun!) And Neko is just a super cool gal. We met her a few years ago at Bimbo's when she was touring Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and she was so friendly and down to earth. This time around she was no less gracious, taking time out from hauling some of her own equipment to the van to chat a bit. Top class folks, those two.

Hayes Carll, through Trevor's awesome Canon Powershot:


















(video by Cathleen Grant)

Neko Case, pics and video by Trevor:




























Trevor also got some beautiful shots of the Gillian Welch/David Rawlings show



















More pics here (including mine and Trevor's obligatory fan photos with Hayes and Neko, respectively).

What a lovely, sunny, gorgeous weekend, bless Warren Hellman, and roll on HSB10.

Okay, this is kind of a killjoy (who doesn't love finding this stuff whilst drinking with friends?), but all of my favorite memes are there...

Greg Rutter's Definitive List of the 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced on the Internet Unless You're a Loser or Old or Something

...plus my new favorite, which had me ROTFLMAO, fo teh realz:



It's making me laugh just looking at the still!

Just found out that my honey-pie Trevor Calvert's book of poetry, Rarer and More Wonderful, was not only nominated, but was a finalist for the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association 2009 Book Award in the poetry category, alongside such poetic luminaries as John Isles, Andrew Joron, the late Barbara Guest, and the late Jack Spicer.

From the NCIBA:

Northern California Independent Booksellers 2009 Book of Year Awards: Honoring books published in 2008 and written or illustrated by Northern California authors and artists

The second annual Book of the Year awards, presented by members of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA), have been announced. The 2009 awards honor local authors and a children’s book illustrator whose books were published for the first time in 2008.

Independent booksellers representing 200 stores in the region voted for their favorite titles from a Finalists ballot created by bookseller committees.

Woo-hoo!

You can still get this hot number from Scrambler Books. Try before you buy here.

Be nice, until it's time to not be nice.



RIP.

Ah, Muir.

There's the Japanese kicking our asses at environmentalism...



(But wait! There's more. Great, right?)

...and then there's the Japanese NOT kicking our asses at environmentalism.



But wait! There's more. Great, right?

While I was optimistic about an international outcry to the Taiji dolphin slaughter when I first blogged about The Cove last year, I didn't expect a halt -- especially when Japan still thumbs its nose at international horror and participates in whaling.

Cautiously rejoicing, but keep those media eyes trained on Taiji.

The single best thing I've read about the healthcare reform shitstorm happening right now in the U.S. of A.

A friend took us to the Rickhouse in San Francisco the other night, which is, unbelievably, smack dab in the middle of the Financial District.















The Rickhouse is named after the storage areas for whiskey casks and beer barrels. It is a beautifully designed bar in the tradition of a speakeasy or an old-timey saloon. Loved the funky pastiche of tattooed bartenders in newboy caps and braces, beer barrels stacked along the walls, and an ultra-modern ceiling fixed with wavy woven wooden slats capping off the Gold Rush era exposed brick and modern rough-hewn wooden walls and unfinished wooden floor.

And of course, I loved the wall of liquor.















Lots and lots of liquor...















Had a La Bonne Vie -- The Good Life -- which was a gin and grapefruit concoction finished with basil. Lately I've been disappointed with high-end cocktail bars because of the high cost/mediocre output of many, and because I'm spoiled with a friend who is one of the best bartenders around. But this drink, as well as Trevor's and our friend's whiskey cocktails, were worthy: refreshing and subtle, and so well crafted. Cute old-school menu to choose them from too. My only complaint was their small size, which was a good 1/4 size smaller than your standard cocktail.

We remedied our drink envy, soon, however, with a punch bowl:



















This was a nice treat, beautifully presented, and hallelujah, it was NOT SWEET. And at $10 or more a pop for single cocktails, for $30, this was a bargain for three people. I'm not a gal for rum, but hoo-boy, I know this had rum in it and I didn't care after a few dainty cupfuls!

For some other great photos of this terrific space, click here.

Pomo Canyon, end of August 2009

Campsite:















Hiking through lush ferns and new growth redwoods...



















...and over the mountain along a ridge with gorgeous views...




























...and down to Shell Beach:















We also stopped for beer on the way home (of course) at the new Lagunitas Brewery beer garden in beautiful Petaluma -- home of the most gorgeous, ramshackle, late 19th to early 20th century farmhouses around.















Lovely, lovely weekend. If this ends up being my last camping trip of the year, I think I'll be satisfied. But we'll see -- Big Sur is calling!

I loathe twitter, but this is making me change my mind a bit:

shitmydadsays

If you're the only one who shits in something, you own it. Remember that.

Class.

Check out one of my favorite poets, Ryan Bartlett, at Back Room Live, which was curated this month by poet (and my honey), Trevor Calvert.

One of my favorite lines in one of Trevor's poems is, "she becomes a gorgeous disaster." When I read Ryan's work I always get a sense of just that: the beauty in tragedy. Like fragile and stunning butterflies pinned to a piece of corkboard, his poems build a structure around those parts of the human experience which are fleeting and that we cannot -- or perhaps should not -- hold on to. His poems are redolent with saudade, and they are nothing short of brilliant. Do yourself a favor and check them out.

This month Back Room Live also features the epic work of both Bhanu Kapil and Steffi Drewes.

Trevor also has new work up on his blog, The Casual Tee. The poem is "Letter to electricity." Like Ryan, Trevor has a knack for constructing architecture around a flickering moment in time, gathering all of the disparate pieces and bringing about a sense of beauty and form to melancholy and tumult. Wonderful!

It's a good week for poetry.

This looks absolutely amazing:



It appears the Sundance Film Festival thought so too: Precious won the Grand Jury Prize for best dramatic film.

I really love Mo'Nique, and I'm so glad to see her playing something with some meat. Watch the trailer and play "spot Mariah Carey" too -- you will be surprised!

Last night I dreamt that I watched Ian McCulloch singing behind deli counter glass amid hundreds of French pastries. And he was smiling, and playing guitar! Which might be more far-fetched nowadays than the pastry angle.

Must be getting excited about seeing him and the rest of the Bunnymen in October! Though I think I'll be lucky if he doesn't shuffle offstage mid-song for a smoke and some telly. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, in my dream I also punched a French girl in the face and hid in a backstage wardrobe closet from security, but let's hope that's just subconscious babble coming through, and not an omen. :)

Wow! Free stuff outside our building!



















Um, NO.

Look out, the lunatics are on parade!

Obama Protesters Bring Their Guns

About a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style rifle, milled among protesters outside the convention center [in Arizona] where President Barack Obama was giving a speech Monday — the latest incident in which protesters have openly displayed firearms near the president.

I am in full support of the Second Amendment of the Bill Of Rights, but within reason, and with some damn common sense. The people with guns are saying it's a political statement -- "if you don't use your rights, then you lose your rights" -- but it's ridiculous to be waving around, carrying, or otherwise displaying guns near the President of the United States.

As usual, what many people seem to conveniently forget is that with rights come responsibilities!

Just for fun, I checked out the open carry wiki for the US and I was very surprised by what I saw:














The blue states are where you can open carry with little or no restrictions -- that means they allow a non-prohibited person to carry a firearm in plain sight without permit or license, whether on foot or in a motor vehicle. I had no idea there were so many states that allowed this! Some of them seem like givens, like Vermont and South Dakota, but Arizona? Right on the edge of California? Damn.

Friend, bartending wizard, and illustrator extraordinaire Chris Lane has a new book he has illustrated coming out through Chronicle Books called Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection



















Part diary, part field guide a la the classic book Gnomes, Zombies... is chock full of Chris' scary, gross, and sometimes funny visions of the undead.

Out in October 2009, come get some.

There's also a little surprise appearance by yours truly:












Excellent!

Thank you, Les Paul.

Went down the street to Pizzaiolo to see The Shining -- their first "Bad Dad" summer movie in their outdoor courtyard (future films in the series: National Lampoon's Vacation, Lolita, and of course, The Empire Strikes Back).

What a great time! And after a disappointing cloudy sky on Tuesday, it was so lovely to sit under a clear nighttime sky with a slice of margherita and a cold Sierra Nevada Pale and watch Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall flip out while a dozen meteors zipped across the sky above the screen. Bliss!

And this morning I bought tickets for the Pixies upcoming tour of arguably their best album, 1989's Doolittle, at the Fox Theater in Oaktown. Couple this with the Echo and the Bunnymen Ocean Rain tickets I bought, and you can see that I am loving the advent of the nostalgic past album tour.

Can things get any better?

Redeemed!

Sunn O))), front row and center at The Independent, San Francisco, 8.9.2009





















































Epic.

For more (and okay, non-iPhone and just better) photos, check out Trevor's pics taken from the same vantage point but with a fancy-schmancy camera here.

Oh yeah.



















Topshop Horror Girl

Okay, so there is no Topshop in the States yet except New York; thus I can never see the pieces in person and so I get slightly verklempt when they release collections. Annnnd, yes, the clothes are made for 16 year old emo kids. But I can't help it: these shoes? To die for. This sweater? So cute. And this? Fantastic.

Are they made in sweatshops from materials sourced irresponsibly? Likely. Will they fall apart after a season? Probably. Two very good reasons to avoid this stuff. But the eye candy sure is nice.

With the new Runaways film coming out next year, leave it to Topshop to get in early on the latest incarnation of the 70s punk/glam/hair metal hybrid trend that will be all the rage with the kiddies soon.

No Topshop for me, but I just realized this will make thrifting the real-deal goods from this era just that much harder. Feh.

Your films rocked my teenage world. RIP.

Still life: Wine and Lasagna Before a Show With Friends Makes Old People Older and Unable to Hit the Pit

OR

Sonic Youth at the recently renovated Fox Theater, Oakland 8.2.2009















First time at the Fox, and it is stunning. So impressed. Smoking sections are on every floor and easily accessible, big screen teevees are in the lobbies and restrooms so you don't miss any action, friendly and helpful staff abound, and the place has 7, yes 7, bars. And while the Paramount gives you a plastic cough syrup cup for whiskey, you get a decent pour here. Heard the gin and tonics were strong stuff too.

But...not really that impressed by the show; in fact, I was a little bored. It's not them, it's me: energy from the band was great, but I'm not familiar with their new album, and I'd never seen them before and was hoping for more old stuff. Again, am getting OLD!

I did get to do some reconnaissance for the best vantage point for the Echo and the Bunnymen show in October though. So excited: they're doing Ocean Rain with an orchestra. No wine and lasagna this time around -- I'll be down front and center!

Just back from a weeknight camping trip to Wilbur Hot Springs. Ah bliss!

Weeknights are the way to do it -- Trevor and I had the whole hot springs to ourselves for the evening.















Love that stinky water:















So much inspiration for my imagined (but eventual) deck or patio...



















...and for my kitchen: I might actually kill for the huge communal kitchen, which we also had pretty much to ourselves.















The veranda was a great place to sit and read, especially with the cool tiles under our feet and the balmy breeze blowing in after a 100 degree day.















Sorry there are no pics of our campsite, but there are only two sites and by the time I trekked out to ours after soaking, I was ready for bed! Suffice to say, it was far enough away from the main house and far enough into the dense pine scrub to feel quite remote, and for $59 (with use of the springs from 3 pm to 5 pm the next day), it was a bargain.

I do wish I'd gotten a pic of the spotted feral pig on the trail to our campsite. Thank jeebus for my flashlight or I would have run right into her! Probably would not have been pretty on a tiny hillside trail. As prolific as they are, I had never seen one in person before. Even though they are so destructive to California farming and so aggressive, I was stoked to finally be able to see one.

A few more days of holiday left -- roll on weekend!

What do Billy Bragg, Aimee Mann, Gillian Welch, Nick Lowe, Neko Case (yay!) and Hayes Carll (double yay!) have in common?

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2009

This is the most excited I've been about Hardly Strictly Bluegrass than ever before. Braving the crowds is going to be absolutely worth it this year!

I shouldn't rile up the MiniVan Majority (they'll cut a bitch in a hot second), but I just can't resist.

No Kids, No Grief

A new manifesto argues that parenting is bad for your career, your marriage, your bank book and your love life

Well, duh!

This article features one of my favorite bloggers, Elaine Lui of Lainey Gossip.

“It was just an assumption, ‘You get married, you have kids.’ ” Front-line exposure to a close relative’s three young children and the work they required provided a wake-up call, Lui says. “That killed it for us. We just looked at each other and said, ‘We don’t want them.’ ”

In the ensuing six years, the couple has been barraged with reasons why they should change their minds, from “Your life will have no value if you don’t” to “You’ll be so lonely when you get old” to Lui’s favourite: “Don’t you want to know what your children would look like?” “Any baby we’d have would be of mixed race,” she says. “So everyone says, ‘Oh, it would be so gorgeous!’ ” She laughs. “And I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s really going to make me want to change my whole life.’ ” It’s a life the couple enjoys: they work together on her website (he handles the business side), golf together, engage in community volunteer work, and dote on their dog, Marcus.

As baby refuseniks, Lui and [husband Jacek] Szenowicz belong to a tiny but growing minority challenging the final frontier of reproductive freedom: the right to say no to children without being labelled social misfits or selfish for something they don’t want.

This article piques my interest for the forthcoming book by French psychotherapist Corinne Maier, No Kids: 40 Good Reasons Not to Have Children. Love this:

Are you prepared to give up your free time, dinners with friends, spontaneous romantic getaways, and even the luxury of uninterrupted thought for the “vicious little dwarves” that will treat you like their servant, cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars, and end up resenting you?

No. Uh-uh. NEVER.

I mean, I'm not going to go as far to say “If you really want to be host to a parasite, get a gigolo," but if I am honest, the book sounds great because I want to revel in a little smugness. Because I get the same ridiculous questions Lui gets ALL THE TIME and it would be great to finally have something shut those people up. Because it drives me up the wall when people assume I want to be around their children, and that my life is unfulfilling or unhappy because I haven't experienced what I see as the often dreadful drudgery of child-rearing. Because while I suspect most people respect the decision to have children (I do, but within reason -- I truly believe you should only replace yourself) I think that often the same respect is not afforded to the decision to be child-free.

I once had a very smug (and exhausted) coworker with three kids who grilled me on why I wasn't having children and then had the nerve to tell me that when I got older (read: grew up) she knew I would change my mind. That kind of rude behavior is completely acceptable in our society, but can you imagine what would have happened if I had told her she was going to change her mind about her kids someday? Yeah, not pretty.

I guess the extreme feelings on both sides simply illustrate that the smug pendulum has to swing both ways so people don't drive themselves batshit asking themselves "what if?" The decision to be childless feels invalidated by those who say we're missing out on the "joys" of parenting, and the decision to have kids feels invalidated by people like me whose time is their own and who have freedom and disposable income -- among other fabulous perks. :)

Blackberry pickins (and what is now my official blackberry picking shirt)



















And courtesy of our bartender friend, the best way to drink gin or rum: the Blackberry Cobbler















I love summer!

OMG, someone have a filthy food night at their place and invite me so we can make these:

Russian Haired Sausage















A new dish became extremely popular among some Russian bloggers lately. Now it’s not quite clear who was the first one who invented this mod by pinning some uncooked sausage with hard spaghetti sticks and then boiling this alltogether and getting first “haired sausage” ready.

This is so genius and potentially delicious, and so damn nasty at the same time. I am impressed.

Birthday week, in a few pictures...

Potrero Hill rooftop view for fireworks















Asia SF




















Carne Asada Tostada Salads at Picante
















Honoring the wonderful Paul Newman at Pizzaiolo's summer movie nights




























Hiking, camping, and hot-springing it with friends in Mendocino








































Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

As you get older, life only gets funner.

-- six-year old child to Trevor

As much as it is sometimes difficult, I've got to remember to look at year 35 like I looked toward 7.

Found a tenner on the sidewalk yesterday, and had a great time eating Southern BBQ and cornmeal-fried catfish whilst watching Independence Day fireworks from a fancy manse rooftop in Potrero Hill. Today, I've already had a lovely walk with my honey, as well as macaroni and cheese for breakfast with my Sunday NY Times, and am now off to the outdoor store to buy a new sleeping bag for a camping trip with friends to some super-secret hot springs Friday, and then to hot yoga with my favorite instructor and dinner with my sweetcakes afterward. Looking forward to super-secret birthday events on Tuesday and Paul Newman outdoor cinema and wine on Wednesday. Funner, indeed!

Bring it on, birthday week.

Happy Independence Day!