Is it bettah ta blog about nuthang....

then ta nawt blog at all? Thoughts?

In sad news, one of my band members suffered a loss in his family so we did not make it to Sacramento last week. He seems to be doing okay, and we're looking forward to rawkin the House of Shields before he goes on tour w/o me this Friday.

Nawt much exciting has happened, altho apparently ah gawt gunk on one of my brake pads n it was startin ta scare me a bit... n then somethang excitin happened:

My friend who ah haven't seen since a few summahs ago in Iowa calls me n invites me to a punk show at her friends house, n ah see her kickass warehouse space n watch 5 folx from chicago play in two different bands w. big assed smiles on thar face n tha one guy tells me that this is tha first time they've really felt appreciated since they left fer tour two weeks ago n it was great. Ah was given an aloe plant ta grow n repotted my cactus who's been suffering, as well as movin em outside fer more sun.

Tha Bay Area knows how ta dae weekends, ah gawta hand it ta them. Doesn't mattah what tha weekdays been like, Saturday n Sunday are usually drop-dead gorgeous tempratures n climates. This aftahnoon ah biked home from Emeryville, partially along tha coast/highway. Tha Bay has a pungent odor, n thar were a ton of dogs at one particular beach havin a blast.

Also watched Super High Me, wherein Doug Benson stops smoking pot for 30 days, and then spends tha next 30 REALLY stoned. He defintely fawked up a lawt more in his standup when he was stoned, er at least thas how it was intended ta come across. As a movie, it was uneven (big surprise), but it had a decent little charm to it, and is tha most potentially mainstream movie ahve seen that adequately describes how medical cannabis works in lovely CA.

A few thangs....

My rents have been in town this weekend, which has been good. It's also meant a lawt of eatin out at fancy places ah ken only drool about. Hurray fer my genetic contributers!

Warren Teagarden had a CD release on Friday at tha weirdest club ahve evah played in. Tha upstairs is a swanky lounge w. couches (n some jam band playin when we gawt thar). Tha downstairs is a dingy concrete basement with airplane seats. One of tha walls has actually been made to look like tha windows of an airplane - complete w. a flashing light. Strange. BUT, there was two cases of PBR fer tha bands, n a generous jager shot fer $5. Ah think people had a good time - ah was a bit too intae tha PBR ta really be able ta tell....

Ahve been skippin yoga a lawt recently - nawt sure exactly why. Ah keep tellin myself ahma gae, n then, ah dont. My apologies fer bein lame - er maybe ahm tryin ta git my waist size back up. Nawt a good idea tho - cuz ah bought 3 pairs of shorts today - fer a total of 12 bux. Hellz yeah good will!

Ah downloaded tha recent Magnetic Fields album - ahm nawt really a huge fan of them, but ah needed somethang new ta listen to, n figured they might just be able ta win me ovah w. an album called Distortion. Ah was wrong - ah think ah dislike them even more then evah. First off, tha lyrics are really clevah - but they are so clevah ah think they don't pay too much attention to tha songs themselves. Tha production on this album tries way too hard ta be low-fi, n really, thars nawt a single tune thats been stuck in my head. Tha whole thang comes across as feelin very smug, n thas NAWT a vibe ah listen ta musick fer. While tha Mountain Goats are able ta write smart, sad, amazing lyrics, n combine them w. musick that is at tha worst tolerable, n at tha best, toe-tappin, tha Magnetic Fields make me think of a group of really smart science kids who eat lunch togetha n talk about how much money thar gawna make aftah they graduate from MIT. Blech.

Ah also found Frank Zappa beer today at my local liqour store, which has made me happy. And ah have think13 and Warren Teagarden shirts now - finally. Next Friday ahll play my first outta-tha-area gig in Sacramento w. WT.

And now - Chocolate!

HOLY WOW!

It is 81 degrees!!!!! Ah cannot express how excited ah am - Ah ken (And SHOULD) wear shorts!

Ah totally win. (altho ah hafta buy shorts now)

Ah don't know whethah ta laugh er threaten....

so remembah my supah-sketch cell phone insurance company NCOA? N how they took a month ta replace a stolen phone, makin me git my own police report n nawt respondin ta emails etc.?

Today ah git a lettah from them:

"After reviewing NCOA membership activity, including claims processed and settled under the NCOA cellular benefits, we have been instructed to forward due notice of cancellation to certain members. As a consequence, your NCOA membership is cancelled, effective immediately."

while ahm glad ah gawt a replacement phone, ah wondah if ahm justified ta a refund....ah wish thar was actually someone who could dae somethang about how awful an organization these folks are.

Er that they were local so ah could gae yell n bitch at some folks in person, perhaps urinating in their lobby.

a man ken dream, can't he?

Note - This is me predicting this phone will die on me within 6 months (more likely 3).

Flowers, Fire, and drunks!

First off, pictures as promised from tha bike path between my house and the BART:



Makes me think of how badassed a whole field of wildflowers out here will look in tha summer - this was a desolate patch of grey brown when ah moved here.


Next, think13 played at MAPP last nite in tha supah cold windy Balmy alleyway (Balmy is actually tha name of tha alleyway). It was just Dee and Christoph and myself, accompanied by fire dancers and for a little while by a little girl named Haley (probably around 9 years old) who banged on tha drum. Aftahwerds was this total weird duo of weirdos who chanted like ghosts and banged on stuff - total prima donnas. ah knew from tha git gae they'd be hard ta please, havin sound issues w. thar one amp (without which they couldn't gae "wooo! woo!"), n then when some of our dancers decided to accompany thar weirdness, one of em complained she couldn't breathe from tha kerosene. Fair enuff, but w.o tha fire dancers, thar stuff was pretty much unwatchable/listenable. N then it gawt werse w. a drunk latino man in his 40s started singing/shouting at them, and they disbanded before finishing. Tha crowd (what was left of them) wasn't too dissapointed, but they did start gittin annoyed at tha drunk guy who would nawt leave and would nawt shut up.

But thar WAS fire:


Gawta love San Francisco!

Today ah biked around tha mission gaein ta three open houses - only one of them is a potential fit, n its a bit more expensive then ahd like n only has one bathroom, for like 8 people, which could be a problem. but it would be a great space to live in - this huge crazy warehouse w. a 93" tv screen and bikes scattered around fer parts. We'll see how it gaes.....

Weird Dreams

Ah usually don't remembah my dreams so well. Thar are a couple theories floatin around on this, some of them havin ta dae w. my consumption of a certain plant native to North America, whcih ah dont know enuff medical schtuff about ta argue w.

Howevah, ah remembah a big portion of last nites, n how frustrated it made me fee.

Specifically, the focal point of tha dream is that ah moved. But instead of movin intae tha city like ah wanted, somehow ah moved out to a suburb of San Francisco, a suburb in tha hills overlookin SF. Note - ahve actually seen these hills in otha dreams, undah tha guise of australia and bawstan mostly. Ah also remembah thar bein a particularly steep hill just before my house, one that ah could nawt even climb as tha wooden beams set in place ta make it more accessible were rotting. Ah remembah bein very pissed at myself fer choosin such an inconvenient place ta live (n rightly so).

My new housemates were a family - ah remembah bein very pissed at myself fer livin w. anutha family (nawt that my current family sucks, but ah thought ahd moved on). They were pretty straight-laced, but somehow undah tha impression ah would be makin a livin from teachin bass lessons, which ah would dae in tha house (my room - which ah nevah saw). Ah resolved ta instantly start searchin fer a new place ta live, n hoped my current situation was month-to-month.

Latah that evenin, ah biked to a friends place w. tha drummer from think13. My friends place ended up lookin identical to my current basement (but wasn't). My drummer had some crazy big wheel bike, n in makin room fer it, he knocked my own bike ovah.

Ah gawt up n beat tha shite outta him. Now - ahve prolly only punched someone in tha face once er twice in my entire life, as most of my physical entanglements were via wrestling, er punching shoulders. But ah nawt only punched him in tha face, ah kicked him when he was down. Ah remembah thinkin "Why are our friends lettin me beat tha crap out of my drummer?" but instead just told him "ah didn't kick you that hard."

Then ah was woken up by a phone call that ah didnt take.

Ah guess in tha grand scheme of thangs, that dream isn't really all that weird. but tha fact that remembered it is. Why is this one more important, er how did it slip through my unconscious so that it could stay w. me all day?

In otha news, think13 (a very very stripped down version) will be performing this evenin at a Mission alleyway, hopefully w. firedancers. Warren Teagarden opens fer tha guy who used ta play w. tha New York Dolls, but as a solo acoustic show. Ahm glad April is here, n startin ta dae some more significant househuntin werk.

sorry fer such a borin post, but a saturday mornin w.o obligations is a rare thang (one ah created fer myself b/c tomorrow is jam packed w. band practice n open-house attendance).