Statanic Action!

April...Already.

2008-04-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

It's been exceedingly quiet around here. Mandy and I were joking that The Rapture had happened and nobody noticed...

Frito asked me to be his Best Man and next week I'm flying to Virginia Beach for the semi-annual company meeting. Should be fun, I'm hoping to hit the beach and at least dip my toes in the Atlantic.

The Last Good Day of the Year

2007-12-31T01:15:00.002-08:00

It's funny -- we've been working, running around for Xmas (which is a story in itself) and now new year's eve is upon us and Mandy and I still aren't sure of what we're doing!

The WSP wants to go to Science Friction, but M. says she's not up for a big party. We tried to aim for something more low-key like a party at a friend's house, but that fell through. So, now they'll be a flurry of phone calls and emails while we try and figure out what to do.

Anyway, I'm sure it'll be OK as long as there is plenty of booze.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2007-12-31T01:15:00.001-08:00

Yeah...Randomage.

2007-12-14T10:46:00.000-08:00

Man, does time fly . You get yr routines and traditions and such, pay attention to the sign posts (equinoxes, solstices, etc.) and acquire more gray hairs (no wrinkles, tho!) and still the passage of time is a bit frightening.
Now that I am of a "certain age," I've begun to ponder the narrowing of options, the lessening of paths one can take, the end of things. e.g. Will I be physically able to pilot a motorcycle year round in ten years? Will I want to?

A week ago, I met up with Jeff, Derek and Jim. Gentlemen, dear friends, brothers I've known for over half my life. We shot the shit, discussed our aches and pains, the weirdness of checking out the ladies and realizing that you're old and they aren't and the various mechanisms for coping. It wasn't all serious, 'cause I spent most of the evening laughing my ass off, but in retrospect, this is what we humans do innit?

It's been an interesting year. And despite everything, there's a lot to look forward too. My girlfriend sometimes teases me for being so optimistic. But what choice do I have, in the face of the enormous problems humanity faces?

Anyway, I suspect 2008 will be like any other year, there will be heartbreak, tears and the agony of defeat, but also triumph, joy and laughter as well.

Werd.

Fackin' 'ell

2007-10-28T05:55:00.000-07:00

I have neglected this blog. Everytime I sit down to write, I wonder why bother. Tonight though, I was reminded of the original reason: I cannot remember everything and it's fun TO DO and then reflect on it later. So I guess it doesn't matter how banal someone else finds this.

Since my last post, Mandy and I went to Portland, I found out two of my friends have been fighting cancer, the bass player in one of my favorite bands has died, bought, played and finished Half Life 2: Episode 2, discovered the hallucinogenic wonder of Squidbillies and found that someone I thought I had a relatively firm grasp on is actually quite a bit different than I'd thought...but not in a bad way, it's quite endearing.

It's 6AM as I write this. I went to a birthday dinner for my old supervisor at Getty. We had some drinks and shot the breeze with Matt, Kim, Kiyo, Mandy and Richelle while Jay whipped up a leg of lamb, a flank steak roulade, beets, roasted potatoes and warm pita bread for dinner. Kiyo made chocolate cupcakes and Mandy and I brought a chocolate cake for dessert.

Around 11, Mandy and I went down to The Cretin's clubhouse for their Halloween party. They were doing karaoke when we arrived...which didn't really set things off. Mandy and I hung out and chatted with some of the new guys on the UTMC board. Mandy headed home around 12:30 and I stayed because I'd had two cups of coffee at Matt's and was FULLY AWAKE. (Hell, I'm awake now!) I made a feeble attempt at DJ'ing, but I didn't have a game plan so when Bob took over and spun old 45's (he'd bought a huge box full of them at Goodwill) things began to pick up!

I felt giddy and danced for quite awhile, even to Huey Lewis & The News and had a blast. Even though it was cold out, I was glad I rode my bike tonight...there's nothing more exhilarating than blasting down city streets that you have almost completely to yourself, knowing your warm bed awaits you (even if you don't get in it right away)!

I recently acquired the classic motorcycle racing movie "On Any Sunday" and since this is the Seahawk's "Bye Week", perhaps my major goal for tomorrow is to watch it with Ryan...and get breakfast somewhere. My room is clean and the laundry is done, so I can sleep as late as I want.

Anyway, I need to get back into the habit of updating this thing...

Dying Summer...

2007-09-13T23:21:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted here in awhile. I wish I could say I've been terribly busy and I suppose I was -- it just doesn't feel that way.
I (we) did a lot. There were BBQ's, parties, a trip to Vancouver BC, tons of fine dining (OK, dining), dancing, drinking in bars, a couple of trips to B-Town, etc. but somehow it feels like nothing really happened.
The change is already in the air, but there's a few weeks (hopefully) of good weather before it gets really cold. I guess that when you live in an era when the trees start blooming in February, winter is just a mild annoyance...well, to me anyway.
Nonetheless, I have some complex feelings about the fall. Knowing it's going to colder and darker makes me feel a little sad and wistful on one hand, while on the other, I look forward to eating lots of soup, lying under the heater at Mandy's and playing with Denali and coziness of one's own home...or bed.
I feel more energetic when it's cold...more focused. And once I'm over the SAD hump, happy to have something to look forward to.

Next week, Mandy and I go to PDX for the weekend. I haven't been to Portland in years...should be a lot of fun, even though I know I won't be able to get her to go to a strip club, heh.

July

2007-07-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

This week has been lovely. Yesterday, I had the day off and hung out with Mandy for part of the day. We wandered around the West Seattle junction, then I came home with the intent of heading up to my co-worker Rob's for a 4th of July BBQ.
But after I got home, showered (and promptly started sweating again), I decided to stay home and chill.
We have a lovely deck here and Tess, Ryan, Beth, Scotty, Laquita and Atlee were all here. Our gas grill has a leak, so Tess got a Weber.
Mandy came over with chicken, slaw and potato salad and we did our prep while everyone else was out at the store.
I was drinking limeade with the Thai whiskey that Frito brought back from his last trip.
Awhile later, I was full and happy...with a HUGE headache. Mandy stayed with me until about 11, then went home.
It was rough getting up this morning. I wasn't hung over, but man! I was was tired.
Tomorrow, Jay and I will meet at Robert's to BBQ some brisket's for Robert's wedding on Saturday. I'm also helping to cater the event. Jay got us Chef's jackets and everything!

Hello...

2007-04-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

Hello...

It's been awhile since I've had a chance to post here. Not having a computer and being busy at work has really cut down on my surfing/posting time.

Everything is coming along fine. I'm settled at Tess', I have a wonderful, sexy, funny and kind girlfriend, work is busy and the weather is getting good enough for some bike riding.

The last couple of months were really interesting. The NSC threw it's last (?) bash, the God Is Dead party, Matt, Leslie and Ana moved away to D.C., Stu and Rachel bought a new house. Maria's dog Arthur died, Mandy and I got to see Sparklehorse and Ted Leo (though not on the same day).

Tonight I'm meeting the NSC boys for the wrap up and settling of bidness.

Funny to think our project is finally over after seven years...

The Last Fortnight.

2007-02-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

The Last Fortnight.

The last couple of weeks seemed to have flown by. Changes are afoot and I'm pretty mellow right now (that could change of course).
I'm still working with the insurance people over my personal property losses. The city might quibble with me over some items, but I have made it clear that they'll get a fight if try.
I realized I was at a low boil these last few weeks.
Finding out that my roommates were moving out of the house was a bummer. I was looking towards things going back to 'normal', but I guess that just will not be the case! However, my beloved Tess offered me a place at her house. We thought about it and decided that there's no reason it wouldn't work, so hopefully, I'll be moving there in the next week or so.
Other than that, I'm slowly getting back into my groove. Last night, a bunch of us went to see Adam's excellent jazz/pop band Cytosoul at Egan's Jam House in Ballard. I'm going to Bremerton tonight, to visit some friends. I'm not sure where I'll watch the SuperBowl...or even if I'll watch it at all.
I got tickets for Sparklehorse's show at the Showbox on Valentine's Day. I'm probably going to see Ted Leo in April and Low in June too. Already the spring/summer is shaping up.
I guess I'm feeling guardedly optimistic.

I hope I'm right!

Update.

2007-01-24T00:29:00.000-08:00

Update

I'm really getting sick of thinking about it, but it's hopefully a resolution will come soon.
The insurance folks are submitting my claim to the city for approval. They think I'll get close to what I asked for, the only sticking point being the 400+ cassette tapes I lost.
I hear a new furnace and water heater are in at the house, but nothing has been done in the basement.
Ryan panicked and decided to move into a new place. Jason's decided to move in with his girlfriend, so I can either try and eventually recruit others to move in -- or bail myself.
I thought I could move back there and be content, but the place feels defiled somehow. I haven't talked to the landlord, but I doubt he'd give me any kind of break to finish out the lease -- with his insurance policy, he'll get compensated one way or another -- though I doubt the rent won't be going up.
So...I'm going to have to start looking for a new place to live.
It seems that for every step I take forward, I take a half-step back. If I wasn't focused on a happier future, I'd be seriously wallowing in depression right now. But that's not my way. I have to keep my eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel and move forward. It's the only way I'm gonna get through this without killing myself (or someone else).
While others have certainly been through worse, the last few months have been tough. But in every crisis, there's opportunity. In every trial, a chance to learn.
Te Shan wrote: "Just have no mind on things and no things on mind, and you will be naturally be empty and spiritual, tranquil and sublime."

I'm workin' on it, dude.

Fargen Egg...

2006-12-27T00:42:00.000-08:00

Fargen Egg...

I stopped by the house yesterday. There were signs that my roommates had stopped in over the weekend, but it otherwise it sat cold, dark and empty when I arrived. I've noticed that some of my neighbors have large storage containers out front.
Jason and I met with an adjuster at the PSU trailer last week. They told us we should be receiving a letter telling us who we'd be working with to settle our claim soon, with an initial payment (he wasn't sure of the size) coming sometime soon.
The last time I was there, I went downstairs and they'd removed all of our flotsam and jetsam, the carpets and half of the walls, giving my previously warm, cozy basement all the charm of a unfinished cellar! I took some cameraphone pics. It's going to weird living there again.
Frito and Cindy have been great. Of course, I lived here before I moved out in 2004 with Laura (I'll never make that mistake again!) so I feel right at home, though all my stuff is elsewhere.
Staying in the basement isn't so bad -- I got access to cable and Frito's computer, but I really can't wait to get all my stuff together. I feel rootless and out-of-sorts, yet other parts of my life and excellent!
I can't say for sure that 2007 will be a blast, but it can only get better now, right?
Aside from all the flood stuff, the holidays went OK. I don't really celebrate them, so I didn't have anyone to disappoint AND I didn't have the pressure of trying to please anyone else. Going from Jehovah's Witness to Agnostic was a decent transition, for what that's worth. I suppose I'll make NYE plans at some point, but I'm effin' broke and payday isn't until next month, so it'll low-key.
I'd like to give a big up to all the people who've offered assistance, condolences and encouragement over the last couple of weeks: Tess, Tim, Jay, Stu, Rachel, Matt, Rob, Rebecca, Cole, Angie, Patty, Oani, Scott, Cindy, Neil, Kathleen, Renee, Sean and Maria.
It's not over yet, but there's some light at the end of the tunnel. I suppose I'll know more once we get past the holidays and settle into The Doldrums.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep listening to "Dick in a Box" and trying to maintain.

Aight, then.

Jeez.

2006-12-15T15:28:00.000-08:00

Jeez.

Sometimes I have the most rotten luck.

There was a Seahawks game yesterday. Apparently, this causes enough concern at my job that folks actually start planning to leave work early. I figured it was no big deal, until I saw the weather report.
A big storm was on the way, with gusts up to 70MPH. I'd ridden my motorcycle into work...partly for autonomy in choosing when I could leave and partly 'cause I fuckin' hate taking the bus. It was a pretty rough day at work anyway, 'cause the company prez was in town and we'd been out late the night before drinkin', playing pool and hanging out with him.
I actually got to work first yesterday, but after a nice lunch, I was nodding off at my desk (much to Cole's amusement) while searching through 80 pages of results looking for an FTP error.
I packed it in around 4:30. The parking lot was already becoming a small pond and my Joe Rocket gear got soaked through in the time it took to get from Royal Brougham to Jackson Street. I don't what genius decided to schedule a weekday game to start at 5PM. but I'd sure like to kick his ass!

I was running low on gas and soaked through when I got near home. The huge storm drainage project they've been working on all summer was completely flooded. I had to ride on the sidewalks to avoid the deep puddles on my street. As I rode down my block, I wondered why most of my neighbors were standing around outside. After I got off my bike, a lady ran past me and asked if my basement was flooding. I told her I didn't know and ran around the side of the house to discover a huge lake.
I live in valley. My block isn't the lowest point in the valley, but it is unique in that the houses surround a bowl-like depression that makes up our back yard. During heavy rains, that depression starts to fill up with water. Last year, the city came out and pumped it all out before it could cause any serious problems.
Several months ago. The city knocked down a couple of houses on the block south of mine and and started tearing up the street north of us. This project was designed to take care of heavy stormwater overflows...just the sort of thing that happened last night. Unfortunately, it didn't do what it was supposed to.
I entered my house to the sound of trickling water. As I headed down to the basement, I was greeted by brownish water that covered my waterproof boots. I didn't know if I could get an electric shock, so I turned around and started making phone calls. By the time the water stopped coming in, it's would be 3 feet high. The landlord came by, took a look and bailed. Said he was going to call the city.

I was too astounded by what had happened to get too upset. I called Frito and rode out to his place. Shortly after arriving there, the power went for the whole Rainier Valley. So we lit some candles and went to bed.
We went back to my place this afternoon. The city had pumped out the backyards. All the water was gone from my basement, although the carpet was ruined. What did I lose? Too depressing to recount right now...maybe in a day or two.

There's supposed to be an emergency claims van in the 'hood tomorrow. I've got to fill out a claims form...that should be fun.

I'm gonna get drunk tonight.

Casino Royale

2006-12-11T23:47:00.000-08:00

Casino Royale

Just saw the new Bond flick. SPOILER ALERT!!

My take.

I totally enjoyed the movie. I thought Daniel Craig did a really good job, given that the Bond character is really pretty flat.
None of the other movies really tried or even cared to examine what made Bond tick, but instead he was this superhuman badass who never suffered a scratch or displayed any emotion. Bond never seemed particularly patriotic either, which is strange when you compare him with say, Rambo or Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. Saving the world seemed just like a side effect of all the cars, travel and sex.
We get a little insight when he and Vesper are probing each other's defenses on the train. The unfortunate thing about 'romance' in a Bond flick is that we know the chick will either betray our hero or wind as worm food. Kinda like every woman Ponch dated on CHiPs.
To tell the truth, I didn't really care much for Vesper...she was just as blank as Bond and basically I just kept waiting for the other shoe (her croaking) to drop.
I was a little annoyed that villain was so disposed of so easily. Le Chiffre was a cream puff who probably would've gotten his ass kicked in a fair fight but it would've made a much more interesting story if, after to losing all his money to Bond, the CIA botched the retrieval and Bond would've had to chase him and fight off the CIA and all the people that Le Chiffre owed money to. Instead, they wasted a bunch of time with the chase scene in the beginning...which should have been the ending!
If Bond need to get into trouble at the beginning of the movie, getting arrested after saving the plane could've done the trick.
I admit I liked the fight scenes. Killing someone with your bare hands is hard. Two motivated people in fight should be really fuckin' bloody. And the lack of death rays, secret bases with armies of minions was totally cool.

I can't wait for the next movie, I hope there's more ass-kicking, less romance, better villains and just a tad more spying. Jay says is favorite part is when Bond has to call in the Royal Marines for back up and there's a huge battle...hum, they could keep that too, I guess.

Update...

2006-12-04T02:52:00.000-08:00

Update...

The new job is going quite well. It took a few days to get my email set up and now I will taking on more and more of Cole's duties and figuring ways to simplify and arrange things to my liking.
I really like the atmosphere, it's just the four of us. The boss lady knows how to crack the whip, but then she also likes to have fun. I'm gonna be meeting some key people over the next few weeks...I have until the end of the month before Cole leaves and Rebecca and I completely take over his duties. I'm really excited!

There was a Toy Run down in Olympia this weekend. Rebecca, a woman I know from a motorcycle board I belong to, sent out an invite and since I'd never been on a run (or to South Puget Sound on my bike before) I really wanted to go. I got all geared up and hit the highway around 11AM Saturday. The ride down was pretty uneventful, but cold, even though I was wearing two pairs of gloves!
I found the the South Sound Center easily enough. I didn't bring a toy, so I paid the $10 entry fee and got lined up. One half of the parking lot was full of bikes, mostly Harley's and it seemed everyone had on leathers. I felt a bit out of place with my Joe Rocket suit, full face helmet and Kawasaki, but I didn't let it phase me. I'm the one paying for and riding this bike, if you don't like it -- bite me!

I found Rebecca and her friend Doug and we chatted a bit before the 1PM ride time. The local paper said there were something like 72oo riders! It didn't seem like that many, but it did take something like 20 minutes just to get all of us out of the parking lot! As we rolled through town, people stood on the sidewalks and waved. The sun peeking through the haze and the roar of bikes and the close formation made for an exhilerating experience! The ride was fairly short, though. We got to a park near the State Capitol building (a lovely scene) and parked our bikes on both sides of the street. I met up with Rebecca and Doug again, the toys were collected and we spent an hour or so looking at rides. Most of the bikes I saw were fairly new Harley Electra-Glides, Springers, Road Kings, etc. but there was a couple of old Indians, Gilroy Indians and a really cool bobber built around a Yamaha mill.

Doug left after awhile and Rebecca and I spent the rest of the evening bar-hopping an drinking. I crashed at her place, got up had some coffee and watched a bit of football and rode home Sunday afternoon. There was a Motorcycle show this weekend, but I was too beat to go!

This week, my band has a gig at The Comet Tavern on Thursday. Come down if you can make it! We'll bring the rawk!

Back in the Saddle! Where we Goin?

2006-11-27T02:39:00.000-08:00

Man, it's late. But I feel good! I haven't updated my blog in a long time but after I got laid off on September 6 and Mel went back to Denver a week and a half later -- I did a lot of soul searching.
I always wanted to write about what I was DOING, not so much about my transient THOUGHTS or FEELINGS. It's less embarrassing that way.
I occasionally enjoy a good funk, but wallowing in self-pity isn't my style. And if anyone really wants to know what's up with me, all they have to do is ask. I try to be as honest as possible..as long as that doesn't render me completely tactless.
Sometimes, it's just better to wait until things calm down a bit and write with a little perspective.
Somehow the SAD wasn't so bad this year. I'm guessing it's because I'm comfortable here in the house and this summer was so excellent that it didn't feel like I was cheated when the season turned.
I've been employed in some form since I left high school 21 years ago. Time off is a good thing, but broke, frustrated and stir-crazy? Not so good.
My friends were really great during this time, taking me to the movies, or inviting me over to hang out, or taking me out for drinks.
I'll soon be starting a new job. It feels like the first day of school all over again. I'll have to get to know my new co-workers and find out if my new boss is as cool as she seems to be (I have a feeling she is). Mad props to Matt F. for giving me a lead to pursue!
I missed the interactions -- the folks I saw on the bus and the street everyday, rockin' out and discussing politics with Johnny 2X, geek stuff with the boys in the color room.
It's a lousy time of year to be unemployed, with everyone worried about budgets and the distractions of the holidays. One company called me back 3 times, but could never seem to hook me up with the person that I really needed to talk to -- the woman who'd be my boss. They were pretty unprofessional about it, too. I'm going to enjoy telling them (as nicely as possible, of course) that I'm employed elsewhere!
After years of treading water, I feel like I'll finally be moving forward again. And, I have a plan for 2007 -- with goals and shit! Of course, there's no way to predict the future, but it's nice to feel proactive and not just let things happen. Perhaps that goes against keeping a Wu-wei mind, but then, maybe not...
Hopefully, I'll be able to get some work done on my GPZ and get to enjoy riding it this spring and summer. And my Drifter could use some attention. It's a great bike and hasn't given me any trouble at all, except for the flat tire I got in September.
It's starting to get really cold now, so some things will have to wait, which is fine. It'll give me a chance to figure out what my plan of attack (bike-wise) will be.
I'd like to add that Thanksgiving this year was really awesome! I had dinner with Frito, Cindy, their poker buddy Quinn and his girlfriend Emily. I made the mashed potatoes.
The next night was the 10th Orphan's Thanksgiving at Tess' place. I baked two buttermilk pies (I'd never had one before and it just sounded good. And it's an easy recipe) and went with Oani and her fella Dean. Everyone made their specialties and my buddy Jay was able to attend for the first time. He brought a very good selection of liquor which made several folks quite happy.
I don't know why, but I practiced moderation both nights, at least with the food. The pie was a success, I didn't eat any -- I wanted some of the huge caramel apple pie Tess' next door neighbor gave us!
Frito and I got good and ripped on Friday. After we left Tess' we went to The Bad JuJu lounge to check out The Coconut Coolouts, a up and coming local band led by the former singer of Charming Snakes. Maybe I'm getting too old, but the hipster kids there were annoying as fuck. And the band indulged themselves in too much onstage banter, which killed the momentum of the show...ah well.
My band, Blue Star Creeper played The Skylark in West Seattle the following night. I was not as prepared to play as I would've liked to have been, but unlike last time (which was pretty poor, IMO) I kinda knew what to expect. There were four bands on the bill and we went on third. I had enough beer to get me loose but not sloppy. I just concentrated on playing as solidly as possible.
And it worked! I flubbed some notes but our tone is pretty dark and that makes us sound so heavy that it seemed to mask my mistakes.
After the show several people told me I'd done an excellent job...and the sound guy told me some woman wanted to meet me. I think Vicky's sister was merely egging her on, but she was nice.
Louise and her friend (Craig?) showed up. Weez said she really liked us and sent me a picture of the two of us from her party this summer.

It's good to be alive!

And So...

2006-10-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

And So...

Dan "The Man" Corcoran, my former roommate, bon viveur, Main Whig, Freak of the Desert, AKA Hellvis, made it on the cover of this weeks Stranger...

It was only a matter of time.

As he put it:

"All it takes is a wig and big mouse hand and I'm on the cover. Okay, add a silver bodysuit and some nice shades (thanks Liam). Oh, and a (probably empty by then) flask...

Who is the Man with the biggest Hand?

All those ladies at the party thought they were soooooo sexy in their "visible lingerie", and it's the freak with the mickey mouse hand and flask of whiskey that gets the money shot!!

heh.

ps.
props to my hombre Phil "philthy sanchez" in the background..."

This Webcomic...

2006-09-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

This Webcomic...

Made me snort water out my nose!

Saturday/Sunday

2006-09-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday/Sunday

I met up with Oani and her beau Dean at the Crocodile Cafe. We'd missed the opening act, but Oani said Johnny Sonic sucked anyway. The show wasn't sold out, but it was freakin' packed!
I got a couple of beers and tequila shot while Stu was parking the car. I handed him one as he came in and we left our coats with Oan (she's still recovering from a torn Achilles Tendon and was sitting with friends at a table near the door) and headed into the crowd.

The Cherry Poppin' Daddies came on soon after... the drummer and two of the horn players were new and everyone else looked looked just a little older. 'Cause we are!
Dana's rockin' a shaved head and Steve's got a bald patch in the back. There were a lot of kids in swing gear and during the show some dancing broke out.
They ripped through a set that was pretty evenly split between all of their records. The band wasn't as tight as they were back in the day. (I saw my first CPD show in 1990!) They didn't play a lot of my favorites play but with an encore there was about an hour and half of music. I hadn't seen the band in several years, probably since '97 or so and I thought they were finished, so I was quite happy!
I bought a replacement copy of Rapid City Muscle Car and said 'hello' to Steve and Dana. They were gracious enough to pretend they remembered me.
We were out of there by 12:30 or so...it was a great night.

But what happened after was even better.

I had $5 left and I was hungry, so I insisted we go to Dick's. I'm usually flexible on food, but it was almost like I was being compelled to go. We showed up and got some grub and as we were sitting in the car, some people crossed in front of us. Coworkers from my PDI days, Dave C. and his girlfriend Gretchen! I pointed at them and they waved and got in their car to eat. Then some more people crossed in front of the car. One of them was a buxom blond.

We finished our grub and Stu took our trash to the garbage can. But as Stu was getting back in the car, I looked up and the buxom blond was staring down through the window at me, mouth agape.

It was Heather.

I met Heather in 1988, when she was 19. We got to be pretty close friends, both in and out of work. She left the company before I did, but we kept in touch through the years, seeing each other every great once-in-awhile until about 1997, when she moved and changed her number.

I got out of the car and we hugged hard. I was so flabbergasted, all I could do was laugh for joy!
I'd been thinking about her for years! I'd done online searches for her, even procured an address at one time, but didn't do anything about it 'cause I didn't want to skeeve her out.
I'd even given serious thought to hiring a private eye to find her...and just like that, there she was! I couldn't believe my eyes!

She'd been out drinking and dancing with her friends and she had to go, but she gave me her number and made me promise to call her the next day. She also told me that she could be found on MySpace...I informed that I could be too! Heather looked pretty much the same. She told me that she'd been married and divorced and that she'd had a second child.

So I got home last night and started looking for her online. I did a search via MySpace and found out that there were 201 Heathers within 50 miles of my house. I remembered that my Heather is a few years younger than me...so I started skipping all those under 35, though I did have to check anyone who put '99 years old' in the age bracket.
I spent about a hour looking and about 180 profiles in, I found hers. Wow...that close.

I went to bed and hoped she was serious when she said she wanted to meet the next day.

Around noon, I called her. She was really excited to hear from me, though she was hungover! She wanted to meet at 2, so I blew off everyone else and she picked me up at the Pike Place Market. We were both hungry, so I suggested the Twilight Exit.
I'd been contemplating what I'd do when we got together...I was a bit nervous, but it was a little surreal too. Over the last couple of weeks, I've been questioning myself, my life and what I'm doing with it, while wondering where the next 20 years would find me...and if I'd be OK with that. And the Daddies show had touched off a wave of nostalgia as well. But I've felt compelled to do certain things lately and I'm trying hard not to let moments of self-doubt undermine me.

So we ordered bacon cheeseburgers and got caught up. She told me the harrowing details of her marriage and and divorce. She says she's a stronger and more confident person now and she LOVES her daughter...so in a way, it was worth it. I told her about some of the things I'd done over the last nine years. We kept an eye on the Seahawks vs. Giants game.
After awhile, she suggested we go somewhere else. So we drove down to the Arboretum and found a nice quiet spot to sit and talk and watch the ducks swim by. She told me about her kids and we discussed people and events I had not thought of in years. It was like we'd just picked up where we left off. She still has the ability to surprise me with the things she says.

We were both a little weirded out by our reunion...she'd posted a bit on nostalgia on her MS page recently. She said that she'd been surrounding herself with strong women in the wake of the divorce, but felt she needed male friends in her life again...because she didn't want to become bitter. No sooner than she'd voiced that to her aunt, a guy she used to work with had gotten in touch with her.
And then she ran into me!
Around 6PM, she brought me home, I gave her the tour of the 'stead and introduced her to Jason.
We hugged and promised to never lose track of each other again. She added me on MySpace and...I guess we'll see what happens next.

I've been grinning (even more than usual) all day.

What other great mystery will be solved?

Last Night....

2006-09-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

Last Night

I went to a party put on by the Degenerate Art Ensemble.
They're a local band/art/performance group. The idea was that it was the first day or school at Degenerate Catholic High School. They had cheerleaders, priests and nuns, school counselors, a marching band (that played klezmer music!) and performances by Ensamble members and various affiliated groups and musicians.

Stu played with Seattle School (which grew out of the Young Composers Collective and produced the Iron Composer series) and members of Klaang! an improve percussion group he sometimes does performs with.

In between the music acts there were appearances by the Principal, "Mr. Hardman" and various faculty members and teachers. They also played musical chairs (Pure chaos!) and Speed Spelling Bee, in which you could buy a ticket to become a contestant. Participants were paired up and had to slug a shot of rotgut whiskey and spell as many words as given to them in a minute.

There was also the aerialists (the DHS gymnastic team) and you could pay to have people thrown into 'detention' for various fake offenses...where they'd get spanked with a ruler...and a concession stand that sold candy, fish crackers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Outside they had a fake living room with a working TV and VCR. And a dunk tank where you could dunk marching band members or faculty...$5 for three tries.

Once people got drunk, things got more and more surreal...there was this really tall, pretty girl, wasted or high on something that kept crashing into people, dancing and falling down and climbing on things...it was like she was indestructible! She came out of the porta potty with her skirt hiked up above her waist (most of the women there were dressed like Catholic schoolgirls) and stood there for several minutes before someone reminded her to pull it back down.

We left at two, but Weez was drunk so Tyrone drove her home while Stu and I followed...what a day! Tomorrow I go to see the Cherry Poppin' Daddies!

The Way It's Been Lately

2006-09-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

The Way It's Been Lately

So I rolled out of bed this morning at the behest of Keisha, who's meowing incessantly at me. I was up late the night before websurfing and reading (finished "The Moor's Last Sigh" and started Palahniuk's "Diary"). Since Jason's out of town, I figured Keisha was out of food, so I groggily made my way upstairs check her bowl. On my way past the bathroom (where everybody in this household goes poo) I notice that Ryan has moved the catbox outside.
Keisha's dish is almost empty so I filedl it and changed her water. But she's not interested in food, she wanted outside. So I let her out.

I returned to my room, where I briefly consider going back to bed, but I'm awake now. I sometimes use the game "Bejeweled" as an alertness test, so I play a couple of games and get my highest score ever (165500)! I'm awake enough to drive, I reckoned.
The weather was looking kinda iffy, but it seemed to be clearing up. Lately, I've had a Craving for baked goods. Today, I wanted nothing more than a mocha and a bigass chocolate chip cookie. So I get showered an dressed, throw my book in a messanger bag and head off to find "Flour," a bakery that supposed to be somewhere around 60th and Phinney. As I was leaving, Keisha ran into the house.
I rode out to the intersection and don't see anything resembling a bakery...so I turned around, gassed up a nearby filling station and figured I'd head to Candles, a nice little coffee joint not far from where I used to live with Laura.

It wasn't crowded at all, being that it wase around 2PM. I ordered a Black Forest Ham sandwich on sourdough, their special Orange Brandy Latte and a huge chocolate chip cookie. As I ate, I leafed through an issue of Time magazine and evesdroped on the conversations around me. It had turned into a warm, pleasant day.
After finishing off my food, I pack up and head out. As I sat on my bike, I notice the seat is a bit lower than I remembered...weird. Ah, shit! The tire's flat!
As I was texting Melanie, calling Tracy and Tess and swearing under my breath, this young fella comes over and asks me if I need help. Something about the guy seems off and I didn't see him pull up in a flatbed truck, so I tell him no.
I called Lake City Powersports and asked 'em if they can fix it, but they tell me that it's too late in the day for anyone to work on it now. So since it's easier to get home from where I was, I decided to come out early tomorrow and have the bike towed then. This is going to cost me some dough! I'll be lucky if it's only $250...I'm pissed, but it could've happened at any time...and at least I wasn't bombing down the road at 50+ mph like the last time I got a flat!

I go to catch a bus home. But since school just let out, the first bus is crowded with rowdy school kids. I let that one pass and caught the next one. I transfered downtown and get home. I head straight to the computer room to check my messages...and I kick off my boots and socks to relax. I've already rescheduled my happy hour date with Tess and Ms. B, and I'm wondering what I should do with the rest of my evening.

I got up to get a glass of water and as I entered the hallway, my foot grazed something...wet.
Aw, no. Keisha crapped...IN MY ROOM!!
After pushing her outside, I cleaned like a madman. Then burnt some incense to kill the bleach smell. My plans for the evening are shot.

I hope this is bad as it gets.

The Aftermath...

2006-09-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

The Aftermath...

Melanie is back in CO and we had an amazing time. We went to Bumbershoot, Pike Place Market, The People's Republic of Fremont, visited friends in Bremerton, did the first Thursday Art Walk, wandered Broadway, visited coffee shops and pretty much spent every day together while she was here.

It was wonderful!

Mel is warm, funny, sexy, sassy and cool. It was nice to hang out with someone who loves motorcycles, music and food as much (more than?) as I do. She came up with the idea to paint my GPZ with black truck bed liner rather than flat black paint and she and I spent two days sanding and painting. Once I get the front wheel back, I'll have a really cool 'stealth bike'.
We kicked around the idea of getting married and raising Kawasaki's...but since I live in Seattle and she's in Denver AND Johnny 2X and I got laid off from work last week (not enough scanning work coming in) either something is telling me to go for it, or keeping me in place for now.
Melanie was thinking about moving here, but she just got a promotion and she's helping her family out, so she can't go either.

Thing is, she's only been gone a day and I miss her...

I'm going to visit her for her birthday in November. Maybe things will be clearer then.

Last night, my "swim buddy" Jay and I met up with Tess, Stu and Rachel, Elmer, Eugene, Scott and Cindy for my "Laid Off" party at ZigZag. I decided I was only going to have "girly" drinks: I had a Cosmo, Lemondrop, Pink Squirrel, Chinese Cocktail, Midori Sour, Grape Nehi, a shot of Herradura Silver, and a glass of Pernod.
Aside from swaying a bit when I stood up, I felt fine.
Then Jay, Eugene, Elmer and I went to Chinatown to eat.
Jay was so hammered that I wound up driving us home. Then he puked in my yard and had to crash on my couch...

Tonight I'm going to catch Jeremy Ellis at The Baltic Room. He's playing here as part of the Decibel Festival. Here's the flyer:

Then I hit the pavement looking for a job (or two). Wish me luck!

Married!!

2006-08-30T21:07:00.000-07:00

Married!!

No...not me...!
I haven't posted in awhile as the last couple of weeks were pretty busy. I guess the biggest news is that El Stu and Rachel are now husband and wife and that the wedding went swimmingly! Tyrone broke down during the ceremony and set just about everyone off...'cept me, Don and Neil 'cause we're Stone Cold P i m p s...
I took some pics with my camera phone and posted them on my Flickr page. And here are Frito's and James'. I'm hoping the 'official photos' will appear soon!
And that night I ran into Tabitha, who informed me that she got hitched the day before, although the official wedding is in Italy early next month.
Geez, what's wrong with all these people?!
Actually, I'm quite happy for my friends. They fit together well and I expect them to carry on into their dotage together.

So, now what? Well, my friend Melanie will be visiting from Colorado. She gets here on Friday. We're planning to hit Bumbershoot (Sunday looks like the best day to me) and I'm hoping I can show her a good time.

It's hard to believe the summer is almost over...and it was a good one! I wonder what next year will bring?

In the Can

2006-08-14T00:20:00.000-07:00

In The Can.

Another year older.

It was a good weekend. There were several birthdays this weekend. Renee, Tyrone, Rachel, Laurie, Richelle, Peter and I all got a year older over the last few days. On Friday I went out with Frito, Carey, Doug, Greg and Ryan to The Mercury, a local private goth/industrial club. We shot the shit and drank astonishingly cheap booze and watched the Death Babies dance. Good times.

Saturday was my more or less 'official' birthday party. A bunch of the gang met up at Barca and everyone proceeded to buy me drinks...and I drank 'em. I got a bag o' goodies from Rachel, a Johnny Hartman disc from El Stu and a copy of Fear and Loathing in America from Tess.

On Sunday, Tracy took me to Salty's on Alki (quite possibly the best brunch in the state) and we stuffed ourselves. She also hooked me up with a really nice stained glass piece she made herself, and a George Clinton disc and a denim shirt, too!

So To all my peeps who hooked me up or send along good wishes for my birthday:

Carey, Monique, Patty, Doug, Ryan, Greg, Marcia, Scott, Cindy, Richelle, Rachel, Tracy, Tess, my swim buddy Jay, Matt, Sky (thanks for the 'fruity drink' phoar!), Jerel, Melanie, Aaron, Dorinda, Tina, Laurie B. & The Metachat posse...THANK YOU!!

Fear and Loathing...?!

2006-08-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

Fear and Loathing...?!

So, we took El Stu to Las Vegas last weekend. We got to SeaTac a bit later than expected and Stu got pulled aside for a 'closer inspection' when one of his rings set off the metal detector. They told us they were about to shut the door when we finally came steaming in.
Otherwise the flight was uneventful (and nothing went wrong for once!)
We took a limo to the hotel and once we hooked up with James (on a separate flight) we went to get some food in one of the hotel restaurants.
I won't bore you with all the details, but we spent most of the time there wandering around, gambling a bit (James and Frito played poker - I played slots) and we took in a show (La Femme) and went to the obligatory strip club (yawn!).
Vegas looks a bit different than the last time I was there, just a couple of weeks shy of ten years ago. Just like a lot of things, it's bigger and cleaner...
The week before the trip, I'd been reading a lot about the state of everything. The War(s), Peak Oil, Environmental degradation and the possible end of Civillization As We Know It and then I found myself in the place that pretty much defines "Bling," wondering just how much money I'd need to have the ultimate 'Vegas Experience'...what it'd be like to be the Great Black Whale.
Nonetheless, too much food, a cigar, the booze, the feeling of displacement and the August desert heat made me feel sluggish and dull. I'd somehow hurt my back and it hurt to breathe. And it all seemed so absurd: Here we were taking our good friend out to celebrate his marriage to one of the most beautiful, kind and sweet women I know by going to look at naked women...(don't get me wrong, I generally approve of looking at naked women...I guess it was the context...or is that the pretext?) I think managed to have a good time, but I felt mildly out-of-sorts since then. I suppose I just need more sleep!

So there you have it.

As for this weekend, I turn 39 on Sunday. We're meeting for drinks at Barca on Saturday night!
I might also be out with my wingman, Jay and the Westsiiide Posse Friday night.

BTW-Matt Blake. a friend of mine, fell off a balcony in a tequila-related incident, landing on his head! (fuck!) Anyway, he's in Harborview, heavily sedated while they try to assess the brain damage. Matt and his fiance Margaret were supposed to get married soon. So if you can take a few seconds out to send some positive vibes or a prayer their way, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

So It Begins...

2006-07-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

So It Begins...

Tonight is Stu's Seattle bachelor party. We're gonna meet and have some drinks up at the Twilight Exit, then if the fella wanna drag out somewhere they can.
One of his high school buddies got married today and he's going to the wedding, so hopefully everyone will show up around the same time.

I'm taking off now.

Next weekend is our big trip to Vegas!
Rachel got us tickets to La Femme...I think this was a way for us to see boobies -- but not too close up.

Shrewd yin, she is.

Chad and Ylana's Wedding

2006-07-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

Chad and Ylana's Wedding.

It was really nice.
They were crackin' me up though. I kept saying, "This is the slackest wedding evar!"

I'd been pestering Chad for weeks. "Dood, what do you need? Where do I need to be?? When???"
And he'd get this sheepish grin and give me a really vague answer.

So a couple of weeks ago, he emails me and asks what shirt size I wear. I assume we're dressing up so I give him neck size, sleeve length, etc. Then he writes me back and says that he meant like L, XL, XXL. Turns out we're wearing Cuban-style shirts and black slacks.

So I go over there for dinner (there was no rehearsal) on Saturday and we're asking Chad what time he wants us at the park. He's like, "I'll be there at noon...but I dunno about you guys."
So we ask Ylana and she's no better. So Dave suggested 2:30.

We get there and spend the next few hours standing around as the guests arrive...it was held outside at the State Park in Pt. Gamble. Quite lovely, actually. It was a semi-traditonal Jewish wedding (Chad's not Jewish, and I don't think Ylana practices) We didn't figure out what we were supposed to do until shortly before we did it...
Chad was pretty nervous, but greeting everyone and talking to all the relatives kept him pretty distracted.

The ceremony itself was simple and really sweet. They brought a cloth (made by Y's grandmother) suspended by four poles, each held by a friend or family member. The cloth was to resemble the home they were making for each other. Chad waited for Y there and she walked out by herself. The look she had on her face was indescribable...a mixture of joy, fear, love.

Anyway, they had a local musician officiate and a family member from Y's side blessed some wine and they drank it. Then the official did his thing, soliciting a verbal promise from all of us to support the union. Then Y's father (a really sweet, intense fella) gave a short speech about how marriage meant the couple was holy to one another...that the holiness of things is like the Dao, it's what makes a melody more than a sequence of notes, or a home more than four walls and a roof.

Then Chad and Ylana had to give an impromptu speech about what they meant to each other. Chad had been fretting about it and I couldn't hear everything he said, but Ylana looked like she was going to burst from pure joy. She stammered a bit when her turn came, but she told him she'd always be there for him and that she'd be his home.

Then they did seven blessings, each from friends and family members. Had more wine, kissed, then stomped on a glass...and that was it!

The food was excellent...but I had to leave a bit early 'cause I wanted to get home before it got super late.
As it was, I got home around midnight.

Pics are up on my Flickr page.

Meatfest 2006!

2006-07-16T01:39:00.000-07:00

Meatfest 2006!

It was a raging success!

I got to Robert's house around 7PM Friday night. Jay and Jason had been setting up and doing prep work since 9AM that morning.
The ribs and briskets were already on the grills and the whole backyard smelled like roasting meat.
There was only so much to be done, so Robert, his fiance Kelly, Jason, Jay and I basically sat around drinking, smoking, watching thermometers and cracking each other up!

Anyway, we all went to bed around 2AM. I was on the couch and Jay and Jason were sleeping in hammocks in the back yard. We'd already gotten the 8 slabs of ribs off the grill and were waiting for the brisket to finish. At about 6AM, Jay wakes me up and hands me a tiny sliver of meat. It was HEAVENLY! Perfectly smoked and seasoned with just a bit of fat...*sigh*

We spent the rest of the day setting up and prepping the lamb (soaked in buttermilk and stuffed with whole garlic cloves and rosemary), stuffed ham (fresh basil, feta cheese and garlic) and chicken (rubbed with herbed kosher salt, lemon zest and cooked whole with a can of beer stuffed in it).

Our friends started showing up around 3 and somehow we managed to get everything warmed up (the ribs had to have sauce applied) and finished on time. I personally sliced up half the ribs and most of the brisket...and to make sure my hard work got rewarded I got in line (in front of some jokers already working on seconds!) and got ribs, lamb and brisket, but by that time, the salmon and chicken were long gone...

Poor Jay was so busy socializing and overseeing things, that the only thing he got to eat was the last 5 slices of brisket. By the end of the night, the only thing left out all that meat (easily over 100lbs) and the dozens of side dishes were some kumamoto oysters that his best friend Elmer had brought.

We had something like 85 people show up...and I am beat!!

(Frito's pics are here.)

OMG!

2006-07-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

OMG!

I haven't updated in awhile, partially 'cause I've been busy but also 'cause that pic of Tess causes me to giggle every time I look at it. If you know her, you know it's spot on.
My friend Mel (who doesn't know her) asked if she's that beautiful in person and I responded, 'Yes. And she smells wonderful!"

I'd planned to stay in and get some rest over the long weekend, but it was not to be. I went to a BBQ at Stu's on Saturday, then to Mercedes' birthday party. On Sunday, I saw the new Superman movie with Stu and Rachel. On Monday, I helped my mother move into her new place, that night I went to dinner at Frito and Cindy's, then the three of us caught AC Lewis, Rebecca West, Kid Hops and DJ Riz at the Baltic Room. Then on Tuesday, Stu, Rachel, Maria and I attended Christina and Dan's wedding and then caught both fireworks displays from the roof of Tabitha's condo building.

I'm beat.

Anyway, it's summa and it's the Birthday and BBQ season. Frito, Patty, Liz, J-Justice, Heidi, Jake and Tabitha all had birthdays recently. Neil, Marcus, George & Derek's are coming up. Mercedes had a birthday AND got engaged! I'm really happy for her!

Saturday is Frito and Jake's B-day bash BBQ and Chad's bachelor party. The following week is Jay's MEATFEST 2006.

Then Chad gets married. Then Stu's bachelor party in Las Vegas. Then Peter, Richelle, Renee, Tyrone, Rachel and I will have birthdays during the second weekend in August. Hopefully me little bruddah will be here to visit! Then Stu and Rachel tie the knot...

It's hard to believe that in just a couple of months, we'll be rushing headlong into the cold and dark season again...but the nice thing is that (for the most part) everyone is healthy and doing OK, if not fuckin' excellent...two of my bestest guy friends are making a life change and two other couples I know will be greeting their firstborns soon.

If this is now I'm gonna spend my energy, then bring it on!

Tess Sez...

2006-06-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

Tess sez:

Whew...!

2006-06-18T22:53:00.000-07:00

Whew...!

So I went down to the Cretin's clubhouse on Thursday 'cause a) they were meeting there and b) "RhinoViper" from Denver (and the UTMC) was in town and wanted to hang out with some of us Seattle bikers. I got there and was (re) introduced to some of the fellas and had a few beers.
Bob the Junkman, Micah, Chops, Jason and some of the others showed up. There were two monitors, one playing old Isle of Man and Moto GP races and the other was "The Cycle Savages" and "The World's Fastest Indian."
I was in a good mood 'cause I've finally gotten the GPZ (AKA The Road Bike) running again. Turned out that the ground wire had somehow gotten stripped, shorted and broke. I had been digging around looking for loose wires and whaddyaknow? I twisted the two parts back together again and wrapped the whole think in electrical tape. Plopped in the freshly charged battery and she started right up! I've been riding it around ever since.
Anyway, Danelle was really freakin' cool. Her boyfriend is stationed at Ft. Lewis is about to ship out for a 3 year tour in Germany, so she came out from Denver to see him. Being the hardcore SV650-riding babe she is, she put up a post on the UTMC board looking for the "Seattle Contingent" (The UTMC doesn't have chapters, it's the anti-motorcycle club motorcycle club). Smokey and I responded and it was all good.
I dragged my sick ass out of bed on Friday and went to work. On returning home I realized I'd left my keys at the office. Fortunately, Johnny stayed late and Kim said he'd be there another half hour! I bump started the GPZ (the Drifter key was downtown) and got there in time to grab 'em. Then I met Maria, Oani, Jay, Neil and Renee at the Twilight Exit for beers and Nachos.
On Saturday, I rolled down to my sister's house in Tacoma for my middle nephew's graduation. Luke is a good kid and my mom and aunt's all showed up. The ceremony was held at the Tacoma Dome. I ran into a old coworker from my insurance days.
On returning home, I was trying to rally to go to The Baltic Room to catch SunTzu's monthly, but Tess and I talked and we decided to hang out at her house. She and I got caught up then wandered across the street to Laurie and Barcus' place. We sat on the deck and listen to a funk show on KGRG, drinkin' and smokin'. Then Tess went home to sleep and Laurie and I went into the basement and played records until I left around 1AM.
I woke up around 9 on Sunday and went over to Frito's. We watched the first half the Frace v. S. Korea match, then went out to Frye's. I bought some new headphones for my Creative Zen and Frito checked out some parts for his new computer. I got home and realized I was dead. effin. tired. I went to bed around 6, woke up at 9, chatted online until 10 or so, then went back to bed.
All in all...a good weekend.

Tonight I'm going to The Baltic to catch my friend Ryan's DJ set. The legendary Gregory Isaacs is at Chop Suey tomorrow night, but I may have band practice...

Beat!

2006-06-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

Beat!

I'm tired. I left work on Friday, came home, showered and got dressed for Matt and Kim's wedding reception. Jay came by and picked me up. We rolled out to the beach house at Golden Gardens. It was a lovely evening. Cloudy, but the sun was glorious as it slowly dived towards the horizon.
As usual, the beach was packed and the air was filled with the smell of bbq.
We made our way into the party, just as the waitstaff was collecting all the food...
WTF!
So Richelle, Jay and I had some cupcakes and shot the shit with Dante, Kim, Kiyo, Matt, Kim, Peter and some other Photodisc people that were there. We talked the waitstaff into hooking us up with some food too!
After the sun went down, we helped pack everything up and headed up to Matt and Kim's brilliant house in North Beach. I had to get back though, 'cause my new band, Blue Star Creeper was playing a gig at The Blue Moon. Jay dropped me off at home, I changed clothes and walked in right as the first band was packing up. I watched most of BSC's set and then joined them for the last three songs.
Porter Harp was on next. He and the lead singer in BSC were in a band together years ago. I worked with Porter at PhotoDisc so I really wanted to catch his set. It was some really cool stuff...like Phish, but not as 'jammy'.

The next day, I was picked up by Liz and Jessi as our friend Rebecca was graduating from the UW. We got into Husky Stadium (my first time!) and cheered as Becca walked in with Bachelor of Science kids. William Ruckelshaus gave the commencement speech and it was a pretty awesome one too! Not what I was expecting from a guy who'd worked for Nixon and Regan. He told the graduates that his generation had left them some "pretty big messes to clean up" and cited a pretty "liberal" sounding list. He was booed a bit when he called the Iraq War unjustified, but he got way more applause. Some of us (myself included) gave him a standing ovation!
After getting out of the clusterfuck of traffic around the U., Liz, Jess and I went to the Twilight Exit for beer and nachos. Then we took the ferry to Bremerton.
We hung out for a bit, then met Rebecca at The End Zone, but the place was dead. Turns out there's a new bar in Pt. Orchard called Mako's Bar and Grill. So off we went!
I won't bother to describe Mako's...I suggest you go yourself. Depending on how you like to have a good time, you could have a lot of fun there....or not. It was worth it, just to watch the mating dance and all the latest club bangers, though they could use a real DJ...y'know - with actual turntables.
I crashed on the couch and the next morning had coffee and cigs with Liz while we sat on the back porch and absorbed the day. I caught the 12:35 boat home.
It was a crackin' day. So after a shower I called Frito and rolled out to his place. He'd just gotten back from surfing. We watched the Netherlands v. Serbia/Montenegro and several episodes of "Arrested Development".

I got to bed around midnight.

BTW- If you click here you can download mp3's of The Visitors, which was me, Matt, Stu and Andy. This stuff was recorded at three different sessions in two different studios between '94 and '97. We didn't know anybody in the scene or how to promote ourselves, but I daresay the performances are actually better than on the Fey Ray album.

There's a earlier verions of "I Wanna Be New and Perfect" that has a killer pick slide, which IMO makes the damn song!

Anyway, I'd love to get y'alls feedback on it. And if you didn't already know, Fey Ray is no more. Matt's getting his Masters and learning Arabic, Seth's doing solo stuff and playing with The Graze and Rosyvelt and Adam has his jazz group and is awaiting his firstborn.

Thanks to all who came out and supported us, bought CD's or gave us encouragement over the last five years. I had a blast!

Onward!!

Wahgh...

2006-06-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

Wahgh = Two stawberry juice/Japanese vodka drinks, three Maritime Nightwatch, a pint and a half of Frito's homebrew and three cans some malt beverage whose name I can't remember.
There were three crying females, a shitload of records spun, 40+ miles put on the bike. I'm broke, single and exhausted...but strangely calm.

I hope next weekend is chill.

Lip Service

2006-05-31T23:05:00.000-07:00

Lip Service
(Elvis Costello)

You left the motor running.
But I know you're so attractive.
Getting in some sharp practice.
You better not do anything reckless.

But everybody is going through the motions.
Everybody is going through the motions.
Are you really only going through the motions?

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me.
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me.
Lip service is all you'll ever get from me.
But if you change your mind
you can send it a letter to me

Don't make any sudden movements.
These are dangerous amusements.
When did you become so choosy?
Don't act like you're above me;
just look at your shoes.

[Repeat bridge and chorus]

But if you change your mind
you can send it a letter to me
But if you change your mind
you can send it a letter to me
But if you change your mind
you can send a little letter to me

Memorial Day

2006-05-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day

Tracy decided that we should visit her relatives cabin on Whidbey Island. So we went and picked up the key from her son's grandparents on Friday. We would've left that evening, but Jay's birthday is tomorrow, so we met up with him and a bunch of his friends at The Bush Garden for drinks and to watch some folks murder some pop songs. I never acheived the level drunken bravado that would allow me to get my ass up there (despite Tracy's urgings - I'm like: "I sing to you all the friggin' time! And only when will cause me to embarrass myself does it count! Just like a woman!!") Jay was feeling no pain when we left, but I imagine that a trip to the Honey Court for some food later made the transition back to sobriety a tad easier.
With all that out of the way, we got an early start and arrived at the cabin (more like a small beach house) Saturday afternoon. The view was quite lovely. We were told that the tide was going to be really low around noon the next day. We went for a quick jaunt to the beach. The tide was coming in, so we pretty much put on our jammies, packed the CD player (roughing it? Hardly.) and laid around. Tracy packed quite a bit of food. Devilled eggs, AriZona green tea (for me), chicken breasts marinated in various spices, fruit (yick!), potatoes, lemon bars (for me), eggs, onions, garlic, pineapple juice, club soda and a bottle of Stoli. I built a fire and tended the grill that evening. We had steak marinated in Kalbi sauce and corn on the cob. Then we got our drink on.
The next day, we rolled out of bed and finished breakfast as the tide was going out. Armed with shovels and a couple of buckets we trooped down to the beach. After a few false starts, I found that clams love to taunt you by squirting a jet of water into the air. I basically dug a couple of holes and spend an hour hauling the little buggers out of the ground, espousing my prowess as The Great Clamhunter S.
Tracy was gracious enough to entertain my delusions, but we did manage haul our limit out of the ground in a couple of hours. We also caught a crab, but since neither of us could remember how to tell a male from a female, we let it go!
Lemme tell ya, those clams were freakin' HUGE! A few of my captures we almost as big as my fist! Tracy said she preferred the smaller ones she called "steamers" 'cause they didn't need cleaning.
"Uh...Cleaning?!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah. I'm sure you don't wanna deal with all those guts."
Already, The Clamhunter's enthusiasm was on the wane...
Tracy steamed up a nice sized bowl with wine, garlic and onion. I had a few...there was huge bucket outside with rather huge butter and horse clams innit and frankly, I didn't know when we'd get around to eating them. So I decided that I'd take them back to the beach in the morning and set 'em free.
That night we watched "Pieces of April", "Life or Something Like It" and then I watched a really bad vampire flick that Patty gave me. "Pieces of April" was fucked-up in the way that families are sometimes, but we were both leaking water when it was over. "Life" was a typical chick-flick but it had Angelina Jolie innit, nuff said.
We spent a couple of hours cleaning everything up while pumping house music. I assume the clams I released back into the wild burrowed successfully into the sand, 'cause I didn't see a big flock of seagulls over the spot I'd left them.
Tracy joked that this weekend would make us or break us, but I counted that we spend most weekends together anyway. Why would this one be any different?

Women.

Long Post!

2006-05-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

Long Post!

It was pretty killer week. Tracy and I went to catch a sold-out George Clinton at The Showbox on Tuesday. T. bought the tickets. She'd seen the Black Eyed Peas the night before!
The opening act, The Children of Production was pretty tight. Funk and rap with a bit of R&B. Turned out that one of the female rappers is Clinton's granddaughter. After their set, Clinton's band came on and got the crowd hyped, then the Man Hisself appeared and everyone went nuts.
I think everyone was a bit concerned at first, 'cause it's been rumored the George hasn't been doing too well lately. I was disappointed by his appearance at Bumbershoot a few years ago. He looked like he'd just gotten up from a nap! But as the night went on, he seemed to get more and more energized! They pretty much stuck to the hits and the packed, sweaty, dancing crowd loved it!
Me? Not so much. I dunno why, but it seemed like they played everything at 3/4 speed, which was fine for some songs, not so good for some others. "Flashlight" seemed to drag on FOR-EVER!
I'd had a long day, so I was ready to go by midnight...and Tracy actually had to work! So we bailed before the show was over.

On Thursday, Frito and I went to The Baltic Room to catch Domu at The Baltic Room. It was sparsely attended, but the SunTzu posse stepped things up a bit and Domu's set was pretty killer.

On Friday, Tracy and I bought ice cream and stayed in.

On Saturday, I went over to Stu and Rachel's to meet Rachel's parents. Suze, Tyrone, Neil and I were all there and we had a pretty good time. Tracy met me there on her new motorcycle, "Muzzy" and she and I went on a 40 mile ride around the city. T was such a little badass on her Ninja. That aftermarket muffler makes the coolest sound!
Later on, we went down the Baltic to hang out. SunTzu and Kid Hops (from KEXP) were spinning. I had a nice buzz on from the coconut rum and coke I'd been drinking at Tracy's, plus a couple of vodka collins at the bar.
However, upon leaving, I insisted on a Dick's run which resulted in me wolfing down three cheeseburgers and thus spending the day feeling like I'd swallowed a rock.

Today, I went a reunion of sorts.

You see, back in 1979 Seattle started mandatory bussing. I got assigned to McClure Middle School on Queen Anne Hill. The first year the tension was pretty intense. A lot of the Queen Anne kids were pissed that they wouldn't get to go to Queen Anne High School (where my cousin June got harrassed) like their parents and grandparents did 'cause after 9th grade, they'd get bussed to Franklin out in the south end. I think we were too young and innocent to carry any super-hardcore attitudes, after all, I went to school with whites and Asians anyway. But these north end kids were way more affluent. They had their own slang and rock n roll seemed like a religion to them. Nobody from my neighborhood skiied or played hockey. And Queen Anne was a pretty tightly-knit community, although WAY more blue-collar than it is now.
So there were the usual fights and bullshit, but nothing major. Anyway, Jim Briggs and I got to pals on the last day of school that year. It was like fourth period and we were allowed to hang out and shoot the shit, 'cause there was no work to do. I don't remember how we started talking, but I remember trying to change the lyrics to Jermaine Jackson's 'Let's Get Serious' to 'Let's Eat Cereral' or something silly like that.
I think Jim's father died in a car wreck some time after that. I might have seem him once over the summer. I went to visit my Dad in Atlanta that year.
We carried on our friendship throughout jr. high school. In ninth grade, Jim and I would leave campus (totally against the rules) and he would take me up to this little five and dime on Galer St. on Queen Anne Hill. He'd buy me a Hostess Fruit Pie and milk 'cause I never had any money.
Don Nelson was a gruff old Norwegian guy, OLD SCHOOL SEATTLE, big time. He was bald and wore plain black-framed nerd glasses. He and his brother Fred ran Nelson's Food Store and for some reason, all the kids in the neighborhood would hang out there. It was like our club house! We'd play video games in the back, or hang out in Don's office, drinking bottled Coke and causing trouble. For some reason, Don would put up with us! Well, most of the time. It was a love/hate relationship, I think.
I moved away for two years, but on coming back to town in the summer of 1984, Nelson's was one of the first places I went. Of course all the heads were there: Rick, Andy, Paul, Gary, Brian, The Devil, Eric, Chris, Jimmy, Bret and Adam, etc. along with a whole cast of people from the neighborhood. I hung out there up until Jim went into the Marines. By then, the crowd I was hanging with had changed.
Anyway, Don Nelson died a few weeks ago. I missed the funeral, but Andy wrote me and asked me if I'd like to get together with some of the guys and have breakfast.
We met at the High-Life in Ballard.
It was Andy, Paul, Jim and Jimmy - I don't think we'd all been together in over 20 years! It was weird, 'cause amidst all the thinning and gray hair and talk of wives and kids and the shit we used to pull during our teen years, I was floored by all the names that came up -- and that we'd hadn't really changed much at all. All the people I knew. I'd gone camping and drinkin' and played endless games of basketball with these guys. I hadn't thought about Don Nelson in all that time, either.
We piled into Andy's ancient Cadillac DeVille and rolled out to Don's grave in north Seattle. His headstone wasn't in yet, but we paid our respects (mostly imitating things he'd said) and then went to see Eric, who lives nearby. I carried a weird feeling home with me today. How long until I start going to my friend's funerals? I hope it won't be for awhile (especially since we're now on the second wave of marriages and childbirths), but it's enevitable, innit?

I think we'll all make more of an effort to keep in touch now.

Wig N Skirt Party

2006-05-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

Wig N Skirt Party

Tonight is the (somewhat) annual Wig N Skirt Party, put on my former roommate Dan The Man.
I was over at the house last night and this one's gonna be a doozy!
I hope to see you there, but if not...too bad!

I'll post pics to my Flickr site sometime tomorrow.

W00t!

Pics from past events (we didn't have one in '05):

2002
2003
2004

And/Or...?

2006-05-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

And/Or...?

It was a great weekend...I caught one of the DJ's from Jazzanova on Thursday. The Mecha/Mefi meetup Saturday was a lot of fun and probably the best one yet! I came in to work on Sunday and we rearranged the scanning room and blacked out the windows. Now it's nice and dark in there and the light isn't always shifting!

I was looking forward to Beltane with my B-town friends, but my mother called today to tell me my grandmother had passed away. I was kind of expecting this as she was in poor health and my mother told me she wasn't doing so good. But at least her children were there to say goodbye and until my mom and aunt's make arrangements, everything is on hold.
My grandmother would've been 92 years old. She had 10 children - 9 of which are still around. We're pretty much scattered all over the west, so even though the funeral will be a somber occasion, the gathering of the tribe will be nice.

Oh, and props to Steven Colbert for his big, clanging titanium balls!

The Weekend Ends Here.

2006-04-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

The Weekend Ends Here.

I couldn't decide what I wanted to do Friday night, but then El Stu called and said that he, Rachel and James were going to On The Boards and then head over to Arthur and Julie's party in Beacon Hill.
I called The Frito and he and Cindy came and picked me up. We stopped in at Barca for a drink, then went over to the party. Stu never showed, bastard. But I did get to see Rob and his lovely wife Annie and the hosts of course. We milled around, drinking keg beer (the house was huge and coolasfuck, btw) and we eventually met a couple of nice ladies from the PDX, who are big geeks. So we talked about Buffy, Angel, Battlestar Galactica and all the other cool stuff on TV.
Tracy met me at the house and we held hands and read the cool parts of 2nd Thesslonians to each other (heh).

On Saturday T and I got up and went to breakfast at the Blue Star, then out to Bent Bike. I bought some gloves and T and I sat on a few bikes. The inventory was pretty beat though. We went up the street to Lynnwood Cycle Barn and she tried on a few more bikes and then decided that the Kawasaki Ninja 500 was the one for her. I suggested that we go to a Suzuki dealership so she could check out a SV650. She liked the bike but found the seating uncomfortable. Turned out that they had used Ninja 500, so she's thinkin' seriously about getting it!
After that we stopped by Trading Musician, where I sold my old Ampeg Portaflex amp.
Tracy went home and I spent the rest of the afternoon washing and polishing Bettie. Then I hopped on her and went down to The Pink Door for JR's birthday and burlesque show. We jammed into the lounge and watched Ruby Slipper, Indigo Blue and the Swedish Housewife do their thing. Tracy and her friends Kim and Meghan came down to join us. A good ol' time was had by all...

Today, T and I went to Dim Sum then I went on a 43 mile ride around town. I took some pics and posted some stuff on Flickr.
This comic (NSFW) cracked my shit up!

That is all.

Recap

2006-04-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

Recap

The Elbow show on Tuesday was simply amazing! Guy Garvey seemed to be recovering from a cold (or perhaps fighting off one) 'cause he had trouble hitting a few notes, but his humor and showmanship (not to mention DAMN fine tunes) carried the day. There was much love from the packed house too.
Elbow and Coldplay are often linked in the music press, but I find that it's a VERY poor comparison. IMHO, the only band that seems to be anywhere close to them for mood/atmospherics and groove is the band Doves, who are actually good friends of theirs. I really liked Coldplay's first album, but they seem to be content writing rather lightweight (but deep-sounding) pop tunes, while Elbow is working on a whole different level. The show was a somewhat different experience than the records, 'cause the gorgeous backing vocals were missing, but even so "Fugitive Motel", "Switching Off" and "Powder Blue" gave me goosebumps.
They played a couple of songs I hadn't heard before, both badass...!
Patty, Angela, Laquita, Rachel, Stu and Tess were all present and we ran into Jason J. after the show.

I had plans to meet Jay down at The ZigZag Cafe on Friday. I decided to widen out the plans and invite more folks, so I sent out some emails. Then I heard from Rachel that El Stu had been (rather uncerimoniously, IMHO) laid off from his job - 13 years of service!

So then it turned into a party! Stu was pretty smashed by the time Jay and I got there.
Tracy came down and met my friends. Scott, Sarah, Renee, Oani, Tess and Shawn were all there.
Afterwards, some of us went up to The Alibi Room and continued drinking. There was a going-away party for a local DJ going on downstairs, so AC and Jason J. were in the house. I saw Plastiq Phantom and Michiko from IQU too!

The next night, Tracy and I went down to The Baltic Room to catch the inaugural of SAFARI, a new SunTzu night. Veteran Techno DJ/Composer John Beltram was in the house. Dan The Man showed up with a bunch of people I hadn't seen in yonks and Tracy and I danced together for the first time!

It is very gratifying to have your friends come up to you and tell you that your girlfriend is really cool...

Elbow Tomorrow!

2006-04-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

Elbow Tomorrow!

WHOOHOO!!

BTW-I have a girlfriend! She lured me to her house Friday with promises of pizza, sex and strong drink. It became official around 10:24AM Saturday. Her name is Tracy, but since I know about 4 people with that name, I'm gonna refer to her as my Main Squeeze...or MS fer short. Or maybe Squeezy.

Anyway, Maximum RPM was a blast. I went to the show at Jules Mae's with Frito, Liz and JR then down to ride on Saturday. It rained all day and by the time we got to The Nightlight (BTW-it was totally badass riding through downtown in a block-long group of bikes) my ballistic nylon jacket was soaked and I was chilled to the bone.
So after a hot shower and a nap, Squeezy picked me up and we went down to the party at the clubhouse. We were joined by Frito and Cindy and we spent the night drinkin' beer and hanging out. I took a bunch of pictures, I hope to get them up on Flickr soon.

MAXIMUM RPM

2006-04-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

MAXIMUM RPM

The Cretins Motorcycle Club is throwing a weekend long ride/party/ and all-around shindig with all procceds go to the injured rider fund. It is for a good cause and we hope we can have your support.

Thanks.

April 6-9

Thursday Night April 6
Rock Show benefit for Cretin Buzz who crashed on the ice and was hit by a car back in Dec. Buzz was rushed to Haborview and diagnosed with a broken pelvis, ribs, shoulder, and collarbone. He had to stay in H.B.V. for over a week. The kicker is, he was un-insured. His medical bills for this will be well over $100K.

Featuring : The Spazms, Scattergun, Rain City Shwillers -- Jules Maes Saloon (Jules Maes Saloon is located on the corner of Airport Way South and Nebraska in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood.)(206) 957-7766 http://www.julesmaessaloon.com/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday night April 7
Cretin Club House ( 1600 E. Marginal way south )
Friday Night Poker
Contact maximumrpm@cretins.org or reply to ad to sign up.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SAT. April 8
Meet at Cretin Clubhouse ( 1600 E. Marginal way south )
Saturday Ride In The Country
Ride Starts at Noon
Party Afterwards at clubhouse 5PM

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Sunday April 9th
Hangover Breakfast
Meet at 10AM at club house ( 1600 E. Marginal way south )
Follow the BellaDonnas Scooter Club to Brunch

This Will Be Our Year

2006-03-27T22:53:00.000-08:00

This Will Be Our Year

I went to a Metafilter meetup on Wednesday and hung out for quite awhile. Everyone was really friendly and fun. We got a buzz on, did some shoutouts and had some food. I met some new people and saw some others I hadn't a long time...good times, good times.
On Friday, Frito and I went to see his latest Blue Disguise signing The Emergency down at the Croc, but I was broke and they were on first (thought we'd get on the list). So we had a warm MGD (yick!) and walked down to the hotel where Cindy works and had a few with her and her friends. Which was...interesting to say the least.
On Saturday I met up with Tracy for coffee...which turned into beers...which turned into dinner at one of my favorite Thai food joints. I came home for awhile, then hopped the ferry to Southworth and hung out with some of the Westside posse. It was Miss Kim's birthday and she got some really neat presents. Spanish soap, a watch and a comb for her hair, a notebook and a really nice electric guitar! I guess she'll be taking lessons soon.
I hung out with Tracy again on Sunday, then met up with Kathleen in Ballard for chai & cupcakes, then we caught the new Spike Lee Joint. VERY good movie...probably one of the best 'crime genre' movies I've seen in ages. I'll have to watch it again to catch some of the stuff I missed.
K. and I parted ways after the flick and I met Stu at my house. We got some really bad deli food at Safeway, then went to Frito's for movie night. We watched a couple of short documentaries that Laurie had produced for The Seattle Channel and PBS. Then Stu pulled out the Short Films of David Lynch...I was unimpressed. So much so, that I fell asleep on Cindy.
All-in-all a good week. And there a good things on the horizon. As I was walking home from the bus stop today, I thought, "This is gonna be a good year."

I can feel it, yo.

Quotidian Riddims...

2006-03-22T09:27:00.000-08:00

Quotidian Riddims...

I haven't updated in awhile. We have connection problems at home (Grrr. Comcast!) and frankly -- there's not a lot to write about at the moment.
Spring has arrived and the trees and plants are blooming. It feels as though a huge weight is off my shoulders and I look forward to hitting the road. It was really nice last Sunday, so I took my Drifter out for a couple of hours, then stopped in and El Stu's and hung out with him and Rachel.
On Monday, after much haverin', I went and caught part of Richard Hawley's set at The Tractor Tavern. If you didn't take my earlier advice and go to his website, I think you should check out his set at the KEXP studios...it was sublime.
I got tickets or Elbow's gig at The Showbox April 11. Patty and Angela will be coming along and I'm hoping Tess and the McLeod's will be there as well.
Tonight is a Metafilter gathering at The Elysian. I'm hoping I can get Scott Bwoy to hang out with me.
Yesterday was Adumb's birthday and Oani's is on the 25th. Congrats to you both!

P.S. I asked Carla and the guy on my bus is NOT Nick Licata...just looks a lot like him. Ah well.

Funny...

2006-03-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

Funny...

I just realized that the quiet guy who catches the bus with me every morning is none other than Seattle City Council member Nick Licata.
I wondered why he was at this year's Carlapalooza, turns out she's his legislative assistant.

Geez.

So...

2006-03-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

So...

Everything is cruising right along, for the most part. Of course change is all around, but since most of it is the logical progression of things, I can't get to bent out of shape over it.
It's like watching your garden grow in strange, unpredictible and wonderful ways.
I've been groovin' (as per usual) on the slowly lengthening days and the cherry and apple tree blossoms. Most of the trees and spouting leaves and there's been a few days in the last week where all the mountains were out...and it was ossem!
Work has been steady and quiet...although I suspect that may change in the next week or so. I spent the weekend celebrating Tess' 32nd birthday (geez, it's been ten years!) and hanging out with my former co-worker Beau and his wife, who were visiting from Eugene for a friend's birthday.
Last Saturday was kinda nice, so I bundled up and hopped on the GPZ. I went to Bent Bike up in Lynnwood and bought a headlight bracket, and some fork-mounted turn signals. Came home and took the cheesy, 80's-lookin' front fairing off the GPZ and remounted the headlight and added the new turn signals.
I'm totally in love with the change. The big square headlight gives the bike a much more 'mechanical' look, although I've sacrificed the little wind protection I had. Still, the bike looks more Mad Max or streetfighterly now and I love it!
There's a good chance it'll be clear for awhile on Saturday...maybe I'll take her out on the highway and see if I can do The Ton!

You Wanna Know Why?

2006-03-04T01:00:00.000-08:00

You Wanna Know Why?

I Don't Mind At All

Bourgeois Tagg

The time for talking's over now
I guess it's time to let you go
But I don't, no, I don't mind at all
It`s getting so you never know
When things are better left alone
But I don't, no, I don't mind at all
It's important to me
That I don't see you laughin' at me
But I'm smart enough to know
That I have to let you go
But I don't mind at all
Sentimental tears will get you
Far as you might think they will
But I don't, no, I don't mind at all
Misery loves company
But she will never foot the bill
But I don't, no, I don't mind at all
It`s important to me
But I don't see you laughin' at me
But I'm smart enough to know
That I have to let you go
But I don't mind at all
Several years ago I said goodbye to my own sanity
But I don't, no, I don't
No, I don't mind at all

That's Why.

OVER!!

2006-03-01T22:12:00.000-08:00

OVER!!

The bus ride downtown was rather uneventful. He sat in his usual spot in the back staring into space, Radiohead's second album blasting in his ears. As the bus descended down Capitol Hill, a young woman boarded that caught his attention.
She had on a expensive-looking cream-colored overcoat and brown pumps. Olive skin. Big dark shades covered her eyes and she had on bright red lipstick and curly, "JF hair." The overall effect was stylish, retro and a bit mysterious, like a femme fatale in a Fellini movie.
He thought she's probably opt for one of the seats up front, but instead she confidently marched to the back and sat next to him, crossing her long bare legs.
Everyone else on the bus was bundled up in scarves, boots, heavy coats, gloves and dark, muted colors.
Then it occurred to him. "She's the Herald of Spring!" He smiled.

The Doldrums are over...

Richard Hawley

2006-02-26T22:17:00.000-08:00

Richard Hawley

I heard about this guy from a site I frequent. The music is in a similar singer/songwriter style like Elvis Perkins but there's a Roy Orbison vibe there too. Check out "Precious Sight" it shore is purty!

Elvis Perkins

2006-02-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

Elvis Perkins

I heard a really great song, "Ash Wednesday" on KEXP by singer/songwriter Elvis Perkins. I was moved to write him and tell him how much I enjoyed the tune and he wrote me back! How cool is that?!!
I guess his album won't be out for awhile, but you should go to his site and check out the mp3 streams he's got up.

Randomage 13:13

2006-02-19T22:31:00.000-08:00

Randomage 13:13

Friday:
It had been a pretty uneventful week, though the middle of it was busy. We got a small job in and we've been moving around some stuff. I guess we're going to be expanding soon. My major accomplishment that day was putting together a desk from Ikea! I had lunch with Stu and one of the fellas at work had brought in some rum, so I had a snort late in the afternoon.
After I got home, Liz, JR and Kim came over to pick me up. We had dinner at LaSpiga and then went out to Greg's house for Doug's birthday party.
We were early, so we geeked out to the expanded version of Dune and made mixed drinks, eating whatever the fellas managed to heat up (I guess the stove didn't work that well?) and occasionally going out to the back porch to smoke menthols and bitch about how cold it was. All in all, a good time.

Saturday:
I woke up at 7AM (after going to bed around 2 or 3) and lay in bed listening to "Eat the State" on KEXP. I promised myself that I wouldn't get up until at least 11, so after awhile I drifted off again. After a while I got up and called Frito. I asked him if he'd eaten and if he was interested in going out to "Geek Heaven" 'cause I needed a new hard drive. He told me that he'd had cake for breakfast, but Cindy was still sleeping, so he was sure she'd be hungry. So I got washed and dressed, then (for reasons that escape me) I decided that it would be a good time to clean the chain on my GPZ, so I got the WD-40 and a rag and started messing with that. It was a clear but chilly day, but it felt good to be in the sun anyway.
I got to Frito's awhile later and Cindy was up and ready to go. We piled into the Mini and decided on Red Robin's for lunch. SouthCenter was a clusterfuck and I was amazed that just about every parking lot was full. We got in and out of Red Robin pretty easily, I got an 100GB Maxtor for $60 and we wandered the store for awhile, looking at laptops, monitors and iPod accessories. Cindy bought us coffee.
I went home and swapped the HD, reinstalled Windows XP and read, coming into my computer room to push appropriate buttons or restart when needed. Frito came over around 9:30 and we headed to the Baltic Room. It was CARNIVAL '06 with the Sun|Tzu Posse - broken beats, BossaBazillian sounds and lots of pretty girls. Tess was supposed to be there, but she didn't make it, which was a bit of a letdown, because I'd been thinking about her all day for some reason and when she called to ask if I was going, I thought maybe all would be made clear. However, LaQuita (AKA The Chocolate Goddess) and some other hotties sat and chatted with us, which kinda made up for it. I also was introduced to Kid Hops (he hosts Expansions (with Riz and MASA) and Positive Vibrations on KEXP and works with Scott), he's a heck of a nice guy.
For some reason (maybe the booze talkin'?) I insisted on going to Jack In Box after we closed the joint, which led to:

I dreamt that I was downtown...I don't know why but in my dreams, downtown Seattle is always a much flatter and broader place. Criss-crossed with trolley tracks. I was downtown making my way somewhere and when I got to my house, this skinny kid was standing outside my house. The sounds of some kind of celebration could be heard and when I asked him what was going on, he grinned at me and said, "Fam'ly, man." In heavy Jamaican accent.
I went into the house and my aunts and mother were along with some old fat Russian guys.
"Come meet your uncle Dimitry!" my mother called.
Dimitry was a character straight out of Central Casting with a slightly gangsterish air about him (and a stained white seersucker suit). He was sweaty and pretty drunk. "Nice to meet you!" He said, crushing my hand. Then he ripped a huge fart and everyone laughed.

WTF?!

I think that was my last sourdough burger for awhile.

Sunday:
Not much. I rode to Fremont to the Sunday Market and wandered around. Had some Thai food and came home and spent the rest of the afternoon reinstalling programs and my bookmarks. Talked to Stu and Mercy and Jessi on the phone. Finished "A Storm of Swords." IM'd with Steve.

Elbow Interview

2006-02-17T15:56:00.000-08:00

Elbow Interview

Pop Matters interview Elbow here.

Still Here...

2006-02-07T22:23:00.000-08:00

Still Here...

I haven't updated in awhile, I guess I've been "busy." But I hope to find time to catch up with y'all soon!

A Drinkin' We Will Go...

2006-01-29T22:08:00.000-08:00

A Drinkin' We Will Go...

Jessi was nice enough to send some pictures from my night out in Pt. Orchard week before last.
That was a swell evening...I basically drank whatever Liz handed me. And we watched the AFC and NFC Championships the next day while trying to recover.

I don't remember what JR is laughing about...ah well.

I vaguely recall dancing to "Gold Digger" with Kim.

Jessi was pretty beat when she woke up Sunday morning, as was Liz. However, we stopped by Jack In The Box on the way home and the proper application of salt and grease fixed me right up!

Good times...

GO HAWKS!!

You only get only get one chance for living,..

2006-01-29T09:42:00.000-08:00

You only get only get one chance for living...

I have been super busy of late, I put in 9 hours of overtime Saturday and there's still a ton of work coming in. I may bitch some, but I could use the money -- Baby needs a new set of tires.
Otherwise, things are pretty good. My mother had a slight setback, a fever that kept her in the hospital longer than expected but she's out now and doing OK.
On Friday, a bunch of us went to see the Emerald City All-Stars at the Columbia City Cabaret. Columbia City was a pretty run-down neighborhood when I lived near there back in the day, but now it's rapidly become Fremont South. We could barely find parking and the bar and club were packed! I know burlesque is becoming chic again, but this was nuts!
Fortunately, I had a hookup through Cindy. Nothing like walking to the head of a line!
The theater is beautiful; I remember when the place was briefly a heavy metal club back in the mid 80's. Cindy tells me there's a recording studio in there too. The show featured Tamera the Trapeze Lady, Fancy Chance, Babette, Indigo Blue and The Swedish Housewife, I think I've seen just about all of them before at various venues around town. Afterward, Jay and I took off to a Thai restaurant downtown for his best friend's clothing line launch. Even though I didn't know anybody, everyone I was introduced to was super-friendly. Elmer was in high sprits, the place was packed and the only reason I didn't stay longer was because I had to work the next day.
And What A Fiasco That Was!!
It was lightly raining when I left home, which was cool -- I had my old motorcycle jacket and jeans on and figured it would be no big deal. I got to parking garage in time to avoid a huge, sudden squall...I mean, it was raining sideways! I got some coffee and a muffin and get to the office only to find I've left my other set of keys at home. Shit! I called both my roommates in hopes of catching them before they leave. If I can't get in the house, I'm totally screwed!
So I go back to the parking garage to get my bike, pay and ride home. It's raining pretty steadily now. I found that Jonathan got message and left the back door open. I grab my keys and go back downtown. My legs and shoes are pretty moist when I got back to the office...fortunately for me, the steam heat was working and I dried out pretty fast.
I worked until 8 or so, then called Scott and Cindy. Matt was over and they were playing poker. Scott wanted to borrow my battery charger for Cindy's bike and I felt like being social, so I went over and hung out.
Today I plan on taking my bike out for a spin before the next system comes in, I need some Pho and I haven't ridden my Drifter in a couple of weeks. And I need to do laundry, before I wind up putting in long hours and blowing it off.
This upcoming weekend is going to be crazy as Superbowl fever engulfs the town. If we win, I'll probably need to take Monday off or at least find another way into town from Bremerton, but if that's the least of my worries -- I'll take it!

Man...I'm Beat!!

2006-01-15T21:03:00.000-08:00

Man...I'm Beat!!

I rolled out of bed at 5AM after a night of fitful sleep on Wednesday and rode by bike up to Providence. I was right on time. Mom was just coming out of the changing room and my aunt Barbara was there. We spent the next hour and a half watching as Mom got prepped for surgery. I sucked down the biggest Mocha I could find, 'cause I knew it was going to be a long day.
They sent my aunt and me down to the main lobby around 7:30...and there we sat.
After my aunt and I got all caught up, I basically spent most of the day reading (George R.R. Martin's "A Game of Thrones") and listening to tunes. Mom was supposed to be out of surgery around ten, but she wasn't until 12:30 or so. We kept waiting for someone to tell us something, but no one came or sent word, so we went up to her room at 2 and she was just waking up.
Anyway, turned out everything went OK. So I hung out for another hour or so and went home. I was exhausted.

On Friday, a bunch of my former Getty coworkers and friends met up at Zig Zag to celebrate Robert and Kelly's engagement. Bob and I talked motorcycles (of course) and had drinks. Frito came down and around 11 or so, Jay, Frito and I went out to Nectar for WORLDWIDE! I was pretty buzzed and even though Frito was buying, I had to turn him down so at least one of us could drive Jay's car when we got back to it. It was surreal, we're standing around on the patio smoking and I recall some guy coming up to me and telling me that he loved my band.
I remember we were talking about music and said something akin to, "Dude, even though I'm not really into Dave Matthews, the guy does occasionally say stuff I think is cool. I mean like -- he was talking about Chris Whitley (who died recently) and he said, 'Chris Whitley's story is one of the things I really don't like about this business. I hold the man's music in higher regard than my own.' That's fuckin' cool."
WTF?
Anyway I sobered up enough to get Jay and I back here. Jay puked in the grass on the way in and passed out in a chair. I climbed into bed fully clothed and at least had the prescence of mind to set my alarm clock before zonking out. I guess Jay left around 4AM.

I got up Saturday at 8AM 'cause I wanted to get the oil and brake fluid changed in my GPZ before heading over to Bremerton to watch the Seahawks/Redskins game. I rode out to Lake City Powersports and dropped the bike off. Then I walked up Lake City Way until I could find a decent coffee shop. I bought a quadruple Mocha with a shot of raspberry and spent the next couple of hours reading and listening to "lite jazz" before heading back. The bike was ready, so I took the freeway downtown to get to the ferry. On the way, I had to pass within a couple of blocks of the stadium. It was already a festival atmosphere and I almost ran some jackass over, going until the viaduct.
I got to JR and Kim's about a half hour after the game had started. Liz was there too. We had pretty standard snacks and drank Corona. After the game was over Liz had to go to work, so me and shot the shit while Kim (wisely) took a nap. Later, I met them and Patty on the boat and we hung out during the hour-long crossing.
After getting food at Dick's and stopping by Margaret's, we finally made it until The Vogue. The tunes were OK, but I was dressed for biking, not clubbing and I was pretty tired. Oani came down and I spent most of the time holding the tables and drinking beer. After closing The Vogue, we walked over to The Mercury and hung out there until close to 4AM.
I got up around 11 today, went out and fixed the speedometer on the GPZ and then decided I wanted to go for a ride. This was the first dry weekend day in ages, so I threw my book in my pack and went down towards Frito's, then up and over Beacon Hill into Georgetown. Then I got up to about 70 on Airport Way heading south, then turned around and raced north. I got into the International District and decided I wanted Dim Sum.
Then I needed a nap. Stu and Rachel were hosting Movie Night, but I couldn't get out of bed for it...and I just got an email from JR saying that the plan next weekend is to go to Noc Noc...whoa.

MEME OF SEVEN

2006-01-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

MEME OF SEVEN

Via What is the War?

Seven things to do before I die:

1. Ride a Motorcycle cross country.

2. Hang out with Grace Jones.

3. See the Great Pyramids at Giza.

4. Watch George Bush get impeached.

5. Ask Elvis Costello how he managed to make a record I hated even more than "Punch The Clock".

6. Watch the birth of El Stu's firstborn.

7. Rent a sailboat and tour the South Pacific.

Seven things I cannot do:

1. Work up an urge to climb a mountain, sky dive, bungee jump, or hike farther than it takes to find a decent drink.

2. Give a crap about Lindsay Lohan.

3. Forgive Elivis Costello for "Painted From Memory."

4. Bring myself to eat pickled herring.

5. Conceive of living without motorcycles.

6. Go more than a week without teriyaki.

7. Play a complete game of poker without getting bored.

Seven things I say most often:

1. "Right On."

2. "Fair Enough."

3. "Cool."

4. "Interesting."

5. "Heyhowyadooin?"

6. "Great Googly-Moogly."

7. "Ah, Soo desu ne..."

Seven books I love:

1. Cosmos - Carl Sagan

2. A Wild Sheep Chase - Hiruki Murakami

3. Bible Stories for Adults - James Morrow

4. The Lords of Discipline - Pat Conroy

5. My Uncle Oswald - Roald Dahl

6. Neuromancer - William Gibson

7. The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Malcolm X/Alex Haley

Seven Movies I Watch Over and Over:

1. Mallrats

2. The Great Gatsby

3. Dead Man

4. Raising Arizona

5. Mad Max

6. The Wizard of Oz

7. Breakfast At Tiffany's

Seven Songs I Play Over and Over Again:

1. The Fall "Touch Sensitive"

2. Elbow "Fugitive Motel"

3. Bob Marley "Small Axe"

4. American Music Club "Apology for an Accident"

5. Motorhead "Ain't My Crime"

6. The Silvertones "Dub De Pum Pum"

7. Les Baxter and Billy May "Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White" (The second half of the song, when the Mambo kicks in fucking slays me!)

Seven things that attract me to...blogging:

1. A record of sorts.

2. Feedback in the form of comments.

3. It's a cheap hobby.

4. Dumb surveys.

5. It beats keeping a diary.

6. Stu quotes.

7. Riches

Seven people I want to join in too:

1. Gugh!

2. mercyb

3. Alison

4. Mike

5. franarae

6. Adam

7. George

Ame Ga Furai Desu!!

2006-01-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

Ame Ga Furai Desu!!

Man, it is freakin' moist out. I got drenched just walking the 5 blocks from the bus stop. Then I had to suit up and ride to band practice. Which was tough 'cause it was so cold my hands were stiff. Then I had to suit up and ride home.
The weather reminds me of '99, which started out a really crappy year anyway. My stepmother died, a close friend was diagnosed with MS and another buddy fell through a roof and busted himself up really bad. I think that was the year Mercy's mother and grandmother passed away too...this all happened in the first three months. But that spring and summer were GLORIOUS!
So hopefully, we'll have a repeat -- just without all the bad stuff!

I had really weird day at work too. I'd done some sizing on a job, "pickups" which are scans that were used previously and some digital files for a supplemental. There were over 300 of them, which meant finding the original file, flattening the layers, converting it to greyscale, sizing it and saving it. I couldn't do an action in Photoshop, 'cause the sizes were all different and they to be renamed. At the same time there were some other scans that were being replaced in part of the original book -- and Johnny was scanning these. So I was handed two gallies. I went through everything, but I was sure with all the file moving and renaming, something was gonna screw up. And it did.
Sometimes we don't catch a mistake for awhile, because there's always more than one job going on. We're frequently told to do something ASAP, only to get halfway through it and then told to put it on hold and work on something else. This system can work if everyone is minding their p & q's, but humans err...and when you're in the middle of a 3-400 image job and the boss wants to know about something you did a week ago, it can get nerve-wracking.
So anyway, the first thing that went wrong is that some files I worked on never got copied up to the server. OK...my bad. Then he comes in and asks me if I double-checked the sizes of the pickups I did against the galley.
Now personally, I'm all for quality control...But it's a little annoying that somehow I'm responsible for making sure the PA did their job. Especially when I have a ton of work to do (boring work at that!) I don't like the idea of having to second-guess what a guy I've never even talked to before is thinking. Nonetheless, I'm mytisfied...the boss is telling me that the stuff they've proofed so far is the wrong size. I can understand that he's annoyed, proofing is time-consuming and expensive (paper and ink)...but out of 300+ pickups, how many could I have screwed up?
I'm getting pissed myself. I'm pretty good at detail work and I've been doing this stuff for almost ten years. I don't bitch about every error I catch from someone else, so why am I not getting any slack?
The boss leaves...I'm bummed.

Ten minutes later he's back. Tells me to sit down 'cause he's got some bad news. Aw crap. He's worried I'm gonna kill him...
Turns out that the PA mis-sized the whole friggin' thing. I was given the wrong percentages! Three days worth of work for nothing...and it'll have to be done again. I'm relieved -- it's not my screw up -- and I get paid regardless of how many times I have to do this...and it turns out I don't, 'cause our job priorities have changed again!

Anyway...

My mother is having surgery tomorrow. As Her Heir and Inheritor of Her Worldly Possesions, I've got to be at the second creepiest place on earth tomorrow (Providence) at 6AM to wait to see how it goes. I'm sure it will go swimmingly (knocks on wood).

The Whole Year Inn.

2006-01-08T23:15:00.000-08:00

The Whole Year Inn.

I see I haven't updated in awhile. For most of you, The Holidays brings forth a wave of activity then things sorta of go back into a routine. For me, it results in a slowdown as friends go out of town or busy themselves with getting ready for their celebrations, then a sudden increase in activity as the social calendar heads back towards normal.
I wound up going over to Bremerton to ring in the new year with my friends there. I worked a half day on Monday. Then Fey Ray played a gig on Tuesday at The Crocodile Cafe. Wednesday, Frito had me over for Bangers & Mash, Thursday I spent playing Half-Life 2: Substance and on Friday, Suze had a birthday party at her place. Saturday was spent visiting a friend and on Sunday, I went to the Pike Place Market and then over to Stu's for a showing of the 40 Year Old Virgin.
I've got Spring Fever so bad I can taste it! I'm getting some minor repairs done on my new bike and I'm wondering if I can figure out a way to get it painted before the weather gets good. I've never felt the desire to 'hit the road' so strongly before. Perhaps I've finally readjusted to a daytime schedule and now I'm ready to see what's out there. I plan to spend a lot of time visiting the smaller towns and beautiful byways of this state.
And perhaps because of the new year, I've been strengthening bonds with a lot of old friends. I've had some really good conversations with folks that have made me appreciate just how wonderful my friends are. How lucky I am to have them!
I'm thinking over this blog. What I want to do with it. Knowing how many of my friends and family read the thing has kept me from being as honest as I'd like to be -- and that means b o r i n g. I may start a new one anonymously and keep this one as sort of a general page.
Anyway, I think great things are afoot this year! The rain and The Doldrums will not hold me back!

Out With The Old, In With The New...

2005-12-28T22:46:00.000-08:00

Out With The Old, In With The New...

So, even though I'm agnostic and don't really care about Xmas, I did manage to get some cool shit. My boss gave me a bottle of wine, a year-end bonus and all of this week off, paid! The owner of our sister company gave me a $50 gift certificate to M Coy Books and my supervisor handed me a $25 iTunes gift certificate! WhooHoo! I promptly ran out and got Gary a bottle of 18 year old Glenfiddich, 'cause nothing says holidays like booze!
On Xmas eve, I went over to Karen's for a little party. I didn't know anyone other than Karen and her brother but everyone was cool. I met Martin Feveyear and his family...he runs a studio in Seattle and has a bitchin' motorcycle...both he and his wife ride. I was hanging out with Trish and her boyfriend, a couple of nights before -- two producers in a week? Interesting. I also met Karen's coworker Sarah, who's probably the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in person. She hugged me goodbye when she left..! *sigh*
I spent Sunday puttering around the house and I finished the second book in the 'Prince of Nothing' series. I've been buying music like mad...and since I was feeding Stu's cat for him, I've been borrowing his CD's and ripping them. I brought home all of Funkadelic's albums, and yesterday I borrowed a bunch of King Crimson and Roy Ayers. Then I went to breakfast with Mercy on Monday and we stopped by Sonic Boom and I got The Pernice Brothers first album, Spoon's latest and both M83 albums. Then I went on iTunes and picked up Kelley Polar, Opeth, Loverboy and Billy Joel (don't ask). Stu had also hooked me up with a couple of mp3 discs of power pop.
Today I was at a used CD joint and grabbed Black Sabbath's "We Sold Our Soul For Rock 'N' Roll and a Scratch Perry/Scientist disc!
Yesterday, I got the urge to do some shopping, so I went downtown, got a couple of pairs of kicks at the Rack, Hugo Boss cologne at Sephora, chocolate at See's Candy and a couple of hoodies at Old Navy (natch). I got home, dropped off my stuff went to feed Stu's cat and then went to Frito's to see Cindy's 1970 Triumph Tiger Daytona, which she'd gotten shipped here from Detroit. I also wanted to borrow a drill because I couldn't get the bolt out of the ride side handlebar. I wanted to mount my other mirror and I'd spent $10 bucks on a special bit that was suppose to remove stripped screws. It didn't work! So I got it home and took a hacksaw to the bar end weight. I sawed off enough so that I could grab the bolt with vice grips and twisted that fucker right off. I'm sure one of the neighbors saw my victory dance and think I'm nuts, but I don't care - it took over an hour!. After I got the mirror on, I hopped onboard the GPZ and took her out for a ride out to Renton through Skyway down to East Marginal Way and through Georgetown to Airport Way and back.
Last night I went out with Louise and Kelly for drinks at The Elysian...it's been a good week so far.

NYE looms, but we can't seem to make up our minds about what to do. I'm leaning toward going to Bremerton for the Westsiide posse's party, but then with my best friend getting engaged, I feel like we should celebrate! Hm. What to do?

Sneaky Bugger...

2005-12-25T12:26:00.000-08:00

Sneaky Bugger...

And another one bites the dust... Congrats, kids!

BLOO NOTE

2005-12-18T16:21:00.000-08:00

Bloo Note

So Frito took this picture of me at Stu's birthday party on Friday. And I thought it would make a pretty good jazz album cover, so:

Pretty funny, huh? Of course, I'm already considering ways to improve it but I think it'll do for now. (update - Ah...this is better.)

Stu's party was fun. I helped Rachel put big photocopies of Stu from his younger days. It's hard to believe how much things have and haven't changed in the 13 years we've been friends. Anyway, the party was held in The Grotto, a private room down in the basement of the Rendezvous. My band played, the Westsiiide posse was there, we had cake, listened to The Stares, I talked to Chad and Oani for a good while. Matt, Tyrone, John and Adam all roasted Stu...the night seems like a blur. Stu's Official birthday is the 19th, so if you haven't yet, wish the geezer a happy 40th.
I - OTHO, still have until August 2007.

I spent most of yesterday cleaning a fixing things my GPZ. I replaced the right turn signal, the brake lever, replaced the light bulbs in the speedometer. The only thing left to do is try and get the end bolt on the handlebars out so I can mount the right side mirror. Then I need get some small fasteners for the faring and I can relax! For awhile anyway.
I took her out for a ride today. It was cold, but we went south to Genesee, then up to Beacon Hill. Then I went into Chinatown and ate at Shanghai Gardens. Now, I'm doing laundry and thinking about chocolate and where I can get some...must...resist!

Happy Birthday Matt!

2005-12-14T10:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Matt!

Today is Matt's 33rd birthday and even though he doesn't like to make a fuss about it, I think that even though we're between the holidays and Stu and Maria's birthdays, he should to get a shoutout - and a bottle o' Basil Hayden ('cuz nothing says "birthday" like booze!)

I met Matt about ten years ago. Me and Stu's pop band Fierce Logic was running out of creative steam and I was looking to rock out more. I found an ad in The Rocket (the long defunct local music mag) and called it. We had a good chat, Matt and his housemate Andy were looking to start a band, but we didn't have a drummer. I didn't know if Stu would go for it, so a couple of months went by. I finally asked Stu and it turned out he was interested! Matt, Andrew, Stu and I got together in the basement of Stu's mother's house for our first jam as The Visitors in September and worked out some songs Matt had. The first one was called "Fay Wray." We recorded a demo soon after which we expanded to a full length some time after that, but we never released it.

Andrew moved away, we got "management" (Matt's girlfriend, Trish) and play a bunch of gigs but around the fall of '97, I was frustrated and ready to move on. I wanted to do even heavier rock and Matt was moving in a more loose and experimental direction. The band continued with newer personnel as Askew, but that fell apart after awhile. Matt moved away and got married. I never did start my "Super Maximum R&B" band, but while on vacation with Stu in 2001, I listened to the old Visitors disc and I loved what I heard. Matt and Leslie had moved back to Seattle, so I contacted him and Fey Ray was born.

Aside from being a husband, father and my Brother In Rock, Matt's a touchable and interesting dude. He's into film, poker, music in all its guises (he turned me onto Television, for example), does an awesome Bob Mould impression, is an excellent cook and his political writing is precise, concise and insightful in way I wish mine were (part of the reason I quit doin' it!) He's a graduate student in Middle East Studies and Arabic and I look forward to the day he's on Meet the Press, pontificating on the Middle East and the differences between Eric Clapton and Dave Gilmour's string bends.

Happy B-day dude.
(And thanks for the cigs!)

Sunday Again

2005-12-11T21:52:00.000-08:00

Sunday Again

The Cretins MC party was a hoot! I'd taken a nap and really had to talk myself into suiting up for the ride to SODO. My bike was covered with a light layer of frost. My roommate Jason came home as I was cleaning it off and chuckled at my foolhardyness but honestly, I seem to have resigned myself to being cold so I didn't think it was that big a deal.
The clubhouse was full of bikes when I arrived, mostly streetfighter/standards and cafe racers. The Mosquito Fleet was there and as were The Pleasure Barons MC.
There were huge heaters set up in the larger rooms in the clubhouse and a knot of people stood around them, trying to keep warm. I ran into Smokey as I was talking to a fella I'd met at The Viking a few weeks ago. He told me to go in and grab a beer, 'cause they were going to start the races outside in a few minutes. It took me about 10 minutes to get through the crush of bodies to the bar. The place was packed, but everyone was friendly and having a good time. I got back out to the street in time to see the races. Bascially, there were a couple of rolling chassis that the contestants were required to push backwards down the street. There were a few spills as the racers lost control, but it was all in fun and nobody got hurt. They had a bunch of kids bikes that they raced too.
I went back into the clubhouse and struck up a coversation with a fella named John, who recently moved out here from Denver. He'd caged it that night, but he told me he had a Triumph. We talked bikes for awhile and when I went inside to get another beer, I was waylaid by a nice young lady who gave me a back massage! I complimented on her skills (assuming she was a massage student getting her practice hours in) and she said, "Well, that's why they call me 'Backhoe!'" Alrighty then.
I got phone calls from Amber, who came down and hung out for awhile and from Frito, who was drunk off his ass at the SeaCompression Party at ConWorks. He was pissed 'cause he lost his rather expensive camera which he'd brought along while participating in the local Santarchy earlier in the day.
Amber and I chatted with a guy from Oak Harbor, who'd ridden down on a Bonneville. He was pretty wasted but proud of himself, which I don't blame him for -- Whidbey Island to Seattle in 40 degree temperatures is pretty hardcore. Especially on a bike with no windshield!! Amber remarked that she thought he was pretty hot, "For a white guy." So she gave him her card and took off.
I wandered around just shooting the shit...everyone was so cool that it was really easy and I didn't retreat into my shell, which I sometimes do when confronted with a roomful of people I don't know. Smokey came by and started rockin' the decks playing everything from cheesy 80's metal and punk to 50's & 60's garage rock, soul and stripper music. The movie The Leather Boys played on continuous loop on the DVD over the bar (which was interesting because I'd just recently taken an interest in cafe racers and the whole early 60's British biker scene. The Ace Cafe which reopened in the 90's is featured in the movie.) I spent the rest of the night dancing with a bunch of girls and sobering up. It was 4AM when I left.
It was foggy as hell on the way home, but the streets were deserted and I made it home without incident.

Pho and aspirin cured my hangover.

Happy Birthday Maria!

2005-12-09T11:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Maria!

Today is Maria's birthday. I think Dan's was sometime this week. Matt and Stu are coming up.
Maria will be 28, which at least means I can breathe a huge sigh of relief because if there was anyone I know that was a candidate for the "27 club" it was her...(I half-kid).

She says she has to work tonight, but she's going to be at Tango around 10, so if you want tapas and drinks, that's where we'll be. Stu and I are going to see Syriana first, however.

Tomorrow is the Cretins MC's X-mas bash...I'm so psyched!

Cold Fun!

2005-12-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

Cold Fun!

Last week was weird. Work sorta plodded along, though we got news of some cool and exciting new projects. But my days were long and now that we're full-on into winter and it's dark so much, everything is a blur. I did get a new motorcycle last Sunday, however...it looks a lot like this:

It's a 1984 Kawasaki GPz750. She's a faded in the paint and needs some TLC...but not much surprisingly. I spent a good part of Saturday really looking her over. Whoever owned her before me made some pretty cool upgrades, like braided stainless steel brake cables. The seat is in good condition and the tires are fairly new. It's nice to have a bike with both a side and center stand.
If I can get the dirt and rust off and repaint the engine and pipes, she'll be lookin' gooood. I took her out for a ride today, just along the lake to Seward Park, then down to Rainier Beach and then took Rainier Ave. to Renton, then up into Skyway and back, with a stop at Frito's so he could check her out. It was sunny out, but damn it was cold!
Unfortunately, my upper thighs caught all the wind, unlike my cruiser where all the air hits my knees and shins! I was freezing when I got back, so I hadda climb into the shower to get some heat back into me.
As for the bike, my immediate plans are to fix a few small things and then ride the shit out of her until she reaches 40K, then see what needs to be done. Sometime next year I'll get a lower fairing (like this ) and paint the whole bike metallic orange with two racing stripes...that would be cool. She doesn't have a name yet...but I'm wavering between Orange Peeler (as a tribute to my cousin David's old Schwinn) or The Black 8.

Speaking of bikes, I met Kim, J.R. & Liz down at the Motorcycle Show yesterday. I was a bit diappointed because Triumph didn't have a booth. I really wanted to see the new Scrambler and 675 Triple. I barely looked at any Honda's, mostly spent my time in the Kawasaki, BMW and Ducati displays. Ran into my cousin and his wife and kids and we walked around a bit. I dunno why, but I quickly got bored. I wasn't even thinking about buying anything and most bikes nowdays seem to lack personality. There weren't many customs around, so after awhile everthing looked the same.
We left and went over the Pyramid Alehouse to have a couple of beers and kill some time before Liz had to go back to work. Then I rode out to my friend Karen's to watch Murderball.
Tonight is Movie Night as El Stu's. We're watching The Jerk.
Tomorrow, I'm trying out for Will and Chris' band, D-Chromatic.

...Even Rode My Motorcycle In The Rain

2005-11-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

...Even Rode My Motorcycle In The Rain

Mercy! invited me to a housewarming party last night and much to her surprise, I went. Her kinda sorta ex Sailboat Guy was there too. Our hostess is a friend of my swim-buddy Jay and she and I had met a few years ago, although the exact circumstances are somewhat murky to us both.
It was cloudy and cold on the ride over, I'd chosen my half helmet and vented leather jacket to ride in. Nuts, I know -- but for some reason, the cold air was invigorating. Plus, I'd worn bulky rain gear over the last couple of days so I was glad not to have to suit up.
The house was on a quiet street in Ballard and it was freakin' huge! It was all hardwood floors and hip and tasteful colors, right out of the Pottery Barn catalog.
I came in removed my shoes (most everyone had) and hung out with Mercy and Sailboat Guy. He and I were punning like crazy and gently teasing Mercy as only two men who have dated the same woman can. We weren't mean or anything, but it was fun watching her get flustered as he and I played off each other.
Our hostess was a lot of fun, especially after a bunch of us went downstairs to play Asshole.
She was president for most of the game and man, could she talk trash!
Laurie B. came in and we had a good chat. I don't see her much, even though we kind of run in the same circles. She's changed in a lot of ways...and it's really cool that we had some things to talk about.
I don't know if it was the vodka or the company, but next thing I knew it was after 2AM. I was sure I was sober and geared up only to find out it was raining out. I thought of something Jay had quoted to me earlier in the week from the Hagakure:

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking.

And by the time I was almost home even though I was soaked to the knees, I felt really serene.

Turkey Day Aftermath

2005-11-26T08:22:00.000-08:00

Turkey Day Aftermath

I managed to practice some moderation this year and didn't burst my stomach! I went to Pt. Orchard to Chrissie and Liz's place for dinner on Thursday, woke up with a mild hangover and rode through the pouring rain back to my house the next day. Then I did some quick grocery shopping and went over to Frito's, where I peeled and mashed 5 pounds of potatos (Stu said they were sublime), then rode to Everett with Stu and Rachel for our traditional Orphan's Thanksgiving at Erin and Adam's.
Both dinner and the company were excellent and I'm truly blessed to know so many wonderful people.
Tommorrow, I'm going to have brunch with my witty and much beloved friend Mecedes, and if all goes well this afternoon, I may be the proud owner of a new motorcycle!

Much to be Thankful for...

This Is A Public Service....Announcement!

2005-11-20T02:01:00.000-08:00

This Is A Public Service....Announcement!

Ordering the Crab and Pickled Cabbage with Bean Curd Soup at Shanghai Gardens then following it up later in the evening with Mac & Jack's African Amber Ale?

Bad idea.

Don't do it.

Trust me on this.

The Vin Diesel Top Thirty

2005-11-19T20:15:00.000-08:00

The Vin Diesel Top Thirty

Go here...make sure you don't drink anything while reading. I don't want you blaming me for ruining your monitor or keyboard. (Via MetaFilter)

An Update...

2005-11-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

An Update...

The weekend has arrived and I am tired.
I spent just about every night this week out doin' something. Last night I met up with Richelle and Jay, then later JR and Kim, down where Liz works. I'd had three pints of Maritime Nightwatch and a PBR tallboy and I was DONE around 10. Richelle was nice enough to give me a lift home.
On Wednesday, a bunch of us went over to Frito and Cindy's to see the anti-Wal-Mart movie that MoveOn is sponsoring. Although the movie felt a little padded, there was some pretty damning stuff in there. I just read today that the Feds raided a Wal-Mart and made 126 arrests on immigration violations.
The funny thing is that while Wal-Mart is something of an aborration, they're a very successful one...and sadly, the shape of things to come. Don't think for a second that there aren't people seeking to study and emulate their business model. Constant vigilence is needed to combat them...or at least make them change their practices.

I'm itching to buy a new bike! I've been combing Craigslist and various boards and can't seem to make up my mind. I'm hoping a trip to Bob's Bike Salvage will inspire me in some way, but I know that if I hang out to the cash I have and add to it, I could get something way cool later.
Either way, my cousin David and I seem to have been bitten by the same bug and I'm glad there 's something that we can bond over. As kids we spent hours and hours taking our bikes apart and putting back together again. I guess some things don't really ever change.

Tonight, I'm going out with my friend Karen. We're going to have some drinks and see a band. Tomorrow, I plan to meet up with David and go to Bob's, then later on, meet up with JR and check out Transpacific's "Remix" show at the Rendezvous.

WTF?!!

2005-11-13T17:08:00.000-08:00

WTF?!!

We're the same age! I hope he didn't OD or something...damn.

Eddie Guerrero passes away
Nov. 13, 2005

WWE is deeply saddened by the news that Eddie Guerrero has passed away. He was found dead this morning in his hotel room in Minneapolis. Eddie is survived by his wife Vickie and daughters Shaul, 14, Sherilyn, 9, and Kaylie Marie, 3.

R.I.P. Latino Heat...

She's Goooonnneee!

2005-11-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

She's Goooonnneee!

I sold Pearl on Friday. I want to get an old standard (AKA a UJM "Universal Japanese Motorcycle") to learn to do some wrenching on. This passion has been growing inside me for years now. And the more I read about bikes and the more people I meet, the more this urge grows.
Especially after going The Cretins meeting on Thursday. It's one thing to sit on the various boards and look at pictures and make pithy comments. It's another thing to be face to face with someone and see the fire in their eyes and know that the secret joy you have in your heart for two-wheelers, the joy that your non-riding friends don't understand, isn't such a secret to him.
And even after three years of lurking, reading various sites and magazines and watching "Biker Buildoff" and "American Chopper," I realize that I haven't even begun to scratch the suface.
I decided I wanted to try something simple. Find a relatively inexpensive bike, buy some manuals and see what I could do. So Pearl had to go.

My plan was a simple one devised by the smart part of my brain (who's voice is always just a little too faint). I really didn't want a hassle. There's enough scooter and motorcycle guys in this town to be relatively confident that I could trade the scoot for a bike. So I crafted a Craigslist ad Wednesday night to that end. I got four responses right away, but held off because three of the offers were to trade bike in the sub-500cc range. I'd specified that I wanted 500cc and above. One guy was pretty determined. He wanted to know what I'd sell for in cash. I put him off for a day...but when Friday rolled around and I didn't get close to what I wanted, my resolve wavered.
The smart part of my brain feebly suggested that I wait until Monday. But the persistant dude had mentioned the Hagakure in passing and had won me over. So Friday night he came out check out the scoot, handed me a wad of bills and carted her off.

I swear, not more than 10 mintues after he left, I received an email from one of The Cretins telling me that he owned 15 bikes available to him and that he'd gladly trade me one for the scooter.
DAMMIT!!
I called him anyway and told him I'd sold the bike already but that I was still interested in what he had on hand. He told me that we could get together next week and he'd show me what he had.
It might cost me a more than what I had. But I figure between him, Craigslist and Bob the Junkman, I might be able to find something cool...we'll see.

After the phone call, El Stu came by and he and went to catch "Black To My Roots" a stage play directed by his coworker, Tyrone Brown. The play is about...hair. More specifically, the relationship between black folks and their hair. I thought the production was well done, although there were a couple of rough spots, but I guess that's to be expected on opening night. Having an aunt who was a hairdresser and a father who prided himself on his ablitly to "cut heads," there were a lot of cultural signifiers I recognized in the play, but then again it wasn't nearly as deep or entertaining as Tyrone's "Hamlet X."

After the play, Stu and drove around trying to score some Pho, but parking on Capitol Hill was sucky (especially if you're in a '55 Pontiac Starchief) so we wound up at Dick's. Then we met Neil down at the LoFi Gallery where the Sun Tzu posse was spinning. The place had a very cool, New York loft vibe, although after talking to one of the owners I thought the whole notion of trying to create an "underground" scene here in Seattle was a bit contrived. Especially when half the crowd looked like they'd come from the suburbs.

Yesterday was fairly warm and nice, though cloudy. I went out and bought a new pair of jeans and a winter coat, then got some Pho. Ran into one of the Cretins and said hello. Then I came home and took a nap. I met up with some of the Westsiiide posse at Chapel and we spent the evening quaffing cocktails (the sage & pear margarita was the bomb, yo) and talking up a storm. I rode home in the rain.

Tonight, I go to Stu and Rachel's for spaghetti and a slideshow of their trip to Italy...should be fun!

Cretins!

2005-11-11T00:20:00.000-08:00

Cretins!

Y'know, as everybody (else) gets older and paired off, I thought I might need to make some new friends. I went to the Cretins weekly get together at The Viking tonight and I don't recall ever being in a room full of nicer people who weren't Jesus freaks or on drugs.

I walked into the bar and everyone looked at me for a second, then Smokey introduced himself. Then I Bob, AKA Bob the Junkman who was one of the organizers of the Mods and Rockers ride that I went on this summer. Then I met Matt from the UTMC board and another Matt and Todd and John and Micah...I had a couple of beers, a couple of smokes and we and we started talking bikes.

Wow.

Yeah...

2005-11-08T07:37:00.000-08:00

Two Days In February
(Goo Goo Dolls)

Dedicated to chief dog
Take 22, copy 1
And the guy across the street

I hung your picture on the wall…and that's all it is
I break my fingers to make a call…and that's all it is
I know you're living way out west and I don't think that I confessed
Everything I feel

You say you got no faith in things that you can't see
Well I'm sorry I ain't there with you, but you ain't here with me
And I'm down in all my fears
But I ain't cryin' no tears over you

'Cause everything's wrong
Well it's all right
Everything's wrong
Well it's all right

You said that this is crazy, you're a half a world away
Well I'm sitting and I'm thinking but I didn't know what to say
So I said something I can't touch, I always want way too much
Anyway…

'Cause everything's wrong
Well it's all right
Everything's wrong
Well it's all right

I hung your picture on the wall, but that's all it is
I break my fingers to make a call and that's all it is
I know you're living way out west
Don't get me wrong I'm not impressed
With you no more

Yeah...

Ted Leo Is God.

2005-11-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

Ted Leo Is God.

I was walking to the bus stop when "You Could Die (Or This Might End)" came on and fuckin' floored me. If there was any justice in the world, we could quit screwing around and let this man save rock 'n' roll!

Buy his records. Write him a check. Sit on yr friends and make them listen...they'll thank you later.

I'll Give You a @#$#% Haircut Blog!! (AKA Soma - Or Something Like That)

2005-10-30T04:55:00.000-08:00

I'll Give You a @#$#% Haircut Blog!! (AKA Soma - Or Something Like That)

I dunno why, but seem to be feeling the cold a little more intensely this fall. I love lying in my flannel sheets all warm and toasty, but I'm also cursed/blessed (it seems all one and the same with me sometimes) with a restless mind and the only way to sleep in is to not let myself get attached to one idea or question before I can get back to sleep. If I fail, then it's off to the races -- or more likely, the computer.
I don't know why, but lately I've been waking up around the same time every morning...4:20-ish.
There's no reason I can think of for this, as far as I can tell it's not the furnace coming on or Keisha bugging me when she decides to visit.
This morning, I managed to "gray out" a couple of times until 9 or so. But then I started thinking about the things I wanted to accomplish before Jay came and picked me up and unfortunately, one idea stood in Times New Roman about 4 feet high in ma breen:

PHO

So any thoughts of sleeping in until 11 went inta the dustbin. I got up and sent some emails and IM's, played with the cat, swept the front room, listened to KEXP and chatted with Moiks for almost an hour. I woulda never thought that I'd come to love an ex-girlfriend in an entirely different way...But talking to her was a hoot. She's one of the few people who can keep me on my toes. We once had an brief argument entirely made up from song lyrics.
Today, I kept mixing metaphors and mispronouncing things and she was totally busting my chops about it, which just made it worse! I should've taken it as a sign I wasn't fully awake. Normally, I'm in the habit of delivering a stream-of-conscious monologue to myself when I get up in the morning -- I'm told it's hilarious (or at least Leslie thought so) -- but I've fought that tendency since I moved into my new place. I don't want my new roommates to think I'm nuts especially since I usually don't remember what I've said. Maybe that's why I was kinda fuzzy...

Anyway, the plumber showed up to do some work on the pipes in the laundry room, so I delayed leaving until he was gone. Then I suited up and Bettie and I ran over That Famous Costume Shop in Lower Queen Anne to get a simple mask for tonight. But naturally, the joint was packed with people getting their last-minute shopping done. I kinda balked at the prices I saw ($10 for pressed paper and elastic?!) but what caused me to bolt were the lines for the register. They went all the way back in to the product aisles!

So I bailed.

I decided to head to Broadway for Pho...There's a joint up there I'd eaten at before and it was pretty decent, but right after I parked my bike, I saw a new place and ducked in. I had spring rolls, Pho with Brisket & Steak and a strawberry bubble tea. I was planning on doing some drinkin' that night and needed a good filter. AND there's nothing better than Pho on a cold day.
I got home, showered, dressed and made sure the cat was fed and watered. Jay came and got me and we drove south through Tacoma and around to Pt. Orchard to Jaz (AKA Chrissy) and Liz's.
They'd lit the place with candles and X-mas lights and Liz was rockin' in the kitchen, getting tons of food ready (she's in school for Chefin') and Chrissy was being, well...Chrissy. We had a really good time. I stuck with vodka (as is my wont) and paced myself pretty well. Everyone looked fabulous. JR had a really cool brocade coat and knee-high belted and buckled boots. All the ladies were in gown or rockin' bustiers and corsets. I pretty much looked the same...I was told that wearing all black was acceptable. Hah.

Aside from that, not much happened -- or rather things happened in the way they do at parties (Check the party scene in "Breakfast At Tiffany's" it pretty much sums up every party in history rather succinctly I think). We ate, drank and gave Carey her presents. I wound up giving her the M. John Harrison book I bought a couple of days ago. If I'd given it more thought, it would've occurred to me that it was perfect for her anyway!
There were two cakes...Lemon and chocolate and a pistachio torte. It was fun watching Carey squirm as she hates being the center of attention, but thought she might actually cry there for a second. The only misfire was it was pretty hard to get anyone to dance. Jaz put on deep house and I think most of us wanted something more sensual...Dead Can Dance, Coil, etc. (BTW-If you don't already know, I'm not Goth. Just..."Goth friendly.")
After many, many kisses and hugs goodbye, Jay and I bailed around 1:30AM and went home.

So...Now that the Rock Star is wearing off. Here's something to Randal on outta here to.

Waiting...

2005-10-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

Waiting...

My bosses say they've got some new work coming in, but for most of this week we've been twiddling our thumbs. I suppose we'll get dumped on tomorrow. I look forward to the challange of a full schedule, we've had all summer to prepare new proceedures and I wanna see if they work under a full schedule!

Last night, I called Maria and she took me out for beer in Madison Beach. Poor girl, I think she's starting to lose her mind -- but Jeebus, she's funny. I was subjected to a long, profane rant about the state she's in. Ashley came down to join us and the way those to play off each other was even funnier. Man, I love those two.

Today, Stu and I went to Borders to buy things we probably shouldn't. I couldn't find any of the records I was looking for (Heavenly, Elbow, Funkadelic, Editors, Aereogramme) but I did find a M. John Harrison collection of his Viriconium stories that I've been looking for. I dunno why, but I've been reading a lot of "weird fiction" lately...which may have to do with the season, my state of mind, or both. Or neither. My mother always said that type of stuff would get me into trouble and I'm like, "Whatever!" (That was for you, Hotsy...) Anyway, I plan on getting into that as soon as I finish Thomas Ligotti's "The Nightmare Factory," then maybe I'll get back to "The Odyssey."

Saturday is Chad's birthday. Hard to believe we've been friends for 9 years now. I call him my "Science Fiction Twin" 'cause there's so many things we have in common that we enjoy. Like N*Sync, The Melvins and movies with a deeply black sense of humor. I hope I'll get to see him sometime this weekend. It's been awhile.
It's also Carey's 30th birthday on Sunday. So I'm going to Bremerton for her birthday party. I haven't seen the Westsiiide posse in awhile so I'm really looking forward to it. I imagine it's going to be an interesting weekend.

Death and The Maiden

2005-10-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

Death and The Maiden

I found out today that a former coworker comitted suicide last Tuesday. Two in a month...damn.
I didn't know her well. People, especially your coworkers, move in and out of your life in strange ways and I just learned to go with the flow a long time ago. My former job didn't have the feeling of family that I'd enjoyed at PDI. I hated working nights and with only a few exceptions, I didn't make friends there.
I knew enough to know that Lisa was a real wild-child growing up. She was a little older than me and I liked the fact that she didn't seem stuffy or static like a lot of middle aged types (myself (reluctantly) included). She was a lesbian who wore Hawaiian shirts and really liked men. Unlike a certain straight girl I know, who hates us.
We shared a love of motorcycles and rock and roll. She reviewed the Fey Ray album when it came out and her opinion really mattered to me as she was no hipster who flit from trend to trend. Someone who had a sense of history and context, a hardcore music fiend.
I dunno the exact reason why she took her life. I heard she'd suffered a series of failures in both her romantic and career life and there were some family issues as well. Maybe she didn't see a way forward to the light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe she was just tired.
I do know that the world is a little dimmer today.
I hope to make it to her wake and pay my respects...she was damn cool.

RIP

Weekend Recap

2005-10-23T20:15:00.000-07:00

Weekend Recap

Despite my adversion to going to my 20 year high school reunion this year, this week was almost like a homecoming.
Or just more proof that this is a really small town.
As I'd mentioned previously, last Thursday, I had dinner with Patty. After we'd eaten and gotten caught up, I walked her down to the ferry terminal, then went to a party at Elmer's design firm, which is located in the same building as my previous employer.
I wasn't expecting to know anyone other than Jay, Kev-o and Elmer, but I wound up running into ex-coworkers from my PhotoDisc/Getty/Corbis days, a high school chum who came to my gig the following evening and guy I knew from my post high school days that probably hadn't seen in 15 years.
Did I mention that I walked past Paul Allen on the way in?
We got nice and buzzed at the party. Open bar, yo! Just like the good ol' days...the salad days, as it were. Jay was nice enough to give me a lift home.

We played The High Dive on Friday, to one of the biggest crowds yet. I was kinda dragass tired after going out the two previous nights and working all day. I think we played well. Storm and The Balls were pretty awesome. They did some mashups of songs and Storm led the audience in a singalong of one of the best breakup songs I've ever heard, "I Want You to Die". Poor Hotsy had a little too much booze so I had to leave my bike in Fremont and drive us home. She crashed on the futon and took me back to my bike the next day.

Later on, I met up with my two best friends from high school. Derek, Jim and I hung out for quite awhile after we graduated. Jim joined the Marines and Derek and I were in a band together until 1992. I don't think the three of us have been together in the same room since 1997 or so. But with some people you can just jump right in where you left off. We talked of many things I guess you'd expect "young geezers" to talk about. Marriage (they've both been hitched for 10+ years) and work (They're both firefighters now - Jim in Seattle, Derek in Coupeville on Whidby Island) and increasing amounts of grey hair. Derek was the only one us who'd gone to the reunion, so he filled us in on what we'd missed.
We started off at the 74th Street Ale House and the moved to Fremont, drinking at Brouwer, then The Triangle and winding up at El Camino.
I had to meet someone on Capitol Hill at nine. So they drove me back to my bike. My headlamp burned out! Damn! I kept it on high beam all the way hoping the cops wouldn't notice.

It rained all day today, which is fine. I went out for some food and spent the day reading, sleeping and listening to music...but damn, I wanted some Pho.
Stu and Rachel are supposed to be back from Italy today. I'm eager to hear about their trip and see the photos. I wonder if he proposed?

Quite Possibly...

2005-10-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

Quite Possibly...

The geekiest comic strip EVAR...

Nuttin' Honey...

2005-10-20T00:25:00.000-07:00

Nuttin' Honey...

It's getting colder and with the change in season, I've gotten...mellow. Listening to The Smiths, Elbow, Hem, American Music Club, Low and Johnny Mathis(!) a lot, countered with the occasional blast from Iron Maiden and The Fall to keep me from sliding into a coma.

Frito and I went to a Global Battle of the Bands tonight. He somehow got asked to judge. There were four acts and I was truly impressed with most of them. The band I thought deserved to win, did...which is weird for me as I almost NEVER pick a winner. (I could go on...but I digress.)

Anyway...it's late and I'm freezing. Keisha (Jason's grey tabby) is sleeping at my feet as I write this. Poor thing. Jason's out of town for three weeks. My other roommate is over his girlfriend's a lot, which means I'm pretty much the only person she's seen all week. She follows me around the minute I get home, headbutting me and attempting to climb into my lap...

I'm currently reading Arthur Machen's classic "weird tale" The Great God Pan collected along with some of his other stories...we don't have a TV here and while I'm bummed I won't be able to keep up with 'Lost' and 'Invasion', I'm still happy I can get the news etc. from my computer.

Now, if I could just stop waking up at 4:25 every night.

Tomorrow is dinner with Patty. w00t!

Man, I'm tired...

2005-10-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

Man, I'm tired...

The move went well. Neil showed up at 8:20, we got coffee, then picked up the truck. I'd placed everything in the basement so we only had to travel 20-30 feet to grab my boxes and put them on the truck. We were done in about 30 minutes.
I made a couple of idiot checks around the house, hopped on my bike and then we were off. It was a longer trip into the new place. Frito and my new housemate Jonathan showed up and helped out. We quickly got everything in the house. I drove the truck back to the old place, loaded some stuff for a dump run then grabbed a few items to stuff in Neil's car. Then we went to the dump, returned the truck and then back to the house to get my scooter. I rode pell mell back to the old place, cracking people up along the way...I look like a bizarre circus bear on that thing (I was mugging and throwing devil signs the whole way, too) and the scoot was smoking like crazy...I was running Sea Foam to clear off carbon build up.
I got to new place and got the last of the stuff in. I made an incredible amount of progress getting things squared away. My bed went together in five minutes. I slept like a rock.
I caught the wrong bus to work in the morning and wound up taking over an hour to roll into work. I got the right one today, u betcha!
So far, I'm diggin' the new place. I haven't decided where everything goes yet, but it's coming together. I feel a little displaced, but as I get more comfortable that will fade.

In other news, the SunTzu Soundsystem posse released their first e.p. I got it on vinyl AND CD...gotta support my boys! Jeremy Ellis headlined and it was awesome...and it was Aaron's birthday! The chocolate cake was yummy, yo. I hope you got some.

This Friday...Fey Ray is playing The High Dive. If you can make it, please come down. We don't get many weekend shows, but that may change if we can pack this one. I have a feeling this is gonna be one for the record books...I am super primed to RAWK and we will BRING IT!

The Mission (Updated 10/13)

2005-10-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

The Mission:

(Note: There is obviously more to this than what follows. If you're in "the know" then there you are. If you're not, you'll probably figure it out...or you can ask me later.)

Part I - Monday

IT was a fairly routine mission, but then that's the way they all usually start. I was flying without a wingman, as it was early in the day and I was not expecting trouble. I made sure I had sufficient eye protection and wore my leather jacket.
As I flew into the patrol area, I checked my payload. I'd stopped into the office early that morning to pick it up, go over my plans and make any last minute adjustments. There were but a few and quickly taken care of.
Air traffic was light and although that was good news, I knew that could change at any second. However, I could easily abort if I had to and no one would be the wiser.
I approached the target's airspace. She was busy with a customer...giving him some sort of detailed information and very distracted. At the same time a couple of other customers fell into line behind me. I felt my resolve waiver, but it returned somewhat when her attention turned to me. There'd be no haverin' today!
"Hey Stacey," she said brightly. "Grande Mocha?"
"Yup." I replied.
She turned and yelled my order to the barista on duty and rang me up.
I handed her my debit card and as she gave me the card and my receipt back, I slid the payload out its bay and placed it on the counter.
"My band has a gig next week. That's a copy of our album."
I'd caught her off guard.
She took the disc and looked at it, then clasped it to her chest.
"Is this for me?!"
"Yeah...Listen to and tell me what you think. Maybe you'll come to the show?" I was already moving away from the counter, I didn't want to delay the customers behind me, nor did want to make too big a deal out of it. As Bugs Bunny once said, I had to use fin-esse and act non-chal-ant.
She told me that she wouldn't be in the next day and that she'd listen to it and we'd chat on Wednesday.
I told her, "Cool." and briefly chatted with the barista, grabbed my coffee and resisted hitting afterburners on the way out. It was going to be a long 48 hours.

Part II - Tuesday

I didn't go to the target area today. I wound up taking a different route into work. But it was fruitful nonetheless. Not only did the hottest girl from my junior high school (Sandy W. and yes, she's STILL drop-dead gorgeous) pass me on the street, but also the hot latina woman on my bus (alas, she's boyfriended) talked to me as we got coffee at a different place. She's pretty cool and her voice and demeanor was totally different from what I expected. (I guess one shouldn't make assumptions about pretty and demure-looking woman reading Madame Bovary on the bus, heh.)
I put the mission in the back of my mind and concentrated on the ugly job I was met with at work.
Still Wednesday looms. I imagine a few scenarios.
ONE - She likes the album but can't or won't make it to the show. It's slightly awkward, but I can recover...painted by radar, I call this.
TWO - She likes the album but doesn't like me. It's really awkward and I get my coffee elsewhere for a few weeks...missile lock.
THREE - She doesn't like the album or me...shot down in flames.
FOUR - I choke in some way (probably the most likely outcome)...hydraulic failure, return to base.
I left my email and website info with the payload. For all I know, she could've checked me out.
I didn't get any messages however, but I'm not concerned.
I'll just have to be cool. Giving her a disc and making an offer to be at the same place away from work is fraught with uncertainty for both of us. I didn't exactly make my intentions clear. But all I ever wanted was a woman to meet me halfway.

This is why I'm single!

Part III - Wednesday

Radar bloomed all over the valley floor as I entered the target area. I didn't get any missile lock warnings, but I sensed something might (might) be wrong. The airspace was totally clear.
After a minute someone came out to help me. I thought I saw someone in the very back...could it be her? Was she in stealth mode?
Wow...she must've hated our album...
There wasn't much I could do...I left. And bummed about it. For an hour.

I didn't go in the next day. I was running late and the competitor's is nearer. I'll be back tomorrow. I didn't crash and burn and I didn't suffer equipment failure. I will show no fear.
I cannot go through life afraid I will get shot down....even if I did, it's usually a crash you can walk away from.
And you know what they say about landings you can walk away from!

The End?

Random...again.

2005-10-10T23:24:00.000-07:00

Random...again.

Frito helped me take a load of CD's over to my new place today. Jason was there and he mentioned that he was leaving for 3 weeks for his massage courses. Jonathan will be gone the weekend I move in, so it sounds like I'll have the place to myself on occasion.
Earlier, I tried to take my scooter down to the local terry-yakky jernt, but it kept dying. The carb was dirty, totally my fault for leaving the petcock open.
So I got home, opened the thing and cleaned it out with some WD-40. She started right up! HA!
The last time that happened, I panicked and took the scoot to the shop, which cost me over $100!
I'm seriously considering replacing the front end on that thing myself. How hard could it be?
I'm slowly working up to the day I bob my Drifter...it's gonna be so freakin' shweet!
I pretty much did "make work" all day today. But it was cool, I've been in my usual fall "mode", listening to sad and moody songs, offset with blasts of ol' skool disco.

I have be careful about that though, 'cause one of my bosses starts to dance when he comes into the room -- and having a guy talking to you about semi- important matters whilst doing a odd sort of jiggle is unnerving to say the least.

Fey Ray w/Storm and The Balls @ the High Dive 10/21/05

2005-10-10T23:23:00.000-07:00

Fey Ray w/Storm and The Balls @ the High Dive 10/21/05

Alright, this is the weekend gig you've all been asking for! And we're playing
with one of the hottest bands from Portland!

http://www.stormlarge.com/

MARK YOUR CALENDARS and come down for an evening of high precision rock & roll
and loungecore...


www.feyray.com
www.highdiveseattle.com

Thanks!

FR

"."

2005-10-09T02:39:00.000-07:00

"."

I got an email from my buddy Ed Thursday telling me that a.) a guy we knew from church had killed himself. b.) A guy I went to junior high school with had drowned recently and c.) another classmate of mine was seen turning tricks on MLK.
Ed is the historian. His family (like mine) is from The South, but his folks are a good ten years older than mine and perhaps more of their "old school" traditions stick. He keeps his ears to the ground and seems to know the scoop on everyone, a neighborhood that streches from Lynnwood to Renton. Me, I find the ties of family and community more of a hinderance or burden myself. I tend to be more interested with "the now" and "the future" and I'm often surprised when I can't remember names and faces of people I knew 10 or 15 years ago.
Anyway, David -- the fella from church who killed himself -- wasn't someone I could say I kept up with over the years. My main recollection of him was a weekend in the summer of 1980 when, after a mostly boring and restless summer with my father in Georgia, Ed's middle sister took Ed, David and me up to the Pacific National Exhibition near Vancouver B.C.
I remember a lot of early teen-age silliness (not all too far removed from current early middle-aged silliness, now that I think about it), playing Tail Gunner and SpaceInvaders until my thumb ached and about 15 trips down the giant slide (they actually stopped charging us after awhile). David was a natural comedian, yet there was something tragic about him even then.
Ed and I wondered if he was gay.
I can't say I recall much more than that. But I bet Ed could.
My cousin just happened to email me the next day and I passed on the news. He was shocked and called Ed to find out when the memorial service was...2PM Saturday. He and Ed were going and I was compelled to attend as well.
I can't say when the last time the three of us were in the same room together. I actually got there first. The sky was threatening rain and I was on my motorcycle, so I showed up in jeans and my leather jacket. Ed came in next and my cousin arrived shortly after the service started on his bike as well.
We sat in the back.
The service was about a quarter full. There was an funary urn on a table and picture frame with a couple of snapshots of David in it. There were lots of faces I kind of recognized, but since I'd left the church something like 20 years ago, I wasn't sure how I'd be received, so I kept a low profile.
The service was a very typical Jehovah Witnesses'-type thing:

God is love, but because of Adam and Eve, all men sin, the wages of sin is death, death is a sleep-like condition in which the dead feel, sense or see nothing, there is no soul that lives on after the body expires, but through God's love and Jesus' sacrifice, we mortal sinners have the hope of salvation, resurrection and eternal life in paradise. etc, etc.

This message was delivered with about as much passion of the reading of a grocery list.
There was actually very little said about the deceased. I remember a skinny kid with a 10,000 watt smile, big brown eyes and that he was funny...and maybe (probably) homosexual. I don't know why he did himself in, though Ed thought he might've had HIV. Instead there was a brief listing of his surviving relatives.
I was somewhat angered by this...the same thing happened and my father and stepmother's funerals. Anyone could've been in the casket, just fill in the blank.
After it was all over, Ed and my cousin worked the room. I hung back, feeling rather sheepish. I guess my inchoate reasons for being there were to pay my respects to a childhood acquaintence...and learn something more about him. But there was no revelation.
Instead, I was reintroduced to some folks that I hadn't seen or thought about in years. Names got tossed around, some still with us, others long gone. Then my cuz had to run off to pick up some boots for his wife and we all promised that we'd get together soon. I sped home hoping to pick up some food before it started to pour.

Rest In Peace, David.

I think you deserved better.

I Gotta Say...Something...

2005-10-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

I Gotta Say...Something...

The internets are fixed and I'm able to update at home once again! WhooHoo!

Fall landed like a ton of bricks around here. We didn't get our normal Indian Summer. It's been wet and cold about three weeks too early! I'm going to have to make lots of trips to the Pho shop these next five months.

The only thing I can add as "news" is that I found a new place to live. I'll be moving to the Madison Valley...a return to my ancient stomping grounds as it were. My three new roommates (two guys and a cat) all seem like decent folks (well, maybe not the cat -- she bites (gently) sometimes) but I think we'll all get along swimmingly.

Basically, the rest of 2005 means hunkering down and working like a madman until spring. Hopefully something new, funny or at least interesting will happen between now and then, eh?

BTW -- This morning I dreamed I was the sole witness to an early performance by The Commodores. Lionel Ritchie fronted a five-piece that played a really stripped down and funky Meters-like jam. I had just begun to upbraid him for become a sellout schlockmeister who ditched his band at the first opportunity when my alarm went off.

Damn.

2005-09-28T14:47:00.000-07:00

And So...

Our router at home has been acting up which means I can't access the net or even keep a phone call going for more than a few minutes. It's ticking me off as I'm looking for a new place to live and need to get back to people when they call me back! Aggh!
I'm posting from work, which I normally don't like to do but I've been cranking through the stuff we have here. Photoshop CS2 is the shit!

I rode my bike down to the 2nd Men's Poker and Bible Study Retreat over the weekend. The weather was perfect and it was nice to get the bike into 5th gear for awhile. I didn't play poker (or study the bible, for that matter) but I did finish Matt Ruff's "Fool on the Hill" and listened to a lot of cool music. And I consumed a copious amount of vodka and tah-kill-ya. And there was much farting, of course. And scratching. And belching...

Anyway, things are cruising right along. Johnny 2X is blasting Highway 61 Revisited and I can't get that Kanye West's "Gold Digger" out of my head, but maybe that's not such a bad thing.

2005-09-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

Oh, Joy!!!

(via Pitchforkmedia)

Morrissey at Work on New Album

Kati Llewellyn reports:
The man who put the 'M' in Manchester is in the news again. Surprisingly, we're not here to tell you Morrissey's playing "X" festival, [insert fancy name here] Hall, or a couple dates around Europe. Oh, it's bigger than that...the kind of thing that makes people yell "THIS JUST IN!", "BREAKING NEWS!", or even "STOP THE PRESSES!".

Everyone's favorite Smiths frontman is currently in the studio with producer Jeff Salzman (the Killers)...and our good friend death. Yup, Morrissey is at work in Rome in film soundtrack god Ennio Morricone’s former studio, which happens to be located in the catacombs of a seventeenth-century church. Ooh, how goth.

According to his publicist, "It's apparently the most full-on rock record Morrissey's ever done. It's a balls-to-the-wall rock record, not a slow one like the last one." The album is close to being wrapped, and is tentatively scheduled for a spring 2006 release. At this point in time, tour dates have not been released, but hey, I'm sure they'll be, uhh, balls-to-the-coffin.

Pitchfork Review: Morrissey: Live at Earls Court
Pitchfork News: Morrissey to Release Live CD, DVD
Morrissey: http://www.morrisseymusic.com/

Nostalgia Day...

2005-09-19T23:29:00.000-07:00

Nostalgia Day...

Johnny was out today so I skipped listening to Howard Stern and Air America Radio and put on the KJET 1600 station I've written about before. Graham Parker's "Temporary Beauty" floored me right away -- I was immediately taken back to '82, where I spent the better part of the summer watching MTV and playing Intellivision in Tommy Simpson's basement.
I was telling my friend Karen about it and was amazed that she'd never heard The Replacements. Or Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. Or The Comsat Angels...seriously, check it out. The station is low fi (KJET was AM, anyway) but the tunes are good, even if some are a bit dated production-wise.

On Saturday, Heidi took me to see Dead Can Dance at The Paramount Theater. It seemed like every goth in town was there. I'm not a huge fan, although I love Brendan Perry's voice (I think that if there was a real Metatron, it would sound like him) and he did songs with words in english, so he had my full attention when he sang.
We were there mostly because back in the day (something like 10 years ago, for those of you keeping track) Heidi and I used to go out drinking on Thursday nights. We'd start out at The Frontier Room and hit various spots in Belltown, ending up at a now defunct place called The Brick Street. The Frontier Room had "American Dreaming" from "Toward the Within" on its jukebox and we'd play the song and sing it to each other, even though I don't think either of us are exactly sure what the second half of the second verse is. It was "our song," regardless -- so there!
(Other songs that proceeded a night of drinking: Stu -- "Frenzy" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins; Frito -- "Soul Heaven" by Deep Sensation)
Anyway, the concert was really cool, even if I didn't care for Lisa Gerrard's songs. J.R. and Kim were there as was Patty, Robert and Kelly but we didn't sit together, so I had Heidi all to myself...quite nice.
After I got home I cranked "How Low Can a Punk Get?" to scrub the goth off me brain.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm.

2005-09-14T16:23:00.000-07:00

Things That Make You Go Hmmm.

I was checking my various inboxes and the following was in one. I usually dump things from addresses I don't know but for some reason, I clicked on this:

Ya know! All men's misfortunes spring from their hatred of being alone.

If politics is to become scientific, and if the event is not to be constantly surprising, it is imperative that our political thinking should penetrate more deeply into the springs of human action,
Wherever there is possession of marks, there is fraud; wherever there is no-possession of no-marks, there is no fraud. Hence the Tathagata (note: The Buddha referred to himself as the Tathagatha, the 'thus gone one'- the one who has reached enlightenment - Ed.) is to be seen from no-marks as marks.
He deserves Paradise who makes his companions laugh.

keep her for she is your life.

Legzhembe joen ("Goodbye" - Ed.) All women are flirts, but some are restrained by shyness, and others by sense.

To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.

OK, then.

Spider-BASTARDS!

2005-09-09T09:48:00.000-07:00

Spider-BASTARDS!

I used to have a pretty progressive policy on spiders.
I couldn't help it. As a kid, didn't you cry at the end of "Charlotte's Web?" Spiders are beneficial creatures due to their mad insect-catching skills (even though they are so freakin' creepy). I bragged of my benevolence to all that would hear. I remember living in a studio apartment on First Hill years ago; hearing the pitter-patter of (really) tiny feet and watching (with an odd mixture of awe and horror) this really huge fella hauling ass across my kitchen floor. I decided to give it the bum's rush, rather than slaughter it outright -- didn't want my flesh to crawl from the snap, crackle of its exoskeleton...brrr! Encounters after that were usually marked by me showing the wee beasties the door...literally.

I don't recall ever being bitten by spider...until I moved in with Frito a great while later. I mind finding a bump on my inner arm, just a bit above my elbow. It didn't hurt but it itched a bit...way milder than a mosquito bite. I looked closer...there were two holes there.
EW!!
Another time I found a spider bite on my ear.
And then I got bit on my face.

ON MY FRIGGIN FACE!!

I changed my policy on the bastards sometime after that. Do unto others, I say -- and I got done unto first. I still don't smash them, but they get sent down the toliet!
We had a shit-ton of the little (heh) buggers around the house this spring and summer. You had to be careful when going out the back door because there would be a huge web with some big bastard sitting innit like (s)he owned the joint.
The last time that happened, I got out my empty pellet gun and pumped it up 6-7 times, pointed it at the wide-o, and fired. The spider flew across the yard, landing I know not where. But it didn't come back! So, I'd found my new favorite method of getting rid of them.

I haven't been bitten this year...go figure.

Elbow

2005-09-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

Elbow

Recently dropped a new album, "Leaders of the Free World." I heard a track off it today (Forget Myself) on KEXP and I'm (as the Brits say), "Fookin' chuffed!"
I'll be visiting the record store today...more on this later.

UPDATE: It's not out until the 27th.

Poo.

Being Poor

2005-09-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

Being Poor

Well said...

Blegh. Random.

2005-09-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

Blegh. Random.

Johnny2X, the boys on IGAS and I have been following the aftermath of hurricane Katrina closely all week. We all use fake names on the site, but I thought this post summed up the sitchiation brilliantly:

Grover Norquist, conservative activist, close Bush ally, and world-class wanker once famously said, “My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” Fortunately for us, he and his ideological allies never quite reached their goal, but unfortunately for them (and most distressingly unfortunate for the victims of Katrina), they got close enough that their depraved, social Darwinist, every-man-for-himself political philosophy may well drown in the flooded remains of a devastated American city.

I previously said that I’ve not much inclination toward trying to lay the responsibility for the levee breaches solely at Bush’s feet, if for no other reason than I just don’t feel confident that I have all the information to determine that one way or another. However, the responsibility for the catastrophically abysmal response to this tragedy I feel quite confident about aiming solidly in his direction, not only because of his practical response, which, as widely discussed, has been nothing short of atrocious, but also because of the closely held beliefs about the role of government that have made this situation infinitely worse than it needed to be. As Rob Salkowitz notes:

It’s moments like this when you need a party in power that actually believes in the affirmative power of government to help its citizens, rather than the party that sees government’s role as protecting the property of the well-off from the predations of the underclass. It’s when the true ugly soul of American conservatism is borne out for what it is: a rationalization of selfishness and the hysterical denial of community. America is about to see what happens when the government is staffed by people appointed to their jobs precisely for their disdain for the whole notion of policy in the public interest. It’s won’t be pretty.

Damn straight. Take a look at the international analysis of what’s happening in America right now—the entire world is appalled, watching the richest country in the world let its people die of thirst, and yet that is the inevitable result of a ruling party who feels little obligation to its citizens. I once wrote: “The Conservative view ultimately benefits a very small minority; the Liberal view benefits us all.” Never has that been more glaringly apparent than in the aftermath of Katrina, as those for whom Bush and his ilk have the greatest contempt turn to their government for help in a time of crisis as the whole world watches, and their government offers not compassion but blame. I think the administration will quickly find that abstract endorsements of personal responsibility which elicited such fervent applause from hand-picked campaign crowds won’t be met with quite the same reception when offered in lieu of the practical solutions now required. If the chance to so easily identify with those quite literally left stranded by the callousness of conservative philosophy doesn't finally reveal its utter folly to a majority, I don't believe anything ever will. As Matthew Yglesias said today, “They say there are no atheists in foxholes. Similarly, there are no libertarians in the aftermath of a giant, city-wide flood.”

The news yesterday stirred in me equal feelings of desperate concern for the people hit hardest by this near-inconceivable disaster and blinding anger toward the people responsible for their continued suffering. The two feelings crashed headlong into each other as I listened to a woman on NPR, sobbing, pleading with Bush to help them. She said children and women are being raped, many are in dire need of medical care, and people are starving and dying of thirst. “Please, President Bush, please send someone to save us.” I just completely broke down. It was the final straw, listening to someone beg for help from someone who was out playing golf while she was fighting for her life.

There are those now calling for Bush’s impeachment. Fuck impeachment. The whole lot of them—every last conservative ideologue who has advocated “starving the beast,” every last one of those selfish, soulless, anti-American bastards—ought to be rounded up and sent to the Superdome to live in the river of shit and piss until every single refugee has been provided safe sanctuary and a warm meal. Then Bush and his gang of cretins can clean up the trail of scattered corpses. Let the blood that belongs on their hands be a literal lesson for these pitiless pieces of human refuse. It’s long overdue.

Some judge died. I think I'm depressed -- and I hate GWB even more than I did before.
It's a three-day weekend and all I've done so far is hang out with Stu for a few hours on Saturday. Oh, and Weeze came to visit -- that was nice.
Right now, I'm ripping the Led Zepplin remasters into my computer (along with The Best of The Smiths, Vol. I & II, Televison's second album "Adventure" and local bands Crystal Skulls and Slender Means) and trying to think of something fun and distracting to do that doesn't involve Bumbershoot. Maybe I'll take myself out for Futomaki later on.

Did you know Jada Pinkett fronts a metal band?!

Reunion -- Not!

2005-08-28T23:17:00.000-07:00

Reunion -- Not!

So my 20 year high school reunion was this weekend. After months of haverin', I let entropy take over and didn't go. I thought I'd somehow work up the energy to attend the picnic over in Wes'Seattle this afternoon, but after sweating through band practice, all I wanted to do was eat some Phad See Ieew and chill.
I suppose I probably missed a potentially great time, but then, I suppose I already know the score.
Anybody that I really, really feel a need to talk to is still just a phone call away. Everyone else just means awkwardly talking about jobs, wives/husbands and kids. For me, one outta three ain't bad.
I was only at the high school I graduated from for a year, though I knew a lot of people there from junior high. My sophomore and junior years were in Georgia.
When I got back to Seattle, I felt a little more self-posessed, more self aware and while I had friends, I wasn't afraid to go to movies and ball games by myself. I saw that as a kind of strength. And here, years later, I'm still very picky about who I'll let in.
I wonder if I'll regret my decision (or lack thereof) years from now, but my curiousity wasn't that strong... somehow, I doubt it.

The 40 Year Old Virgin

2005-08-26T00:33:00.000-07:00

The 40 Year Old Virgin

Saw this movie tonight and it was freakin' wonderful. The perfect "guys movie" without a single explosion in sight!
Too often men get the short shrift on the dating scene and most movies paint all guys as being hopeless buffoons or sex-crazed predators. And we put up with crazies and individuals with poor social skills just like women do, but most of us view it as part of the "deal," since men are (until fairly recently) socialized to be the initiators of relationships.
This movie is really different, Andy (our virgin) is a really nice guy (or geek, I should say) who after a few bad dates decided he'd rather avoid all the frustration and disappointment of dating and put his energy into well, geek stuff...video games, collecting action figures & playing online poker. He seems happy with his solitary life, until a night out with some guys from work causes him to spill the beans about his (for lack of a better term) problem.
The movie deals with Andy's buddies trying to get him laid, but more than that, it's about the awkwardness and fear of interacting with "the other". Some guys try to hide behind a mask of machismo. Others wallow in a cynacism, some try bolster their courage behind new age homilies...but no one really has an answer...or do they?
Anyway, this movie manages to keep things light AND be funny as hell. I've often maintained that "dating" is an absurd proposition even in the best of circumstances. And I know a lot of guys (though most of 'em aren't virgins) that Andy reminds me of -- myself included. This is the first time I've cared for a character onscreen in ages and even though there's a lot to make you squirm, it's Andy's humanity and kindness always show through. This flick was brilliantly done and I can't wait to own it on DVD.

Oy...I just wrote a movie review, huh?

Death By Tapioca

2005-08-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

Death By Tapioca

The bubble tea habit is getting serious. I'd go every day if I could but I have this fear of OD'ing. What will they tell my mother? Instead, I try to stave off the craving with lesser drinkage. Slurpees are the Methdone for my habit, but SO less satisfying.
This morning, I had a mocha at Tully's. A green tea Frappahooty at Starbuck's when I left work and then this evening...bubble tea.
I came home, filled the Bettie Maru with coolant and gave her a wash. I decided that I wanted to clean up the mounts for my windshield, which were all rusty and maybe lower the handlebars a bit -- it's after 7 and I'm not sure if I can locate Rustoleum and a big Allen wrench at this hour, but what the hey, right? I ask The Laura if she needs anything.

"If I buy, will you get me a bubble tea?"

Evil!

Laura being Laura, this will mean a lot of modifications...you know, like Meg Ryan's character in "When Harry Met Sally," so I make her write them down. Turns out she'd been to the Pochi Tea Station (our dealer) THREE TIMES yesterday. I can't talk though, I now buy two at a time when I go -- and I was there yesterday too.

"Don't forget to have them stamp my card!" She calls after me.

The ride over was pleasant. Traffic was light. There were clouds were rolling in from the east, capping off a rather mild day. Both of the hardware stores on 45th are closed. Rite Aid didn't have paint (but they carry motor oil and showerheads...so it didn't hurt to ask) so I headed to the dealers.
I started humming "I'm Waiting For My Man" while they were making up the order. Fortunately, none of the guys tonight was working when I came in yesterday, so I can make fun of Laura's habit. Apparently, one of them saw her twice, but didn't know she'd been in a third time. It's a Korean joint and they usually have really cheesy K-pop videos playing. Which causes me to marvel, as a lot (most) of that stuff sounds like modern R&B to me.
I picked up some terror-yakki next door and ride home. Even though I usually have a really short windscreen on my bike, without it, the roar of the wind is quite loud at speeds over 30mph. I got home, handed Laura her Avacado with chocolate syrup and jelly and a lychee and taro with boba (I note that she stuck one of them in the refrigerator -- bet it ain't there now!), and took my banana split with boba and 'yaki downstairs.

Maybe I was influenced by the K-pop videos, but after I sucked and chewed on my tasty, semi-frozen and creamy treat, I spent the rest of the evening watching a really bad Korean gangster show (with subtitles) called "Family" on the AZN channel.

Powder Blue

2005-08-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

Powder Blue

...is a song by the Scottish band Elbow, off their debut album "Asleep In The Back". I find it utterlyfuckinbrilliant in the way that it opens like a flower and washes over you. Give it a listen here, wouldja?

Sunday 2:14AM

2005-08-21T02:14:00.000-07:00

Sunday 2:14AM

On Friday, I met up with The Viking and The Frito. We caught a DJ set by members of Gus Gus. I marvelled at how unhip those guys looked...like they were trying to be dorks! The music was decent, but I was somewhat underwhelmed, 'cause they spun off CD's all night. Great for their compactness...but, hell -- I can (and have) hit the "play" button at parties. Least there were some cute girls on the dance floor.
I got home in time to catch the 1AM showing of Battlestar Galactica. I ain't gonna try and covert y'all if you ain't into it, but I think that show kicks ass! Then I dinked around on the computer for way too long and went to bed around 5AM. Oh, and it was a beautiful night out. I went into the front yard and took some pictures. I tried to hold the camera steady, but the exposure was too long...but I still think this looks cool.

I got up and quickly got out of the house 'cause it was a beautiful day. Went to visit the Frito and scored a Chuck Klosterman novel and a 2 disc mix by Junior Vasquez. Scott was brewing beer and watching "Hildalgo" at (more or less) the same time. We hung out, played DOOM3 and he decided he wanted to wash his car. I got hungry around 5 and rode to a Japanese restaurant near the house for Sukiyaki and Futomaki and started the Klosterman book. After I got home, I puttered around, then went to The Baltic Room to meet Neil and Tess. Cheb i Sabbah was spinning and the club was a weird mix of hippie types, Indian-Americans and club regulars.
I can't say I like Bhangra based stuff too much...or at least in large doses. Everyone was heavin' though. I chilled in the Mafia booth and drank Red Bull mixed with Ginger Vodka. After I was sure I was sober, I took the long way home.

Statanic Action!

April...Already.

The Last Good Day of the Year

Yeah...Randomage.

Fackin' 'ell

Dying Summer...

July

Hello...

The Last Fortnight.

Update.

Fargen Egg...

Jeez.

Casino Royale

Update...

Back in the Saddle! Where we Goin?

And So...

This Webcomic...

Saturday/Sunday

Last Night....

The Way It's Been Lately

The Aftermath...

Married!!

In the Can

Fear and Loathing...?!

So It Begins...

Chad and Ylana's Wedding

Meatfest 2006!

OMG!

Tess Sez...

Whew...!

Beat!

Wahgh...

Lip Service

Memorial Day

Long Post!

Wig N Skirt Party

And/Or...?

The Weekend Ends Here.

Recap

Elbow Tomorrow!

MAXIMUM RPM

This Will Be Our Year

Quotidian Riddims...

Funny...

So...

You Wanna Know Why?

OVER!!

Richard Hawley

Elvis Perkins

Randomage 13:13

Elbow Interview

Still Here...

A Drinkin' We Will Go...

You only get only get one chance for living,..

Man...I'm Beat!!

MEME OF SEVEN

Ame Ga Furai Desu!!

The Whole Year Inn.

Out With The Old, In With The New...

Sneaky Bugger...

BLOO NOTE

Happy Birthday Matt!

Sunday Again

Happy Birthday Maria!

Cold Fun!

...Even Rode My Motorcycle In The Rain

Turkey Day Aftermath

This Is A Public Service....Announcement!

The Vin Diesel Top Thirty

An Update...

WTF?!!

She's Goooonnneee!

Cretins!

Yeah...

Two Days In February(Goo Goo Dolls)

Ted Leo Is God.

I'll Give You a @#$#% Haircut Blog!! (AKA Soma - Or Something Like That)

Waiting...

Death and The Maiden

Weekend Recap

Two Days In February
(Goo Goo Dolls)