A New Home on the Web

All the cool kids are doing it, and darn it, I want to be cool, too!

After 73 posts on Blogger, my blog has moved to a new location:

http://moopdog.vox.com/

Vox is much more reliable than Blogger, and has many cool functions, including video and audio playback. I'll continue to post sports-related stuff on Bang the Drum Slowly.

San Francisco, Part II

Before we made the trip out west, I brought home a DVD from the library that featured San Francisco. It was a Globe Trekker episode (Jenny's favorite travel show). It was from a few years back, but it gave us some ideas of neat things to check out.

Near the end of the episode, the host joined in a Crtitical Mass bike demonstration. Steve had told me about a similar massive bicycle protest that's often held in Portland. (I guess they're actually held all over the world, and originated in San Fran.) Basically, a ton of cyclists get together, and bike as a huge group, intentionally blocking traffic as they go. Fighting for bike advocacy seems to be the main purpose. Here's a Wikipedia article, a Critical Mass Web page, and a SF Gate article, if you want to learn more. After watching the DVD, Jen and I both had the same thought- how cool would it be to witness that?

After Matt and I got back from our mountain bike ride (which I wrote about a couple weeks ago), we showered, and got ready to head out to dinner. Since there were six of us, Matt, Meredith, and I got in one cab, while Joy, Jen, and Erika rode in a second cab. On the way to Enrico's, our guy took us through a tunnel. Wrong choice. We got halfway through, and traffic came to a halt. As we were sitting there, I saw someone on a bicycle up ahead. No way- could this be it?

When it became apparent that we weren't going to be moving for a while, I started lobbying for us to get out and walk- we were only a few blocks from the restaurant. Both Matt and Mer thought it would be mean to ditch the cabbie. The meter was running, and we weren't moving. After a couple minutes, they agreed, and we hopped out, and finished the tunnel on foot.


As we came out of the tunnel, there were hundreds of bicyclists on the road. Just when the light was going to turn green, a few would stop immediately in front of the first cars waiting for the light to turn, and stop. There was some honking and cursing, but the motorists couldn't really do anything. After a few minutes, the group moved on to a different part of town, and the cars once again owned the road. I just wish I could have been riding in it...

Librarians! Your personal travel agents

I think it's great that lots of people come to the library to use our computers. However, more and more companies are scaling back on in person & telephone customer service, and simply telling people to "go to the library and use a computer."

Many of the people come in, and ask us how to transfer money between bank accounts, book flights, buy retail...

I've helped two different people recently who came in to book flights on Northwest. The first woman was told to go to the library, because it would be cheaper online. The second woman was told she'd have to book online to get travel insurance (which isn't true- I found a toll-free number). If people were skilled Internet users, this wouldn't really be an issue. However, many are clueless when it comes to computers, but the person on the phone says "they can help you at the library." People come in expecting us to know how to navigate every Web page in existence, and many of them have no desire to learn how to do it themselves- they simply want us to do the work for them.

Sure, we can help. But it's not part of my job to sit down with you for 30 minutes, and book flights for your upcoming trip to Seattle. It's really a shame that companies have completely abandoned the concept of excellent customer service. They cut costs all over the place, but the product still costs the same.

Rough start to the weekend, great finish

After work on Thursday, Jen and I thought it might be nice to go grab a bite to eat somewhere with outside seating. Since we hadn't been there in a while, we chose the Chatterbox Pub. Thus began a 12-hour string of misadventures and blunders. These events probably don't quite rival Joy's recent awful day, but it was a bad way to start a holiday weekend.

A waitress came by and took our order. When Jen ordered a veggie burger, she informed us that the "fryer is down," so french fries were not an option. D'oh! I'm rarely in the mood for fries, but this was one of those times. I ordered a spinach-artichoke dip and a veggie wrap instead. Five minutes later, the waitress returned, and the exchange went like this:

Chatterbox Waitress: You can't get a veggie burger, because the fryer's not working.
Jon: You guys deep fry your veggie burgers?!?!?
CW: Yep.
Jon: Whoa. That's weird!
CW: Hm. [Waiting, with pen in hand, for Jen to order]
Jenny: I'm going to need a menu.
CW: They can do chicken, instead.
Jenny: That's not going to work. I'm a vegetarian.
CW: Oh.

Jen looks over the menu, and notices that the grilled cheese comes with a cilantro-pumpkin seed pesto. Yum! A little while later, we overhear another server explaining that one of the substitution choices for the fries is roasted red pepper mashed potatoes. That sounds good! Too late to change it, though...

After a fairly lengthy wait, we get our food. There's no pesto on the grilled cheese, and it looks like they simply toasted the bread, then put some shredded cheese in between slices. The stuff was hardly melted at all. At this point, we just wanted to finish dinner, and get home, so we could pack for our weekend in Ely. (On the bright side, my cole slaw was the best I've ever had- plenty of cumin.)

Immediatley after finishing our food, our slightly wobbly table jerks violently in one direction, causing Jenny's nearly full glass of beer to topple. Some of the beer spills onto her, and the rest pours off the side of the table, directly into her purse. About 16 ounces of beer splashes all over everything inside. The small pocket holding her cell phone is filled to the top. We move quickly, getting everything out of the purse, trying to dry everything off. The cell phone didn't work for about 10 hours, so we thought it was fried. After some scrubbing and Febreeze, there's no evidence of the mishap.

My day Friday morning began with plunging a toilet, packing for Ely, and then making coffee. One problem- I forgot to put the coffee grounds into the filter. After leaving for work, I was pretty certain that our weekend was doomed, but we had a good drive up to Ely, and a great couple days enjoying the trees and lakes of northern Minnesota. Jen wrote about it on her blog, complete with pictures.

Rock and Roll

Tuesday night was the big Arena Schlock Rock show at the Xcel. [I'm eternally annoyed by that stupid spelling- same thing with Qwest.]

I spent an hour in traffic after work, and found an open meter (gotta love St. Paul- free after 4:30). We had a bite to eat and a few pre-show beers at Great Waters Brewing Co., then headed in just before 7:30. Mal had been to the show the night before, as well, so we knew Pearl Jam would be starting on time.

Our seats were in the club level, section C27. They would be great seats for a hockey game, but not for a concert. I can't believe the face value of my ticket was $86! With TicketMonster charges, that's over 100 bones! Mal got the two tickets for a total of $100 on eBay, but I'm going to avoid him for a while, hoping he forgets I owe him money. Here's the view from our section, from the arena's Web site. (Although, we were in the last row, so it was actually a little further.)


The only band I've seen in arenas in the last 10 or 15 years is Phish. I've always had pretty decent seats. They also have a top-notch sound guy, and the best light show of any band out there (with the possible exception of Pink Floyd). Phish was my favorite band, so I was trying hard not to compare the Pearl Jam/Petty concert experience with a Phish concert. It was hard, though, and I kept thinking about how much I miss Phish.

I've heard people talk about how great the sound system is in the Excel. I wasn't all that impressed. It was kind of muddled during PJ, and could have been louder. Here's the Pearl Jam setlist:

Interstellar Overdrive/(Corduroy)
Severed Hand
Hail Hail
Love Boat Captain
World Wide Suicide
Marker In The Sand
Given To Fly
Even Flow
Light Years
Not For You
Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
Come Back
State Of Love And Trust
Glorified G
Black
Life Wasted
Alive

When I read the setlist, and saw Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive listed first, I was very confused. There was some intro music playing as they took the stage. It sounded vaguely familiar. I'm not sure if the band actually played this song for a bit, or if it was just piped over the PA. When Eddie Vedder announced that they were going to play Love Boat Captain, there was some booing from the crowd. Did they play it in reference to the Viking's boat scandal? I think some people thought that's what was going on.

Luckily, they played some early stuff during the end of their set. Butchie loaned me their latest CD, so I was somewhat familiar with the new songs. Mal had me excited for a Who cover, but sadly, it was not to be. Eddie had a great stage presence, running all over the place, pouring wine for the people in the front row, and playing a lot more guitar than I realized he would (and sounding pretty good). I wasn't impressed with Mike McCready (lead guitar). His solos seemed uninspired.

I didn't realize until a few days before the show that Matt Cameron, formerly of Soungarden, was PJ's drummer now. He was the highlight of the show for me. The drums were nice and loud in the mix, and we had a great view of him. He was all over the place. Good stuff.

Petty's set was basically full of his greatest hits, with a few new tunes thrown in. The band was very tight, Petty's voice sounded good, and Mike Campbell's guitar solos were fantastic. Halfway through, they brought Vedder up to sing on The Waiting, which got me pretty psyched- I hadn't seen it on any of Petty's recent setlists. One problem: Eddie's mic wasn't working. The Strib's Jon Bream couldn't have been paying very much attention- he didn't even mention that in this review. Eddie sang a verse by himself, and you could hardly hear anything. Thankfully, they got him a new microphone before the encore, when he came up for American Girl, which sounded great. My favorite part of the Petty/Heartbreakers set was a cover of Mystic Eyes, a Them (Van Morrison) cover. It rocked as hard as anything Pearl Jam played.

Overall, I had a good time, but I realized that there's a reason I don't go to arena rock shows. I'll stick to First Ave and other clubs for live music.

Arena Rock Revisited

I'll be attending the Pearl Jam/Tom Petty concert at the Xcel tonight. I wasn't planning on going, but then I found out Mal had an extra ticket...I'm getting pretty excited for it. The only time I saw Pearl Jam was in November of 1991, at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. It was Smashing Pumpkins/Pearl Jam/Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was there to see the Chili Peppers, and I thought both of the openers stunk. (This was right before Pearl Jam started getting serious radio play.) Jeff Ament had all sorts of problems with his bass sound- it kept cutting in and out. I think it was a really harsh crowd, as Billy Corgan got hit with a full cup of beer, and I believe both openers cut their sets short.

I loved the first two Pearl Jam Albums (I think 95% of my generation loved Ten, but really stopped paying attention after that. I've always respected the band- their reluctance to sell out; even taking on TicketMonster. Supposedly they put on a great show, so I'm ready to rock out. The boys are starting to look a little old. At least Eddie Vedder grew his hair out a little. I saw a picture of the band a few years ago, and didn't believe it was them.

I'm also quite stoked to see Tom Petty. Luckily, his setlists include plenty of his classic stuff, so I'll know most of the songs.

I've never been to the Xcel, which I hear is a good place to see arena rock. I cannot remember the last time I saw a non-Phish concert at a large arena. I've seen my share of outdoor festivals over the years, but the last time I saw an arena rock show (other than Phish) was a long time ago- 10 years? 15 years? I know I saw Metallica at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in the fall of '92 or spring of '93 while I was attending Drake. I saw the Allman Brothers at the Target Center a little later- '94? I'll have to go through my ticket stubs...

Quality Late-night TV

My brother called me just past midnight. "Springsteen's about to be on Conan."

Cool. I turned the television on, and went to channel 11. Commercial. Another commercial. And another. I finally got bored, and flipped through a few stations. I stumbled into the most disturbing movie scene I've ever witnessed. Worse than anything I saw in Faces of Death or Faces of Death II. It made me more uncomfortable than any scene from Happiness or Gummo.

It was Emilio Estevez teaching a bunch of grade school hockey players how to line dance. On a hockey rink. Wearing skates. I thought it might be Mighty Ducks XIV or so, but I guess it was just D2. I'm sure the rest of the movie is pretty bad, but this scene was unfathomly bad.

I forgot about The Boss! Panick-stricken, I switched back to NBC, right as they went back to Conan. Phew. Instead of introducing Bruce Springsteen, Conan gave a tease ("Bruce Springsteen will be up in just a little bit"), and then said he'd like to sing a lullaby to all the kids out there. This skit lasted a minute or two, and then...another long commercial break.

Finally, nearly 15 minutes after Dave called me, Bruce started singing a song. He had somewhere between 20 and 30 people on stage with him (I'd guess 27), including a Bonnie Raitt-looking woman playing guitar, a joyous accordian guy, an angry young man in a suit playing egg shakers?, a fireman playing the spoons, a mandolin, dobro, 2 fiddles, banjo, backup singers, about 10 horns, and many, many more.

Bruce played an anti-war tune, Bring Them Back Home. It was filled with a bunch of 30-second breaks (solos) from various instruments. As the song finished, Conan came out, shook Bruce's hand ("Thank you so much, sir") and said into the microphone "We'll be back with more from Bruce Springsteen."

The next commercial break wasn't quite as long. Same big band up on the stage, but who's that tall, dorky-looking redhead strumming a guitar on the left-hand side of the stage? Conan? Conan! He looked nervous as all get-out- quite awkward. (Not that I blame him. Jamming with The Boss?) Bruce even cajoled him into stepping up and singing the repetitious chorus with him into a single mic (Steven Van Zandt-style). I can't recall the song they sang, but it featured a ton of horn action from Conan's boys.

Great stuff. Thanks for calling me, Dave.

San Francisco trip highlights, Part I

It was over three weeks ago, but I never really wrote anything about our fantastic trip out to "Shaky Town." (OK, does anyone actually use that nickname? I read it here.)

We arrived very late Wednesday night, and Matt picked us up from the airport. Our first impression of their apartment- wow. Really nice and spacious, lots of windows, and only a couple blocks from the bay. As the weekend progressed, we realized even more what a great location they're in- tons of good restaurants and bars right down the street, and running/walking/biking paths along the marina 2 blocks away. Rather incredible.

Thursday morning Jenny and I took the 40 minute walk down past Fisherman's Wharf, in order to take the ferry over to Alcatraz. We had heard nothing but good things about the Alcatraz tour, and we weren't in the least bit disappointed. It's a surreal experience. I highly recommend it.



We met up with Matt, grabbed some lunch, and headed to North Beach, old Beat stomping grounds. We hung out in the fabulous City Lights Bookstore (no Lawrence Furlinghetti sightings), then over to Vesuvio, where Kerouac and Neal Cassady used to have drinks and read poetry.

On Friday, Matt and I rented mountain bikes. On the way there we walked down Lombard, "The Crookedest Street in the World." I took the obligatory photograph, and cursed the bad grammar.

We biked down to the water, over to the Golden Gate Bridge, and then crossed it into Marin. After an agonizing climb for 20 minutes or so, wondering out loud why we weren't on road bikes, we found a trail to ride. That answered our question. We didn't find much singletrack, but there were some nice steep hills to bomb down and climb up. A suicidal green snake slithered out in front of my bike, and I didn't have time to stop. He limped (what's a snake's version of a limp?) off into the brush, and I can only hope he survived. We were without a map, and got a little lost, making our trip last a bit longer than planned. But it meant a detour through beautiful Sausalito (complete with pizza). On the way back over the Golden Gate Bridge, the winds were some of the strongest I've ever felt. Extremely frightening on a bicycle.



Since I've been working on this post for more than two days, and I'm not even halfway through my recap of our trip, I'll post this much, and say to be continued...

Good-old colonialism

We watched Rabbit-Proof Fence last night, and it was a fantastic movie. I remember hearing good things about it when it came out a few years back, but never got around to watching it.

Another one of those heartwarming details of history you never really learned in school- assimilation. In the early part of the twentieth century, in their Australian colony, the British government decided that "the destiny of the natives of aboriginal origin, but not of the full blood, lies in their ultimate absorption by the people of the Commonwealth, and it therefore recommends that all efforts be directed to that end."

"Half-castes," or children of mixed descent (partly European), were stolen from their families, and put into orphanages, where they were forced to learn, act, and talk like Brits (no native languages allowed). They would then marry whites, ensuring that the native blood would be further dilluted. Similar Nazi-like practices were also common in the US when it came to dealing with indigenous Indians.

I'm probably making this sound like a quite depressing movie, but it has many uplifting moments, and it's definitely worth seeing. The three young Aboriginal girls, who had no acting experience, do a fabulous job. On a scale of 0-5, where 0= hated it; 1=disliked it; 2=indifferent; 3=liked it; 4=loved it; 5=instant classic, I'd give it a strong 4. Highly recommended.

Happy Summer Solstice!

(Or Winter Solstice, if you're in the southern hemisphere.)

Enjoy the extra sunshine today- I know I will!

Matt and Joy, you should go to that labyrinth we found- there's probably a cool pagan ceremony going on today...