Autumn Souvenir

A short review of Friday nights Wilco show at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley will be up soon. In the meantime, check out this gem:

I disagree with the electoral college and firmly believe that the presidency should be handed to the winner of the popular vote. However, if this were to change, it needs to change NATIONALLY and not on a state-by-state basis. As you will see in the following article, there is a ballot initiative to have the Electoral College votes in the 2008 presidential election divided by districts. Forget about this happening, even if it DOES make the ballot, democrats are going to have to waste millions fighting this. THIS CORRUPTION MUST STOP! I e-mailed our governor tonight; I hope that you will do the same. Like the 49 other states, let the winner of California take ALL electoral votes. If this even makes the ballot, my residency in the great state of California will likely come to an end. http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2007/08/republican_move.html

Some nights just turn out perfectly. At about 545pm tonight, I was just about to turn off my computer at work, when I figured I'd check e-mail one more time. New message. From Craigslist. A girl named Jessica had an extra ticket for Daniel Johnston and was offering at face value. I replied immediately. For the next 30 minutes I sat starting at my phone. It finally rang and we decided to meet outside Bimbos at 830. Wow. I arrived at Bimbos with my digital SLR in hand. I figured it was a longshot, and I was just going to ask the bouncer, to avoid the possibility of having it taken away from me during the show (my Nikon D80 is like a member of my family....I can NOT leave it at coat check). The bouncer was really nice, but said nope. He told me to leave it at coach check since leaving it in the car could be risky. I felt more comfortable leaving it in my car. I took about five steps and the gentleman tugged at my shirt. "Promise to keep the flash off?" I was in. I watched th...

At the very last minute, a kind person hit me via Craigslist and offered a ticket at face value. In about 90 minutes I'll be seeing Daniel Johnston for the first time. Something tells me that this is going to be a special show. Report later.

Somehow these two seem tied to each other. MENDOCINO Noreen and I took a day/night trip up to Mendocino. The four-plus hour drive up there on Sunday was outstanding (though eclipsed by the return trip). The weather was sweet, the scenery on 101 into 128 into 1 was breathtaking. Almost the entire 160 or so miles was amazing. We headed over the Golden Gate and into the long stretch of 101. When we hit 128 we were met with trees that seemed to create short tunnels. The trees that hovered over the car and shot up into the sky were gorgeous. It's a cliche, but it made me think of the environment. It helped me to understand the true need to preserve such beautiful places. When we arrived in Mendocino, we were greeted by the kind manager of the bed & breakfast and admired our room. We then trotted into town for massages. Hers was great, mine was a bit on the rough side. There were many comedy gold moments. Dinner was as good as one could imagine. We got back to the room and listened t...