Stop Me If...

Go ahead. Click here. But don't blame me.

Gotta admit the McCoy and broccoli jokes got me going.

Junk Thief TV - Season Three Finale

On the Set

It's been a short season, but we hope to make it up with a star-studded finale that is close to wrapping up. If all goes well, it may premier this weekend. People get ready.

What Is It About Being a Baby?

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

I'd not been over to Manbabbies in a while. I had no idea they'd added video elements. So juvenile yet also advanced. And now I am feeling all weird about my reactions to babies with stubble.

What We're Seeing in the Mission

Today at the Carnaval Parade

Bow Is Starting the Long Weekend Early

What We're Seeing in the Mission

All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast

I think every adult should read at least one children's book a year. With each advancing decade, I'd add one more book a year. I've been pretty much on that course, but none have grabbed me much since 2007's The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Last night Friendatella and I treated Jim of The Blue Elephant to a birthday dinner at Aperto up on Potrero Hill. Afterward, we strolled into Christopher's Books -- a really sweet or pretentious independent bookstore, depending on your mood or world view. (I fall into the former camp.) I've always grabbed a book or two when I walk in, sometimes wondering if I should have ordered it off Amazon and saved a few dollars, but I've never regretted a purchase there. Last night was no exception.

They were playing tunes by tunes by Bill Callahan/(SMOG) who could be defined as deeply moving or pretentious depending on your world view. (I fall into the former camp.) I'd noted on our way to dinner the book on the right, and hearing and feeling Bill's free form monotone drone and (I feared) the influence of two glasses of pinot grigio, I immediately purchased The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen. Unlike The Invention of Hugo Cabret, it's not really a graphic novel but has tons of graphic sidebars. It tells the tale of a 12-year-old prodigy from Divide, Montana, who hops the rails to accept a prestigious award from the Smithsonian and makes more than visceral discoveries on his journey. It's sort of a pre-teen On the Road and Candide as if furnished by Paxton Gate with a little influence from the ghost of Andrew Wyeth and then posted on Facebook.

After dinner, Jim took us on a tour of his old neighborhood, showing us a gorgeous house that has sat vacant for years, the scene of a murder where a wonderful, creative couple were tortured and then killed by an acquaintance from down the street. It was a disturbing coda to a pleasant night, and reason to take stock of treasures and loved ones needing protection and to be open but wary of strangers knocking at the door.

Now I Know What Nothing Means, But I Keep On Playing

Other good ones:

"I've got a hand full of aces, but I don't know what the game is."

"If I wanted to read my mail, I wouldn't have moved."

坂本龍一!

YMO is reuniting!

* Yellow Magic Orchestra
* ムーンライダーズ
* スチャダラパー
* Chara
* LOVE PSYCHEDELICO
* pupa
* Y.Sunahara
* ASA-CHANG&巡礼
* グラノーラ・ボーイズ
* mi-gu
* コトリンゴ
* 相対性理論
* and more...

* ブロック指定 ￥8,500(税込)
* 小学生 ￥1,050(税込)
* 親子チケット(大人1名・子供1名) ￥9,000(税込)
* ※チケットはすべてレジャーシート付
* ※未就学児童無料

チケット発売日
5月31日(日) AM10:00〜
チケット料金

* ブロック指定 ￥8,500(税込)
* 小学生 ￥1,050(税込)
* 親子チケット(大人1名・子供1名) ￥9,000(税込)
* ※チケットはすべてレジャーシート付
* ※未就学児童無料


チケット発売日
5月31日(日) AM10:00〜
チケット料金

* ブロック指定 ￥8,500(税込)
* 小学生 ￥1,050(税込)
* 親子チケット(大人1名・子供1名) ￥9,000(税込)
* ※チケットはすべてレジャーシート付
* ※未就学児童無料

Escorting the Russian Bears

Some of you have followed with great interest the saga of our household improvements over the past nine months. January's delivery of a new refrigerator had a sequel with today's delivery. This morning, I was greeted by a pair of sleek and stout Russian delivery boys who installed my sleek and stout new range. It replaces the wretched little Crosley that those cheapo developers left me when I bought this place 12 years ago.

These Russian dudes were probably in diapers when the Berlin Wall fell and were cordial but intriguingly cocky. When I pointed them towards the kitchen, the lead delivery guy raised his eye brows and asked, "Could you escort me there?" I was tempted to ask him to clutch his bear claw at my elbow, but I thought that might be pushing my luck. When I saw his pushing the range forward repeatedly at his waist while grunting in Russian, I had to leave the room.

It took barely 10 minutes to be all set up, and I hope some of my culinary-inclined blogger friends might volunteer to come teach me all the wondrous potential of this new tool.

Meanwhile, Bow is trying to wrap her mind around the accompanying miniature version of the kitchen.

I Made This Today

Celebrities I Met As a Child, # 7

Which Has the Most Joy? Denmark-Sweden-Finland-Norway?

Oh, yes, Norway won Eurovision today, but my money is on Sweden, a nation that produced the tripe that is ABBA but also Monica Zetterlund, Zara Leander, Bergman, IKEA and Stina Nordenstam

Let's Bring Shiina Ringo to Yoshi's -- NOW!!!

Will that Madonna creature or the Britney menace ever be 10th as cool as Shiina Ringo? No!!! Let's fund her trip to San Francisco now and have her lead the fight to preserve the sterile concrete, air-conditioned malls at Geary and Fillmore. Otherwise they will be filled with Banana Republics, Pottery Barns and condos. Where else can I buy erasures shaped like sushi and three inch high refrigerators?

My Adventures in Japantown de San Jose

Now I can say that I've been to every Japantown in the United States, and I've been two 2/3rds of them during the course of less than 24 hours. This week, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a very offensive and biased article (and they wonder why the paper is on the verge of collapse) about our Japantown, one of my favorite parts of the city. It had statements on the order of "Collectively, however, the malls feel overstuffed and redundant." Overstuffed and redundant is a description that could be applied to Asia in general and Tokyo in particular, or at least to those of such a narrow world view.

Part of what I love about San Francisco's Japantown is that it feels like it is in something of a time warp, a glorious concrete fortress where I feel so safe and able to venture into its somewhat dated but cozy maze of malls, sushi joints, video stores, Sanrio joints, incense emporiums and overpriced stationary stores. I love walking down the stationary escalator at Soko Hardware and discovering great bargains and one of the best selections of drawer pulls and knobs in the city. Forget the Castro or Union Street, this is my idea of Main Street by the Bay.

Having explored the Japantown of my hometown and L.A's I did garner one bit of insight from the Chronicle article: There is a Japantown in San Jose, just north of San Jose State and downtown. San Jose is one of those places that I dismiss as being on the order of tofu, Muzak and wallpaper - possibly necessary but not worth taking time to give notice to. But every time I explore more, I am pleasantly surprised. Today's jaunt (in three digit heat!) proved that adage is well founded. There are no malls here, and the place has the village feel of many of the endless parade of Peninsula suburbs. I especially liked the abundance of ukulele related shops and posters. The stores were dusty with elderly proprietors standing guard suspiciously as I eyed their overpriced goods. I came away with only a DIY golden pavilion, that I look forward to assembling tomorrow morning after coffee, The Times and Bow's walk.
Now, I need to write a letter to the editor for the Chronicle to protest that offensive article that felt like ammunition to build some generic Santana Row style condo/Pottery Barn/IKEA combo at Geary and Fillmore.

Live Crab, Live Yoshida

Had great fun tonight at Yoshi's with Bryce Digdug. We had live crab that fortunately stayed on the plate and did not stoll around, and then we saw the Yoshida Brothers' show. Very appropriately Japanese, they started at precisely 10 p.m., opening with Radiohead's "The National Anthem" from their new album Prism. (As they said about the disc, "Go check it out." I don't think they meant to check it out from the library.) It has some great songs, and they are fortunately shifting away from heavy electronic accompaniment to more purely acoustic sounds.

Dressed in traditional matching robes and clogs, they put on a hell of a show. They also had a hip, resourceful percussionist who was dressed in very contemporary garb. They may be bros but have very different hairstyles Ken'ichi has really great spikey tsunami waves on his head, and little brother Ryōichirō has a gorgeous mane of perfectly coiffed locks with a deep henna rinse. Surely he must travel with a hairdresser, not that I'm implying anything.

They both had some incredible facial expression and grunts as their fingers took their Japanese banjos into hemispheres not of this planet. I must admit that I thought more than once about their nimble fingers exploring more than a stringed instrument.

I'm sure that two boys sittin' and pickin' and grinnin' and plucking their shamisens for 90 minutes is not everyone's idea of a fun Friday night, but it was pretty great in my book. And, having arrived early, I managed to pick up a great mini-kitchen set at Kinokuniya across the street before the dinner/concert.

On the Set

More Thin Ice

The Gregory brothers and Auto-tuned News become more addictive. I can't get enough of the thin ice line at the end.

On the Set

Junk Thief/Union Square/San Francisco/January 1996

Discuss among yourselves.

This Is How We'll Get Out of the Financial Crisis

This is also why I keep more money at BoA than at Wells Fargo. I need to order my new checks and check card today. You can too.

Tiny Bites

On the Set

Sittin' Around, Hangin' Out, Doin' Our Thang

To learn more

www.reacjapan.com

or

Chamalyn where Mae claims the balloon couch I bought is one of only three on the face of the planet. (Oh, and be sure to watch your step as you return to 19th Street.)

What We're Seeing in the Mission

Train Will Not Stop

UPDATE: About 10 seconds after posting this non-threatening BART train photo, news of this accident in Boston hit. I've always been phobic about the underground trains in central Boston and the fact that they and the platforms are on the same level. I always cower in the corner until my train comes, and don't approach until I know it's fully stopped. I'm also never convinced that my plane is going to land at SFO until I actually see the runway and not just the water of the Bay on both sides of the plane.

What We're Seeing on Polk Street

Princess Bow Sez...

...Happy Friday everyone. Enjoy Mom's Day.

May the Turreted Cadillac Bless You

Running into the turreted Cadillac is always a sign of infinite blessing in my book. So I felt passing it near 22nd and Shotwell on my way to dinner with Friendatella to be a good sign. As Allan at Mission Mission reported last month, it has been recently vandalized, and the back end seems to have been cut out to have an open bed, radically different from my shot of it back in February, below.

Anyone know the story?

What We're Seeing in the Mission

Replaying Favorites

Cinco de Mayo, the day the World Health Organization liberated Mexico from the swine flu. Thought I'd share last year's video tribute.

A Ripping Good Date

She Looks Beautifully at the Camera Too

There is a wealth of this pre-Songs to a Seagull stuff out there waiting to be released.

Love Song to the Monster

Sunday evenings are made for special things like transferring your favorite Dory Previn LPs to MP3s and discovering this wonderful site dedicated to her. A woman who wrote the lyrics to the tunes in Valley of the Dolls and one of Liza Minnelli's first films and lost her husband to Mia Farrow when she'd tired of Frank Sinatra can do no harm in my book. Back in the day, I thought she was a tad too neurotic. Today she sounds like the rare voice of reason in the sea of madness.

On the Set

Junk Thief TV, the next generation. (Embiggen image to experience the full madness.) Coming soon (or later). People...get ready