Sunday, November 29, 2009

More pics!

I finally got my camera back from Saimhein - unfortunately I thought I had at least one full-body shot taken that night but I can't find it. So you don't get to see my make-shift hooves (boots I taped faux-fur to). But here's me and Dee (from think13):


N here's me w. her albino king snake, Adam:

(total cuddle-bug)

We went to some massive halloween party that was held in the house Jimi Hendrix lived in on Haight/Ashbury, and ate some fungus. That was one of the most incredible rides home ahve evah had.

Last weekend my cousin Zak (who has snowboarded in the Deaflympics on the USA team twice) was in town for a conference so we got a chance to hang out. It had probably been about 20 years since we'd seen each other. We had a blast - tha highlight fer both of us prolly bein on Friday when I took him to my practice space and he banged around on my drums/played my bass. He can't hear anything, but he could feel the vibrations and it was a very cool experience:


Then ah took him to all tha bars in my immediate neighborhood that ah frequent (4 of them). Aftahwerds we ended up at some random house up on a hill and stayed up way too late drinking even more.


Good times.

Ahm headed back East fer a short spell ta come ta terms w. tha fact that my folks really are sellin tha house ah grew up in. N ah will be hangin out w. some good people who ah dont see much anymore (cuz none of them have come to visit yet, grumble grumble).

Oh, n here's anutha pic of tha backyard - thars still some junk that needs ta be cleared out but it's really comin along!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Thoughts on being a Musician/Being in Bands

Bands are weird. When I was a teenager, I just thought that bands were a combination of talented musicians who rocked - and that it came naturally to them ("that" being kind of an unknown to me - I didn't start thinking about the songwriting process until I was actually in school. Even when writing songs as a teenager, I didn't see it as a process - it just happened.)

Nevermind the concept of ego and personality. Or drug abuse. Or not doing a damn thing for the band. All this stuff didn't exist - people in bands were just better at playing their instrument or singing or something then I was. At least when I was a teenager.

Howevah, as ah gawt oldah, more experienced, more perceptive, ah started realizin that a band is a family. N like any family, thar are always issues. Sometimes thar minor, sometimes thar nawt, but tha big thang is you have no control over them.

You don't - who knows where yer drummer is coming from? Who knows what the lead singers 2nd grade gym coach said to them? Who knows what yer gawna hafta deal with next? N is it even manageable?

From these kinds of points, ah started to piece togetha that a successful band is nawt just a combination of a few great musicians. It is also tha example of a great fit (or lack thereof) of personalities and vision. The bassist might be the best damn funk bassist on the planet but if he's stuck playing rap-metal, it's likely tha band won't make it above tha local scene. Or even last, especially if tha drummer keeps going through shit w. his girlfriend and/or methamphetamines. It's a total crapshoot!

This ties intae somethang ah also noticed in musick skool - that many of tha cats ah met were intae individuals, nawt bands. Ah've always liked bands - ah think ah responded ta meldin of tha minds, tha group effort, n tha combination of them all bein great playahs who in some instances had been rawkin out togetha fer decades.

Individuals have a great chance in many ways - once they've been established as someone worth working with. Also bein hot n makin money on tha tour circuit doesn't hurt.

It's as all these pieces were startin ta come togetha that ah started double-thinkin my initial plans as a musick student. Originally, ahd wanted ta be a professional musician. Howeveah ah was beginnin ta realize this meant one of two thangs: 1)Find a band that works and stick with it (meanin, git a shite job ta pay fer it) er 2)Find someone with connections n gae on tour/in tha studio w. them (which means givin up a lawt of control ovah tha type of musick as makin).

Neitha of these were thangs ah COULDN'T dae, but ah realized (ratha quickly) that ah DIDN'T WANT TO! Apparently ah would ratha have a standard, borin job of some sort that did nawt feed me emotionally, musickally, spiritually, etc., so that ah could keep my musick as personal n somethang ah cared about.

This is all pretty idealistic in my opinion now - especially cuz ah've realized ahm STILL playin intae one of those two paradigms. Findin musicians ta werk with is NAWT EASY. At least good ones that ah like hangin out with AND enjoy tha musick we're creatin. N even in my best case scenarios, ahm still comprimisin.

Ah play in two pop-ish bands rite now - n ah like em. Ah like it a fair amount actually - but a part of that is that as people, we mesh. Logistically, it is doable fer me (ah git rides n borrow amps n git cheaper rent - it's sorta ridiculous tha measures they gae thru fer me), and ah dae like tha musick. Howevah, ah think tha people almost outweigh that in many places fer me (while nawt entirely). Ahm currently searchin fer my own backup band - n ahve already started comprimising. It's a big pain in tha ass, this makin musick w. otha people. But ah like tha alternative less - makin musick by myself. Borin n hard.

Thars nawt a point ta this blogpost - ah haven't figured it out. Ah just have a lawt of thoughts n especially perspective on musick/bands/band dynamics/tha musick biz n every once in a while need ta express them apparently. Thas why ah have a blog. Git yer own!

Wee the Band plays a Festival!

Nevermind that it was fer a snobby neighborhood and we were billed as an "all-ages rock band", meaning all our songs about sex, drugs, and ritualistic murder had to be stripped. It was still a festival, n we gawt paid motherfuckers. So deal.

Anyway, our kickass sound guy Tim snapped some snazzy lookin photos of us, so ahma share. Again, nevermind that this gig was like 4 weeks ago. You still git pics. Of me in wearin a felt tie. Aren't you lucky motherfuckers?

Tha band!


Tha band n some kids who danced!


Ah sing!


Tha (leavin) Crowd!



In sad news, one of our singers Ashante is no longer singing with us. We are gaein ta be playin w.o her in a few weeks, n then tryin ta replace her as soon as we ken - but they hafta be good.

Ahm kiddin, that news isn't sad at all, she drove me absolutely crazy n ahm actually really really glad she's nawt with tha band anymore (Altho ah will say that a)she could sing like a muthafawka n b)girl had some good bizness sense that we certainly profited from).

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Totally Posthumous Cleanse/Detox Wrap

First off - ah quit a day(ish) early. Thar was a halloween party @ my work on the 29th, n ah totally drank a beer n ate some junk. But ah still made it four weeks.

Tha big thang(s) ahm takin from this experiment is a) it DAES make you feel bettah but b) it's nawt a way ah NEED ta live my life just yet. Also that ah don't like havin ta spend all my time thinkin about what ahm eatin, what ahm gawna make, what needs ta be bought, etc.

Ah dae like that a few newer ingredients gawt introduced ta my routine: quinoa, flaxseed, etc. Ah also am very thankful it inspired me ta attend my local farmers market (or markets sometimes) n try ta git tha majority of my foods thar. Ah realized at some point that ahd basically been cookin entirely from scratch in many cases, minus some spices, n that tha most cheatin ahd done was some beans er grains (specially durin my cleanse phase), otherwise it had all been bought at a local market.

It also forced me ta stop dependin on a few non-local products: especially bananas. Ah love bananas - thar easy, tasty, cheap, n good fer ya. Ahd basically been eatin a banana every mornin fer a long time - it was a jump-start to my day, ah could eat it while waterin tha plants, it gave me just a lil energy ta ride ta werk. But thar nawt native. Those bananas come from far far away. So instead, ahve been eatin an apple er pear er persimmon bought from a local vendor. Nawt quite as easy, but bettah fer everyone (specially tha local vendor ah suppose).

So ah believe thars compromises ta be made. Ah love bread n cheese n eggs - thas fine. Ah currently dont eat TOO much of eitha, but ah should be more mindful about those products. Ahve also been good about nawt dependin on tofu fer protein - which is good fer a lawt of reasons. N ahm still gaein to tha farmers market - ah love it. Ah hafta wake up early on my Saturday, but it really is totally werth it.

But ah did miss tha occasional junk food. Ahve definitely snacked a bit now n then since, n haven't felt bad about eatin chocolate er chips er drinkin beer. All in moderation ah figure - n tha more aware of it ah am, tha bettah off ahll be ah think. Right?

All in all, ahm glad ah did it. Ahll prolly dae somethang similar again. Its good ta escape ones comfort zone - specially when you feel awesome durin it. N ah took some good thangs away.

Here's my most recent expedition intae cookin local food:

Attempt at Thai Curry
- Jasmine Rice - cook in cooker

In saucepan, heat olive oil (ah always cook w. olive oil), sesame oil, n soy sauce. Chop 7-8 spicy red peppers (From farmers market of course - $1 a huge bunch ahll nevah use). Sautee in sauce with salt, pepper, brown sugar, and ginger.

Add diced potatos and water. Cover and simmer.

5 minutes or so later, add green beans. stir and simmer. add more ginger.

a few minutes later, added chopped mushrooms and yellow/orange bell pepper. Cook for a few more minutes, then add 30+ thai basil leaves. Stir basil leaves in until wilting, cover for a few more minutes. Squeeze lime over, stir, and serve over jasmine rice.

How'd it come out? Tasty as hell, but a bit spicy. Ahd really thought ah had some coconut milk that ah was gaein ta add, but couldn't find it. Also, ah lost my fish sauce a few months back n haven't replaced that yet either. Ah think w. tha addition of one, er both, of these, it will be pretty fawkin good. Altho all tha recipes ah looked up called fer eggplant, so maybe ah should incorporate that next time.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

What happened w. my House:

Some time ago (end of August), ah reported that my master tenant was movin back. Now this kinda CA rent weirdness is somethang ahm familiar w. (at least by now), but realize many othas are nawt, so ahll explain:

In SF, tha rentin market is very ruthless. We also have a LAWT of people who come by for a short while and then move ontae tha next step of our life. This is partially due to tha large amount of twentysomethangs who choose ta live here. In tha 70s er 90s (can't remembah), laws were passed dealin w. Rent Ordinance. Part of rent ordinance is rent control. Rent control protects tha amount of money you ken raise rent from year ta year providin that tha house doesn't gae on tha market. So a lawt of this happens by having one person sign a lease and be the Master Tenant, (or sometimes Master Tenants). This allows those folks to keep their place cheap and controlled, as well as allows them to change sub-tenants as needed if people flake/move/etc. It's not really a bad thang - except when yer master tenant is a dick.

In many of these situations, the master tenant talks to the landlord and collects money from the rest of the tenants. Technically, master tenants are required to let you know what the total lease agreement is when you move in, AND cannot charge you more then a proportional share of tha rent (as determined by square feet, furnishing provided, services maintained, etc.). Doing the latter is called Rent Gouging.

It's prolly easy to see whar this is gaein. Back in late May of 2008, ah jumped on a relatively affordable, all-inclusive, oral agreement w. some dude ah nevah met, without asking questions like "How much is rent" and "Who's the landlord" and "Do you actually live here?". Ah wanted tha fawk outta El Cerrito, n at 700 a month, w. cable, internet, utilities, n plenty of furniture, it was still a pretty good deal. Especially given tha washer/dryer included, n tha sizes of tha bedroom, kitchen, n backyard. So what if it was a lil sketchy?

It was obvious no one here cared all that much when ah moved in. Howevah, ovah time, it turned intae a bit more of a household. N we started talkin about how it would be nice ta fix some shite up. Namely our back stairs. So we mentioned it ta our maaster tenant, n he blew us off.

We continued ta talk ta each otha, n eventually ah went to tha SF Tenants Union ta see how illegal all this was. Ah learned plenty illegal, but without a copy of tha lease, er knowin who tha landlord was, thar wasn't too much ah could dae. Ah also learned that our master tenant, by nawt livin on tha property, was makin us vulnerable ta a serious rent increase - basically if tha landlord learned Steve wasn't living thar, they could raise tha rent as high as they wanted. N Steve had created an image of a hard ta deal with landlord that we should leave alone.

Aftah tha tenants union, we wrote steve an email (as he had been unresponsive ta verbal requests fer tha lease, er his address, er ta git thangs fixed), requestin all three. He responded sayin he would be movin back in early October, n then we just had ta wait. This also meant he was kickin out my favorite roommate, who had done a lawt ta help build unity in tha household, n that bummed me out. What a dick.

Anyway, ah hadn't brought this up ta really anyone b/c it has been SO dramatastic n unresolved. All of September was a dreadful stressful mess just waitin fer him ta come back...n then he didn't.

On Oct 3rd, aftah Steve failed to meet any of tha roomies when he said he would ta git a key, a new roommate showed up named Trish. I had met Trish before - actually she was tha one who showed me my original room in Steve's absence. Apparently it was a tough time fer Steve n instead of movin back ta SF, he had sent Trish in ta take ovah tha lease. How convenient! AND WEIRD!!

A week er so latah, we had a talk w. Trish n discovered she had nawt yet signed anythang. In this time we'd discovered that Trish was unemployed, n a self-described "Gypsy" who would prolly be leavin fer a month er two at a time in tha future. Also, her second weekend in tha house, my housemates noticed some REALLY strange behavior. Some guy spent tha weekend at our house who didn't recognize Trish's name tha first time someone asked him how he knew her. In addition, she spent tha entire weekend in her room, nawt makin a sound. Apparently she also passed out in tha bathroom, n at one point her door swung open n Oskar said hi, and she appeared drugged out n asleep. Her guest, who was also a wanderer, would leave tha house ta gae in tha backyard every hour er so tha first night before he started sleepin in her room, n when ah went out thar, ah saw a candle lit. Needless ta say, this all was worrisome. Ah gawt naethang against people who don't have a place ta live, but don't need them potentially daein hard drugs in my house.

We didn't bring this potential drug problem up w. Trish because we over tha course of hta discussion, it became obvious that Trish was nawt putting any money towards our rent, was not in a place of authority whatsoevah, n really had nae idea what tha hell she was talkin about. At one point, she even exclaimed "there goes my free rent!". She even told us she had "promised Steve she wouldn't tell us what the rent was." Unbelievable.

So this was tha straw that broke tha camels back fer tha roommie who had been a lil apprehensive about pursuin Steve fer rippin us off. We were finally collectively NAWT OKAY w. payin Trish's rent, and luckily, we had learned n confirmed that our landlord's son owned tha local coffee shop across tha street. Oskar investigated n explained our story.

That would have hopefully fixed it, but instead tha son, while concerned, explained that he didn't have anythang ta dae w. that side of tha bizness. He was actually very nice n sympathetic, but made nae promises. We showed him a copy of tha rental agreement Steve had sent ovah in lieu of a lease when we asked - that was preposterously illegal n gave him ALL tha rites n treated him like tha owner of a place n us people buyin out rooms in his house. Keep in mind Steve hadn't lived here in ovah 2 years - n ah had nevah even met him. In fact, ahd prolly had about 5 conversations w. him via text, email, or phone in tha last year and all of them had led me to decide he was a passive-aggressive drama queen who ah hated.

Tha landlords son said he would talk ta his folks n that we should call him on Monday (whe told us this on 10/21, so that Monday was tha 26 - we'd been dealin w. Trish fer almost three weeks by now) if we hadn't heard from him by then. Instead, on Monday mornin our landlord n husband showed up at tha door - luckily ta meet Melanie instead of Trish. Melanie, while surprised, immediately turned intae a hostess n showed them how great we were. We were especially lucky that tha house was relatively clean that day. Tha landlord had nawt even heard of Trish or received any notice from Steve about him leaving. Tha big news we'd been waitin fer was tha ACTUAL price of tha apartment: $1600. Steve had been collectin 1700 from us SANS utilities (some of which he nevah even paid).

That evenin tha house met (nawt includin Trish of kerse) n we decided it was time ta strike. Tha landlord was gaein ta try n git in touch w. Steve n then git back ta us. We realized at this point tha only card we'd been holdin w. Steve was a "give us tha lease, er git sued fer rippin us off" kinda deal. We sent him an email saying as much, n then went home ta tell Trish tha situation: that we weren't payin rent ta her er Steve, were takin it inate our own hands, n that she would hafta move out since she wasn't payin rent.

Trish didn't put up much of a fight. She said okay, n then we assume she talked ta Steve, n then tha landlord. She came back a lil latah ta tell us "it looked like thangs were gaein in our favor". Then tha landlord called - n we waited a lil ta regroup before callin her back.

Ah only heard one side of that call, but it sounded promisin. Tha end result was that our landlord had ta talk ta "Leo", a name we hadn't heard. We assumed he was tha lawyer, which ended up bein mostly true (technically he's nawt a lawyer, he's a "personal representative & tax/immigration law specialist", whatevah that means).

Leo gawt in touch w. us n wanted us ta come down ta talk ta him - which was right down tha damn street. Honestly, ah sometimes wondah how much time n effort could have been saved by actually gaein intae his office, which clearly read REAL ESTATE LAW on tha buildin, n askin him a few questions. He's sharp as hell (altho a republican), n it wouldnt have taken more then a couple minutes fer him ta figure out whar we were talkin about.

All in all, we won. Tha rent went up, but it's still cheapah fer us (n fer SF in general). We are on tha lease - all three of us. We know how ta talk ta our landlord n Leo is now our property manager. Our landlord is amazing - absolutely loaded, but she, her husband, n thar werkah cleaned up our backyard themselves (wait till you see th apics). She's a lil sweet hispanic woman that is gaein ta give me some tomato seedlins from her garden next summer. Tha back steps are almost completely finished. We kept tha washer/dryer n are replacin tha otha furniture w. our stuff. N ahm gaein ta take Steve ta small claims court - he over charged me 200 bux a month for 17 months AND stole my 700 security deposit outright (he did nawt pay fer November rent). You ken dae tha math.

We signed tha lease on Saturday, October 31st. It was one of tha best days evah. Ahll gae intae tha costumed details in a latah post.....

Monday, November 02, 2009

Massive Update needed

Ahm aware - it's been a lil bit. But really, thars a ton of stuff. So stay tuned n ah will try ta give you all the personal updates on thangs such as:

- WTB photos from a festival
- How my detox/cleanse ended
- What's going on with my housing situation (n how it gawt thar)
- Samhein 2009!

Also, ah saw Valient Thorr at my favorite SF metal club Annie's Social Club, which is a great little dive in the SOMA district. Ah almost missed tha show too - didn't realize it was happenin until two days prior. They were as much fun as ah remembah - n even hairier!

Stay tuned mofos!