Boris (w/ Helms Alee and Red Sparowes) @ the Great American Music Hall (8/26/10)

Going to stoner/doom/experimental shows at the Great American Music Hall is always a treat. Not only is it one of my favorite venues in the city but it's awesome experiencing loud and abrasive music in a place that used to be a classy dance hall almost 100 years ago.

Opening the evening was Tacoma's Hemls Alee who's blend of sludge and drone rock was pretty good for an opener. Their songs were short, for the style, and kinda reminded me the Minutemen in such a way that where most doom/sludge songs begin to take off, they wrap it up. My only complaint is that their set was a little too long and their sound began to have less of an appeal.

Next was Red Sparowes. I saw these guys a few years back open for Neurosis and they blew me away. They had played amazing shoe-gaze with a really intense visual back drop. This time, their set didn't seem to go anywhere. The visuals were far less stellar and seemed more like a collage from some visual arts student. Their songs carried on for too long and the drums seemed to be the only thing holding the band together. Everyone else was just noodling around. Good thing I was upstairs munching on some fries for most of their set.

Finally, Boris hits the stage. As the first notes of 'Farewell' sound out, the stage is immediately engulfed in fog, completely capturing the drama of this amazing song off the Pink album. Having never seen Boris I didn't know what to expect. With a band that covers pretty much every corner of rock and experimental music, I'd figure they're pick a sound and stick with it. I was very wrong. Boris's 90+ minute set covered almost every era of their career. They organized the set so that the mood changed every few songs. After a few slower/droned out jams they'd kick into classics from Pink, Heavy Rocks and Smile. The most stand out moment for me was a song featuring Wata. The song was something I could almost see Bjork performing. A single light shined down on her head will the rest of the band filled in the song with single subtle notes here and there. Freaking amazing. Only a band with such varying material could pull off a set as long as they did without tiring the audience. This was by far one of the best shows I've seen this summer.

Pop quiz, hot shot (tribute to the service industry)

Of the three cups in the picture, which one is the medium?

About 1/3 of the customers that come into my place of work always ask me about the size of our coffee cups.

"Is this the small?" Empirical evidence suggests that off the three cups, the smallest cup is (drum roll please) SMALL! I understand that every coffee shop use different sized cups, but when three cups are placed in size order and it's still a mystery as to which size is which? Fail! This is not rocket science people. (It also gets me when people come in as ask what kind of food we serve, when the store is covered, wall to wall, with BIG COLORFUL menus)

It finally occurred to me the other day that most people's jobs do not require them to do such fundamental tasks, such as sort out things by size (or maybe they do and everyone's an idiot). Most jobs require us to analyze texts or current events or race around a busy office space doing relatively complicated tasks. We're wired to be capable of doing some of the most complicated things on a regular basis that we simply forget about the most basic things, especially when they are right in front of us. Does knowing this make failing to compute simple tasks okay? That's up to you to decide.

Responsible Procreation?

I know plenty has been said about the Prop. 8 and the legal battle appealing it, but I have to get my punches in, just like everyone else. I am very much a supporter of same-sex unions (don't get me started on issues of civil rights). I don't care who or what you love- if you want to get married nothing should stop you. Yesterday I read a brief article on sfgate.com. The article discussed nothing new, at least for me. But one of the last paragraphs really annoyed me.

"In documents filed Monday morning, ban backers argued that gay marriages would harm the state's interest in promoting responsible procreation through heterosexual marriage."
(Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/08/16/national/a102638D80.DTL#ixzz0wt0BDbbW)

Responsible procreation? First off, I thought this legal battle was over whether or not same-sex couples can legally marry. When did childbirth come into the picture and why? What I found most interesting about this statement was that supporters of Prop. 8 assume that if a couple (straight or gay) is to get married that they are going to have have kids. How many straight married couples DON'T have kids? How many couples even want to have kids? How many couples have kids out of wedlock? How many single parents are out there recieving social services from the state because they spouse can't help? Is the Octamom a good example of responsible procreation? HELL NO! Backers of Prop. 8 are desperate for any argument, even if it doesn't entirely apply to whether or not same-sex couples can or cannot get married. Marriage does not always lead to children.

Also, isn't our planet over populated as it is? We should be adopting children. Think about all the kids in orphanages and foster homes because of heterosexual couples who 'responsibly procreated' but then couldn't be responsible enough to take care of the kid.

Also, today the Federal Gov't decided to put another hold hold on same-sex marriages. The sad part about all this is that those who don't want gays and lesbians to wed probably never have to interact with them on a daily basis. This religious moral oppression is ridiculous and makes no sense.

I think it's insane that there are those out there that feel the need to make laws on private/personal issues: suicide, sexual preference, marriage, etc. Whatever you do behind close doors is your own thing. For people to bring private issues into the public is something that shouldn't be. Those who oppose these types of private issues are so morally sterile and brainwashed that they believe it's their job to bring privacy into the public spot light when these issues do no always need to (I do support forms of social services to deal with issues, but laws banning them, nope). It doesn't matter if you're straight or homosexual. If you're a good person, that's all that matters. Then again, I guess one could argue what 'good' means. Fuck it. Sorry for the rant.

David Byrne wants a turkey sandwich

So David Byrne didn't actually come into my work, but I had a quick day dream that he did. Coincidentally I was listening to the Talking Head's album 'More Songs About Buildings and Food' while this took place. It's nothing profound, but I do think it's kinda funny. Here's what went down...

It's the morning shift at my job, Toy Boat, and I'm cutting up some tomatoes. I think the song 'Thank you for sending me and angel' was playing, and all of the sudden I hear this voice, "Hi," the voice says in a soft, subtly drawn out tone. I know that voice. Who doesn't, right?
I turn around and it's HIM! David Byrne of the Talking Heads, and he's wearing the giant suit! No one else is in the store, except for Bob. Bob is sitting by the window sipping a cup of coffee and staring at Mr. Byrne in his suit.
"Hey," is all I could say. That was all I could say to David FREAKIN' Byrne of the Talking Heads! "How can I help you?" didn't cross my mind.
"I'd like something to eat," He said. His entire body is motionless, except for his lips. "Can I get a turkey sandwich?"
"Sure, David Byrne." My hands start staggering around the sandwich station. Here I am, making David Byrne a sandwich, I don't even know what he likes on his sandwich, but I keep making this sandwich while he's standing almost lifeless (almost like the giant from Twin Peaks) on the other side of the counter. I wonder why he isn't sitting down. I don't care to ask. The guy could have come behind the counter and made his own sandwich and I wouldn't have stopped him. I decided to put only lettuce, tomato and mayo on the turkey sandwich. I figured it would be simple enough. "Your sandwich is ready."
"Thank you. Thank you very much. I've been looking forward to this all day." He stuck is hands out to grab the plate. The giant suit made his hands look small, smaller than usual. Maybe he has really small hands, I don't know. This was the first time I'd ever seen him in person. He turns around and sits right next to Bob, who looks up at this guy in a giant suit, and wants nothing to do with him.
"Time to hit up the park," Bob chuckles.
So there I am, alone in the store, and David Byrne is eating a sandwich I made for him. The store is silent now. I turn off the music and rushed to put something else on. David Byrne picks up the sandwich and takes a bite....

And that's all I remember folks. Coincidentally Joshua Smith (who's played in Drunk Horse, The Fucking Champs and Weakling) actually came into the store. I sold him tea and a pastry.