In The Crowd

Goodbye, BlogSpot

2005-10-25T00:32:00.000-07:00

Kids, I know this may come as a shock to you, but...I'm abandoning Blogger and shacking up with Wordpress.com. We've been growing apart for some time now, and I had to find a free hosted blog that can meet more of my needs. I hope you'll understand. Please update your bookmarks and feeds to http://alicia.wordpress.com/.

I'd hoped to wait to do this until domain mapping was available at wordpress.com, but the one-two punch of not being able to post most of the weekend and the disdain heaped upon Blogger in the past week has convinced me to go ahead with the move a little early. So yes, it's possible I'll be making a similar request later (though alicia.wordpress.com should still work even after the next change). It was beautifully simple to import everything, I think it took about two clicks and maybe one full minute. I'm feeling right at home over there already.

If you want to start your own wordpress.com blog, you can download Flock and all that wordpressy goodness is built right in. Mmmmm, goodness.

Plasma car

2005-10-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

The SFMoMA store catalog came in the mail today, and in amongst the jewelry and ceramics was this fascinating thing called a Plasma Car. Not only is it swoopy looking and super modern, but it operates without pedals or batteries. I don't have kids, so this was the first time I'd ever seen it and I was fascinated. How does it work?

As luck would have it, the very first link that comes up on a search of "plasma car" is the University of Toronto's Physics of the Plasma Car page. Man, when a search works like that it is such a joy. Not only does it have a fairly dry explanation on the main page, but links to a quicktime movie of the car in action, and best of all, a link to a Discovery Channel clip with an explanation in plain everyday language for those of us who may not remember high school physics. The video on the Discovery channel page didn't work for me but the audio came through just fine, if you get it to work on a pc let me know.

Now I just need them to make one in a slightly larger size...

Laid low

2005-10-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

I've been fighting this verdammte illness for weeks now, which has really taken a toll. I've been tetchy and miserable, and I can't seem to get anything done. I even ditched out on the techcrunch party last night, which by all accounts was a great time. I'm kicking myself now of course, but I had trouble arranging transportation and then they closed registration so in my reduced state I just gave up. At least I didn't have to make small talk with a bunch of VIP CEO NPD VCs.

Oooh, that last sentence was vicious. Which is exactly how I've been acting lately. My apologies to anyone unfortunate enough to come into contact with me in the last couple of weeks, I hope to return to my usual ~~sunny~~ ~~optimistic~~ self soon.

Trolling for charity

2005-10-20T01:06:00.000-07:00

Matt Haughey on what may be the finest fundraising idea ever conceived: paying to shut people up. Personally I have nothing against either of these guys, we gravitate towards different topics so I rarely see the sparks fly. But I think it's a fun and original idea and I'm all for it, as is most of the community.

BrainJams

2005-10-17T15:53:00.000-07:00

If you're reading this now then you probably also read my post about the Web 2.1 BrainJam event. As it turns out, I wasn't the only one interested in creating an ongoing series. Thanks to Chris, BrainJams has a new site, including the obligatory blog and wiki, and about ten of us met at his home on Friday to try to hammer out what exactly we're trying to accomplish here. It's early days yet, but at least initially we're focusing on trying to connect those without a technical bent with the tools and knowledgeable people to accomplish their goals.

This has actually been something I've been interested in for a long time, so it's especially gratifying to be involved with a group working towards that goal. It's exciting to see the light go on in someone's eyes when they first grasp what's possible. For example, just last night my roommate was saying that what she wanted instead of social networking sites like Friendster, MySpace or Tribe was something that focused exclusively on forming networks between independent, strong-willed women (especially those working in the non-profit sector). An informal community but not a random one, built on shared experiences and goals. So I showed her Ning, and she's in the process of building her own. She doesn't have any technical knowledge at all, but she doesn't need it. She just needed to know where to find the tools that exist to help her.

Right now, my first goal is to find people skilled in mediation, conflict resolution and moderating discussions to train the BrainJams team. An important component of what we hope to accomplish is small group discussions between people of different disciplines, and having a number of us with the skills to keep the discussions on track would help tremendously. If you have connections in this area or know those who do, please get in touch. I'll be working both online and offline (gasp!) to find people with the necessary skills who may be interested in helping out, but I'd appreciate any help you can offer.

Oh, Apple

2005-10-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Thank you for once again giving me what I've wanted.

Now how about older shows at a low, low bargain rate?

BART does something right

2005-10-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

The beast has finally crawled out of its cave. Metblogs reports that BART will offer 24 hour service ~~starting~~ October 14th - 16th. I predict much rejoicing amongst the single women of SF, since 70%* of straight boys live outside the city. Not to mention all the cool shows at the Paramount or the Greek we can go to now that our coach no longer turns into a pumpkin at midnight. Of course, this means an influx of bridge-and-tunnelers showing up in town as well, but $10 says they never make it out of North Beach.

*approximation based on observed statistics

ADDENDUM: Crap! In my excitement I failed to actually read the post. Looks like we have two days of beastly goodness before the door slams shut again. Cross your fingers and hope that bridge construction is delayed.

Time flies

2005-10-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

Has it only been three days since I decided to rejoin civilization? My brain is stuffed, and it feels like I haven't been home in weeks.

The party on Thursday was packed, which considering the open bar was not a surprise. A very friendly crowd, despite all the suits, and plenty of by-now-familiar faces. I left while it was still in full swing, but not before hearing from Irina about the Under The Radar conference she's organizing.

The Web 2.1 BrainJam was just what I'd hoped it would be: participatory, democratic, idea-focused, more like a salon than a conference. It was a dramatic contrast to everything I've heard about O'Reilly's Web2.0, summed up by Susan Mernit. Sure there were people there to promote their projects, but not so single-mindedly that they didn't join in when the conversation shifted away. My only regret is that it was too short, so that we just got past introductions and into the substance of the discussion. So I've nominated myself to help Chris coordinate more of these. If you're in the area and would like to come, let me know. I'm hoping that next time we can focus less on what is happening now with social software and more on what we're hoping to achieve in years to come. Too often we all get distracted by what is newly possible or fashionable or looks lucrative and I'd personally like to see more long-term vision come out of this. But that's just me and what I'm thinking now, the nice thing about the BrainJam is that there is room for us all to get something different out of it and be exposed to other points of view.

Last night I made another last-minute choice to head over to the geek dinner after seeing it mentioned on JD Lasica's blog. I had no idea how I'd recognize anyone, and the place was packed with sailors and tourists, so it was a relief to see Robert Scoble at the bar in his "Caution! A-List Blogger" shirt for easy ID. It was too noisy and crowded to talk to many people, and call me naive but I was hoping for some actual geeking out. Instead it was pretty evenly split between people catching up with old friends and internet acquaintances and those ferociously networking. Luckily I was surrounded by exceptions to the rule, so even though I didn't get up to any geekery at least I had a nice chat in amongst the chaos.

Technorati Tags: Web2.1BrainJam

Webtastic!

2005-10-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

I am missing Web 2.0 this week, which doesn't bother me like it should. Partly because its purpose seems to be clueing in the corporate world as to how they can take advantage of up-and-coming technologies, as opposed to an event like Webzine which is geared towards individuals. Partly too because my schmoozing muscles are atrophied after months of disuse, and I've always been more of a team player than a self promoter. And as Ted Rheingold points out, real innovation happens in bedrooms and garages, not $$$ conferences. But most of all, because at any large event all the good stuff happens on the fringes. Last night I unfortunately missed Merlin's undoubtedly great Web 1.0 Summit, which is what I get for taking a break from my obsessive reading of local blogs. Tonight I am inviting myself to the Colors Of Web 2.0 party, and tomorrow is Web 2.1. 10% better at 10% of the cost, so there you are. If you know of any other related events I'd be interested in, or have access to the Web 2.0 wiki you would like to share, please let me know. Otherwise my next web-related event will the Digital City panel on Monday.

The final, actual, Webzine roundup

2005-10-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

The thing about perfectionism is that it can really get in your way when not operating under a deadline. Also, finding inspiration tends to get me out of the house and not farting around on the internet all day. Luckily for me bloggers will blog, which means that by waiting a few ~~days~~ weeks I find most of my Webzine-roundup already done for me. As Willam Henry, Duke of Gloucester once said, "Scribble, scribble, scribble, eh Mr. Gibbon?"

The offical website once again is here, and it looks like the podcasts have been added now if you're interested. The schedule is here, and all the photos you could want (and then some) are here. Talks and workshops I actually made it to, in order were: 1. Jacob Appelbaum's talk, 2. Rich Media Tools Workshop, 3. Intro to Digital Photography and Photoblogging, 4. Blog Warez Dance Off, 5. Hacking Gadgets And Electronics, 6. The Saturday Afterparty, 7. Video Blogging Panel, 8. You Are The Media: Videoblogging 101, 9. Around The Corner: Neighborhood Blogging, 10. Jonas Luster's talk, and 11. Selling Out: Making Money Doing What You Love. Whew!

General thoughts from Sean Bonner.

Justin Watt liveblogged the whole thing, hitting many of the same workshops I did. It's a great overview, as is Tara Hunt's. Tara and I spent some time hanging out together at Saturday's afterparty, and I'd like to nominate her for Coolest Canuck. As I suspected, the afterparty was really where it was at. I met more people in the four hours at that party than the whole rest of the weekend put together. I even posed with Ms. Webzine and got hit by the kissing bandit.

Brian Shields on Jacob Appelbaum, which was the first talk I caught Saturday. It was very interesting and a good way to kick off the weekend with its focus on creating alternative media, but also very sad and touching. Brian also blogged about the rich media workshop, and both these write ups are unusually thorough. I attended all the rich media talks and workshops I could after being inspired by this workshop that I really just stumbled onto, so it really set the tone of the weekend for me. I felt that fireANT, the video aggregator and Our Media, the Internet Archive front-end, were the stars of the show.

Jay Allen from sixapart, Matt Mullenweg of Wordpress, and Jason Goldman from Blogger showed off their stuff at the Blog Warez Dance Off, which was interesting but too short and crammed into a tiny space. I sat on the floor behind the presenters, so I apologize to any of them if they felt their ass was being scrutinized (and I have nothing but good things to say about the asses in question). I use Blogger now but I managed to score a Wordpress.com account too, which I'll be playing with (thanks Matt!).

The gadget hacking presentation by Phillip Torrone was too short to do much more than skim over some of cool stuff in Make, but fun nevertheless. Plus he brought a bunch of free copies, so I can flip through them at my leisure.

On Sunday I was pretty tired after the party, but the videoblogging panel was interesting if only to see how the technology is being used in practice. Markus Sandy's workshop on actually making a videoblog likewise helped a great deal in putting the pieces into place. If you'd like to do this at home, check out Freevlog for a great tutorial.

I never expected the Selling Out panel to be as great as it was, but it was actually really interesting. The founders of LiveJournal, Hot or Not, CafePress, StickerNation and Fucked Company all talked about how they started their companies and what it took to make a living off them. To sum up, not much. Every single one of them found that the money came as a result of the idea, and almost by accident. Even the most capitalistic of the sites, CafePress, was started more as a curiosity than a business. As Maheesh Jain explained, he and his partner saw the mugs, mouse pads and t-shirts that were offered at photo processing places and decided to see if there was demand for that on the web. They put up a very basic site with no idea how to actually make any of the stuff or access to any equipment. Within a week the orders were coming in and he actually headed to the mall to ask the guys at the photo processors how they did it, bought identical equipment and stuck it in his partner's garage. In a month it was popular enough they had to rent office space. There were similar stories all across the panel, and all the panelists warned everyone away from throwing money at your site (your own or VC) in an attempt to grow fast and get rich quick. All these sites grew along with their user base, and all on the basis of a single good idea.

So if anyone comes up with that One Good Idea, let me know.

Early reports

2005-09-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to process everything I saw at Webzine 2005 this weekend. I'm groggily combing through notes and trying to match names and faces to blogs and software so please bear with me, I will talk about everything in far more detail than you could possibly want very soon. For now suffice it to say that I had a great time and learned more than I expected to. Even better, I found the inspiration I was looking for. Let's just hope I can hang onto it long enough to get things moving.

In completely unrelated news, I couldn't help but read this post over on the best city planning blog ever (yes, I really am nerdy enough to have a favorite). I haven't been blogging much about my Google Maps obsession recently, mostly because others have been doing a better job of keeping up with the constant stream of new cool stuff. But one maphack you might have heard of is Seattle's Bus Monster, which shows current locations off all busses on a route and their ETA. It's a tough call deciding which is better, Bus Monster or SF's real time traffic and NextBus systems. I'll have to give the edge to Seattle for now due to the seamless integration of bus and traffic data, but when those shelter signs show up in my neighborhood I think SF will take the crown.

This weekend

2005-09-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

It's looking like I may have to eat crow and go to Webzine this weekend after all. Against all expectations, their schedule looks really interesting. The workshops in particular have caught my eye.

Unfortunately that means missing the How Berkeley Can You Be parade, as well as the famous Folsom Street Fair, the RESFEST digital film fest (which I did catch part of last year), and the Fallfest food & wine show.

Have I mentioned recently how much I love this city?

Shiny new things

2005-09-07T12:44:00.000-07:00

The recent announcements of first Google Talk and now the iPod nano have prompted me to say something. Despite the joking about my curmudgeonliness, I'm actually just as prone to excitement about shiny newness as anyone. My first reaction today in seeing the nano was "It comes in black! It's tiny! It has color!". But that lasted about 20 seconds.

Here's a little secret about me: I'm not really a Californian. I've lived here since I was two, but I was born a Yankee and in many ways I'm still one. That word implies certain qualities like thriftiness, a taste for minimalism, and a propensity to speak your mind but hold your emotions in check. I've tempered the thriftiness a bit, though I still can't understand why anyone would throw away their plastic grocery bags and then buy brand-new trash bags, or not just re-label a file folder, or people who don't know how to darn a hole or fix a hem or use one teabag to make two cups of tea. The point is, the old Yankee adage "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" is well ingrained in my subconscious. If I'm going to spend money (or time) I expect to receive value in return. And value is most definitely not defined as "more stuff" (minimalism, remember?), it is defined as "something I will get a lot of use out of".

Which often puts me at odds with consumer culture in general, and the tech world in particular. I have tough standards. I don't automatically install upgrades or new beta releases because generally it's a waste of my time, hard drive space and/or money. That goes double for beta products that require hours of combing forums for hints before they might start working as intended (hint: working products not yet entirely fleshed out or with minor glitches are in beta, getting users to find the bugs in your basic code is called alpha). Both Apple and Google are usually very good at producing high-value lean, useful and durable products and for that reason both rank high on my list of favorite companies, right up there with Trader Joe's and Honda.

Not these releases though. I have yet to find anything I'd want Google Talk to do that iChat doesn't already, so for those of you who have sent me invitations thanks but no thanks. When they have an application that functions as both an IM and IRC client seamlessly, so that you can be having an IM chat with one person and invite a third to participate in that same window, then I will pay attention. When I have the ability to be logged in under multiple usernames simultaneously and to have my friend see responses as coming from my firstnamemiddleinitiallastname account and some random five dollar n00b see responses as coming from my anonymoususername account at the same time, then I'll consider switching. My 3rd generation iPod (purchased used) is still functioning just fine thankyouverymuch, and unless it dies I won't be replacing it anytime soon. What the majority of Apple's existing customers actually want is more storage (80GB or more) and videocast support. The nano is not a bad product, but it should be called Shuffle Deluxe. It targets the same market, though I suppose you could add in those who have bought the Shuffle but are frustrated by its limitations.

I find it admirable that Google and Apple (especially Google) both let their developers run with their imaginations a bit. It's certainly better than the focus group inspired mediocrity that's seen so often in other industries. But guess what? While they were busy working on these projects, people are mumbling their frustrations with Google, and buying extra hard drives to stash their growing music & video collections. Focus, people. F-o-c-u-s.

Katrina

2005-08-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

I can't stop watching the news or reading obsessively about the hurricane damage. They are now beginning to evacute everyone from the city, even those in shelters. They're advising parents who already evacuated to enroll their children in the local schools, since it will be months before they can move home. FEMA is establishing a permanent office in New Orleans, and predicts that clean up will take so long that some people will spend their entire career working only on the damage caused by Katrina. It is being called the greatest natural disaster in the history of the nation.

Now would be a good time to donate or, if like me you have more time than money, to volunteer.

This is Swifty

2005-08-23T23:53:00.000-07:00

His previous owner baptized him, but I think Swifty and I will be spending many happy hours together. He just needs some accessories...oh hey look. Craigslist provides.

Tidal etchings

2005-08-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

woodland

I've posted some of my grandfather's photographs over at flickr. He would have hated the idea, he was paranoid about people stealing or devaluing his work which is why the scans are all low res. But he isn't around anymore to say no and I wanted to share them. They are hauntingly beautiful, maybe someday I'll inherit a print.

Proposal submitted

2005-08-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

I sent this today to the folks over at Webzine. My career as professional curmudgeon has begun! It's one of skills passed down through the generations in my family, as many of you know. Wish me luck.

Every day I see the same crop of blogs promoting the same brand of whiz-bang boosterism. It reminds me of 1998, only the soundtrack has changed. Am I the only one who's read any Sinclair Lewis?

You need a contrarian viewpoint, just to balance things out. Web conferences are universally venues for software developers or content creators to promote their work or their philosophy of the web. No one ever calls bullshit, or asks questions like "is LiveJournal's best feature that fact that it segregates the diarists from the rest of the world?"* or "are blogs increasing the sum total of ignorance and stupidity in the world?"

I'm available to stick a wrench in the promotional machine for the low, low price of enough beer to get me tipsy. And maybe a couple of cigarettes, if I haven't quit again.

*Shoshes excluded.

New links

2005-08-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

It occurs to me, as I look at my two newest del.icio.us links, that there is a business opportunity here.

Let's see...affordable American Apparel screenprinted t-shirts, no set up fee, no shipping charge, no minimum.

And a de-luxxxe craft store with free set up, picture hosting, shopping cart, and minimal fees.

Now if only I could draw.

Lingua tonsoria

2005-08-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

I like to think I'm a good communicator. After all, for years I have made a living off my ability to use words to persuade people. I understand people, and I find it easy to get them to understand and listen to me.

Except hair stylists.

Do you remember the Cone Of Silence from the TV show Get Smart? I'm convinced there's a reason it looked like a giant clear salon hairdryer. It's as if common English words have completely different meanings when speaking to your stylist. Consider this handy chart:

What I say	What they hear	What I mean
I want a change	Just a trim, please	I'm bored, surprise me
Something really different	I fear change	Nothing is too radical
I like to experiment with it	I wear a ponytail sometimes	Weird is good
I want longer layers all over	No layers	Not a short crop
I was growing it out	I'm wishy-washy	No helmet hair
I like the wispy bits	Ignore me, I'm babbling	Longer near the ears
I like her hair	I wish I were her age	Look! Like THAT!
See, what I'm trying to do...	Wah wah, wah wah wah waaah	You are an idiot

Meet the new 'do, same as the old 'do.

Movies! Movies! Movies!

2005-08-09T16:28:00.000-07:00

One of the advantages of living in a town too artsy for its own good is that there are always a lot of movies to see. However, this week a couple of especially nostalgia-inducing things have come to my attention.

Number one: The Goonies! Everyone else I know considers this movie to be one of their most cherished childhood memories. So they're always horrified when I admit I've never seen it (or A Christmas Story, but that's a different post). It doesn't help that I keep getting it confused with Gremlins, which I did see multiple times. Happily, tomorrow night not only will I finally see it, but I will see it for free, on a big screen (okay, the side of a house) with free popcorn and BYO adult beverages.

Number two: My love of action films is no secret, and I have already discussed the special place I have in my heart for Bullitt. So this is just...how shall I put it? FUCKING AWESOME. If someone with a car (and here I'm thinking either a Safety Yellow hatchback or perhaps a killer Mustang) would like to participate in this with me I would be very, very happy. Be sure to check out their other events on that page too, because it will blow your tiny little minds.

Local character

2005-08-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

Last week, while returning some shoes I bought online to Nordstrom, I saw something that made me kick myself for not bringing a camera. It was two elderly women twins in matching sailor suits and wigs. Imagine how excited I was today to find a picture of them online! No sailor suits, but you'll just have to use your imagination. Now that I know their names, I'll be sure to say hi next time I run into them.

SOLD!

2005-08-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

Ich bin endlich Autofrei.

This afternoon at 3:30 I signed away all liability to and ownership of my car in exchange for a tidy sum of money. It's taken a month to get to this point and I'm really glad it's over. In fact, I felt a huge wave of relief as I walked away from the DMV. No more waking up in panic at 6 am when the street sweeper goes by, wondering if I remembered to move my car. No more paying insurance, or registration, or gas, or oil changes, or tune ups. No more cringing when my roommates leave the house, knowing they have to shuffle three cars to get out of the garage. No more giant metal albatross.

Also, did I mention the fat wad of cash?

Disappointing

2005-07-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

I headed over to 111 Minna last night for the EFF Blogger's Rights event. I'd been warned that 111 is populated primarily by the see-and-be seen crowd, by the considerably more low-key House Of Shields crew. This turned out to be pretty true, there was a high ratio of wine & cocktails to beer and clusters of attractively dressed people gossiping about other clusters of attractively dressed people. However, the subject matter did drag out a few conspiracy theorists, privacy obsessives, and other awkward, pale and otherwise endearing geeks. I even I spotted (in the wild!) that rarest of birds, the unix guru. I have a soft spot in my heart for those rotund, shaggy, sock and sandal wearers, dating back to my babysitter who printed out ASCII Snoopys on the UCSB mainframes to entertain me while he did some kind of ARPANET research. But that's enough of that cred-enhancing digression.

There's a good review of the event over at Metroblogging SF, where I've posted a comment. Put briefly, it was a waste of everyone's time. I genuinely believe that EFF is doing valuable work, but the event last night was more of a cheerleading effort for bloggers than a substantive discussion. The only useful information given (for those who didn't already know) was several people commenting on the existence and mission of chillingeffects.org, the clearing house of internet-related ceast and desist letters. Apart from that tidbit, it was just another opportunity for the incestuous knot of higher profile bloggers to talk about themselves and their friends. Which is fine with me if they want to do that on their blogs, but less fine when it takes over a supposedly informational discussion.

Give the people what I want

2005-07-13T15:25:00.000-07:00

C'mon, all the cool kids are doing it.

Crisis or natural evolution?

2005-07-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

There's a post today over at Futuretense about thirtysomething women ditching their jobs. My situation was pretty much what she describes except that I was not at all passionate about the theory (and I didn't have a cat). I just decided that marketing was eating my soul and I needed to stop manipulating people for a living.

However, I've also noticed a lot of people checking out of their jobs recently and taking time off or switching to something less lucrative but more rewarding. I'm not convinced this willingness to take a leap into the unknown is specifically age-related. I would not have left my job a few years ago simply because there was such a slim chance of finding something else, and I'm sure that many older corporate drones are just as burned out but not in a position to leave. I'd bet it has more to do with where we are career-wise and in our personal lives than with our actual age. Think about it:

You've accomplished enough to be taken seriously and to have developed a set of skills, but not so much that you get to call the shots.
You've been doing the same thing for the same people a while, trying to build up those skills and look stable to potential new employers.
You finally make enough that leaving your job won't leave you destitute.
You're still single and childless and therefore mobile.
The economy is strong enough that you have a decent chance of either making it on your own or finding work elsewhere.

Who wouldn't leave? Well, if you have a family or a mortgage you'd be less willing to gamble with your finances. If you're in a higher position and have more control over your own work there's less incentive to leave. But for the rest of us in the classic burn out situation of responsibility-without-power, there is no better time to go.

And yes I'm talking to you, David.

Then again...

2005-07-09T02:14:00.000-07:00

It's been nice taking a little break from the blog, I've got a few things I'm working on but it's taking much longer than I'd suspected. I went to a MeFi/Flickr meetup last night and got to hang out with some people whose work I admire, including Matt from MeFi, PVR blog, etc., Judith from 20 Things, Merlin from 5ives and 43 Folders, Heather from Hchamp.com, and a whole bunch of other fun and interesting people. One thing that really struck me was that none of these people are making any serious money. If they're making money at all, it's from their day job and not their cool webthingy (which if they're lucky might pay for itself). As a person busy evaluating what the next step career-wise might be, that's a pretty interesting observation. I'm not looking to get rich, but it's nice being able to pay the rent.

Change is good

2005-07-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that, as promised, the posts have gotten increasingly sparse here. After four months of living in SF I've gotten over a lot of the gee-whiz factor, I've settled into a routine, and most of what I do is not newsworthy or different from what I've already posted. Plus I think our own lives are inherently less interesting to ourselves than to others, writing about mine has certainly gotten dull, dull, dull.

What I do really like about this blog is that it's gotten me in the habit of writing again, and of structuring my thoughts for general consumption. So I'm making a little change to this thing. It will most likely mean posting even less, but what I do post will be a lot more interesting (at least to me) and idea-driven. There will probably be a few scattered items about what I'm doing, and a few links here and there, but only in the interest of illustrating a point. Or if I feel like it. Whatever.

Now would be a great time for learning about RSS feeds, for those of you not already subscribing to mine. Why waste your time fruitlessly clicking in the hope of an update, when the update can come to YOU?

Google Maps API

2005-06-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

Enough said.

Pride celebration

2005-06-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

This being my first year in San Francisco, I felt obligated to support my fellow citizens in the Pride celebrations last weekend. Unfortunately I missed the tranny parade on Friday, but on Saturday I staked out a great spot at a friend's window for the Dyke March. It started off with a roar, literally. At the head of the parade (and a good ten minutes ahead of anyone else) was Dykes On Bikes, hundreds of women on choppers, scooters, anything two-wheeled and motorized. After that came the rest of the crowd, thousands of women marching (well, walking quickly) down the street. Some were bare chested, others costumed, but for the most part it was just a show of strength in numbers. mUnfortunately it was also pretty cold, so the turn out was maybe not what the organizers had hoped for, but still it was fun to watch.

Sunday was the main Pride Parade, I got a bit of a late start due to the strong margaritas the night before. Still, I made it to the end of the route just as the first marchers (the Gay Cheer squad) came by. There was a huge crowd there to see it, but it was nothing compared to how many people must have been in that parade. I stood and watched it for two and a half hours until I gave up and went in search of food. The floats and costumes reminded me of Santa Barbara's Soltice celebrations a bit, but what really amazed me wasn't the costumes or routines. It was the corporate floats and the politicians. Anyone who wanted the dollars or votes of the gay community was out in force, including the mayor who gladhanded the crowd while his supporters wore pink shirts and waved placards. Despite the fervent prayers of many I'm sure, Gavin was still straight last time I checked. It got so that you couldn't tell who was celebrating their gay identity and who was just there for the publicity. Apparently this phenomenon has spawned a kind of fringe parade, the Gay Shame parade. Their manifesto is worth reading and describes the atmosphere of the main parade better than I could.

On my way back home from the parade I wandered through the Hayes Valley and stopped at the beautiful sculpture in Hayes Green. It's a temporary installation, it'll be dismantled in September when all the road work involved in building the new Octavia Blvd project is completed. Go see it, it's worth it.

Want to be a food critic?

2005-06-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

Now you can be. I'd be all over this if it didn't involve: a. cameras, or b. broadcasting. For those of you who don't share my reluctance to be filmed and displayed on television, go for it. This could be the start of your foodie empire, after all.

Odeo

2005-06-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

Odeo is officially in beta! This is Evan's attempt to make a business out of podcasting, kind of an RSS feed for audioblogging. I just received my invite today, I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh, and they're hiring.

In review

2005-06-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

Looks like Foundcity (previously mentioned here) is finally available for SF. Not too many tags yet, which I see as a good sign. Better than being flooded with tags of dubious value.

In other news, I signed up for Dodgeball (originally discussed here), but apparently nobody else I know has. Ahem.

Father's Day

2005-06-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

I broke from my usual Father's Day routine of hiding in my room listening to music that makes me cry, and instead invited Ian and Sheena to head out to Stern Grove to...well, listen to music that makes me cry. Specifically, today's concert was John Doe (best known for being part of X, one of my favorite bands growing up) and Lucinda Williams. The place was packed, I was lucky to find a place to sit way up on the slippery hillside behind the trees, but the acoustics were still great.

It was such a gorgeous day, perfect for sitting in a eucalyptus grove and listening to sad/angry/sweet songs with happy people all around. A good analogy for her bittersweet music I think.

FM radio

2005-06-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

I have a soft spot for radio, having grown up in the era of true AOR radio when DJs had free rein to play any track they wanted their listeners to hear. At its best it's like a good mix tape that never ends. In recent years with the consolidation in the industry and an emphasis on carefully researched, canned programming I'd all but given up on radio. That's why I was excited to find the Guide To Bay Area Radio That Doesn't Suck. There are three pirate stations? Good to know.

Working up an appetite

2005-06-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

This article in the Guardian gave me an idea. Why couldn't you throw a very abbreviated version of The Game, culminating in a dinner party in an odd location? It sounds like fun to me. Logistics are going to be a bitch, but that's the price you have to pay.

Who's in?

To the women of San Francisco

2005-06-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

We're all excited that summer is finally here. The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and you can finally wear the new skirts and sandals you've been hoarding since March. Forget the A-line, this season is all about pretty flowing circle skirts, lightweight cottons with a gypsy flair that swish around your ankles. It's different, it's fun, and you've embraced the new style with enthusiastic abandon. You probably don't remember the last time this kind of skirt was in fashion, it was in the mid-1980's and that's a good twenty years ago now. But I remember, and there are just a few things that I'd like to point out.

1. San Francisco is windier than most cities. We get cold northwest winds from the Pacific, warmer Diablo foehn winds from the East Bay, day time onshore winds, night time offshore winds, etc. Suffice to say that a windbreaker is never a bad idea.

2. Flimsy cotton is very lightweight, it swirls and flows with even the slightest movement. That's why you like it, right? So feminine.

3. Those loose peasant-style skirts are made from yards and yards of fabric, usually two full circles of fabric that are split on a radius and sewn together to produce endless folds.

Which brings me to my point. There is one distinct disadvantage that these skirts have, one sadly discovered too late by the woman with the black cotton high cut briefs walking down 21st towards Folsom at 5:35 pm, or the woman in the adorable white bikinis with tiny blue flowers at 18th and Valencia at 5:40 pm, or the teenager in the bright yellow tanga with red trim at 18th and Church at 5:43 pm. London and France, ladies.

London and France.

Kottke's challenge

2005-06-07T13:17:00.000-07:00

In answer to Jason Kottke's challenge today, here are the non-english languages in my music collection (or at least in the digitized part of my collection, I didn't dig through the cassettes in storage). Interestingly, if you removed one CD from my collection it would almost halve the number of languages represented.

Spanish: Calexico, Celia Cruz, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Lhasa, Los Lobos, Lyle Lovett, Machito, Manu Chao, Mano Negra, Eliades Ochoa, Ozomatli, Pepe & The Bottle Blondes, Mercedes Sosa, Buena Vista Social Club

Portuguese: Margareth Menezes, Maria Bethãnia, Caetano Veloso, Beth Carvalho, Elba Ramalho, Agepé

French: 3 Mustaphas 3, Les Negresses Verte, Serge Gainsbourg, Air, Mano Negra

Welsh: Gorky's Zygotic Mynci

Galego: Manu Chao

Xhosa: Miriam Makeba

Bengali: Peter Brook's Mahabharata soundtrack

Icelandic: Sigur Rós, Sugarcubes

Italian: Louis Prima, Cecilia Bartoli

German: Kilim, Schönberg, KMFDM

Yiddish: The Klezmatics, Les Yeux Noir

Rom: 3 Mustaphas 3, Les Yeux Noir

Indonesian: 3 Mustaphas 3

Serbian: 3 Mustaphas 3

Greek: 3 Mustaphas 3

Albanian: 3 Mustaphas 3

Arabic: 3 Mustaphas 3, Mano Negra

Turkish: 3 Mustaphas 3

Hebrew: 3 Mustaphas 3

And a special mention goes to:

Humpback: Song of the Humpback Whale (not only non-English, but non-human!)

Deathmatch!

2005-06-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

Is there a finer word in the world of competitive sport? Doesn't it just get your heart pounding and your blood racing? I just discovered the existence of the Craft Corner Deathmatch, the only show to combine my love of blood sport with my love of DIY. It's an Iron Chef-style show produced by the same people behind The Daily Show, according to the women of Craftster.

I want to be in the audience and trash talk the Craft Lady Of Steel. "My grandma's dryer lint is a better scarf than that! Yeah, I'm talking to you, Craft Lady!" I wonder if she'd kick me in the shins with her hand-tooled steel toes.

Cinema Paradiso in the park

2005-06-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

Another movie in the park night on Saturday, this one in North Beach's Washington Square Park. It's a great spot for it, you're right in the middle of some of the best eating and drinking in the city so picnics are a breeze. Speaking of breeze, whether or not Mark Twain actually said it the tales of San Francisco summers are true. I was warmer in March in the Panamint Mountains at 10,000 feet than I was with three layers of clothes and a wool blanket in that park. Thankfully Ian provided alcohol or my blood might have frozen in my veins. Apart from the cold it was really nice, next time I'm showing up early to build an igloo first.

The Mars Volta

2005-06-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

I headed over to Berkeley last night to see The Mars Volta in concert. I hereby renounce all claim to knowing what is hip. The Greek Theater was packed, probably 12,000 people. Who would have predicted that a heavy experimental psychedelic freakout en Español would be commercially viable? Not me. It was an interesting crowd, a mix of college indie kids, metalheads (a surprising number of metalheads), and aging audiophiles. The hairstyles were spectacular. When I was in college it was decidedly uncool to spend that kind of time, effort and money on your hair, but I guess we still had the shadow of grunge hanging over us more than we suspected.

The band was spectacular. They played for two and a half hours, no breaks, no encore, no between song chatter. This stands in stark contrast to the Lou Barlow and Low shows I saw a month or so ago, neither of which had a set list and so about half the show was spent listening to the musicians try to figure out what to play next. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed both of those shows a lot but they were very low key shows that emphasized how just-like-us the musicians were. These guys are Rock Stars. Cedric has Prince-like stage presence, and I don't say that lightly.

Go see them.

Weekend recovery, day two

2005-06-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

I'm still struggling a bit to recover from the sleep deprivation and all-around good times of last weekend, but luckily I have the time. I've made a pledge to uphold the "what happens in Portland, stays in Portland" rule, so I'll just mention a couple of the more interesting places we visited and leave out what exactly we did there. Ahem.

Eleni's Estiatorio - Both elegant and fun, and the food lived up to the hype. I'm not sure if they stay open past close and pour free shots of Ouzo for all their customers, but I can guarantee that if you bring eight attractive women in party clothes the service will be outstanding.

The Kennedy School - An elementary school-turned-pub, with a movie theater in the auditorium, pizza in the teacher's lounge, and bars in the classrooms. You can even stay the night in someone's old homeroom. Word to the wise: anyone canoodling in the soaking pool is visible from the hallway.

The Doug Fir - Currently the hippest hot spot in Portland, the Doug Fir somehow makes the combination of ultramodern and log cabin work. Plus they continue the fine Portland tradition of bar/restaurant/club/motel one-stop evenings. Which could come in handy after a few of their mint juleps, served in pint glasses.

Memorial day weekend

2005-05-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

I will be gone all weekend having fun. Hope you do too.

Incompetence

2005-05-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

I've been making an attempt to add to my del.icio.us bookmarks recently, and to make the best use of the service. One of the categories I'm working to expand is the the one I've decided to call incompetence, which is mostly about how to prevent incompetence in yourself (and tangentially about the ways we can slip up just when we're most proud of ourselves). It's not a long list yet, so I was happy to see an excellent new entry today on kottke called Why smart people defend bad ideas. I highly recommend it, it's a good and thought provoking read.

Sound effects

2005-05-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

I finally saw Revenge Of The Sith today, I was deteremined that if I was going to see it at all I would do it right and this was the first DLP show I could get to that wasn't sold out. I'm pleased to say that it was slightly better than I expected.

What really struck me though was coming out of the theater and feeling like I was still in the movie. This went beyond the usual dream-like state I emerge from a theater in, and I realized suddenly that it was the sounds. I'm convinced now that the employees at ILM go around San Francisco with tape recorders finding appropriate sounds for their movies. The sound of the BART train coming down the tunnel? Exactly the same as a booster rocket on a starship. The overhead arm of the electric MUNI bus passing by a connecting line and throwing sparks? Exactly the same as the sound of lightsabers clashing. The engine of same bus revving from a stop into first gear? Every elevator in the Empire.

I'm on to you, boys.

Help wanted

2005-05-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

I need a recommendation for a screen scraper so I can compare Piggy Bank to myGmaps. I'm using OS X 10.3.9 and Firefox 1.0.2. Thanks!

It's fun to have a crush again, though I get them more on ideas than boys. I guess that's what makes me a geek.

New skillz

2005-05-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

No, not numchuk skills (though that would be pretty sweet). Turntable skillz. Yes you read that right, yesterday was my debut as guest DJ at Dalva. I won't pretend I'm any good at it, but the standards are pretty low at 7:30 on a Monday night. There was no scratching or fading going on, but I did master the deck controls well enough to ensure smooth transitions between songs with no gaps or sudden unexpected noises. Plus I had a lot of fun. Of course, nobody cares.

Google Map hacks wishlist

2005-05-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

My apologies if I am boring everyone with my current obsession. There's new stuff showing up every day that is just too exciting, I'll refrain from linking it here since it's already on my maphacks bookmarks (now permanently linked under my pic to the right). But I want more. The level of expertise required to create these is beyond my capabilities, so here's a short wishlist if anyone's feeling ambitious:

- Metrobot mashup: Use the Google Maps interface to see all businesses on a street or in a neighborhood. May only be useful to me or someone moving into a new neighborhood, but it would be very cool.

- UPS/FedEx/USPS hubs with weather forecasts: Sending something that could be damaged by cold or heat? The first wine store I worked at lost an entire quarter's worth of profits after their campaign to expand shipping to the midwest ended in a lot of red slush and broken glass. Every wine shipper I know checks the weather forecast daily in every shipper's hubs, this would save a lot of time.

- Displaying a path: Yes, you can create markers with link to photos, text and movies. But you can't show how they are related to each other or any kind of timeline. Let's say I want to put the Mission mural tour online, or document a road trip. Wouldn't a trail of some kind be useful?

I caved

2005-05-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist any longer. And it was totally worth it, too. The flavors were incredibly intense and the aromas were so strong it was like fruit perfume.

Let's see...25 flavors, 2 scoops a week...yeah, that should take me through summer just fine.

Google Maps hacks

2005-05-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

Note: After spending a couple hours revising this page, I realized this is exactly the kind of thing del.icio.us is perfect for. Doh! I've created http://del.icio.us/maphacks to continue keeping track, let me know if you've found some I don't have up yet (my e-mail address is in my profile).

Some of my favorites (note that many of these do not work in Safari):

- Craigslist housing finder, (author)

- USA traffic, (author)

- Cheap Gas in the USA, (author)

- GeoBloggers, (collaborative project)

- Foundcity, bookmarks for the physical world (currently Manhattan only)

- Chicago, USA crime map, (author)

- Recent earthquakes in the USA, (author))

Danger, Will Robinson

2005-05-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I've been tweaking the site template a bit over the last couple of days. I've still got a ways to go so you'll have to bear with me, I have exactly zero experience in CSS (and almost as little in HTML) and I'm just kind of winging it. So please let me know if I break something. Gracias.

The messenger bag

2005-05-18T00:02:00.000-07:00

One of the things I immediately noticed when I moved here was that there's a kind of Bay Area casual dress code, particularly in the downtown/SoMa areas. It consists of sneakers, dark colored jeans or twills, a hooded sweatshirt (in colder weather, with a jacket on top), and a messenger bag. It took maybe a week before I found myself wearing the exact same thing. Why? Practicality. You need the sneakers because in the city people walk, bike or take public transportation rather than drive. Jeans are fashionable and have remarkably good windbreaking capabilities, keeping the wearer comfortable and stylish both morning and evening. Hoodies are warm but not bulky, and the hood can block the wind/rain/pigeon shit, eliminating the need for a hat and scarf. And of course, if you're in transit without a car you need something to carry all your stuff, preferable something spacious and yet easily slung across your body for maximum theft deterrance and stability.

I recently came across this article from 1997 about the need for more stylish, masculine carrier bags. What caught my eye, apart from the fact that I have still not seen much in the way of stylish bags for men eight years later, is that the author uses the term "manpurse". If I remember correctly this was originally coined in a Seinfeld episode. It's not a very nice word, it's deprecatory and there's a strong implication that the bag is unmasculine. And then what do you call it when a woman carries one? It's not really a purse, and "messenger bag" is long and unwieldy. I have a solution. According to Merriam-Webster, a "satchel" is a small bag, often with a shoulder strap, and dictionary.com has it as a small bag, often having a shoulder strap, used for carrying books or clothing. Perfect, right? Satchel is a solid, gender-neutral, inoffensive word that means exactly what we're talking about. Help me spread it.

I'm currently perfecting my satchel-construction skills as part of my crafting efforts. Send me your ideas and requests and I'll see if I can incorporate them into a redesign of the modern satchel.

Not time to go off the grid just yet

2005-05-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

All the paranoia recently about Zaba the new free public records search seems a little unfounded. I'm not on there at all, though my father is. He died ten years ago.

I'll wait for the update, thanks.

Transformers

2005-05-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

When I was a little kid, I wanted to live in a house designed by Q. Secret doors, hidden passageways, swiveling shelves, two way mirrors all seemed just the ultimate in cool, and to tell truth they still do. Which is why my heart leapt when I saw this.

Dodgeball

2005-05-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Everyone in this this town seems to be using Dodgeball. Jonathan first mentioned it to me last September, but the service doesn't exist in smaller cities like Santa Barbara yet so there was no way of trying it out. I forgot about it until I saw that it was acquired by Google. Google has been making some smart purchases recently, though I wish they would buy Metrobot or that someone would figure out a way to incorporate that info into their maps like the craigslist housing hack.

But I digress. Dodgeball looks pretty cool and seems to actually work for its intended purpose, unlike most social software that seems only to encourage the creation of profiles. Endless, endless profiles. Since, unlike at home, I seem to be acquiring friends who have no connection to each other apart from...well, me...it could be fun to try it out. There were plenty of people last night using it, from what I gathered observing the line outside the party.

Onion Party Kicks Major Ass

2005-05-14T02:02:00.000-07:00

Where to start? Any description will fail to do it justice. Let me just say that it was NOT POSSIBLE to be a wallflower or fail to enjoy yourself at this party. I was supposed to go with three other people, none of whom showed. I had to stand outside in the cold waiting to get in for over an hour. Who cares? Best fucking party of my life.

The randomness of the attendees, the skill of the DJs, the cheap booze, the silliness of the hosts all combined in a glorious, harmonious whole. I danced with a homeless guy. I danced with yuppie chick. I danced with a couple guys and glanced over to see a blowup of the famous "Gaywads, Dorkwads Sign Historic Wad Accord" headline and realize that my dance partners resembled the photograph. There were spontaneous outbreaks of breakdancing, a Rainbow Connection sing-a-long, goth chicks dressed as dark fairies with tendriled wings, hipsters, hippies, Marina girls, dot com holdovers and industrial obsessives. Everyone had a great time, and nobody gave a shit what you wore, how much you made or who your friends were.

Needless to say, I signed up for the newsletter.

Movie night in the park

2005-05-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

Last night was Delores Park Movie Night, when San Francisco-based films are shown on an outdoor screen for all us free-loaders to enjoy. The movie night itself has reportedly been featured in at least one film, but since I am not a fan of the genre, subject or actors involved in that production I'll have to take my informant's word on that. Last night's movie was Vertigo, which was a a lot kitschier than I remembered. It was fun to see it with a crowd of people though, everyone bundled up against the evening cold and picnicking on the grass. I was excited to see the Tamale Lady in the flesh for the first time, I have mentioned her before but never had a chance to actually taste her tamales so I dug deep and ordered two for dinner. They were okay, but I think the appeal of the Tamale Lady lies more in the fact that she shows up at midnight in the bar when you're drunk and hungry than in the quality of her tamales. That, and the fact that they are vegetarian, which is undoubtedly the root of the flavor problem. The best, most fantastically delicious tamales I've had were actually from the stand at the U.N. Plaza Farmer's Market, though I haven't yet given Roosevelt Tamale Parlor a try. They don't skimp on the lard, which as everyone knows is a key component in the finest tamales.

My original plan for the evening also involved attending the SF DocFest opening, a roller disco party on the fifth floor of a building right down the road. Despite the fact that I am naturally suspicious of any party involving roller skates, alcohol, and above-street-level locations I was planning to go, but my date had to cancel at the last minute and then the movie ran late. On the one hand, this means no amusing photos of me flat on my face in a tangle of limbs. On the other hand, it also means no trips to the emergency room. So we'll call it a draw.

Wait a minute, what's this?

2005-05-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

Steve's wearing loafers, no laces on his shoes! Boooooorn to be wiiiiiiild!

I knew the hours I spent memorizing Steve Martin routines in my formative years would come in handy someday. Remind me to tell you sometime about the day the earth was destroyed.

Anyway, that was a long and pointless way to lead up telling you wear to find the most exhaustive compendium of shoelace lacing and tying on the internet. Via the always amusing and occasionally edifying Manolo. Superfantastic!

Amnesia

2005-05-12T23:36:00.000-07:00

Monday night I was planning to do what I always do on Monday nights, which is to go the bar and listen to Martha DJ. As it turned out though, she was ducking out early to go to Amnesia to see Toshio Hirano play. Toshio is a Japanese man in his 50's who sings exactly like Jimmie Rodgers. Yes, just like the Singing Brakeman himself, right down to the yodel. Apart from the novelty of it he's actually quite talented, and he mixes a little Hank Sr. and other classics in there to mix it up a bit. It was a nice, mellow and mixed crowd for the most part, and everyone enjoyed the show. People even got up to dance, I myself was invited to waltz and since it seemed the thing to do I did. That turned out to be a mistake, my dance partner is now referred to as Stalker Jim and I think probably barred from the club. At least I hope so, since I actually had a good time despite him and I plan on going again. People, eh?

Enough! or Too much

2005-05-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

I did way too much in the last week to go into any detail now, suffice to say that I went to more restaurants and bars in one week with David and Ian and Sheena here than in the previous three months combined. I'd gotten into a little rut recently, but the trip home and visits up here have knocked me right back out of it. Thanks guys, it was a lot of fun. A brief roundup of restaurants not previously covered (bars will have to wait):
Zante's Pizza (and Indian Cuisine) - I cruised by Zante's one afternoon with a seriously empty stomach and something about the combination of pizza and Indian food sounded ridiculously tasty to me right then. They do both normal pizzas and a full Indian menu, but I went for the Indian Pizza. It's a pizza dough topped with a mild curry sauce (heavy on the carmelized onion), then a thin layer of spinach cooked saag paneer style (but without the paneer), then toppings, then mozzarella and a little more curry sauce. Delicious.
Lil' Baobob - Recommended by my roommate but kind of disappointing. She likes it better than the larger Bissap Baobob around the corner, but I think that had more to do with the fact that it's her kind of crowd at the bar than the food. Really good guacamole and great mixed drinks with ginger and tamarind flavors, so Lil Baobob or the main location would probably be a good place for happy hour. Rumor has it that they serve half-price pitchers of their specialty drinks on Tuesdays.
Tartine - Delicious and extremely rich French pastries and lunch dishes. Recommended to me by pretty much everyone I've met, the quiche was one of the best I've had. Still haven't tried their desserts or legendary croissants though.
La Mediterranee - I think this is my new favorite restaurant. Reasonably priced wines and a ten item meze dinner for $13.50 of which eight things were delicious beyond my expectations and the other two were merely good. It's a cozy little place and there were lots of couples on dates there, but ideally I think you'd bring a group of people and spend the evening feasting. Too full to try the desserts this time, maybe next trip.
Gourmet Dim-Sum and Cafe - Really tasty steamed shrimp dumplings, custard buns, etc. all made-to-order and served fresh from the kitchen as opposed to from a steam tray. We were stuffed full (mostly with shrimp) for about $8, and everything was good. I'm really wishing I didn't just try to google the restaurant because all I found was their last health code violations report. Oh well, at least they weren't cited for vermin.
Los Jarritos - One of the nicer Mexican restaurants in the Mission, we went for brunch and I had really tasty machaca with thick, flavorful corn tortillas. After reading their citysearch reviews it sounds like I need to head back for dinner sometime too. Maybe this will be where I find the elusive superior Mission burrito I keep hearing about but not tasting?
Pakwan - Cheap, tasty and completely no-frills Pakistani & Indian restaurant on 16th and Guerrero. I especially liked the Chaat Masala, Ian raved about the Saag Ghost. The naan was a little disappointing, fluffy rather than chewy, and it's BYOB so you're better off bringing a bottle of wine from home than counting on the anemic selection in the liquor store across the street.
Last Supper Club - A popular, noisy, kind of trendy Italian restaurant founded by the people behind Luna Park, but apparently sold a couple months ago. The bar staff was a little spacey, but we got a good recommendation from the wine list and the waitstaff were on top of things. The entrees were solid but uninspired, the soup was delicious and the dipping sauce good too. Again too full for dessert, which makes me wonder what the chefs are thinking when they load up the plate. Don't they want me to order more? Also, they were already sold out of the most appetizing thing and it wasn't even that late. Maybe the new owners need a little time to settle in.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to spend the next week digesting all that food. Mmmmm, food.

The Onion SF

2005-05-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

According to the link on the craigslist SF front page, not only is The Onion about to begin publishing an SF version but they will be hosting a free party next Friday at 12 Galaxies. While I am somewhat wary of "writers who apparently also DJ", at least the between-song banter should be good. Also, it's free and ridiculously close to my house. Should anyone be in town for, oh... Bay To Breakers and be interested in attending this shindigg with me, let me know.

So how is the arc wave stabilized?

2005-05-05T17:33:00.000-07:00

I'm glad you asked! Be sure to check the gallery of household and other uses as well.

Oh yeah

2005-05-04T00:07:00.000-07:00

I have just discovered (and joined!) the Dive Bar mailing list. Soon, I'll be spending my Tuesday nights thwarting Mensans, crafting unique gifts, or my own personal favorite, torturing those still in my former profession. Sadly, I discovered it a day too late for the last event, but there are sure to be many good times ahead.

Cheers

2005-05-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

party party party

Nothing like a taste of the sweet life to remind you why you might like to have an income. Jonathan's party was a hell of a lot of fun, as I'm sure those of you who attended will agree. I was happy to discover that the maraschino liqueur was as tasty as it had been rumored, and don't worry I have already pledged to reduce the amount of bitters dispensed in future cocktails. Also, I will try to remember the correct name and ingredients of the cocktails I'm mixing, though it does discourage the spirit of innovation somewhat. I was happy to see that Jonathan survived the evening, despite being crushed under the avalanche of female admirers. These are the risks a good host has to take I suppose.

I had barely had time to turn around for the drive back, but happily I had company to keep me awake. Thanks David, and thanks doubly for the fantastic sushi from Toyko Go Go. From the looks of the menu and drinks list it's a place best known for its unusual combinations of flavors, but I have to say that the fish itself was as fresh and delicious as any I've had. I'm going to have some difficulty settling back into my usual routine, thanks to all for a wonderful weekend.

Then and now

2005-04-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Just saw a fascinating link to a page comparing 1968 San Francisco architecture to 2002 San Francisco architecture, as shown in the movie Bullitt. I consider this fascinating because:

a. It is set in San Francisco, the city in which I live
b. I appreciate both architecture and history
c. San Francisco is a particularly lovely place
d. I love action movies, and Bullitt is a great one
e. I've had a crush on Steve McQueen since I was about seven

Vertigo has also received this treatment , but I'm less enthused about Kim Novak. Go figure.

Americana nirvana

2005-04-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the day I had been waiting for. A beautiful warm sunny day, an empty stomach, cash in my pocket and a friend joining me for lunch. Without too much effort I convinced Martha to walk over to the St. Francis Fountain with me. I'd seen it there on the corner before, it's neon sign was hard to miss even with the screaming colors of the signs around it. To be honest I was expecting to be disappointed, or I would've visited sooner. I'm still mourning the loss of the State Street Woolworth's luncheonette, which finally closed about fifteen years ago. Nobody I talked to had ever even been to the St. Francis, which is not a good sign in a food-obsessed town like San Francisco. Still, it would be a nice walk and if it was really awful there was another place I wanted to try next door.

It was not disappointing. Let me repeat that, it was not disappointing. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the decor and layout have not changed since it was founded in 1918. A long formica counter with raised stools runs along one side, with menus and condiments and tall canisters filled with spirals of red fountain straws. On the other side is a glass cabinet filled with candies, and behind that tall wooden booths. Next to the kitchen is a tiny wood-shuttered telephone box, and just enough chrome accents are sprinkled around to let you know you are in for some serious diner food. The menu is heavy on the breakfast offerings (note to self: brunch with mom), along with classic lunch sandwiches and all the fountain drinks you could want. Probably thirty different syrups to add to your Coke if you want, shakes, malts, sundaes, floats, egg creams. I had a Reuben, Martha had a bacon cheeseburger and we split a chocolate sundae for dessert. Not hot fudge (they have that too) but a old-fashioned chocolate sundae with vanilla custard ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, toasted almonds and a cherry on top. Perfection.

Not that it hasn't changed a little through the years. The waitresses were all tattooed hipster chicks who seemed to have bought their dark brunette haircolor in bulk, the ice cream is made by Mitchell's up the street and not in-house (despite signs everywhere that they make their own), the candy is no longer homemade but appeals to their local crowd with Star Wars pez dispensers, Alf bubble gum cards, licorice ropes and candy bars. The essentials are intact though, and that's what counts. I know where to go the next time I need a tuna melt.

A suggestion

2005-04-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

As I was waiting for the start of the movie the other night, a discussion started comparing the unintentional crappiness of sequels with the intentional (and hilarious) crappiness of B movies. My solution? Every sequel a zombie sequel. Just to give you an idea of how great this would be, I present to you a few potential sequel titles and brief plot summaries:

- The Remains Of The Day Before (A butler in WWII England becomes a zombie, no one notices the change)
- Schindler's Other List (Allies liberate a concentration camp, only to discover that the Nazis have been using it to contain the zombie population)
- Unusual Suspects (Zombies infiltrate a movie production, police struggle to identify the zombies amongst the bad actors)
- 12 Zombie Men (One zombie on the jury panel manages to slowly eat the brains of the others)
- Mementos (Zombie has no memory of his life before the bite, just a collection of gaping wounds)
- Zombiespotting (A group of disaffected Scottish men become zombies, but discover the need for brains controls their lives)

Mmmm, brains

2005-04-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend kicks off the SF Int'l Film Fest (tagline: every movie is a foreign movie somewhere). As part of the festival they're showing a few midnight movies, I was invited to see last night's selection Zombie Honeymoon and who can turn down an invitation like that? They're charging the extortionary rate of $12 each for film fest movies, but the midnight movies have the advantage of being sponsored by Stella Artois. This means that as you enter the theater, a smiling volunteer whispers conspiratorially to you that "the Stella Lounge is open on the third floor" and so you find yourself trying to chug free Belgian pilsner in the 30 minutes before the movie starts. Just in case you were concerned about drinking and driving, Stella also provides strong mints in cute little tins. So thoughtful.

The movie itself, as the review linked to above will tell you, has created a whole new subgenre: the zombie chick flick or "rom zom". Yes, it is a romantic tale of a young couple in love and the difficulties they face together. In this case, their difficulties center around the fact that one of them is turning into a zombie. The movie takes the romance portion pretty seriously, apart from the eating people and a little rotting flesh it could be any cutesy date movie. The sound effects are pretty spectacular, but the gore is not too outrageous. It's a pretty good movie.

Photo ban rescinded

2005-04-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

cherry stand,
.

Okay, I caved. I know I said I wouldn't post photos here, but sometimes I just feel like it. Like today, when I went to the UN Plaza farmer's market. There's just too much good stuff to keep to myself, go check out my Flickr page and see.

Addendum: A few more pictures added, primarily for the benefit of Jason.

Things is back!

2005-04-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

Oh, happy day.

East Bayyyyy!

2005-04-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

I spent a few hours (okay, seven) last night hanging out with the MeFi crew in Berkeley. The meet up was at the Albatross, where people are serious about their games. As in, don't come and waste table space if aren't planning a Connect Four deathmatch. Apparently it's close to the graduate student housing for UC Berkeley and has a fiendishly difficult and popular pub quiz, held at the civilized hour of 8:30 pm as opposed to some quizzes I could name. Several inventive games of Mao and a few games of darts were played, and a large quantity of beer and pizza was consumed. The women of course provided the flair.

The Ides of April

2005-04-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's that day again. Having procrastinated since the middle of January, I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I sat down to finally do my taxes to find that the California State Franchise Tax Board has a workable, straightforward, free and speedy interface for filing. Took me all of about 10 minutes once I unearthed the paperwork. Of course, this year I didn't panic over the sudden appearance of the use tax on the form.

Note to the California State Franchise Tax Board: I make sure that ALL my purchases are from the California businesses I so dearly love to support. Every. Single. Last. One.

Sincerity is not enough

2005-04-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

Unitarian Jihad!.

Brother Gatling Gun of Patience notes that he's pretty sure the world is out to get him because everyone laughs when he says he is a Unitarian. There were murmurs of assent around the room, and someone suggested that we buy some Congress members and really stick it to the Baptists. But this was deemed against Revolutionary Principles, and Brother Gatling Gun of Patience was remanded to the Sunday Flowers and Banners committee.

Progress: nil

2005-04-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

Entropy. The tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve toward a state of inert uniformity. I like to call it the "permanent Sunday afternoon", and it very nicely describes my life right about now. There are a million things I should be doing, including getting a job, and I am making process on exactly zero of them. Okay I did make some buttons, but that was only with a lot of help. The fact is, I've done so little that all I can post about is my lack of anything interesting to post. Somebody get up here and give me a swift kick in the rear.

Taking it to the streets

2005-04-10T22:55:00.000-07:00

Mod o' the week.

Happily lost

2005-04-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

I finally managed to make it to the Alemany Farmer's Market on Saturday. This is exactly what I was hoping the Ferry Plaza market would be; cheap, ripe, delicious produce. And I do mean cheap. A pint of oyster mushrooms for $1, three pounds of kiwi for $1, ten pounds of oranges for $2, and $1 per pound for sugar snap peas. I can see this becoming a weekly stop.

On my way there I got completely lost and somehow managed to make my way to Cortland Avenue in Bernal Heights. I liked it so much I went back to walk around after the market too. I get tired of using the word "cute" to describe San Francisco neighborhoods, but this one really is. It's just like a little village perched at the top of a hill, kind of straddling the line between hippie and yuppie, basically a neighborhood where people appreciate nice things but aren't necessarily flush with cash. It reminded me of some of the nicer parts of Santa Cruz, or even NYC's East Village. The houses aren't as impressive as in many parts of town, but they're almost all single family homes with yards and the views are beautiful. The main drag has pretty much everything you'd need, but without much variety. Not much public transportation either, which is probably why it feels so isolated even if it's only ten blocks from a major road. Ten blocks straight UP, when they say "heights" they aren't kidding. If I were settling down and starting a family this would probably be my top pick in San Francisco neighborhoods at this point. And of course, this being San Francisco, the neighborhood has its own website.

Clement Street

2005-04-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got a chance to explore what's called Little Chinatown over on Clement Street in Richmond. It's a small area, about a ten block stretch, but I'd already heard about a few times. The old Chinatown near North Beach has become expensive enough that new immigrants can't really afford to move there, so they've started a second smaller (and tourist-free) community out on the edge of Golden Gate Park. Based on the pubs that still crop up every block (and the giant "SF Celtic Supporters Club" mural on the side of a building coming into the area), I'd say it used to be a predominantly Irish neighborhood. But now the most common businesses are dim sum restaurants and tea houses, where groups of men sit and read the Sing Tao Daily and shoot the breeze over cups of tea and steamed buns. There's also a big supermarket, a hardware store, several herb shops with beautiful and perfectly stmmettrical big clear glass jars lined up on wall shelving, produce markets, storefront acupuncture clinics, and an aquarium shop with the most amazing selection of live coral, sea anenomes and sea cucumbers I've ever seen.

Not that it's completely Chinese, there are still the pubs and Green Apple Books & Music, yet another fantastic San Francisco bookstore. This one has both new and used books and music, so if you're feeling less-than-flush it's a good pick. There's a couple of Russian places too, including a very intimidating-looking restaurant that looks like (and might actually be) the meeting place for the local Russian mafia. All said, yet another great little neighborhood off the beaten track and worth a visit, especially if you're hungry.

(323) 462-9609

2005-04-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

That's the number for the pay phone in this picture. Go on, call it.

Movie night

2005-04-05T19:57:00.000-07:00

At least, it was night when I got out. I finally saw Sin City, which I've been both looking forward to and dreading for a while. Looking forward to, because I love Frank Miller and I'd heard good things about it. Dreading because, well, I love Frank Miller. But it was just like the graphic novels as it was intended to be, and it didn't seem rushed despite using up all the plotlines in one film. Only Brittany Murphy and Benicio Del Toro were a little disappointing, but I can handle that. Now if they can just avoid making a sequel that'll be great. And if the greedy bastards try to lay a hand on Dark Knight Returns I'll slice their fingers off.

On the way in, the 19 year old taking my ticket moved very slowly. His eyes were fixed on a point above my left breast, and it took him a full 30 seconds to tear the stub and direct me to the theater. As I turned away, he called out "that's the old NASA logo on your shirt. I mean, the original one." You know, ordinarily I try to go incognito and blend in with my surroundings. But every once in a while you've got to just announce your affiliation loud and clear, so that your people can recognize their own. By the way, if anyone finds my Rebel Alliance pin could you please return it to me? Thanks.

The wheels of change grind slowly (if at all)

2005-04-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Apologies in advance for a post obsessing over SF's public transportation, but since most of you are moving here soon (with the exception of Shosh, who will take the job I want her to and stop going on about "benefits" and "full time pay") this could be valuable. I'm getting to be an expert on this subject, since I discovered that my car will not fit into the garage no matter how I rearrange things or how much paint I scrape off the side panel trying to squeeze it in. Arrgh. So while I compare body shop estimates and make arrangements to sell it, I've been researching my other options.

The SFist posted this today, which reminded me that SF has a supervisor who not only blogs on company time but also on the official city website. More to the point, it reminded me that commuters who drive their own cars have had Fastrak for five years, and even have real time traffic data based on information gathered from Fastrak transponders. Meanwhile, the genral public attempting to use public transportation are still not even allowed to purchase a Translink card yet, and even those fortunate enough to get into the pilot program have only a limited number of locations where it will work. I know it's more complicated to set up, but the software was installed three years ago. Time to get hustling, people. Chop chop!

Monday again already?

2005-04-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. I had a great weekend. Kicked the whole thing off on Thursday by checking out the Latin American Club, which despite its name is not Latin American at all. Well, it's in the Mission, but that's about it. It is pretty fun though, a little place with very eclectic decor (I like the cuckoo clock collection in particular) and good beer on tap. We sat outside and watched as the place filled up, then stumbled home while evaluating the desirability of the free office furniture sitting out on Valencia St. Note to self: Thursday is free office furniture night.

Saturday I met up with my (formerly imaginary) friend Tina, visiting from London, and we hit a few more bars and checked out a local Thai restaurant. I think she was a little embarrassed when the bartender at Amnesia asked where we knew each other from and I told her. I've gotten used to meeting people through various online boards, blogs, etc. but I guess it still sounds strange to most. Maybe it doesn't bother me because I know these are friends and not dates, so I don't have a big emotional investment in it. Hmmmm. In any case, I'm happy to say that Tina was as normal and fun in person as I thought she'd be. Which was a good thing, because on Sunday we spent the entire day hanging out together with even more internet friends. I'd actually met Leslie and Randy before at a music festival, they're possibly more obsessed with live music than I am and of course they're both engineers. Two out of every three people I meet will inevitably turn out to be engineers, someday scientists will isolate the Engineer Attractor gene I'm carrying and sell it for big bucks to major headhunting firms.

We started out at MoMA, where I highly recommend you check out the Robert Bechtle retrospective if you get the chance. Then on to Sausalito for lunch, and hiking in Muir Woods in the afternoon. Despite the rain, it was beautiful and exciting to see, especially for Tina who had never seen our famous North American ancient trees before. We finally ended up at Insalata's for dinner. It was Leslie's choice and a good one, I had the Estofado with a 2001 Marimar Torres, Russian River Valley Pinot Noir from Don Juan vineyard. The Estofado is a kind of Portuguese pot roast with a bitter orange gravy, which paired very well with the heavier black currant and cedar flavors of the Pinot Noir. I think I just slipped back into wine geek mode, sorry about that. Leslie and Randy insisted on paying for everything, which of course means I'm planning my retaliation right now. They've set the bar pretty high, but I think I can top it. We'll see.

Death Valley photos

2005-03-31T16:49:00.000-08:00

Death Valley

As promised, I have returned from my camping trip with pictures. Considering that I am a truly terrible photographer, it is more than a little surprising that I actually manage a few nice shots. They can be found at my Flickr page.

I had a great time (apart from a little motion/altitude sickness at first). The bloom seems to be ending now, but seeing mushrooms growing on the dunes, a lake where the salt plains should be, actual pup fish and flowers creeping up the sides of the Mars-like terrain was really something.

Hold that thought

2005-03-24T23:48:00.000-08:00

Not that I've posted much this week anyway, but I'll be camping in Death Valley all weekend so no updates. I'm breaking my no pictures rule for this trip, so hopefully there'll be some decent ones to show when I get back.

In the meantime, I'll be missing out on RoboGames, so if anyone would like to fill me in on that when I return it'd be appreciated.

Episode III, in translation

2005-03-21T22:39:00.000-08:00

The saga is compl337.

We need this here

2005-03-21T13:39:00.000-08:00

Overheard In New York
Customer: I'll have a slice of the eggplant.
Pizza guy: You know that's organic right?
Customer: That's fine. How long have you guys been organic?
Pizza guy: Oh, about 2 weeks now. The white girls are loving it.

--Delancey & Essex pizzeria

And while we're on the subject of NYC, how did I miss that TMFTML re-launched in January?!

Meet ups and more

2005-03-19T18:03:00.000-08:00

As if anyone need more proof that I veer towards the geeky, I present photographic evidence. Yes, that's me flashing the gang signs. I had a great time, I'll definitely be heading to the next meet up and some plans are brewing that may require my crafty expertise (or at least some of my equipment). What the pictures don't show is that Caitlin, Wendy and I were the only ones there for over an hour, which gave us plenty of time to get sauced before the others showed up and giggle over things only we would find amusing. For example, you can buy 403 and 200 thongs, but where I ask you are the 500 boxer shorts? I think I actually won our geek-off because I knew what they were talking about without ever having needed that knowledge. Hmmm.

Eventually I ducked out (sooner than I'd have liked) because I had a ticket for the sold out Fucking Champs/Comets On Fire/Oneida/Black Mountain show. I was already running late, and by the time I got there it was a half-hour wait for will call, so I missed all of the Black Mountain set and most of Oneida. Still, I was able to grab my favorite spot upstairs by the bar overlooking the stage for the two final sets.

I was glad that I'd watched the end of Woodstock that afternoon before the meet up, because it was the perfect moodsetter for the hard rock psychedelic freakout that calls itself Comets On Fire. I'd call them a jam band, except jam bands aren't nearly as aggressive or capable of keeping their songs under 5 minutes. They played a short set but had a good time flailing and writhing around on stage making as much noise as humanly possible. Rock and roll.

Last up was The Fucking Champs. This was the band my new acquaintance Brad-from-Cape-Cod (who graciously watched my chair for me while I bought another beer) was looking forward to. In contrast to Comets On Fire the Champs are insanely tight, and about as exciting to watch perform as Rush without the light show. For those of you who don't remember the 80's, that means dorky white boys standing perfectly still playing their instruments with extreme technical precision. Despite the fact that they were headlining, a good chunk of the crowd drifted away during their set and they weren't called back for an encore. I guess people expect a band to put more effort into entertaining the crowd when they're on stage, even if it means sacrificing the sound a bit. Sorry folks, the Champs just aren't that kind of band. However I do have two little words of advice for their guitar player: strap length. I'm sure it's easier and more comfortabe to play that crazy 9-string when its sitting up near your belly button but it makes you look like a Poindexter, especially with those high-waisted pants. It's not your best look. Look at Paul Simenon on the right there. Couldn't play for shit, had to have Joe Strummer put color-coded dots where his fingers should be. But the strap length says "Rock God", does it not? Think about it. Chicks dig the long strap.

We all have our obsessions

2005-03-18T15:53:00.000-08:00

I walked over to the Hayes Valley yesterday to treat myself to a nice haircut. Of course since my sleep schedule is completely off I was running late for my 1:00 pm appointment, and I had nothing but black coffee in my system. I mention this to give you some idea of the kind of hurry I was in to get home by 2:00 pm or so to eat lunch. Hayes Valley is filled with all kinds of cute bakeries and little boutiques, modern furniture stores, galleries and hair salons. I could've happily spent spent an afternoon window shopping, but I was determined to make it home for lunch (especially considering how much I had just dropped on my hair).

However, on my way home I passed by Flax, and not realizing exactly how large a store it was (or what was really inside) I thought I could just poke my head in for a second. I have to stop here and remind you all of a couple of things. The first is that I have still not been back to Amoeba, because I recognize danger when I see it and I know that I am neither emotionally nor financially ready. The second is that when I moved, I had two banker's boxes filled with stationery supplies. I'm probably the only person you know who has engraved correspondence cards with matching lined envelopes, and uses them. I am a hardcore stationery geek. I also had two boxes filled with craft supplies, and I donated another three boxes of crafty stuff before I left. Now take a look at the link to Flax. From the pictures on the front page, you'd think it had a small selection of gift items, right? That's what I thought. No. See the links at top, the ones labelled collage and the paper catalog? DANGER. I was going to describe what I found in loving detail, but you're either the kind of person who will spend three hours on that website drooling or you just don't care, so I won't. Suffice to say that it was a good thing I was really hungry when I got there and that they don't have a cafe.

Attention: potential visitors

2005-03-18T00:03:00.000-08:00

The existence of Audium has just been brought to my attention. We will be attending a performance there when you come. Oh, yes.

Another stop on the itinerary will need to be VinoVenue, the "wine automat". I never thought I'd see those two words in combination, and I'm pretty excited about it.

Thanks to the imaginary friends who alerted me to both these places.

Iron? B vitamins? Check.

2005-03-16T01:48:00.000-08:00

Living with vegetarians means I rarely cook meat at home, which gives me an excuse to eat out more often. Tonight I stopped by Burger Joint, which is consistently amongst the highest rated places to pick up a burger in this town. I'd also heard that it's owned by the same people who run Luna Park, and I've had good meals at both their SF and LA locations.

The place was deserted when I got there, which made me a little nervous, but by the time I finished eating it was busy enough for a Tuesday night. And the burger was delicious. They actually ask you how you want it cooked, and if you order it medium rare it comes exactly as requested. These days most places are so worried that you'll catch a stray e. coli bug that they burn the meat no matter how you order it, but not here. The meat comes from Niman Ranch and it was a huge patty, juicy, tender and flavorful. The bun and toppings were great too, but for me the test of a burger is the meat itself. The fries it comes with are big thick steak fries with that great earthy flavor you get from fresh-cut potatoes. And that's it. Burger and fries, $7.00. No special sauces, no side salad, no accompaniments unless you want a soda or a milkshake. And really, how much more do you want from a burger joint?

Gimme

2005-03-16T01:19:00.000-08:00

I'm itching in anticipation of the release of Spore, though it won't be out until summer at the earliest. It has everything I love in a game, and I see this easily becoming my new favorite thing. It's funny, I was never much of a gamer growing up but I've come to realize that I just didn't like the games that were available then. Maybe they'll release a PSP version so I'll have an excuse to buy one. Mmmmmmmm, pretty.

Your favorite band sucks

2005-03-14T23:34:00.000-08:00

Just got back from a trek across town to see The Frames. Several people whose taste I tend to share had insisted that this was the best show I'd see all year, so I took their recommendation and went, sight unseen. Here's what their record label has to say about them:

"You get spiky, nasty pop songs like ‘Fake’ and ‘Underglass’, with its dum-dum bassline worthy of Kim Deal. You get the seraphic boy soprano melodies of ‘Happy’ and ‘Sideways Down’ and the graphic 4am truth-or-dare drinking games of ‘Caution’. And you get epics like ‘Keepsake’, distinguished by the sort of sea change dynamics associated with Mogwai or the Dirty Three. In short, here’s a world where Spector collides with Steve Albini, Arvo Part with Sparklehorse, open-heart surgery songs that deal in love and hate, mourning and ambition, art and blood. "

Note the indie rock name-checking.

Before I go any further, let me say that The Frames sound exactly like a cross between Coldplay and The Dave Matthews Band. If you like those bands, you should make every effort to go see them and buy all their albums. You will love them. I'm not a fan of either of those bands, so I was less thrilled. Admittedly, I was already in a bad mood and I had pretty high expectations for the show. But if I'm going to wander around in the Tenderloin alone at night, where every time I pause to wait for the light to change a potential customer and/or pimp rolls up slowly to the curb, it had better be worth it.

I got there just as the main act was playing their first song, and the place was packed. The show was at the Great American Music Hall, a beautifully ornate venue right next door to one of the more popular strip clubs. The crowd was comprised entirely of what seemed like current and former UCSB students, must have been a long way for them to come for one show but there they were. It's been a long time since I voluntarily spent an evening in the company of those who think Sting is deep, but I tried very hard to get in the spirit of things and have a good time. I drank a lot of beer, quickly, on an empty stomach. I nodded my head along with the beat. I probed the depths of my cold, dead, blackened heart for any semblance of tender warmth. Nope. I laughed along with the rest when they segued into Pink Floyd or Van Morrison (was it a joke? a tribute? I couldn't tell) every other song, but the music just wasn't doing it for me.

So it was with relief that I returned to my side of town, where the closest thing to a Marina girl are the art school grads who think Seven jeans and Dollhouse shoes set them apart. And then it hit me. I had gone to see that band because I thought they were a great-but-obscure band I'd never heard of. The real reason I've never heard of them is not because they're obscure, it's because they are popular. Popular bands do not penetrate into my world any longer, now that it centers on the internet. Our little online communities are not connected to any commercial channels, and pride themselves on the lack of Clear Channel influence. I don't read music magazines except the occasional zine, I don't watch MTV or VH1 or whatever channel is currently showing actual videos, I don't listen to the radio except as online streaming media. And living in this neighborhood I'm surrounded by people who do the same. There isn't even a mainstream movie theater here, just arthouse theaters. I'm not saying this to make any claims that I'm indier-than-thou, I'm just amazed at how disconnected from mainstream culture I've become, and how effortless it was.

Third time's the charm

2005-03-14T14:13:00.000-08:00

Or is it, bad luck comes in threes? I guess I'll have a chance to find out soon, since I am now on my third iPod in one year. I don't know anyone else who's had the trouble I've had with their iPod, I suspect that the model I bought (the 30 Gig) is a lemon. The nice people at the Genius Bar had never seen anything like it either, nor had the tech support guys I called about the last one. Never mind. Thanks to Chris-the-genius and a slightly liberal interpretation of the warranty, I have fresh hardware to experiment with.

I have to say this was the single most pleasant tech support experience I have had, mostly because tech support over the telephone is inherently frustrating. Let's compare my experiences with the last two iPods.

Telephone: Wake up an hour early because tech support closes before you get home from work. Wait on hold for at least twenty minutes. Verbally describe in excruciating detail all the steps previously taken to try to fix the problem, including websites visited and support forum questions asked. Get walked through doing it again anyway, describing what's happening at every point along the way to someone who can't see it. Get passed on to a specialist and repeat first three steps. Realize you know more about how to fix it than the tech guy on the phone, and that you're going to be late for work. Lose your temper and demand that they please just replace it. Mail in the offending device and wait for them to mail back a new one.
Time spent in intense frustration: an hour and a half.
Time without a working device: at least three days.

In person: Log on to website and request an evening appointment. Travel to store, check in with concierge and wait turn. Hand device to specialist behind the counter and describe problem. Sit on stool, watch videos, and chat with fellow patrons while specialist inspects device. Receive verdict and new device. Leave store and buy yourself some dinner.
Time spent traveling and/or waiting: forty minutes.
Time spent without working device: under three hours.

Some people like to say that Apple products are overpriced. Those people must not value their time or happiness as much as I value mine. Granted, I'm an impatient person and I hate telephones anyway, but I just don't see myself buying a product that would require me to go through tech support hell again now that I know there's a better way.

Dear Wells Fargo,

2005-03-11T21:38:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you're aware that you are the bank with the most branches in this town. In fact, one of the main reasons I chose you was your ubiquity. I was sure, no matter where I was, you would be available to serve me.

So you can imagine my dismay when I realized that you, alone amongst the many banks lining the streets of my neighborhood, actually SHUT DOWN YOUR ATMs at the close of business on Friday. Let me rephrase this. At exactly the point when a human teller is no longer available, you pull steel shutters down over the machines capable of handling transactions without a teller, thus depriving me of access to my accounts. No other bank does this. In fact, other banks seem to understand that this is exactly when I might need to use an ATM.

It is Friday night. This is when I would like to spend the money I have so carefully saved all week. I'd like to grab a bite to eat, maybe hit a bar or two. But no. The businesses I'd like to patronize only take cash, and you do not dispense cash after dark. Not even via a machine.

So forget about that juicy burger I am hungry for. Forget about the bar I've been meaning to try, and the cute boys waiting there. Forget sharing a drink, a smile, in fact forget any kind of action whatsoever. Fuck you, Wells Fargo. I hope you never get laid again.

Sincerely,

Lonely hungry movie-watching girl

More music, please

2005-03-10T15:21:00.001-08:00

I've decided that I participate in a forum with a few friends where we discover new music together is now my favorite euphemism for "I geek out on a music BBS all day". Which I do. Some of you reading this right now are, or have met, the people who I refer to as 'my imaginary friends'. So it should come as no surprise that I headed back to 12 Galaxies on Tuesday night on the basis of a crush a 17 year old girl in Oklahoma City has. The marquee said the club would be closed, but the website promised Eric Gaffney (yes, that guy who wrote all the songs you liked for Sebadoh) and David Dondero (the subject of the crush).

I got there a little late, so Eric's set was about half over. He was playing acoustic guitar with a girl who I suspect is his girlfriend on acoustic bass. It was just me and maybe 25 other people scattered around the room, so I grabbed a chair and sat down right in front. Hey, I'm not going to go hide in the corner just because I'm by myself. I came to see the show! Anyway, it was interesting to hear the same voice and chords structure I'm used to hearing in loud, thrashing-around-the-room songs transposed to a quiet acoustic set. In an interesting twist of fate, I'll get to do the same when Lou comes to town later this month (assuming everything's okay at home).

Then came the main act. Most of the audience seemed to be Dave's friends and/or roommates, so he got a rousing welcome. He mentioned that he'd just watched 2001: A Space Odyssey and I think he just got up off the couch, grabbed his guitar and wandered over. He seemed like he'd rather be somewhere else, he kept encouraging us to leave, and his roommate kept yelling at him from the audience about getting wasted and ordering $40 worth of porn on pay-per-view before he passed out last night. He does have a good voice though, and he's a fantastic guitar player so it was fun to watch. I was ambivalent about the songs, some of them I thought were really good and others I thought "You paid to record that? Really?" I'd probably have a different impression if I weren't seeing him on an off night. He seemed more excited about challenging audience members to play Scrabble at Muddy's, which maybe not-so-coincidentally is where SF Games meets every Friday night. We all have our passions, I guess.

Pirates & more

2005-03-10T02:16:00.000-08:00

I finally made it to the Pirate Store yesterday. I'm not quite sure what I expected, but yes, that is an open tub of lard over by the cash register, and they do have an very extensive collection of glass eyes. Since it's really just a front for the writing center, there are also plenty of books and writing materials in amongst the pirate flags, striped knee socks and booty. The best part though (and the reason I'll go back) are the signs. Signs for sale, Signs Containing Lists, signs that reference other signs three inches away, signs that serve no purpose whatsoever except to make you giggle. Signs that make you want to redecorate your room in a manner appropriate for posting signs.

The Pirate Store just so happens to be right in between the City Art Gallery and Paxton Gate. It's a little difficult to describe Paxton Gate, but I'll give it a try. Let's say you had a garden shop specializing in bromeliads, succulents, carnivorous plants and orchids. And let's say you also had an interest in natural science, so you added fossils, various magnifying instruments, pinned beetles and butterflies, animal skeletons, bell jars, tubes and droppers. And since your store was in the middle of the artsy part of town and the people you hired were art students, you decided to carry their art, which was in turn inspired by the contents of the store and their own interest in taxidermy. And as long as you were at it, why not exotic teas, teapots, and handmade jewelry? You'd be pretty close then to what Paxton Gate is like. It feels like walking into a Victorian gentlemen scholar's study, if it were decorated by his peculiar niece. So the next time you're thinking, "a dead mouse dressed in period clothing and mounted in a shadow box with a liitle tableau would perk this room right up!" you'll know where to go.

Metrobot

2005-03-09T11:46:00.000-08:00

The current thing for hip businesses to do seems to be not putting a sign outside to announce your name. I guess if you have to ask you're not cool enough to know.

Fortunately, I stumbled upon Metrobot today, which not only tells me what they're called but shows a graphic of the entire street and lists every business on it. This is especially handy for someone moving to a new place or just visiting town, because it lets you find all the closest businesses with one search.

The main page has a typical search by business name, business type or address, but the real joy is the check out these streets page, where you can select a city and then any street in that town. Right now clicking on the business name in most cases will just get you the full street address, but registered users (which just takes an ID and password) can submit detailed information on thir own or someone else's business, including website and phone number. I really hope this catches on, it's a great resource.

Addendum: Looks like someone else noticed it too.

Feed me!

2005-03-08T17:06:00.000-08:00

More buttons have been added to decorate my sidebar.

Yes, despite the fact that not a single person has asked for it I have added feeds for your RSS readers. What is an RSS reader, you wonder? Hell if I know, I like looking at websites. If you also enjoy clicking on things and looking at pretty colors you can ignore this post entirely. However, it saddens me to know that some of you spend those long, lonely days without posts fruitlessly returning to this page again and again only to face disappointment. So I followed some instructions, made some buttons, and now you can have my words delivered to your sad little text-only pages if you must. I have no idea if this will work properly, so if anyone runs into problems (or needs a different version, or whatever) send me a note.

12 Galaxies

2005-03-08T13:54:00.000-08:00

Friday night I was invited to join some friends for a show over at 12 Galaxies, and since it's maybe two blocks from my front door I couldn't refuse. I hadn't been in there before but it's a nice space, a smallish club with two levels and an atrium so you can play pool upstairs and still watch the band. Which is exactly what we did. Actually there were three bands, Carney Ball Johnson opened with a set that was a mixed bag of Sun Ra covers, ska and rockabilly with a little vaudeville influence just for good measure.

They were followed by Hamell On Trial, which was my favorite act of the night. Imagine a balding, middle-aged, masculine version of Ani DiFranco hopped up on a few too many Red Bulls and you'll have a pretty good idea of what his show is like. Or you could just listen to one of the songs he played. I've never seen one guy rock out so hard all by himself on stage.

Last of all, Rube Waddell took to the stage. This was the band we'd actually come to see, but honestly I was not so enthused. Maybe the carnival atmosphere they tried to create was just not my thing, maybe I was just tired after Hamill On Trial's firey (and very long) set, but their style of kitschy Americana did nothing for me. Their audience, on the other hand, was enormously fun to watch. The Haight contingent was well represented, including one girl who must've believed she was Janis Joplin reincarnated, a guy who somehow combined the look of the Merry Pranksters with that of a pimp from some 70's blaxploitation flick, and a girl who was wearing a sparkly crocheted halter dress...with spats. There was also a good-sized crowd of the usual indie rockers and aging hipsters, some drunken cargo short guys, a couple of asian lesbian raver chicks, some scrawny mods in their requisite parkas, and a few lost Marina girls reliving their days of slumming it with their fellow Tri-Delts.

The one thing this disparate crowd all had in common? The worst rhythm I have ever seen. These people could not keep the beat if their lives depended on it, with the exception of one bicolor-haired cowgirl who made everyone else look bad. The highlight of the set for me was when one indie rock girl tried to slam dance with the hippies.

Damn, I love this town.

Coincidence? Well, yes

2005-03-04T18:17:00.000-08:00

I was browsing McSweeney's today (as I encourage you to do), when I noticed a reference to 826 Valencia and the Pirate Store. I'm not really sure what lard, hooks and puffer fish have to do with teaching kids to write, but since it's about six blocks away I'll definitely be going to check it out this weekend. Stay tuned.

Bruce Air

2005-03-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

Why don't the bands I care about do stuff like this?

You might already know that Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson is a commercial airline pilot in his spare time. Now apparently he's chartering planes and flying fans out to watch his band play.

I would not want to be the one to clean that plane when it lands.

I may never drive again

2005-03-03T15:35:00.000-08:00

As much as I enjoy walking in the city, I also realize that there will come a day when I need to get somewhere in a hurry. There are places that BART doesn't go, and Muni has its share of problems. So I was excited when my friend Martha offered me her unused bicycle. I've been putting off picking it up because it needs a couple small repairs, things I can't really justify paying for someone to fix but that I'm not so confident I could fix myself. Solution: the Bike Kitchen. How much you want to bet that this is a top pick-up spot for the crunchy granola/Burning Man crowd? Hippies aside, it looks like a great resource and I'll probably be wheeling Martha's bike over there in a couple of days. That pachouli oil scent should dissipate quickly in the open air, right?