no distinction will be made between europeans and those who harbor them

There's a big gap here. Some 13 days or so. Most of those 13 days were spent in the asshole of Germany (or Italy, or France), devoid of inspiration and/or an internet connection. I think that I'll be working my way backwards...hopefully it won't take too long.

I'm back in California, and it's nice.
















I've missed San Francisco...















Yesterday I had the closest thing to a damn near perfect day that I've had in ages. Jamie and I checked ourselves into a pair of soundproof suites at the miyako in Japantown. The rooms have individual private saunas. I shit you not. It's pretty great. We went to Crepes on Cole yesterday for massive french toast and mimosas. We sat outside on a beautiful day in Northern California. I've slowly been putting some meat on my bones after surviving on bread and cheese for three and a half weeks in Europe. I really did buy new pants because the ones I bought a few days before I left no longer fit me. So as part of my 'fattening up' program I'll be consuming anything smothered in butter and syrup. I watched this girl wander around the front room of her apartment from across the street. It looked pretty ideal. She was casually surveying SF from behind her massive bay windows, sipping tea, wondering if she fed the cat, worrying about the world.















My little moment was shattered by a vagrant who decided that the middle of the sidewalk was as good a place as any to just stop and piss all over himself and then sit down in his own pee. It put me off of the orange juice for a bit, especially when the urine trickled downhill into the outdoor part of the restraint where we were sitting. That aside, we hopped in the rental car of the damned...

















...and wandered the streets. I blew a bunch of money at Amoeba records, as you do, and popped in and out of some of the better shops on upper haight. I bought a David Shrigley book and, on Scheid's recommendation, the Rollins book that he's been chatting about on his blog. It looks pretty amazing, especially from the perspective of someone who tours, and hates things that most people love. I found a really great leather jacket with a fur collar. Jamie and I are heading north in a few days in a VW camper van to find some redwoods and solitude. I figured that I may need a good jacket as it may be cold, and all of my good jackets are back in NY. I also like leather jackets because I think that they make me look intimidating in spite of my round face and stupid hat. I'm also overwhelmed by the prospect of shopping for things that I need, in stores that are familiar to me; Eating in restaurants that I enjoy and speaking to people who understand what I am saying to them. Nothing against Europe (lies..many things against europe), but I'm feeling much more civilized now that I'm home. Anyway, Jamie bought the sweetest jacket that I've seen in a long time. I wanted it, but it was a bit too large for me, especially with the bread and the cheese and the not eating anything substantial for a few weeks and all. Jamie is a fairly practical shopper. He rocks things that are warm and often waterproof and have pockets for things while I'll wear a woman's blazer because it fits me well and looks cool, but has no pockets and I freeze my ass off. So, we found this old, well worn levi's jean jacket hanging up in a store. It had a great Triumph motorcycles patch on the back. It was one of those items that you could be pretty sure wasn't for sale, mostly for show in a store that sold a bunch of crap, but it was, and it's sweet. I'll try to take a picture of it. He paid for it and the two kids behind the register were pretty excited. The girl was glad, like she had been waiting for someone who could appreciate a jacket of that caliber, with it's grease stains around the collar and worn in elbows. The guy was bummed that it wasn't him who would b e wearing it home. He kept going on about how someone could sell it for a bunch of money on ebay. Dick.

So later on we wandered to the new de young museum in Golden Gate park. It was finished and opened just after I moved back to New York. I kept seeing pictures of it, but hadn't made it back to actually take a look at it.















It's a really stunning building. All metal and twisted. Sort of Gehry-esque in the way that it looks like it shouldn't, by the laws of physics, be standing upright.




























I didn't actually go inside, which sounds a bit odd. It was ten bucks to get in, and I really couldn't quite work out what was inside. It was also an amazing day outside, and there was plenty of goodness to be had in the sculpture garden.































We made a stop at Ocean beach as well. It's great to have city beaches in SF. They seem so accessible. In NY you've got Coney Island, which is a complete and total shit hole where people just dump garbage everywhere and then the city just plows it under more sand. Ocean beach is a bit of concrete and tire tracks, but it's still pretty nice on a sunny day.
































My big, stupid hat...on the beach.















I got to see some friends last night as well. I hadn't seen Chad, Erin and Val since I was in town with Belle and Sebastian a few months ago. It was great.



















We met up at Toronado for some beer. On my anti-european rant, I was so excited to have some real beer after what seemed like ages. The Germans, Dutch and Belgians are really into their beer. They've been brewing it for centuries and they are super proud of their work. Unfortunately it ends up being Heineken or Stella and it tastes like brown water and some guy comes along who's made some sort of weird chocolate ale in his backyard in Northern California, he calls it 'a swift kick in the nuts' or something, and you can get a pint of it, sit back and actually taste the beer, and maybe listen to Motorhead, if you're in that sort of establishment. So there.






























So we had some drinks, had some Indian food (oh yeah) and then went to Noc Noc for a nitecap of sorts. It's a pretty wacky spot, that used to be one of the few smoking bars in California. It is no longer, but it still looks like an auto shop threw up all over the ceiling.


















And christ knows what has gone on in the bathroom.















I brought Erin this cd last night. I had bought it at Amoeba earlier in the day, and then put it on the laptop. I knew that she'd appreciate it. Last year, in an alcohol-fueled rage, she lent me Lords of Chaos, which was pretty special, and she is otherwise a purveyor of all things dark and gloomy, oh, and also evil as sin. I was digging through the 'staff recommended' black metal bin and came across this gem. The music is damn good and loud, and it actually comes with a razor blade for 'use while listening.' That's pretty dark. All of the nonsense court cases trying to hold Black Sabbath, Kiss or Foreigner accountable for teen suicides and these guys are actually advocating it. Population control through art. It's a tongue in a cheek that's blacker than the bottom of a well.














Good times abound. I'll be weeding through some pictures of the past week or so, and hopefully piecing together my crazy, backwards world, just a little.