can't argue with the sky

My grandfather just passed away and i decided i wanted to play this song, from Fred Thomas "Sink Like a Symphony"
This is all I can think of to say right now.

"I held my breath, but I breathed in the smoke regardless
of my room as it burned.
It filled my lungs and I was done,
and I slept.

I saw the line between sleeping and death.
As I stepped over it, a small voice said, "don't be afraid,"
and a choice was made.
and I dream of an auditorium surrounding me.
A thousand eyes, a thousand hands held up the sky.
And I believe I heard their voices in my mind say,
"don't be sad; it's just your time go.
Make a ladder of your spine,
let every rung be stepped and climbed.
Make hummingbirds from your insides,
and let your face turn into vines,
and let your teeth and bones rewind.
But realize, now, realize
that you were only walking light,
and let it go back down
and shine on everybody that you loved when you were alive."

And so Elit,
would you wait for me,
even if I was removed from our time and died?
Well don't cry, 'cause it's only the last part of life,
and i'm still by your side.
And it will happen to you like it happened to me,
and the rest of the people we know.
Like the summers all end and trees lose their leaves,
and the water turns back into snow.
Every grandmother, grandfather, particle--
we're all here for a while then we go,
living for love and love alone.

And you will be with those angels in disguises,
cleverly holding their hands over your eyes
to make from your nightmares the nighttime.
And you will believe a thousand days before you die, maybe 999--
you'll feel the numbers' slow decline,
but, everybody, it's alright 'cause you can't argue with the sky.
You can't argue with fire."

busy month

I feel like I've been hiding out a lot, but it would be nice to see you all - I'll be travelling for about a month, details below. Please make it to some of these other events, I am pretty proud of them all (I've neglected promoting a lot of these because of the Club Sandwich 2 Year anniversary show, which went really well (review here). We even won a Guardian "Best of the Bay" award!), and am in a rush to get a bunch of projects done before tour. Please come out!

Aug 4th Monday
Playing tonight with KIT and BARR/Brendan, Fox Pause (the Sarah Han jambode), and Nighborhood Stars (Diekman) at Mama Buzz!
6-9 pm. all ages


Aug 9th Saturday
Craziness of crazies - CHEN SANTA MARIA is almost done with our album (yay) and we are playing in Napa Wine country this saturday the 9th!
di Rosa Preserve: Art & Nature
5200 Carneros Highway 121 Napa, California 94559 • 707.226.5991
from 6 to 8pm for the opening! come out and experience this.


Aug 10th Sunday
READ IT AND WEEP:
performing as a "spoken word"/"comedy" format (only the second time I've done this) opening for heavy hitters such as Sam McPheeters, Tara Tavi, Erika Anderson, Yasi Perera, Lanie "THE RIPPER" Fletcher, and Sarah Cathers. Should be a total goof, but fun times
http://21grand.org



Aug 14th
SISSY SPACEK BIG BAND/LARGE ENSEMBLE is playing at 21 Grand on Thursday August 14th,
>> George Chen - Guitar
>> Vice Cooler - Drums
>> Paul Costuros - Woodwinds
>> Chris Dixon - Drums
>> Tony Dryer - Double Bass
>> Jacob Heule - Drums
>> Matt Ingalls - Clarinet
>> Loachfillet - Percussion
>> Kanoko Nishi - Koto
>> Corydon Ronnau - Guitar
>> Amanda Warner - Bass
>> Kim West - Woodwinds
>> John Wiese - Electronics
>> Gerritt Wittmer - Electronics
http://21grand.org
http://clubsandwichbayarea.com


Really stoked to be going on tour with my 7 Year Rabbit Cycle bandmate Rob Fisk as COMMON EIDER KING EIDER, opening for other 7yrc-ers Jamie and Ches in Xiu Xiu! The first half will be with the ever-amazing Evangelista with Carla and Tara and friends. The second half is with Prurient, totally running the spectrum! All dates below, come out and say hi if you can! We may also need places to rash, so get in touch about that...

Aug
20 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk - w/ Xiu Xiu, Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, Common Eider, King Eider
21 - Houston, TX @ Orange Show Center for Visionary Art - w/ Xiu Xiu, Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, Common Eider, King Eider
22 - Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree Cafe - w/ Xiu Xiu, Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, Common Eider, King Eider
23 - Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn - w/ Xiu Xiu, Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, Common Eider, King Eider
24 - Charlotte, NC @ Milestone - w/ Xiu Xiu, Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, Common Eider, King Eider
25 - Baltimore, MD @ Sonar - w/ Xiu Xiu, Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, Common Eider, King Eider
26 - Providence, RI @ Living Room - w/ Xiu Xiu, Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, Common Eider, King Eider
27 - Boston, MA @ Paradise - w/ Xiu Xiu, Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, Common Eider, King Eider
28 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom - w/ Xiu Xiu, Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, Prurient, Common Eider, King Eider
29 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Garfield Artworks - w/ Xiu Xiu, Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient
30 - Columbus, OH @ Milo - w/ Xiu Xiu, Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient

September 2008
1 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop - w/ Xiu Xiu, Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient
2 - Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom - w/ Xiu Xiu, Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient
3 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge - w/ Xiu Xiu, Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient
4 - Dekalb, IL @ House Cafe - w/ Xiu Xiu, Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient
5 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon - w/ Xiu Xiu, Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient

Catcall

My bandmate Vicent Coolier (just made legal) hipped me to this track.
A few years ago (guess it was 2006) Kiosk from Sydney came out to the US and did a bit of touring. I still have one 7" of theirs that I think is quite good (the CD didn't do as much for me). They played the crazy final show/party at Club Short with Finally Punk, xbxrx, and Paradise Island and I was busy with trying to clean the last bit of random stuff out of the basement and wondering why the hell we were having a show when we were supposed to be out the next day - it was also being referred to many as an "eviction party" and the rumor was that the hosue was being demolished anyway, so no one seemed apologetic for snapping the metal railing off the side stairs. I could do an entire series of Club Short posts, but i will refrain for now.
Point being - Kiosk played one of the first Bus shows (in front of Mama Buzz), the last house show at my place, and were rumored to sign to Kill Rock Stars before going back to Australia and breaking up. I've seen Jack a few times since, but i did not know what the rest of the band was up to till just now.
The vocal stylings on this song are very removed from the hoarse riot grrl styled screams that Kiosk traded in, but both the video and song are pleasant surprises. Catcallis the project, the nausea inducing video (perhaps a camera inside a plastic hamster ball?) is directed by Warran Wright of the enigmatic Moop Jaw. I can't vouch for the rest of her material, but this song is really catchy, and confirms my unacknowledged recent softening towards mainstream female fronted pop (Santogold and I've come around to Feist). Enjoy.

Demolish Serious Culture

thanks.

movement

*it has been an interesting summer.
*i left 19th ave in a mess, it was a mutual mess, but i prefer clean breaks. these breaks kept throwing abusive tendrils my way, and seemed to spiral and drag me down into their black hole toxicity, but i am in a beter place now, that is all there is to say about that.

*i was told "you don't have enough room in your life for other people." maybe that is true. at least in terms of the amount of physical stuff i have, the carbon and papyrus and plastic footprint of my existence thus far, i accept the accusation. now i will be all ephemeral serverspace, i will have enough memory to disseminate, i will multitask.
*finally feeling settled into this place. the first few days, it felt unreal until i could get wireless. wireless became more essential than showering or cooking, at least in the state i was in. now that is sorted, i have some plants, i have the kitty cat, i even got some art for the walls that i bothered trying to find a frame for. i lack tools, but improvisation is the best tool.

*i made myself puke the other day. i came home from a show and was so hungry i ate these hardboiled eggs that i had in the fridge and a whole pasta dinner after midnight. some time around 5 am i was up and feeling wretched. i knew i was going ot be doing nothing that whole day but hanging out in the bathroom. the next day, i moved my pa speakers that i'd leant to the girls rock camp and ate some pho, the only thing i'd eaten in more than 24 hours. i noticed that i had a broken blood vessel on my eyeball. i don't think that's ever happened before, but it probably happened with either the puking or the lifting. it hasn't changed colors yet but the doctor says it will. can't wait.

*every few weeks i go visit my grandfather. he's been in and out of hte hospital, but he's like 93, so it's kind of to be expected. i feel guilty that i don't do more to help him. i have my flurry of activity, and when i am free some times i just want to relax and read or sleep, and i know other people don't have that luxury. my cousin and aunt have taken on the major care of him, i think it's sort of acknowledged that i don't have that many resources to spare, other than driving them to and from the doctors. there's some what of a language barrier between us, which is more on my part than his, but he's always been a reticent, strong silent type. it's weird to think that i resemble him the most out of anyone in my family, possibly my dad, but it's been pointed out by others, and i see it more. it is really hard to fathom the loss of independence that comes at that age, and dealing with the inevitability of your own mortality, and it's hard not to get morose or sentimental about it. the place i have felt most effective has been when i'm able to talk to the doctors. my aunt's english is passable, but there is a lot of technical information she may be missing, and i recently went with her to the pharmacy to get medications - she had to bring a chinese to english medical dictionary to break down what all the drugs were doing. i worry about how often he's lapsing into hospital visits. one thing that keeps me encouraged - he was always into ping pong, and even though he's on a walker and can only stand up for about 5 minutes without it, he can still hit the fuck out of a ping pong ball. his skills have declined a bit since christmas, when he was doing some crazy backhand returns and reaching for the ball. this time he missed a few direct down the center shots (which i'm not even that good at) but i am still amazed at the accuracy and reflexes he has considering what he's been throug the past few months. he's not reaching as far as before, but he can assuredly beat my mobile ass. i wonder how much practice, how much muscle memory and instinct stays with you, and what if anything i will be good at if i ever make it to that age. it actually inspires me to be good at something, anything, to the level that i could even do it one tenth as well as he can at 93.

donate money to my medical bill

Thanks to the hooligans of pepper juice, I have a $1200 ambulance bill. My insurance is covering part of it, but I am now responsible for $740 of this bill resulting from a "caustic chemical assault". We may not know each other, but if you feel like helping me out, even though there are way worse problems in the world to deal with, I sure would appreciate it. Thanks, GC

red hot chili peppers are bad in your eyes as well

i was about to move some stuff from my old place to my new place on friday. it was garbage day and i was bringing in one of my trash cans from off the street when two guys were walking up the hill towards me. one of them asked me for 50 cents. i said "sorry" and kept going about my business. as i came back down stairs to get my other recycling can, they were still standing in front of my house. one guy said something to the other and i could tell something was about to go down. the next thing i knew, my glasses were covered in some orange-red shit. i just took them off and looked at the guy. it was some homemade shit he'd put in a plastic squirt gun. i am not sure what response they were expecting, but i just said "what the fuck is this?" and he stuck his hand in his pocket pointing it at me saying "you want some more?" i should point out that these guys were both a lot taller than me and no one else was on the street to witness this at all. i was more pissed off and just shocked that anyone would bother to do this, over 50 cents no less, or just boredom. i knew it was just a plastic squirt gun, but if someone in east oakland is trying to fuck with you and sticking something out of their shirt, it's probably a good idea to leave it alone. i just started walking towards the house so as not to drag out this confrontation and they just started laughing and walking back up the street. i tried to throw something at them but it just landed on the sidewalk. at this point, no one else was home and i tried to wash the shit off my face. bad move. although you are supposed to wash your eyes out, the fact that most of this stuff hit my glasses probably prevented me from falling to my knees right away and possibly getting rolled for my wallet that had $2 in it (ironically the same amount of money i had in my wallet when i was mugged before). but throwing water on my face just spread it all around. i was feeling an insane burn and mucous running all over. i wished i could just look up on the internet what to do to treat pepper spray, but then got more anxious about hte fact that this was some home brew ghetto mace that could have mixed anything else into that squirt gun. i ended up calling 911, barely able to see what the right buttons on my phone were. in a short burst, 3 cop cars and an ambulance rolled up. the ambulance just helped me blow my nose and then put me on the gurney thing and ran water over my eyes for a few minutes. they told me they wanted to take me to the hospital. i tried to think of a way not to go, having heard horror stories of insane bills for ambulance trips, plus i was only 2 blocks away from highland anyway. my paranoia about the spray got the best of me, and they made me think that i should get everything checked out just to make sure i did not have my eye cut or anything. so i'm sitting on the thing with my clothes completely soaked and get admitted. hopefully my insurance covers all this, but i'm not feeling optimistic about it. i'm sitting in the hospital for nearly 2 hours. one of the cops comes along and asks if i want to press charges. i think about this, and who knows if these assholes were over 18 or under, and i think about this conversation i had last week with em about "the prison industrial complex" and just the fucked up dynamics of gentrification and how everywhere i've lived in oakland the past 7 years has had insane crime and violence happening, and how i have been told not to trust cops my whole life. when it comes down to it though, i figure these guys could be doing this to anyone else and maybe they wouldn't report it and yes, i think i could pick him out of a line up, but no, i don't know for sure. they want to irrigate my eyes again, but once i'm able to see and i'm drying out all the contents of my wallet, i just ask them to make sure i'm not going blind from whatever got sprayed on me. he does a ph test on my eyeball and it looks fine and they discharge me. i walk the two blocks back to my house somewhat disoriented and clothes still soaked through. thank god i'm getting the fuck out of east oakland.