Statue Thrown

{for all music related articles, see .Evolving. Music}
In their first return to the Bay since the Bimbo's 365 show, Throw Me the Statue performed at the Great American Music Hall last night as part of the week-long city-wise Noise Pop event. Sharing the stage with Birdmonster and Stellastarr*, TMTS put on a very solid show, despite the absence of their rhythm guitar player. Taking the stage around 9, they started out with a very tripped out version of "Written In Heart Signs, Faintly." While the album version of this song is very simple and melancholy, this new stage version has brought in other elements including a drum loop that amps up the energy, while still allowing an eerie feeling through Reitherman's words and Goldman's backup vocals. Following this, the crowd was applauding, but not sure what they were about to see. A good portion of the crowd had come for Stellastarr*, so this Throw Me the Statue stuff was new to them. And with that rendition, they weren't quite sure what this band was going to be about. For the rest of the concert review, click here.

The Proof

My evenings usually do pretty well when they start out with a trip to Beirut. So when Chaz suggests that we start playing at 6, I'm a little nervous, a little excited, and not at all drunk. Over the next three hours between myself, Hessica, one of her friends and Chaz, the nervous goes away, the excitement gets ramped up, and the idea of playing Beirut with mixed drinks in the cups instead of beer goes a long way towards getting me ready to go. At 9, Glace shows up from work to take the faded Chaz home to shower and clean up before we head to the city. At 10:30, I'm still waiting for them to come back.

Once I'm picked up, we head into the city for round 2 of Morty and JK's birthday celebration. This time it's bar style at 83 Proof in the SOMA. And if I thought Friday night was a high school reunion, I wasn't even close to prepared for Saturday...All of the same people from Friday make reappearances, added to that is Tara, who, I didn't know for the past two months since I've met her that she went to San Mateo as well, Chris Y, who I don't think I've seen since graduation, Seiff, Maurit, and more. At a little after 12ish I think it's time to do some dancing, I convince Jarles of the same and we head over to the Rickshaw on Van Ness and Fell.

We're moving there to meet up with Jacks, Za, McButter, Margo, Hayley and Ev. But when we get there, the bouncer wants a cover. It's almost 1 at this point and there's no way that I'm paying a cover for an hour of dancing. I call Za, tell her the story, and in two minutes she's out talking to the bouncer who nods and waves us in. Another vote for the "who you know" train of thought. Inside, it's packed, about 200 degrees and full of sweaty people dancing everywhere. Almost every drink I have is spilled on or around me, and after about 15 minutes of dancing, I'm drenched, literally drenched in sweat. I'm using my tshirt to wipe my forehead and the back of my shirt is soaked through. I make a mental note that I can't feel my toe.

As they're closing the club, I'm in the street with the rest burning. No troubles there, although I think just about everyone out there knows where it's coming from. It's at this moment that I remember my card and open tab, which I'm grateful and quite frankly stunned that I manage to do. It's now time for a Crepe stand run.

We're waiting on some crepes when two girls approach two other girls and a fight almost ensues. As their voices raise, the crepe guy looks out of his cart and snaps at them to move it along. One girl looks on the verge of tears while her friend tells the other two to fuck off. I think I'm going to see my second brawl of the month, but it settles and they move along. Then I get involved in my first brawl of the month.

As Chaz drives us home, Glace decides to ruthlessly attack me in the backseat, attempting to cause bodily harm and in the process steal my hat. I manage to subdue her, but the caged beast that she is, she starts biting and scratching and trying to take the hat. It takes some serious rib tickles and a good deal of wrist grabs to get her settled and back into the front seat. I wake up this morning with scratches and several sore spots that I wonder about the origin of until I remember this whole biting thing. Next time I'll just try knocking her unconscious.

Tequila Heights

Friday night is Morty's and JK's birthday dinner celebration. I get to Topher's around 7:30 to start playing Wii. Morty and his lady show up, ChengJ, Gies and Alli. Then comes Malia, who I haven't seen in ages. I need to leave the apartment several times as Topher has provided wine and cheese that smells like something died in his refrigerator. We realize we'll need a few cars so people start heading down to grab cabs while ChengJ and I wait for Maurod.

We get over to the site of the dinner at Tortilla Heights where it's a madhouse. Vision already impaired, I for some reason think that ChengJ and I doing a shot of Patron before we sit down to dinner sounds like a great idea. I feel like I'm in Cancun only it's raining outside and I've never actually been to Cancun. I think the moment I realized I could take shots of Patron at random was a very bad one. At the restaurant we're joined by JacZ, Morty's younger sister, Sutton and one of his friends. Determined to drink my way through dinner, I shun offers of food thrown my way. I adjourn from my rodka in order to go outside for some air. Outside, I hear passer bys with the obligatory, "it smells like..."

Midway through dinner, after JK gets a pomegranate margarita (hey, it's his birthday), I realize that I'd better eat something. I gnaw through a quesadilla before pounding my drink as fast as possible. This doesn't improve my situation. The group has gotten slightly rowdy at this point and what was a sit down dinner devolves into 20 or so drunk people playing musical chairs in the middle of a restaurant. I'm informed that we're leaving, but, being concerned about the direction the party is heading, I say my goodbyes and jump in a cab.

I head down to Double Dutch (or it might have been Beauty's or something, I'm not sure at this point) where Za, McButter, Xena and Windy are dancing. Xena's assaulted by some girl, but that's nothing that I don't see anytime she's out...failing to find food, I remember staggering down McButter's hallway for her to put me to bed in the other bedroom. I wake up in the morning, completely lost, jumping out of bed with my mind screaming, "how did you get this trashed and not know where you are on a weeknight? You're late for work! You didn't set an alarm." I'm halfway into my clothes before I realize where I am, that it's Saturday, and I'm not late for anything. I get back in bed, spark, and drift away again. After waking up, it's down to Nini's where another item on the gauntlet falls (Pasta Marinara this time). Up next, more Saturday city debauchery. Check out the picture of the 7 of us...that's a high school reunion!

Throw Me the Statue Take Away Shows

Odds are that if you noticed that I continue to pump Throw Me the Statue and longtime high school/MMM/Crystal Springs Uplands alum friend Scott Reitherman, you’ve probably come to the realization that I’m not going to stop now. As hinted at in “Fries with Your Take-Away?",” three Take-Away shows by TMTS and hosted by La Blogotheque were released yesterday. “Lolita,” the reigning choice for first single, “About to Walk,” and a Guided By Voices cover of “My Valuable Hunting Knife” were all released. I think the simplistic style worked both positively and negatively in these videos…it helped bring the persona of the band and the laid back attitude they carry to the masses, at the same time it’s a bit less polished in the performance. But what do you expect acoustically on a ferry crossing the Puget Sound? And they’ve all already blown up…close to 1,000 views of each video within 24 hours. Be on the lookout for Scott and TMTS at the Great American Music Hall next Thursday, the 28th, in San Francisco.

Throw Me the Statue - Lolita
Uploaded by lablogotheque

Throw Me The Statue - About to walk
Uploaded by lablogotheque

Top Model Time

It's alright...you can give me a hard time...I like ANTM. Doesn't bother me to say. And I won't go into details of why I like it like I did last year. I'll just tell you they're back and ready to take a run at another season of photo shoots, drama and Tyra playing a cross between a runway model, a judge and a sympathetic sister. This year it looks like we're going to have as contestants, among others, a mother who is drinking her own breast milk in order to keep herself lactating while away from her baby (she said it, not me), and an ex Mormon...As always, we have the first episode to thank for a variety of excellent sound bytes...

The Never Give-Up Award: "This is my 8th time auditioning, but with my determination, I'm not gonna give up." - Shalynda, 23, Washington, D.C. Good for you Shalynda...keep up that determination.

Most Improved Award: "Since last season, I've been working on myself, going to therapy every Tuesday." - Marvita, San Francisco. No sarcasm here, glad she's getting well...she had some serious issues.

Line Used by the Most Models: "I'm so happy to be here Tyra, you don't understand." I think, after 10 seasons of having 30 girls tell her this, Tyra probably gets it.

Most Naive Thing Said by a Contestant: "Do you want me to pose?" - Kim. No Kim, they want you to be America's Next Top Model without posing.

A is A...the Award for the most redundant statement: "I'm really happy about that because I studied fashion, I love fashion, and I like to create beauty because I'm beautiful." - Shaya, 18, Country Club Hills, IN That's good Shaya, you should see how many good Shaya things you can make, as you're busy being Shaya, making good things.

Most Confident Award: "I have the attitude, I have the spirit, you walk like you own the runway." - Dominique, 23, Columbus, OH

Fries With Your Take-Away?

{for complete music related posts, see Evolving Music}

One of the most satisfying (or least, depending on who and when you ask) aspect of listening to an artist is discovering how that artist sounds live in concert. The instrumentation, the lighting, the changes in the songs all brought out for live performances can usually significantly change the experience. But concert tickets are expensive, bands tour, but usually in limited locations and venues (or for folks living in places like Idaho, maybe never and nowhere), and even in an amphitheater, there's a certain feeling of disconnect from the band. In conjunction with this is the fact that it usually takes some sort of "unplugged" event to get an artist who would normally not be, to go acoustic. Mathieu Saura, a 27 year old from Paris who goes by the name Vincent Moon, has found the solution.

Fueled by passion for music and cinema, Saura launched Take-Away shows in 2006. A collection of now over 80 music videos, created by musicians, featuring them playing a song in a stripped down, improvised version as they walk through public places and streets, the Takeaway shows are now experiencing a wealth of attention from the media. Saura has managed to mix the music video form with the internationalist appeal of music to bring artists from all over the world and all different musical styles together. These impromptu videos, taken usually around the band's hometown or in the streets of Paris, offer a very real and low-tech look at a variety of artists, and provide a very different backdrop for the songs usually associated with CDs and radio airplay.
Post continues here.

Set to Jet

After all the hit and miss attempts on Friday night, Saturday went exactly as planned. After falling asleep during the slam dunk contest, I wake up around 9:30 realizing that I need to make something of myself before it becomes too late. A shave and shower does the trick and I'm on my way up shortly after 10, rodka in tow. First stop is with E at the I...feels like we've been missing each other consistently, so even though we're both close to stone sober on the first stop, it's good to see him.

A few weeks ago, I was out with him and a dancer came up to me. She asked me my name, and when I told her, she said, "My name is ____, but sometimes I go by Eve." Luckily, before I had to be mean or rude (I really don't want to talk, but feel like an ass saying so), E showed up and she shooed off. Well, she comes up to me again on Saturday night and asks me my name. I ask her hers, and when she tells me, I say, "but last time you told me it was Eve." This is my attempt at humor. It doesn't work. She actually gets offended, those last struggling braincells convinced that I've "confused her with someone else." I'm laughing the whole thing off until she snaps in my face and goes crazy about how I don't know her, I'm putting her down, etc, etc, etc. I tell her, "I apologize, I confused you with someone else." She glares at me. I tell her again, "I apologize, what more would you like?" At this point I put on the stone, "this is all you're going to get from me" face, and she finally leaves. I tell E when he returns that he's no longer allowed to leave me alone in there.

Now I'm two drinks deep, over the scene, and getting repeated texts from Za telling me to get down to Jet Setter at the Cat Club. I jump in my car and drive back that way, and upon showing up, it's Za and McButter, T and Tr, Margot, Lina from the Carol and someone I hadn't met before, Kramer. We immediately adjourn to the smoking alley. Kramer likes my cigarette case...then loves it when I get it opened. Twenty minutes later, after claiming to want to dance, we get inside, look around and find that Za and McButter are nowhere to be found. I get a text that they left, which they apparently did without telling anyone because they knew they would be heckled if they had. Kramer tells me, "c'mon, didn't you know that lesbian couples turn into pumpkins at 12:15?" The rest of us head to the hip-hop room. When I ask Kramer if she could use a drink, if she'd like a shot, and she says yes, her refusal to name what kind only ends with a shot of Patron. On the second round, I ask the bartender to pour two shots...1 of them split into two shot glasses. She hands us three full shots. Great.

Back in the alley, this woman keeps intimating that she's "down" with my smoking, telling me she's, "got my back," and then flipping out when a guy who works at the bar comes through the alley telling people it's time to finish the drinks and head home. I'm on water at this point, so it's no big deal, and I palm the rest of the j. She gives me a thumbs up sign. Kramer looks at me with a "who the fuck is this chick?" look on her face. I have no idea. We're kicked out at that point and I drop off T and Tr and Lina from the Carol before heading home. Up next...Skylark for some Monday mayhem!

Missed Connections Night

Friday night turns into a perfect storm of failed attempts to see people. Every try at meeting up with someone fell apart, but all of it ended in a good way. I get up to Topher's place where Wii bowling is turning into the replacement of Beirut. I view this as both good and bad for different reasons. I tended to drink more when playing Beirut. On the bad side of that, I tended to drink more. I also view Beirut as having a more head to head competitive element of skill and physical activity. After waxing me for two games straight, we go to Mauna Loa where we're supposed to meet up with ChengJ and two girls. ChengJ's there, but with girls who have guys with them. We decide to make a jump to meet E at the I, and I finally get the word that he's on the way.

Topher and I get going and get out of the cab in front. Bouncer tells me E isn't there, but to head on in. Dagmar gets drinks and Topher looks green in the face. I tell him to face the bar and chill out. Still no E. I hit him up and apparently, down at 7 Mi, some jackass has decided to confront him. For any of you that have met E, you know that he's harmless, right until you get him heated. 7 Mi is his home away from home (and the I of course), and the way he describes it to me, "this guy didn't know where the fuck he was. I was tempted to close the doors and take care of business."

As soon as we hear he's been permanently detained at the 7 Mi, we finish our drinks and decide to meet up with Damie at Gu's birthday at Horizon. Only, the minute we're in the door and find them, they're packing up to leave. I think for a second they're joking, but then, nope, they're serious. We leave there and head back to the apartment where we part ways.

So how do you follow up an evening where every time you attempt to meet up with someone, something goes wrong? You go out and randomly run into people you had no intention of seeing. You wake up and decide to head to Nini's by yourself and run into a guy who approaches and knows you from high school who you've completely forgotten, and English Stew with a few others sitting down to eat. Then you head to Bonne Sante on your way home and and run into PatS. Very odd.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

We've made it. If you're like me, you've survived a potentially broken toe on Monday, a dinner with your Grandparents, a Wednesday night of Beirut and a pretty un-eventful Valentine's Day leading into today, when you're ready to tackle what's left of the work week and go full force into a three day weekend. All that being said, you're probably nothing like me in any of these regards, and have your own tales of the week you've been through. Maybe someday you can share those with me. For now, here are some things to think about on this beautiful Friday...

1) Think you'd enjoy needing to go to the bathroom, walking outside in the snow and using an outhouse?
2) Who would you rather have batting clean up: Barry Bonds or Bengie Molina?
3) Have you done yourself a favor and downloaded the new Raindayz Remixes of In Rainbows from AmpLive?
4) There are 28 missed connections today with the word "Valentine" in them.
5) How much is a dead pet from your past being brought back to life worth to you, in dollars?
6) What are you going to spend your tax refund on?
7) What percentage of the money you're paying in taxes this year is represented by your refund?
8) If you had a choice between the O'Neill's in San Mateo and the O'Neill's in San Francisco, where would you go and why?
9) Wonder what Dave Matthews and the Dalai Lama will have to say to each other. Wonder if Dave'll hand him a spliff...
10) If you could leave work, right now, and start your weekend, but you had to take 7 back to back shots of Patron to do so, would you?

Cheers people, enjoy the weekend!

At the End of the Rainbow

{for music related posts, see Evolving Music}

The mash-up world, following the release and enormous publicity of Danger Mouse's Grey Album, has erupted. Following the illegal mixing and matching of Jay-Z and The Beatles, artists coming together to mash has blossomed into a full industry. Jay-Z was one of the first to take advantage on a massive scale when he collaborated with Linkin Park for Collision Course. Now both the underground and commercial aspects of mash-ups have grown, and this new sub genre has invited a host of interesting questions regarding rights and distribution where two artists are involved. What makes the questions more interesting is, as in the case of Danger Mouse, when an artist goes out on their own to mash others' music. But what happens when the remixed music is free, and started out free? Somehow, it seems lately that whenever we write about distribution rights, marketing and new music models, Radiohead is omnipresent. This time, it wasn't Danger Mouse, and it wasn't using a collection of songs as heavily protected as the Beatles' library.

A few months ago, we talked about Radiohead releasing their newest album online in a "pay what you will" format. The discussions have been endless in terms of what this new model means for the record industry. The limits of Radiohead's generosity were tested recently when AmpLive, who most will know from his amazing work as one half of the Zion I duo out of Oakland, came out with a new mash-up. AmpLive, after listening to In Rainbows, decided that he had to have a crack at re-mixing the tracks and adding hip-hop artists like Charli 2na and Del of Hieroglyphics over Thom Yorke's lyrics. He started offering these mixes up under the title Rainydayz Remixes, and sure enough, Radiohead's major distributer, Warner, sent a cease and desist for unauthorized mixes.

That's when Radiohead, their take on the music industry and distribution rights, and their sensibilities as musicians stepped in to the discussion. Never one to do what the labels tell them, Radiohead has now sanctioned AmpLive's remixes, allowing him to distribute them as long as they are free (which was his intention initially), and apparently giving the musician stamp of approval to a mash-up album that carries Radiohead's distinctive sound while taking the music of the band into previously uncharted hip-hop territory. After four listens through the album last night, there's little wonder that it got the band's stamp of approval...it's phenomenal, unexpected, and a fantastic companion piece to the original.

Clocking in at a sparse 8 tracks and 25 minutes, what Rainydayz lacks in length it makes up for in depth. Following the 30 second intro, the remaining 7 songs are a lush assortment of sounds and moods. "Videotapez" is a slick chop of "Video Tape," with a solid hip-hop beat and an original Del verse. Amp uses the piano portion of the song as the loop, and Thom Yorke's scratched lyrics provide the chorus. "Nudez" takes on "Nude," using the airy vocals of the original and lacing them over a thumping bass line. The song takes on an original chorus and provides a Too Short verse before transitioning into a more laid back beat with Yorke on the fade out.

For the rest of this review, see Pot of Gold on Evolving Music.

This Little Piggy Got Whacked

We've all stubbed our toes. It's one of the most painful and infuriating things you can do. It makes you grab your foot and curse yourself for being a complete moron, all at the same time. Chaz caught me limping around last night and asked what I did. When I told him I stubbed my toe, he goes, "ouch, when?" When I tell him it was over 12 hours earlier, he's skeptical. But when I show him what happened, his response is, "that's the worst stubbed toe I've ever seen." I'll tell ya something...it doesn't feel nice.

Mileage

I know I'm putting mileage on my running shoes. When you coach 6 months of the year and run anywhere between 25-50 miles per week during that stretch, you know the shoes are taking a beating. Of course, I never really pay attention to just how much wear and tear I'm putting on my shoes. Well, I got a new pair this weekend for the upcoming season, and was amazed when I compared the treads on the new to the "treads" on the old pair...Here's what a pair of running shoes looks like before I get to them, and what they look like after a couple thousand miles on my feet. If you look, you'll see just how deep and thick the new treads are compared to the old pair...

Happy Trails

After a Saturday spent throwing a frisbee around and laying out in the sun, it's time to get ready for Miller and Avidor's joint going away party at Circa. Chaz, Gavroche and myself pre-party at the apartment before heading up. When we get there, it's the typical Circa environment that I've grown accustomed to over the last few visits. The party is upstairs, so you say the name to the security guard and head up where we've managed to turn the area into a middle/high school reunion.

You've got PatS, Chaz, Gavroche, Miller, JennieJ, Child, Boyarsk, Malia, hell, Richard Haskins even makes an appearance. Glass shows up from her new Marina digs a few blocks away, along with her now famous due to ESPN Magazine friend Laura. The bar service upstairs is horrendously slow, but at least the process of getting in and out of both the bar and the upstairs area is relatively painless, so it's not hard to jump around a bit. The DJ is living in a mash-up reality of his own world, not once to my memory playing a song that was just one song.

In advance of Miller's trip to China, this was a good celebration, though we all know why he's really going, and I don't think it's to teach English. There's another humorous moment in the evening before we leave and head to Mel's for that tuna melt/vanilla malt combo. Not a whole lot of movement or anything unusual on this evening, but that's what you need for a send-off. Bon Voyage to these two, and to this weekend.

It's Not His Bag

Friday night comes on with a savage vengeance. After Hessica pulls the lame bail move (although, let’s be fair, she did go hard on Thursday), I head up to the city to meet with Topher. It’s been some time since we threw down and I’m happy to see when I arrive that he’s already in rare form following happy hour. We’re met at his place by English Stew, Jarles and Tarah. After several games of Wii bowling (far less strenuous while drunk than real bowling), we head to Bus Stop where the drinks are always…potent.

As an aside here, there are few places I like better in the Marina than Bus Stop. The bartenders work quickly and the drinks will put you on your ass. In fact, following our launching pad drinks and the first drink at the Stop, Topher has to pack it in and go home to talk on the phone for an hour before passing out. As soon as the drinks are finished, the evening starts to get out of hand.

We leave the Stop for City Tavern where the drinks are cheap cause Chris is working the bar. English Stew gets his first mind eraser and slowly morphs himself into Austin Powers. Our party finds its way outside to smoke and Stew finds a s shoe on the ground which he promptly starts telling people in the street, “It’s not my shoe!” Jarles stops making out on the sidewalk for a minute in order for Stew to get a purse. With this in hand, he goes running across the street telling a couple walking by, “It’s not my bag, it’s just not my bag!” People begin to become frightened.



At this point, movement will no longer be possible without some sort of food. Over to Pizza Orgasmica where Chaz and I go through close to three pieces each. When I head to Nini’s the next morning, I don’t make it through breakfast without Katie’s signature sunrise mimosa to break the fall.

I Got Hustled (Ley's Birthday)

Before I start telling you how I got hustled, I'd like to say welcome to the 200th post of the Cellar Door!

Last night it's time to head out to the Mission to celebrate Ley's birthday. She's picked a 10 o'clock start time at a Senegalese restaurant at Mission and 19th. But our night starts earlier than that. At about 9, with Hessica telling me she's not really sure she feels like going out, I tell her there's only one way to fix that...the rodka. So we each have a drink while getting ready, and once I'm showered and dressed, I'm feeling pretty good. When I tell Hessica that we're going to need to stick around for the end of a basketball game, she decides to make another drink. As she's heading to the kitchen, I realize that I can TiVo the end of the basketball game, so I tell her not to pour the drink, but the vodka is already in the mug. I ask her, "what are you going to do with that?" to which she responds, "take it as a shot?" I think this sounds like an excellent idea and dance around the dining room as she attempts to finish what she's poured. As the elevator takes us downstairs, I get the feeling she's faded.

We get up shortly after 10 and after getting drinks at the bar, meet up with the birthday party that includes Brie, Cristal, Ley and Van, McButter and Za and about 15 or so others. The highlight of dinner comes when, at the end, as everyone is getting up to leave, Hessica attempts to make it easy for someone to get past her between the bench they've been sitting on and the table. She keeps scooting down to make room, and unknowingly and rather drunkenly scoots herself right off the bench and onto the floor. Amazingly, she manages not to spill more than a drop or two of her drink as she does this.

From the restaurant we head over to the Lex where a smallish Thursday night crowd gives our group room to spread out. On the walk over, I pull out a j and start it around and one of the girls in the group says, "you must be the infamous _____." I get a good laugh out of that one. Inside it's drinks and pool. Two of the guys in our group, physics majors, duel for a bit and the winner joins Van against Hessica and myself in a horrendously bad doubles game. But, all four of us are pretty equally bad, so it's not too much of a concern. About midway through the game, an interesting character comes through the door. She's tough, rugged around the edges, wearing a black head cover, not unlike Omar's. She's got cornrowed braids coming down her back which are contrasting nicely with the all white zoot suit she's wearing. She looks mean.

She sits down next to the table as we're playing and starts giving Hessica little hints and tricks. For a moment, as I'm lining up to take a shot that I'm going to hammer into the corner pocket, she says lightly, "easy, easy." I don't make the shot, but I can tell from the shot I get off that had I nailed it like I was planning on, there was no way it was going into the pocket. We finish up the game, which appears very painful for her to have to watch. As we're back to sipping our drinks, relinquishing the pool table to others, she starts to lobby people for a game. When she gets to me, I say sure I'll play, I mean, I haven't gotten my pool fix in for the evening, so why stop?. It's only after she's gotten the balls out and I've started racking that she comes up and asks me what we're going to play for. Hustled! I think pool etiquette should dictate that you mention you want to play for stakes BEFORE you start racking on an innocent victim. But hey, I'm in it now so I agree to a 5 dollar bet on the game. She nods gruffly at this, glad she's getting something, upset she's not getting more.

After she cleans two balls off the break, I get a chance to shoot, make a shot and have her remind me that I need to call the shots. I do this for the rest of the game. Things look dire as I'm several balls down until I hit a streak of three very nice shots in a row (including one where I use the cue ball to hit one of my balls to put my ball closer to the whole in...that was a nice shot). I pull to within one down and shoot myself in the foot by being unable to put my ball away...I know as I miss it it'll be the last shot I get. Sure enough, she puts it away and I hand over the money. It was my first time playing for cash, and it made the game so much more exciting...even though I got hustled, I don't think I've had more fun losing.

Up next: Weekend debauchery including the going away party for Miller. Cheers!

A Weekend at Vampire's

{for music related articles, see Evolving Music}

Considering the next band pretty much got its start in the blogosphere, I'm a little late to the party on this one. But I don't think tardiness has ever stopped me from enjoying myself. And besides...good music can always use publicity. "Blog Bands" as they're known, groups that achieve status and reputation through the postings and writings of people who have heard them, are steadily on the rise. Even for the groups that get out to tour, have word of mouth and sign a deal, cyberspace writings, tags and search engine results are becoming more and more important to up and coming ensembles. Our friend Scott Reitherman and his group Throw Me the Statue provides a good example of how a few well placed authors and blog articles can help influence the rise of a smaller local group. I'll also mention that the rise of this next group, in addition to their styles of music, breadth of their album, resemblance to some excellent groups of the past and ability to mix these things together make them perfect fodder for this blog. In 2007, Vampire Weekend started making some noise with a single or two. Coming out of New York (having all met at Columbia), this foursome (Ezra Koenig - guitar/vocals, Rostam Batmanglij - keyboard, Chris Tomson - drums, and Chris Baio - bass guitar) eventually signed a record contract and on January 29th put out their debut eponymous album. And I'm going to tell y'all something...it's hot.

Most readers here will know my long standing opinion of pop and radio music. So when I say that this group's 11 track, 34 minute pop inflected album is an achievement, some might think I'm joking. But this group becomes the next in a long line of musicians who have been able to take completely different musical styles and weave them into a cohesive tapestry that can absorb a listener. They also have a knack for emulating the 80s wave of Paul Simon's Graceland album, some of the Talking Heads' tracks and Peter Gabriel in bringing seemingly incongruous world music into the mix and making it downright fun to listen to, regardless of musical preferences. The album is so diverse in its sound, yet tied to the simpler and shorter blueprints of pop music that I can imagine any listener finding moments of happiness in all the songs, even if the style of one is more enjoyable to them than others. Furthermore, the simple yet poetic lyrics are easy to listen to, sing along with and understand. The group dubs themselves as artists of numerous genres that they've mixed and matched, including "Upper West Side Soweto."

The album kicks off with "Mansard Roof," an up tempo song leaning towards the indie rock spectrum of things. On first listen, one finds a graceful, short and moving song. On repeated listening, the less noticeable instrumentation becomes more prominent and provides a hint of just what's in store on the rest of the album: a group of intelligent and accomplished musicians bringing numerous genre sensibilities to all of their songs. On "Oxford Comma," a simple and out front drum beat backs an almost 50s sounding simple organ-like melody with a simple lead vocal track that ascends to moments of joyous falsetto. The guitar solo is simple and happy, never becoming too enamored with itself or too complex to enjoy. On "A-Punk," the group takes on punk sounds reminiscent of the Ramones and Sex Pistols, yet again infuses it with a more manageable and less abrasive pop flavor. The end result is a mash-up that I've decided to call island punk. To continue reading this review, go here.

Doritos and Music?

{for full post, see Evolving Music)

We all know how much Super Bowl advertising costs. It's annually the highest priced commercial time, commanding millions of dollars for 30 second spots. Not only do large audiences watch the Super Bowl, but companies know that they're not just getting the standard football viewers they would normally get for ad time during a football game, they're getting everyone at a Super Bowl party. Usually the airtime is filled with humorous beer commercials and commercials for websites.

In the changing music industry we so often like to talk about, the methods of promotion and sales have grown wildly beyond what we ever might have expected. Long relegated to the internet and radio, I was very surprised to see numerous music related ads during the game, and in multiple cases from a completely unexpected company. In Super Bowls past, it wouldn't be uncommon to see a chip commercial. But what about a chip commercial that is actually trying to sell music? Doritos, apparently making a run at getting into the music industry and entertainment industry by "taking snacking to a whole new level (anyone else find this slightly ridiculous?) had two ads that I saw, sneakily co-funded I'm sure by Apple. I have to comment on this one more time because of just how funny it sounds to me...Doritos wants to "Take snacking to a higher level with entertainment, gadgets, and promotions designed to enhance your DORITOS(R)-eating experience." I wasn't aware that my snacking needed any higher level other than snacking. Of course, Doritos is entitled to whatever kind of mix and match they want. Article continues here.

Around the World, and the City

After a Friday night that seemed almost endless over at Gavroche's house, I was unsure of my ability to rally come Saturday. But, having already purchased my ticket to Around the World in 80 Beers, I knew there wasn't an option involved. As usual, in moments where I debate rallying vs. packing it in, the choice to search for a second wind always pays dividends.

I meet Damie and Mo' right before 4 for Around the World. For those that haven't heard of it, it's an event where they bring in 80 beers from around the world and you have two hours to taste as many as you can. It cost 20 bucks, it's all the beer you can drink and free appetizers (which when you're slamming beers in a two hour period in the middle of the afternoon become crucial.) We show up at O'Neill's in Ghiradelli Square pretty much right at the starting time and get our glasses and a scorecard. The bar is split up in multiple tasting areas with 4-5 beers at each. At each spot, you point out the beer you want to try and get a taster that ranged anywhere from 4-8 oz. At one point we figure out that one of the tasting areas is right outside the kitchen door and by standing there we can poach every appetizer tray as it comes out of the kitchen. I'm not sure how the other Around the Worlders feel about this, but I also don't take the time to ask...I'm intent on getting my 20 bucks worth.

In a two hour period, including eating and time to step outside for a j, I get to 23 of the 80 beers. For a great site where you can see all the bottles and read what people who seem pretty professional in their beer tasting have to say, you can check out the Beer Advocate. Pretty impressive site. Not only do they have pictures and reviews of almost every beer imaginable, but they have reviews by their staff and readers, so you can get a real nice composite idea of what kind of beer you're dealing with. Here's the list of my tastes along with country of origin:
- Xingu Black Beer (Brazil)
- Stone Pale (USA)
- Flying Horse Royal Lager (India)
- Hofbrau Munchen Hefe Weizen (Germany)
- Moylan's Hopsickle (USA)
- EKU 28 (Germany)
- Mad River Jamaica Red (USA)
- Tusker (Kenya)
- Bavik Premium Pilsner (Belgium)
- Franziskaner Hefe Weisse (Germany)
- Spaten Lager (Germany)
- Dinkelacker CD Pils (Germany)
- Marin Blueberry (USA)
- Paulaner Oktoberfest (Germany)
- Meteor Pils (France)
- Spaten Oktoberfest - Maerzen (Germany)
- Tetley's English (England)
- Asahi Super Dry (Japan)
- Spaten Pils (Germany)
- Stiegl Goldbrau Premium (Austria)
- Franziskaner Weissbier (Germany)
- Grimbergen Dubbel (Belgium)
- Mad River Steelhead Double IPA (USA)

Looking back now, I had no idea I kept picking up German beers. Or maybe they just make a lot. As for good and bad, my favorite beer of the evening was the Mad River Jamaica Red. I'm a big fan of Red Stripe and this one was a slightly sweeter red. It was smooth, refreshing and tasty. I definitely didn't like the EKU 28 and the Hopsickle. Both of them were bitter to my palette, and left an aftertaste I wasn't pleased with. For anyone looking for a good can and easy drinking beer, the Tetley's went down quite nicely. I also wasn't a huge fan of the Mad River IPA.

At 6 we're gone from the bar. I make it home, drop my car off and head back to the city with Alaska DDing for me. We meet up with one of her friends at O'Reilly's in North Beach then hit up Tony Niks, which was a very cool retro place. Felt like I could have lowered a fedora over my eyes and slid into a back booth while sipping an old fashioned. After that we headed to Circa to meet up with Topher and ChengJ. Gotta say that the two times I've been in this place, Saturday and the night we played superman, I enjoy it. At first it seems a little big and clubbish, but really, there's no cover, I haven't encountered a line to get in, and the crowd is a good size and all pretty happy with life. Really my only basic requirements when I go out are a short or non-existent wait in line, no cover, the lack of a dress code (or at least not a prohibition of my tennis shoes), and a fun crowd. Drink strength is always a plus as well, but I don't feel like much of any place is cool or different enough to pay money just for the right to be there.

As we leave, Alaska's friend gets in the cab with Topher and ChengJ and we head off to find the car. Of course, having been drunk when we walked several blocks to the bar, I'm lost. And we leave going in a different direction. After about 15 minutes of walking aimlessly, I'm ready to admit I don't know where the car is parked. I start to get worried. I mean, it's a rental car, we played the drinking version of blindfolding me, spinning me in a circle and then telling me to find my way, and the driver is from Alaska. I start worrying that I'll never get out of the city. Genius idea when she calls a cab, has him drive us back to the bar, and then backtracks using her superior sober sensibility. I reward this finding of the car by giving directions to Mel's where I tackle a tuna melt and vanilla malt.

At 4 am when I crash, I'd like to think I'll just sleep for the next 24 hours. But that isn't the case when it's time to start playing beirut at 1pm to get ready for the Super Bowl.

Juicy Movies of January (26)

A few sick days and a run of some new movies in the cinema brought out a good month for the films. If you haven't seen There Will Be Blood yet, I definitely recommend you make a trip. Two rewatchings of Primer did the trick (I'm finally close to understanding the movie), and for some reason I keep catching the last 20 minutes of Waiting (arguably the least funny part). Also got some good re-watches of childhood classics in (Great Balls of Fire, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves).

Special performance of the month award goes to Morgan Freeman as a Muslim in Robin Hood. Who knew deadpan humor in a foreign accent could be so funny? Oh, that's right, Sacha Baron Cohen.

2: Labyrinth
3: The Simpsons, Primer
4: West Side Story, No Country for Old Men
5: There Will Be Blood
7: Bridge on the River Kwai
8: Fire
9: I Am Legend
11: Three Kings
15: Waiting..., Boyz in the Hood
21: The Simpsons
22: In the Heat of the Night
23: Batman Begins, Magnolia, The Departed
24: Zoolander, Great Balls of Fire, The Stand Pt. 1
25: Mission Impossible 3, Commando, Gangs of New York
27: The Patriot, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
30: Earth