August 27, 2008
Open and Close
12 Galaxies closes its doors tomorrow. The club was one of the better venues in the Mission according to my own rating system: there are plenty of places to be where you don't have to press your chest against someone's back; there's a mezzanine for standing around looking cool without being in the crowd; and they regularly hosted excellent local acts, including several of my friends.
12 Galaxies, as everyone knows, was named for Frank Chu, one of SF's favorite faces. Chu carries a sign which, when I first started seeing him around back in 99 or 00, said:
IMPEACH CLINTON
12 GALAXIES
GUILTIED [sic] INTO A
TECHNOTRONIC ROCKET SOCIETY
The sign changes regularly but the number of galaxies stays the same. Meanwhile, Chu, as I heard it, was welcome to have free drinks at the bar, and occasionally announced an act in a rambling and disjointed sort of way.
A moment of silence for the guiltied rocket society, fallen to the demands of poverty at last.
In other news, our very own city aquarium, the California Academy of Sciences, opens next month after some serious remodeling. It's not the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but it offers a nice variety of wildlife, dead and alive, and plenty of informational exhibits to bore your kids with. I just like to look at the fish and skulls and stuff. The Academy opens on September 27, and I think I will be spending my birthday there. Open invitation to anyone who wants to take October 17 off to join me.
Incidentally, Gene and I recently visited the Monterey Aquarium and Gene took some lovely pictures, which you'll find here.
Posted by didofoot at 08:02 AM | Comments (3)
August 26, 2008
Summer Camp
Girls learn about health, beauty at spa camp
Oh, the things that happen at summer camp - and what a camp Daron ran for tweens this summer in Marin: a 'spa campaign,' or beauty school that sought to teach girls about health and beauty from the inside out.
While other children were finishing sessions at tennis camp, science camp or Bible camp, a handful of girls in the affluent Marin County enclave - the daughters of financiers, engineers, consultants and the like - were learning about the benefits of footbaths with warm water, lavender and sea salt; honey, sea salt and ground ginger foot scrub; and foot massages with olive oil and avocado paste. Manicures followed on Tuesday, lessons on sunscreen on Wednesday, yoga and meditation on Thursday, and more massage treatments - for anyone the girls wanted to bring in and practice their new skills on - on Friday.
Girls who wished to stay for the second week of camp were treated to classes in Brazilian wax jobs. "Beauty comes from the inside out," said camp founder Daron, "and we need to get those hair follicles to come from the inside out." She added, "It's never too early to learn that your newly-grown pubic hair is repulsive to men."
"Remember, beauty comes from the inside out," Daron said, pushing back one camper's cuticles. "Wait, which one is the inside and which is the outside? I always forget."
Later, the girls made lo-cal s'mores and took turns ostracizing the least attractive members of the group.
This is not my summer camp.
Posted by didofoot at 08:48 AM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2008
Birthday at the JuJu
Gene and I attended Ian's birthday bash at the Lucky JuJu last night. This sounds like it might be a dive bar on 24th Street, but it's actually a pinball arcade in Alameda which Ian's lovely wife rented out for two whole hours of free play.
The games at the arcade range from old-school mechanical to the new electronic kind. I tried many eras, and I have to say that as much as I appreciate the old-school machines for their intriguing designs, the new ones are more fun to play. They make more booply noises and have more flashing lights and the flippers can really whack the ball. Many of the old machines were built with weak flippers, making it a game of skill instead of a game of working out frustration on an innocent ball. Anyone who has seen me up to bat in our baseball games knows which kind of game I prefer.
I don't generally think of Ian and his l. w. Tracy as being older than me, but now and then I'm reminded of it -- and not just because I am stuffing my face with a huge slice of fantastic vegan cake that says "40!" on it. At the arcade, Ian said a few things that made me realize he's just been on the planet longer than I have. For example, he knows which brand of pinball machine he likes and which he doesn't. It is amazing to me that anyone could live long enough that they have acquired likes and dislikes about pinball brands. At what age have you gotten all the big, important life questions sorted out so that you have brain space to spare for pinball preferences? I shake my head in awe.
("I think he's just indie," Gene says. But no. Old.)
If you're interested in playing some wicked fun pinball without losing all your laundry money, you can visit the L. JuJu on your own. Admission for adults is $10 and all the machines are set on free play. It will not be so fabulous as having Ian and Tracy there, but still pretty fabulous, and I recommend checking it out at your earliest opportunity. And make sure you try the Dracula game.
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Posted by didofoot at 08:51 AM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2008
Jumping the frog
Gene and I are heading for Calaveras County with my folks this weekend. We're all renting a cabin together, which will give the 'rents three uninterrupted days of carefully not mentioning marriage. It's good practice for them. I mean, whether we get married or not, there's only going to be a limited amount of time when they can talk about marriage, right? The few months we're engaged, the actual wedding day, and then what? Are they going to sit around after we're married, saying "So, when are you guys going to...stay married?" I think not. So you can see that these not-mentioning skills they'll build this weekend will be vital for them.
If the above paragraph smacks more of dread than anticipation, don't be fooled. I am very excited to spend three days in the mountains with three of my favorite people.
The first time Gene came to dinner at my house, when we were a freshman and sophomore in high school, I laughed so hard I nearly wet myself. I remember standing at the kitchen counter whipping cream while my folks and Gene sat in the dining room. They were making fun of me about something -- I think my inability to whip cream -- and I was in stitches. I am often impressed by how well Gene fits in with my laugh-a-minute family, but since that evening I've never really been surprised.
So bring on the lake boating, the rocks in the river, the wine on the balcony, the thick star pavilion, the nervous-making bats, the sunsets, the frog jumping contests, the bear figurines, the parents, the boyfriend and the rustic charm. Calaveras County, I am ready for you.
Photo by Lily.
Posted by didofoot at 08:04 AM | Comments (0)
August 19, 2008
Phone Home
Gene finally caved and bought an iPhone. So if you were betting that he'd hold onto his primeval Nokia phone held together with a rubber band forever, you owe someone some money.
Getting the iPhone means we're both on the AT&T network now, which means I, too, had to give up my primeval Nokia phone for something with a bit more flash. It's not that I want flash, exactly -- it's just tough to find the tin-can-and-string-era phones I've been using until now.
The whole process has been kind of surreal, actually. First, Gene is buying a new phone, and not just new to him, but NEW. To get it we had to actually go down to the AT&T store, where we also picked out my phone from the ten or so ordinary ones on offer.* I kept waiting for Gene to be weirded out by the situation -- after all, the selection is much wider if you're shopping at, say, the internet; plus, being followed around by a salesman has never been Gene's favorite thing -- but he gritted his teeth and stuck it out.
So now I have this flashy little number:
It's my first camera phone. Naturally, I'm taking it very seriously. I'd like to have some kind of a theme to my caller-ID pictures. But what? Everyone in masks? Everyone holding a sign saying who they are? I'm looking for ideas. And remember that you will probably be asked to engage in whatever photo behavior you suggest.
*I should mention, I could have gotten an iPhone also but for various reasons I don't want one.
Posted by didofoot at 08:29 AM | Comments (2)
