Engineer's Daughter

ambrosia

All Blacked Out & Nowhere to Go

Bucky Sinister

from Green Apple Books:
"Bucky has been on the forefront of the San Francisco spoken word scene for nearly two decades now, and judging from the sold out status of his 2005 collection, Whiskey and Robots, his reputation is growing by leaps and bounds. In All Blacked Out, Bucky recounts his life through the sound of punk rock, but with his patented poetic twists, mixing tragedy and comedy into a book that's louder and faster than any of its kind. Comedian Greg Proops says, 'Bucky Sinister is the poet laureate of trailer parks, tattoos and the holy mystery of NASCAR. Exhilarating and indispensable.' I say, 'Bucky rocks!'"
I think I need to pick up a copy for those nights when I'm all keyed up and sleep seems like a pain in the butt.  Better than whiskey!

MothersSistersDaughters&Wives

Voxtrot

Oh how I love Voxtrot.  Five times I've seen them now, and this morning I'm plotting how I can maybe see them again when I'm in New York.  They'll have lost openers Sound Team by then, who Aimee and I agreed were a total buzzkill after the sweet sweet love brought by Au Revoir Simone.  But yeah Voxtrot ruled, and then we walked out of the Great American and the Otter Cab drove right in front of us.  For those of you who have not yet seen the Otter Cab, it's a yellow taxi with a giant plastic otter perched proudly on top, advertising the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  It was a beautiful night.

Science Thursday:
Low-fat milk, straight from the udder | Der Spiegel | BBC |
Babies don't read minds; they read lips | New York Times | Irish Examiner |

Impeach him already!
The petition to impeach Gonzales is going strong—do your part to see it through!

memorial day

One of the guys I manage, Troy, let me know a couple weeks ago that his nephew Mark had been badly injured in Iraq.  They were able to get Mark out to Germany, where his mother joined him, and from there to Maryland, where the rest of the family were able to gather.  Troy emailed me this morning:

Sgt. Mark Ryan C. Cagioua passed away on Thu. May 24 at 3:15p at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, MD surrounded by his family… He’s being flown today to Stockton… I’ll be off this Thursday and Friday for the wake. Not sure if he’ll be buried this Friday or Saturday (Presidio National Cemetery)… it would’ve been his 22nd b-day this Friday (6/1)… His mom doesn’t want to have to bury him the same date as his b-day…

Oh and just guess who was touring the hospital prior to Memorial Day and wanted to meet the family?  Oh yes, Dubya himself.  He offered them commemorative M&M's, a photo op, and then asked if they wanted him to sign Mark's photos.

I literally have no words to describe my horror and disgust.

chocolate-box

What better way to kick off a gloomy-weathered Memorial Day weekend than with a good old-fashioned Zombie Mob?  I found a perch along Market Street after work Friday night and watched as the undead shambled by, attacking not-so-innocent passersby who had marked themselves as willing victims by pasting duct tape to their clothes.  And did I mention that Critical Mass was taking place at exactly the same time?  The tourists, they were doubly puzzled and confounded.

Michellebladewebcard

At Park Life - Michelle Blade: I Would Give Everything.  This was my first visit out to Park Life, which I would characterize almost as a sister store to Giant Robot, filled with awesome art books and Japanese goodies.  They might be mortal enemies for all I know, so at least they're separated by geography.  I was immediately sucked into Blade's dramatic large-scale paintings, the subjects of which included everything from a mob of people climbing Mount Shasta to a group of teenagers participating in trust-building activities at summer camp.  The tension in her work comes from the backgrounds she puts behind these scenes, what often looks like an impression of fire and brimstone.  All is not quite as it seems.

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At Giant Robot - Marci Washington and Michele Carlson: In the Shadow of this Fading Light, We Waited.  Neo-Gothic and -Victorian wonderfulness from these two Bay Area artists.  The show includes the original of Washington's painting that graces the cover of the fabulous new Rosebuds album.  I love it when my worlds collide.

I've been meaning to take a class at the Rock Paper Scissors Collective for a while now, as they always have such a great schedule (screenprinting!  skateboarding!  DIY!).  This Saturday local promoters Club Sandwich were presenting a seminar on How to Book a Show, so I went for it.  The Club Sandwichers were awesome, taking us through the process step-by-step, and I learned a ton.  I don't have something specific to do with the information quite yet, but I am ever hopeful.

The one thing I totally flaked on was the Capsule Design Festival in Hayes Valley on Sunday, mostly because I got stuck on my side of the Bay after my DJ shift.  I was having too much fun record shopping on Telegraph, I admit it.  But I'm bummed I missed the fair.  I normally don't turn down an opportunity to run rampant through tables and tables of locally-designed merch.

Tomorrow night: KALX co-announces Voxtrot, Sound Team, and Au Revoir Simone at the Great American Music Hall  (859 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco). All Ages as usual. Show starts at 8 pm, doors at 7:30 pm.  Aimee and I will be there, as I need to continue my streak of seeing Voxtrot every single time they swing through town.

Universally Acclaimed Health Care?
How did Michael Moore manage to woo even Republicans with his new documentary? Find out in this Moore interview with Bill Maher.

Ruscha

Ed Ruscha: L.A.S.F *3 (soft ground etching) Crown Point Press, USA, 2003

show 51

playlist

nice berk if you can get it

Mn_green24

from Grist:
Six months ago, voters in Berkeley, Calif., overwhelmingly approved a measure to reduce the city's emissions 80 percent by 2050. Now proposals have been laid out to accomplish that goal, including requiring builders to use green materials, making landlords provide free bus passes to tenants, informing residents of the size of their carbon footprint, and helping sun-ergize every roof in the city. Berkeleyites' personal behavior will also be held to a high standard, with incentives provided for walking to work, buying local food, saving energy, and BYOB (bag, that is). Some concerns have risen that residents may have overestimated their own hippie-ness: folks who will gladly welcome a car-share vehicle on every block may balk at being required to upgrade appliances and install more-efficient insulation at their own expense. But Mayor Tom Bates isn't concerned: "People are willing to make these lifestyle changes, and the cumulative effort will add up. It's not rocket science. We can do this."

sources:
San Francisco Chronicle
Alameda Times-Star

cakewalk

Postcard

At Receiver Gallery - Chris Pew and Paul Urich: Inside the Within.  Pew's organic, psychedelic paintings and drawings are wonderfully paired with Urich's delicate mixed media works.  I almost walked out with a copy of the collaborative print pictured on the postcard above.  I might have to go back.

Snow_Ann07

At Rena Bransten Gallery - Jessica Snow.  Continuing in the theme of wild abstraction, I took much delight in the playful colors and forms of Snow's works on paper at her opening last night.  Her pieces have such movement to them I could easily fantasize them illustrating a Brubeck or Miles Davis album cover.  Also check out fellow artist Joana Vasconcelos's mad crocheting skills while you're in the gallery.

Tomorrow night: KALX co-announces The Clientele, Beach House and Mellow Drunk at the Great American Music Hall  (859 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco). All ages as usual. Show starts at 9 pm, doors at 8 pm.  Find me sprawled across a table near the back, completely blissed out.

I'm DJing this weekend:
Matokie
Sunday morning
9am-noon PST, Sunday May 27
KALX Berkeley 90.7fm

Anywhere but here:
Stephanie McMillan highlights some of the problems with relying on ethanol as a quick fix for global warming.

flummery

Barleywind98273423

Ken Loach is the master of powerful realistic drama, and The Wind that Shakes the Barley is no exception.  It's an amazing film I'm still thinking deeply about after having seen it last night.  The story follows two brothers, played by Cillian Murphy and Padraic Delaney, who fight in the Irish Republican Army in the 1920s.  Loach never shies from the brutalities of war, but the violence is horrifying instead of designed to thrill and titillate like in some other recent movies I could name.  There's even some very dark Irish humor in here, but mostly your heart will break as the struggles rip an entire country apart.  The moment in which I realized with a shock what Loach was saying about current situations of occupation and repression was when a room full of IRA members are arguing about whether or not the treaty Great Britain has offered them should be ratified, the agreement that withdrew the British troops but still kept Ireland as part of the British Empire and also created Northern Ireland.  One of the women speaks out that Britain wouldn't dare bring further war against them if they turn down the treaty, for fear of looking bad to America and the rest of the world.  My heart sank to my toes as I thought, these days America doesn't give a flying crap about world affairs.  And then, as the film showed Ireland breaking out into civil war, I mused darkly about what does happen to a country after mission accomplished is declared.

Science Thursday:
Viagra helps hamsters fight jetlag | Scientific American | BBC |
Mars wet behind the ears | CBS News | LiveScience |

A Comment about Betrayal:
Keith Olbermann on what the Democrats' "compromise" on Iraq really means.

sales soar at new york auctions

Warhol372

Take a look at works by Andy Warhol and Mark Rothko from May's record-breaking auctions in Manhattan.  Warhol goes for $71m in record sale.

delate

Phil+amy

At Gallery 16 - Amy Franceschini and Phil Ross.  I was going to try to walk over to the gallery sometime during work yesterday, but again it was not to be.  Franceschini and her modern Victory Gardens were my favorite part of the recent SECA exhibition at SFMOMA, so I will definitely be seeing this before it closes on Saturday.

Edward R. Brockman:
"The Simpsons" call out the media, Murrow style. (See more from the episode about the FOX network's hypocrisy here.)

divers

graduate

Had I not been having one of the experiences of my life seven rows away from Bjork and Joanna Newsom and one very hot drummer Saturday night, I would have been in Washington Square Park watching the SF Neighborhood Theater Foundation's screening of The Graduate.  It was the first in their 2007 Film Night in the Park series, and check out the rest of the schedule if you want to see where I'll be on certain Saturday nights for the rest of the summer.  As a side note: I want to be Anne Bancroft when I grow up.

Impeach Gonzales:
We all know Bush was never one for doing his job, so let's do it for him! Sign and circulate the petition to impeach Alberto Gonzales.

Tantra1

Eclipse of the Sun: Tantric astrological diagram, source and date unknown