Vanilla Street

Convent

2011-04-13T23:52:00.000-07:00

Today I felt especially human. Normally a work day would be fairly routine. My perfunctory nine hours of time in the office and the gym on a good day. I'd maybe eke out another hour or so with Erin or else meet up with a friend to catch up over a beer. Today though, somehow more happened. All compressed into one day. I learned my friend's son came through eye surgery ok. I re-did some work I wasn't satisfied with and made it something to be proud of. At happy hour, I bonded with a guy I had always meant to hang out with more often. I think we're actually friends now. Despite the buzz, I still made it to the gym for a full work out. I heard two inspiring stories on The Moth podcast that filled me with emotion, both happy and sad. One man who realized his dreams and another man who's dreams were torn from him. I found out that a burger place I walk by every day, Meister Burger, is far better than the one I normally go to. And cheaper. Another friend, Sadie, called me up last minute and told me about a lovely acoustic music show at an old convent less than a block from my apartment. I used to walk by that building every day on the way to work and had no idea what was in there, nor any idea that I'd ever go inside. The space was beautiful as were the audience and the talent. The concert took place in a petite candle lit chapel the size of a very large dining room. I didn't realize that twenty-somethings had any interest in folk music. But maybe there is a resurgence. Who knows. Sadie's friend Adam performed. It was his first public appearance after having a near death car accident last year. His family and friends were clearly proud and relieved to see him back on stage again. It felt like life was swirling around me today.So much real life. What a full day.

Cleanse

2009-07-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

Monica originally got me interested in the concept of fasting. A few years ago, I saw that she had a "Fasting for Dummies" book on her nightstand. My first instinct was to laugh for about five continuous minutes. How in the world could anyone need a big thick book to explain how to stop putting food in his or her mouth? It's simple. Just don't! Right?

With some encouragement, I cracked open the book and read some of it. As I read, I realized the book wasn't so much explaining how to stop eating. It was explaining the benefits and mechanisms of fasting, what to expect, and how to prepare.

Until then, I had always thought of fasts as usually performed in the context of spiritual practice, political statements, or dieting. It had never really occurred to me that a fast could be of any value to me.

One particular benefit of fasting rang especially true for me as I read further. The book tried to convey the substantial amount of energy our bodies use on a daily basis to digest food. During a fast, the left over energy not being used for digestion is available for the body to use for other purposes such as self-healing and improved mental function. Like most people who have experienced food coma, I was immediately able to relate to this energy rhetoric and take it seriously. Even though I already knew eating a meal used some energy, it never occurred to me that my body might do brand new magic things merely by quitting food for a few days. Maybe it was worth a try.

Back then, I initially tried a three day fast. I can't remember how far I actually got. Not far enough to realize any major benefits. But I did feel that I gained a measure of power over food. I knew that I could do it longer under the right circumstances. But somehow those circumstances never seemed to surface. Or maybe I just wasn't committed.

But now during my two months off of work, I have a comfort zone to worth within. No work meetings or deadlines to worry about being woozy for. No big eating or drinking occasions to get in the way. Erin initially brought up The Master Cleanse, a no-less-than ten day diet consisting of nothing but a drink made of lemon juice, maple syrup, cayanne pepper, and water. She had done it once before and said it felt great. I have heard of the cleanse from many people around town by now, all with stories of great benefits. She was looking forward to doing it again after running her marathon in May. It was a good opportunity for me to give fasting another try, and so I said I would do it with her after we got back from Mexico.

So now here we are - the first day of the fast. I didn't do a whole lot of research. I am relying mainly on Erin's experience with it. Also, from what I have read, there doesn't seem to be much to it. The hard part is - you guessed it - not eating.

Below I will chronicle the highlights of each day of the cleanse. I'll add more to this post as the days go on.

Day 1 - We went shopping for the ingredients of our magic drink. Ideally, the cleanse should be done with all organic ingredients, so we headed to Rainbow Grocery, the wholesomest of all wholesome stores in San Francisco. There we loaded up on organic lemons, organic maple syrup, and organic cayenne pepper. Our first batch of drink was a little bit clunky and awkward to build, but to my surprise it didn't taste too bad at all. I think I can survive on this for a few days. Sipping it the first few hours, it seemed like a piece of cake. I even took a bike ride since I was still feeling fairly energetic. I heard the first couple of days can be rough hungerwise. It wasn't until later that I realized I was going through the day's batch kind of fast. The notion of conserving it hadn't occurred to me. This could make my days hungrier than I first thought. I'll have to supplement the drink with water, but water just won't feel as satisfying.

Day 3 - This was the hardest day so far. I was having a hard time keeping my mind off of food. It became clear just how much time each day is spent thinking about, acquiring, preparing, or enjoying food. In addition, my social life tends to revolve around occasions when people are eating or drinking. I regularly visit my good friend Shannon during her lunch break at her restaurant to share a bite. I have two regular pub nights during the week where I meet up with separate sets of friends. I like to go out dancing frequently and usually have a cocktail or two in the process. San Francisco is an eating and drinking city. It's what we do here. Luckily I have a hobby project I have been meaning to spend more time on so at least I have something to focus on during my idle time. Erin and I took a drive out to Bolinas as a non-food activity. While sitting on the beach together, all we could talk about was what we plan to eat when we're off the fast. Later we went to see a movie. That was a good low energy, no food activity, but by the end of the night both of us had substantial headaches. Day 4 has to get better.

Day 4 - The laxative portion of the diet is kind of messing with my stomach and my sleep. Tea at night and salt water flush in the morning. I'm not too sure about this salt water thing. Critics of the fast point out it flushes out needed digestive bacteria. It also tastes terrible. It is basically drinking two full pint glasses of sea water. It just feels wrong. Besides that, I'm kind of tethered to my house for at least an hour or two afterward. Now that my gut seems to be fairly clear of all solid food, I may not continue it. We'll see. Besides all that, I feel pretty good. I feel less hungry today, and even do a light workout at the gym. I'm not super obsessed with food, but still feel quite nostalgic about it. Even though I feel better, I have a nagging concern about my nutrition. Primarily I am concerned about my calorie intake. I calculated my diet to be about 1000 calories per day. Mainly I just don't want to lose much more weight. I'm already down three pounds in four days. All I can think is that by tomorrow I'll be about half way done. Although now I'm starting to read about potential health dangers of this thing. Am I just looking for an out so I can have a hamburger? Not sure, but I'm definitely keeping an open mind about finishing or continuing. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Day 6 - Tired of nothing but food-related life all around us, Erin and I drove up to Harbin Hot Springs to soak in the soothing spring water and enjoy nature in a relaxing setting. The water was just what the doctor ordered. We fit right in with our bottles of drink. There is relatively little food around there unless you go looking for it, so we had a break from temptation even if only for a day or two.

Day 7 - After getting home from the mountains, I was starting to feel kind of loopy. Not in any sort of physically uncomfortable way. But I just felt kind of, well, dumb. I lost my keys, and after searching the house and garage for an hour, I finally found them stuffed into my shoe on my shoe rack with a piece of paper stuffed in behind them. Ugh. When I went to leave the house, I pulled my keys out of my pocket to unlock the door - even though, after four years of living here, I am well aware I don't need a key to exit. Double ugh. That sort of thing. My mind felt foggy and it was frustrating. At this point I started to have some concern about my physical state. Am I hurting myself? Erin had a terribly rough day at work feeling hungry and tired. We had tickets to see a show, but she just felt terrible and couldn't go. We discussed seriously quitting the next day. We decided to sleep on it and see how we felt in the morning.

Day 8 - We push forward. I think both of us are determined to finish what we started. Neither of us feels as bad as the day before. Although I am still concerned about my weight loss, I decide it is nothing that I cannot replace. Even though I am thinner than I'd like to be, I decide losing my gut and mini spare tire is nothing to lament. That night I hung out with my other friend Erin who is studying nutrition. She told me that we are definitely not drinking enough of the potion. We should be taking in at least 1200 calories per day, and we are really only getting about 1000. This is probably the reason that we are dragging. I personally find it tough to drink enough as it is. I could chug more. I guess I'll have to. At this point I am still considering making day 10 an ease out day since the first ease out day is nothing but orange juice anyway. But my other voice says that is still quitting the cleanse too soon. Again, we'll sleep on it.

Day 9 - Erin feels pretty good today. I am not. I don't feel physically bad. I'm not even really that hungry. Today I just feel an emotional weight. I don't really know why. I can only assume it is from malnutrition. I also seem tongue tied and have lost my normally fairly sharp wit. I really can't believe that people do this for 30 or even 40 days. I really think people who do that must have a lot of extra weight and fat to burn off. I just don't have much to burn. I am really considering quitting again. But Erin gives me a massage with peppermint oil and that really improves my mood. I am determined to finish the cleanse! I decide to buy the ingredients for the 10th day plus some extra maple syrup that I will just sip by itself to boost my calories. On our ease out day, we decide to combine day one and two so we'll get to start eating vegetables sooner. At this point, it is a mental challenge to finish. If I were to quit today, then I would wonder what the other days days were for. I know that the number 10 doesn't by itself provide any inherent benefit. Maybe ten days isn't any more beneficial than nine. But I'll be disappointed nonetheless if I quit this close to the finish line.

Day 10 - Maybe it was just the fact that I knew I was so close to being done. But I felt pretty good today. As soon as I woke up, I knew the plan. I'd make one more batch of drink. When I finished that I'd start the ease out process. First orange juice, then vegetable broth, the whole fruits and veggies, then freedom. I am very anxious to get some other nutrients into me besides sugar and acid. But I am also resigned to complete what everyone says is the minimum time period to get benefit from the cleanse. Does the 10th day matter? Well I will say, without being too graphic, that I do believe there is more room for cleansing my gut. If this experience wasn't enough to scrub me out completely, however, then I just may never be completely cleansed.

After finishing the cleanse, both my mind and my body are different. I can't say whether I'm healthier physically. Over the past few days, I have developed a sore in my throat and a nagging cough has gotten worse instead of better. The corners of my mouth are sensitive because of all the lemon juice and red pepper, so even salad dressing hurts my lips. I neither have increased energy nor better mental focus. In fact, quite the opposite.

I have, however, taken on a different view of my weight loss. Even though I'd rather not be as light as I am, the slight gut and mini spare tire were really not doing me any good. It feels good to reset... and to know that I can reset.

As far as what food I'll start eating when set free - I will say that the food I'm craving now has changed for the healthier. So that could be a positive outcome. I have been craving fish more than any other food. Today I have been keeping to an all veggie diet, but tomorrow (what would be day 12) I'm going to buy some sashimi salmon from Najiya Market and wolf it down like a grizzly. I can't wait. I had some Pepperidge Farm cookies in my cupboard that have been calling to me over the past days, but tonight when I went to eat one, I saw the ingredients list, and just put it back. I put all this effort into putting good stuff in my body. It just seems too soon to toss that aside, especially with a fridge full of sweet tasty fruit.

Will I ever do this cleanse again? I'm not sure. Maybe if I'm overweight someday and have more fat to burn. That doesn't mean I regret the experience though. I always wanted to try it and it was a tough mental challenge. I'm glad I persevered and finished what I started. Lots of people say they could never do it - that they're just not strong enough.

But I'm proud to say that I am.

Downtown

2009-04-24T18:02:00.001-07:00

For the past five months, I have been contracting for a large national bank in downtown San Francisco. The reason why I don't use the name is that they seem a little bit sketched out about people blogging anything that might affect their company. They don't forbid it, but I figure this way neither of them nor I have to worry about it.

I have basically had three jobs since I moved to San Francisco in May 2000. All three have been in the traditional business corridor along Market Street between Van Ness and The Embarcadero.

I have never really been the type to prepare and pack my lunch for work. Partly because I just don't make the time to do it, and partly because I just can't stand being indoors for eight straight hours. I need to get some fresh air and sunshine. I like to be in the hustle and bustle.. people-watch.. stretch my legs. My lunch hour contributes to my daily dose of these things, and it's painful to go without it.

I struggle each day to maintain that age-old balance between hitting those spots that I know I'll enjoy, and seeking out new good spots I can add to my lunchtime arsenal.

There are several factors at play in evaluating a lunch spot.

Time - It depends on the day. Some days I have more time than others. I don't mind traveling for lunch. Sometimes it's worth it, but watching the clock can take away from a relaxing dining experience. So can slow service and long lines.
Food - Obviously no one wants a crummy meal, but I like to stay healthy, so besides taste, I also try to pay attention to nutrition. Greasy paper bag specials abound, as do the fast, tasty, and cheap national chain stores. I can do those now and then, but bad habits are hard to break. Why create a new one?
Price - If you do the math on lunch, it's a really big expense if you dine out every day. ($10 x 5 days x 50 weeks = $2500/year, $20 lunch = $5000!). I try to keep my lunches around $6. It's a challenge and I don't always make it, but I know those meals are out there! Tip: One thing you can do to keep it healthy and cheap - ask for tap water - they always have it.
Environment - If I am short on time, I might eat my lunch at my desk, but if I have time, I'd prefer to have a nice comfy relaxing atmosphere. Outside in the sun is best, weather permitting.

Too much to ask for a financial district lunch? Well it takes some searching, but it feels like a real accomplishment when I find something good.

Today I found a new spot, and I felt so accomplished I had to write about it:

Toaster Oven - 3 Embarcadero Center, 2nd floor concourse. They have a small selection of good sandwiches, all of which they run through a slow conveyor toaster before putting on your choice of fixins. Don't forget to pick up a free cup of pickled peppers from the counter! They taste just like the hot peppers on the famous Rosamunde sausages. $4.99 + tax. I got tempted by the bag of chips, but really the sandwich is enough. This is a double bonus because it is directly next to a great spot to eat in the sun I'll call the Davis Bridge.
The Davis Bridge - between 2 and 3 Embarcadero Center on the bridge crossing Davis street. It's not a restaurant, but a nice place to eat. I just can't believe how pleasant this spot is. In the concrete jungle that is downtown, it's tough to find a nice sunny spot not overshadowed by a skyscraper (and that doesn't smell like pee). Somehow this spot is uncrowded, bathed in sun, clean, quiet, nicely landscaped, with comfortable tables and chairs. When I'm there, I cannot stop quietly thanking the architect.
Ichiban Japanese - Stevenson alley off 1st Street. I go to this place a lot and always get their Teriaki Chicken Bowl. There are a few teriaki dishes. The bowl is the smallest and cheapest, but really is plenty of food for me. Rice, chicken, and some tempura vegetables. $6 including tax. It's a mom and pop type of place. They have the lunch rush down to a science. Service is curt, but solid.
Mastrelli's Delicatessen - The Ferry Building - Like any good deli, just take a number and wait. Grab the bread you want from the box and hand it to your sandwich artisano when they're ready for you. Great ingredients, hard workers. Yum. Italian Combo Sandwich $6.25. Trivia: Owner used work at the famous Molinari in North Beach.
Prather Ranch Meat Company - The Ferry Building - I have only tried their BBQ pork sandwich. Tender, sauce-soaked meat on a nice sourdough roll. Simple, tasty, and filling - $5.95
Rubio's - 4 Embarcadero Center - Ok, it's a national chain. But the ingredients seem pretty good. I'll get a taco plate with corn tortillas and beans. The salsa bar is great and plentiful and the service at this particular store is especially good - fast, smart, and friendly. Two taco plate with chips and beans - about $7.

I think when I am fully evolved as a human, I will prepare my own lunch. That would be cheaper and healthier. I'll have more time to enjoy my break and more cash in my pocket at the end of the week.

But for now, I'll keep seeking out the bang for the buck.

Chinatown

2009-04-16T17:17:00.000-07:00

This morning I walked to work along a new route. My girlfriend Erin is subletting my friend Heather Rae's studio apartment in a neighborhood I would like to go ahead and nickname "The China Nob". It's two blocks from the top of Nob Hill and one block above Stockton street in Chinatown. San Francisco neighborhoods are amazing the way they morph into one another in a single block. Her block is the no man's land in between.

Last night I helped her settle into her new surroundings. I brought over a bottle of champagne after work to toast the new digs, and then we set out to explore for the evening.

It really is quite remarkable how Chinatown is shoehorned into a few square blocks between two extremely sought-after pieces of real estate: The Financial District and its gajillion dollar high rises, and Nob Hill, the historic home of the wealthiest of tycoons and their mansions.

As we walked, I recalled a story I had heard about how some political interests had made an attempt to eliminate Chinatown just after the 1906 earthquake. I was impressed to learn that the Chinese government itself had stepped in and used its leverage to preserve the neighborhood and rebuild it as a Chinese community.

As we descended a few more blocks into North Beach, we got a taste for what that area is like on a weekday evening. Living on the other side of the city in The Lower Haight neighborhood, I rarely make the trip out this far, especially on a quiet weekday, and I avoid it altogether on the weekends. In my experience, North Beach fills up on weekend evenings with drunken Bridge and Tunnelers. It gets crowded and I often find the nightspots rather obnoxious.

But I always knew North Beach to be a vibrant local community also, rich in history and colorful inhabitants. I look forward to the opportunity to sink into that a little bit.

After dinner at the always tasty (and busy) Tommaso's, we walked back up the hill to investigate a spot named Le Club. The name was so cheesy and intriguing, we just had to see what went on in there.

It turns out, it is indeed a bar/social club. Apparently it used to be a super fancy restaurant, and now, although it is still upscale, caters to a somewhat lower crust crowd with its pool table, poker/chess room, and chatty bartender. It's ok. But not the white leather 70's disco (le) chic I was hoping for.

This morning, I headed down the hill to the high rise I currently work at only ten blocks away from Erin's. It's funny how different a neighborhood feels in the morning. I've been in Chinatown on the weekends and a few choice evenings, but never in the morning. As I walked down Clay street with the Transamerica Pyramid facing me at eye level, I felt like I had moved to a completely new city. It reminded me of what it felt like when the taxi cab dropped me off my first morning in Buenos Aires last year. Everything was comfortably urban and serene, but nothing was familiar.

My same old home town, but from a new angle.

Snow

2008-12-24T13:19:00.000-08:00

Sunday night I was at The Buccaneer. It was a dual occasion. It's my regular Sunday night bar, which is an occasion all its own. But it was also the Za Christmas party. Za is a pizza restaurant down the street from The Buc where a couple of my friends work. Za and The Buc are sort of sister businesses. The Za staff often comes to the bar to socialize, and it made sense for them to have their informal little Christmas party there.

My friend Jamie, who I know as a regular from the bar, works at Za and so was in attendance as expected. Jamie is an avid skier, and we have always talked about hitting the slopes together over the years, but somehow it had never actually happened.

Jamie announced that a snow storm was afoot and that he was heading up to to Kirkwood on Tuesday with one of his Za compatriots. He strongly suggested that I come along.

"Do we have anywhere to stay up there?" I asked.

"Mark might know someone. I'm not sure. We'll figure something out."

I'm at the point now, where I seriously consider any opportunity to follow good snow conditions up to the mountains. I have become a bit of a powder snob. That is, for me to make the several hour trip up to the Sierras, I would prefer that the snow conditions will be excellent. This doesn't always mesh exactly with the rest of my schedule. I'm back to a 9 to 5, Monday through Friday job, once again and, in my previous life, would consider myself relegated to weekend trips only. In addition, I don't have a car anymore. I used to have the luxury of hopping in my Jeep at a moments notice to make the trip, accompanied or not. No more.

So this one sounded nice. I have been eagerly awaiting the snow season to begin. I only had one snowboarding day last season because I was travelling during most of it. On Monday, I texted Jamie to double check his seriousness about it.

Somewhere around 2pm he called me while I was at work. He was somewhat hungover from a big night of Christmas partying, and sounded somewhat pessimistic about making the trip. He was planning on spending Christmas day at his mom's house up near the Sierra's, and didn't want to make the trip twice. It probably wouldn't work.

I sighed and said I understood. "We'll try again next time."

Less than five minutes later he called me back. He apologized for being negative about the trip. He really wanted to help me get up there and, if I really wanted to go, he would make it happen for me. "I want to be your oak tree," he said. I think he meant that he wants me to think of him as a reliable friend who I can count on to keep a promise and provide support. In the past, something has always seemed to fall apart with these proposed trips. He decided to hold strong to his commitment even though it was less than convenient for him.

Energized by his show of friendship and our shared enthusiasm about hitting the slopes, I cancelled my meeting for the next day, and announced at around 3pm that "sorry for the late notice," but that I wouldn't be at work the next couple of days. See ya.

We planned to head up early Tuesday morning. 5am. Jamie had to stop in Davis to pick up some equipment for his friend Mark to use so it would add almost an extra hour to the trip up. I went straight home after work and dug out all my snowboarding gear, packed a bag, and did my best to get to sleep as early as I could.

Sure enough, Jamie was ready for me just after 5, and the three of us headed east.

The trip was long. The mountains were drivable but somewhat snowy and slow. A highway patrolman stopped us at the chain control on Highway 88 to strongly remind us that the speed limit was 25 MPH and that they didn't have many resources to help us if we had problems on the road. Poor Jamie kept us going while Mark and I alternately nodded out, sleepy from a still-too-short night in bed.

At Kirkwood, I did my best to remain patient while Mark rented some boots and Jamie waited in a crazy long line for his season pass. It was after 11 by the time we got on our first chair lift, but I knew we probably weren't in good enough physical condition to last more than five hours anyway, especially on our first day up.

I was right. After our first warm up run down the hill, we all moaned and groaned about our legs. That said though, we all marvelled at the snow condition. One or two feet of new snow had fallen the previous day and night, and it was still only about 25 degrees out, cold enough to keep the snow light and dry. This was going to be a great day. Let's keep the moaning to a minimum.

Jamie is a big fan of Kirkwood and knows the mountain much better than I do. He told Mark and I to watch one of the chair lifts off in the distance. That side of the mountain was closed, but he suspected they might open it up. He said if that chair lift starts moving, we'd head over that direction.

The mountain was busy but not crowded and there was plenty of nice fluffy snow for everyone. After a gleeful several hours of great conditions, we took a break for some food and drink. We plopped at the bar and had some snacks along with coffee spiked with whiskey and Kahlua. The break didn't last long though. We were eager to finish the day strong.

Jamie ran into a friend from school at the bar and, since he was an intermediate rider, we all decided to head up the lift and take an easy run down to get warmed back up.

But while Mark and I were on the lift together, we noticed that the lift off yonder seemed to be moving. Jamie who was ahead of us would surely spot that and be excited.

At the top, Mark and I gestured wildly toward that direction. Jamie hadn't noticed and when we told him the lift was turning, he said a quick "Sorry but we'll see you later" to his school friend, turned to Mark and I, and said "Let's go!"

We rode down to the lift where the operator told us "Ya, sorry that side of the mountain isn't open, just this little hill." Ah, ok well it's not the backside, but it's still a lot of nice fresh snow that no one has hit yet. This could still be quite fun.

But then at the top, just as I was about to head back down to the bottom of the same lift, Jamie yelled to me. "No! This way. They just opened it!"

An hour or so earlier, I had actually made a bet with Jamie that they wouldn't open this side of the mountain so late in the afternoon. By this time it was 3 o'clock, only an hour left in the day before closing time. Why would the resort send employees out to run the lifts, set up the little rope fences and signs around the lifts, just for a single hour of operation?

But they did it.

They did it knowing very well what kind of Christmas gift they were giving us, the lucky few who made the trip over. The lucky few who cancelled their meetings. The lucky few who got up at 4:30 in the morning. The lucky few who kept their commitments to their friends. The lucky few who didn't have any guarantee of a place to sleep, but went anyway.

This was our reward.

The backside of the mountain hadn't been opened for the season yet. The two feet of fresh snow, and everything under it was completely virgin. As we rode the lift up to the peak, we didn't see any tracks at all. No skiers. No people. Nothing. Jamie and I just looked at each other in amazement and disbelief. We were shouting and laughing and high fiving like little kids.

It was about 2/3 of the way up the lift before we saw the first skiers and riders coming down the hill. They were the lucky first. But we were just as lucky. The entire mountain was fresh. In every direction, all anyone could do was to cut a beautiful powdery highlight-film-style line down the side of the pristine mountain.

This type of scenario is what skiers and snowboarders dream about. They get up super early to try and catch the first chair of the day. They pay thousands of dollars to take helicopters deep into the mountains to get at snow that has never been touched.

And we had it. For one hour. Enough for three runs down the hill. Each lift operator got an ear full of "Thank you! Thank you!". Some gave a little thumbs up and nod.

Then they sent us home. Packed up the little rope fences and signs. And that was it. One hour of heaven.

Back in the parking lot, the few folks that were left were grinning ear to ear and woo'ing and pumping their fists in the air. Everyone was high from excitement.

Mark got a hold of his friend in South Lake who invited us to stay the night. We were weary and completely exhausted, but managed to socialize for awhile, then headed back to the city in the morning.

Jamie dropped Mark and I off back in the city, then promptly turned around the same night to head up to his mother's house in Arnold. Until then, I hadn't realized just how brutal Jamie's day in the car would be, all in the name of giving Mark and I the opportunity that turned out so great.

Thanks Jamie. You're an oak tree. I owe you one. Oh and a shot of Van Gogh for being right about the lift.

The Buc

2008-12-21T11:23:00.000-08:00

It's funny. I find myself telling this story a lot. When you're a regular at a small local pub in San Francisco, it's sort of assumed that you live in the neighborhood. When people are used to seeing your face around the place, and then you tell them you live fairly far away, they generally cock their head and squint their eyes, trying to think of a decent reason someone would travel any substantial distance to sit on a worn out stool and listen to the same jukebox tunes over and over again.

For some reason, Sunday nights at The Buccaneer Pub in Russian Hill pull at least a few of us regulars in from relatively far and wide. Each of us has our own story about why we do so. Here's mine:

Sometime around 2001, a friend of a friend named Mike Griffen, who fancied himself as an up and coming comedian, was putting on a low budget public access TV show. The concept behind public access television is that, in the interest of maintaining a voice for local interests, the airwaves should be open to anyone who wants to broadcast any content whatsoever. So local television and radio networks are required to provide airtime to virtually whoever asks for it. The Griff Show was your run of the mill funny-guy-at-the-desk with sidekick-on-the-couch show. Mike taped the show at his sidekick's apartment who lived down the hall from him in a building near Polk and Union streets. The apartment could only be described as swinger-cheesy. It had a red and white leather couch with a matching red and white leather mini cocktail bar. A bookshelf behind the couch held martini glasses and a picture of Frank Sinatra. As hard as it was to believe that anyone would choose this decor for his own apartment, it made a perfect setting for the show.

His tapings had become essentially theme parties that were fun for friends to attend. We would bring some beer, sit on the floor and watch the tapings, acting as the studio audience, oohing and awing, groaning and laughing at the appropriate moments. It was fun.

Griff, as he liked to be called, enjoyed hitting the local bars and chatting up attractive young women whenever possible. He was the funny self-effacing guy who seemed to enjoy being entertaining more so than actually realizing any success with the women he spoke to. But talking about the show was a great opening for him, and he would regularly invite pretty girls to be guests on the show. It was a good racket.

At some point Griff announced that he wanted a band for the show. Someone to play a theme song, and play music to introduce guests, and have witty banter with during the show. He asked for volunteers. I said I would be in the band if I could play the bass. I had never really played the bass before, but I always wanted to. It was a good excuse.

Some friends and I rehearsed a few songs at my house in Glen Park and also donned some grubby rock musician alter egos to go along with the new group. We named the band Ass Pocket, and taped a few shows, crammed into the corner of the apartment during the tapings.
The show was broadcast on San Francisco channel 29. Time slots for programs were determined by a lottery at random. The time slot given to the Griff Show was 10pm Sunday nights. Griff's favorite pub was The Buccaneer, a couple blocks from his apartment on Polk street, and he got the bar to agree to tune their TVs to Channel 29 every Sunday night so we could watch ourselves.

That was always super fun. It was kind of a train wreck of a show. Poorly produced, poorly edited, sometimes funny, sometimes not so funny, sometimes more or less unintelligible. But it was ours and we loved it.

The show didn't really air for that long, but while attending those regular Sunday nights, I got to know some of the staff and regulars at the bar. It became an especially comfortable place for me to just show up any time and feel welcome. I usually knew someone who was there. After awhile it just felt like home.

People come and go, but the regulars and staff are all very friendly and socialize with one another all the time.

One day while the show was still on the air, a young new bartender named Marty was on duty. When we rolled in to watch the show, we were concerned he wouldn't tune the TV to 29 for us. "No no! They told me about it! Don't worry!", he said.

Seven years later, Marty still works at the bar on Sunday nights, and I still make semi regular appearances.

It's a family.

Blue World

2008-10-31T09:45:00.001-07:00

On this terribly unscientific but interesting website called iftheworldcouldvote.com, the author attempts to poll the entire world on which US presidential candidate they would vote for if they had the opportunity.

Rather than look at the US as a grid of red (McCain) and blue (Obama) states, why not look at the world as a grid of red and blue countries? If you vote on the website and look at the results, you'll see that the entire globe is mostly bright blue, with only a couple of countries approaching a purplish, not-nearly red color.

While I was traveling this year, it struck me how interested and knowledgeable international people were when it comes to US politics. I knew that we were influential in terms of culture (music and movies), products and branding (Nike, McDonald's, etc), and foreign policy with our over sized military. But I didn't know the extent to which the world seems to look at the US as an omnipotent force. They feel they have a real stake in how our country operates, and the next president is foremost on their radar at the moment. Isn't it a shame they can't vote too.

We saw first hand this summer how deep the US influence can be economically. When the US credit markets started to freeze and stock markets started to plummet, the effect was felt immediately all over the world. Would the US have been as affected if Great Britain were to slide a bit?

I don't really know.

Soap Box

2008-10-23T00:57:00.000-07:00

I love how San Franciscans will tolerate their neighborhoods being used for just about anything... as long as it's fun.

Saturday was another splendid sunny day, perfect for getting into costumes and rolling funny looking cars down steep hills.

Dolores Park, plus three or four blocks of Dolores Street hosted the annual Red Bull Soapbox Race.

I hadn't planned to attend, but it was just so darned nice out, my friends and I walked the ten or so blocks over to the park and spread out a blanket. About a hundred thousand other people had the same idea. Apparently a record turn out for the event. Blame the sun.

From our vantage point, one couldn't see much of the course but Red Bull was nice enough to put up a couple of big screens, so essentially we just watched the event on television while it was going on right over there.

No matter. We had a great time watching team after team, yammer some cockamamie story to the hosts at the top of the hill, then play a musical selection along with some kind of choreographed dance, before jumping into their zany coaches and tossing themselves full speed down the hay bailed boulevard.

The contestants ranged from real life garbage men in their mini garbage truck, to some college math geeks in their Rubik's Cubemobile, to some Trekkies and their rolling Death Star. Contestants were judged not only on speed, but on creativity and excitement

There were some good laughs and wipe outs, but my favorite part of the event was the end.

The race was over, the big screens went black, but someone was nice enough to keep some music playing. This is the part where people would normally pick up their stuff and head to the next stop for the day. But not this time. Most of the crowd stayed right where they were, splayed out on the grass on a beautiful day surrounded by friends and neighbors.

It took a zany, fun event to get us all to the park. But once we were all there, we realized there was no better place to be.

Congratulations to the winning garbage man team.

Flying Skulls

2008-10-16T12:21:00.000-07:00

This show sort of just fell in my lap. My friend Christie called me down to the Madrone Lounge on Wednesday night to see a free show. This is great news for a broke guy. The Madrone is a pretty stylish place, decorated in what I would call skater chic, the art and design sensibilities that pervade the Lower Haight neighborhood where I live. It rides the line between expensive and divey, adorned with a rotating exhibit of pricey local paintings, a gorgeous carved wood bar, and an array of infused vodkas, but also has homey couches, cheap drink specials and many free music shows. It reflects the mixed crowd that lives in and around the neighborhood.

I checked the Madrone calendar and found that The Flying Skulls were playing. I had never heard of them, but the free price and the words "nu school electro breaks" used in their description sounded interesting enough for me to take the four block walk down the hill.

I thought they'd start playing right at 10pm. Silly rabbit. I forgot to notice the "and friends" after their name in the calendar. A couple of really good djs played before them. One guy opened and closed the evening with some dance floor friendly tracks spun from his laptop/vinyl Final Scratch setup. I enjoyed his tracks and selections. He started the show slow and groovy, and ended the night with uptempo dance floor friendly tracks - the only ones that really got anyone on the dance floor for the evening.

Another fine gentleman rocked an Ableton Live set with some crazy uptempo beats. He was on fire with his PC-less knob & button station, twirlin' and queuein', fadin' & groovin'. But still only a smattering of dancers.

Only the truly foolish will try and judge the merits of music. But I sometimes remember that one objective metric that can sometimes say a lot about a DJ. If the music is uptempo and there are people ready and willing to dance.... then why aren't they?

Around midnight or so, the Flying Skulls came on. Three guys, one with a keyboard, and two others with some random electronics. From the buzz I had heard on the street, I was expecting them to blow my mind.

They didn't though. And the guy that was buzzing about them actually got arrested that night. Go figure. This is why one must see a group for one's self.

I enjoyed the music. There was groove to it for sure. To me it sounded like if the Gorillaz made a full length movie, this would be the background music. It had a slow movement to it, more lively than ambient, but mostly not dance worthy. The crowd reacted appropriately in my estimation. Stand with your drink and bob your head along with the band.

The DJ that followed them proved the crowd was indeed prepared and willing to dance. He threw on some soulful tracks that got everyone going.

So the question is... If the crowd doesn't dance, is it a success?

I suppose that depends on the genre and the expectation of the audience. But somehow in this case it felt like it mattered.

Decompression

2008-10-13T18:27:00.000-07:00

This Sunday was Decompression in San Francisco, a party thrown by and for Burning Man participants that acts as a reunion to the bigger, dustier party thrown in the Black Rock Desert the month before.

I wasn't sure I was going to attend the event this year. I have been to a few. It's a nice way to spend a sunny day, but I am usually all about the music, and I didn't recognize more than a couple of names slated to perform. But enough of my friends were going, that I dug out my playa costume gear and headed for the Dogpatch neighborhood where the party is thrown every year.

Just getting to the party was an exercise in radical self expression. I don't have a car, and can't afford a taxi, so I was relegated to taking the 22 Fillmore bus across town in freaky raver attire. Starting my journey, I felt a little bit ridiculous. But little by little as we got closer to the event, more and more colorful folks boarded the bus. And by the time we reached the event, we found ourselves steeped shoulder to shoulder among our freaky brethren. Suddenly I was almost not ridiculous enough. More face stickies, please!

The line to get tickets ($10 in costume, $20 without) was a good two blocks long, but the volunteer staff kept the line moving fast, and we were in within ten or fifteen minutes.

After reuniting with some playa friends, we collectively chose a direction - The Opulent Temple & Deep End stage. I went straight for the sun bathed dance stage at the front and proceeded to boogie down with the colorful crowd, faces emblazoned with industrial strength smiles. All of us knew we were in paradise. Why would any of us be anywhere else today?

The housey elektro beats Opel was playing were fun, but we were ready for something different, so at some point, our group moved on to The Space Cowboys' RIPE stage. An equally brilliant crowd was pumping next to the mobile groove center graced with a disco-ball-mirrored limousine parked right beside.

DJ Mancub started spinning some breaks and that was all I needed to camp out there as long as necessary to deplete either the music or my leg muscles, whichever came first. Every now and then I'd get lost in the crowd. At one point, my friend Heather said "Now I know how to find you whenever you're lost. Just go toward the speakers." I nodded in agreement and smiled.

Then I noticed Jim Shissler (aka Shissla) standing behind Mancub. I didn't remember seeing his name on the roster, but I was certainly encouraged by this development.

There's a back story behind Jim that I must impart here.

Jim has been my hands down favorite DJ for years. I love breaks, and Jim plays the best. His skills are masterful, and he never disappoints, not even for one track... ever. To me, Jim is a celebrity.... one of my favorite celebrities.

Last year at Burning Man, I got the opportunity to DJ on our camp's art car. I made up some CDs of the breaks I was playing. In case anyone seemed to be especially enjoying the music, I could give them as gifts. I decided to make up a CD for Jim and scribbled a thank you note on it, a humble offering for all of the great music he has graced me with over the years. While Jim was spinning on the House of Lotus art car, I caught his attention and laid the gift along with some chocolate chip cookies next to him and gave a little bow of thanks.

Weeks later, he sent me an email thanking me for the gift and attached a cute picture one of his campmates took of my CD next to his sleeping head. Cute.

After my trip this year, I got an update email from Jim listing some events he was playing, and also mentioned he had updated his website. I noticed that the photo of him sleeping next to my CD was on the site! Awesome!

So now (back to the decomp party) this was the first time I had seen him since I've been back, so I went over to say hello. He doesn't know me, so I said "Hi Jim. I'm Miles. You posted a picture of my CD on your website."

Jim went ape shit. To my delight, he was super happy to see me. He introduced me to a couple of his friends and we chatted for a bit. He truly appreciated my gift. I guess it meant a lot to both of us. He told me, also to my delight, that he was about to go on in a few minutes. Perfect. There is no place I'd rather be than a Shissla set.

There isn't much I can say about his performance, but "Holy cow." Jim was also working with the Dust City Diner earlier in the day serving grilled cheese sandwiches. Now, still wearing his apron, he served up the breakbeats like a champ. He has a way of channeling the crowd's own energy into his own performance. He clearly loves the music he is playing. Those who have been to his shows know what to expect and are never disappointed. Others who may have just wandered up only know that they've found a party they're not likely to leave until it's over.

People (including Jim) bouncing, dancing, waving their hands, wide eyed, grinning ear to ear... occasionally looking at each other in astonishment, shaking their heads in disbelief. That's a Shissla show.

Later on after the set, my legs were quivering toothpicks, my back ached, and after six hours of dancing, I was generally exhausted and ready to go home. But what a great way to get that way. I couldn't help but marvel all day long at how lucky I am to live among such fun people... people that make this happen.... people who know how to have fun and aren't afraid to get freaky.

It's truly inspiring.

[review]

Glitch Mob

2008-10-11T13:25:00.000-07:00

For weeks I knew about this show. But I was torn. I had two other things on my calendar: My friend Annie Bacon had a show happening in Bolinas and another friend was having a super fun birthday party near the panhandle. Also, the $20 ticket price for the Glitch Mob show seemed expensive and I'm a little on the broke side.

But then it got down to the day of the show and a couple of friends called to make sure I was going too. Ok, now I can feel the jealousy coming on. Tickets are selling fast. It's sure to sell out. I don't think I can miss it. Damn it!

I went down to the Mezzanine to buy tickets from the box office. I hate paying those Internet fees and I also wanted a real ticket in my hot little hands so I wouldn't have to wait in the inevitable will call line. But no luck. No box office today. So back to the Internet to buy my will call ticket. Hmph.

That night, I met a few friends at Anu bar around the corner from Mezzanine for a pre-show cocktail. A guy I know, Ben (aka Porkchop) was spinning some heavy Whomp beats. I like Anu because there is no cover and the crowd is generally pretty cool. We figured the party might really get going at Mezzanine around 11, so we hung out there for a bit.

Big mistake.

When 11 rolled around and we walked around the corner to go to the show, there was a line a half block long just for will call. I knew the will call line would be a drag, but I didn't know it would be a good forty five minute wait. The crowd outside was fun though, and I couldn't help noticing how damned glamorous many of the folks were, in their own playa chic vs. hipster DJ best. It seemed like an underground Hollywood premier or something. I kept wanting to see giant search lights waving in the sky.

When we finally made it inside, the place was already more full than I had ever seen it. There were a couple of DJs rocking the house and the energy was already awesome. Everyone was dancing. No spectators. I tossed my hoodie on a speaker and we headed straight for the front of the stage.

I didn't know who the DJs were at the time, but it turns out they were Megasoid, a couple of awesome producer/remixer/djs from Montreal. They played a high energy set of synthy elektro hip hop they have coined "turbo crunk" (heh). Really excellent stuff. Everyone, and I mean everyone in the place, was hitting the ceiling. I mean getting down for real.... all the way to the back of the club. Not a crew of dancers at the front of the club and stand-and-schmoozers in the back. Everyone was dancing. I have rarely seen such great energy from a crowd at any show.

After a brief intermission, The Glitch Mob, a four man DJ crew came on. Known for pushing forward the relatively new glitch subgenre of electronica, they have been touring around the country spreading the word.. er.. beat. Glitch gets its name from the sounds used to make the music which sound sort of like electronics breaking down, crashing, skipping, etc. It's a way to make great music out of otherwise painful sounds.

The guys inherited a great energy from the previous performers. The crowd kept on dancing even during the break. And they kept the party going admirably for the better part of the show. I eventually had to abandon my prime real estate at the front of the stage just to escape the intense heat coming off the sweaty bodies.

The music was great, and the crowd was pretty stoked about it. But I was hoping to hear some of the great remixes I had heard recently. Also, as seems to happen at some shows, is that the tempo of the music actually slows down over the course of the show. I would think one would build up the crowd to a speedy frenzy as a finale... I have heard that it's good DJ practice to let your crowd rest now and then so they have the energy to stay on the dance floor. But eventually I just got tired and lost the big energy I had started with, and started to lose interest. Could be heat... could be overexertion, dehydration. But I am going with the tempo.

I also noticed what seemed to be a cheesy Hollywood factor that seemed to have crept up on them. They wore matching business suits, pumped their fists, and shouted rah-rah hip hop-ese to the crowd. (e.g. "Wu's up San Franciscoooooooo?!"). They are clearly popular and talented, and whatever they have been doing seems to be working for them. But some of it seemed distracting and unnecessary.

I will continue to download and listen to anything and everything they put out. I truly believe these guys are a major force in a new direction of music. That's ultimately why I felt like I had to go to the show. It was not to be missed.

I have to say, I enjoyed myself more during the Megasoid set, who as it turns out, have begun working with the mighty Ninja Tune label.

After the show, I headed to the house where that birthday party was still going on. I got to get down in a more intimate atmosphere with some super great folks to some fantastic soul and disco spun skillfully by Chard, who works at Ko Ko Cocktails on Sunday nights. I had just as much fun dancing to his set as I did at the Mezzanine. Apples and oranges though.

Maybe I'll go check out his set at Ko Ko's tomorrow night.

[review]

Nikka Costa

2008-10-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

After an exhausting day at Love Fest, I still had one more show to see to round out the busy weekend. Nikka Costa.

I saw her once before at the same venue, The Independent. It had been awhile, but I remembered being so blown away by it, I knew it was a must see... so I bought myself a ticket.

My friend Elena said she wanted to come, so I planned to meet her down there. I walked by the box office to see what time Nikka would go on, and I saw the sold out sign. Doh! It must have sold out in just the past couple of hours. I didn't notice anyone selling tickets outside, so I called her told her the situation and she turned her City Car Share around.

It wasn't long after going inside, though, that I struck up a conversation with a girl who's friends actually had an extra ticket. I made the call to Elena, but she had already checked the car back in... Ugh.

My timing was great though. After only a couple of minutes, Ms. Costa came on and busted out another great show.

Her music is a mix of R&B, funk, and pop music. Her voice reminds me a little of Chaka Khan. Very powerful, yet cute. Her band was superb and had a couple of guitarists, a keyboard player and even a couple of horns. Each band member got his or her time to shine and show everyone their substantial chops. After some initial adjustments with the sound mixing, the show was just phenomenal. It was a shame though that her new albut wouldn't release for another week, so I hadn't gotten a chance to hear some of the music and compare it to the stage arrangements.

I remember wondering after the previous show how come she wasn't more popular. How come she isn't playing in bigger venues. It seemed like a coup to see her in such a small place, yet here she was again a couple years later in the same club.

The Independent tends to be a springboard for good artists. They tend to book only very talented artists that aren't extremely well known. When artists are very good, their popularity is generally bound to increase. So what usually happens is that artists play there once, and then by the time they return to the city again, they have outgrown the venue and graduate to The Fillmore auditorium - the next larger, yet still classy and somewhat intimate venue.

She did mention during her show, however, that she wasn't interested in playing larger and larger venues. She seemed to really enjoy interacting with the audience. She often called on us to be part of the band by clapping a certain pattern or singing a background part - stuff that with a bigger venue, just wouldn't have the same fun factor. She is a true performer and seems to have found her niche and enjoys keeping things real, right at this level.

I hope she does. I'll buy a ticket to her show any time she plays here, as long as it doesn't go bigger than The Fillmore.

Later, after the show, I wandered down to The Page, my local neighborhood bar a few blocks down from The Independent. At the bar, I was chatting with the funky looking fellow sitting next to me who turned out to be Nikka Costa's guitar player and musical director, Joshua Lopez.

Joshua and I had a lively discussion about the show and what could be improved, what worked well, etc. This was only their second show on a long tour, and I felt excited that he seemed to be really interested in what I had to say. We got along great, and I tried to pull him out to one of the great late night Love Fest parties going on around town (even though I was completely exhausted), but alas he had to run and get back on the tour bus which was about to leave for Salt Lake City.

Ah, the life of a touring musician. Shame. We would have had fun.

[review]

Love Fest

2008-10-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

For the last few years, San Francisco has tried a small experiment. Spin off Berlin's famous Love Parade, a celebration and exhibition of electronic music that brings thousands out to dance into the street to music spun by some of the world's best DJs.

San Francisco's Love Fest has grown over it's first few years and now, it's clear, is a full fledged annual institution in the city.

It does start as a parade in the morning. Moving dance parties lumber down Market street, pumping their beats until they all settle in front of San Francisco's City Hall. A full city square block is closed to traffic, and somewhere in then neighborhood of twenty sound systems simultaneously pump fabulous beats to the sunny delight of the flamboyantly costumed crowd.

For this Saturday of the parade, the weather forecast had been daunting. Rain. The sunny memories I had of parades past were in jeopardy of being at least chilled, if not washed out altogether.

But I tried to remain optimistic, and in true SF weather style, the forecast was completely wrong and the day turned out sunny and warm as could be.

I donned my best playa wear and even borrowed a new pair of red velvet pants from my roommate Kathleen. Yes girls' pants. And they fit me like a glove.

I strolled down Oak Street looking like a refugee from The Soul Train, and in true SF jaded style, no one batted an eyelash. Once I got within about three blocks of the event, I started to see other freaks like me. In Hayes Valley, passers by were clearly a bit baffled by all the people walking around looking like they lost their circus, but once I did hear one guy say, "Oh yeah, Love Fest is today." But mostly, the downtown area was going about its business as if nothing was going on.... until you got to City Hall. It's amazing how you can push a hundred thousand party people into one square block of the city, and it hardly creates a ripple in the surrounding blocks.

I walked through the gate and tossed a small donation into a bucket and began the often futile task of finding my friends in the sea of madness. That task was actually secondary though to the task of finding the best music. I had written down a few DJ names I knew along with the name of the parade floats they'd be playing on. But it became clear that I may not find them, and that the best plan of action was to find a dance party you like.... and then dance.

I did a quick once around, popping into the crowd at a few parties, all the while texting my friends to see if we could meet up.

After an hour or so of surveying and sampling, I did manage to find my good friend Heather and her posse. I stuck more or less with them but popped off occasionally for a wander and to see what was going on at various stages.

I guess I spent most of my time that day on McAllister street where the Pink Mammoth crew, the NeuroWeapon car, and whoever was next to them. All three neighbors threw down seriously good beats all day long.

I did get to see Ana Sia again. Twice in two days. Crazy. I did note that her set was quite different from the set I had seen the night before. Her Love Fest set was great, but the tempos were often quite slow and I found it less danceable than the night before.

Also rocking the NeuroWeapon was David Starfire. I had never heard him before, but Heather had noted his presence, so I went to check him out. When I got there, I bumped into Paula, a girl I had met the night before at 1015. Not recognizing me in my costume, she handed me a flier for an after party that night... I squinted at her and lowered my shades. She laughed and gave me a big hug and we chatted some more about the music. It's funny how people who like similar music are bound to bump into one another over and over around here.

Starfire was the highlight of the day for me. His remixes were stellar, a diverse, upbeat mix of hard rock, hip hop, and breaks. The music on his Myspace page, however, rocks music with a more Indian flare. His sets could vary a great deal I imagine.

I knew I still had another show ahead of me that evening, and my legs were screaming for mercy from a full day and previous evening of dancing. So sadly I departed.

On the walk home, I found myself walking next to Ana Sia. I said hello and told her I enjoyed her sets, both today's and yesterday's. She said thank you. But wasn't very warm I have to say. Paula told me some DJs aren't super nice. I'll give her one more shot before passing any judgement of my own.

Great beats though, girl.

[review]

Ana Sia

2008-10-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

My friend Christie showed some strong interest in going out dancing on Friday night and asked me for a suggestion. I have been trying to get out and see Ana Sia for awhile and knew she was on the bill for that night at 1015 Folsom. By looking at the flier, you'd think Ana was some super opening act and Adam Freeland was the main event. I had seen Freeland a couple of times already at Burning Man this year. I liked his sets. They had good energy and kept people dancing. Keeping to my tendency to describe music using at least three genres or artists, I would describe him as techno/elektro/rock.

But Ana Sia had been elusive to me. I had only seen her one time before at the Howeird Street Fair over a year ago. She was playing this glitchy hip hop (some call glitch hop) that was spinning the sunny daytime crowd into a groovy frenzy. She is one of those artists that clearly feels the groove of her own set and dances right along with the crowd while putting her set together. She has a focused intensity while playing, turning knobs and staring at her electronics, while her petite frame bobs and rocks to the beat. It's a cue to the crowd just how funky the beat is. And they seem to take the cues from her.

Finally I had a chance to see her again.

Christie was hot to run down to the club around 10 pm. I said "No way." I know a little about the tendency of these late night clubs to be virtually empty until it starts getting really late. She was worried about missing a good act. But I knew we would just be standing around for hours. No earlier than 11:30 in my opinion.

About quarter to midnight, we got to the club and guess what? Three of the four dance floor rooms were shut. Only the front room was open. Only around a hundred people in a club designed to hold one or two thousand.

After midnight, the main room finally opened and DJ Mehdi started playing. We were satisfied that we could hang with his music for awhile if need be, but after a bit took a walk to check other rooms. An-ten-nae and Laura were playing in the front room and were rocking some strong glitchy beats. We were sold and stuck around there dancing. It was clear that the front room and main room had completely different crowds. There were clearly some more playa costumes and the crowd had a more spiritual look while the main room had a more mainstream following. There was no clear headliner in this club tonight. Two distinct main events.

I love the burners. They are generally warm, friendly, love to adorn themselves in delightful attire, and love to dance. That night was no exception.

After a bit, Ana Sia got on the decks and continued the thoughts of her predecessors, but all I really remember is that the groove got turned up a notch. I just remember looking all around me on the dance floor with faces looking astounded at how funky, how hard the groove was, how much fun this music was.

The place wasn't packed though. As best I could tell, this was because it was Love Week. The Love Parade was to start early the next morning, and those inclined to listen to music like this likely had grand plans to dance and party all day Saturday and probably well into Sunday. Only the hard core fans made it out the night before to see their "must see" artists.

I probably would have been in the more conservative group without having been encouraged by Christie to attend.

I'm glad we did.

[review]

Dispelled

2008-10-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

This week's minor tragedy. A comparison of the marketing photo of a yummy looking double bacon burger and the real life version. The author writes, "they tasted like greasy sadness."

Full story

MSTRKRFT

2008-10-02T14:42:00.001-07:00

I love their name, MSTRKRFT . It's a sign of the times. There are some other bands, products, and even businesses with names like this - abbreviated almost beyond recognition. Many people use Motorola's RAZR cell phone, or the Flickr photo sharing website.

There are a couple of reasons I am aware of for this not-so-new trend. First is the rise of texting. Typing messages with your thumb on tiny cell phone keypads is something to be minimized. Folks have learned to abbreviate in a way that is both efficient and (usually) understandable, and so now have become accustomed to reading and writing this way. Second is the scarcity of decent Internet domain names. If you want your name on the net with the almighty .com extension, you almost have to do something crazy to the name to find one that isn't already taken.

So now that we have that out of the way....

These guys, the best I can gather, are producer/DJ's. Talented, in-demand. I have never really heard an actual album of original music from them, but have heard some impressive remixes and good reviews of their work. My spider senses told me that I should check out their show last night at Mezzanine.

I don't have much disposable income these days, and struggled with whether to get a ticket for a show I didn't know much about... but somehow my legs still walked me right over to their box office the day of the show. My legs made me do it.

I didn't show up for the opening acts. I knew that would be too much standing around, especially since I was going by myself, so I had some drinks at home with Kathleen and Elena and headed down around 11. Even showing up that late, two other DJ's preceded their appearance.

When they did come on, they revealed an impressive stage setup for what is really just two DJ's on the stage. A wall of television screens with some very exciting and vivid video effects. They were silhouetted inside the video madness and appeared as two shadowy figures, complete with hipster cap and bouncy DJ moves. Every now and then one smoked a cigarette. Other than that, you couldn't see much of them. So they, the artists, still remain quite mysterious to me. If I had bumped into one after the show, I wouldn't have recognized him.

I knew from the few remixes I had heard that their style would probably contain a fair amount of elektro. I have a Drum & Bass remix from them in my collection, and even a remix of a heavy metal song. Would they play their remixes? Would there be vocals? I didn't have any idea what I would hear.

As it turned out, their show was a pretty homogeneous set of solid, dance floor friendly elektro-house. I had a great time and so did about half the crowd who was packed close to the stage on the dance floor for majority of the show. However, for a talented pair who have worked with music from a wide range of artists, I expected to hear more variety.

That isn't, however, a complaint. I am satisfied that I got my money's worth, and it was great to see them play out, and they had the most visually interesting setup I've seen in a small club since Coldcut played there awhile back.

Only regreet: I should have found some ear plugs. Their amps were turned to 11.

Upcoming show: Nikka Costa @ The Independent, Saturday Oct 4

Reboot

2008-10-02T14:25:00.001-07:00

Ok.

After a fairly successful run at blogging during my travels this year, I think I should keep it going. I got some good feedback from friends and other readers, and it has been enjoyable for me as well to read my own thoughts many of which I have forgotten even after only a few months.

So! I will make a go at reinvigorating this, my original general purpose blog, which I stopped writing a couple of years ago. Why? Not sure. Lost inspiration I suppose. The traveling re-inspired me. New experiences, new settings, new people. Whatever it was, it worked.

What I have been thinking for this run is to continue the general musings I recorded in the past. But this time I'd like to include my own music reviews and other general delights I find around the web or in my email.

One thing I like to do in San Francisco is see shows. DJ's, live bands, whatever. I'll probably still write them in a narrative fashion and not in an authoritative way. I've always wanted to review music, even for just my friends to read. In the past couple of years, I have spent a fair amount of my free time reading about and listening to new music, always looking for that next great artist. And guess what? There are lots and lots of great artists out there, new and old. And there's nothing more fun for me than to go and see them in an intimate setting. I am over the big stadium and festival shows. The sound is usually awful and I don't really like crowds anyway.

The rest of the postings may appear in a boing boing like format. Random stuff just thrown up there for your ammusement.

Once again! Let's see how long I can keep this up.

Filter

2006-10-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

I'm very interested in the idea of using the Internet to let people help each other.

You have surely seen websites such as Amazon and Netflix that use software called a recommendation engine to try and steer you toward other products you might be interested in. It's a very effective marketing tool, however it's rare for me to discover any new really great music this way. At the same time, I regularly go out to public places where I do hear really great music I'm not aware of. So I know it's out there.

Systems like Amazon's use a technique called collaborative filtering to try and match the tastes of others to your tastes. This method is good for finding others with similar music collections, but doesn't take any of the qualities of the music itself into account when making a recommendation.

A new service called Pandora tries to remedy this by hiring a staff of music experts to painstakingly listen to lots of music and catalog the musical qualities of the music. By matching songs you like to others with similar musical qualities such as genre, tempos, chord progressions, type of lyrics, etc, Pandora can pick music that is similar to songs you choose.

Pandora then plays a radio station for you of music similar to your taste. I like to listen to the music on Pandora, but I still rarely get any really great new recommendations. I'm still more likely to hear something better by going down to a local hot spot. I regularly ask staff members "what's playing right now?" only to get an indifferent shrug most of the time.

In the mean time, I have made two really good recommendations for friends in the past month. I hear something new and immediately think of people who I think would like it. The surprising part is that I have had a pretty stellar record of success in that my friends tend to really enjoy what I recommend.

To me this is vague evidence that maybe humans are better recommenders than computer algorithms. What if humans could recommend music to one another instead of computers. What a concept.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could put out a list of your favorite songs that are similar. Maybe even some text describing what you like about them. Then other users having the same favorite songs on their lists could read yours and suggest new ones to you.

Why would they do this grand favor for you? Well in my last few ideas, I've used the give and take model. By giving good recommendations to other users, you put yourself in a better position to get recommendations by others. Give some, get some in return.

I'll discuss this idea with others to see if they would think getting better recommendations would make them likely to spend some of their own energy to do so. I'll also see if I can find anyone else doing anything similar.

Here's one interesting article I've found.

Furniture

2006-10-09T00:20:00.000-07:00

I decided last week that it was time to explore a new hobby.

One of the things that has always bothered me about my software development career is that it is just too darn abstract. The work I do only exists inside the computer. If the power goes out, it's as if it never existed. If I want to show someone work I have done recently, I have to bring them to a computer. Something about this has always bugged me. It's as if what I do is imaginary. I realize that my work is generally quite useful to those who use it, and often saves people large amounts of money in more efficient operations. But still, I have an envy for those who create things more concrete. Things.

Somehow, furniture has always intrigued me as something both useful and, at time, graceful and stylish. Furniture is something everyone needs. Furniture is something everyone understands. Furniture is something that lasts. Hopefully. But most importantly, furniture is something you can touch, sit on, sleep on, stand on.... Its real.

Making useful things has always been important to me, and has led me in to the software industry. What's missing to me lately, has been this notion of a concrete solidness to my work.

Furniture seems such an intriguing area, that I feel I should explore it further. I don't have any real woodworking experience, nor much crafts or design experience for that matter. I am completely green, with only curiosity to fuel me.

To document my journey, I have started a separate blog, Concrete Utility. The name describes the two most important aspects of furniture to me. It's certainly far from prose, but I hope it helps me remember what I have learned along the way and to keep track of tips and resources. Maybe it will even help someone else along a similar journey if they somehow come across it.

A new hobby. Just like that.

Amos

2006-07-31T18:18:00.000-07:00

Something must be wrong with me.

This past weekend was supposed to be dedicated to packing and preparing for our trip to Sydney. I get terrible travel stress. Until I am actually on the plane, I am very nervous that something will go wrong, be it missing my flight or forgetting all my underwear. I suppose it is because I don't travel all that often and therefore feel certain to screw something up.

In any case, rather than take care of all my business, I went to three separate music shows; Manu Chau at the Greek on Friday, Soul of Man at Mighty on Saturday, and Amos Lee at the Indie on Sunday. For some reason, rather than calming my nerves by completing everything on my list, I tend to push the envelope and squeeze in lots of fun as well.

Monica bought the Manu Chau tickets and invited Shannon and Michael along as well. Shannon and Monica had both traveled in South America, and Manu Chau's music was a nostalgic part of both their trips. I was especially impressed, however, by his opening act, Kinky. Kinky is a band from Monterey, Mexico that seems to have concocted the best fusion I have heard so far between live rock and electronic music. It was very dancable and reminded me of The Mutaytor, Latin style. I am now offically a fan.

I had noticed earlier in the week that Soul of Man was playing at Mighty, but resolved to stay home to be responsible and pack and work on bills. It only took one phone call from someone else itching to go see music, and of course I ended up going. I wasn't disappointed. I had heard of Soul of Man during the Love Parade this year. I wanted to go and see them but they were playing too late-night for me, like 5am or something crazy. I had gone on to the website of their record label, Fingerlickin' and was delighted with the funky breaks they had, and bought a few tracks online. I have to say that the live set wasn't exactly what I expected, but the crowd that night was gleeful and getting down in a big way, so a great time was had by all. We'd been "licked"!

By Sunday, I was wondering what I was thinking by getting tickets for that night's Amos Lee show at the Independent. I had heard a couple of tracks I liked but wasn't a huge fan or anything, so now the show sort of felt obligatory.

When we got there, I was surprised to see the place packed to capacity while the opener, Mutlu, was still playing. That level of crowd anticipation is even unusual on a weekend night, much less a Sunday. We struggled to figure out what the huge attraction was. As soon as Amos Lee came on, we found out. From note one, he put on a captivating set of music that was flawlessly executed and seemingly effortless. I kept being reminded of many great musicians while he played. While he sang, I heard Jim Croce, Paul Simon, Ray Charles, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, and others. It's like they were all bouncing around inside him. This constant recognition became distracting, reminding me that I wasn't seeing a lot of originality. However, I was so enthralled with the musicality of the performance, that it didn't seem to matter that only one or two songs sounded fresh and new.

I couldn't help feeling like I was at an important show. I also couldn't help feeling like he came off very self important. When speaking, he was very curt and seemed insincere. I think the audience was actually put off by his intense demeanor. Maybe he fancies himself as mysterious. I think if he lightens up a bit, he might actually become somebody.

Just kidding, Amos.

Elan

2006-07-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm not really a Reggae guy.

However, I read a review of a singer, Elan Atias, another young Jewish Reggae singer who previously toured with The Wailers as the voice of Bob Marley. That piqued my interest enough to have a listen. And, sure enough, he had a lovely, silky voice. Very easy on the ears.

As luck would have it, he was playing at The Indie, opening for another group, The B-Side Players. His set was scheduled for 9:30, so we went down earlier than we normally would for a Friday night show.

I expected a room full of Rasta hippies and an Irie smoky room. Unfortunately, as I should have expected, the place was almost completely empty. People don't really show up to that place until 10:30 or 11:00 normally. Apparently his arrival was not highly anticipated.

He proceeded to put on a show that would easily play to a giant stadium of cheering Bob lovers. It felt extremely awkward and uncomfortable, to me at least, that he was actually playing to about four Marina girls shimmying and stirring their cocktails. I felt bad for Elan and embarrassed for San Francisco. I'm sure he expected a larger crowd with a different demographic. The crowd eventually thickened somewhat by the end of his set and so at least a few more folks got to hear him. But ultimately, it felt like a waste of a great show to me. I couldn't help thinking to myself, "I think Reggae is officially dead."

I happened to notice that he was wearing an Ocean Pacific khaki jacket on stage. I felt a great sense of irony since his outfit seemed to scream out "I'm a communist!" - very Fidel Castro. So the small, faint OP logo struck me. I thought maybe we weren't supposed to see that.

Then yesterday, I picked up a copy of my favorite music magazine, URB, and guess who was inside the front cover in a two page Ocean Pacific spread. None other than our friend Elan.

I suppose we all have to make those tough career choices. It just seems so non-authentic for a communist-dressing Reggae singer to be sponsored by a big corporate clothing company. I know that the music should be independent of politics. I should be able to compartmentalize the two. But something about seeing that ad made me laugh out loud.

I still think his music is pleasant, and I'll keep listening. But my general admiration, I'd have to say, has faded.

Whobar

2006-07-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

I launched a new web site this weekend. It's called whobar.net. I felt the need to learn about using Google's mapping API. The tools they have made available for free public use are so powerful, I feel I would be a fool not to take advantage. However, these things always require a bit of a learning curve.

I generally like to marry my learning experiences to something at least potentially useful to other people. I thought about what kind of maps I could build that would be new and different.

I decided to collect reports from individuals about the cell phone signal strength they are experiencing at any given address around the (Google-enabled) globe. Then I could plot color coded points on a map showing visually how strong the signal was from different mobile carriers.

"Can you hear me now?"

It won't be too useful to anyone until there are a lot of points plotted on the map, which means thousands of people will have to be kind enough to report their signal strength without getting anything meaningful in return.

Who knows if this will happen, but at least now the world has the opportunity to make it happen.

Whobar!

Celebrity

2006-06-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a celebrity close encounter.

I got word that Bjork was in town with her boyfriend Matthew Barney who had an exhibit opening at SFMOMA. Rumor was, she was planning to DJ at Stud Bar later that night. I said "Sure, sure she is." A group of friends planned to camp out down there that evening just in case it was true.

I was out with a buddy when Monica called and said the rumor appeared to be gaining wide acceptance and the place was filling up... and that I should come down if for no other reason than it was a fun crowd. I had never been to the Stud Bar, since I always thought of it as a gay bar and thought I might feel out of place. My friend felt the same way and was somewhat reluctant to attend for that reason. But due to my policy of "lean yes" when on the fence about something potentially fun, I decided to check it out.

As we walked down the street toward the bar, I could hear the sound of a brass band coming from that very direction... then heard their sound muffle as if they went indoors. This was a good sign. I thought it might be the Extra Action Marching Band who often seem to be surrounded by cool goings on. I was right. They had gone into the crowded bar just ahead of us, and we were treated to a loud and already surreal display.

This bar was clearly not prepared for the onslaught of rumor-believers they had already received. There was one poor bartender drowning in drink requests, where on a busy night, the size of the place would call for at least three or four of them plus bar back help. I waited patiently for a drink. And while I was waiting, a parade of folks, hand in hand in a long single file chain, scurried along behind the bar toward the DJ booth. And sure enough, a colorfully-caped Bjork was mid-chain.

The entourage happened to settle right where my friends were parked. When I made my way that direction, they all looked like deer in the headlights, not really sure what to do or say in the presence of a celebrity. But what can you say that wouldn't sound dumb?

Quickly, the normally jaded artsy San Francisco crowd degraded into a sea of star struck paparazzi. Camera phones were shoved in her face from every direction and people pushed to get as close to her as possible. I was kind of stuck between her and the crowd and decided to help create a casual barrier rather than steer clear. She didn't seem super appreciative, but I was impressed that she toughed it out and didn't seem too phased by it all.

I stayed just long enough to hear what music she played. It was kind of hard to tell who was DJ'ing at any given moment, but after awhile it seemed more like a crowd full of people trying to catch a glimpse rather than a dance club with a great guest DJ.

So I went home, somewhat more appreciative of my anonymity. I'm glad I can go out and have fun without the mob scene her and others have to deal with regularly.

Fast

2006-06-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

I fasted this past weekend for the first time ever.

Monica had a book called The Idiot's Guide to Fasting. When I saw the title, I couldn't contain my laughter. Why on earth would I need a whole book to tell me how to not put food in my mouth!

She assured me that there was more to it than I thought. So I read through some of the book and was intrigued by the process and the benefits the book claimed fasting could have.

Previously I always assumed that fasting was mainly done for spiritual, weight loss, or body cleansing reasons.

My "Eureka" moment while reading was the book's explanation of how much energy one's body uses in the digestion of food. Besides the above benefits, while fasting, your body can use the energy not used for digestion and focus it on other aspects of existence, such as mental clarity and healing itself of chronic ailments.

I thought about the Thanksgiving food coma we all know and dread. That is an easy example of how much energy is used up just digesting food. It made sense that there could indeed be real benefits to it. It occurred to me that in over 13,000 days on Earth, my body has never experienced even one day without eating solid food.

So I resolved to try it. Just one or two days to start. And then maybe with some regularity if it worked out.

It wasn't all that easy. I am certainly not accustomed to depriving myself that way. During moments when I had something to focus my attention on like cleaning the house or shopping, it wasn't too bad as long as I kept on drinking water or juice. No big crashes or suffering. It was true that after the first day, food seemed less urgent. I definitely looked forward to my first meal on Sunday, but didn't act like a crazy starving person while eating, and ate very light the rest of the day.

Today, I do seem to have more energy and clarity than usual, especially considering my regular Sunday night activities at The Buccaneer pub.

All in all, I'd say it's worth making an attempt at incorporating some form of this practice into my regular routine, even it's a big less self-deprived. It clearly seems to be a good idea from a self discipline and re-charging standpoint.

Mosh

2006-06-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

It's not every day that you get to experience something for the first time.

Saturday night I went to a show at the Elbo Room to see a friend of a friend's band. I didn't know anything about it but heard that "sometimes things can get a bit crazy." I didn't really bother to ponder what that could mean, but went mainly to see my friends.

Once I got there, it didn't take long to surmise that I was attending a punk rock show. Normally when I come to that realization, I leave. The rage and negativity of punk rock has never really appealed to me, not to mention the noise. But this was a friend's band, so I stuck it out. As far as the noise and rage on stage, I wasn't disappointed. Three of the band members shrieked into their microphones just as someone might do if they were dipped into molten lava. No words, just screams. I stood there looking around at people's faces to see who was into it and who might be laughing. Most seemed interested and focused.

After awhile, some audience members started to become animated and physical, and it wasn't long before some people were throwing their bodies into other audience members in an attempt to get things a little rowdier. The crowd didn't seem to mind the bumps and elbows. If someone banged into them, they'd simply push them toward someone else and get back to watching the display.

I was interested neither in being pushed nor in pushing back. In fact, I was a little bit nervous for my own safety, so little by little I inched my way backward, away from the stage. I even considered leaving the area altogether and waiting the show out.

After the band finished and a short intermission passed, the headliner, Flipper, came on. Their music was a bit easier to listen to, and soon the crowd got physical again.

By this time, however, I had the pleasure of a couple more cocktails and was feeling a bit rambunctious myself. For some reason (alcohol), this time, rather than being intimidated by the crowd, it looked a bit like fun. I casually handed Monica my drink and said, "I'm going in."

In front of the stage, there was a seven foot circle of clear floor where bodies bounced back and forth pushing each other around like pinballs. I ran straight in and pushed the first person I saw. The rest was a blur. I threw shoulders into people who promptly pushed me across the room toward someone else, who generally did the same.

Never did I ever feel like anyone was angry or violent about it. I was in Rome acting like a Roman. After a few minutes of that, I emerged from the pit grinning from ear to ear. It truly felt like a life experience that hadn't been checked off the list for far too long.

I can't say that I'll be seeking out punk shows and looking for mosh pits any time soon. But I was super glad I jumped in.

Woo hoo!

Epic

2006-03-12T12:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was an epic day.

This winter season has been disappointing up until this past two weeks. Although there has been snowfall, the temperatures have been far above normal. I wonder if it's related to the same reasons we had so many hurricanes last year. For whatever reasons, the snow quality has been relatively weak for us snowboarders and skiers.

I have managed to have some very good days this season, but only by watching weather and getting to the snow as soon as it falls. Invariably within a day or two, the weather would warm up to the 40's or even higher and the snow would begin to melt away.

I was beginning to think the whole season would be that way. Then March came and, so far, things have been looking up. The past two weeks have seen four to five feet of new snow and cold weather. Three of those feet fell yesterday and the day before.

We knew the storm was coming and planned a trip to Kirkwood, which requires planning because it is not near our cabin and we had to bring our equipment back home last week in order to make the trip. Over the course of the week, the weather reports showed good potential, but conflicted about exactly when and how much even up to our departure time.

We decided to drive into the beast, not really knowing how bad the weather would be. We got to Jackson at the foothills of the mountain at about 7 am, and it was already snowing heavily in this little town that clearly wasn't used to getting any snow. This would be about a 90 minute drive up the mountain with clear roads, but these roads weren't clear. As we took the final turn out of Jackson to head up the highway, a CHP officer was only 3 cars ahead of us. He turned on his roof lights and slowed down. I thought to myself, "Oh no, please don't." But he did. Just then he pulled his car across the lanes, blocking the traffic. He got out and shook his head at us and pointed us to turn around. I asked if he was closing the highway and his words were, "we're losing too many cars up there." Wow.

So uncertain whether he had just saved our skins or ruined our day, we pulled out the map. The only other way to Kirkwood was to get to Highway 50 (somehow) and go through South Lake Tahoe, a several hour detour. It was a crushing blow.

Determined, we decided to take Highway 49, an unfamiliar road, to try and make the detour. Mind you, the road was essentially empty and covered in snow. Unfortunately, the road also made many turns and changed street names along the way. Even more unfortunately, the signs were often illegible because of the snow cover.

After driving through a most beautiful winter scene for maybe an hour, it became clear that a) we were supposed to have met our other highway by that distance and b) the road we were on didn't have any tire tracks on it besides ours. We flagged down a passer by (the opposite direction did have some tracks) and I asked him how to get to Highway 50. He said, "You should take Highway 49". Which gave way to my very own favorite quote of the day. "This isn't Highway 49?".

Luckily we weren't too far off course and did manage to get to Highway 50 which Caltrans' hotline was reporting as "escorted by Highway Patrol only." Things seemed bleak, but we thought as long as we were there, we should keep trying.

We met Highway 50 in Placerville. In the first two miles, we saw four cars that had bit the dust off the side of the Highway, some of them flipped over. I noted importantly, that many were even four wheel drive vehicles, like mine.

We inched our way up the mountain, often as slow as 10 miles per hour.

As we made our way to the top, we considered stopping at the Sierra ski resort since we knew we'd get more time on the mountain that way. But the prospect of the much superior terrain at Kirkwood kept us moving forward even not knowing the further delays we might find. We were enduring this all to have the epic day. Not the consolation day.

We made it to Kirkwood around noon and the weather settled down a bit.

We got our epic day in the three new feet of snow; the day those safe at sea level could only dream of.

After getting to the summit and bombing down some of the most amazing terrain ever, we really felt like we had given mother nature a run for her money.

Despite the delays and challenges, we felt like we had succeeded in our mission.

Epic.

Art

2006-03-03T10:26:00.000-08:00

Holy crap. Yesterday evening was so jam packed with art I can hardly believe it.

After work was the monthly First Thursday art event in the city where many galleries are open to the public after hours to come see their exhibits for free, without appointment. And the public generally does - in droves. It's quite a scene. Lots of young artistic types, mixed with schmoozy money types go to pretend they know what they're looking at and run into people they know or pick up on someone new. Always a good investment in claustrophobia.

After that, we had some tickets to see Loop!Station at The Independent. The venue regularly has one or more opening acts of varying interestingness, and the headliner rarely comes on before 10. Very often I skip the opener and save my legs for the main event. But sometimes the openers are worth seeing.

Monica said she wanted to check out the first opener, Tim Bluhm, who sang with a group she used to like called the Mother Hips... so we got there early. They had set up jazz club-type tables on the floor that night, and we got one right up front.

Tim Bluhm came out and sat down in a chair with his guitar and set down an extremely engaging set of melodic, patient, deliberate songs that made a new fan out of me instantly. It was one of those rare times when it doesn't feel like a performance, but like sharing. He seemed very appreciative to be there playing songs for us. It made me curious about his past since he seemed like a person who had recently gained some kind of profound perspective. Or maybe he's just like that.

After Tim, some avant guarde film was shown with various random artsy images which I thought was somehow linked to the music set the guest DJ was playing between sets. But then the next band, Broun Fillinis, came out and stood on stage in front of the projection screen. We thought maybe they were annoyed that the film was still playing while they were on stage, but then they started their set, and it became clear that film was part of the show.

These guys' music was the exact opposite of Tim Bluhm. The patient melodies gave way to a new groove. One with greater tempo, and determined ambition in its complexity. The sax player mainly played straight ahead bop freak-out solos while the bass and drummer played hard-driving funk-rock grooves behind him. The interesting thing was that the songs seemed to boil down to a surf rock genre in my mind, which was reinforced by the lighting and projected art film going on during the show. All three musicians were impressively outfitted with chops and onstage effects equipment. I enjoyed the vibe they generated.

By the time Loop!Station came on, it was about midnight and we were pretty tired, but they were worth the wait. I had seen the singer, Robin Coomer, twice before in other groups, and she told me about Loop!Station after one of those performances while I was, no doubt, gushing to her about her singing. This group is difficult to describe. It's one of those things you definitely have to witness in person. But basically, it's her and a great cellist named Sam Bass who have written songs specifically to have their parts digitally sampled while performed live on stage and then played back as background parts later during the same song. So the cello will, at times, have several parts playing at once, maybe some plucked, some bowed, some with distortion effects, etc. The singer will also sample parts and then sing along with them in beautiful, haunting harmony. Combine all of this with the fact they are both easy on the eyes, she has a great stage presence, a great atmosphere and audience, and the film guys from the other group continuing their spooky lighting and images... and it made for a spectacular evening of art.

I really felt that these two were really pushing the boundaries of music right before our eyes. I wondered if we would see more music like this in the future... if all great musicians in the future will be expected to master technology this way in order to gain respect.

Just another day when I felt so happy to be where I was, when I was there.

Scales

2006-02-15T11:02:00.000-08:00

With my new found mistrust for big business, and my ever present thirst for a new computer project to work on, I have been working on a new idea.

I am concerned that it may be too ambitious, but it also feels like something that should exist. Whenever I feel that way, normally I mull it over so long, that I watch someone else launch it and get famous.. but at least I am satisfied that I thought of it first :)

The idea was born from the website I reported awhile back that gives out free research information on personal care products like toothpaste and deodorant. It tells you every questionable ingredient and what it might do to you. Unfortunately, the website doesn't make it super easy to get to the information, and doesn't provide any easy way to save a personal list of products to refer back to later.

Also, my reading lately has touched on many other areas where the products we buy may be causing various types of strife in the world (environmental, working conditions, etc).

I thought, wouldn't it be so useful if people could set their own preferences for what types of variables were of relative importance to them (e.g. price, safety, environmental impact), and then could rate all of the products in a given category based on their own values. Wow. That could have such an impact.

One thing I have come to believe is that big companies are only beholden to one boss - their customers. It is mainly customers and their demands that cause business to change their behavior. Government regulation and the outcries of activists seem to have had little impact due to the greater impact of political lobbying and giant marketing budgets.

As it is now, customers in a super market have only price and brand awareness to compare products on the shelf. What if they had 5 other ratings marked on the shelves? What if those ratings were automatically averaged out to fit the values of the customer?

I think that both the information and the technology exist to make this possible, and it's only the will to build it and the will to use it that remain to be seen.

Modest

2006-02-14T17:59:00.000-08:00

It seems like many of the books I have been reading lately have dedicated substantial discussion to the global trend of corporations gaining power and influence in politics and culture. As someone who has always paid attention to business, I really thought I was more in tune with how it fits into our society. I have often found myself defending business interests in conversations with those whose politics lays to the left of my own. Now, I increasingly see corporations, especially large public corporations, as a societal disease. Now, I see that the rights corporations have gained for themselves, and the imbalance of resources they posess, give them the power to shape law and public opinion according to their own profit motives. I don't entirely fault the people who run them and work in them since they are more or less interchangable parts within the larger machine. It is the non-human paper entity itself that has a hunger for profit, and a momentum difficult to slow down as things stand in the world today. Kind of like the way a computer virus spreads itself; it's not personal, it's just programming.

My own views toward my place in the business world have shifted little by little over time. At first, I was somewhat ambitious. In my work, I took business needs to heart and gave everything I could muster to The Company. I was on call 24x7. I didn't take vacation. I let business problems become my problems. Then Shelly, a good friend, and professional mentor, took his own life in response to business problems he had, himself, taken to heart too closely. After that, I was able to see business and work for what it is - something much less important than the people who work in it.

This month, I was offered a promotion - an opportunity to take on more responsibility, have more control, travel frequently around the US, and probably make substantially more money. It was the natural path for someone doing well in a big company. Not only that, it's the path we are programmed to go after. How could you ever turn down the opportunity to "grow" professionally?

Well I turned it down. I didn't want to travel for work. I like it here at home. I didn't want more responsibility. I have enough. Who doesn't want more money? But I really have enough of that too. All I was able to see ahead was a degraded quality of life. And, as pessimistic as that sounds, I felt I made the right choice. And I was so pleased this week when I came across this passage by Paul Hawken in the The Ecology of Commerce.

"I suspect many people who get involved with business have a modest self that resists being adrenalized and overworked by incessant growth. In most cases, we see this subdued side of ourselves as something to overcome, a limit, a reluctant and unassuming persona that needs motivation tapes and seminars to mold it into the obsessive, success-driven, capable person the late-night cable programs assure us is hiding within."

I'm happy to be moving toward my modest self rather than away from him.

Prices

2006-02-14T10:27:00.000-08:00

I have always been somewhat risk averse. I'm not totally sure where it came from. I generally don't enjoy gambling, I have never bunjee jumped, and I always park legally (no tickets). This tendency is exaggerated when it comes to any kind of financial investing. I suppose I figure that, for all of the hours I spend in a dreary cubicle earning the almighty dollar, I would hate to have any of it spent for naught.

Investing in real estate in the Bay Area has been especially traumatic for me. The dollar amounts of any and every property here are staggering (to me anyway). I understand that I live in a fantasy destination where many people dream of having a home. This is bound to make property scarce and pricey. However, I also have a decent understanding about human nature, interest rates, and such, and sometimes have a hard time balancing my skeptical nature with the real world. I don't want to worry myself out of good investments.

Then I came upon this study today which fans the flames of all my investment worries. According to this study, real estate is overvalued in the Bay Area by somewhere in the neighborhood of 40%. I can't say that I am surprised by this. But I also wonder, for all the cheery, bullish articles, why am I more likely to trust this one?

Electric

2006-02-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

My friend Sean sent this cute story in an email. I'd like to find out more about the author, Richard Brautigan.

---

Rural Electrification Project
by Richard Brautigan

I was trying to describe you to someone a few days ago. You don't look like any girl I've ever seen before.

I couldn't say "Well she looks just like Jane Fonda, except that she's got red hair, and her mouth is different and of course, she's not a movie star..."

I couldn't say that because you dont look like Jane Fonda at all.

I finally ended up describing you as a movie I saw when I was a child in Tacoma Washington. I guess I saw it in 1941 or 42, somewhere in there. I think I was seven, or eight, or six.

It was a movie about rural electrification, a perfect 1930's New Deal morality kind of movie to show kids. The movie was about farmers living in the country without electricity. They had to use lanterns to see by at night, for sewing and reading, and they didn't have any appliances like toasters or washing machines, and they couldn't listen to the radio. They built a dam with big electric generators and they put poles across the countryside and strung wire over fields and pastures.

There was an incredible heroic dimension that came from the simple putting up of poles for the wires to travel along. They looked ancient and modern at the same time.

Then the movie showed electricity like a young Greek god, coming to the farmer to take away forever the dark ways of his life. Suddenly, religiously, with the throwing of a switch, the farmer had electric lights to see by when he milked his cows in the early black winter mornings. The farmer's family got to listen to the radio and have a toaster and lots of bright lights to sew dresses and read the newspaper by.

It was really a fantastic movie and excited me like listening to the Star Spangled Banner, or seeing photographs of President Roosevelt, or hearing him on the radio "... the President of the United States... "

I wanted electricity to go everywhere in the world. I wanted all the farmers in the world to be able to listen to President Roosevelt on the radio....

And that's how you look to me.

Remix

2006-01-27T11:00:00.000-08:00

I managed to get a copy of some music production software over the course of the past couple of weeks. After asking my favorite DJ (Shissla) what he uses for his remixes, and consulting with my friend Clay, I settled on two packages made by Propellerhead software, Reason and Recycle.

Reason is essentially a fancy sequencer with a nice set of sound processing tools (delays, reverbs, and other effects), synthesizer functionality, drum machine, etc. I bought a midi keyboard to use to build bass lines and maybe trigger drum and other sample sounds, but I wont' likely be playing any real music on it. The software will help to piece together various pieces into a full song track that I and interested others can play, burn to cd, etc.

Recycle is a super cool piece of software that helps you to take samples of existing music and tweak it to fit the tempo and pitch you want so that it can be combined with other clips of music and still sound good. I presume this is the type of software people use to create mashups, combinations of one or more songs to make a completely new song. This is my goal.

Since my composition skills are somewhere in the neighborhood of none, my plan is to find snips and clips of other music I like, build grooves out of them, and see what I come up with. I've recently found great moments in songs by Brooklyn Funk Essentials and Lady Sovereign, a new British dancehall rapper, that I'm dying to pick apart.

My main obstacle to this at the moment is free time. I think about working on this stuff all the time, but I can't do it while I'm working, out in the city, driving, snowboarding, etc. So I have to grab those moments when I can.

Wish me luck.

Willie

2006-01-27T10:27:00.000-08:00

I went to see Willie Nelson at the Fillmore last night. When I saw the tickets for sale, it seemed like a romantic idea to see such an American icon at an American landmark like the Fillmore. It's a great venue to see a great, intimate show. I was excited to see the rugged, wrinkled, grey haired, smooth, sexy man.. the one that had loved all those girls before. I was excited for his timeless songs, his charismatic stage presence honed over decades.

Unfortunately, reality set in once we got there. As it turns out, he is a geriatric little grandpa with a geriatric little grandpa band. He's a little bit hunched.. his black jeans are pulled way up around his tucked in tee shirt. It took him about 5 minutes to get on stage once he was announced.

As he started, he seemed to be sort of blurting weak breaths of old lyrics into the mic. His bandmates were mostly older guys too... some looking kind of like confused deer in the headlights. Certainly not the lively, hells angels ho down I was expecting.

Monica and I kept looking at each other with a shared recognition of the bait and switch that we had fallen for... but he was cute and still iconic so we did our best to enjoy the show. I even got a plastic cup of whiskey to try and get into the spirit of things.

Once he got warmed up, the songs flowed a little better and the guy does still have some bounce in him and he had no shortage of loyal excited fans. But ultimately, we got bored and left pretty early.

Sorry Willie. We tried.

Cabin

2006-01-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Cabin

Kelly, Monica and I opened up our new ski cabin for this year in Truckee this weekend. The place is a little small considering we have 10 potential roommates on any given weekend. But it's cozy and warm, and close to plenty of snow and other interestingness. I look forward to getting snowed in there at least once this year.

Food

2005-12-21T11:29:00.000-08:00

I finally finished reading Fast Food Nation.

I wrote previously that the book didn't contain many real surprises for me. I'd say that is still the case. The book has been accused of being merely anecdotal and spun heavily against the food industry, corporations in general, and Republicans. I came out with the same taste in my mouth. Although the book is painstakingly researched with 60 pages of bibliographical references, it does seem to me that the facts were carefully chosen to spin those forces in a negative light.

That said, the research and anecdotes seem undeniable, and I do feel affected by the content. The gory realities of feed lots and slaughterhouses; The questionable, albeit legal, manner in which livestock are fed and maintained; The effect of fierce price competition on all stakeholders including employees, franchisees, and consumers. It all definitely adds up to a bit of a sick feeling about the dark side of capitalism, democracy, and human behavior.

These are the points that stuck with me most:

- Livestock should not be fed the remains of other animals. It is a common practice in the US. It is not a natural feed and it opens the door for foodborne illness.
- The price of meat is determined largely by line speeds and safety practices at meat packing companies. Fast food companies often get better,safer meat than stores, because their brands depend on it. I may start buying higher priced meat as a result.
- More food than you think is flavored with chemicals that are not disclosed to you.
- Obesity costs far more to the economy than fast food companies earn.
- Advertising to children is powerful and probably should not be legal. It is already illegal in some countries.
- The US government doesn't have much power or inclination to protect the public from poor quality food. The large food chains are actually much more effective at creating positive change in the industry. And they answer mainly to their customers.

I have considered the possibility of becoming a vegetarian after reading the book. It probably will not happen, and it may not even be a good idea for me. But it's the first time the thought has ever crossed my mind. I fully expect, however, to eat better and think more about what I am eating all the time. Many people may believe that overthinking every aspect of life this way is a downer. I now see that attitude as a form of denial.

Open

2005-12-21T10:53:00.000-08:00

I made my first contribution to the open source community today. I noticed a grammatical error on the George Pataki page of the Wikipedia. I knew that common folks were allowed to make changes to any page on the website and so I clicked edit, made my update, and bang, my change was made public without any sort of workflow approval process. Interesting.

I've also, coincidentally, just begun looking at SourceForge to see if there are any open source projects on which I might be interested in collaborating. It seems like a good way to use and improve my skills, and a good way to connect with the software developer community at large.

We'll see what I find.

Smart

2005-12-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

I sometimes get the feeling, when pondering Google's inner workings, that the people there are so smart, their service sometimes seems like magic to us peasants.

They clearly seem to have the notion of "simple yet functional" down to a science. And functional is a tremendous understatement. They are the Ghooda.

I did some upgrades to my lyrics website last week, including 10,000 new song titles. Also, since my visitor volume has been up (about 150,000 page views in November), I decided to re-evaluate my advertising.

I looked at Google's AdSense optimization tips which suggested that my ad clickthrough rate might go up if I put my Google text ads across the top of my content (aka Leaderboard ad) rather than down the right side (aka Skyscraper ad). I figure they must have done plenty of research, so why not take their advice.

After a week using the new configuration, I noticed an unexpected trend. My clickthrough rate actually went down a tiny bit, but my earnings per impression went up by about 50%. What this means is that fewer people actually click through the ad links on the website. But the ads they click on tend to have a higher pay rate.

My conclusion from this is, although it is a bit early to conclude anything, is that Google actually rewards me for taking their placement advice by sending me more lucrative ad links. More likely is that they are ensuring they get the best possible clickthrough rates (due to placement) on the highest paying ad inventory, thus making more money for themselves.

Google tends to be very mysterious about their logic and policies on these matters, but at every turn, they always seem to be doing the smartest possible thing.

My advice: Always do what Google tells you to do.

Mosquito

2005-11-30T10:52:00.000-08:00

Apparently someone has finally figured out a way to keep loitering teenagers away using a high frequency sound device, called The Mosquito, that only young people can hear. Genius.

Green

2005-11-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

One cannot help becoming more environmentally conscious living in this city.

A few weeks ago, I went to The Green Festival, essentially a trade show for environmentally friendly products and services. I definitely got the impression that these were mainly entrepreneurs, certainly with a profit motive, that targeted well-meaning left-leaning individuals as their primary market.

As I see it, if you're going to be in business for profit, there is certainly nothing wrong with keeping environmental preservation as a top priority. However, it seemed to me a bit like they were using people's tendency to support this cause as a way of digging deeper into their pockets. I was somewhat disturbed by that. Sigh. Always a skeptic.

I did learn one thing there that I found interesting and valuable.

Shannon and Michael, who are buying a boat soon, wanted to know how they might use biodiesel fuel in their boat. I had heard that these fuels burn cleaner than fossil fuels and are mainly vegetable based. So I set off to the festival with the mission of finding out.

I have seen various diesel cars on the road, mostly old Mercedes, with biodiesel stickers on them and have always been a little curious. I imagined some process of taking your car down to the local university to have some hippy grad students fit your engine with some kind of vegimatic machine like the DeLorean in Back to the Future. A fun science project to impress all the dreadlocked girls around campus.

As it turns out, there are no modifications required to burn biodiesel fuel. All you need is a diesel engine in your car, and you can pour the fuel right in to your tank with any mixture of fossil fuel you choose. That's it.

Now biodiesel gas is a bit more expensive than regular gas, currently about $3.65 per gallon at the local biodiesel co-op. But compared with the new hybrid cars that come at a several thousand dollar premium over standard engines, this type of fuel is a great way for people to do what they can for a cleaner, less oil-dependent environment, one dollar at a time.

I feel a bit sad that I found this out after I leased my new Jeep Liberty, which now comes with a diesel option. Oh well. The next car.

Convergence

2005-11-22T18:26:00.000-08:00

I checked out a cool website today that took a relatively small amount of effort but delivers a substantial value. Housingmaps.com appears to be a mere hobby project for a clever programmer.

It combines Craigslist apartment listings with Google maps to give a visual representation of apartments for rent in San Francisco and other cities.

Small wonders.

Threads

2005-11-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

I was struck yesterday by a contrast.

This week I got to take a tour of the new St. Regis Hotel, specifically the luxury homes located high atop the hotel high rise. I have to say that, for all the money rich folks must spend to live there, it didn't seem much more livable than any other homes I have been in. The views were certainly impressive, although I did feel a little woozy way up there.

One thing that impressed me was the doormen's uniforms. Each door to the hotel was manned by a large, hyper-polite man wearing a beautiful full length coat. They seemed to be made of some soft luxurious fiber. I wondered how much the hotel paid for each coat.

The very next day, I was walking in the financial district among many nicely dressed individuals when I saw a group of paramedics. They were also in their uniforms, only theirs were dark blue cotton, and they were very worn and unimpressive.

I considered the relative importance of each of those men's jobs. One opens doors, the other saves lives.

I wondered if there was any significance to this.. if it makes any statement about our world. Clearly the five star hotel is selling a product that cannot be tattered, while paramedics are out on the asphalt every day.

But somehow it still struck me.

Natural

2005-10-31T10:24:00.000-08:00

I'm currently reading the book, Fast Food Nation. I fully expected this book to contain all kinds of horrifying facts sure to send anyone screaming from their nearest McDonald's restaurant. In truth, there is relatively little in the book that I find surprising so far. There is a fair amount of interesting history of how the industry came to be, and an in depth investigation into the inner workings of food suppliers, franchise agreements, labor standards, etc. Not a thriller by any measure.

One section I found very interesting discusses the semantics surrounding natural and artificial flavoring. We see these ingredients listed on many of the foods we eat. I often read ingredients labels and have always been suspicious of these entries on the list because they are just so darn vague. What's in an artificial flavor?

As it turns out, the vagueness is intentional and authorized by the FDA. In order to protect the secrecy of food recipes, food makers aren't required to list flavor ingredients as long as they are "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS). This designation, after looking at the FDA website, does not appear to imply that the FDA has, itself, determined the safety of the ingredient, but has examined the evidence supplied by applicants, and does not object to it. There are interesting exclusions to this rule as well. For example, additives commonly used in food before 1958 are automatically considered safe.

Also, the difference between the designations natural and artificial are not what one would expect. They both allow for the same list of chemical ingredients. The difference is in how the chemicals are produced. It seems that older methods may be considered natural, while newer, more scientific methods would be designated artificial, even if the latter produced a purer, safer end result. Since the natural designation is more appealing to consumers, those methods are more likely to be used, even though they may result in a less-safe product.

As a result of the GRAS secrecy rule, these flavor recipes contain many chemical ingredients that are not listed. For example, a typical artificial strawberry flavor contains the following:

Amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amylketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone, a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, neronlin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, y-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.

Remember, all of these ingredients are on the GRAS list. The fact that this is an "artificial" flavor merely indicates how these chemicals were extracted from their sources, not what chemicals are present.

What this means is that when you see the words natural flavor or artificial flavor, you must assume that a list of similar chemicals are likely involved whether it is a strawberry candy or a cup of Stonyfield Farm Organic Strawberry Yogurt.

Buyer beware.

Uptight

2005-10-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I wanted to rent a movie. Since I have a great pay-per-view selection on my cable TV at home, I rarely rent movies anymore. But for some reason, it seemed like a fun thing to do and the Blockbuster store happened to be right there in front of me.

As I walked in, I vaguely remembered leaving annoyed the last time I had visited the store - without renting a movie. I couldn't remember why, but continued the movie mission anyway. There is something about Blockbuster that rubs me the wrong way. Maybe its size, maybe the fact that I don't care for their movie selection. In any case, it has never struck me as a company to celebrate.

I searched for The Corporation, a documentary I wanted Monica to see. I walked around the whole store twice before I found the documentary section - probably about 20 titles. No luck.

We settled on The Life Aquatic, a Wes Anderson film, and proceeded to the checkout. I realized I didn't have an account there and would probably have to open a new account. I figured it was probably pretty streamlined by now, considering the movie rental industry is about 20 years mature. Again, no luck. They made me move to a different window and gave me a long legal sized form to fill out. My attitude toward the movie mission began to deteriorate.

The form asked for my name, address, date of birth, driver's license number, credit card number, and a series of signatures waiving various rights.

I filled out the form, getting more and more annoyed at each question and check box. It occured to me that the thin piece of plastic I was renting was actually worth less than the restroom keys you borrow from gas stations, and they don't require nearly as much paperwork. After filling out the form, I was sent back to the original window to pay my $4, and we left.

After getting only a few feet from the store, I was reminded of the security process hoops I am currently jumping through at the city for collecting similar, although much less sensitive information from those making payments on our websites. I am not, even as a pseudo city manager, entitled to possess those pieces of information even for a few minutes. The people I work for consider it far too great of a security risk. The information is processed and then erased forever in some cases.

But I had just handed over even more sensitive information to a video store clerk who would probably stuff it into a file cabinet in the back that's likely used frequently to deal with non-returned videos. Now, the staff at Blockbuster seemed very friendly, competent, and trustworthy. But video stores just seem like the kind of place that would have high employee turnover, and besides, it seems to me Blockbuster should be able to come up with a better system than paper stuffed in drawers for that type of information.

I began to become very uneasy, even though I knew many people hand the same information over all the time. The fear started... Identity theft!! Ugh.

We got home to watch the movie, and it didn't work. The picture was all screwed up. Double Ugh.

That was the last straw. I decided I would take the movie back, get my money back for the defective DVD, and get my precious paper form back.

The next day, I did just that. I was bracing for a hassle, planning my rebuttals.. but alas, the friendly, competent, probably trustworthy manager returned my money and my form without argument. He seemed a bit inconvenienced. He had to rummage through two separate drawers stuffed with forms. But was far more compliant than I expected. He did have to use a key to get into the drawers, but the key was in the cash register drawer... Not super high security.

So after getting what I wanted, I was left wondering if I was just being paranoid. I was also left with a slightly better taste in my mouth about Blockbuster, at least the Church & Market store. I feel a little bad about not trusting those people.

I may be a little uptight. But I'm glad I got my form back.

Nikka

2005-10-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

I have a new favorite recording artist for whom I'll likely hold a torch for at least a few weeks. Her name is Nikka Costa. When I ask others if they've heard of her, they say yes. But somehow I never have until yesterday. She is performing at The Independent next month and I have the fun habit of pre listening to upcoming shows there to gauge my interest in attending. Napster has two of her albums which are both excellent. She continually reminds me of many great artists (Prince, Chaka Kahn, Stevie Wonder to name a very few) and integrates all of those influences seamlessly. I can't wait for her show.

Update: I saw her show on Sunday night. All I can say is don't ever miss this woman if she is performing near you. The energy in that room was tremendous and her voice and band are fantastic. I think everyone in attendance was blown away.

Napster

2005-10-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

Along with thousands of other early adopters, I've been undertaking a grand experiment in digital music consumption. The introduction of digital music files several years ago and the, at first, illegal trade in them via services such as Napster has since evolved into a new, still immature business model for the music industry.

The Apple iPod has become an extremely popular consumer electronics device, and millions of music files have been purchased legally to fill them up. Apple is now enjoying a cultural phenomenon that businesses only dream of. Because of its popularity, their product's name, iPod, is now becoming synonymous with the class of product (think Band-Aid, Kleenex, etc). Since their product is closely tied with their music purchasing service, they only need stand by and watch as a whole generation passively accepts their business model for selling music online - Pay a dollar, get one song.

But theirs isn't the only model. Napster re-emerged as a legal subscription based service. Their model is - pay ten dollars per month, listen to anything in their catalog - pay fifteen, and transfer all of it to a portable device as well - but you still don't "own" the song until you pay the dollar for it. Depending on one's music listening habits, this model may or may work better for some people.

I, for one, don't like the idea of paying a dollar for a song I haven't heard before and don't know if I will like. Apple and other services allow you to listen to a 30 second snippet of the song before purchasing. With Napster, I can listen to the song as much as I like, then only if I wish to burn it to a CD, pay the dollar. This way works better for me because, you see, I'm cheap.

A side effect I have noticed from this easy access to music is jade. It's now very tough for me to find music so interesting that I believe I'll listen to it frequently enough away from my PC to justify paying for it. When I listen to music now, I'm much more inclined to sample artists and titles I've never heard. Read a review in a magazine - take a listen. An artist I've never heard of is playing in the city - let's see if I'd like them. Why buy it?

So lately I've been trying the portable music model that Napster offers called "Napster to go". I bought one of the compatible mp3 players (iPods are not an option) called the Creative Zen Sleek. It held 20 gigabytes worth of music, or about 10,000 songs. It seemed like an awesome notion to have that much music walking around with me all for the price of my monthly subscription. Napster liked to point out in their ad campaigns that to put that much music on an iPod would cost $10,000.

My fantasy that I would just dump 10,000 songs onto my new portable player was just that. Not only did I have to actually dream up that much music to transfer, but each song can take up to a couple of minutes to download from Napster. I soon realized that 20 GB worth of storage was probably overkill, and that a smaller, lighter player would probably work just as well.

I returned the Sleek and bought another Creative player, the new Zen Microphoto. It holds 8GB and is much smaller than the Sleek.

Now am I happy? Well.. not so sure. I've discovered that it's really not all that comfortable for me to dink around with headphones and player controls while I'm walking around the city. It's alright to have music with me, but it certainly isn't changing my life.

Also, I was expecting to use one of those fancy FM transmitter things to play music from my player while I'm in the car. It turns out those things are pretty crummy so I can't really do that.

So we'll have to see if this thing survives my 30-day no-questions return policy from Best Buy. At this point, it's kind of a cool toy, but probably not worth the price tag. We'll see.

Funk

2005-10-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

Urban living is getting to me today.

Working the entire day in a ten story concrete cube means that I usually need to escape for lunch to get some sunlight and fresh air. Unfortunately, I work in civic center which isn't always so fresh, so I regularly ride some form of public transit to a more pleasant lunching atmosphere.

That journey takes me through an especially colorful part of town. The Tenderloin district is known for it's drug dealers, users, and other shady types. I used to be so disturbed by the cast of characters, that I would take the underground train just to avoid the spectacle. Over time, I became used to it, and now rather enjoy the show much of the time.

Today though was somehow my day to find myself next to far more than my statistically likely share of smelly people. Young and old, street and professional. There were laundry mildew mishaps, musty old men, leave-behind BO, and urine stench a go-go.

I couldn't help but wonder how this could happen. Today was nice and cool... no hot day sweaty excuses this time. I know that some of my fellow citizens live in much less luxury than I do. But one thing seems likely to me: If you have a home, you have access to bathing facilities. Some form of sink, shower, or tub comes with anything you could possibly refer to as a home. That gives one the ability to wash clothes and self.

I imagine that cultures change on this subject. I know that Europeans think Americans are far too concerned about such matters. Cleanliness is one American trait I'd like us to hold on to. If notions of cleanliness ebb and flow in culture, I wonder in which direction this one is headed.

Today wasn't a good sign.

Ghosts

2005-10-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

I Googled myself today and came across a document from the California Court of Appeals. The document describes in great detail the dramatic story of several of my high school friends, one of which eventually killed the other in cold blood. I was close friends with the killer's brother Joey growing up and also good friends with the victim, Steve, who actually helped teach me to drive my first car.

This document describes the events in greater detail than I have ever heard before. Up until now, I have relied on newspaper articles and hearsay, mostly.

I don't know what has become of Rob, the defendant. I know that he was the subject of controversy in past years because he was paroled but kept in prison by then governor Gray Davis.

I had heard that the San Francisco gay community had rallied to Rob's side, arguing that he was the victim of gay bashing. Although there is truth to that as described in the case, it doesn't appear to me to rise to the level of justifying death to the basher. It always seemed to me that Steve had been forgotten by the courts, the press, and the activists. And that always bothered me. It still does.

Steve didn't always behave well. But he was a good guy. And I miss him.

This is the document

Baggage

2005-09-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

Shower faucets are like relationships.

Yesterday was a fun day. Although it was a normal Thursday at work, there was also fun to be had. Not only was it a beautiful warm and clear day in the city, it was also the first day ever, San Francisco hosted a ski jump competition on its steep city streets.

It was going to be tough for me to make it there because the event was held in Pacific Heights, across town from civic center where I work. The bus rides alone would have eaten up my whole lunch break. But Shannon came to the rescue and offered to chauffeur me from work to the event and back and even brought me a sandwich to eat. She's so nice.

We made it up there along with thousands of others and witnessed what could be a once in a lifetime event, judging by the controversy surrounding the disruption it caused.

Here are some pictures

Later on, after work, Shannon and I were expecting guests. Her previous roommate, Sue, who now lives in Los Angeles, and her band, Tsk Tsk, have a couple of shows in the Bay Area this week, and we agreed to put all of them up for a couple of days at our apartment. We're so nice.

They rolled into town about two hours before they were supposed to go on stage last night. Since we have two bathrooms in our house, I offered to let a couple of them use my shower to save them some time.

They made it to the venue, put on a lovely show, and a good time was had by all.

This morning, when I got into my shower and turned on the water, I noticed that the previous occupant had pushed down the faucet handles really hard, using far more pressure than necessary. I felt bad for the poor little handles.

I imagined that whoever last used the shower must have a real problem with water continuing to drip out of their own home shower after shutting it off. Even though my shower does not have the same problem, that person applied their usual compensating solution anyway.

People do this in relationships also. Not that it has happened to me recently, but I think people have a habit of compensating for the issues of past significant others, even though it's not necessary with their current partners.

If you're in a relationship, try applying only the amount of pressure needed when shutting someone down. I know you'll try. Because you're so nice.

Points

2005-09-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

One good thing about being the master of a tiny little domain in government is that I have the opportunity to apply my own personal values and opinions in the formation of public policy surrounding my little world.

The project I work on at the city was started as a pilot program to test the feasibility of taking city payments online. It seems like an obvious idea to improve efficiency and customer service, but everything has to prove its fitness in the real world. For the past three years I have managed the project and watched it grow slowly into a fit, soon-to-be self-funded, well-received corner of city government.

Then, just as I was finishing a forecast showing that in just 12 short months, the project would no longer require any city budget, funding itself solely on the small convenience fees charged on some payments, an article came out in the Chronicle. The article described a photo op the Mayor had been on the previous day at the Department of Parking and Traffic. The article mainly told how the department was a nightmare to visit for any reason, mainly due to long lines and long waits.

Since some of the people were there merely to pay a parking ticket, the question was asked, "why do people have to pay a fee to pay tickets online?". That question had the unfortunate consequence of causing a city official to go (trumpets please) "on record"... as saying that he and the Mayor would try to eliminate those fees. Once on record, my project and its funding became the focus of great scrutiny by those wanting to carry out the Mayor's wishes.

I am one of the only people on Earth who knows this project and its business model intimately. The other person is Marco, my client at the city. He and I unfortunately do not share the same outlook for funding this project. He believes in eliminating fees. I believe in retaining them.

Since I am mainly here to serve his needs as his consultant, pushing my own agenda is something I only do when particularly passionate about a subject.

I have two passions in this case. One is that I truly believe that services should, if at all possible, be paid mainly by those who use the service. The other is that I'd like to see this project continue without struggling for funding. We are just so close now.

My problem became how to try and see my own wishes carried out without causing conflict with my client on this very visible issue.

I wrote up an argument for my case intended for consumption by a city official unfamiliar with my project, someone like a county supervisor. I thought maybe I could get the ideas to them through a third party so that I could remain ostensibly impartial. However, the information is so detailed, I am certainly implicated as its author.

Below were my points:

------------

Facts:

The Online Services Group within DTIS processes online payments for several city departments.
If left alone, the Online Services Group will be self-funded by convenience fees in about 12 months, requiring no additional money from city budgets.
Convenience fees are small amounts added to online payments to cover processing costs.
Convenience fees are paid by citizens and others who actually use the online services.
The Mayor wants to eliminate convenience fees for parking tickets.
Most Online Services transactions are parking ticket payments.
About half of convenience fees collected go to project expenses and about half to Visa/MasterCard fees, which are charged as a percentage of the credit card transaction.
Eliminating convenience fees from transactions will require the city budget and, by extension, all San Francisco citizens to pay for Online Services whether they use them or not.
35% of online parking ticket payments are made by non residents of San Francisco.
Eliminating convenience fees would transfer the entire cost burden of the project to SF residents and relieve the non residents of any costs.
Eliminating convenience fees is expected to sharply increase online services volume since it would become the cheapest method of payment.
Larger payment volume means proportionately larger Visa/MasterCard fees and some project expense increase.
Currently Online Services processes about 10% of all parking ticket payments.
For the past 3 years, online payment volume has increased at a rate greater than 30% per year, with no changes to convenience fees.
Doubling the volume to 20%, which is conservative if fees are eliminated, will cost the city about $1 million more than current volume, much of that in Visa fees that would no longer be covered by convenience fees.
Tripling or quadrupling of online volume over one or two years is not an unreasonable expectation.
The actual reduction in check processing labor by DPT for a 10% reduction in paper payments is unclear.
With forecasted growth and economies of scale, convenience fees could likely be reduced over time as costs per transaction fall soon after the break even point around 12 months from now.
The city contractor that runs online services for the city does not receive a "cut" of the fees. They are paid a flat monthly rate. The city is the only entity benefiting from those fees.
Eliminating this consistent funding source for the service makes its future less certain as its budgetary worthiness would continue to be reviewed each fiscal year.

Conclusion:

Although eliminating convenience fees from online transactions gives the appearance of making the services more accessible and less expensive to the public, the expense to San Francisco citizens would be much greater overall and threatens the continuation of the service. Alternatively, if the fees were reduced little by little over time, the service is ensured continued growth, assuming DPT continues to use Online Services as a payment processor.

------------

So far, I have not sent these points directly to anyone influential, mainly to maintain my client relationship. However, I did get to meet yesterday with the city's Deputy Treasurer. Marco and I both met with her to discuss these issues. I was pleased to find that, although I didn't go the meeting intending to split from Marco's wishes, she was clearly receptive to my ideas and I was able to make most of my points, leading her in my preferred direction whenever possible. Since she will be making recommendations directly to the Mayor's budget office, I feel that I have made a real difference.

These types of moments are rare in my world and I have taken note the satisfaction it brings. For all the frustrating, petty, political bickering in this city's crazy government, it feels good to see my own wishes carried out on a relatively large scale.

I'm not sure that alone is enough to keep me around city government too much longer. But we'll see.

Sick

2005-09-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

I have a crummy immune system. I think I always have. It's not that I get horrible diseases. I just get all of the little ones - mainly colds and flus.

It's a familiar cycle:

Do something bad for my immune system (e.g. drink too much, get no sleep, etc.)
Start to feel a sore throat
Sit by helplessly as the sore throat turns into an inferno
Get sniffly, sneezy, achey, and stuffy headed to the point of disfunction
Cough for about three weeks.

Just like everyone else, I try all the latest, hipest remedies, but the cycle remains largely unaffected. I've tried vitamin C megadosing, drowning myself in fluids, Echinacea (now proven to be snake oil), Homeopathics like Oscillococcinum, tea, honey, chicken soup, etc. And somehow I always manage to have one day of dread knowing what's coming, a couple days of misery, a couple more days of embittered sniffling, and weeks of nagging cough.

Over the past year, I have been trying a new strategy that has worked very well. Wanna know what it is?

Sleep.

Previously, I would only stay home from work if I was too sick to work. This was my major mistake. By the time I feel that bad, there is no amount of rest or remedy that will break the sick cycle.

Now, when I feel like I am certain the sick is coming on... I just don't get out of bed. Even though I'm able to work, I set out to kill the virus as a first priority. I just call in sick, albeit a little guilt ridden, and sleep until I am totally unable to stay in bed anymore.

The result: One day off of work... and then.... nothing. Totally fine. No sneeze, no sniffle, no cough.

I wonder why no one has ever pushed this remedy on me before. I suppose because you can't bottle it and sell it in a health food store.

Someone get me a Nobel prize.

Paper

2005-09-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

Paper is so important to our culture, we can't live without it.

We use paper to write love letters.
Agreements between people are practically null and void unless they are written on paper.
We exchange paper money as currency that has no other real value except for our own acceptance of it.

But one of the most important kinds of paper.. the one so crucial that it's considered almost inhumane to live without it? Toilet paper.

I had a realization in the men's room stall at work today. It occurred to me while I was trying to unwind a wad of TP from the roll, that our public and home bathroom tissue expectations are wildly different.

When one goes to the supermarket to shop for home supplies, the TP aisle is an abundance of luxurious, pampering goodness. Cushioned, multi-ply softness dominates. Generally, even if you buy the cheapest generic store brand, the products are by and large very useful and satisfying.

In public restrooms, however, it's a whole 'nother scene. The paper is sometimes so thin, that the inertia from the rest of the roll is just too much for the poor micro thin fibers, causing a single square to vaporize while exerting the gentlest pull humanly possible. Sometimes it takes two hands. One to turn the paper roll, and the other to gingerly catch the coveted prize as it is revealed inch by inch. Other times, the paper is thick like paper towel material, making one wonder if someone made a mistake when pulling packages from the supply closet.

Whatever the deficiency, two things strike me:

That the people in charge of choosing products are clearly more cost conscious than, let's say, "customer service" conscious. Obviously, these public papers are not the type anyone would like to use themselves. But they somehow feel justified in inflicting them on the faceless masses.
This cruel stinginess is so widespread and institutionalized, that commercial restroom supply companies stock and sell heaping masses of these tortuous products even though no supermarket wouldn't dream of carrying such substandard toiletries. These products are conceived of and manufactured purely to satisfy the cheapskate commercial world.

So what does this say about how our institutions' level care for their fellow man? I think it's true what the FBI says about solving mysteries...

Just follow the paper.

Ideas

2005-09-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

As if I'm not busy enough, I like to fill my tiny bits of free time with website hobby projects. These sites only occasionally get finished and rarely get used by anyone. Though I usually have a glimmer of hope that a substantial number of folks may someday find the fruits of my work useful, I doubt I'll ever make any real money from them. But you never know.

My lyrics website, Lyricsbeat.com, is probably my best success story and actually does get a fair amount of traffic - about 4,000 page views per day. Not only do that many people find the song lyrics they're looking for, it makes enough money with Google AdSense advertising to pay for its own hosting and will probably subsidize my next, more ambitious project. So I can chalk that one up as a success.

I tend to like to build projects I would want to use myself. That way, the worst case scenario is that I have a useful tool that will at least be used by me and any pliable friends I might recruit.

Lately, I've been wanting to work on a project that might do some actual good in the world. Short of volunteering for someone else's project, I haven't come up with one yet.

Past projects have included:

- SpeakUp.com - A website that matches users with their elected government representatives at all levels (do you know who your state senator is?), then takes surveys of current events and routes users' sentiments to their matching elected officials in nice summarized constituent reports. Outcome: Keeping the current event surveys current was a daunting daily task and there was no indication that any elected officials actually wanted these reports.

- FilmPal.com - A website that helps circles of friends pick movies (theatre or rental) to watch together. By emailing new release titles to members and having them rank new releases by desire-to-watch and already-seen, a quick visit to the website could pick the most wanted movie for a given group. Outcome: Keeping the new releases current wasn't a huge job, but big enough for me to slack off. Also tough to find users.

- EzWF.com - A workflow and task manager tool that a group can use to communicate, track, and assign task list items to one another. Outcome: I use this for my current project at the city. I had a few hundred users try a free trial, but I suspect that it was too complicated for most to use without training or consulting.

Now I have some new ideas I may work on:

News recommendation website - A website that would use collaborative filtering technology to create a single website users could visit and view blog entries from many blogs ranked by the recommendation engine that would use their own rankings of blogs they read to determine other articles they would be interested in. The articles would all be displayed on a single website, not linked around to others. It's not as hard as it sounds - I don't think. Possible domain names: newzer.net, newsface.com, newzo.com, bloghog.net, customfitnews.com

Online Checklist - A website on which one could build a daily checklist of recurring tasks that may recur at different intervals. The items are similar to recurring calendar reminders, only this would create a record of those tasks actually accomplished and when. It could also be used by a group who shares tasks. Possible domain names: cheqlist.com, cheklist.net, checklistmaker.net, taskcheck.net.

Wish me luck... and motivation.

Playa

2005-09-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

I returned to the Black Rock Desert last week. There is something about that place that is beyond words. There is of course the art, the interesting people, and activities that make Burning Man what it is. But the desert itself, the playa, the landscape, the vastness of the blank canvas is what makes one feel as if he or she has left the earth. The dusty, cracked, and completely flat white soil and cold nights evoke a sense of what the moon might be like.

People return there every year for different reasons. For me, I really enjoy the human painting that spreads across miles of the desert in a cooperative, organized manner. Most of the people are coming to help paint it, not merely to come see it. Everyone is an artist there in his own way. Some people contribute to large art installations, while others decorate themselves and their belongings in such a way as to add to the overall visual experience. At times it appears to be an enormous petri dish with life forms at all levels, from tiny sand robots, to bikers, to giant animal machines, to even larger art cars carrying scores, to giant raves hosting hundreds. The occupants organize into small groups and large groups, often in response to some rumored stimulus like a parade, a popular DJ, or free sushi. There is a schedule of events, but people rarely heed it. Instead there is a collective wandering. The serendipity of experiences are part of the fun and memories.

It's a painting. It's a petri dish. It's a circus. It's a party. It's a city. It's at very least a spectacle.

It's also a lot of preparation, time, energy, and money to make it there. It is miraculous that people keep returning. I'm not sure I will. It is a common sentiment during the recovery period known as decompression. That time when we all return from the moon and re-enter the earth and wonder which place we like better.

This week, I'm choosing Earth. We'll see what I say in a few months when tickets go on sale again.

Toxic

2005-08-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

My friend Erin is very interested in environmental safety. She may actually go to graduate school soon to study it and get more active in bringing information to people about environmental dangers.

She gave me this link to Skin Deep, a study by the Environmental Working Group who rated a large number of personal care products that may contain harmful ingredients. You can look up the products you use to check what types of toxins they contain. It is a bit gloomy to read some of the possible health effects, but it could help you make your next toothpaste or deodorant purchase at the supermarket.

Wow

2005-08-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

This morning I was watching the KRON4 morning news while ironing my shirt for work. While spritzing my collar a grandma neuron fired off and I realized something fantastic. Terisa Estacio, one of the bay area morning anchor women, is actually the lead singer of Von Iva, the rock band I saw this weekend. What a woman!

Judge for yourself.

Shows

2005-08-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

It was another week of great music in the city.

Once again I saw Alana Davis on Thursday night at the Red Devil Lounge. I thought I might be bored since I saw the same show just a few weeks ago. Once again I was totally moved by her charismatic and technically flawless solo show. Beautiful. This time Monica got to go as well.

We also went to the Von Iva show at the good ole' Independent. I had never seen or heard them, but Shannon saw them once and told me I simply must go check them out. Von Iva is an all girl, high energy, hard rock and roll band... the type you'd expect to see at a West Hollywood rock club during the Guns N' Roses era. The lead singer is an energy explosion the likes of Tina Turner and Mick Jagger. Great, strong voice and loves to interact with the audience. If you like rock, go see Von Iva.

But the act that opened for Von Iva was a surprise, the likes of which we never expected for a hard rock show. We walked in to the venue to see a small effeminate man dressed in tight white clothes and another young guy in front of a laptop on stage, performing what can only be described as boy band music. Except there was only one boy singing - one boy with a lot of guts. Some of the crowd booed him after his first song. But little by little he won the crowd over. His mastery of boybandisms, his well crafted songs, and especially the backup dancers he eventually brought up, ended up being a real hit. The band, called Hey Willpower, was an extremely intriguing mix of trite radio trash and uber hipster style. Very entertaining. And not just to laugh at. The music and his singing voice was probably up to the level of a Justin Timberlake, just without a gram of pretense. I hope they keep it going.

Blaster

2005-08-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

I've just about completed work on my PortoBlaster, a portable disco sound and light system to be towed by my bicycle out into the deep desert at Burning Man. I conceived of it several months ago and somehow managed to make it happen over the past few months. It looks like a fairly puny project from the looks of it.. but it took plenty of pondering, rule checking, and dumpster diving.

Here are some pictures

Normally at the event, the only vehicles allowed to drive on the playa are art cars which have been licensed and approved by the event's DMV. This normally requires an especially extravagant setup which I don't really have the means to pull off myself. However, bikes are permitted free access to everywhere in just about every configuration one could imagine. I knew the only way to get sound and light equipment far out into the darkness was pulling with my bike. After months of agonizing over how I might accomplish this, here are the parts I assembled:

A twin baby bike trailer - holds 100 lbs. $69
A Stereo Amp - Sony home stereo amp from Craigslist - $20
Two decent bookshelf sized speakers - Salvation Army - $7.50
An old mini-portable CD player that's been collecting dust for years
Some Xmas lights from last year's tree
A red tube-light I've had laying around that I've never used
A blue twirling police beacon light - Target - $12
Purple spray paint
Some velcro and wire hooks to keep things in place
1 yard of plush white faux fur.

The last and largest hurdle to bring powered equipment into the desert is where to get electricity. Generators are expensive, heavy, and loud. This was the toughest piece of the puzzle. I could have gone the car stereo route and used a marine battery for power, but I wasn't sure about the lights and I'm not super handy with car audio. I became enamored with the Honda 1000 generator, which weighs 29 lbs, and is apparently about as quiet as a sewing machine. Unfortunately, they are expensive and not easy to find second hand. After doing the math on renting vs. buying and sizing up market on eBay and Craigslist, I decided that if I could find one for $400, I could easily re-sell it after the event for the same amount - making it essentially free for my use. I found one on eBay after weeks of searching and it's waiting for me to pick it up at Fedex right now. I really hope it works.

Whew

2005-08-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

A guy who sits next to me got a call this morning from a ham radio operator friend of his. The friend said he had just overheard a call from a police officer in downtown San Francisco that a bomb had just gone off on the street and it appeared to be a terrorist attack. For several minutes I raced around the web, searching for some news that might have been published. I remember feeling like "here we go".. as if San Francisco was overdue for an attack and this was just the beginning.

It turned out to be an underground explosion of some power equipment that blew off a manhole cover and actually did injure a few people. The policeman had just jumped to a conclusion. Shocking.

In any case. I suppose we've bought one more terror-free day.

Chair

2005-08-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

I bid farewell to my trusty old office chair today. I'm putting it up for sale on craigslist. It was the chair I bought when I first decided to quit my job and work for myself back in Arizona. It was only marginally comfortable and I can't say I got nearly enough work done while I was sitting in it.

What is it with men and their chairs? Maybe it's the throne in our castle. Frasier's dad, Archie Bunker, and now me. Dumb I suppose. But I'll miss it nonetheless.

Bye Chair

Mayor

2005-08-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

One thing that no one that works with government wants is media attention. Media has the ability to turn regular everyday life into outrage at its own whim.

One outrage that has existed just fine without media help is the San Francisco Department of Parking & Traffic. It's no secret that the project I work on is funded mainly through convenience fees collected from people paying parking tickets online. Our online citation payment feature is one of the few bastions of convenience surrounding DPT these days. They have been terribly understaffed and overworked lately, and it appears the long lines and teller window freakouts have finally caught the attention of the mayor.

This article underscores some of the understandable frustration people have been experiencing while trying to do business with the department. Somehow, the mayor has now associated our convenience fees with the public's frustrations and has indicated that he wants to see them eliminated. Great. In reality, we don't receive many complaints about our fees from the public. When there are complaints, they tend to be aimed at the misconception that our services are a cost savings to the City.

There is nothing the public likes to see more than swift and drastic cuts in taxes and fees. Yee haw! Unfortunately, the costs of our services don't become free. Those fees will now have to be paid from some general fund that is currently used for other, less visible services.

I am a fan of the idea that people should pay mainly for services that they use (e.g. bus fares, bridge tolls, and dog licenses). If he funds our project through unrelated sources, that means that people who aren't Internet users will be paying for part of our project either through reduced services or higher taxes - in theory.

I am glad, however, that my project is anywhere on the mayor's radar and that there doesn't appear to be any danger of us getting cut entirely. Personally, I think our services are a ray of light, as city projects tend to go.

I just wish our project were allowed to thrive along the same business model that has been so successful thus far. Ah politics.

Pea pods

2005-08-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

Monica and I were fortunate enough to get tickets to a last minute show put on by the Black Eyed Peas at The Independent on Friday night. I'm on the venue's email list and they sent out an email about two hours before the tickets went on sale. Within ten minutes, they were sold out, so right away I felt a sense of privilege even gaining entrance to the place.

Their two opening acts were top notch. Jennifer Johns is a great soul singer who was on stage with only a percussionist and turntablist. She really had a great energy about her. After her, Crown City Rockers came on and really brought down the house. I've never heard of them before, but they have a new fan in me. Each member of the band is a tremendous musician and the performance was impressively tight. I believe they are from Oakland and so I was looking forward to seeing them again some time soon. Unfortunately (for me), they appear to be blowing up a bit, and are now on a long road tour. Ugh. I hope they don't get too big before I see them a few more times in small venues. But if they do.. good for them.

The Black Eyed Peas didn't come on until about 12:45am and by that time we were pretty exhausted from dancing so much. They had just come from SBC Park where they had opened for Dave Matthews and seemed a little tired. But they still put tons of energy into their show, most of which was completely freestyle. They only played one mainstream BEP song that I recognized. In the end, they had both opening bands on stage with them and also brought up Eric Krasno from Soulive on guitar. Quite a finale.

A curious thing about the show was that they kept insisting that the show was supposed to be free and that we should all go ask for refunds. They kept incorporating that mantra into their freestyle raps. I emailed The Independent to see what that was all about. They said I should hear something about it soon via email. Interesting. We'll see what happens.

Like

2005-08-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

There are a couple of words in the modern west coast vernacular that have been sitting snugly on my nerves for a while now. You know them. You probably say them. I do. Sometimes I hear myself and think, "how did this happen?"

The first has been with us since the early 80's and was introduced during the Valley Girl period of modern slang. I'm not sure how the word "like" became such a versatile term, but somehow it manages to creep into about 90% of some people's sentences at least once, sometimes multiple times - in one sentence.

Apparently the Brits have taken notice and have begun educating the public to this word's origins and effects. It is seen as an American plague spreading to their continent.

The author of this BBC article and I both agree that the word's use amounts to laziness in speech and an unwillingness to bring concrete commitment to one's thoughts. Sometimes it's difficult for me listen carefully to someone's message because I am so distracted by the word peppering their speech so much.

The other word that has crept in a bit more recently is "er", as in, "are you going use that chair?, er...". It's really "or".. but tends to come out "er", and implies that the speaker is about to provide an alternative to the preceding statement, but generally just trails off in awkward vagueness.

When I first moved to San Francisco, I had a boss who would say "er" after almost every question. I had never heard this before and was certain it was just her own weird habit. Maybe she was patient zero in this epidemic, because it seems to be sweeping the nation. It's now so common, I hardly notice it anymore.

Do you think that, like, er is the new like?, er.....

I have fallen prey often to both of these verbal ailments and invite anyone who detects it on me to alert me immediately so I can use my special spray to eradicate it (I wish they really had that). Really though, these words and phrases are just part of our everyday speech and are perfectly acceptable in small amounts. Also, we all know that word nazis can be super annoying - those folks that like to point out incorrect uses of words, grammar, etc. I know - I used to be one. People hated it, so I stopped.

I wonder if someday, young people will rebel against their Valley-talking parents, and start to use painstakingly proper speech, just to get on their parents' nerves. It could like totally happen.

Hitman

2005-08-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

I wrote a few weeks back about my lack of understanding of the furor surrounding globalization. I didn't (and still don't) understand exactly what all of the protests have been about.

The new book I started today will likely shed some light on that. Confessions of an Economic Hitman is the biography of a man who claims to have been a central player in large-scale economic deals that have had far reaching effects on developing countries.

I'm really not a huge reader, but this is my third book in three months. This is really unprecedented for me. We'll see how long I can keep it up.

Unions

2005-08-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

I like the idea of collective bargaining. I don't generally like unions so much.

I think it's important for people to protect themselves from abuse by anyone. This can include employers, neighbors, government, or anyone else. Unions have historically been a good method for unskilled people to protect their own welfare from tyrannical employers.

My own personal feelings about modern day unions, however, is that they tend to have drifted from the notion of reasonable treatment more toward the notion of fanatical protection. They seem to be institutions that are interested primarily in their own survival regardless of their actual usefulness to their subscribers. That's a fairly unsubstantiated feeling though.

During my time working at the City, which is a union employer, I have heard some pretty appalling acts by employees, from drunken bus drivers to six-months-absent computer operators that have gone unpunished (and un-fired) by management due to aggressive union leadership. That sort of thing tends to leave a bad taste in one's mouth.

This is my common sense take on why unions exist. It's not based on any particular education on the subject:

In the free market, supply and demand for jobs are fairly stable. Workers and businesses are able to equitably agree on fair compensation in return for good job skills and reliability. Most of the time this seems to work pretty well. If I as a worker feel I am not being compensated fairly, I can choose another more generous employer. My current employer loses out on a skilled, reliable employee - a scarce asset. This is the market in which I have operated throughout my career.

The folks who don't do so well in this arrangement are unskilled workers. Since it's easy to find people with no skills, employers aren't as incented to treat their employees well - because they can find plenty of people willing to do the job. This is where unions came from. By drying up the supply of unskilled labor through organizing potential workforce (often heavy handedly), unskilled people got negotiating leverage they wouldn't otherwise have had. This has worked well for jobs like bottling soda pop, bagging groceries, and collecting garbage.

It's less clear to me why there are unions for skilled, experienced people like airline pilots and nurses. It seems like those positions might be more difficult to fill if disgruntled employees left their jobs. But I suppose a large enough organization could weather the vacancy.

The fact is, 65% of US workers, both skilled and unskilled don't operate under any sort of union - and that number is apparently growing.

The Guardian has an article this week about the recent unraveling of the AFL-CIO, which as far as I can gather, is a union of unions. By uniting local unions into a larger national union, they can all enjoy greater political and economic power. That is if they can all get along.

It appears that major factions of those local unions are starting to disagree about the future direction of of the AFL-CIO. The major disagreement seems to be over whether they should pour more money and resources into political contributions or into growing union membership through recruitment. A perfectly valid controversy.

It has been becoming clear lately to the local unions that they don't have nearly as much power as they had hoped when negotiating with international corporations. You see, even if, for example, the Safeway workers in the entire state of California were to strike, Safeway still has thousands of other stores to keep themselves economically healthy. In other words, they can weather local or even regional strikes pretty easily nowadays. The only way for unions to be effective is by organizing nationally. Which means a whole lot more consensus among previously sovereign local chapters. Yikes.

With the growing importance of national solidarity and the deteriorating consensus on agenda, it seems like the very fabric of unions are at a crossroads. Would two or three splintered national unions collectively hold the same clout as one united AFL-CIO?

Interestingly, the book I just finished, Freakonomics, has a compelling argument about the effect of increased campaign spending on election outcomes. There is apparently good evidence that pouring even large amounts of cash into a campaign budget will not have more than a 1% effect on the outcome. I wonder if anyone in these unions has read that book. That might help them choose a direction.

I haven't given up on unions altogether, but I would like to see them focus more on employee development and protection and less on power and politics. We'll see what happens.

Wish

2005-08-09T15:02:00.000-07:00

I wish everything worked the way I wanted it to.

My project here at the City has been an interesting experience. Coming from 15 years working in the private sector, the city government environment has been a major adjustment.

I realized early on that the normal motivating factors that drive decision making are very different in business and government. Concepts like competition, efficiency, profitability, and customer service, although not always accomplished in the private sector, are at least normally at the heart of most important decisions.

Since I tend to lean Libertarian in my civic thinking, I came in to the project already possessing a healthy skepticism about how governments operate. That skepticism has been nourished during my 3 years here and is as healthy as ever. I now know that many day to day decisions are made using the notions of survival and power as their basese rather than what we would all hope they would use, optimal service to the public.

My experience is that most city workers want to serve the public, and hold that as their best intention. But over time, those intentions seem to get pushed aside to make way for more basic realities. In this environment, virtually no organization, whether an entire department or a small specialized group, is safe from being reduced in size, taken over by other groups, reorganized, or cut altogether. For this reason, a substantial force in any decision involves looking at how mere survival might be affected.

My project here is a good example. We are here to provide the facilities to take payments for any city services over the Internet. Right now we offer about 14 services. The City contracts with my employer to provide our time, expertise, equipment, and support. It makes sense for the City to use contractors rather employees for this because of the flexibility we provide during the pilot period of a new project and the specialized nature of our work. The city pays for our services both by charging convenience fees for many types of payments (similar to Ticketmaster) and also out of the budgets of those departments we serve.

For the first three years of our project, convenience fees have not been able to cover our costs by themselves. It takes time for the general public to get used to the idea of using the Internet to do their business and many are only becoming aware of our existence online little by little. That said, our daily payment volume has grown at a healthy rate month by month, year by year.

We often have to fight the perception that taking payments over the Internet is a cost savings to the City. In theory, if a substantial enough portion of business was done this way, fewer human resources might be required. However, we are not there today, and it is unlikely any workers will be laid off due to our success any time soon. So what it does mean is more man hours and more equipment which is not how costs savings happen. As it is, the City has to come up with money from its budget to provide this convenience to its citizens.

Since much of our equipment will be paid for soon and our fee collections have been on the increase, I decided to forecast when the day might come that our project pays for itself with its own fee collections and no longer requires city funding.

It turns out that day is likely about a year from now, sooner than I thought. To me, this validates my project as a healthy exercise in providing services to citizens. At that break-even point, only the citizens that use the service are required to pay for it. I personally like government services that work this way, like riding the bus, paying a bridge toll, or licensing my dog to provide city animal care. Revenue structures like these allow services to naturally expand or contract based on citizen demand rather than being based on politics or skillful fund raising by city officials.

I went to report my great news to my city client. Unfortunately, rather than celebrating this news, he proceeded to explain to me that our fee source is still, like every other city source of income, subject to being cut or reduced due to political demands or the whims of certain departments. And further, that giving services to departments for free is inadvisable because of the feeling of entitlement it imparts to them. Departments must pay for services they receive otherwise they begin to abuse them. This conversation went on for a while and I became further and further disappointed in the fact that something wonderful like breaking even couldn't even be considered worthwhile in this environment of doom and gloom.

For now, I'll sleep better knowing that money is available for my job to continue, at least for the time being - money that will likely build up in city surpluses, whether they appreciate it or not.

Tolerance

2005-08-08T17:27:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I see a story on television or hear something on the radio touting a new "zero tolerance" policy about one thing or another. Sometimes it's drunk driving, racial discrimination, schoolyard bullies. This week it's speeding on the freeways in the Bay Area.

A morning news traffic reporter was gracious enough today to let us all know that the CHP is instituting a "zero tolerance" speed policy on the freeways this week. It didn't appear that he was leaking secret information. It seemed to have likely come from a Highway Patrol press release.

The implication to me seems to be that during any other period in the past or future, this behavior is tolerated to some degree. Why are they telling us this? First, it has the effect of warning would-be speeders not to speed this week, but lets them know that next week they're less likely to be punished. Second, they are advertising their own lax enforcement for the other 51 weeks of the year. Is that the message they're trying to send?

Next time you hear the words "zero tolerance". Consider the implication.

Jump

2005-08-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

I jumped out of an airplane on Saturday.

I've always wanted to do it. I'm not really a daredevil. But I wanted to know what it felt like. And now I know.

Toby's 30th birthday provided the excuse. He invited me and a few others. I couldn't say no. I was doing it. No matter what.

Almost everyone else he invited somehow befell some sort of problem that prevented them from making it. Go figure. So he and I drove up to to Byron on our own and met two of his old friends there.

During the drive up there, we were getting a little anxious for what we were about to do, Toby especially. I really had no idea what my reaction would be once it was time for me to face the open door in the plane. I actually packed an extra pair of underwear in my backpack - just in case.

Byron, which is near Tracy just passed Livermore, is a desert. It doesn't resemble the rest of the bay area to me at all. When we arrived at the small private airport and opened the door, the 100 degree air was a shock to us both. Luckily I had also packed some shorts and flipflops.

The skydiving company is essentially a hangar with carpeting and gear and is full of people packing parachutes and nervous-looking people waiting around on couches. Occasionally some jump-suited, wide-eyed, jittery folks would stagger in with big smiles to change their clothes, sign the log book, and thank the employees before leaving.

We chose to do a tandem jump. It requires next to no training (about 25 seconds) and you have the peace of mind knowing your life is in the hands of an experienced professional. All you have to do is fall - which is easy.

After a couple of hours of waiting around watching folks continuously drop out of the sky right in front of the hanger, it was finally our turn. We were the last group of the day. By that time, our nervousness had waned and we just wanted to get up in the air.

We made our way out to the 12 person airplane, which only seats 12 if you stack yourselves in there like Pringles. After take off, all of the experienced people cheered. Apparently the take off is the most dangerous part of the trip. In a few minutes, we had climbed to 14,000 feet, high enough to see San Francisco in the distance and to peek over the Sierras as well - in other words, very very high.

One by one, people would get up and stand in the doorway with their butts out the door, holding on to the top of the door frame. Then, whoosh! they were gone! This was the point I had most worried about my own reaction. Funny thing was - I wasn't afraid at all. Knowing I had Vic, my jumping partner, taking care of me was very soothing.

We were the last ones out of the plane. He walked me up to the door where I stood hanging out the opening, strapped to his belly. I held on to my harness straps and he rocked me forward and backward three times... One, two, Go! For about the first two seconds, my body struggled to figure out this unprecedented situation, and quickly the feeling of panicked falling turned into a feeling of flying or riding. The 120 mph freefall lasted about one minute, enough to drop about 10,000 feet or about 2 miles. It was a fun ride.

The view jumping out looked something like this

Then Vic pulled the rip cord. The jolt wasn't as hard as I expected, although the harness was pretty tight around my legs. After our chute opened, he loosened me up and it was more comfortable. I can't describe how serene the rest of the ride down was. The difference between television pictures and the true-life view coming down toward earth is indescribable. Looking down at my dangling feet while floating down toward the ground felt like being delivered by the stork.

Then, on our way down, Vic let me know very calmly that we were going to land "somewhere else". I thought maybe the wind was blowing us off course and he was having trouble getting back to the hangar. But he explained that one of my friends' main chute had not opened properly and had to be cut away. Their reserve chute had opened and they were fine. It turns out that it was Toby's old roommate, Ekart. Our task at hand was to retrieve the chute they had cut away. That was fine with me. I rather enjoyed landing out in the countryside in a cow pasture. The landing was perfectly gentle and we even missed a giant cow pie I had my eye on by about six inches.

I unhooked and he instructed me to walk up the hill to retrieve a small parachute and then down a little further to pick up the larger one. He had scoped out the surrounding roads so he knew which way to walk. We lugged all the gear about 200 yards to the nearest road, which was really a long driveway to a farmhouse. He said he didn't have a radio, but that the others had seen where we landed and a truck would be by to pick us up soon. They didn't. Apparently we were tougher to reach then he thought.

After a half hour or so of waiting in the heat, I was ready to just walk the mile or so back to the airport which we could see from where we were. He was concerned about leaving his expensive equipment by the road. I wasn't nearly so concerned about his equipment. After a while longer, he got very irritated that no one had shown up and decided to leave the equipment and cross a long expanse of dry brush, cow pasture, and barbed wire to get to the airport. I decided against that plan and told him I'd walk down the road and to send someone for me. Off he went at a full jog toward the airport.

I only got about 200 yards down the road, when the trucks showed up. We gathered up the gear and they took me back to my friends who were a few beers ahead of me by that time.

During the whole process, I kept being reminded of movies where military men dropped into foreign territory, not so different than Byron. To those men, the ride down wasn't the end of their adventure. They were in unfamiliar territory with unfriendly residents to look out for.

My lasting sentiment during the whole journey was how grateful I was to have such a nice ride without having to worry about anyone shooting at me when I got down. Even though most days I take that for granted, that day I didn't.

Serendipity

2005-08-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

It's fun to live in San Francisco.

It's a both a big city and a small town. After living here for over five years now, I have met quite a few people. I can't nearly call all of them close friends. I don't even remember many of their names. But it's always fun to run into people around town because it makes me feel like a member of the community.

First Thursdays is the day in San Francisco and many other cities when art galleries around town invite the public to come into their spaces and see what's on display. It's a social event as much as anything else, but what better place to hang out than a building full of art you could never afford.

Monica and I ran into four people we knew during the 45 minutes we were there yesterday. Some who's names we remembered, others' we didn't.

But before we got there, and while I was waiting for Monica to arrive, I did some window shopping on the block surrounding the gallery. I came upon an open door on Maiden Lane alley with some good loungy music playing inside and interesting decor. There was no sign outside the door, but I was curious, so I went inside and asked the people if it was open to the public. The girl working there said that it was a new bar named Otis and that it was indeed open.

So after the galleries got tired of all the rif raf hanging around and kicked everyone out, we found ourselves in a sea of aimless schmoozers with nowhere to go. We, of course, had our secret hideaway staked out already and went over to Otis. It had that air of a place that someone had spent a lot of time and money dreaming about and setting up. They passed that dream onto their customers in the form of a cool vibe and high drink prices. But the best part of the bar by far was the real grass they had covering the floor in the upstairs open-windowed loft area. How fun to be both inside and outside at the same time sipping $10 cocktails in a place no one knows about. Neato.

Then it was off to Tokyo Go Go for some tasty sushi dinner.

While we were eating, I couldn't help wondering about people living in San Francisco during, say, the 1920's, having exactly the kind of time we had that night 80 years previous. Different music, different art, different fashion, but otherwise the same brand of fun. Just another regular San Francisco after-work happy hour, full of gleeful happenstance.

It's fun to live in San Francisco.

Wireless

2005-08-04T11:30:00.000-07:00

For a while now, I have been interested in the possibilities of location based applications for mobile phones. These are applications you could use on your cell phone that would incorporate your exact current location on earth in providing some service to you. Obvious uses for things like this are tracking people's movements, finding your way around town, etc.

GPS technology is clearly mature enough to include into cell phones. Unfortunately, cell phone companies have been reluctant to incorporate this technology into mainstream phones, presumably because of privacy fears of the public. In short, people don't want others to know where they are all the time. If the technology is present in their phone somewhere, someone might secretly track their movements. Bah! Personally, I don't think anyone cares where I go. Not even the FBI, Cingular wireless... not even terrorists. Yes, some companies might find some use in the aggregate information, like say, Safeway tracking my purchase patterns with my club card. But personally, I'm not threatened by that.

But wouldn't it be cool to be around town and have your cell phone tell you that your friend Fred was in the bookstore you're walking by right now? You could go say hi. Or maybe tip you off that your blind date is standing right next to you. Eek! Now you can make a quick getaway!

In any case, for me, the benefits outweigh my fears.

The other night, Shannon had a dinner party at our house where I met Ryan, who writes for Wired News. He told me about an MIT project that is faking GPS functionality in an experiment where the data gleaned from tracking participating cell phones are used to predict users' everyday behavior. I'm not sure how useful that information is to anyone (So what if they know I'm probably going to the gym right now?), but it's interesting that they were able to do it without GPS.

Ryan also suggested, after talking with me for awhile, that I might enjoy reading Reason Magazine. After taking a quick look at their website, I think he's right. And he didn't even need a PHD from MIT to help him predict that. Although I'm sure it wouldn't have hurt.

Retrospect

2005-08-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

We have all had that moment when we were first introduced to the Internet when the sheer vastness of the available information sinks into our understanding, and we realize there's no way we'll ever really get our minds around how much is really out there. I had that moment in my college computer lab at ASU around 1994. I was working on a business school paper and stumbled on an early version of Netscape and a very early Yahoo!

Since then, companies like Google have undertaken the mammoth effort of indexing every useful web page into their enormous databases in an attempt to put as much of that vastness at our fingertips as possible.

I've noticed that Google has been taking stabs into other dimensions of life, like indexing every word spoken on television and mapping the entire earth.

My mind got wondering the other day at what could be next. I thought, "What if I could Google everything that ever happened in my life?"

Then I realized that the technology for that isn't too far away. We now have video cameras in cell phones, and key chain storage devices. Presumably, someone has the technical know how to store at least audio, and maybe some crude video in a wearable device (hopefully not as goofy as those Star Wars cell phone ear pieces). Pair that with the latest in speech-to-text technology, and Poof! You have a set of documents which can already easily be indexed by Google Desktop or packaged into a nice slick friendly home application or maybe even an Outlook add in.

What would life be like for people who really did record everything in their lives? Would they spend time watching themselves in their own personal reality shows? Would spouses pressure each other to record everything to keep tabs on one another? Would people get to see themselves the way the rest of the world does and use this technology as a tool to improve their behavior? What kinds of legal battles might occur over the use and rebroadcast of one's own life experiences. Do we own those?

I think we'll see something like this in the not so distant future. I'm not sure I'll be an early adopter, but I'm always very curious to see what's next on the horizon.

Simple

2005-08-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

Hurray. I have a new book to read entitled Freakonomics. Once again I'll be slurping up new knowledge on what is normally mindless bus stop down time.

The book is written by some young, hot shot economist named Steven Levitt. I'm not sure what kind of story will evolve here or if it is just a collection of things that make you go, "Hmm." But I already like the way he thinks.

In his first observation, he explained a previously mysterious reason for a giant drop in this country's crime rate in the late 1990's. He very simply took one of the largest correlates for people turning to a life of crime, being an unwanted child, and matched it with a historical event that drastically and immediately changed the number of new unwanted children, Roe vs. Wade. So simple, but no one ever explained it before.

I like it. Good start.

Nerds

2005-07-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

There's just something about those revenge of the nerds stories that's so satisfying. Especially for nerds.

I finished reading Moneyball, the book I mentioned a few weeks ago. It's pretty rare for me to whiz through a book that quickly, but this one really kept me interested. I discovered how much I can read just during my travels from place to place. I read this book almost exclusively while on public transportation or while walking.

It's a great story of the how Billy Beane, the General Manager of the Oakland A's, used statistical analysis techniques to make player choices for his team. Choices that allowed the A's, one of the poorest, lowest-payroll teams to compete on par with the richest, highest-payroll teams. A true David and Goliath story.

One would think that, given the amount of money spent in Major League Baseball, careful analysis would already be prevalent in the sport's front offices. One would be wrong.

The book uncovers the reality that baseball is more of a culture than a business in the US. The normal checks and balances for ensuring that sound decisions are made aren't present in the sport. In my estimation, this is because baseball teams don't go out of business if they make poor choices like real world enterprises do.

There is no Darwin in baseball.

Those parts of our culture that are there out of love rather than for economics, like religion and sports, are subject to gross deviations from reality since their existence is guaranteed by tradition. This book shows how this denial can be used to one's advantage just by being smart rather than loving blindly.

I love stories like that.

Google

2005-07-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

So I've been trying to get this blog indexed by search engines. It's nice that a handful of my friends read what I have to say now and then, but I'd be delighted to have a total stranger read it and maybe comment on it. That's what networks are for, right?

I submitted this site to Google (who owns Blogger now), hoping they would be happy to index pages on their own web servers. Asking Google to do anything is like asking Jesus for a favor. Maybe someone is listening, maybe they aren't. They don't talk back. So the only way to know if they've complied with my request is to check and see if my site is listed when I search for myself.

After searching for "Miles Gordon", I found that, although no one has answered my prayers yet, there are a few sites of interest.

Miles Gordon Technologies, U.K. - A website called Binary Dinosaurs showcases computing relics of days past. The funny thing is that my dorky career started around these devices. Does that make me a binary dinosaur?

Miles Gordon of Cornwallis 1848-1951 - An extremely brief biography of some guy even older than me. The only real information about him was that he married a woman 12 years younger than him. Younger women. Hmm. I guess we have two things in common.

Miles Gordon, Social Studies Teacher, Ukiah, CA - A PLO-loving fellow who wishes to spread hatred of America and Israel through public school channels.

Miles Gordon, VP of Education, New York Natural History Museum - Now that's more like it.

It looks like some further search engine research is called for on my part. Maybe soon I will be able to join the ranks of these fine folks. Pray for me.

P.S.

For all of you who love the new sattellite image maps available on Google, check out its cute little cousin: moon.google.com

P.P.S.

I read that Google isn't inclined to index sites, even on its own Blogger system, that have weak ranking potential. So I tried putting a hyperlink to this blog on my Lyricsbeat.com website which has a 5/10 Google page rank (pretty high). That should give this blog some Google-cred. We'll see.

Dairy

2005-07-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we think we have beaten an affliction, and we haven't.

My battle with dairy products started in my early twenties. I didn't know what was causing me to feel so sick so frequently, and the problem gradually got worse over a couple of years until I finally surrendered to the notion that lactose is not my friend.

Every now and then, a thought pops into my head that maybe I was mistaken about my handicap or that maybe it's the type of thing that subsides over time, and maybe I'm being too careful about food unnecessarily. Usually what happens is that I start pushing the envelope.

Put some butter on my bread.. Ok that had no effect. Cool.

Have a tiny bite of ice cream.. I survived.

Ok. Just give me the full salmon-bathed-in-cream-sauce dinner. I'm impervious!

Smack! Slap! Bif!

No, Miles.. still afflicted... dumb ass.

Nothing wrong with a little optimism. Until it hurts a lot. Ugh.

Beck

2005-07-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

Ah Beck.. Who doesn't love Beck.. He's so creative and fearless.. a great thinking man's rockstar.

So I saw him at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium last night. I had never been there before. Today I can say that the venue has now been added to my list of places I'd just assume not see any artist, no matter how good he or she is. The evening seemed to be a great experiment in how many people you could pack into an already huge space. Since we arrived merely on-time to see Beck (i.e. 2 hours after the show's first act started), we were relegated either to the far back of the flat arena space, or up in the sidemost nosebleeds. We chose the latter. That view allowed one to look down upon the lucky (or perhaps dedicated) masses who managed to stake themselves a 12"x12" claim of the concrete floor with too little room to stand much less dance. (Moo!)

I always wonder, in those scenarios, whether the artist has any control over (or cares about) the extent to which they pack a venue to the detriment of the fans. If any artist has ever said, "Hey man I'm [rockstar name here], and I won't play this place unless you cut down the ticket sales by at least 20%."

I'm not so naive that I don't realize that reducing the supply of tickets for such a popular performance would merely drive up the ticket prices and only allow the priviledged to gain entry. However, I just don't think there is any priviledge to seeing a show under those conditions.

In addition to the tight squeeze, venues this size tend to have trouble making the music sound very good. No matter how much money they pour into using the very best festival sound systems available, the concrete echoes just made it sound like a high school dance to me.

As much as I love Beck, and thought he and his band put on a great show, I still didn't feel like the experience was worth nearly what I've seen other less-popular artists do at much smaller venues. It's the price of fame I suppose. It's ironic that the artists working the hardest to bring their huge talents to the most people end up putting on shows that are arguably not worth seeing.

My advice to every artist that wants me to buy a ticket: Don't play any venue larger than The Fillmore.

Ring

2005-07-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

Today while I was working in the City Hall offices, there were a couple of people up from MUNI talking business with a nearby coworker. Then I heard my cell phone ring and did that quick-look-around-for-where-my-phone-is move but quickly realized that it wasn't my phone. The MUNI person had the same goofy song as their ring tone as I do.

Somehow I never get sick of this tone. I like it. It makes me want to do a little dance every time someone calls me. Sometimes I let the phone ring longer than I would otherwise, just to enjoy it.

Even though, realistically, we both had only 10 or 15 different tones to choose from on our phones, I immediately felt a sense of camaraderie with her and felt like alerting her to this little piece of our lives we both shared unknowingly. Obviously, doing so would make me a weirdo, so I refrained. But how funny.. those little overlaps.

Baseball

2005-07-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

I like to read the free weekly papers during my lunch break. Some of the writers are at least entertaining, if not entirely agreeable to me.

This week's cover story in the SF Weekly is about some controversy surrounding the book, Moneyball. It's a pretty interesting story about a new way of managing a baseball team using statistical analysis, but the magazine article mainly focuses on Joe Morgan, who is a spirited opponent of the book and its ideas.

The article spends quite a number of words painting Morgan like a total idiot, which may or may not be deserved. It smells like a revenge piece to me. But it got me thinking about the two sides of the controversy - at least as well as I could think about it without actually reading the book (yet).

The book is about using a series of mathematical techniques to place a money value on players' skills in a fashion historically more suited to valuing financial securities. It's a very scientific method, and, arguably, seems to have had some success with the Oakland A's in recent years. This is in stark contrast to the age old method of valuing people based primarily on popularity and egotistical opinion.

The part that interests me is that, although baseball is a competitive sport that places a great deal of importance on winning, it is also a game that people love for other, less quantitative reasons such as family entertainment, excitement, loyalty, etc.

It strikes me that, in these times when science and money can influence the outcomes of many sports, America is beginning to lose sight of the reasons why people play games in the first place. Is our national pastime having fun or winning at all costs? And why attempt to be entertained by sports that aren't about having fun? It seems a little like watching a stock ticker for casual enjoyment.

Tennis

2005-07-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

Tennis anyone?

Monica comes from a tennis family and was kind enough to give me my first tennis lesson yesterday in the park. We've been trying to find common exercise activities we both enjoy and this looks like a good one, especially on a nice day like yesterday. Turns out I'm quite the natural. Look out Williams sisters.

Twang

2005-07-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

I have to comment on a band I've seen a couple of times at Bender's in The Mission. It's called Hud, I think. It's really more of a bunch of worn-out looking folks twanging about with music that sounds something like a decades-old scratchy blues record from somewhere out of the Deep South. One of them plays a bucket bass, a hilarious, primitive instrument made of a bucket, a broomstick, and a piece of rope, which looks like something a street musician might try to raise tips with. Another plays a washboard, the drummer bangs on a single snare drum, and the lead singer, a tall good looking guy that could have walked right out of the 50's, plays an old dented metal gee-tar.

The first time I walked into the bar and heard them, I thought they were the juke box. Such an impressive sound from such a motley little bunch.

I recommend checking them out while they're still inclined to play there at Bender's every Wednesday night for free - or to play at all.

Springs

2005-07-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

Monica and I went up to Lake Tahoe for the 4th of July weekend to do some camping with friends and see some sights. As much as I try to avoid crowds whenever possible, there weren't any nightmare jam ups and the weather was gorgeous.

We got a chance to check out Sierra Hot Springs in Sierraville about a half hour north of Truckee. Since it's a sister resort to Harbin Hot Springs, we just had to pay it a visit.

It's a quirky little place tucked in the hills overlooking a beautiful valley with cattle and views of pine tree mountains.

Not quite the Harbin experience, but nice to soak in some natural spring water and get some good sunbathing in after camping in the dirt for a couple of days.

Kurt

2005-07-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

I found a tenant! And a dream tenant at that. After dropping the rent on the place systematically until I found the "market" rate, I got a good number of emails with interested parties. I was really dreading the hour and a half round trip drives to Santa Clara to let who-knows-how-many people peek in and say "cool, thanks". Somehow, I lucked out and met Kurt the very first time down. Kurt is an extremely well qualified tenant using my place as his second home for business.

After scrambling to get all the screening and legal mumbo jumbo in order, we both signed a lease on Tuesday night.

All of the ducks are in a row and he's all moved in. What a load off my mind!

Bring on the next property!

Globalization

2005-06-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

I'm sadly underinformed on the subject of globalization. Here is what I am able to gather and deduce.

- It seems to have a lot to do with free trade between nations

- From what I have observed, it seems to be liberal types who are opposed to it.

- Liberal types tend to support those with less means

- Free trade means those willing to work for a lower wage for the same product will win jobs

- The US has one of the highest paid workforces in the world

- Under free trade, jobs would leave the US and be given to those willing to work for less, hence pulling them up economically

So globalization to me means wealth draining from the US and shifting to less wealthy nations. This seems to me to be the agenda for liberal types.

I'm confused.

Wonderful

2005-06-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

The wonderful thing about Tiggers.... is that they invent artificial hearts and then donate their patents to humanity.

The men behind the voices of Tigger and Piglet died this past weekend. Shame how little I knew about them until they died.

I guess it's always the Type A's and the worriers that are the first to go. Long live spacey and grumpy!

Change

2005-06-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

I can't tell you how happy I am with my current living situation. Those of us who live in the city can appreciate when you get just the right mix of everything (roommates, living space, neighborhood, etc). When it's good, you hope it will last forever.

It's really too bad that it doesn't.

Shannon has been letting me know gently and little by little that she plans to sail away someday with Michael off into the sunset and live happily every after. It sounds entirely romantic and adventurous and right up her alley. It also sounds now like it might start happening sooner than I expected.

Shannon is one of the best additions to my life in recent years, and it's terribly sad to think she could be subtracted soon. But I have learned in life that change is good, and the empty space left behind can and will be filled with more great things if I open myself to them.

Now my focus will be on deciding what I will do with our household that was designed for the two of us. I can't imagine a different roommate, and leaving her room empty would be expensive.

My eyes are peeled for a solution.

"When it's time to change, you have to re-arrange..."
- Brady Bunch

Escalation

2005-06-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

San Franciscans love to walk up escalators. I do it. Most people around here do it. In fact, you can sort of tell non-residents in the city by their escalator behavior. Anyone standing on the left side of the thing is sure to have silent mental missiles sent through them by any local having to step six inches around them, or worse yet, causing the dreaded walk-block.

Ah, culture. It's so strange what people care about.

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For years, people have been trying to stop junk email by whining at their elected representatives to legislate against it... yet junk paper mail just keeps on coming and no one seems to mind that. I never got a paper cut from email.

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Who'd have thought that in an age where we are recycling 50% of our waste and have such heightened environmental awareness compared with 20 years ago (i.e. Hybrid cars, compostable plastics), that someone would just now decide to start a business of making whale burgers. Wasn't that where environmentalism all started? Saving the whales?

My favorite quote from the Whale Burgermeister: "We have decided to add a whale burger to our menu due to strong demand from our customers and feel very thankful to the whales for allowing us to make the burgers."

I'm sure the whale says "You're welcome."

Grandma Neuron

2005-06-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

Be careful with those brain cells! Or you might forget who Jennifer Aniston is.

I read this article today about a study I remember learning about a few years ago. It explains that we have single neurons that fire when we recognize individual people. In the study I remember, they referred to them as the "Grandma" neuron. I think we all remember that moment when we see someone in public and know they look familiar... then have that "Oh yeah!" moment. That's the one brain cell in your head reserved for that person firing off its juice.

I bet the scientists in this study can sleep well at night now know they've discovered the part of the brain dedicated to Friends co-stars.

I wonder if there is a neuron that would make people confuse me with Brad Pitt.

In other news. Beware of giant popsicles in New York City. Sheesh.

The Reaper

2005-06-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

So, as you know, I've been on an Alana Davis spree. Just infatuated I guess... Once again.

So I used my Amazon bucks gleaned from my lyrics website to purchase her latest CD, which is pretty ok. Nothing to force my friends to listen to I suppose (except poor Monica).

But there's one song on it, The Reaper, a cover of the song by Blue Oyster Cult. I'm addicted now, and all my friends will have to suffer through listening to it over and over.

There's something about both the music and the lyrics that is kind of spooky and haunting, but at the same time uplifting. I'm also a sucker for songs with la-la's, na-na's, or ya-ya's.

I'm not really much of a lyrics interpreter, but it seems to have something to do with one of the following:

1) Not being afraid to die
2) Not being afraid of anything
3) Becoming a vampire
4) Becoming a Scientologist

Not really sure exactly... But I think I'll definitely do at least one of those things as a result of overdosing on that song.

P.S. - I wasn't sure I spelled/used the word "gleaned" correctly, so I looked up the word. Here is the definition: to pick up after a reaper.

Spooky. But don't fear the reaper.

P.P.S. - I found some fun facts about the actual meaning of the song.

Scalped

2005-06-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

Craigslist to the rescue once again.

I was heartbroken awhile back when, after having the chance to purchase tickets, I waited too long and missed my chance to get in to see Fountains of Wayne at Cafe DuNord next week. They are one of my favorites - and to see them at such an intimate venue was very exciting... And so it was for plenty of others, I soon found out, when the available tickets went Whoosh! out from under me.

Every time I think about that show going on a few blocks from my house without me there, I feel a little sick.

For that reason, I decided to see if my wallet could help me feel better. After all, if I pay $30 more or so.. that's just a few drinks at the show anyway, right?... and I don't need a cab, etc. etc. Man, I'm so cheap.

So our old friends Ebay and Craigslist were my destination today. And boy... there sure are quite a few others looking for the same tickets. So I bit the bullet and offered one of the few people - let's just say a few bucks more - than face value for, sadly, only one available ticket.

And it worked! I think. Apparently I was just desperate enough to beat the offers of his other suitors. I'm going to meet him after work and get the ticket. I feel both elated to be able to go and totally screwed at the same time. But it's better than sad and sick.

I had a similar bad experience this weekend trying to get Ben Harper tickets for the Warfield next month. I thought going online two hours after they went on sale would be soon enough. Bzzt! Wrong again dumbass. The show sold out within minutes and there were immediately tickets on Ebay. Enough to make one cry in defeat.

As much as we despise the scalpers for beating us to the tickets, being a free-market guy, I tend to see that the high prices paid for these tickets represent their "actual" value. In other words, how much would you pay to see X, Y, or Z? I think the real disappointment is letting them beat you to the tickets you really want. I guess you have to get up pret-ty early in the morning... Actually I'm sure of it.

Wish me luck.

Update: Got it! What a strange, clandestine encounter to meet someone on a train platform to make that exchange, nod heads, say thanks, and then walk away. Whee!

Muy buena

2005-06-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

I saw Yerba Buena, one of my favorite live acts on Saturday night at The Independent. Wow wow wow! They really turned the crowd on. One of those shows where everyone in the venue is dancing and they just can't seem to stop. These guys are really cream of the crop musicians and performers. Let's hope they come back soon and visit us from New York.

Update: Their website says they're in SF again at Yerba Buena Gardens (cute) 10/2. Don't miss it!

Keys

2005-06-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

Closed escrow today.

If I were going to move into my new sliver of real estate, I'd probably be much more excited than I am. At this point, it's still just an investment - no more or less exciting than the down payment money sitting in my bank account used to be... However, this place does have a fancy thermostat and built in LAN connections in the walls.. That's something new.

Although the appreciation has already been kind to me, mainly my mind is on how to make the payments and get a renter in there. Still no bites on my craigslist posts. I know I still have it pretty well over-priced, but I'm also worried about reducing the price too quickly.. Not really sure how long to wait. This week I dropped the rent by $100 and included utilities. Probably next week I'll reduce the price again. I've met (through email and in person) several other buyers who are watching me and my unit carefully.

Sometimes it's lonely being a pioneer.

Manna

2005-06-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

I just got an email from some guy claiming he'd pay me $1500 for my lyricsbeat.com domain name. Assuming he's for real, which is a stretch, it strikes me as so interesting to be able to grow value organically through a little bit of effort and patience. I registered that domain about a year ago and tinkered with it for a couple of weeks and then set it into cyberspace on it's merry way.

Although it's probably worth somewhere in that neighborhood, I think I'll keep nurturing it. I like it. Keep your money, you dubious do-gooder.

Bubble

2005-06-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

The real estate "bubble" has been on my mind the past few years as I was looking for real estate to purchase. No one wants to buy super-high-priced-anything if there is some threat of its value deflating soon after. Being the hyper risk averse dude that I am, this whole purchase is stressful mainly for that very reason.

Thanks to Monica for sending me this sensible article which addresses insane markets like New York and the Bay Area where many other writers only speak in national generalities.

It's certainly no guarantee of anything.. but at least I can feel like less of a fool for buying at the bubble's peak.

Spin those wheels

2005-06-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

Most who know me have, at one time or a hundred, heard me run on at the mouth about my general distaste for government and those who promote its growth. Miles leans libertarian.

I ran across this document while searching the San Francisco city website for something unrelated. This document discusses a voter-approved ballot proposition that passed in 2002 banning all new billboard construction in the city and a 2001 statute passed to tighten enforcement of "scofflaw" billboards.

This is how things seem to go in government in my experience:

1) People are annoyed, frightened, or offended by something
2) Some of those people organize to whine publicly about whatever it is, encouraging the government (aka Mommy) to eradicate the irritant. "Waaa!"
3) Mommy, who's main job is to respond to whining, springs into action and puts its wheels in motion to accommodate the irritated.

-- then one of two things generally happens --

4a) The irritant is removed at a substantial financial cost and/or loss of liberty to everyone.
4b) The irritant is not removed at a substantial financial cost and/or loss of liberty to everyone.

You see.. Many times the irritant is not removable, but the wheels must still spin to show people that Mommy cares. Unfortunately, wheel spinning isn't free and sometimes comes in the form of things like the Patriot Act.

In this case of the billboards, I searched around and wasn't able to find any action past this report from back in 2002. It's jam packed with all kinds of real-world complications and budget realities that tend to grind efforts to a halt. This one seemed especially gloomy.

It's not clear to me whether the voters have gotten any satisfaction other than the fact that their voices were heard and votes counted. But at least hundreds of man hours and untold dollars were spent. If anyone knows better, I'd like to know.

Maybe

2005-06-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Maybe representative democracy isn't such a good idea.

I read this article in the news today about U.S. Congressman Walter Jones, who was a huge supporter of the Iraq war, doing a complete 180 and suddenly realizing that maybe this war was a bad idea... and people really do get killed... and maybe the reasons for it weren't so good... And he was one of relatively few people responsible for making it happen in the first place. Now of course hindsight is 20/20.. but the concept that we have regular every day humans motivated mainly by public sentiment (rather than logic) who make such profound, irreversible decisions.. it just seems to me that there should be some kind of proven track record of reasoned, researched thought that is required of those that lead us.. rather than mere popularity. This, it seems, is why wars rage on century after century. Masses are lead by emotion. And to the extent you let the masses lead, the country's resources will be managed by emotion.

Harmony

2005-06-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend I got to spend a lot of time with Shannon which was really fantastic and kind of overdue. We camped out at the Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa and got to see The Mutaytor, in their full fiery glory. It was great to see one of our most favorite bands and celebrate the moment of her 30th birthday during the show. We made several new friends up there on our trip that we hope to see again in the future. Some through our friend Burley (aka Wonder Boy), and some just because it was just so darn friendly there.

The next day we enjoyed the sunniest day I can remember this year in the city by flopping down in the sun in Dolores Park and then wandering over to Zeitgeist to share the remainder of Shannon's birthday and some cold beers with a big crowd of beautiful, stoked-for-the-nice-day Mission folk all enjoying a great day on the patio.

Happy birthday Shannon. xo.

I can't stop

2005-06-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

I'm still addicted to this South Park Studio. I made a little tribute to my friends at the Buc and another for the Mission House. I hope they like it.

Alana Davis

2005-06-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

Holy crap.

Yesterday, I just accidentally noticed the ad in the Weekly for Alana Davis at the Red Devil Lounge the same evening. I've had her CD for years and always thought she had a pretty sound. So I snapped up the opportunity to go check her out in such an intimate venue. So glad I did. Jamie and I went down a little too early and had to sit through some of the openers so that we wouldn't miss anything.

When she came on, it was just her with an acoustic guitar and a mic. She proceeded to melt me and many others in the audience with a soulful, emotional, and highly groovy set. What a woman. Truly seems to have it all together - Mind, body, soul, music, business (she started her own record label). What a great gift she gave us last night. I'm grateful. Thanks Alana.

Here's her website. If she's in town again, I highly recommend seeing her.

It's on

2005-06-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

Alright. Since I'm closing escrow next week, and I best have someone helping me pay this mortgage, I posted my first craigslist ad for my condo last night. What agony to write copy intended to get someone excited about renting this place. Turns out.. after hours of crafting my best shot.. that I can be much more salesy and cheesy than I thought! I found desirable services and employers around the property, put together an album of photos of it, and looked over other similar places nearby. Whew! I'm usually so damned lazy. I decided to way overprice the place in the first ad.. just to see if the place might be worth more than I think. So far not one email. So much for optimism.

Link to Craigslist post

Update: So far as of close of business Friday, I have received one reply - from another Miraval buyer like myself asking to share information. At least I have friendly competitors. Price reduction coming soon.

South Park Mania!

2005-06-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

I love it. Most toys I just look at, smile, and say "cute"... then go on with my day. This South Park Studio website lets you create your own South Park characters. The choices of hair, clothes, etc is somewhat limited, but somehow you can make these little guys look like the spitting image of just about anyone. I'm addicted. You have to do a screen capture to save your creations, but it's a small price to pay I suppose. Try it!

Here's my household as Southparkians:

Windfall

2005-06-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it. I found $1,500 yesterday. I guess I should be thrilled - I am kind of. But when the money I find is my own - and that much - my overwhelming sentiment is - How could I have lost track of that much?! What a schmuck. If I never found it, I would never have missed it. It's a check from my old landlord for my security deposit. I must have lost it while I was moving. It's not exactly mine yet either since it hasn't cleared the bank. It's pretty old. We'll see. Ugh.

I also feel scooped because a blog post I had in the works was about pit bulls. I'm trying to develop a case for my local legislators to enact some further controls on aggressive breeds. Not bans, but at least some obstacles. But before I got it written, another kid got his face torn off by a pit bull in the city this weekend (and died), so now it's big news again. Probably a good time to bring it up to politicians. And low and behold, Gavin Newsom, our charismatic mayor, has already announced he plans to propose some new local ordinances on the subject.

I have in the past, found myself in the middle of a pit bull attack between Shannon's dog, Holmes, and a "previously friendly" pit bull. One of the most frightening things I have ever been in the middle of. I am also acquainted with a nice young girl who had her scalp ripped open trying to protect her little dog from being torn to shreds. I've had just about enough of the phrases "It's not the breed, it's the owners" and "Mine's so sweet. He has never hurt anyone." The logical "pit" they fall into is that many or most pit bull attacks are by dogs who have "never hurt anyone". If every pit bull attacked only once in its life, there would be hundreds of attacks per year. That's too many. Remember also, that we only hear in the media about the incidents when someone lands in the hospital, or worse. Rarely when dogs are hurt or killed, or when someone is merely bloodied. It's a common site in a park like Dolores or Alamo Square to first hear an angry dog fight sound and then turn to see a group of dogs, one of which is, more often than not, a pit bull. I have never heard a news story about a Labrador or Collie ripping someone's face off. Why is that? You can blame the tough guy owners, but I think there are abusive owners of all breeds of dog. There is a reason you are not permitted to own Cheetahs and Wolves in San Francisco - even nice friendly ones. Pits are just plain more aggressive and unpredictable than other breeds. Yes, even the one you know and love. Be careful, please.

Update: It has come to my attention that all city and county governments in California appear to be prohibited from passing any breed specific legislation. I guess that precludes hot heads like me from trying to push through laws containing "prejudice" against dogs of a certain breed. It's a wait for the attack to happen first strategy. Shame.