9:33am: fucking hipsters
"so i wrote this psychology paper, where i wrote the nuclear bomb is that it was the genesis of man, and just like adam in the bible, it was also the fall of man!"
"that's sick"
"nah, it's good, i got a D. i'm getting my masters in the fall yo."
this was on the muni coming back from the fillmore - from where billy braggs put on a great show)
(and no updates)
(well that's not completely true. going to eastern europe in a few weeks. i think the only thing i update these days is my flickr page - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwatts)
Current Music: some crap that sounds like sufjan stevens but isn't
7:38pm: radiohead/ in rainbows
i'm sure most of us have listened to it by now -- thoughts?
for me, it doesn't even come close to the impact kid-a had - an existential type of album, dark yet just right. and the whole album was great... in rainbows just has a few great tracks, not unlike eraser.
fav tracks right now -
all i need, house of cards, and jigsaw falling into place.
then again, kid-a and their other stuff i knew the influences. not so sure on this one.
- bike friendly - cab/public friendly - mad friendly people - conservative city and liberal for the right reasons... i like that.. - passionate about their teams (also, don't even say your a white sox fan)
really dug wicker park area, the bohemian part of chicago - by day, hipster, and at night club w/ hipster dives. alcohol is served until 5 (!) at some places, depending on the license the establishment has. pitchfork was barely worth the 45 i paid for the two days... de la soul being the only really great act.
- I finally finished Stumbling through Happiness. Great book. Daniel Gilbert showed (using numerous studies/clinical trials) that our wetware/brains are faulty in that they misremember how happy we were in the past and mispredict how happy we will be in the future. Because of this fault, we will use that as a gauge of happiness for making decisions/taking course of actions in life. I know I have made decisions that I thought would make me happy only to end up f'in miserable. The solution? It's not what I expected, but I get it. Basically, you ping others that are experiencing the course of actions that you think will make you happy, and ask them if they are happy. It has to be when they are doing it else your answer will be faulty due to the misremember/mispredict thing... I'm thinking technology could help out here, a network thing where people can update it with a happiness meter/experience and you can look it up... Of course, you want like-minded peeps, but Gilbert even showed w/ people that were just different this solution still worked.
- Season finale of Lost was great. I think more people died in this one episode then all previous. I like it.
- Did you know that more people visit Lake Tahoe in the summer then winter? The other weekend I found out why, lush terrain, and great mountain biking trails. The Tahoe Rim Trail, particularly, is just stunning (pics, taken with me new Canon SD800 IS - this camera - which makes taking a bad shot close to impossible)
- Speaking of Tahoe, I made it out there at least 15 times over the winter for boarding. Yes, I'm bragging. Want the same? Get a job where you can work remotely 4 days out of the week ;)
- Speaking of boarding, I attained all the goals I set out for myself at the beginning of the season. That is, be able to do black diamond, moguls, jumps and rails. I was trying to record myself doing a rail to prove it but I fell face first and busted the camera on the rail. I'm that good...
11:53pm: Wake up...
Things that happened today (because i got out of bed)
- Our softball team finally won a game! - And it was against the undefeated team... we all did well, I got a triple & even friend GC got a solid hit.
- Coming to work for McAfee I had 2 main goals --- #1 to get published and #2 to get McAfee club suite tickets to the McAfee stadium (where both A's and Raiders play). I have succeeded on #1 and finally, today, on #2. I found the hookup (sales!) and I get suite passes in BLOCKS. Pimp suite too, couches, flat panels, etc in the best location in the house. VIP parking, free drinks, food, concierge, etc - I went today, going tomorrow, and many times this year. If any of you are interested in going and in SF/OAK let me know - I had to burn a few passes today.
- For hanging pictures in my pad I've decided to just use pictures that I've taken. I found ImageKind and started with a panoramic that I did of the south Zone in Brazil - http://www.imagekind.com/Showartwork.aspx?IMID=b5debfa5-d340-4964-abec-3e11f34b62a5 - it came in today, and it's really f'in nice - acrylic glazing on a matte white mat, 48" x 12.1". Even better, people are ordering the prints off the site, and I get the 10% markup - unexpected as I was just using the site to get the print framed.
1:43am: coachella '07
Best year yet at Coachella.... Why?
- Renting w/ friends a house (with pool, jacuzzi, etc) in palm springs. I've done the camping thing. I've done the cramped sharing of a hotel room. No more.
- Good friends. GC, Guice, Domingo, echoboom, matt, pam,xsugarhiccupsx/patricia, laura, sam, - good times were had.
- And the peformances...
Bjork - Great reconstructions of her originals and a mad gorgeous construction of the backing orchestra... and the first artist i've seen that used a reactable (!)
Girl Talk. It's hard to imagine this guy has a day job as a biomedical engineer then puts on amazing mashups (or whatever it is he does that has us hopping) on the weekends. And his co-workers have no idea...
SoulWax. I was standing in the back chilling with cesar... Then I observed the front of the crowd mad hoppin. I then watched as it spread to the middle, then to the back where we were. Before I know it, the whole tent was bouncing, including us. I had a similar experience with LCD Soundsystems.
- Jesus and Mary Chain. - Hot Chip - DJ Shadow - RAGE! - Ratatat - Interpol - Of Montreal (!)
11:26pm: softball
even though it's a corporate co-ed team, the passion of baseball is coming back. this is the second game, and i'm/we are doing great - the 10+ yrs of baseball skills are paying off (i did OK at shorstop, made some good plays) - and even though we lost 19 to 2 ;) we will defeat the sandisk corp team next monday.! or not, drinks will be had afterwards regardless.
- it's a bitch to find a place to live in SF! far from trivial. not like houston, where you roll into a rental office and tell them the place you want to rent. no, your in line after 20 other craigslisters and have to go through the interview process like all of them. even with good looks, good credit, etc it still took months to nail down a place to live.
- no way i'm buying a place in SF. i'm instead looking to buy in tahoe, if anywhere. it's just tough to buy right now - if i was married with kids etc it'd be the right thing to do. that being said, i'm not sure if it's the right thing for me to do now.
- mountain biking here is the real deal. mountains. not the bumps or ant hills in texas. and being able to jump on my bike, ride up through presidio park, across the golden gate bridge ... and trails of the marin headlands. it's the nuts :)
- music shows here are fantastics. it's a little slow now, but for awhile i was going at least once a week. tickets are mad cheap (promotion cost?) and usually run around $15.
- traffic and driving is not an issue here. and nothing compares to the shit called houston traffic. nothing. well, i lie, LA is worse. driving and traffic was such a big factor in things and my life in houston. here, it's minimal factor. the city is only 6x6 miles, cabs are a-plenty, and muni goes everywhere.
- woman are mad independant here. they really don't need men. i'm still trying to understand that one.
- i've fallen for tahoe... i could settle there when i get "older".
- wine and sonoma regions, - russian river has the best pinot noir's. my favorite is hook & ladder. - alexander valley, you can't go wrong with the cabs. my favorite is geyser peak and silver tab. - dry creek has the best zinfadels. bella vineyard is my favorite. added points for being located inside a cave! - i'm still not sure why i enjoy wine and going to sonoma - i'm not into the pretentious wine-is-an-adjective-not-a-noun wine scene. and for this reason, i will not go to napa.
- thoughts on work, etc will follow another post. the gist is that i'm not limited anymore, nor did i realize how much i limited myself in houston.
- i do miss houston, some days more then others. it's the friends and family i miss the most.
The more I realize how fucking great he is. And being a huge beatles fan, this still passed me up.
Yeah, I know his involvement in Radiohead and Beta Band, but this also slipped passed me radar:
"From the Basement is a new podcast lauched on December 18th 2006 that features live performances from various musicians. The show is filmed in high-definition at Maida Vale studios in London with the live sound by producer Nigel Godrich. From the Basement has no host and no studio audience, instead the artist and their performance take centre stage.
The first episode launches with Thom Yorke on the piano exclusively performing songs from the new Radiohead album, alongside performances from The White Stripes and a collaboration between Four Tet's Kieran Hebden and drummer Steve Reid. The whole episode has been filmed by acclaimed director Sophie Muller."
Time to catch up and track this stuff down.
(Then pass out - SB parties really exhausted me today. It's that or the trail work/mountain biking @ mount sutro saturday, whatever it is, i'm out)
-- This is one part of the show, w/ Thom Yorke. Notice the lack of obnoxious introductions...
"Asked by the judge to describe what the figure on the light box was doing, Grossman said, "Colloquially, he was flipping the bird, your honor."
"At a news conference after the hearing, Stevens and Berdovsky stepped to the microphones and said they were taking questions only about 1970s hairstyles. When a reporter accused them of not taking the situation seriously, Stevens responded, "We're taking it very seriously." Asked another question about the case, Stevens reiterated they were answering questions only about hair and accused the reporter of not taking him and Berdovsky seriously"
8:37pm: upcoming shows in SF
is it just a slow time for live performances? looked in the usual places - pollstar, sfstation, etc - other then grizzly bear, i didn't see much.
10:23pm: coachella 2007
The lineup is crazy good. I could do with more electronica bands (daft punk & kraftwerk are at the top of my Coachella experiences) but still can't even start to complain.
I sent off the lease to a villa in Palm Springs last week (pool. hot tub. flat panel) which is being split between five of us.
Upon first moving to SF, oliver/www.oof.org was convinced that I wouldn't make it to Coachella. Logic being that due the calibur of bands that roll through SF, why go to Coachella?
Why? Fuck, Daft Punk? The Coachella experience? Meeting up with good friends? Learning about new bands and seeing ones that I always wanted to see? True, I've seen a good portion here in SF, but at the same time there is a large portion I haven't...
Anyhow, mad looking forward to it... Anyhow else plan on being there?
So the story goes that in 1846 George Donner, his brother, and James F. Reed set out from Springfield, Illinois with 33 other happy camper immigrants to make it to California. Greed made them take an alternate route to Sacramento based off Lansford Hastings recommendation, known as the "Hastings Cutoff". Long story short, the cutoff stranded them in the Sierra Nevada's during a early winter storm. Then things got morbidly wicked...
"A more shocking scene cannot be imagined than was witnessed by the party of men who went to the relief of the unfortunate emigrants in the California Mountains. The bones of those who had died and been devoured by the miserable ones that still survived were around their tents and cabins; bodies of men, women, and children with half the flesh torn from them lay on every side. A woman sat by the side of the body of her dead husband cutting out his tongue; the heart she had already taken out, broiled, and eaten."
Of the original 87 pioneers, 41 died and 47 survived.
A few of us are sharing a cabin lease in Truckee, CA for the snow season. It's right by where the Donner families stayed by in Alder creek.
3:41am:
just rolling back from the dears show - the dears are from montreal, which bring, as far as this state-side guy knows, arcade fire, wolf parade... and other canadian bands, DFA 1979, hot hot heat, broken social scene... great bands who i highly respect.
so why are people from canada so fucked up?
this is an observation from people i've met from there - mainly a few travelers i met in brazil. according to them, we are ignorant fools who failed in 1812. whatever...
Kevin is the confused Texan. Ben is our resident rabbi. Marc is the Barney stone from South Africa. Stephanie is our SoCal representation. Ujjwal is the gringo from around the world
The plot includes scuba diving, para-gliding, dancing (Forró), beach parties, good times with good friends, good times with new friends, and... ;) - vacations, it's unpredictable madness...
12:36am: weekend stuff
friday was the artists for literacy, a litquake gala deal at the regency center grand ballroom...
litquake gave a list of artists (which included dave eggers, dan "the automator" nakamura, jay farrar, lars ulrich) they gave them ten minutes to read and perform from anything. it was OK, although there were some odd performances. it was MC'ed by Ben Fong-Torres (portrayed as the asian rolling stone journalist in almost famous) who was by far the most entertaining (other then lars ulrich) of the bunch.
lars was interesting... his reading consisted of the aesthetics by his danish co-patriot equal, soren kirkegaard. he followed that up with a reading by some other danish guy whose name eludes me... i just remember hearing him say "avante-garde" and "john cage" and doing a wtf/reality test/am i dreaming this shit? moment.
nakamura read from the crap that is called "the rainbow" by DH lawrence. indie girls dressed as harlets danced and doted on him while throwing rose petals and other confetti all over the stage. again, OK...
after-wards, ujj and riya came back to my hood (which is now inner richmond ;)) and ate at the pizza orgasmica - by far one of the best pizza places i've ate at here in SF... spicy rosemary potatoes toppings... ahh... good good stuff.
saturday, headed out to pier 39 to check out the blue angels for fleet week. riya met up, and we quickly found out how really touristy the piers were... still enjoyed the show tho, and the bread bowl of clam chowder and ale :)
after-wards, did some yoga at ujj's place (heh, sorta, riya showed me some moves - got stuck in one, actually. i don't think i'm yoga material...) who cooked din din. we met up with some other friends at madrone - saw a flyer there, old friend proem/richard bailey is going to play a release party 10/13 with other artists on merck. rock. i really liked madrone, although ujj was drinking ginger-infused vodka's which should never be served by anyplace, anywhere.
sunday brought the blue angels again, although this time at a less touristy vantage point - friend GC and i biked up the presidio and to the east side of GG and to a ridge of sorts that overlooked the bay, marina, and chrissy park. i had another one of those moments, where i couldn't help but feel SF is where i should be. the experiences and opportunities for the experiences here are like no other place i've been to so far in my life.
after-wards... met up again with good friend guice and marc to watch the science of sleep....
for those of you that have seen it - what did you make of the ending?
-- spoilers --
i interpreted the dream sequence of stephane going off with her on the horse, and the crumbled cellophane and his goofy bear hat, as them not getting together in real life. like he did throughout the movie, he deals and lives with it in his dreams. he could of easily had her, it's just his schizometric behaviour was too much for her to deal with. this is what i think michael goundry had in mind. others with us thought differently - that they do get together. i just don't see it.
5:08pm:
every once in awhile i come back to this album, and by far, it's my favorite from boards of canada.
it also reminds me of the branch dividians. this album was boc' take on the 'beautiful place out in the country'...
perhaps i'm being brainwashed through some subliminal undertones... whatever, i'm cool with that. david koresh will return to earth, based on daniel 12:12, on march 2012
Current Mood: sublime
Current Music: boards of canada - beautiful place out in the country
1:13am: massive wack
ok, i'm just going to say it - massive attack, as a live band, blows. i'd go see them, perhaps, at a performing arts hall or something like that, but never again at a large venue.
dj shadow on the other hand... and with lateef performing as well - had us hopping. (lateef - i haven't seen him since the quantum tour, where he was with lyrics born under the latyrx moniker. laytrx the album is also i think, one of the best hip-hop albums produced)
and to the promoter/s that put massive attack and shadow together to co-headline: hmm, wtf, over?
anyhow, sleep. lovefest tomorrow (http://www2.sflovefest.org/about_us.php) and it looks interesting... was going to do biking, friends convinced me that it's good. looks like a big hippie-dippie rave of some sorts from berlin to me.
and the folsom street fair is sunday. i'm intrigued, if not for the wtf factor... friends are not, heh.
10:16pm:
I still haven't figured out if I like to hike. What I do know is that mountain biking is my ideal way to experience terrain and the outdoors. I think part of it is the endorphine rush you get, providing a nice conduit for the experience of the moment to sorta sink in...
The current trails done so far,
- Double lake - Marin headlands - China camp - Golden Gate park
Today, Presidio Park. I live right below it, and was looking for trails on this side of the golden gate. A search came up with http://www.sfmtb.com/Access/presidio.htm and lead to me contacting Aaron. Aaron has been lobbying on behalf of mountain bikers in SF to apply budget for trail development in Presidio Park.
Aaron graciously offered to be an "unoffical" guide to the trails in the park. I quickly accepted. A group of us met this morning at the beginning of a trailhead at Arguello and Jackson... Another guy Vlad, was from the Ukraine. Really cool guy. As was Aaron, who then lead us all through Presidio park, pointing out wildlife, history, etc. The trail were a bit technical as well, and for the first time here I took a faceplant on a fall - it was the f'in drops into sand...
10:13pm: upcoming shows
Upcoming and already purchased shows,
9/20: DFA 9/29: DJ Krush 9/30: Download Festival 10/10: Sufjan Stevens 10/17: Ghostland Observatory 11/03: The Knife
Still trying to decide:
9/18: Ratatat - Seen them twice already... 9/23: Zakir Hussain - Seen him before, f'in amazing percussionist. 10/5: Adult 10/18: Matmos - Rose has teeth, good... very good. 10/19: Yo la tango - Same with them, the last album is great. 11/09: Kid Koala 11/14: GWAR (!) - This would be 100%, if I wasn't going to be in Brazil.
Ya, I know I'm missing some choice shows. I have to be, this is SF. Please let me know!
8:55am:
price is right is timeless... one of the best shows, me thinks.
waiting for boarding at the dallas/fort worth airport back to SF texas, i missed you!!!!
came here to give advanced(?) training for the product i'm on at mcafee to the sales engineers. i did alright... think there were like 50 SE's i presented to.. it was good, a good thing.
went to a couple of baseball games w/ a double A team in the rangers org... it was nice as the stadium was right next the place i was staying at. went out with SE's last night and drank entirely too much. gah, they can drink. all professional like, yo. i'm definitely not at the status they are at... they be professionals, yo. perhaps it's the sales/alpha male thing with them... i'm just a lowly beta male, that's for sure. unless i get called out. then i'm a alpha male wannabe. heh, wtf. i's gots to go... flight out audi etc
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pleased
amused
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