Neil

It has a very limited window, however.
Maybe y'all can use it on the way to work Tuesday. :)

According to this page (where I arrived from davidbowie.com), the Space Oddity EP is available as of today, and it is available in Canada. However, when I click the blue "Buy it on iTunes" button, iTunes gives me an error saying "Sorry, this item is not available in Canada."

Huh?

Good Day Sunshine. A mellow lowkey domesticky weekend, helped along in its lowkeyness by my coming down with an annoying but blessedly very minor cold - judd a duffed-ub doze, nuddig else. Still, the weather was glorious compared to the last few weeks (esp. weekends) of brrcold and gloom - we were at last able to open up the doors & windows, air the dacha a bit, and wander in the warm sunshine, so I assaulted the long-neglected backyard yesterday afternoon in a weeding/mowing/edge-trimming frenzy. A bit of nerves that, as a newly-minted asthmatic with a cold and all, I'd DIE or something, but attempts at guilting the husband into doing absolutely everything for me didn't quite work, so out I went.

Other than that, we just lolled around the dacha and strolled about Balmain (Centre of the Universe). Found a lovely new cafe further up Darling Street than the usual nearby stretch of road we patronise, and nosed around the Rozelle Open Market (knick knacks! bibelots! utter junk!) until the less-enamoured-of-such-markets nverzeanu got sulky and we split. I was about ready, anyway - the crowds were a bit claustrophobic, and my interest in purchasing a stuffed and mounted kangaroo head for the office was met with spousal sighs and rolled eyes, so my thwarted hunter-gatherer instincts (as channeled through a flea market) opted to return to the cave (dacha) and sprawl in post-hunt languor.
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A Minuet To Live, A Second Symphony To Die. Now that I'm flat-footed, asthmatic, and old, I might as well continue getting into classical music. I seem to be following a path unnervingly close to Schroeder, who in an early Peanuts strip mused that whilst he loved Beethoven, sometimes wondered if he like Brahms better - then clutched his face and shuddered, "what am I SAYING??" I seem to have fallen absolutely in love with Brahms' String Sextet No. 1 - spooky and claustrophobic "civilisation contemplating its doom" middle-Europe-sounding, without being "ooh-the-Slavs" trendy (yes, for a while there we Slavs were the cool-to-identify-with hip oppressed race; ahhh, those were the days - I could've had groupies). Luckily Nick likes it a lot too, since I've been playing it about as much as I keep putting on the ol' Loodvig vaan (with a break last night for The Raveonettes for a little while ... lush feedback goes great with Brahms and Beethoven, I've discovered). So, anyway, um ... blah blah blah kulcha.

Oh, we also watched the original To Be Or Not To Be last night. Very funny, surprisingly undated in its humour for a comedy floating around World War II and patriotic freedom fighting and ha-ha-Hitler and wotnot. And anyway, some nights nothing but an old b&w comedy will do.
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Da, Da, Dacha. Our fence is at long-last whole again, as opposed to full of holes. The over-the-crumbling-fence neighbour (well, owner, he rents out the house) is a bit of a handyman and DIY'd it into one piece again after a few months of its crumbling into bits. Hopefully this'll hold for a while.

Also, had a visit from an old neighbour of Nick's who is now a posho architect - we're paying him to measure the dacha a bit and give us some ideas for a remodeling job in the back. At least move the intrusive stairwell off to the side, if possible, and maybe put a tiny bathroom upstairs in the bedroom lofty bit. He started voicing options for the backyard that got me nervous - too much of the lawn area bitten out for my tastes - we'll see if/when any time comes for any Yuri Vs The Landscapers duels. But I'm sure all will be planned and plotted out well.
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I Am Old And Seeing Doctors An Awful Lot. Tomorrow I return to Dr Handsome for a follow-up and what-next appointment re: my probable asthma. Allergy tests and such will be done, I suppose. I know stress brings it on ... dunno what else triggers it; I've been around cats and plants and dirt and urban dust for decades with little or no throatclutchings and dramatic wheezings. Maybe it's Kylie Minogue. Or Nicole Kidman. Proximity to them is what does it. Bloody toxins! I dunno. We'll find out.

a nicely written piece from one of the two attorneys who filed the big federal lawsuit against prop 8.

http://www.hersbandandwife.com/blog/2009/07/19/2010/

( since that server seems to be having some issues right now, i've included the text behind this cut as well... )

I had a great Colorado weekend. After work on Friday, some friends called and asked us out to dinner at Carrabas for Italian. We get there, and the Sangria is already flowing. I didn't know it was what I needed at the end of a long week, but it turned out to be just the thing. We had a really cute woofie little cub waiter, which was documented at the time on Twitter. It was a good hour and a half chatting around the table, which is always nice.

Saturday, we ran some errands in the morning, costco, etc. and then swung down to So. Denver and picked up our friend Danny. We headed off to the Mile High Music Festival, which is at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. I kid you not on the name. Dick's park is where the Colorado Rapids soccer team play. The concert was on the outdoor fields, but they had the park open as well for the concession stands.

Mile High was a lot smaller than the festivals I've been to. Still some good vendors and pretty much standard stage set ups and tents as other festivals. It had two big stages, two tents, and one side stage, which is the same number of stages as Coachella. There were lots of empty stages and they were rather close together, as the whole thing only spanned a few soccer fields. We saw a bit of Ani DiFranco, walked around, got a good spot for big head Todd and the Monsters, and then saw Incubus. I've been wanting to see them for years. The set list was:

Privilage
Pardon Me
Nice to Know You
Anna Molly
Stellar
Megalomaniac
Love Hurts
Drive (Accoustic)
Dig (Accoustic)
Circles
A Certain Shade of Green
Oil and Water
Kiss to send us off
Punch Drunk
Wish You Were Here
Let's Go Crazy (Prince Cover)



Incubus played for an hour and a half, which was really nice, because a lot of festival sets are only 50 minutes. Lets go Crazy was INCREDIBLE. I was hoping to hear Are you In? and Warning as well, but I love a well done cover song.

Pros to Mile high: Having lots of free stations to fill your water (it was over 100 last year)
Lots of WiFi and mobile cell booster sites. At no point did I have trouble getting a signal.
Lots of great merch an vendors.
It was also a really green festival, with reusable water bottles and lots of recycling areas to be found.
Bud was also tossing out free ice cold towels, which was nice.

Cons: Bad layout. The tents were too close to the stages. They could have cut one of the tents completely.
Lacking line up. Guster was the only band playing Sunday I would have liked to have seen. Widespread Panic played both Saturday and Sunday, and they were headlining Sunday. They were touting Tool's first gig since 2007, but that wasn't long ago, and that was at Coachella, who pulled out Paul McCartney this year. Catch up!
They could have easily fit 4 more bands each day into the line up.
Tickets were not cheap. Being $5 less a day than Coachella, they had about 1/3 the number of bands.
The biggest con though was the filming. They had a steady cam person on stage, and in front, a dolly cam in front of each stage (to the left on the East Stage, the right on the west) and a crane camera IN THE CROWD. The camera was blocking the views of hundreds of participants. While I'm down with them rebroadcasting the event, it should not be at the expense of those attending. We were right in front of the crane camera for Incubus and there where times where I could not see Brandon because it was zooming this way and that, getting annoying crowd shots. If you want to film it and sell the footage for big bucks, then my ticket should be closer to $20, instead of the $90 I paid.

Sunday Morning after sleeping in, we headed of to the waterpark at Elitch again. It was really warm driving down there, and the wind kicked up in the afternoon. One of the bigger slides was closed as they were having an issue with the water pressure, so on the way out we stopped at guest relations, getting $20 in Elitch bucks. I don't normally complain, but it was nice to basically get our parking and locker comped, making it a free day at the park.

We stopped at BD's Mongolian BBQ for lunch, a favorite spot when we are in LoDo. After a quick nap and shower at home we headed off to a BBQ at our friend Mike's house for his Birthday. About 30 friends were in attendance and there was good food and catching up to be had. Very relaxing Sunday afternoon. We left around Sundown and came home to catch up on TiVo. Heading to bed now. Great weekend.

Defrost 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and 4 thighs in the microwave. Cut into bite size pieces and saute in 3 Tbs. olive oil. Add 3 cut-up spicy smoked sausage and brown. Add 1 onion, 1 green pepper and a couple of stalks celery (I was out of celery, so I used celery salt instead of regular salt when seasoning). Cook for 5 minutes, then add a mixture of cayenne, white and black pepper, dried thyme, rubbed sage, salt, minced garlic and a couple of bay leaves. Add 1 cup tomato sauce, 2 cups chopped tomato, 3 cups raw brown rice and 6 cups chicken stock. Place in 350° oven and bake uncovered for 2 hours or until liquid is almost all absorbed and rice is tender. Stir and let rest 10 minutes. Delicious, and even better the next day.

I made this tonight for dinner and was pronounced the best husband ever.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davelawrence8/3663647101/sizes/o/

!!!Most Important Lux Killmore Event Ever!!!</big>



FEED

-- a FUN-draiser for LuxKillmore Entertainment --



On July 30th Dottie Lux, Val Killmore, Keptone Filmz and friends present FEED – a FUN-draiser. The good time is going down at The Climate Theater, which regularly has performances, art showings and parties. And for a good cause too! Read on...

Lux Killmore Entertainment (Terror of Titty Town, Buxotic Beauty Murders, Lost Weenders) team up with Keptone Filmz (Interstate, The Other End Of The Line) to develop their short film, Cannibal Love Lust into a feature film, now called FEED. All monies raised at this event will feed FEED. Production begins this fall, so we need to get cooking on raising some much needed dough!



FEED is a savory, sensual, slasher, love story about Chef Ronnie, a charming celebrity chef who thrives and shines in her everyday life as owner and proprietor of , La Pica Diabla, a trendy Spanish tapas restaurant and bar in San Francisco. Chef Ronnie cooks internationally award-winning meals by day and her nights are spent in ways too gruesome to fathom. In her secret life, Ronnie, is a cannibal serial killer who murders a variety of people, from her disposable array of amorous and clueless lovers, former employees and the occasional diners. As Chef Ronnie and La Pica Diabla's reputation get hot in all of San Francisco's social and top food circles; so does San Francisco's murder count. Being haunted by her past, in the form a vengeful lover, and being caught in the seductive cross fire of a increasingly serious relationship; Chef Ronnie has bit off more than she can chew.

"FEED" is a fully LGBT film. All the characters are homo or trans and our killer...A LESBIAN. Name one movie (besides vampire flicks) where the killer is a lesbian. Still can't think of one? That's because it's an entirely untapped market. Lux Killmore wants to bring you the first and the best. Let's pave the way together! Come for the fantastic fun evening that will leave you plump and juicy, full of warm, savory goodness: DJs, dancing, burlesque performances, a silent art auction, delicious baked goods sale and a FULL BAR! We need to raise $10,000 for tape stock and camera rental, so come with an appetite (and a full wallet).

When: Thursday, July 30th. 7pm - Midnight.

Where: The Climate Theater, http://www.climatetheater.com/ , 285 Ninth Street @ Folsom, SF

How much: $10 regular entry. $25 VIP entry. Please inquire about the VIP ticket package.

Why: to raise funds to help LuxKillmore Entertainment make the feature-length film, FEED
FULL BAR
21+ Only

Raffle Prizes, Art Auction, Bake Sale, Burlesque, Films, DJs Ace from Ace Reality Check TV and Ruby White (burlesque babe and vinyl vixen) for a special 60’s dance party



Some of the performers include:
Kellita (Hot Pink Feathers), Dottie Lux (Red Hots Burlesque, School of Shimmy), Lady Monster (Satan’s Angel’s protégé, Leonard Nimoy’s model), Kentucky Fried Woman (The Kentucky Fried Woman Show), Steven Satyricon (Pearls Over Shanghai), Delilah (world-wide burlesque performer), Kitty Von Quimm (Rubenesque Burlesque), Bunny Pistol (Barbary Coast Burlesque), Honey Lawless (Best Performer finalist for the East Bay Express Reader's Poll 2009), Lady Satan (Sugar Shack), Citty Rich (Hubba Hubba Revue) and Recent School of Shimmy Graduates: Bunny Bardot, Trixie La Tourneau, Bitter Waitress And More More More!

Raffle Donations include:
Dollhouse Bettie gift basket, Good Vibrations gift basket, Cut & Color by Rosa Sifuentes, Tattoo by Angelique, Last Gasp Books package, Guitar Lesson, Sound Therapy session from Sound Music, Signed Larry Utley Book "Women in Control", Kitten on The Keys Merchandise and donation from Hubba Hubba Revue

Original Art For Auction:
Joshua Ellingson painting, Leland Bobbe's photo of The Ramones playing live at CBGB's in 1975 Larry Utley print, Jessica Whiteside painting, Personalized Comic Book cover as you as one of Ronnie's victims by Eric Siry and more from artists coast to coast!

For more information please contact Dottie & Val at: feedthefundraiser@gmail.com

"next up for these studs is the erection."

The garbagemunicipal employee strike continues into week five. Last week, the city published their latest offer. The union rejected it (of course) but were also all scandalised that the city had made the details of the offer publicly known. Commentators have called the publication "tacky", amongst other adjectives, but I haven't heard or read any cogent reason why the city shouldn't have published the details of their offer. I've thought about it, and I really don't agree they were wrong to do so. The union (leaders) say the publication shows the city's bad faith. How? The worst possible motive would be for the city to turn public opinion against the union. As far as I can tell, public opinion is already plenty well against the union, publication or no publication. That's what tends to happen when the public has to slog through garbage for a month!
And the union (members) probably aren't endearing themselves to the public by having highly visible cookouts and chit-chatting in lounge chairs with their placards propped against nearby overflowing trash bins, either. So…what's the trouble? Am I missing some crucial piece of the puzzle? These are public employees. Their union is CUPE, the Consolidated Union of Public Employees. They're paid out of tax revenue. Why on earth shouldn't the details of the offer be public? I have to think more transparency is better than less. Come to think of it, perhaps if the negotiations were fully televised live, progress would be faster and the overheated propaganda would simmer down.

Kendig and then Chuck.

Spreading the Detroit flavor in San Francisco. This was taken at the end of the night. The fellow in the middle (with the word BOY on his shirt) had a birthday party for himself called SMACK!. It was a great party! Everyone in this photo is from Michigan. Thanks to Raya Light who took the picture for me. Jason Kendig and Chuck Hampton both played amazing sets that had the crowd on the dance floor the entire night.

Where in the city can I buy China Glaze brand nail polish? Pure Beauty doesn't have them. I know I can get some at Ulta in Tanforan, but I don't wanna drive.

... if you're a woman.

san francisco is 6th.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/archives/173897.asp

So I was driving qbear to work this morning and we pass one of those purple jacaranda trees, which we always associate with Los Angeles and southern California, not San Francisco.

"Look, it's a jacaranda," Jack says. "You don't see them around here too often."

"Yeah, they're pretty rare," I replied. "Oh wait, there's two more ... and there's another one ..."

"Just goes to show you," Jack said, "you make a generalization, and the universe shows you up for being a smartypants."

Click for a (much) larger version in a new window: