The first thing I tend to think about when the phrase "Summer of Love" is uttered is music. Swirling, psychedelic, jammed out, fuzzed out, hippie-fied music. Then comes the tie-dye, the funny dancing, nudity, San Francisco... there will be plenty of TV specials, print and online columns (such as the San Francisco Chronicle series that ran in late May), and outdoor music festivals commemorating the 40th anniversary of the year that launched the youth of America into a downward spiral of risky sex, rampant drug abuse, bone-headed politics... um, I mean a spiritual awakening that gifted Western culture with an enlightened approach to the way we treat our environment and our souls.
So, one of the ways I will be commemorating the Summer of Love (along with attending the free Summer of Love 40th Anniversary concert in Golden Gate Park) is... (drum roll, please):
I will begin practicing yoga.
Actually, the truth is I've been feeling like my brain needs a different sort of workout than what it's currently getting, and I have a girlfriend who is a big proponent of the benefits of yoga. I was ready to do it, the right person convinced me, and what do you know, it also coincides with the 40th anniversary of the beginning of America's fascination with the spiritual exports of India.
The fascination really took hold when the Beatles made their famous trip to Rishikesh in early 1968 to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The Beach Boys' Mike Love was one of the other big rock stars on this trip, and he turned out to be one of the longest-lasting, most vocal practitioners of the Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation.
I remember reading many years ago about a marathon levitation session, or some other such activity that may have involved fasting and very little sleep, that Mike Love embarked upon back in 1988. He made this speech at the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony afterwards, preaching about love and harmony at the beginning and end. Something went kinda wrong in the middle though:
Dig Elton John at the end! He obviously knows how to levitate.
Mike Love still practices TM to this day, and still preaches the virtues of love. Or rather, he'd like us all to unleash the love.
I recommend that whatever you choose to unleash, please do so in the privacy of your own home. In the meantime, I'll content myself with some beginners Ashtanga yoga.
Peace!
Monday, July 9, 2007
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
13 excuses for the 13 day lapse
There's been a lapse here! I'd apologize but I have this gut feeling that tells me it really isn't necessary, unless I feel like being sorry for myself. Which I don't. It's the blog itself that could use some Metamucil right about now. But anyway...
Since I do feel compelled to get the literary lead out, or at least spew some text that's more indulgent than useful (useful? what's that?), let's have some fun here. Thirteen days of lapse? Let the excuses begin:
13. My band workshop was winding up, and finally wrapped with a performance last Thursday at the Red Devil Lounge. A more detailed run-down than I have the patience or time to write out at the moment can be found at my good friend and co-worker Julie's blog. Julie was also the keyboardist and one of three singers in the group, the other two being guitarist Djuna and myself. I sang lead on the Modest Mouse tune "The View" while also playing rhythm guitar parts and leads. I had never done anything like that before, so it really did make me a bit nervous. But I got through it. All those nights of practice, and the performance itself, hogged precious blogging time.
12. My grandmother died. Last Saturday, my mother called to tell me that my 85 year old Italian "Nonnie" was back in the hospital, this time with pneumonia. That night she was gone. It brought to an end five weeks of back and forth with hospitals and nursing homes since she fell and broke her hip. So Monday morning I flew out to Rhode Island, arrived that evening. The wake was Tuesday afternoon, the funeral was Wednesday morning, and by Thursday night I had arrived back in San Francisco with just enough time to eat, change, and get over to my performance. Precious blogging time hogged yet again.
11. I actually did plan on writing about four recent CDs I picked up. There was that Amy Winehouse disc, Back to Black, which just blew my mind. She sounds like she was plucked right out the '60s girl group scene, but she surely would have been banned for singing songs about not wanting to go to rehab and asking such bold questions as "what kind of fuckery is this?" And then Queens of the Stone Age's Era Vulgaris has been spinning quite a bit, along with the new McCartney album, Memory Almost Full. Not in the mood for a full review just yet, but I will say this about the latter: I feel it just might be one of Paul's all-time best albums, right up there with Ram, Band On The Run, McCartney II and Tug Of War. Call me crazy if you must. The one that is fascinating me the most right now is the recent double disc reissue of Marvin Gaye's In Our Lifetime. That one I must write about soon. But not now. Too many discs all at once, too little time!
10. Work is stressing me out. I get home and I don't want to think too hard. Writing does take some thought, you know. Right?
9. My other site, The Front Parlour, needed an update. And if you check it out, you'll see that I had another review published in the June issue of Performer Magazine. Which I didn't bother to notice until... the end of June.
8. I spend too much time reading other people's blogs. Actually, mostly I spend too much time reading the most excellent jefitoblog. Check out the new Friday feature called Chartburn, where jefito and a team of others skewer rock hits of the past with the help of some youtube videos and lots of wit to spare. I swear you'll become addicted. It's a music geek's heroin.
7. I stumbled onto Lost-In-Tyme, another most awesome music blog, and suddebly found myself indulging in super rare slices (nay, loaves!) of R&B. Somebody stop me!
6. I started reading a collection of Lester Bangs writings called Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, edited by the esteemed Greil Marcus, and realized just how shitty a writer I am. Lester Bangs was one bad motherfucker. I, on the other hand, am a clean-cut hack. Lester Bangs was the Jimi Hendrix of rock criticism. He elevated it to a literary art form. He makes me want to quit, just like how listening to John McLaughlin makes me want to put my guitar away for good. Read it and you'll understand what I'm talking about. On second thought, don't. I'm not ready to quit just yet. I think.
5. I actually took the time to read through all of If I Did It, the O.J. "confession" referenced in my previous post. What can I say? I was curious. And I can confirm for you that it's every bit as crass, arrogant and "confessional" as you already figured it would be. According to a recent AP story, the Goldman Family now owns the rights to the book and expressed a desire to release it under a new title: "Confessions Of A Double Murderer." Hoo boy!
4. Oh, guess what? There's no 1-4 because: the phone just rang, and... I GOTTA GO!
Consider this the SMiLE of my blog-posts -- unfinished, ahead of its time and too late all at once.
HA HA!
Since I do feel compelled to get the literary lead out, or at least spew some text that's more indulgent than useful (useful? what's that?), let's have some fun here. Thirteen days of lapse? Let the excuses begin:
13. My band workshop was winding up, and finally wrapped with a performance last Thursday at the Red Devil Lounge. A more detailed run-down than I have the patience or time to write out at the moment can be found at my good friend and co-worker Julie's blog. Julie was also the keyboardist and one of three singers in the group, the other two being guitarist Djuna and myself. I sang lead on the Modest Mouse tune "The View" while also playing rhythm guitar parts and leads. I had never done anything like that before, so it really did make me a bit nervous. But I got through it. All those nights of practice, and the performance itself, hogged precious blogging time.
12. My grandmother died. Last Saturday, my mother called to tell me that my 85 year old Italian "Nonnie" was back in the hospital, this time with pneumonia. That night she was gone. It brought to an end five weeks of back and forth with hospitals and nursing homes since she fell and broke her hip. So Monday morning I flew out to Rhode Island, arrived that evening. The wake was Tuesday afternoon, the funeral was Wednesday morning, and by Thursday night I had arrived back in San Francisco with just enough time to eat, change, and get over to my performance. Precious blogging time hogged yet again.
11. I actually did plan on writing about four recent CDs I picked up. There was that Amy Winehouse disc, Back to Black, which just blew my mind. She sounds like she was plucked right out the '60s girl group scene, but she surely would have been banned for singing songs about not wanting to go to rehab and asking such bold questions as "what kind of fuckery is this?" And then Queens of the Stone Age's Era Vulgaris has been spinning quite a bit, along with the new McCartney album, Memory Almost Full. Not in the mood for a full review just yet, but I will say this about the latter: I feel it just might be one of Paul's all-time best albums, right up there with Ram, Band On The Run, McCartney II and Tug Of War. Call me crazy if you must. The one that is fascinating me the most right now is the recent double disc reissue of Marvin Gaye's In Our Lifetime. That one I must write about soon. But not now. Too many discs all at once, too little time!
10. Work is stressing me out. I get home and I don't want to think too hard. Writing does take some thought, you know. Right?
9. My other site, The Front Parlour, needed an update. And if you check it out, you'll see that I had another review published in the June issue of Performer Magazine. Which I didn't bother to notice until... the end of June.
8. I spend too much time reading other people's blogs. Actually, mostly I spend too much time reading the most excellent jefitoblog. Check out the new Friday feature called Chartburn, where jefito and a team of others skewer rock hits of the past with the help of some youtube videos and lots of wit to spare. I swear you'll become addicted. It's a music geek's heroin.
7. I stumbled onto Lost-In-Tyme, another most awesome music blog, and suddebly found myself indulging in super rare slices (nay, loaves!) of R&B. Somebody stop me!
6. I started reading a collection of Lester Bangs writings called Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, edited by the esteemed Greil Marcus, and realized just how shitty a writer I am. Lester Bangs was one bad motherfucker. I, on the other hand, am a clean-cut hack. Lester Bangs was the Jimi Hendrix of rock criticism. He elevated it to a literary art form. He makes me want to quit, just like how listening to John McLaughlin makes me want to put my guitar away for good. Read it and you'll understand what I'm talking about. On second thought, don't. I'm not ready to quit just yet. I think.
5. I actually took the time to read through all of If I Did It, the O.J. "confession" referenced in my previous post. What can I say? I was curious. And I can confirm for you that it's every bit as crass, arrogant and "confessional" as you already figured it would be. According to a recent AP story, the Goldman Family now owns the rights to the book and expressed a desire to release it under a new title: "Confessions Of A Double Murderer." Hoo boy!
4. Oh, guess what? There's no 1-4 because: the phone just rang, and... I GOTTA GO!
Consider this the SMiLE of my blog-posts -- unfinished, ahead of its time and too late all at once.
HA HA!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
O.J.'s "If I Did It" has leaked
If you've been curious about the book Judith Regan described as O.J.'s "confession" but didn't want to burden your conscience with the idea of throwing any cash at someone who you have believed to be guilty of cold-blooded murder for the past 13 years, you're in luck. TorrentFreak.com reports that If I Did It has leaked as a .pdf file to BitTorrent. You can find it at The Pirate Bay. 485 diggs at digg.com as of now, and more to come, I'm sure. This is going to be one fascinating (and disgusting) read!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Las Vegas vacation with the Police and Roger Waters
Ah, vacation... if only I could have them more often! I just got back from an extended weekend in Las Vegas, where my girlfriend and I got a little burned in the desert sun, lounged by the pool for a bit, and watched movies with her mother. It was a true getaway for me, aside from some brief checking of email and a call to my father for father's day. I turned down a writing assignment for Performer Magazine and slacked on practicing guitar for the upcoming workshop performance, and it was both necessary and worthwhile. I feel refreshed and ready to be productive again. Now, if this feeling can last at least as long as the vacation itself, we may have a minor miracle here.
I probably have reason to believe that it could last longer. After all, the Police did finally patch up their differences after more than 20 years apart to get their current tour together, so I guess anything is possible. It's a tour I didn't expect to happen, yet there I was, in Las Vegas, witnessing Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland performing together as The Police at the MGM Grand on Friday night. And there I was, watching them with my girlfriend's mother -- this was her mother's day gift, as her daughter had seen them once already with me the previous Wednesday. We were seated behind the stage, with a clear view of the audience in the front rows, as well as the band's backsides. All the big hits were played, though most of them were played in fresh interpretations, some more radical than others. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" was a particular highlight, with Stewart playing a wide array of exotic percussion, and Andy adding little melodic guitar accent to follow Sting's vocals in the chorus. Andy's solo in the jammed-out "When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around" was probably my favorite moment of the whole show. Best of all, it was just the three of them -- no background singers, no extra musicians. They really should have been playing in small theaters and clubs for the best effect, but considering the amount of people who want to see them, and considering it's amazing this tour is even happening, I really can't complain.
The next night I was back at MGM with my girlfriend for Roger Waters' performance of The Dark Side Of The Moon. Different crowd (far more smokers, both of the pot and tobacco varieties), different band configurations (Roger retained two guitarists, a keyboard player, sax, three background singers, and a drummer), much heavier subject matter... and even though the music of the Police is much more concise and pop oriented, I found that it was Roger's cynical "Perfect Sense" that couldn't get out of my brain: "And the Germans killed the Jews / And the Jews killed the Arabs / And the Arabs killed the hostages / And that is the news". Which just about sums up 2007, as it summed up 1992. It threatens to overpower the memory of the graffiti-covered pig that was sent out to float above the audience, and the welcome addition of "Sheep" to Roger's set list, the new song "Leaving Beirut" that simultaneously related Roger's experiences traveling through Lebanon as a teenager and chastised the U.S. for its approach to foreign relations in the Middle East... oh, and The Dark Side Of The Moon! It was a great performance, and I think it came off better than the Water-less Floyd's version on their final tour. But it really should have been Waters, Gilmour, Mason and Wright playing it together. Their Live8 reunion gave us some hope that maybe it could happen someday. But again, I can't complain. Waters gives us our money's worth -- a two-part set with a 15-minutes break and no opening act, lasting more than two hours. And $30 less than the Police!
Next show I expect to attend will be my own. There won't be any flying pigs, unfortunately.
I probably have reason to believe that it could last longer. After all, the Police did finally patch up their differences after more than 20 years apart to get their current tour together, so I guess anything is possible. It's a tour I didn't expect to happen, yet there I was, in Las Vegas, witnessing Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland performing together as The Police at the MGM Grand on Friday night. And there I was, watching them with my girlfriend's mother -- this was her mother's day gift, as her daughter had seen them once already with me the previous Wednesday. We were seated behind the stage, with a clear view of the audience in the front rows, as well as the band's backsides. All the big hits were played, though most of them were played in fresh interpretations, some more radical than others. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" was a particular highlight, with Stewart playing a wide array of exotic percussion, and Andy adding little melodic guitar accent to follow Sting's vocals in the chorus. Andy's solo in the jammed-out "When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around" was probably my favorite moment of the whole show. Best of all, it was just the three of them -- no background singers, no extra musicians. They really should have been playing in small theaters and clubs for the best effect, but considering the amount of people who want to see them, and considering it's amazing this tour is even happening, I really can't complain.
The next night I was back at MGM with my girlfriend for Roger Waters' performance of The Dark Side Of The Moon. Different crowd (far more smokers, both of the pot and tobacco varieties), different band configurations (Roger retained two guitarists, a keyboard player, sax, three background singers, and a drummer), much heavier subject matter... and even though the music of the Police is much more concise and pop oriented, I found that it was Roger's cynical "Perfect Sense" that couldn't get out of my brain: "And the Germans killed the Jews / And the Jews killed the Arabs / And the Arabs killed the hostages / And that is the news". Which just about sums up 2007, as it summed up 1992. It threatens to overpower the memory of the graffiti-covered pig that was sent out to float above the audience, and the welcome addition of "Sheep" to Roger's set list, the new song "Leaving Beirut" that simultaneously related Roger's experiences traveling through Lebanon as a teenager and chastised the U.S. for its approach to foreign relations in the Middle East... oh, and The Dark Side Of The Moon! It was a great performance, and I think it came off better than the Water-less Floyd's version on their final tour. But it really should have been Waters, Gilmour, Mason and Wright playing it together. Their Live8 reunion gave us some hope that maybe it could happen someday. But again, I can't complain. Waters gives us our money's worth -- a two-part set with a 15-minutes break and no opening act, lasting more than two hours. And $30 less than the Police!
Next show I expect to attend will be my own. There won't be any flying pigs, unfortunately.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Double feature: Slayer and Minnie Riperton!
Now *that* would be some duet! No... actually, it just happens that both The Complete Idiot's Guide to Minnie Riperton and A Chat With Tom Araya of Slayer were published online this morning on jefitoblog and bullz-eye.com, respectively. The Slayer interview was conducted on May 8 and turned in later that week. The Minnie Riperton guide was turned in last weekend. Now both are available for you to read and enjoy.
So read and enjoy!
Monday, May 28, 2007
30 days till the rock drops; and more updates (always more)
That's right -- on Thursday, June 28, my as yet unnamed workshop band will perform live on stage at the Red Devil Lounge at around 10 p.m. Our set spans twenty years of contemporary rock and pop, with old songs by Prince, U2, R.E.M., and more recent material by Modest Mouse, Queens of the Stone Age, Snow Patrol, Jet, the Arctic Monkeys, and others. We're still a little rough around the edges, but we should be in prime rockin' form in one month's time. Next rehearsal is Thursday...
In other developments, I have nearly completed my third 'Idiot's Guide' for the always entertaining jefitoblog.com. Just a few minor tweaks and it should be ready to go. More on that when I get closer to finding out when it might run.
And, I've started the painstaking process of writing my first ever long-form work of fiction. I have no idea how this is going to turn out, in spite of my rough notes and outline giving me a guide to where it *should* go... I'm subject to changing my mind mid-sentence on this thing. All I will say for now is that I envision it as a philosophical drama with some elements of comedy. I just finished reading Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" and I decided it probably shouldn't be quite as damning of the human condition, but there will be some of that, because the human condition is always ripe for damnation.
No word yet on when the Slayer interview will run. But it will run soon...
In other developments, I have nearly completed my third 'Idiot's Guide' for the always entertaining jefitoblog.com. Just a few minor tweaks and it should be ready to go. More on that when I get closer to finding out when it might run.
And, I've started the painstaking process of writing my first ever long-form work of fiction. I have no idea how this is going to turn out, in spite of my rough notes and outline giving me a guide to where it *should* go... I'm subject to changing my mind mid-sentence on this thing. All I will say for now is that I envision it as a philosophical drama with some elements of comedy. I just finished reading Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" and I decided it probably shouldn't be quite as damning of the human condition, but there will be some of that, because the human condition is always ripe for damnation.
No word yet on when the Slayer interview will run. But it will run soon...
Friday, May 25, 2007
Cruisin' for records, part 2
So I did make my way over to Other Shop II on 327 Divisadero between Oak and Page, where I saw the Open Mind sign hanging across the street from its old location, and discovered that Open Mind has some consignment bins inside. They are planning on reopening "late May" at 2150 Market Street, by Cafe du Nord. If they stay open late, it'll be fun to hang out inside before and after shows at du Nord, which I'm sure must have been the idea of re-opening in that location. I used to do that at In Your Ear in Boston, before shows at the Paradise. It'll be just like old times, except without boxes of 8-tracks to sift through...
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