My weekend

[gordonzola]

I felt stupid when I finally realized why my neighborhood felt so deserted this weekend. It was ok though, I was in a quiet mood.

The demographic shift in Burning Man is noticeable at my workplace. 7-8 years ago, scheduling around this time was a real problem. Almost the entire bulk and package departments wanted to go. jactitation and I had a huge party planned for Labor Day weekend in 1987 and many invites were answered with a, "But that’s Burning Man…" whine. A few of my co-workers still go, but now it’s the customers who are preparing. You wouldn’t believe how many pallets of water we have to buy. At the cheese counter we get a lot of, "Are there any cheeses that can go without refrigeration?"

I had a date on Saturday, but she cancelled with a migraine. Instead, I went out to one of our local after-work bars (the only one not crowded on weekends) with my co-worker MacCabbage. We had a couple of drinks, gossiped about co-workers and discussed being single. We were eventually driven out by the bartender’s insistence on playing piano over the already-bad-enough music on the jukebox. He was not attempting to play with it, but rather he just ignored it, playing his own songs. Maybe he wanted to go home early.

On my way home I ran into The Punks at an art show at Needles and Pens . I managed to accidentally insult MRR, but I do that every couple of months so they must be used to it by now. Because they actually do have a sense of humor, I forget that it doesn’t extend to the State of the Punk Nation.* I bought the new book about Gilman St. for nostalgia’s sake. I apologized to one of the owners for ignoring her at a bar while hanging out with finalgirl and fightingwords.

Sunday I didn’t do anything except clean my room, watch a bad movie, and read LJ. I needed a day of doing nothing. I did make it to the store at one point, the Whole Foods on the corner of Haight and Fillmore (not to be confused with the chain, this is a corner health food store, the name dating from before Whole Foods was such a corporate giant). The incredibly friendly guy who used to run it now works with me, having to sell the business when his wife got ill. It’s depressing. Not the working with me part, but the how-on-edge-we-all-are-really part. He’s one of the most positive people I’ve ever met though, despite the adversity. The people working Sunday were uncommonly surly, one trying to tell the other about the movie "A Beautiful Mind" and the other talking over him saying, "I just don’t care to watch movies about child molesters." Hmmmmm.

I did buy tickets to see The Ex at Cafe Du Nord on 9/20 . the last time The Ex played the Bay Area when I was in town, I had to drive all the way to Palo Alto to see them open for Fugazi who they just blew away. And I like Fugazi. One of the best shows I ever saw was The Ex and Tribe 8 at Epicenter. It was so hot the paint was melting off the walls. I heartily recommend going to this show, or the one the next night at the Great American, if you like anything remotely loud, music wise. They’re a Dutch, anarchist, squatter band originally from the peace punk school, but so far beyond that it makes you wonder why all the other bands stagnated so much. The first album they recorded with cellist Tom Cora is one of my favorite albums ever. I’m sure magpiesf will chime in here, as he’s flying all the way to Amsterdam for their 25th anniversary show.

So what did you guys do?



*I wish I hadn’t lost my "Punk’s Dead. Give up." button. Of course, I am listening to Bad Brains as I type this.

Comments

it all boils down to naked people

[grapesoda.livejournal.com]

Everyone tells me that I'd love Burning Man but to me it sounds like hell on earth...and my parent's have pictures of thier half naked friends at Burning Man on the fridge.

My weekend isn't over yet. It's my sunday. I'm paying rent, and banking and going to the doctor and then the gym to sweat with the beautiful people today. Yesterday I walked around the lake with my friend who's dating my sous-chef as she told me all about how he sleep walks naked at night.

Re: it all boils down to naked people

[grapesoda.livejournal.com]

and I played a lot of pacman

Re: it all boils down to naked people

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

same for me. I have Sunday/Monday off. I'm doing laundry. and the landlord left the machine reset button unlocked so it's free!

[kittynitro.livejournal.com]

That Ex and Tom Cora album is one of my all-time favorites, too. I wish I'd known they were coming earlier- I remember seeing them at Epicenter and they were amazing. I'm already seeing Mark Salzman that night; I wonder if I could make a double-header out of it.

I love the deserted city during Burning Man. I have loved Burning Man, too. But there's something so nice about the dead time that happens here over the long weekend, after the hordes head out.

This weekend, I saw an awful play , I played in my garden, I worked a bit, and I officiated a wedding. At the reception, the guests ate this:

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

well, they're playing 9/21 at th Great American too. And that is a fabulous picture. I know it's early, but now I'm ready for lunch!

[kittynitro.livejournal.com]

Oh, good. I wasn't reading carefully. And I'm glad you like the picture. I try to spread the magic of pig carcass wherever I go.

crap, there goes the neighborhood

[chitinous.livejournal.com]

Wait, when did the Whole Foods get sold?
And please tell me Naked Eye is still open. Or at least Cafe International.

Re: crap, there goes the neighborhood

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

well, Whole foods was actually sold a couple years ago, but he sold it to his brother. then his brother sold it 6 months-a year ago. But really it's pretty much the same, just a weird night. Cafe international is still going strong and naked Eye is still limping along.

[magpiesf.livejournal.com]

yeah, scrabbling at the lock is a freaking great album, but finding a weak spot in their catalogue is a tough one... theyre one of those rare bands where i just like *everything* theyve ever done. ive got tickets to both shows, and im gonna be trying to convince everyone i can to go see them, especially now that it looks like the ex-curse ive been suffering under for years now will be lifted...

i SO hope i can actually make that anniversary show... i dont know how im gonna do it...

[walktheplank.livejournal.com]

Seriously, bring an extra $20 so you can pick up the Ex orchestra album (not available in the USA). And if the singles collection is out, you should grab that as well. Some of the best stuff they've ever done.

[magpiesf.livejournal.com]

i loaned that to him a while back. cant remember his review. i LOVE the ex orkest cd. love it love it love it. especially cause its almost all in dutch, and sometimes i can understand phrases! but it seriously rules. im pretty sure its fairly readily available here... i do see copies new in stores with regularity.

i sent them email with a list of "please bring these things in your merch boxes". namely that singles collection (which is out), the "beautiful frenzy" dvd, and the african releases on terp, which i cant seem to find here. so... much... great... music!

[susannochka.livejournal.com]

I bought some Västerbotten cheese for the first time. I'm about to have some with dinner.
(wow. here's a recipe for Västerbotten Ice Cream. scroll down. cloudberries? damn.)

I, too, love the quiet of Burning Man week in SF, but I didn't leave the house enough to notice. Rainbow sure was crowded enough.

[magpiesf.livejournal.com]

mm. cloudberries. even better than thimbleberries, and thimbleberries are damn good...

[rootlesscosmo.livejournal.com]

Are cloudberries the same thing as elderberries? Small (smaller than blueberries), purple, slightly tart flavor? I read someplace that you can get cloudberry brandy in Sweden--not grape brandy flavored with cloudberries but eau-de-vie distilled from the berries themselves, the way kirsch is distilled from cherries or framboise from raspberries. Sure sounds appealing.

[magpiesf.livejournal.com]

nope. cloudberries are kinda like salmonberries. (not helpful :) ) - raspberry/blackberry-esque, low-growing plant, kinda yellowy-red berries, but with the little segment bits (properly called "drupelets" - a drupe is a fruit with an internal seed. a drupelet - well, a small drupe :) ) being larger and less numerous - and in the case of both salmonberries and cloudberries, about the size and color of salmon eggs (not the dyed red super-huge fishing kind - think sushi).

pretty mellow flavor, some report it as somewhat apple-y. i cant put my finger on the taste exactly, but i do remember them being damn yummy!

[rootlesscosmo.livejournal.com]

OK, yes, I get drupelets. Where did you find them?

[magpiesf.livejournal.com]

family vacation years ago into northern british columbia. cloudberries (Rubus chamaemorus) is fairly well northern circumpolar in tundra-type regions (also at higher elevations. at lower lattitudes, youre more likely to run into salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), which is pretty damn close in appearrance and taste, i think. i think you can mail-order various cloudberry jams and decoctions online, though! :)

[freshwater-pr0n.livejournal.com]

I miss Burning Man week in SF. It's such a luxury to be able to eat brunch without waiting in line for a whole hour.

The whole summer is sort of like that in Austin. All the students are gone, so you can stretch out and breathe a bit.

[kest]

Everybody leaving tends to make me feel a bit odd. An awareness that I'm not One of the Tribe, or something. I want to have a party or something, but people who don't trek to burning man *certainly* wouldn't trek to the east bay. Perhaps I will just go pace the city restlessly.

ps: speaking of punk, you might be amused by my friend's van load of young miscreants.

[tragicmulatta.livejournal.com]

I had a date on Saturday, but she cancelled with a migraine.

Ha ha, you got the Not Tonight, Dear.

Not that my weekend was even that exciting...

best weekend ever

[hotelsamurai.livejournal.com]

This weekend my friend David came to town and I threw the first ever party since I moved into my new place.
That shit went OFF.
We painted up one of the walls outside my back patio, somewhat visible from the freeway. Turns out some of the graffiti artists who have pieces there are some pretty big shit.
The Ex sounds like a good show. I am definitely going to check that out.