I loathe twitter, but this is making me change my mind a bit:

shitmydadsays

If you're the only one who shits in something, you own it. Remember that.

Class.

Check out one of my favorite poets, Ryan Bartlett, at Back Room Live, which was curated this month by poet (and my honey), Trevor Calvert.

One of my favorite lines in one of Trevor's poems is, "she becomes a gorgeous disaster." When I read Ryan's work I always get a sense of just that: the beauty in tragedy. Like fragile and stunning butterflies pinned to a piece of corkboard, his poems build a structure around those parts of the human experience which are fleeting and that we cannot -- or perhaps should not -- hold on to. His poems are redolent with saudade, and they are nothing short of brilliant. Do yourself a favor and check them out.

This month Back Room Live also features the epic work of both Bhanu Kapil and Steffi Drewes.

Trevor also has new work up on his blog, The Casual Tee. The poem is "Letter to electricity." Like Ryan, Trevor has a knack for constructing architecture around a flickering moment in time, gathering all of the disparate pieces and bringing about a sense of beauty and form to melancholy and tumult. Wonderful!

It's a good week for poetry.

This looks absolutely amazing:



It appears the Sundance Film Festival thought so too: Precious won the Grand Jury Prize for best dramatic film.

I really love Mo'Nique, and I'm so glad to see her playing something with some meat. Watch the trailer and play "spot Mariah Carey" too -- you will be surprised!

Last night I dreamt that I watched Ian McCulloch singing behind deli counter glass amid hundreds of French pastries. And he was smiling, and playing guitar! Which might be more far-fetched nowadays than the pastry angle.

Must be getting excited about seeing him and the rest of the Bunnymen in October! Though I think I'll be lucky if he doesn't shuffle offstage mid-song for a smoke and some telly. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, in my dream I also punched a French girl in the face and hid in a backstage wardrobe closet from security, but let's hope that's just subconscious babble coming through, and not an omen. :)

Wow! Free stuff outside our building!



















Um, NO.

Look out, the lunatics are on parade!

Obama Protesters Bring Their Guns

About a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style rifle, milled among protesters outside the convention center [in Arizona] where President Barack Obama was giving a speech Monday — the latest incident in which protesters have openly displayed firearms near the president.

I am in full support of the Second Amendment of the Bill Of Rights, but within reason, and with some damn common sense. The people with guns are saying it's a political statement -- "if you don't use your rights, then you lose your rights" -- but it's ridiculous to be waving around, carrying, or otherwise displaying guns near the President of the United States.

As usual, what many people seem to conveniently forget is that with rights come responsibilities!

Just for fun, I checked out the open carry wiki for the US and I was very surprised by what I saw:














The blue states are where you can open carry with little or no restrictions -- that means they allow a non-prohibited person to carry a firearm in plain sight without permit or license, whether on foot or in a motor vehicle. I had no idea there were so many states that allowed this! Some of them seem like givens, like Vermont and South Dakota, but Arizona? Right on the edge of California? Damn.

Friend, bartending wizard, and illustrator extraordinaire Chris Lane has a new book he has illustrated coming out through local folks Chronicle Books called Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection



















Part diary, part field guide a la the classic book Gnomes, Zombies... is chock full of Chris' scary, gross, and sometimes funny visions of the undead.

Out in October 2009, come get some.

There's also a little surprise appearance by yours truly:












Excellent!

Thank you, Les Paul.

Went down the street to Pizzaiolo to see The Shining -- their first "Bad Dad" summer movie in their outdoor courtyard (future films in the series: National Lampoon's Vacation, Lolita, and of course, The Empire Strikes Back).

What a great time! And after a disappointing cloudy sky on Tuesday, it was so lovely to sit under a clear nighttime sky with a slice of margherita and a cold Sierra Nevada Pale and watch Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall flip out while a dozen meteors zipped across the sky above the screen. Bliss!

And this morning I bought tickets for the Pixies upcoming tour of arguably their best album, 1989's Doolittle, at the Fox Theater in Oaktown. Couple this with the Echo and the Bunnymen Ocean Rain tickets I bought, and you can see that I am loving the advent of the nostalgic past album tour.

Can things get any better?

Redeemed!

Sunn O))), front row and center at The Independent, San Francisco, 8.9.2009





















































Epic.

For more (and okay, non-iPhone and just better) photos, check out Trevor's pics taken from the same vantage point but with a fancy-schmancy camera here.

Oh yeah.



















Topshop Horror Girl

Okay, so there is no Topshop in the States yet except New York; thus I can never see the pieces in person and so I get slightly verklempt when they release collections. Annnnd, yes, the clothes are made for 16 year old emo kids. But I can't help it: these shoes? To die for. This sweater? So cute. And this? Fantastic.

Are they made in sweatshops from materials sourced irresponsibly? Likely. Will they fall apart after a season? Probably. Two very good reasons to avoid this stuff. But the eye candy sure is nice.

With the new Runaways film coming out next year, leave it to Topshop to get in early on the latest incarnation of the 70s punk/glam/hair metal hybrid trend that will be all the rage with the kiddies soon.

No Topshop for me, but I just realized this will make thrifting the real-deal goods from this era just that much harder. Feh.

Your films rocked my teenage world. RIP.

Still life: Wine and Lasagna Before a Show With Friends Makes Old People Older and Unable to Hit the Pit

OR

Sonic Youth at the recently renovated Fox Theater, Oakland 8.2.2009















First time at the Fox, and it is stunning. So impressed. Smoking sections are on every floor and easily accessible, big screen teevees are in the lobbies and restrooms so you don't miss any action, friendly and helpful staff abound, and the place has 7, yes 7, bars. And while the Paramount gives you a plastic cough syrup cup for whiskey, you get a decent pour here. Heard the gin and tonics were strong stuff too.

But...not really that impressed by the show; in fact, I was a little bored. It's not them, it's me: energy from the band was great, but I'm not familiar with their new album, and I'd never seen them before and was hoping for more old stuff. Again, am getting OLD!

I did get to do some reconnaissance for the best vantage point for the Echo and the Bunnymen show in October though. So excited: they're doing Ocean Rain with an orchestra. No wine and lasagna this time around -- I'll be down front and center!