Weekend (sans pics)

Posted on 01/06/2009 by Severe

Sorry folks, forgot to have a camera handy. Pics of my less then happy garden comin soon tho (my basil is dyin – HALP!).

Friday night was going to be a low-key evenin of yoga n a movie as tha plans ah thought had been made were in fact nawt, but ah was saved by a text message around 4 pm that read “Let’s Rage Tonight.” In this context, “raging” means “biking around the city, breaking for alcohol from time to time” and this sounded like a much bettah idea ta me. We kicked thangs off w. some noize jammin down tha street, then made fer food n a bottle. Out to tha Embarcadero, we sat w. our friends Jameson and Tecate n discussed my friends upcoming bike-polo/tour of tha West Coast this summer. (Side note, ah now have a place fer a drumset if ah ken find one….)

Aftahwerds, we biked thru tha crazy sites n sounds of a Friday nite in tha city – past tha strip clubs of North Beach, tha trannys of tha Tender Knob, tha strip clubs of Market. Briefly we saw some people who cared very very much about Karaoke at the Mint, and then we were pulled back to tha Mission by way of Zeitgeist (tha quintessential cycle/dive bar w. a monstrous beer garden – it sucks you in). Aftah a few rounds we witnessed a policeman get a bribe as a local pizza shop sold somethang besides then pizza to its otha patrons. Ah was too broke to buy tha promised final drink at tha local irish pub, so we ended up havin a last tall boy at my place before crashin.

Saturday ah woke up early n had a list of thangs to accomplish, which included, but was nawt limited to: practicing bass, making pasta sauce, werkin in tha backyard, n gittin ta yoga. In tha backyard ah tried ta save a newly-bloomin plant that had been left ovah n recently restored ta life, then made some damn good pasta sauce (w. portobella mushies, green bell peppers, n carrots), n aftahwerds gawt my stretch on. That evenin it was my roommies bday celebration so thar was a potluck w. gobs of food n drink (some resourceful individuals brought tha remnants of a pony keg from tha nite before). A handle of knob creek was drank, food was consumed, a mess was made, tha kitchen gawt smoky, n aftah dark thar was a candlelight expedition to tha clubhouse fer tha tellin of ghost stories. Tha mess continues ta exist, as this wasn’t my party. Everythang on my list gawt accomplished, except fer tha movin of new musick ta my phone, which was taken care of yestahday.

Sunday had me at yoga again in tha mornin, n ah received some words of praise both on my work-trade follow-through as well as my practice which put me in a good mood. Then WTB had some practicin fer a show this Friday. Finally that evenin ah settled down ta watch “The Golden Compass” – don’t judge me. It was kind of weak actually, but thar was a polar bear fight which made it sort of worth sittin through. Ahd be surprised if a sequel evah manifested – it wasn’t very well made.

10 days until ah head ta LA fer tha Odors reunion…..

Posted in biking, gardening, lawtsa yoga, potlucks, rage, weekends, weetheband | 1 Comment

Reflections on my Bike Ride to Work #2

Posted on 29/05/2009 by Severe

Today on my ride through tha SOMA ah hit pretty much every single light. This has nevah happened – ah know in theory if ah gae 25 mph hour ahm supposed ta time it rite, but ah don’t actually know how fast ahm gaein. Ahm nawt a particularly fast er aggressive rider – often ah find myself bein passed by people on less snazzy rides then mine. Ah pay a fair amount of attention to tha traffic signs n lights – more so in tha SOMA then tha mission, but ahll run thru thangs if tha coast is clear.

But today once ah passed undah tha highway, it was perfect. My pace was steady, solid, n everytime ah gawt close to a red light, it went green fer me.

Ridin steady is a different feelin then most city ridin – thars a lawt of start n stop. Ah need ta start werkin my endurance more so ah ken start tacklin some longah stretches of ridin. Haven’t even been ovah tha Golden Gate Bridge yet!

Posted in bikin ta werk, reflections on my bike ride to work, ridin thru traffic | Leave a comment

Reflections on my Bike Ride to Work #1

Posted on 28/05/2009 by Severe

Passing under the highway from the Mission into the SOMA is always such an uplifting feeling. While the Mission is generally sunnier and more climate then most areas in the city in the morning, some days it takes a while for the fog to clear. However, the SOMA, being slightly further East is always a few degrees warmer and a touch sunnier pretty much every morning. It’s almost exactly halfway between my house and my office, and it feels a little like a reward for biking to work. Often I’ll remove my gloves at this point and unzip my jacket now that ahve worked up a lil internal heat.

Also – this is my 200th blogpost. Holy shit, 200 posts. That is includin tha 11 from 2006, but that means 189 of them are since ah moved ta CA. Craziness. Thanks fer readin thru all tha slang folks!

Posted in 200 posts, biking, mission livin, reflections on my bike ride to work, soma | 1 Comment

At tha theater? Seriously?

Posted on 26/05/2009 by Severe

Sunday night I found myself at the Berkeley Rep, watching the last showing of a damn good, and especially gory, play “The Lieutenant of Inishmore”. The drunk guy in his late 30s/early 40s behind me however did not think the play was quite as good as it could be, and apparently felt it necessary to add his own (stupid) comments fairly regularly (example of said stupid comments, when someones foot was cut off, he loudly exclaimed “Das Boot”. a Real Winner). Both the person I was with as well as the person sitting next to him told him more then once to be quiet, and eventually I turned around and told him sternly (like I talk to children who are misbehaving) “I am the third person telling you to be quiet”.

Shortly after that, I could have sworn he started calling me a “Dork” although I was focusing more on the gruesome finale of the play in front of me so I couldn’t be sure. However, as we started to trickle out of the theater, I was sure I heard him address me as “Guy in the Colombia Jacket”, followed by “You’re a dork.”

A dork? Really? Is that really the best he had? I pretty much figured he would fuck off sooner rather then later, as his heart really wasn’t in the confrontation (I can’t believe I made him so mad I immobolized him to the point where “Dork” was the only insult he could come up with). However, he followed us through the lobby, and down the hall to the bathrooms. Eventually he had my attention.

“Yes?”

“You’re a dork”

“And you’re a drunk asshole and you should piss off.”

We walked a little further as the mental giant struggled with this extra form of verbal assault.

“What did you say?”

I turned around and looked him in the eye and repeated, louder, “I said you are a drunk asshole and you should PISS OFF.”

We turned around again, going further down the hallway to the bathroom. You could hear the gears turning in his head, and then he asked:

“I don’t suppose you want to take this outside?”

This kind of cracked me up. In reality, this guy was at least 6″ and 40 pounds heavier then me, but hey, I’m a pretty thin guy. In a real fight, he would likely beat the shit out of me. But I just couldn’t believe this was happening – in Berkeley of all places. I sort of wonder what kind of response this would’ve gotten from the theater-attending crowd. But instead I just said:

“No, I don’t want to fight you. But I think you should go outside.”

We stared at him for a little bit, and then I bent over to take a drink of water from the fountain. My friend continued to give him the death stare, and he walked off. I remarked that I hoped he wasn’t waiting outside, as I just didn’t want to deal w. this bullshit any longer. My friend told me “well then, he’ll have to deal with me if he is”.

In retrospect, that could’ve been pretty funny (my friend is even smaller then me, and female – but man does she hate an asshole talking through a play).

Posted in ahma dork, ass-kickin, drunk assholes, shut up at tha theater already, theater | Leave a comment

Sunday is full of win

Posted on 18/05/2009 by Severe

Hey Severe, how’s tha backyard comin?

Pretty good actually, thanks fer askin. Ahve cleared out tha majority of my intended garden space (well, except fer tha dirt n concrete n stones, but thar all at least organized), have some lettuce sprouts, n continue ta find large pots fer fun thangs like tomaters. Unfortunately, my basil has started lookin pretty yeller as well as burnt since movin it outside – ah guess it’s been gittin too much sun. Ah have made tha waterin process easier (tha hose wasn’t big enuff before ta reach out to tha plants area) howevah n am startin ta plan some next steps (otha then buy potting soil). Here’s that area ah linked ta before.

N here’s tha backyard from tha same angle as about a month n a half ago (second picture).

Tha weatha yestahday was fawkin unbelievable (so nice tha San Franciscans were callin it “too hot”). Everyone n thar mutha was down at Dolores Park, which is just a few blocks away from me, so ah joined tha party briefly. While ah did nawt partake in tha homemade slip n side, ah did sit in half-lotus fer about a half hour (longest ahve done that pose evah ah think) while enjoyin my favorite low-grade medication (gawta save tha good stuff, its expensive!), drinkin an Anchor Steam (gawdam, what a great local beer), listenin ta Pink Floyd’s “Animals” album. BTW, this is my favorite place ta shop fer medication – an award winnah (n one ah was tha first ta review on Yelp!). Yes, it really is as nice as tha pics.

Sunday had everythang smilin down at me – first off, ah gawt outta my least favorite part of yoga-studio cleanin b/c thar was an extra private lesson happenin at 2 pm – sweet! Then, ah went ta tha local hardware store ta exchange some “heavy duty” gardening gloves that ah put a hole in aftah just two days – n nawt only did they exchange me fer some new ones, they also REFUNDED ME. at – wait fer it – $3 more then ah actually paid!. Thank you karma!

Finally, ah went to a local thrift store to score some clothes fer tha Wee the Band photo shoot happenin this weekend n ah totally lucked out. My tie is awesome! You can’t wait ta see it, trust me

Posted in backyard, lovin sf, sundays are great, warm weatha, win | 1 Comment

Sunny Days in San Francisco

Posted on 11/05/2009 by Severe

The weatha has been freakin unbelievable tha last few days – we had some rain early on last week, which prompted me ta FINALLY BUY A FAWKIN BUMPER FER MY BIKE. What ah really should’ve done is just gawt tha rack installed like ahve needed ta ferevah so ah ken start transportin shit on my ride, but, ah didn’t. Sue me.

This weekend was relatively quiet actually – ah mean, yes, ah did gae to a party on Friday, n then Saturday nite ah supported my UU friend n Neighbor Melanie as she Went to the Other Side, followed up by drinks n UU-typed convo. N of kerse ah werked in my backyard n ah have lettuce comin up n basil in a pot.

But what really happened is Tha Wee the Band debut album “Have Another” is finished! It will still be a few weeks before we have any final product, but tha final mix was made (not-perfect, but close), tha artwork is apparently all done, n we are just about ready ta gae ta print w. this shit. YES! We’ve also gawt a band photo scheduled for next weekend, thangs are fallin intae place.

Melanie’s friend Aaron tipped me off to The Sixty One, a pretty cool website that allows you to upload yer own tunes, vote on others, and track your favorite groups progress. Ah uploaded a few tunes, and highly encourage everyone ta check out tha site (n give Wee the Band some frickin love!)

So – if you would like a free copy of tha CD, please make sure ah have yer mailin address. Ah will gladly send out copies to anyone who wants it – n if you want ta help offset tha cost of shipping on my end, feel free to paypal it to me. However, if you want to buy the album and support tha whole band, ah will refer you all to our itunes site when it is set up.

We already have a bunch of gigs set up this summer, ah fricken LOVE how audible my bass is, and we have been hard at werk writin some very cool stuff that will BLOW YER MIND. This disc is pretty conservative – n ahm glad we’ve recorded a lawt of these songs cuz it means we git ta move on from them.

Wee the Band – Have Another is COMING SOON!!!!

Posted in cd on tha way, internet sites, makin musick is awesome, recording, weetheband | 1 Comment

Rainy/Sunny days in SF….

Posted on 08/05/2009 by Severe

Tha title of this post is taken from a Wee the Band song – available soon on CD, and thru itunes! Woot! (even tho ah hate itunes).

Let’s see, what have ah been up ta….

Last Wednesday ah went to a bday party for the guitarist in the pop/rock band ahm playin in. We currently don’t have a name, so ah refer to us as tha Junk Bumpers. It’s a long story how my friend n ah came up w. that, n while ah think its actually a decent name, it doesn’t fit our musick. Anyway, tha bday party was at a Karaoke Bar in Fisherman’s Wharf. Fisherman’s Wharf is a touristy obnoxious part of tha city that you see if you visit (ah don’t really know why, except that tha cable car gaes thar), n then ignore completely when you move here cuz it’s fawkin lame. Generally, ah dont gae out like that (party started at 11) on weeknights, but when ah told Lavi that, he made such a sad face ah reconsidered. It was a pretty good time, ah sang a Pink song (ah let tha cat outta tha bag about my crush on her), n we took tha first pics of us togetha. Of kerse, ah ruined it by wearin my glasses, so it’s nawt very indicative of me. But check out my beard (n tha fact that ahm smilin! Ahm tryin ta git bettah at that in photos):

Howevah, this next picture is much more what yer used ta:

Saturday aftahnoon ah took a Bikram Yoga MASTER CLASS w. head Teacher Trainer Craig Villani and it kicked my ass. Ah balanced on my tip toes in awkward pose until ah fell outta it – twice. N awkwards my GOOD pose!

Then think13 played a set – what tha? Yes, thar was a VAGABOOM! fundraiser featurin us, a performance troupe, a contortionist, some dude on a guitar, a synthesizer jam-band, a dj, and BURLESQUE. And what burlesque – ah was swoonin durin thar brief set (which featured big band versions of “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Baby Got Back”). On a total whim (meanin, ah saw them n made sure our drummer shared) ah snagged a bit of some “truffles” in chocolate form. Ah sorta fergawt about them, n was startin ta git concerned w. how funny everythang was when ah was reminded what ahd ingested, n thangs gawt really nice n relaxin aftah that. Ah spent tha nite laughin w. friends, talkin shit, n bein loud. Finish it off w. a nice bike ride home – aww yeah.

Sunday ah wen ta see Anvil: The Story of Anvil and it was really awesome. Thars a reason this movie has been gittin rave reviews from everywhar – it’s fantastic. It’s one of those movies you certainly don’t need ta enjoy tha metal genre (er even be aware of) ta appreciate, n ta those of us in tha know, its amazin. It’s so good, ahma include tha trailer here:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT7v2nUcmek&hl=en&fs=1]

Now, tha rest of my week hasn’t been THAT excitin, but yestahday ah bought some organic black beans n bulk n they are currently makin my kitchen smell really really good. Ta self-sufficiency!

Posted in anvil the movie, beards, bikram yoga, bump junkers, heavy metal, pics of me, think13 | 1 Comment

Weeeeeeekeeeeeennnnnnd!

Posted on 28/04/2009 by Severe

My last few weekends have been truly awesome – not to jinx the ones in my future.

Anyway, Friday night Wee the Band had a half hour slot at the Red Vic hostel/cafe in the Upper Haight. Our percussionist was away on business so it wasn’t a full gig, but it still went pretty well. Tha audience that was thar ta watch us (some of whom we know, many were walk-ins) was very attentive and appreciative. Aftahwerds we had some drinks nearby at a friends place. If only tha cd was ready, we prolly wouldve sold a few….

Saturday ah woke up n realized ah was an idiot n my computah was nawt broken – huzzah! Then ah hit tha backyard. While ah did dae a bit of diggin n movin around, what ah really spent time on was plantin some seeds. Ah don’t know if they’ll take, but ah planted a row of wildflowers on each side of our pathway on tha top level. Previously there had been a bunch of clover growing thar that looked kinda neat, except that half of it had been pulled up. We’ll see if anythang grows:

Then ah planted a lettuce mix in some bins ah found in tha backyard – ah was a lil haphazard about all this though, so ah wont be hurt if it doesn’t werk out this time:

Ahm hopin ta jumpstart tha growin by usin some worm castings, which ah used tha last time ah had a garden (ah dont know if they actually helped er nawt, but its organic fertilizer – makes sense ta me). Ah bought these direct from this organic gardening site, which I think is a pretty good deal.

Tha tree next door decided it liked what ah was daein w. tha place n gave me a gift from it’s branches:

Saturday night my yoga studio hosted “Eat Drink and Be Mary”, and annual clothing swap/potluck/talent show that was a total blast. Ah sadly dae nawt have any pictures of tha ridiculous costumes ah was wearin, but ah did spend a large portion of tha nite w. a cape on. Thar was a jam session latah on n ah met a bunch of jazz/jaco folks who want ta dae some woodsheddin, which ahm down fer. Ah made pumpkin bread as well:

This is my moms recipe that I am working on adapting – currently it comes out a little too sweet so ahma keep that in mind tha next time ah make it. When it’s finalized ahll post it fer you fine folks.

Sunday ah gawt ta sleep in instead of gaein ta tha yoga studio at 11, which was amazin. Ah did a lil more cookin, went on a very nice first date at a great local dive (and ah mean a REAL dive, nawt a hipster trendy dive. These folks mean business when it comes ta drinkin), n ah hung out w. my roommates when ah gawt home. We made mac n cheese w. this extra special expensive olive oil that lives in our house and it was DELICIOUS. Holy hell, that was some great Mac n Cheese.

Posted in backyard, blind dates, breads, mac n cheese, pine cones, weekends, weetheband | 2 Comments

Much Love!

Posted on 24/04/2009 by Severe

Ah just wanted to take a second n say THANK YOU!!! to tha folks who read this blog n leave comments. It really does make my day ta pull up this ol’ thang n see that people are reading it. Ahve been enjoyin chronicling my adventures out here quite a lot, n would prolly keep it up anyway, but it makes it so much more fulfilling ta dae when ah know my friends across tha country are tunin in every once in a while.

If ah wasn’t at werk ahd attach a picture of me smilin at ya – perhaps latah this weekend (that is, if ah ken git my computah ta behave….stupid mothafawka….grumble grumble).

Posted in appreciation, feelin loved, kudos, thanks | 2 Comments

Ah know, ah only post about weekends these days….

Posted on 20/04/2009 by Severe

First off, HAPPY 4/20!

Anyway, thar were more shenanigans this weekend in tha best city evah. On Saturday I spent some more time in my backyard moving shit around and trying to figure out what kind of gardening is tha best. Here’s that spot that until 3 weeks ago was 5 ft tall weeds:

Tha weirdest thang was before ah was out thar werkin, ah saw some smoke. Ah figured it was just a neighbor smokin a cigarette next door, n then my door bell rang. When ah answered it (which ah usually dont dae unless ahm expectin somoene) my neighbors told me they saw smoke comin from my backyard. Ah went out back n found that our stairs had spontaneously caught on fire! Ah don’t know what tha fawk caused it, ah couldn’t anythang that indicated flame. We eventually smothered it out, but it is a mystery….

My old Mysterious Odors bandmate, Andrews (also a richmond native) was in town with his band Beatnik Jr as well as their friends Mahi Gato which featured Willie (Also of tha odors, n tha guy in tha previous post who was here last weekend) on bass at the Fat City. Drews came by in tha afternoon n we shot tha shite, n then ah met up w. them latah n gave them some California Cookies that came out excellent. Both bands rawked pretty damn hard n then thar was some hangin out….


These guys are all on drugs.


I wanted to be a rockstar w. sunglasses too!

I stayed out until 4 in tha morning in tha tenderloin (NEVAH a good idea), gawt back, had a catnap, n then it was off ta my yoga werk trade. Tha nite of boozin n tha afternoon of shovellin made me HORRENDOUSLY sore. If ah wasn’t such a bikram rawkstar, I wouldve probably died in class. Or something.

Then, despite tha fact that it was unbelievable gorgeous outside, ah had WTB practice, which was fun, but nawt as much fun as outside. Aftahwerds, it was intae the Inner Mission fer pitchers of margaritas and local beer w. tha remainin Beatnik Jr/Mahi Gato folks.


Drew’s rock star face is almost identical to his non-rock star face.

Before we parted ways, we talked about me comin ta visit LA fer a reunion show. Ah think it’s gawna happen. Oh sweet sweet stank….

Anyway, Monday has kicked my ass and it continues to be gorgeous out. Ah am tired as fuck n my stomach is PISSED fer all tha booze. Ah promise ta be nicer ta you fer tha rest of tha month stomach.

Posted in backyard, beatnik jr, beer, berklee friends, bikram yoga, fire, mahi gato, mysterious odors | 1 Comment