Why was the Muppet Show so cool? sorry, the Who video below reminded me that Keith Moon was the inspiration for Animal. anyway, more youtube:

somewhat related, it dawned on me that Sam the Eagle and actor Richard Mulligan look exactly the same. so I did a google image search and found I wasn’t the only one who thought that! weird.

and after seeing Mulligan’s pic, i just added the first season of season of Soap to my netflix queue. i am really at the mercy of tangents this morning.

i may have mentioned this before, but The Who performing “A Quick One While He’s Away” on the Rolling Stones Rock n Roll Circus dvd is one of my favorite recorded performances ever. i like bands where most of the members take turns singing lead and writing songs and i can’t think of one popular band that does that now?

they wanted a string arrangement for the “You are Forgiven” part but couldn’t afford it, so they just ended up singing the word “cello” over and over. i used to wonder all the time “what the hell are they singing?” i thought it was just gibberish and when i found out what and why, i started to appreciate their sense of humor more. such a fun song, and i loved how it was used in Rushmore. the Stones didn’t air the TV special because they were upstaged by them. Can you imagine putting together this big expensive production to showcase yourself with stuff like a big circus set, costumes, and a whole bunch of famous “guest” musicians (john lennon, marianne faithfull, clapton, etc) and then not releasing it because the band before outperformed you? supersonned

ok, so i told you guys not to mess with llamas, and now i’m telling you not to mess with blue jays. brian tried to scare a few of them away from our site cause they make this godawful racket and they straight swooped down on him The Birds style. Cliff caught it on camera except for the blue jays, so we have all been photo-shopping his friends in.

alexis’

mine

young’s

that i had one of the weirdest encounters at the gym yesterday. first i’ll give you a background. last month my friend mike did a photoshop rendition of what he encountered in his apartment hallway when he came home at 3:45am. here it is (semi-nsfw) we talked about how a grown man wearing a shirt and no pants is one of the worst things ever. yuck

so last month when young and i were at the gym, this filipino looking young woman came in and basically was yelling at some guy on her phone the entire time she was on the bike. she was buggin out, completely loud and obnoxious and everyone kept staring at her. she also hit the machine a few times when she couldn’t figure out how to adjust it right, cursing loudly. honestly, i think everyone who noticed her were aware that she gave this vibe like she could be violent. the feeling was palpable thus no one said shit to her about being disruptive.

anyway, i hadn’t seen her again until yesterday in the womens locker room. dude, she was creeping me out she just kept staring at me. i didn’t know what her problem was. and her locker was next to mine and i accidentally hit her booty with the door when i opened mine. i thought i was gonna get socked in the face and said sorry, and she just quietly said “it’s okay”. so the whole time i’m changing she is fucking staring at me – not even discretely, head on. who does that? total creep. i had to turn around. so when i turned around when i finished dressing, SHE HAD NO PANTS ON. just like mike’s graphic except she was wearing a pullover hoodie. i’m almost wanted to bust out laughing but didn’t want to invite more attention. and it’s not like she was changing. she was just standing there and putting things into her bag and brushing her hair with no pants on for what seemed like an eternity. god. i hope i don’t see her again.

moral of the story: shirt minus pants is a bad look for women as well as men.

i had to tell young this morning because he remembered her

Ok so I’m pretty obsessed with that UGK “Like That” remix. Usually I couldn’t care less about spotting samples, but when film scores are used I get really excited. One time I was watching Blue Velvet and heard the strings that Amon Tobin used for a song called “People Like Frank” and I flipped the f— out. It was the precise moment Laura Dern emerged from the shadows. I’ve watched that movie so many times and i love Angelo Badalamenti and I loved that Tobin track, even used it under KRS on the Comedy Noir mix. Then another big thing hit me. It dawned on me that the Frank in the title “People Like Frank” was referring to Frank Booth, Dennis Hopper’s sicky psycho character! I almost pissed my pants when I had that revelation.

So back to this UGK remix, I’m almost positive that is John Barry and I’m 70% sure that it is from a James Bond soundtrack. i recognize that sweeping and seductive baller sound anywhere. Instead of finishing this book I’ve been reading for the last 2 months (wtf is wrong with me and my slow ass reading), tonight I’m going to dust my turntable and listen to all of my 007 OSTs. And I’m gonna sip on some cabernet and enjoy this.

completely unrelated, i love ricky gervais’ laugh. LOVE IT!!

oh my god. big sur is gorgeous. i could type many paragraphs about how this camping trip was a great and memorable experience, but i want to let the pics speak for themselves. i will however rattle off some bulletpoint highlights

• alexis’ southern gothic ghost story cd for late night campfire lounging. spooky and amazing.
• seeing huge farm workers made of painted wood (i think) in crops on the drive down. one of these workers held 2 cabbage heads in front of his balls. no joke.
• rocky and waterfally swimming hole. majestic and inviting on the surface, ice cold and body numbing once we took the plunge
• ate the most delicious food. i’m lucky our group had some good cooks who knew that quality of grub doesn’t have to suffer without the everyday kitchen utensils.
• go-carts on the way back to the city. after years upon years of video games, i knew how to handle my business pole position-wise (pause). but with a person in the passenger seat AND a fear of going off course and having friends tease me about it, i was apprehensive as hell. my time was pitiful.
• although we spent $300 on groceries, we realized after we didn’t buy enough ice at safeway. then we saw all this freshly dumped ice out in the parking lot because the ice freezer broke. that was for the booze cooler. we’re so tacky.

my pics

leaving the city and saw that someone put walrus teeth on the john mayer gap ad

i love my toast camera case

this guy who sold us wood was a character out of a coen brothers flick

the water looks green here but it was crystal clear. the green is the reflection from leaves

cabbage balls

cutest lizard evar!

canopy @ malibu grand prix

swing down sweet chariot stop and let me ride

young’s pics

we ate brunch at a restaurant on the last day. alexis asked brian to sign for her while she went to the restroom so he signed it with hearts and a smiley face.

p.s. if you like new rap, there’s a new UGK album that you should buy. (yes, i found out from reading the internet) and i finally bought it today. i swear it lives up to the hype and i think i might have to buy the instrumental version when it drops. the remix of “like that” has this sweeping john barry james bond thing going on which i love. actually, i’m almost positive that’s what that chorus sample is. how? barry is of my favorite scorers next to ennio morricone and bernard herrmann (yes, i am serious). and yes i like that talib kweli track and yes i am soft hands and have a backpacker past and what can i say i love earth wind and fire but i think you already knew that. you can’t hide from love haters. yay music!!!

so yesterday when i was going through my photo albums and reminiscing about all the areas i’ve explored in the bay area, i came across this photo i took the last time i was in Big Sur (2004?). we drove past this DONNY DARKO ass llama and were like “what the…?” it was so frightening. i was like I’ve GOT to take a picture. so we back the car in front of the llama and it’s starting to get even weirder, i can’t even describe the noises it was making. i had to get out of the car to get close and i’m freaking out and fidgeting with my camera and the noises are intensifying and it started shaking its head from side to side!! i almost expected some mutant john carpenter craziness to occur, like something out of The Thing. i finally took the picture, unfortunately the quality leaves much to be desired. I immediately jumped back in the car right when it was ready to spit on me. i had no idea. later i told a friend and he said, “yeah, that’s what llamas do, spit.” oh word?

moral of the story: do not fuck with llamas. especially scary donny darko ass ones.

sorry, i am not about to img src that shit because i don’t want to see this thing looking at me everytime i post a new entry here.

O-Dub posted a soul mix on his Soul Sides site you really need to check out here. Oliver taught me how to use a 4-Track recorder many years ago which i used for the Comedy Noir mixtape in the other section. Honestly, that’s the mixtape i’m proud of even though I don’t listen to hip hop much these days. I learned a lot about music from him and he was and still is kind of a mentor to me.

this is where i’m gonna be soon

i’m so excited!

i hope me and brian don’t fight over music in the car. i know driver should get first crack at the stereo, but i’m so making a mix for this.

side note, i broke my favorite flash this past weekend and i think my photos are gonna suffer.

this is my new favorite group on flickr: the c30, c60, c90 go!

not only did i enjoy putting together tapes for people, but i also loved making my own j-cards. why were they called that?

hi i love summer. saturday had the most perfect weather, i think mid 70’s? i got up at 9am called young and suggested that we go to st francis fountain for breakfast so i can get my bacon fix on. he was already in that neighborhood meeting with the manager of a community garden he wanted to join. so i biked there to meet up.

after a satisfying eggs sandya (bacon, avocado, poached egg on english muffin with hollandaise) he wanted me to see the community garden he joined so we biked over there. it was on top of a giant ass hill and that kicked my ass having just eaten and being hungover. the garden was cute, lots of heirloom tomatos, eggplant, strawberries, kale, green beans, etc etc. we left and rode around our hood some more. i saw an astrojump in the street and some scary mannequin clowns this man wanted to sell me for $25. i told him that clowns scare me and he was like “come on, just put them in your room” haha. he had a lot of great 1920’s drawings in frames though but i couldn’t have carried them on my bike.

biked back and hung out at young’s place for a lil bit before heading to the mall to see superbad and meet up with francis. it was his birthday and young made some cupcakes and wanted to bring one for him, but didn’t know how to transport it so it wouldn’t be a mess. so he sculpted a bowl out of foil and was carrying it around like it was his baby, trying to protect it from getting smashed. the wind was fierce and i was so waiting for that frosted cupcake to rise and hit him in the face like a cream pie. he’s lucky.

kale is strange looking

he got a labelmaker

he spent $15 on seeds at the mall. superbad was just ok to me.

when i got home, there was this big purple pinata in my living room.

i was so tempted to smash it. my roommate’s always bringing home funny stuff

Later that night…i went to maverick for jason’s 30th birthday and had a flat iron steak with the most amazing cornbread i’ve ever ever had. there was so much comedy at the table. i realized recently that all of my friends are damn funny people. the past 3 days hanging out with any one of them, i’ve noticed myself laughing like every 5 min. after maverick, we went to the knockout for big booty bass nite and my girlfriend kristy was standing outside

stef and serg got jason a mac dre shirt

it’s starting to feel that way at least. i went to milk again friday for 80s vs 90s hip hop night. beforehand hung out at the phoenix hotel with jason anna and serg where their san diego friends were staying. i haven’t been to the phoenix hotel since i worked for a local record label years back and they had pool dance parties there. this was during that time when people thought wearing neon colored cowboy hats were cool like you saw on MTV spring break all the time.

when we got there, m.o.p.’s “ante up” came on and serg got that crazed look in his eyes, punched gabe in the arm and we both ran to the floor. i have captured on a previous occassion what mop does to serg.

i watched people get down to and sing along to lots of stuff bbd, tresvant, mc breed, and some freestyle stuff i hadn’t heard in a while that made me sentimental. many genres were played actually, it was nothing short of a blast.

dj apollo played some fantastic remixes

oh yeah i had a few tall cans of pbr and here i am using one as a tripod

have you been watching these new r. kelly trapped in the closet chapters? they are hysterical. and there is will oldham again! (see chapter 15)

i don’t know why i do this to myself. giving up beer to deflate mah beer belly is a good thing and i don’t drink nearly as often as i did before, but drinking wine/champagne instead makes me a clumsy ass drunk. i can’t believe how that stuff just sneaks up on me whereas at least with beer i could manage my intoxication? anyway, so i go to bingo night at The Knockout last nite with rachel and some folk. i’ve talked about it so many times here. you know how some people are addicted to scratch tix and the lotto? i’m addicted to bingo night, especially since the last 3 times i went most of my friends won except me. so i get a glass of wine and they give me a card. and holy shit, i am winning. first game, one card, i said to my friend “what’s going on? i’m getting all these numbers” and she’s got 2 cards. then i won and yelled BINGO so f***ing loud. i was so shocked! so i look at the table of prizes and picked me out a fresh ass plant AND…the bingo lady gives me drink tix. uh oh! fast forward like an hour and i’m gone. and to make matters worse, when they ran out of wine the bartender gave me a bottle of champagne on the house? i love my neighborhood hangout but seriously, what the hell? why did they do that to me? bad news. anyway, after bingo this band came on. rachel & folks left to another bar and i wanted to stick around to see the band. they were so loud and fun. bingo & rock n roll = my ideal evening. but while they’re playing i’m thinking “holy shit i’m getting even drunker” and started back home. thank god the knockout is a crawl distance from my flat. i don’t even remember that walk, which scares me. i’ve never blacked out once before i started drinking wine instead of beer.

this morning i woke up, not hungover at all but in a complete daze. on the BART train on the way to work i bumped into this man who looked EXACTLY like John Ashcroft and gasped so loudly! all these people looked at me. i said sorry and starting giggling quietly to myself. what the hell would JOHN ASHCROFT being doing in san francisco? i’m losing it

drummers and beer. possibly 2 of my biggest vices

i miss you beer

i know you might have seen this 2 years ago, but wow.

i can’t even comprehend how anyone could mix two cassettes together but he has audio clips of some mixes he’s made on this. here is the guy’s site

first off, apologies to my vegan readers. but seriously i realized today if some dude was wearing cologne that smelled like bacon sizzling in a pan i would be all over that. axe body spray is for suckers!

FUCK YES: heaven

dear bacon: canadian, pancetta, whatever…I LOVE YOU!

a few weeks ago, young sent me a link to a lowend lomo ringflash which was evil of him because he’d knew i’d buy it. he knows too well my camera compulsions and i’m sure you do as well since i’m always writing about some camera crap i bought. 3 weeks later, i finally get it. don’t ever buy anything from www.lomography.com they are slow as hell.

anyway, i think i’ll get some good use out of the flash. it has a built-in slave in addition to the hotshoe adapter which is surprising cause it’s kind of toy and came with a bunch of color filters. i think that’s what did me in because as you can see from a lot of my night shots, i love flash filters. also what was appealing was that it was $65 and ringflashes at least “real” ones are reallllllly expensive. they produce even lighting, minimize shadows and they’re usually used by fashion photographers or used for promo shots. i like this one of iggy

back to the cheap ringflash, the biggest obstacle i see is that it doesn’t come with a rig for any other cameras outside of the lomo lc-a, lomo fish eye, and holga. sucks, because i’ll have to get creative and jury rig so it will stay on my digital cameras. and it’s not a true ringflash because the real deal is a complete circle of light whereas this has 4 little flashes at each corner. it does work with digi cams though. here’s 2 test shots i took last night. i still am trying to figure out what speed i should set it at

i haven’t had a chance to test it on real actual humans yet which is what they should be used for. last night i opted to hang out with dave gahan instead of going out and meeting up with folks

OH LITTLE GIRL

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN I FEEL

I’D RATHER NOT BE

THE ONE BEHIND THE WHEEL

i thought, well since i’m sitting on my ass i might as well break out the drum sticks and practice my dribbles and stick control while watching this 88 dm concert. i like to multi-task my geekery. so here i am using this magazine on the floor as my practice pad and one of the sticks flew out of my hand during “Pleasure Little Treasure” and chipped the paint off my wall where it struck. i don’t know why i feel compelled to share these things with you.