Tuesday, November 27, 2007

No. 1

I tried to call God on his cell phone today. Someone left the number on the bathroom wall. "For a good time call God." Only I did, and God wasn't there, and the guy who answered didn't seem interested in my problems at all.

Friday, November 23, 2007

On metal and coporate America.

So, I may be reliving my high school years by totally digging Wolfmother and High On Fire. Does this mean I'm a metal head? Probably. But both bands are so good. Wolfmother has this whole Black Sabbath jazzy deal going on (with hints of Blue Meanies, for those who know), while High On Fire is just good ole sraight-ahead rock n' roll ala Motorhead. But maybe I'm making that up.

There is something about a good power trio, yes.

***

On another note: I've got a new project for Fresno Famous. It goes like this: For one month I buy nothing from coporate chains. No Starbucks. No Barnes and Nobles. No Save Mart or Whole Foods or even Traders Joes. Everything has to be locally owned. And then I write about it. Or maybe blog about it during the process, with an indepth piece at the end, looking at what I learned. And why buying into mom and pops is good (or bad, as the case may be).

I got the idea from, "Independent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom and Pop,", which I saw on cable this weekend. It's a great look at how coporate America has changed the idea of "community," with an underlying emphasis on America's consumer culture, and how some cities are dealing with it. Very relevent to Fresno, where we love us some big-box chain stores. The bigger and chainier, the better.

Now, I'm not out to inditement big-box chain stores (although FUCK YOU Best Buy). I went to Starbucks this morning. I bought myself a bike pump at REI when I could have gone to Stevens Bicycles. But it will be interesting to see A.) If it's possible to live "off the chain-store" grid and B.) what affects it will have on my buying habits.

Monday, November 19, 2007

The Lower Case

Headlines from Columbia Journalism Review's The Lower Case:

Joint Chiefs head will be replaced
Some cities in Florida long overdue for hurricanes
Hearings to be held on Statue of Liberty's crown
Helping hurt children is reward enough
Slain woman uneasy about girl charged with her murder


This is the kind of stuff I find funny.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

The play is indeed the thing, isn't it?

Went to see "Childe Byron" at Severence on Friday.

So, a quick review: Started off a little weak. There were some acoustic problems with the venue (Severance School of Dance) and at times it seemed like the actors were speaking another language. But once I got over that, the story was good, the acting was fine. Overall, enjoyable, yes.

But here's the thing: Once upon a time, in my highschool days, I was all about the theater, did the whole highschool play thing (no, no musicals), visited the Shakespear festival in Oregon. I started my college career thinking I wanted to be an actor. Took a class or two (and was well recepted by my professors, I might add). Then I met Martin Paul and a bunch of guys from the Collegian and suddenly writing seemed a lot more...

Anyway, watching this play on Friday, I remembered what it was I liked about theater. How powerful it could be. How words, spoken words, can come together for something truly meaningful. You don't really get that feeling much from television or film all that often (if ever). But with theater, it's all right there.

I also was remined of the things I don't like about theater, but that has more to do with theater-ites, er...thesbians.

So, I want to write a play. Joe Meno wrote a play based on "The Boy Detective Fails". Or vice versa, I don't remember which.

If him, why not I?

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Busy body

I realized this week that I have a lot of shit going on. Like, a lot.
Here's the rundown.

Aikdio: Via Central Valley Aikido. That's three times a week.
Bowling: Via Team Fugly, once a week (Tuesdays). That's down from twice a week last year.
Art: Via The Rogue Festival, where I am co-writing and producing the play, "Shakespear's an Idiot."
Bettering the world: (or my corner of it anyway). Via Creative Fresno. I'm a board member and on the committee that's planning a music festival for October '08.
Music: Via It'll Grow Back (even without a drummer), WeWalkandDrive (which is just me mostly) and Big Balls (eventhough we don't play often).
Running: Via The Relay, a twelve-person 198 mile relay race from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. I get to run across the Golden Gate bridge in the moonlight (well, if there is moonlight that night).