Too. Much. Food.

I never really thought those were words I'd say, but the Super Bowl party yesterday just about broke everyone in the room. It wasn't just that almost everyone who came brought two dishes...it was the overall immense pure richness of the food. Check out the menu:

- Magic Bars. I made these, a combo of chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, graham cracker crust and other sweets. More than one may suffocate you.

- Chicken Masala. Glace made these and they were delightful. The cilantro really brought everything out.

- Chocolate cake. CellaGood brought a homemade one that looked like a football.

- Pigs in blankets. Dad and KC brought these...delectable morsels.

- Mac and 4 Cheese. Another Dad dish, but not just any Mac and Cheese...try gruyere, romano and two others. This was the consensus appetite killer at the place.

- Chili Cheese Dip. Laura brought this, a recipe from former roommates. I almost had a heart attack. Not new for me, but still.

- Mini Swiss Mushroom burgers. Short Round grilled out. Even though her skewers caught fire because forgot to soak them, these sliders were super tasty.

I'm going to have leftovers for a week.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday!

It's been far too long. I'm sure you've been bored at work on Fridays. Meanwhile, I skated through the great out of doors and the inner halls of books, shunning blog, Friday and 10 things. No longer.

1) I wrote earlier this weak about the circus that surrounds child athletes. Well, no sooner had the class of 2010 been signed than news broke about a 13 year-old quarterback who has verbally committed to USC. And, scarier yet, he's already got a youtube highlight video...From the guy who brought you Matt Leinart, Matt Barkley and Jimmy Clausen...meet David Sills.

2) Of all the places you've been in the past 6 months, which place do you most wish you could go back to?

3) Colts or Saints?

4) Have you had the throwback Pepsi products yet? The Mountain Dew is out of this world. Imagine everything you love about Mountain Dew with none of that gross sugary aftertaste.

5) I'm tired of being asked to be a fan of things on Facebook. What is the point there folks?

6) When was the last time you woke up in a cold sweat?

7) What's your favorite recipe? Yes, this means I want you to send it to me. I'm collecting.

8) If you had to choose, for the rest of your life, between only garnishing dishes with garlic and only using onions, which would you use?

9) I've been wondering...how can Peter Piper ever pick a peck of pickled peppers? To be pickled, wouldn't they need to already be picked and in jars?

10) And my favorite thought of the week from Twitter...

Kathleen: "Dude, how old is he?"

Me: "Hot." - @arundo_donax

Where TV Shows Go to Die

I'm watching Nip/Tuck right now. An easy show to watch and blog during. I'm not proud of the fact that I watch it...it's more due to an OCD to finish what I start, and the show was decent when it started. Now, it's eroded into a gross mix of soap opera and sensationalist plot lines, a shadow of its former self. Not to mention that it's about three seasons past flatline. Now in the final episodes, the show has gone to the very fringes of absurdity with story lines so crazy that I'm convinced the writers are suffering fits of paranoid delusions in their own life.

So what happened? When it started it was just about on the edge plastic surgeons who took on tricky surgeries. Somewhere along the way, it devolved into pornography, serial killers and so many family lines that it feels like the Brady Bunch, Modern Family and Arrested Development jumped in the sack together.

And as dark and twisted as it has gotten, every week I'm reminded that it was created by the same guy responsible for the up-beat, fantastic and rather "normal" Glee. Now how the hell does that make any sense?

Gotta run...Christian and Sean are about to perform a surgery to give a chimp some thumbs.

Signing Day

Today, I saw for the first time the frenzy that is National Signing Day for football recruits. Having never seen the spectacle on ESPNU before, I was a little freaked out by the parade. Here we have national television crews, on-air interviews and what basically amounts to bounty hunting for 17 year-olds. Think about it. Before most of these kids can even drive, they're getting text messages and visits from college coaches across the country. Forget the regular high school experience...most of these kids were having press conferences in their school libraries and gyms today. We've taken sports and celebrity to such a level that adolescents who can ball are seen as future cash cows for universities that don't have to pay them a dime outside of tuition, which, let's face it, the overspill from full tuition students easily covers.

So you've got merchandising, TV contracts, ticket revenue, concessions, bowl appearance fees and who knows what else all pouring millions into the university for a few free class spots. It's about as close to legal slavery as our country gets now, which is evident in the rules that forbid free meals or transportation or anything else to these "student-athletes" at risk of NCAA sanctions. Of course, the NCAA, at the head of all of this, sucks in money. But hey, that's why they're called "amateurs," right?

The kids love signing day of course. Playing right into the frenzy, you have them sitting at a table with four baseball caps, like they're about to play Eenie-Meenie-Meinie-Mo with them before they put on the school they're going to. Even more showman were the few that pulled other school hats out from under the table to trump all the ones they led on.

But I'm thinking about after all this. After the cameras have gone, the torn ACLs have added up, the concussions have ripped through the grey matter and the paychecks have ended, if they ever started. What happens then? For some, the fame is enough to ensure security through the rest of their lives. But for more, what are the options when the only thing we valued them for between the ages of 13 and 17 was what they could do on a field? Hopefully educations have taken hold, but I'm not sure that goal can be helped by all the focus on football. Have we really taught these children the right values when their draft number or ESPN ranking is more important to their future success than their GPA or Major?

Bunch of Savages in This Town!

Of course, Dante meant this as it referred to the gum jammed in his Quick Stop lock, but hasn't it really become applicable to almost everything? Our government is so irresponsible with money that on all levels, enforcement of petty laws, skyrocketing fines and an increase in the cost of everything is running rampant to cover shortfalls in funds. Years of federal bickering have crescendoed into a partisan stalemate that has all the politicians pointing fingers instead of lifting any to actually solve problems. Sure, we're all different and have different visions of what our country is supposed to look like, but have our elected officials really solved anything with years of finger pointing and media mud slinging?

I watched the 10 o'clock news the other night (I know, a big mistake, right?) and was shocked at some of the headlines. An elementary school in Oakland was broken into and 40 brand new laptops were stolen. From children. In an already economically depressed community. I know the recession has to play a factor in here, but when did things become so desperate that stealing from youth in your own community was the answer?

Then, you have Bill O'Reilly, king of all things deaf, dumb, white and blind, spouting off at Gavin Newsom about panhandling in San Francisco. He was ranting about how he went from his hotel down the street and was "accosted by seven different men." I'm not sure what street he was on, but regardless of the merits of his claim, the entire Republican population now believes it about our city. Of course, Newsom had some shmancy stats of his own to chuck back at O'Reilly about the decrease in homelessness during his run as mayor, yada yada yada.

The problem here isn't that there's panhandlers in San Francisco. The problem isn't that we can't trust a word Newsom or O'Reilly says because they're just politicians trying to spin stats to their own advantage. The major problem here is that they're actually fighting about it rather than brainstorming any ideas that might actually work to cure the problem.

But hey, an earthquake in Haiti rallies politicians of all stripes, massive text message donation campaigns and a strong stand on "doing the right thing." Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we shouldn't help the people of Haiti, I'm just wondering why we can always agree on what we need to do to jump in and save or help people from other countries or cultures, yet we're content to scream about how the other guy doesn't want solutions when it comes to the problems facing the people within our own border. Is it that hard to do the right thing?

I'm gonna call this the "No Other Country's Children Left Behind Act" or possibly WSS - White Savior Syndrome...the need to feel like we are rescuing other countries from their disasters, their politicians, and in the end, because only America can know best what's best for others, from themselves.

One thing I know for sure...whether it be the abusive police, the partisan-sick politicians, the local thieves, the rappers glorifying drug dealing and murder or the white power base of our country convinced that we should save everyone else from themselves...there's a ton of savages in this town.

Where Did I Go Just Now?

So, it's February 1st. I know most people started their New Year's Resolutions a month ago, but given that I've kept to my 2006 resolution to never make another resolution, I couldn't very well do that now, could I? What I did decide, however, was I needed to have more consistency in my life. I figured I could eat more fiber or commit myself to writing a blog post, however brief, a day, and making sure to change my quote of the day, which I obviously haven't done in months.

Just where have I been? Where haven't I been?

I left work in September to return to school full time. I'm pursuing a Master's and enjoying thoroughly every class and minute. I feel like I'm back in college, which fits how I've always felt age wise, so it's a good thing. All the parties, the weekends, the yearly events (Pumpkin Festival, Thanksgiving, birthday, Christmas) all happened with the same amount of wildness I'm accustomed to, I just never got around to writing about any of it. So, it all happened, you just don't get to hear it. There were some outstanding things that took place, some of which I'll recount in hilarious and slightly unbelievable stories later, but for now, we'll stick to getting up to speed. I've had two roommates since we've last spoken, both of which have been fantastic and a ton of fun. I'm on the search for a new one right now, with more news of that later in the week.

Triumph and heartbreak, school work and play, friends and lovers (though you know I don't talk about that) I've had it all in the past 4 months. Of course, the "Right Now" on the side there was constantly running with my Twitter feed, but I doubt many got around to checking that with any frequency, and why should you?

What's to come? Well, since I'm going for daily, even if it's brief, it'll be something...a thought, a comment on something that happened, a suggestion for some music, anything. The quote I'll attempt to change first thing in the morning. The weekend debauchery will be a given, and I'm going to be working on incorporating some of the writing I've done offline into the posts...some essays and stories I've prepared for school, as well as some spoken word pieces I've written over the past few months will make appearances. I've also found some old journals and think that might be fun to mix in there. I'll label any of those with "Old" or something, so you don't waste your time on anything that's not a new product if you don't want to.

This is my welcome back party. Thanks for coming. The quote of the day today comes from a class I took in early January about educating exceptional children, and it's about what is called "the curse of knowledge":

"Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like to not know it." - from Made to Stick

Where did I go just now? Who cares. This is about where I'm about to go. Cheers.

August iPod Update

{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}

{For the music I was listening to in July, click here.}

Well, once again I'm a bit tardy and we have the music I was listening to in August being posted on the first day of September. But, better late than never, and the August music, while a bit late, is pretty spectacular. The August iPod update covers 94 songs from 7 artists (yes, a lot of full album downloads this month), and stayed largely (and surprisingly) away from Hip-Hop. So, without further ado, here's what I'm hearing lately.

As Tall As Lions, You Can't Take it With You: Having been kicking around in various formats since 2001, ATAL has released their third album. The band, originally from New York but recording a good portion of work in Chicago, flirts with rock, Indie and folk in darker soundscapes. The sometimes low, sometimes high or falsetto voice of lead singer Dan Nigro works with lyrics often dealing with depression or anxiety over brooding tracks. Through all of these songs, a feeling of being trapped somehow persists, with snips of guitar rifts floating through deep bass lines or horns whispering in the background. But despite this, the melancholy at times reaches crescendos that speak of freedom through misery. At other points, ATAL is a runaway train of energy on a track like "In Case of Rapture," where the drums keep a frenetic pace. Don't Sleep On: "Sixes and Sevens," "We's Been Waitin," and "Home Is Where You're Happy"

Beats Antique, Tribal Derivations: Fusing old and new, Beats Antique uses World and specifically Eastern-inspired music while adapting it to Western downtempo, glitch and hip-hop. Indian chants, thick stand-up bass, lightly picked harps, sitars and other string instruments are thrown in the pot with tablas and hand drums, frequently to be sprinkled with drum machines and electronic effects. The result is an album with driving, lounging or club music. In some cases you can imagine the hookah smoke drifting around you as dancers move slowly to the tunes, while in others you can imagine a dark lounge. On "Derivation," they take portion of melody from "Summertime," and pepper it with a digeridoo and deep drums. If you're a fan of World music, this is an album for you. Don't Sleep On: "Derivation," "Intertwine," and "Discovered."

Fruit Bats, The Ruminant Band: After working on the fringes of music, Eric D. Johnson, the frontman of the Fruit Bats, signed with Sub Pop in 2002 and have been labeled by music publications as "Zoology Rock," "Boot-Gazer," and "rustic pop." The Ruminant Band is their 5th studio release and offers a sunny panoply of pastoral and easy to listen to (which is not the same as easy listening) rock tracks that feel like they could have come out of another era. Up-beat acoustic guitars back moving guitar riffs, piano dances playfully across the spectrum and Johnson's voice, high and plaintive, is reminiscent of some of Led Zeppelin's tracks. The tracks are on the shorter side, content to bring the listener along, get the idea across and move onto something else without brooding on one sound. An upbeat album perfect for a ride or camping trip, early mornings in the sunshine and dusty backroads. Don't Sleep On: "Beautiful Morning Light," "Primitive Man," and "Singing Joy to the World."

For the rest of the music I was listening to in August, click here.

Movies of August (5)

Another slow month for movies as the start of Grad School has been the main focus and TV has been running towards the summer season finales.

2: The Miracle Worker
5: On Golden Pond
6: Death Race
7: Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
22: Romance (Couldn't find the IMDB for this, but it doesn't matter. It's a not so great French film about a woman whose husband denies her sex. Slow and not that saucy)

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

This has been one crazy week. I've started back to school and have to say that I am absolutely loving the Grad school atmosphere...a novel idea when students are expected to have their readings done when they get to class! Being back on campus is a trip, and I'm still balancing it with coaching and getting out to play ultimate. In short, I have absolutely no complaints! But you must be complaining, because it's Friday and they're still keeping you chained to that thing you call a desk. So, between now and 5, here's 10 things you can think about to occupy your time.

1) Call it Propofl, valium, xanax, whatever...it appears Michael Jackson was sadly on a lot of it when he passed away. Of course, I guess that means it shouldn't surprise anyone that they found weed in his house.

2) So a girl goes missing when she's 11 and they find her now, 29 and two kids later. Turns out she's been living in a locked shed and having children for the couple who abducted her. No, this isn't that weird Austrian story...this is in California.

3) I don't know how Jerry Jones made his billions of dollars, but something tells me he should go back to school when he builds a 1.15 Billion dollar brand new football stadium and puts the scoreboard so low that it gets hit by punts. You did know they were going to play football in there, didn't you Mr. Jones?

4) History is being made by Matt Barkley. When he starts for the Trojans at quarterback in their opener against San Jose State, he will become the first true freshmen to start at that position in SC history.

5) Do you subscribe to the cognitive or transmission theory of teaching?

6) How many children might be left behind when NCLB entreats teachers to train for a government exam rather than actual student growth?

7) Jim from The Office is getting married. No, it's not to Pam Beasley.

8) Do you remember having an "Ah-Ha!" moment in your education career, and if so, how did it happen and who helped you?

9) Would you pay a $100 ticket to go to Outside Lands, knowing that the sound cut out in the middle of Radiohead's performance not once, not twice, but more than three times last year?

10) Would you rather be a Cabbage Patch Kid or a Garbage Pail Kid and why?

That's it folks, have a great weekend and remember: it's only Rum if it's 92 proof.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

What an amazing, busy and amazingly busy week. It started back on Sunday with a birthday party for my Mom where I managed to get my Grandma and Grandpa both to play a game of Beirut. Tuesday saw a disappointing loss in an ultimate frisbee playoff game, but I bounced back with a 6 mile run and ultimate frisbee game on Wednesday night, the very exciting class registration for Grad school yesterday, followed by an outstanding time out at Nightlife with Za (which included a stop at a bar afterwards as well as the crepe stand)...Now, I'm gearing up for a weekend that will be spent in the comfortable hands of the San Mateo County Fair. Might I say, "Banzai?" Yes, I might. But before you get into the comfortable hands of who or whatever you're trusting this weekend, here's 10 things to think about.

1) In terms of being pissed about something going on in the judicial realm, I think the freeing of the Lockerbie bomber this week is absolutely horrendous. This man put a bomb on a plane, killed over 280 people, got a life sentence, and has just been released from jail because he has prostate cancer and only three months to live, and Scotland wanted to show humanity by allowing him to die at home.

Am I missing something here? Did he allow the innocent men and women he killed to die at home? Did he offer them any compassion or understanding? No, he put a bomb on their plan and then took satisfaction when it blew up over Scotland. The man was given a life sentence (of which he served 8 YEARS) for this crime, which should mean his life. I don't care if he has cancer. He should die in prison, a tiny box that he can't escape from, just as he condemned innocent people to die 20 years ago. Worst of all? Upon returning to Libya, he was given a hero's welcome. How's that for compassion for the dead?

2) Wanna kill yourself without dying? How about trying out for the Badwater Ultra Marathon?

3) Gotta love this...swimsuits that jibe with the Muslim tradition of covering the female body.

4) It's almost time for the new season of America's Next Top Model! I'm quite excited for this year, not because of Tyra or Paulina or any of the other super cool guest judges (I'll refrain from showering too much man-love on Nigel Barker), but because the max height on this season is 5'7". Bets on how often we hear girls in the house referring to each other as "Shorty."

5) I must say, these clips of Heath Ledger's last movie, a Terry Gilliam flick, look spooky good. I'm interested to see how much he had filmed of it before his death.

6) What can it mean for music if Radiohead is "done" making albums and will only be releasing songs? It sounds interesting, but would Kid A really have the same impact piecemeal? To me, it was always the cohesiveness of the album that truly showed their brilliance as a band.

7) David Foster Wallace finally got some much needed pop culture recognition this week when his masterpiece, Infinite Jest, was shown briefly in the newest episode of Weeds. For those of you who don't know about him or haven't read his work, here's a great article on a person I consider potentially the greatest American fiction author of the 20th century.

8) There's a lot of back and forth lately between proponents and opponents of the new health care package. I don't mind people feeling one way or another about it, but it seems that partisan politics and scare tactics have lead to a situation where not many people actually know what's REALLY going on with this bill. While this article doesn't speak to all of it, it does tackle some of the more commonly held myths surrounding Obama's health care push. My jury is still out until I see actual legislation.

9) In news I can really get behind, a judge has fast-tracked the dispute over gay marriage to hit the courthouse docket in January of 2010. Just out of curiosity, what part of "land of the free" do people trying to ban gay marriage not understand? Oh, I'm sorry, it's only about your freedom? How carelessly thoughtless of me.

10) Finally, because I love to eat and eat well, and have become increasingly concerned that one of my favorites, foie gras, might be disappearing due to the feeding techniques used to produce it (not that pigs, chickens and cows in this country don't all live in worse conditions), I was very happy to see this article about a man who has now won awards for free range, non-force fed foie gras. Wunderbar!

Farewell, McButter!

Last Friday night was a sad time indeed, as San Francisco and the rest of our crew had to bid adieu to McButter, one of my favorite dancing partners, as she moved away to New York. So crucially important to her workplace, McButter was transferred for the year to the East Coast so she could jump start a program and make it work. They say it's for a year, but I believe that the glitz, glamor and girls of New York might convince her to stick around a little bit longer.

In celebration, we had a going away party, and as with all good things that are devilishly bad, the party was held at 666 Post in the city. If you're ever looking for a good rooftop to crash and smoke some js on, this is the place (just find the top floor). Upon entering, the building looks like the Tower of Terror at Universal with all sorts of vintage architectural features. I left the apartment at around 9 with Sis and Short Round, a travel bottle of Rum and Coke in tow.

When we get upstairs, the place is pretty crowded already, and a 5 foot wide kitchen contributes to the first accident of the night...as I've just finished filling up my cup with Rum and Coke, Za makes a wild hand gesture and succeeds in flipping the cup out of my hand, end over end in the air. I look down and Rum and Coke is all over the floor, and I look like I've wet myself because it just had to land on my crotch. I think that damage is pretty bad, until the girl standing at the sink turns around and glares. It is then that I realize that while the floor got a good portion of my drink, she has it all over her back. Za is laughing and doesn't notice as the girl makes a sprint for the bathroom. Of course, I do derive a bit of pleasure from this incident as it forces Za to dab at my jeans with napkins, trying to get the drink out.

The party for the rest of the night bounces between the dance floor in the apartment and the unbelievable smoking rooftop. Of course, no party would be complete without someone being a complete and utter jackass, and we're given that at around 1 am. A man comes in and very loudly asks everyone to be quiet, commanding attention. He does it in a way that speaks of authority, so everyone shuts up and the music gets turned down. When he has everyone looking at him, he says, "I'm the landlord of this building, and I need you to turn the music up!!!" Now, he obviously did this thinking he was bad ass and very cool and we were all going to love him, but really people are just kinda annoyed that he made them be quiet just to announce that. It goes over even less well when he pulls the same stunt 15 minutes later.

And that's about the night of it. As the party winds down, McButter knows it's one of her last chances for crepes in the city, so her, myself, Za, Sis and Short Round hop in the car for yet another crepe run to end the evening. McButter is gone now, but thankfully in this day and age, New York is only an IM away.

Bayani Redux

{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}

I received an email today announcing the release of Bayani Redux. When I saw this, I was under the impression that we were going to get a release of B-sides and remixes for the sophomore album by Seattle based Blue Scholars, Bayani. For anyone who has followed Evolving Music for a length of time, you've seen the concert reviews and album reviews for the duo of Sabzi and Geologic (aka Prometheus Brown.) And yet, I still find trouble reconciling myself with how talented they are and how little mass exposure they have. Granted, some of the best music falls through the cracks and gets chewed up by the massive grinder of the music industry, but I hold out hope that the word of mouth on some of the best underground artists will reach surface and flip the industry on its head.

I feel like the music industry is caught in a bad dream. That dream where you keep running, turning corners, opening doors, all to get away from something, and yet you can't. Every time I turn on the television or flip through the radio dial, it's like I'm opening a door in the dream and finding myself in the same place, listening to recycled music from the past twenty years, sometimes infused with a new trick like auto-tune, sometimes not. But people keep buying, and therefore, labels will keep re-packaging. This is an old rant of mine, but one that came back to the surface after reading the release details for the second coming of Bayani.

When Rawkus Records released Bayani on June 12th, 2007, it was the second album from the duo and one that promised an enormous amount of future material based solely on the progression of the artists between it and their eponymous debut. However, in reading the re-release article, I come to find that only 20,000 copies of it have sold.

For the rest of this article with more details on the upcoming release, click here.

Welcome Short Round!

McButter describes her as "tiny," Marge is already taken as a nickname, and she doesn't want to be Carolina, so I'll now take a moment to introduce you to the new roommate, Short Round.

Small yet feisty, this southern girl hails from North Carolina and has moved out to California to chase her destiny and work for the government. So far, I think she's liking one of those things. Her dad describes her as a "son that was a daughter," and I don't think I'd want to see her on a competition basis. She's addicted to Dr. Pepper and likes the folks on True Blood. Only in town for two weeks, she has already enjoyed some of Cali's finest scenery, visited Nini's, become addicted to the crepe stand and been invited to the Lake House. Not sure when this round of good will for her will subside, but for now, she's living it large.

25 Science Fiction Books

I was asked recently what I found to be the best Sci-Fi book. I find it an impossibly difficult question to answer. Science Fiction, in my eyes more than any other genre, is the hardest to limit in scope and parameter because there is no necessity to stick to any physical, logical or moral rules of Earth generally imposed on other modes of literature. For this reason, each universe, each future and future history, each technological leap or cataclysmic event is completely at the whims of the individual author.

For this reason, some Sci-Fi only takes minor steps of imagination on the part of the reader, should the author deviate only minimally from our current condition, while other authors require great patience and leaps of faith. You won't be able to define everything in a Sci-Fi book. You'll have to be satisfied knowing that there's something called an Armstrong Drive that lets you travel through non-linear space at a rate of several thousand light years per day, without having it explained to you how that works. (A Talent for War) With some authors, you might never know what a word actually means and have to settle for a vague description and general idea of purpose.

Some authors enjoy focusing on the philosophy aspect of Sci-Fi, asking questions about the morality and stability of the structures we've created by looking at future civilizations, while others simply write action stories set in outer space. The best are able to balance these and give you a portrait that seems utterly different from anything you've ever known while giving you a very clear window to look back and examine what you do.

For these reasons, I've tried to structure this list, not in terms of "worst to best" or vice versa, but rather in most accessible to least accessible. The books at the top of the list are ones that I would recommend to any reader as an introduction to the genre, while the ones towards the bottom are books I would only recommend to someone who wanted to delve deeper and had the patience to do so. Of course, this means that in most cases, I've enjoyed many further down the list a bit more than some of the surface Sci-Fi reads. All of them, however, are fantastic books in their own rights. Enjoy!

1. The Road to Science Fiction: From Heinlein to Here, Vol. 3, Compiled by Gunn (A collection of short stories and excerpts with corresponding descriptions of the stories and influences on the genre)
2. Ancient Shores, Jack McDevitt
3. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
4. 1984, George Orwell
5. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
6. Ender's Shadow, Orson Scott Card
7. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
8. Replay, Ken Grimwood
9. Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick (The author behind the movies BladeRunner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) Minority Report, and A Scanner Darkly.)
10. As She Climbed Across the Table, Jonathan Lethem
11. Eternity Road, Jack McDevitt
12. A Talent for War, Jack McDevitt
13. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
14. The 5th Sacred Thing, Starhawk
15. Dancers at the End of Time, Michael Moorcock
16. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
17. Neuromancer, William Gibson
18. Virtual Light, William Gibson
19. The Color of Distance, Amy Thomson
20. Cornelius Quartet, Michael Moorcock
21. Time Enough for Love, Robert Heinlein
22. The Three California Trilogy (The Gold Coast, Pacific Edge and The Wild Shore,) Kim Stanley Robinson
23. Nova, Samuel R. Delany
24. The Fall of the Towers, Samuel R. Delany
25. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany

As for my personal top 5? 5, 7, 19, 21, 25. Special emphasis on 21 and 25. Of course, you can read just about anything by Robert Heinlein and not be disappointed, most readers enjoy Orson Scott Card's ability to tell a story and in reality, what I know about Science Fiction pales in comparison to my Dad's knowledge on the subject. If I'm lucky, he'll concoct a list of his top 25 for me to post here as well.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

You won't believe this, but today just got more Friday.  As we watch the summer fade away with the last weeks of August (and how nice it'll be to have all those little urchins back in school), we sometimes must reflect.  Personally, I like to reflect on the kind of insanity that has existed in the world this week.  This weekend is sure to be interesting as I'll have a new roommate to introduce to y'all (be nice now), and we'll be working on getting her settled in and ready to live in California (like it's really that hard.)  So, before you go drowning your workweek memories in booze this weekend or start making copies of your face on the printer, here's 10 things you can think about as the day drags to 5.

1)  Well, looks like the Military is taking great concern with the possibilities for enemies to use Twitter feed to gain intelligence.  Therefore, they've banned it.  What I'd like to know is why the NFL feels the need to do the same.  Shouldn't players be allowed to connect with fans on any level that will help raise awareness of the game?  Mr. Cromartie of the San Diego Chargers decided to tweet that the training camp food was bad, and that got him a $2,500 fine.

2)  I'm wondering what kind of strainer we'd need to get all of this plastic crap out of the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch.

3)  In the opening of Gattaca, the time frame is given as the "Not-Too-Distant Future."  Well, it looks like it's partially here already as China has started providing genetic breakdowns to parents as guidelines for hobbies, interests and future career paths.  Whatever happened to growing up naturally?=

4)  Those Russians are tough.  Bush goes out into the woods with a chainsaw on his ranch and tries to look rugged.  Putin?  That guy goes out to Siberia, does the butterfly in the river and then walks around bare-chested.  Who is the leader of men now?

5)  California, in an effort to reduce over-crowding and free up financial resources, has decided to release 40,000 inmates from prisons throughout the system this year.  No word yet on whether Charles Manson will get to be one of them, but my guess is more than a few stoners.  Which is sad, because when you think about it, what is the overall cash swing when you exchange their 5 years in prison on tax dollars with the tax revenue we would have been bringing in were marijuana legal and taxed and they were smoking for those 5 years?

6)  Here's an idea I can't get enough of...Ridley Scott, director of Blade Runner, bringing his vision and direction to a big screen adaptation of Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World.  

7)  In some bizarre tales, check out this father and daughter who disappeared together 10 years ago and have still not been found.  Tragic regardless of their fates.

8)  If you're a Bay Area native, what do you think the first few things the new roommate should do to get acquainted with the area?

9)  If you had to choose only one album to listen to on repeat for the rest of your life, would it be Radiohead's Kid A or Portishead's Live at the Roseland Ballroom in New York?

10)  Finally, my thoughts are on the sad news yesterday that John Hughes, who I most fondly remember for his direction of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, passed away due to a heart attack.  Directing Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Uncle Buck and Weird Science, his movies helped define 80s youth and pop culture, as well as providing some of the more memorable quotes for a generation.  Also passing away this week was Budd Schulberg, the screenwriter responsible for Marlon Brando's breakout performance, On the Waterfront.  "I coulda been a contender, I coulda been somebody."

That's it folks...next up, some more going away parties, new roommate and Madre's birthday next week.  Until then, remember to tie your shoelaces.

Mariah Carey: Battle Rapper? Survey Says No.

{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}

Well, if it wasn't already established fact that Mariah Carey isn't the brightest crayon in the box, we now have proof. While there has been a consistent and ongoing string of Mariah mentions in Eminem's music stemming from their brief dating history years ago, it was never anything too over the top. I mean, mentioning her ass, or saying you're obsessed with her, these things come off as just more jokes in the comedy arsenal of an already aggressive rapper. But in Rap, unlike in Mariah's domain of Pop music, the diss track is an ongoing war of escalation and attrition. I think she might have forgotten that when she decided to take a shot at Eminem in the music video for her new song.

A few words of advice: if you want to pick someone to have a battle with, I highly recommend you stay away from Eminem. He's shown himself to be a brilliant lyricist, a scathing social commentator, and absolutely unafraid of putting out every negative thing about himself as long as he still gets his shot in at the intended target. When someone has such a complete lack of disregard for his own reputation, you can only imagine the lengths he's willing to go to to take someone else down. But, apparently, the lighthearted mentions of Mariah and Jessica Simpson, the feuds with other rappers and the absolute lambasting of Insane Clown Posse that Eminem has indulged in in the past wasn't enough to convince Mariah to leave the situation alone and be happy he wasn't doing worse. No, she had to go and mock him.

If you haven't heard, Mariah's new single is called, "Obsessed," and while it could be viewed as a general assessment of any over the top fan, the video instead makes a fake Eminem the target of the label, showing him groping at her album covers, following her through town and in other ways being generally creepy. And on listening to the lyrics, there's no mistake that she's directing it at Eminem, mentioning how lame he is, how he's lying about having sex with her and he's chilling in L.A. while she's in the A. with Jermaine. Wrong move. It didn't take more than a week for Eminem to write, mix and release his answer to her video, and it absolutely slams. Eminem is at his best when he's making fun of himself while also taking shots at others. Here, he gets to do that in one take based on a former relationship, and he does so with typical rhyming flare. He doesn't just go after Mariah, he spends over 3 minutes going after everything from her house to their sex life (or what sex life there was), and throwing Carey's boy-toy, Nick Cannon, into the mix for good measure. Now, this song is so scathing and so aggressive, that my only hope is that Mariah doesn't try to escalate this further, because, really, she's already lost, and if you think Eminem doesn't have more to say, you just don't know Eminem.

For the videos to these, click here.

Kero One Interview

{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}

When it comes to DIY, it doesn't get much more do-it-yourself than Bay Area born and bred Kero One. When he dropped his first album, Windmills of the Soul in 2005, he made it completely at home, charged up his credit card, released it on a self-made label, Plug, and became a hit when one of his original 50 copies found its way to Japan. Earlier this year, Kero One released his sophomore album, Early Believers, and I sat down to chat with him about his upbringing, musical history and thoughts on the evolution of the music industry.

AC: So you talk on Early Believers about your parents moving to the Bay Area. Where did they move from and was it a big culture shock for them?

KO: Well they came from Korea originally; and then they came here when I was...zero. Probably in 1978 or so. From what I understand, it's a little bit different, of course, but you know, they adjusted. What I talk about on “Welcome to the Bay,” it's just some of the experiences that I witnessed when we were in the South Bay growing up. I talked a little bit about that and also, I guess just a little bit about their adjustment in terms of, they're used to a whole different lifestyle and obviously like different types of food and things like that. But, yeah, I mean, it was different, but of course they adjusted. And then we grew up in the south bay, and you know, I've obviously lived there for pretty much all my life.

AC: Whereabouts down there, San Jose?
KO: San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara
AC: So how has your family played a role in the music that you've created?

KO: Well I'd say they made me take classical piano when I was really young, so, in the sense of being forced to take piano lessons, that was a pretty big role because, even though I hated it back then, I'm pretty thankful for it because I use it a lot in my music now. And other than that, not that much because really, they didn't push me to do music; I mean, they're kinda traditional Asian parents in the sense that they wanted the more, “education thing is a big deal,” and going to a good college and getting what they understand is a good job, whether it's an engineer or doctor or something like that. So, they were really pushing for that, and, you know, honestly, when I told them I was rapping, I mean you can guess what their reaction was. Which is understandable, I guess, but now they're fully supportive.

AC: You talked about learning classical piano. That was maybe the first of many instruments you learned; did you go on to learn any others, or was that the only formal training that you had?
KO: Yeah, that's the only one I had formal training in, and I did that for 10 years almost. Technically it was probably like five years because the other five, I was kind of not really there. I hated classical music, but, when I was in middle school, I was really into punk, and I got into Primus and a little bit of rock like Red Hot Chili Peppers, and we all know, Flea and Les Claypool, ridiculous bassists. That inspired me to pick up the bass, and I started messing with the bass a little bit. So, other than that, it's just bass, piano and I play a little bit of percussion; so those are my three things right now.

AC: Do you spin?
KO: Yeah, and I DJ as well. I got into scratching quite a bit when I was in college, so I was into the whole turntables thing, try to beat juggle, flares. I DJ out mostly in the city, one off events and sometimes I go out and DJ internationally, but, yeah, right now I'm just trying to focus on the live stuff.

AC: Do you play your instruments live in concerts?
KO: Well, actually for the last show, what we did was I incorporated a little bit of live keyboard and a little bit of live drumming, but something that I've always wanted to do was play some instruments and rap at the same time 'cause I've never seen anybody really do that. I've seen people sing, but not really rap, so that's what I'm gonna be doing on my new show; just a little bit of that, and incorporate, I got a guitarist, I got a singer, and so we're definitely bringing in like the live element to the live show, 'cause a lot of the stuff on my album is actually played out, it's not samples, so it seems pretty natural to have live instruments.

AC: Out of all those instruments that you're playing, which one are you enjoying playing the most?
KO: I'd say probably the keys. I'm not stellar player in any of the instruments, but when I do play the keys, it's definitely fun when you can come up with a nice chord progression or some good solos, I’d say the keyboard.

AC: So you were talking about Primus, Red Hot Chili Peppers; what are some of your other musical influences and what are you listening to now?
KO: Man, I pretty much am influenced by everything from Mobb Deep in the early 90's to John Mayer to Daft Punk, I listen to it all. Probably the only thing I don't really get influenced by is country -- I mean everybody says that, right -- country or like folk, or something, or obviously classical music. But yeah, I listen to pretty much everything; like I grew up listening to really being into the early 90's hip hop stuff, classic stuff.

AC: What was the first rap album you really got into?

For the rest of this interview, click here.

Movies of July (6)

Another relative slow month for movies, I focused on checking out some movies that are considered standards from the 70s and 80s. Didn't make it out to the theater this month, as I was making a conscious effort to avoid giving anything in the way of money to Michael Bay. Coming Home tells the story of Vietnam war vets and their difficulty adjusting to life back in the states, Silkwood tells of a whistle blower in a plant where she is exposed to radiation and The Accused takes a haunting look at rape.

6: Coming Home
11: Get Shorty
26: Silkwood, Incredible Hulk
27: Deep End of the Ocean
30: The Accused

July iPod Update

{for last month's What I'm Hearing, click here}
{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}

July's iPod update was an extremely diverse one, not just for the artists, but for the songs themselves. Taking a new tact, I made July an all mash-up month, checking out some of the ways in which DJs have started taking on the mix and match genre full-throttle. While Danger Mouse helped pioneer it with the Grey Album and AmpLive took it another step with his remixes of Radiohead's In Rainbows, the mash-up culture is far past those now. But while there is much to be said for the style of Girl Talk where there are more layers than you can reasonably dissect in a listening, I find the club mash-ups utilizing 2 to 3 songs to be a most effective use of the genre. The best news? As all of these are off the grid, they're all available for download, so follow the links to check the music out for yourself. July's iPod update included 118 songs.

50 Cent vs. The 50s, DJ Doc Rok: Currently residing in Washington, D.C., DJ Doc Rok's (djdocrok@gmail.com) work is among the strongest of all artists I heard this month. What's more is that while he does have a collection of odd mash-ups and various artists, he also sets out to create complete albums of one to two artists. On this album, Rok focuses on all lyrics from 50 Cent songs and combines them with Golden Oldie hits from the R&B and Pop genres. The result? 50 Cent party songs with a touch of flair, moved out of the straight club motif that dominates so many of his songs and saturated with style and soul. Using songs like Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man," The Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry," and Booker T. and the MG's "Green Onions," Rok flips the 50 acapellas on their head with fantastic result. Definitely my favorite download of the month. Don't Sleep On: "Rowdy Rowdy/It's My Party (And I'll Cry If I Want To)," "Like My Style/One Fine Day," and "The Good Die Young/Little Susie."

Best of 2007 (Mash-Up Your Bootz), Various Artists: If you're looking for a comprehensive blog that provides a vast cross-section of the variety of mash-ups available online, check out Mash-up Your Bootz. They provide comprehensive year-end wrap-up mixes, links to other mash-up sites, and breaking news in the genre. I downloaded both their 2007 and 2008 Best of Mixes and wasn't disappointed with either. Beck takes on Green Day, AC/DC meets 50 Cent and the Scissor Sisters, Peggy Lee and Iggy Pop collide and Peter Bjorn and John find their whistle backing both Bloc Party and Amy Winehouse. Some of the mashers on this mix include DJ Peaking, DJ Le Clown, CheekyBoy, DJ Lobsterdust, and Party Ben. Perhaps the most pleasant track is by Norwegian Recycling who put together a very simple acoustic mash-up called "How Six Songs Collide" featuring Jason Mraz, Howie Day, Five For Fighting, Angela Ammons, Boyzone, and 3 Doors Down. This one is mirrored nicely with the eerie and melancholy mash of Placebo, Kate Bush and the Pet Shop Boys called, "Love Comes Running Up That Hill Quickly." Don't Sleep On: "Young Folks Rehab" by DJ Topcat (Amy Winehouse's v. Peter Bjorn and John), "Love Comes Running Up That Hill Quickly" by DJ Magnet (Pet Shop Boys v. Placebo v. Kate Bush) and "Break Through Love" by DJ Zebra (The Doors v. Led Zeppelin)

Best of 2008 (Mash-Up Your Bootz), Various Artists: The 2008 mix picks up where 2007 left off and offers an impressive array of very different artists finding their songs blended with people of opposite genres. The album kicks off with Bryan Adams going head to head with Metallica, James Brown duels The Offspring, and Rage Against the Machine gets thrown together with AC/DC, Joan Jett, Queen and Red Hot Chili Peppers. To say that these songs stretch the concept of mashable genres is an understatement. Contributors include Wax Audio, MadMixMustang, DJ Morgoth and Divide and Kreate. Best track has to come when DJ Schmolli brings the haunting guitar lilt of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and fills it with a slowed down Billy Idol singing "White Wedding." The result is astounding. Don't Sleep On: "Wicked Wedding" by DJ Schmolli (Chris Isaak v. Billy Idol v. HIM) "The Low Anthem" by Bass 211 (Flo Rida v. Pitbull) and "Dance Dreams" by Divide and Kreate (Eurythmics v. Lady Gaga)

For the rest of the music I was listening to in July, click here.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

Perfect storm of a Friday...iPod update, July movie list and 10 Things all at the same time.  Not sure I'll make it to all of them, but figured I'd start with the one that will keep  y'all from doing something stupid at work, like urinating in the water cooler or putting fire ants in your boss's office.  Let's keep it classy and reflect on the things that were important to us this week.

1) When it comes to the question of race, we have a country divided along racial, ethnic, gender, sexuality, economic and religious lines. This leaves us with gaps of understanding as to what we should and should not talk about.  Within the Matrix of Domination, we still have a lot to understand.

2)  Lot of brew-ha-ha over Michael Phelps and what swimsuit he's going to take into the water for the Worlds this weekend.  I loved this swimmer's comments about buying a suit for Phelps if necessary.  Like he needs your money.  He smokes pot and still gets endorsements, I couldn't even remember your name to put it in here, swimmer.

3)  Time to start getting excited.  It was announced months ago that the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm would have the Seinfeld cast guest starring.  Turns out that it's actually being done in the format of them making a Seinfeld reunion show.  Brilliantly excellent.

4)  Speaking of HBO, True Blood, Hung, and Entourage have all been picked up for another season.  Don't forget Eastbound and Down, which will also return.  HBO seems to have gotten over the doldrums that almost dragged them down with John From Cincinnati.

5)  I watched The Accused last night.  For any of you that haven't seen it, Jodie Foster plays an under-educated borderline white trash woman who is gang raped by three men in a bar.  It brought to mind this question...why are we so willing to have a death penalty, but we're not willing to castrate sex offenders?

6)  What'd y'all think of the Beer Summit up at the White House?  I'm a little curious why the common citizens were smart enough to go with two of my favorite beers, Red Stripe and Blue Moon, and the leader of the free world went with a beer I deem only barely worthy of filling my Beirut glasses.  Has Obama just not tried good beer, and which beer would you ask for if you were invited to booze on the White House Lawn?  I woulda told that man to get me a Mickey's.

7)  This weekend, we must say good-bye to the -amie section of Damie.  What does this mean exactly?  Well, we'll go back to calling him D, we're sure to see more of him out at the bars, and we'll have no one to throw candy at when she's passed out on the couch.  I can only hope that her nickname, "Pass Out ____" makes it to the east coast.  A fond farewell goes out to her on her journey.

8)  As in tomorrow is August, 8/1.  Is it just me, or did this year friggin' fly?

9)  Yesterday, the coach for the University of Hawaii stepped out of bounds and used a homosexual slur to describe Notre Dame's football team.  I'm not sure when people will get it, but using derogatory labels, especially ones that only further subjugate minority groups of any stripe, is uncalled for, wrong and stupid.  Where did these people learn to talk?

10)  Finally, here's a list of 5 folks that you should get on Twitter just to follow...

a) @bakemyfish: "Facebook is the junkie standing on the street corner, nodding out. Twitter is the punk kid stealing his smack and works out of his pocket."

b) @aimee_b_loved: "If I go to work tomorrow hungover I'm blaming peer pressure.

c) @carrmah: "Officer, we can either quarrel over this speeding ticket now or we can resolve this over a few beers with the President of the United States."

d) @jane_bot: "In bed, thought there was an earthquake. Quickly realized it was only my 1-night stand having a seizure. Some men are so "it's all about me."

e) @xrayedman: "My wife asked me to explain my mess. I said All things in the universe attempt to find the lowest energy state.  She did not seem satisfied."

That's it folks.  -Amie's going away party tonight, Foster's tomorrow, be good and remember to floss everyday.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

I know, I've been lagging. Two Fridays without 10 things to think about, and I can only blame excessive fun, too much tweeting and early departures from work. Wait a second, those are all great things to blame. But, since I'm about to leave, and you probably still have some time here, I'll put you out of your misery with some of life's greatest mysteries to ponder.

1) Finally, they've gotten a budget plan in place to fix California's economy. Of course, it involves no additional revenue from marijuana and cuts 4 billion from schools, but hey, locking up smokers is more important than sending kids to college, right?

2) I don't know about you, but if I were Tom Brady, someone stole my flower pots and sold them, I'd probably just buy some more. Instead, this guy who made the mistake needs to pay for it by panhandling. Justice is served.

3) Those smart Brits. The Royal family is now on Twitter. A huzzah goes up through all the land.

4) Drunk? Suicidal? Lemming? These are the only things that come to mind when I read about someone driving over the edge of the Grand Canyon. I mean, how else do you miss that? It isn't a pothole, it's the grand frickin' canyon!

5) Christian Bale is known for fluctuating his weight wildly to play movie roles. Just a word for Mr. Bale...you look better when you're not doing roles that require you to look like this...

6) Finally music justice has been served. John McCain has been forced to settle with Jackson Browne for his unauthorized use of the man's music. And you say you wanted to be President. Learn how to ask an artist if you can use his work first!

7) In unrelated news, add LeBron James to the list with Michael Phelps of incredible athletes who have smoked pot...

8) This is just plain cool...someone has enough time on their hands to use Legos to recreate famous album covers.

9) Which would you rather be? A lean, mean, and possibly dead fighting machine pit bull in Michael Vick's back yard (could face 4 games of suspension) or a lean, nasty and feces covered chihuahua in this guy's house with 100 other chuhuahuas?

10) First off, jackasses, by delaying a qualified Supreme Court justice, you are making yourselves look retarded. Secondly, don't we have enough financial issues in our country that maybe we should focus our money on problems at home?

And that's it for me today. Remember, if it's not here, maybe it doesn't exist.

Coming Storm

Sad to say,
But that sole sharp edge of your double standard sword
Got in the way.
Rather than find a worthy tree for us to chop together,
You flipped it over and assaulted me
In your time of foul weather –
As if that would build the house that would shelter us from the storm.

But maybe you don’t want to be warm.

Maybe the bitter sting of long burning tears and all too real jeers
Leave you content to stand in the cold,
screaming against the temperature.

Meanwhile, we’re both freezing.
Stripped long ago of innocent notions never come to fruition,
we stand here in the skin we came in.
I’d get dressed,
but in the backpack packed tight with the horrendous experiences of your years,
The only warm clothing are the coats of the abominable forefathers

that I fear,
So size me up and fit them to me if you wish,
But I can’t shoulder their history any more
Than I can wish myself out of pain
or single-handedly mold a solution for all of us out of this sick hurricane.
And the clouds are getting worse,
Threatening to blow us all up up and away
If we can’t find a way to live to agree another day.

In the end,
We can’t make only one sound to hear,
Or one person to be,
Or the same exact sight to see,
But the storm is here and
You and I?
If we want to survive?
We need to trade in our swords for a hatchet we can bury,
And start looking for the same tree.

Free Pizza, Free Beer, Random Girl

This past weekend had it all.  From fun in the sun to heavy inebriation to massive amounts of food, nothing was overlooked.  And, in startling fashion, while I've had great weekends out lately, this one returned to the level of randomness that I had come to expect from weekends.  On Friday evening, after doing laundry and then leaving some of it accidentally in the washing machine, I head up to the city a bit on the later end to meet up with ChengJ, Topher, SG, Mr. Jang, Pao and Marc.  They're playing Bridge, which confuses the Hell out of me, so I watch until they switch to Liar's Dice, which I still only watch.  About 11:15 we decide to head down to Bar None where Sis is working as a beer promoter.  What this means is that for the next 40 minutes, we try to drink the free beer she brings us as fast as we can, and she tries to bring it faster than we can drink it.  This is a win-win competition.  

And talk about out there at the bar.  Not only is Weil from high school there, but one of Spearman and I's old colleagues from the law office is drinking as well.  Of course, the bar is filled with idiots, including two who at one point almost engage in a fight over a football jersey.  I send Marc over to break it up, he steps in and tells them to knock it off before security comes in and throws them all out of the bar.  Luckily, Marc wasn't close enough to be included.  Topher and SG get their ass kicked in a game of Beirut, and CA and Sis start to get marginally fed up with the douchebags hitting on them.

At 12, they get off work and we decide to head en masse over to the Silver Cloud to see Spooky.  There, a bachelorette party is in full swing, and, more importantly, the portable rum and coke I've been working on has started to hit the other members of my party, most notably Topher who has shared a great deal with me.  At around 1:30, CA and Sis are ready to head off, Topher has disappeared and ChengJ and I decide to make a last swing by City where they're in the process of kicking everyone out.  It gives me the spot I need to finish my drink and when we finally do leave at 2, we're both starving.  This is where the night gets odd.

We decide that the line at Orgasmica is once again too long, so we swing around the corner to Pizza Pino.  ChengJ introduces me to some of his friends and I remain outside smoking with them as he heads inside.  He's been in there about two minutes when a brawl breaks out at the corner of Fillmore and Lombard.  And I'm not talking about fisticuffs.  We've got about 15-20 people of mixed ethnicities and genders involved in some sort of dispute that has them throwing each other into walls, hitting each other, a great deal of yelling and to top it off, they can't seem to stay on the sidewalk, twice spilling into Lombard and almost getting one of the combatants hit.  I see one guy take a boot to the face while he's on the ground and another get clocked in the face after being pinned up against a building.  Of course, it's only after 5 minutes that the police finally cruise by, turn on the light and the entire mob scatters like roaches.  I realize that I've been engrossed in this fight for an awful long time and turn around to see that I can't see ChengJ in the pizza place.  

I stand around, slightly confused, looking in, looking down the sidewalk, wondering if perhaps I missed it when he tapped me on the shoulder and told me to come along.  I'm contemplating what kind of mission I need to embark on when I see ChengJ in the pizza spot, coming out from behind the counter with a large pizza in his hand.

I'm even more confused.  He gets out to the sidewalk and I ask him where the hell he went.  "I was making our pizza."  What do you mean, making it?  Well, turns out that ChengJ has gotten himself so in with the late night crew here that they allow him to go behind the counter and make his own pizza.  So the large he comes out with is not only hand produced by him, but, more importantly, only cost him three dollars.  So, there's free food.

Walking back to his place, trudging up the hill with pizza in one hand and the remnants of my rum and coke in the other, we pass by a girl sitting on a stoop.  She looks a bit upset, so I ask her if she's alright.  She says she is, ChengJ offers her a slice of pizza which she declines and we keep walking.  Up at the top of the hill, he and I are getting ready to go our separate ways when I turn around to kick a box off the sidewalk, only to find out upon almost cracking my toes that the box is actually a full 12 pack of beer.  Full as in un-opened at all.  I pick it up and hand it to him.  Thanks for the pizza, here's some free beer!

As I'm getting him into position to take a picture so I can tweet the fact that he's gotten free beer and free pizza all after 2am on a Saturday, the girl we passed earlier starts walking past us.  ChengJ asks her to jump in the picture with him, I snap the shot, bid adieu, and head to a cab as ChengJ starts back towards his apartment and the girl starts up the hill. I'm only 5 minutes at my destination when I get a text from him..."She came back."

**********************************

On Saturday after I almost induce a heart attack at Nini's, Chaz comes over at around 7 to start playing Beirut, which we decide will be well played with Mickey's instead of beer.  This is perhaps one of the greatest decisions of the evening.  The night wears on and Hosin and JPA show up from dinner to continue the festivities, including a rare appearance from Cam and Ri.  The highlight of the Beirut evening comes in Game 7 with Chaz and I tied 3-3.  I hit three cups in a row, and on the fourth cup, I shoot after Chaz starts moving the cup and sink it anyways.  That's the end of that, we play a few more games and head out for a Mateo Shit Show.  

We skip Glow, McGovern's and O'Neill's and head to our new favorite spot, Azul.  It looks like a shady dance club from the front, and the inside doesn't help that image with an all black interior and dance floor, but the back patio at this place is smoke friendly and incredibly pleasant to sit out on during a warm summer evening.  Of course, before we head out there, Hosin thinks it's a great idea to buy us all shots of Patron.  I'm in the mood, figure throwing one back shouldn't be too hard, and go for it.  I've got about a quarter of the shot in my mouth before I realize just how bad an idea it is, and spend the next five minutes on the patio attempting to contain myself and avoid puking.  Chaz isn't served much better, but, of course, Hosin leads the pack and invites us to finish our drinks.  

Jarles disappears, Hosin JPA and myself head up to Mr. Pizza Man where I have the bright idea to completely douse my slices of pizza with the parmesan cheese on the table.  Literally to the point that my pizza looks more like a snowstorm hit it than a piece of dough with cheese on it.  But, we trudge on home and call it an evening.  

And in case you're wondering, when I wake up, I indeed finish what was left of the slice that I had abandoned on the table the night before.

Next up?  Chaz's birthday weekend!

Candy, The Trip From Hell and Pride

The last two weeks...verging on insane. It started on the 25th of June, where, having geared up with Sis to head to Lollipop for Pride festivities, we're told that the morning after, we'll need to fly to Iowa for our Grandma's funeral. Of course, we've already bought our tickets, so we need to go, which I know is about to set up a Friday night and Saturday morning combo that won't be easy to swallow. Friday night I head up to the city around 9, pick up Za, Nah, JJ and a few others and we head over to Lollipop.

I'm not sure why they changed the venue from Kelly's Mission Rock (which is friggin' awesome) to some club in the SOMA, but the change was unappreciated as it offered less in the way of space and smoking areas, and way too much in the way of not enough bars for all the drinkers. The line was long, and my sister of course shows up as we're going in, so rather than go back outside or make her wait in line alone, I simply grab her and move her around the rope and past the bouncer. She's got CK and Hessica in tow. Luckily, no one sees this so it works. The smoke section in there is horrendous...literally an enclosed room, which means I leave most of my js in my back pocket til afterwards, but the vibe is still great, our group found a great open spot to dance upstairs.

After the party ends, it wouldn't be a Friday night in the city without crepes, so we head over there, after which I drive everyone home to various parts of the city.

Here's where it gets fun.

I don't get home until around 3:30-45, and I have to be at the airport at 6 for a 7:15 flight to Denver so Sis and I can meet up with the Gibs family and take a flight to Des Moines. Logically, it makes no sense to sleep, so I stay up, finish packing and get dropped at the airport on time, if not a bit groggy. As our flight is full and we're flying standby, the next hour ticks by and reminds me that I've been up for 24. And another flight leaves full. And another. And another. Sis and I spend the afternoon trudging back and forth from terminal to terminal trying to get a flight to Chicago or Denver or anywhere that might get us closer to a flight that goes to Des Moines.

This leads to multiple airport meals. For dinner, we go to Gordon Biersch where Sis's beer comes with a fly in it, her water glass with lipstick smudges on it, and a "bowl" of clam chowder served in a 10 oz. paper cup. I promptly write an email to the company, and am proud to say that they're going to be sending us out some free beer coupons to enjoy at one of their restaurants in apology. While what happened to us in that restaurant was not fun, the company has gone out of its way to make up for it, so I'm not going to blackball them just yet.

Finally, we get on a plane. It's an 8pm plane, only 13 hours after our scheduled flight, and it's not quite to Denver...it's to Las Vegas. But we're reassured that there's an 11pm flight from Vegas to Denver that looks very good, so we'll aim for that. We get into Vegas, eat at Quiznos and then head for the gate. Only, we don't make this flight either. Which doesn't just leave us stranded in Vegas, it leaves us stranded in the Vegas airport where every chair has an arm rest between it, so you can't lay down on any of them. And the neon lights are on all night. And the music from the speakers is awful adult contemporary into the wee hours of the morning. And the constant sounds coming from the omnipresent banks of slot machines replay through your head at 4am.

I'm exhausted, so I resort to laying down on my back with my coat as a blanket and my garment bag as a pillow. I'm not sure if the "Wheel of fortune!" shout is in my dream, or coming from the slot machines that aren't letting me get fully to sleep. I open my eyes at one point to see a custodian sweeping garbage away from me in a two foot radius.

And, as our luck would have it, we don't make the first flight out that morning either. In fact, the loads for flights look so bad that we're told by a supervisor that our best bet at getting out of the Vegas airport is to fly back to San Francisco, which we do, arriving at 9:30 in the morning. I believe it may stand the test of time as the longest round trip travel plans for nothing, ever.

The grandparents pick us up at the airport and drop us off at home. I lay down for a two hour nap which turns into 4, and when I get up, I'm fresh, ready and shower before heading off to BART to catch it up for my first Sunday Pride ever. The Civic Center is packed on every street, and the people are roaming. I'm not sure what it is, but there's not much I like more than roaming flocks of people on city streets as music pumps and alcohol flows. The whole crew is out there, and I hang around for an hour or two before Za and I decide to hit Bart back to the Peninsula. She passes out on the entire ride back, and when we get back to my place, she passes out. I lock, reload and head to the family BBQ at Casa de F.

The night, weekend and 48 hour period ends Sunday night when we head to Yogurtouille, then back to my place for True Blood. Not a bad way to end it, and certainly more in 48 hours than most people might like to manage. Up next...tales from the 4th of July.

June Movie Jubilee (12)

2: Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels
3: Layer Cake
4: Human Traffic
7: Brick
9: Up
14: Wall-E, Into the Wild Green Yonder
21: The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Into the Wild Green Yonder
22: Mystic River
28: Layer Cake
30: Oldboy