No more TV for me

It's time to take a LONG break from my television (sans baseball of course). Now that the Wire is over there's nothing left for me. Project Runway bores me, but it is a great excuse to catch up with my gal pals once a week and down lots of cheap vino. Alight, maybe there are a few caveats to my blanket statement on my intent to abolish the time sucker. I'm just really going to miss the Wire.


To mark the release of the final season of the show on DVD earlier this month, the Museum of the Moving Image presented a panel, Making "The Wire", with David Simon, the series creator and co-producer; novelist and screenwriter Richard Price, who wrote several episodes; and four of the show's stars: Seth Gilliam (who played Ellis Carver), Clark Johnson (city editor Gus Haynes), Clarke Peters (Lester Freemon), and Wendell Pierce ("Bunk"), moderated by David Schwartz, Chief Curator.

Listen to the panel here

MC Hammer is bluegrass??!!

Looks like the official lineup of this year's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has been announced. http://www.strictlybluegrass.com/ I'm pretty stoked about some of the non-strictly bluegrass artists performing this year, which include Odetta, Will Oldham, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Iron & Wine and what...MC Hammer? Not sure whether or not this is a joke, but Hammer getting down to some banjo sounds AMAZING.

Farewell Bay Meadows

Yesterday was a sad day - it marked the final day of live racing at Bay Meadows, the longest operating Thoroughbred racetrack in California. My love affair with Bay Meadows began with my first 'official' date with an ex of mine. It was new year's day. After an evening of debauchery, we decided to keep it going at the races. Yodeling Jenny was my horse. She never let me down.

I've been to numerous other tracks over the years: Golden Gate Fields and even the dog races to see my mom sing the national anthem. Yep - you heard that right. The previously mentioned ex and I actually considered making a trek to Idaho to witness nature vs. nature gone amuck in a cloned mule race. Idaho Gem, the first ever cloned mule was set to race his clone Taz and we couldn't miss that! Sadly, I think we were too broke for the adventure. I wonder who won?

Aside from the depravity, the wonderful people-watching, the gambling, and cheap hotdogs and beer my favorite part of the day was hearing the sound of that trumpet. The Bay Meadows trumpet buddy always played the theme from the Simpsons which for some odd reason made me happy.

I'm not going to Disneyland

I just found out that my good buddy Ian is now engaged to his lovely girlfriend Elissa. Oddly enough, this comes on the heels of 8.08.08, which saw thousands of Chinese rushing to the alter and a recent discussion we had regarding marriage.

Apparently, she proposed to him while they were on the Haunted Mansion ride in Disneyland. That's my kind of girl. Though, quite the odd place for a proposal. I am slightly biased however, considering my fear of Disneyland. I was lost from my parents when I was a wee pup while exploring The Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.

I was wandering around aimlessly for hours and ended up in the creepy 'It's a Small World After All ride' which is filled with hundreds of singing dolls. Needless to say I'll never return to Disneyland.

So it looks like I'm the lone spinster from my hometown and that doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Another SF music venue closes its doors

12 Galaxies R.I.P.

Say it ain't so! I was having lunch with my friend Nick this afternoon and he informed me that in a few short weeks 12 Galaxies will be shutting down for good. Bummer. I've always wondered how they stayed afloat for as long as they did, with often no more than a single show a week. Why didn't the club get a proper booking agent?? It's a great space, and I've spent many a drunken nights at the club over the years. In fact, the last time papa Reierson was in town I dragged him out to see Stallion perform. My dad happens to be a super karate fanatic - signed pictures of Chuck Norris in his living room and all; though he didn't truly appreciate the karate/magic combo that is Stallion. I'm going to miss you 12 Galaxies.

For one of their last hurrahs, the club is hosting its annual Parkerpalooza with: Spiral Stairs, Still Flyin', Kelly Stoltz, Hank IV, and some other 12 g's alums. See you there.

http://www.12galaxies.com/

Strippers like Starlite Desperation

I dragged my friend Julie to this goth club the Red Devil Lounge last night to see one of my favorite bands, Starlite Deperation play. They were amazing as always, and played some tracks off their new album as well as my favorites: Born to be Dizzy and The Gold Rush. Sadly, the crowd only consisted of a few strippers, some crazy old man, myself and some members of the opening bands that stuck around for their set. I never understood why Dante and crew haven't risen above tiny venue status. Why do only strippers like them?

http://www.myspace.com/thestarlitedesperation

Friend Rock

Over the weekend I got a chance to hang out with an old buddy from Seattle who was in town for his first tour. I miss my Pacific NW friends, mostly for their sense of humor. Something about a lack of sunshine that brings out the Woody Allen in us all. My poor roommate was not too pleased with the drunken laughter emitting from our living room at 4am. Usually I'm a great roommate, I swear.

The friend in question's new album features artwork from my his brother - Darin Shuler. His stuff is absolutely amazing. I wonder what I should commission him to create? My roomy and I already have a portrait of us hanging above our couch...

http://darinshuler.com/

Before the friend rock, an adventure out of the city was long overdue. We packed the sunscreen, sandwiches and trashy mags and headed for Bolinas. Unfortunately, the wind was not on our side. We stayed for about 30 minutes before admitting defeat, attempting to enjoy the view and ignore the sand storm. We decided to finally check out the German Tourist Club, a pub tucked away in the Redwoods that I've been hearing about for years. http://www.touristclubsf.org/
The clubhouse was built in 1912 by a group of German Nature Friends and has been there ever since. They're only open to the public a few weekends out of the month, but we lucked out. Drinking and playing dice counts as an outdoor adventure, right?


Ok - I know it's time to stop subscribing to Rolling Stone. It's been on a fast decline for YEARS, but I've held on this long mostly out of habit. When they start running features on American Gladiators named Breaux that's when I have to say no to his pink 'breaux hawk.' Same with the Simpsons. I have a feeling much of my mass consumption is done out of habit. Speaking of consumption and its driving forces, in the same Rolling Stone issue I came across a very disturbing McDonald's ad. The ad features a creepy hipster-esque cartoon character who resembles Ron Jeremy named Paul. Paul is the Original Dollar Millionaire and tells us a bit about himself - "I pretty much live in the moment, most of the time. Like when I signed up for a credit card to score a free T-shirt. Didn't need the card, but that shirt was callin' my name. Especially because it was laundry day." At first I thought the ad was a joke. Apparently there have been a ton of disturbing McDonald's ads over the years. Interesting piece on this topic I came across: http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/electronic-publications/stay-free/archives/24/mcdonalds-commercials.html
I miss Ronald. Then again, I've always had a thing for clowns.

They all float down here!