November 15, 2005
Some quick notes on Patti Smith
1. Why does she keep forgetting the words? She's published, dammit. It might as well be inscribed in stone.
2. She and the band really needed to practice more, but it didn't matter. They suited her loose impromptu style.
3. She smiles a lot more than her photos let on and her impish smile really lights up a room.
4. People shout out the weirdest things to her. Some man in the audience "You made me a man, Patti."
5. She does Dylan really well, mostly 'cause Dylan seems to be her biggest inspiration.
6. Adulation does her well too. Her tentative beginning looked better as she gained strength from her adoring audience.
7. Her righteous shout against the Bush administration made me want to cry.
Posted by deaconmf at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
May 02, 2005
Life gets busier and time slows down
Actually, it doesn't slow down at all. It's only my writing that does.
It's been a busy couple of weeks with French tests, visiting relatives and downtown work. Looks like another busy week with bands to see. Meanwhile, the catching up continues. I'll catch up, ok? Sheesh. LOL.
Posted by deaconmf at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2005
Alright, alright. I'm catching up. Promise.
I promise that I'm moving forward. I'm only about a month behind at this point. Check out the archive for more DVD reviews.
Posted by deaconmf at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2005
Balthus at the City College campus, 3/19/05
Well I went to a lecture about Balthus in French and think I understood about 2 or 3% of the info, but the slides were great. At best, Balthus is uncomfortable and "The Guitar Lesson" is a perversion of the Pieta that still sits uneasily on the side of childhood sexuality. He's also got a playful side but most of his stuff seems to be vaguely erotic positions of underage girls in awkward positions taking naps or reading.
Maybe I would have been more comfortable if I had understood more of the lecture, but these paintings are a bit much. He was an attractive man and Man Ray sure made him look that way. Not sure what to make of these paintings, but it was still a great time eating tamponade and figuring it out.
I usually don't do this, but here's some links.
"The Guitar Lesson": www.nelepets.com/art/images/artists/internet-A-B/balthus%20the%20guitar%20lesson1934.jpg
"The Mediteranee's Cat": www.geocities.com/maroud_99/Balthus.jpg
Not sure what this one is called: www.audioplus-french-lessons-online.com/EXPO/Balthus_Les_beaux_jours.gif
The man himself, a portrait by Man Ray: www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/1099/foxweber/jpgs/balthus.photo4.jpg
Posted by deaconmf at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2005
Ok, I'm catching up, OK?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm slow, deliberate and procastinating. I'll get to this month soon. LOL. Meanwhile, check last month's entries. I'm getting there. Slowly. Deliberately. Lazily.
Posted by deaconmf at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2005
The Grind, 1/26/05
I think we've finally hit the exhaustion point in the war news. The byline in today's Chronicle on the war reads "Video shows American pleading for his life. Meanwhile, six U.S. soldiers are killed." Ho hum. Another six deaths. Sigh. My heart still goes out to the poor man pleading for his life though. Hope something changes soon.
Posted by deaconmf at 01:20 PM | Comments (2)
January 12, 2005
Ack!
This is what I get for being so far behind. I kept putting in entries for things I'd done, but hadn't gotten around to writing about. So because I started those entries in December, that's where the newest entries are. Ack! Ack! Sorry kids. Please look in the December archive for last few things I wrote about. Thanks.
Posted by deaconmf at 01:45 PM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2004
Does theft count as drama?
File this one under life sucks sometimes. I was robbed on Friday. Someone broke into my apartment through the window and stole my new laptop, a couple of old iPods and a bunch of CDs. I'm mentally ok, though I feel very angry about all this. The police were polite, but not really helpful and they never came back to give me that form to report serial numbers they were talking about. The landlord came by and seemed to be covering his ass. There was a worker cleaning the light wells when this happened who apparently went walking through our apartment without permission. I'm glad my housemate, who was home most of the day, hadn't walked in on whoever it was, but I wish I'd stayed home.
The worst part is that they stole a friend's birthday present that was something I knew she really wanted. Sorry Miss C. I'll try again.
The scary part is I suspect one of my neighbors did this. There's not much I can do to prevent them for breaking the glass on my windows. This may be the last entry on my desktop.
The weirdest part is going to bed and thinking "I'm sleeping in a crime scene."
I'm not going to obsess over this, but I will be outraged for awhile. Thanks for bearing with me.
Posted by deaconmf at 04:20 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2004
Writing and Whining
Yup. It's NaNoWriMo again, so I'm again trying to write a novel in a month. So, this means I don't get to do much for the month of November. I miss live music. I miss the bar scene. Hell, I even miss the sun and wind. Sigh.
Anyhow, the book is going pretty badly. I keep hitting plots that don't fit the characters well, so I've taken up dropping the narrative at those points and going back to a part of the plot I do like. So far, the abandoned plots include:
A San Francisco earthquake (The Big One!)
Cancer
Extended stay in a mental hospital
Gas explosion
Baby
I alternately feel like I'm writing bad soap opera or bad Hollywood script. I figure the main thing is to keep writing, but bad writing is still bad writing. Maybe I'll have something I like when this is done, who knows?
Thanks for reading the blog while I'm noveling, but don't expect much in the way of new entries.
Posted by deaconmf at 08:33 AM | Comments (1)
November 03, 2004
Now in the Lower Haight, 10/30/04
After a good month of bitching, hemming, hawing and packing, I'm finally there. I forgot a couple of things at the old place and I'll miss Jasper (the world's biggest cat) and little Travis (the cat who thinks he's a dog). But I'm moved and much happier. Except for the shower which seems to run in two temperatures, scalding and freezing. Morning stressors up my already high blood pressure. LOL.
Thanks to my friends for putting up with me during this time. Special thanks to Roger for giving me some much needed boxes.
Posted by deaconmf at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)
The Future, 11/3/04
It's the next morning. The sun isn't up yet. The bodies haven't been counted and yet I know we've lost. All I hear is Leonard Cohen intoning
Destroy another fetus now
We don't like children anyhow
I've seen the future, baby:
it is murder.
Welcome to another America, the one that isn't mine anymore.
Posted by deaconmf at 06:07 AM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2004
Smashing Pumpkins at the Haunted Barn, 10/29/04
Thanks Roddy for taking me!
We went all the way out to Hunters Point to see this haunted house and it was a great time. The first thing we saw there was tent revival meeting for Satan. Too bad it was too hard to hear because they were so soft. The last thing we did there was to go through the haunted house itself where we got to see creepy displays (including art by some guy who "works completely in the medium of squirrel"), watch a guy put his head under a guillotine and Joan of Arc get burned at the stake. The best thing was the giant Rube Goldberg mouse trap. They used all these things from the game, like the crank at the beginning, the descending stair/ramp (they used a bowling ball), the bathtub and a safe. What was the safe for? To pound the pumpkin and the giant Red Bull can flat, of course. No mice were harmed during this demonstration. The scariest thing was the bus ride back from Hunters Point with all those riders. Halloweens can still be scary if you know where to hang out.
Posted by deaconmf at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
Curse Broken Under a Lunar Eclipse, 10/27/04
There was something about last night. Moon slowly turning red then brown and back again. Red Sox winning the World Series. It's like possibilities are multiplying again. A couple of random thoughts came to mind.
1) Now we know how long a curse lasts. In earlier times, most people didn't make it to their 86th year, so curses looked eternal. (Am I counting right?)
2) I have a good friend whose a die-hard Sox fan whose is father was born the last time the Red Sox won the series. He kept screaming that the victory was for his dad, Big Andy, and I kept thinking he was less happy and more relieved than anything else. Hard-suffering doesn't begin to describe what Bostonians have dealt with for almost a century.
Congratulations to Andy and all those other Sox fans out there.
Posted by deaconmf at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2004
Eying That Promotion...
After the movie we played Settlers of Catan. And dammit, I got close. Damned close to winning. Congratulations to Aaron.
Grrrr! Catan will be mine next time.
Posted by deaconmf at 12:04 PM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2004
No More Bling: A Short Trip to the MOMA
Who knew my wardrobe would get me invites? Miss C. thought my shirt would be appropriate for the Glamour show at SFMOMA, so I went along. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any of the art. We stayed in the lobby, got some delicious Skyy Vodka drinks and some high priced pupus. My tshirt made me look hoi polloi. (I just like using that term.) It obviously bothered the frat boy in line behind me who said "I'm all for elitism." Bite me, grown-up frat boy. It was still a good time talking to friends about movies.
Posted by deaconmf at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)
October 06, 2004
Symmetry is good for you.
As part of the nap study I participated in, I got to take an MRI yesterday. It was very interesting experience. I went to the lab and they asked me to empty my pockets and remove my shoes and glasses. Then I lay down on a table and they slid me into the machine. It wasn't as claustrophobic as I thought it might be because the mirror allowed me to look out of the machine. Sure was noisy with all this clicking even with the ear plugs in. There was a fan blowing air through the machine, but I kept imagining that the magnetic field was making my hair tingle.
So what did I learn from this? The tech told me my head was very symmetric, inside and out. I'm near perfect! Yay!
Posted by deaconmf at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
October 05, 2004
New home and some thanks
Well, I think most people know by now I'll be living in the Lower Haight. Yay for more transit. More yay for closer proximity to my friends.
Also, here's where I thank a couple of people:
Thanks David for hosting me and giving me a shout out.
And thanks to Roddy for sending your friends my way. Yay!
Posted by deaconmf at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)