A lot going on this week. My brother wrote me and said he found a place to rent for $100 a month!! I asked him if this place had a floor...you figure at only $25 a week (that's less than a hotel room for a night!), there's got to be some major structural damage. Because of the Web and its unique self-publishing characteristics, I've been able to read about
the breakup of my brother and his girlfriend. Thank god I didn't have the ability when I was in my late teens to publish the heart-wrenching poetry I wrote during those times I found myself in the end days of a relationship. Looking back over the 40+ spiral notebooks I have is embarrassing enough....
I thought about whether I should post that link or not, but I think it's ok. This site is an extension of myself, my experiences, and the people in my life, and that story certainly falls under those categories. Plus, why else you would put something on the Web unless you wanted people to read it.
This weekend in San Diego was Street Scene. Street Scene is being billed as California's largest music festival. It takes up much of the lower downtown area, from the convention center up to market, and basically most of the area where they're now building the new ballpark (which has been continually fogged over with corruption and underhanded dealings). There are nine stages or so and they all sport clever names like "The Best Buy Stage," "The Ford Stage," or the "21st Century Insurance Stage." Nothing says rock-n-roll like insurance. Like I said, it was my first time and I was pretty excited about getting to see so many different groups (although it's impossible to see everyone...for example, I really wanted to see Cowboy Mouth after Griff and Bill's ringing endorsement, but they were playing against James Brown). Friday night, we saw Cheap Trick, Jack Johnson, and Cake. We also walked by Los Lobos. During Cheap Trick's set, we were pretty far back but could hear just fine. They have this five-necked guitar that must simply be a monster to play, not to mention a little on the heavy side.
We then inched our way over to the "Ford Stage" and caught the last half of Jack Johnson's set. Even though all of the streets are blocked off and you can walk freely everywhere, it is so incredibly crowded that you can only move as fast as the general momentum will allow. For the most part, the crowd didn't really bother me. I had already prepared myself for what I knew would be a major mob scene. Others, I could tell, were less prepared.
Since we had 20-30 minutes to kill before Cake, Lisa and I decided to make our way up front...or at least as close as we could get. Although I'm sure a mainstream band like Cake turns off a few snobbish music elitists, I find their style infectious and their whole attitude just fucking cool and down to earth. The pain we suffered for being so close to the stage during their set was well worth it as they put on a very tight set. Their knack for playing their songs note-for-note perfectly was interesting...I mean, their live sets sounded just like their albums, and typically that's a turn off to me. But when I hear a song like "Stickshifts and Safety Belts" played perfectly, that's pretty damn impressive.
Making our way out of that crowd was torturous to say the least. Lots of posting up and weaving. Waiting in line for the bathroom, Lisa and I got chatted up by a couple of young ladies obviously out for a good time (and judging by the size of the one's halter top, probably succeeded!). It was all a series of drunken slurs but the one girl managed to rip her pants...which was simply amazing given how extremely tight they were. We had attempted to meet up with Griffin and his friends and Vanesa...even Jill, Sherms, and some others were downtown, but it was not to be. Lisa and I walked up to C street and caught a trolley to old town. Since we had spent money on cigarettes for Vanesa (whom we never found) and rum (which we successfully sneaked into Street Scene, but was now banging my head like a gong) and I had also paid for most of the cab ride down, we only had $8 left to get back home with. From old town to our place, it's about $10-$11. So he dropped us off at Newport and Sunset Cliffs Blvd. and we walked the rest of the way. My back was completely wrenched and my head was beating...it was good to finally get home.
Saturday was to be Griffin's big surprise birthday thing. Lisa had been planning this one for quite sometime and there were many last minute things to take care of. After a couple hours of sleep, we were back up and running to get the van, make a cake, get ice, collect the food, etc., etc.
There were about 10 of us going wine tasting in Temecula...something that, I think, sounds much more froo-froo than it actually is. There was mainly a small contigent of collegeclub people in our house early that morning, followed by Griffin and his friend Bill. Bill is a pretty cool guy who reminds me of a Hunter Thompson...except he's into leasing office space and not journalism. It's about 10:30am when we leave and he wants to stop for beer. By the time we made it to Temecula, he had killed off four Heinikens. Amazing.
So Jeromey and Sherms are in the back, trying to eat chorizo and egg burritos with mixed success; Jill and I are in the middle seat; Bill, Nicole, and Vanesa are in the front seat; while Lisa is driving and Griffin is riding shotgun. Amazingly, almost everyone is drinking by this point except for me, Lisa, and Griffin. Christ!! I'm not even that hardcore...so I was left back in the minor leagues for a day I s'pose.
Temecula is a very scenic area...very central-california-ish. While the marine layer continued to hang over the coastline like a bad stain, it was sunny and warm in Temecula and its neighboring inland areas. Wine tasting is a very social activity. I doubt that serious wine buffs ever go wine tasting in the touristy way that we did. It's noisy and hilarious...it's what makes wine so great! As I get older, I find myself drinking less and less liquor and beer and opting, instead, for wine. Actually, there will always be a soft spot in my heart for beer...but wine...wine is absolutely a great social and food drink. It's a very human drink. We learned some of the technical aspects of wine tasting: color, smell, taste, etc. In the end though it's all about drinking and talking and meeting people.
Suffice it to say, it was a pretty fun day. Bill and Griff met some ladies who I thought were going to ride them home like a couple'a K-mart pogo sticks. This one lady made it a point to tell us she wasn't wearing any panties...and then went off into some soliquoy about George W. and how he's the best president ever (ultra-right wing conservative Republican and anti-panties...who would've thought that one!?). Jill and I found out we were born only 5 days apart; Vanesa got crazy like cheese whiz; Lisa did an admirable job of driving the van (even with my backseat driving); Nicole saved the day with lots of beer; Jeromey and Sherms looked cool...and there was plenty of cock-blocking going on. And Griffin...I suppose he was awash in the glow of friendship.
That night...even though most of us were crisped enough, we still hit Street Scene. Just a few days ago I thought there was no way I was going. Then, Lisa and I ended up with one free ticket Friday and two tickets Saturday. By the time we got downtown we only had time to watch James Brown...mind you, that's not a bad thing in my book. James Brown is so the man that I feel like a high school girl in his presence. We were pretty far back, but as soon as they turned off the mind numbing techno music behind us we could hear just fine. He had badass dancers, the JBs were badass, and he was a badass himself. It was well worth the trip down and back, and I hope I can see him again in a better venue.
There was so much going on this weekend...the nuances, the details...the asides and the "in" jokes that I could ramble on for much longer. But I won't. I'll sum it up thusly:
Good music, good friends, good food, good wine....good times.
