bugaloo!

Lil Debbie was fun. She is just ok. She rapped along with herself on the tracks so that was kind of dumb. The vaporizing going on in the room was insane. It's all anyone uses no, you don't smell any weed. I actually like that.

The bananas are playing the Burger Bugaloo in Oakland on July 5th. I do feel that the Bananas get slighted a bit when they play in Sac, so I would like to let you read the description on the Burger site and note that they are playing on a festival bill with No Bunny, La Sera, Personal and the Pizzas, Ronnie Spector, the Oh Sees among others. Here's what the website says:

Sometimes operating under the moniker DIY TIL EYE DIE, The Bananas are Sacramento, California's best and worst kept secret. This power trio consisting of Mike, Marie, and Scott Banana will always be the best band to rock any party on the face of the planet.

Tickets are on sale but they are not cheap.

bumpin bumpin

I was hating on Sac a bit for poor attendance of the WR show last night and then we got turnt up Sac-style and I was in love all over again. The Susans are the Sac-est band from LA. The drummer said "I'm from Austin and we love to chant and do random countdowns so I feel at home". I know, it was a Tuesday night show, so I shouldn't have been hating anyway.

 

LL can you send me that video of 2014 to post?

Lil Debbie is tonight. I am pretty whatever on her but I heard she was fun last time and it's 5 bucks. My first time in the grown n' sexy nightclub District 30! Out of the White Girl Mob of Vnasty, Kreayshawn and her she is my least favorite, with Kreayshawn being first of course. The first time I heard this (before she blew up, somehow saw it randomly) I was like wha??!?!?

riff raff

I noticed that Riff Raff's new album "Neon Icon" did not rate a pitchfork review. He also did an over/under on P-fork and was lackluster, ignorant, and not funny. In contrast to Danny Brown's which was awesome. The album pretty much sucks, besides the version of "how to be the man" with Slim Thug and Paul Wall. It even has a terrible rage rock song on it. His show pretty much sucked too.


He has proved himself to be the new Vanilla Ice. I found him entertaining at first, and his awesome Nardwuar interview made me think he had the chops and cred of a real rapper but nah.

I know this post is sure to start a firestorm of controversy among the readers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbg67ShDohQ

Arts and Culture

Wow, I've seen 6 movies in the last couple of weeks. I'm stoked. This weekend I saw 22 Jump Street with my mom, which is a good mom movie in the case of my mom. She was like "what's that guys name" and I honestly couldn't remember if it was Channing Tatum or Tatum Channing.

Then on Saturday I saw the midnight screening of "naked dudes by a lake" (can't remember the real name) at the French Film Festival. It was pretty good. The big deal with it was that there are male-on-male pornographic sex scenes interspersed with a psychological thriller. The movie is slight, but the boners are mighty.

I also saw the new play "The Submission" at Big Idea Theater in Del Paso. It's a great theater company. Honestly, this was a terrible play with mostly good performances, and in the case of Eason Donner, really good. He is funny! This guy is an up-and-comer in the local theater scene. Really good in Orlando recently and now this.


Sonny and the Sunsets were brilliant last night. I love him so much. He played a lot of new stuff, with older stuff bookending the set. I requested Teenage Thugs and he joked that the song he was playing was Teenage Thugs 2, but really it was a Richman-esque song about a health food store.

Tuesday Charles Albright Band and 2014 are playing the Witch Room.

Vivian Maier

So I see the ladeez don't have any thoughts they'd like to share on cutoffs. Scott thinks I just need to look through vintage jeans more but not only do I like thrifting but I have always hated looking through jeans the most. Usually I rely on Scott to find them for me.

 

I saw Locke last night and loved it! Any movie with a tight focus on Tom Hardy's face for 90 minutes as his voice soothingly speaks is enough for me. But seriously it had the feel of a play and I really liked it. It should be staged as a play.  DO NOT see that horrible Tom Cruise movie tho.

 

I'm really happy that I've seen three movies this week and am going to see the Vivian Maier (see above) documentary tomorrow at the Varsity.

Rad

I never, ever, ever thought I'd say this but....I might go to Forever 21 and buy some cheap-o cutoffs. When cutoffs at stores started happening I always thought: what kind of idiot would buy cutoffs at a store? Young people, that's who.

I mean, the thrift stores were full of jeans that were too short for me and could be cut off! I never would have believed I would stop thrifting, but I have almost entirely. Spent a couple of hours doing it this weekend and emerged with an expensive, vintage, handmade wool blazer with a fur collar and soft lining - it fits perfectly. Obviously that is a good thing but it's rarely hot enough here for me to wear that and it cost 40 bucks. I could have gotten something more practical new for that amount of money.

Back to the point: the cutoffs I have from vintage shorts are all mom jeans with uncomfortable high waists. The only ones I like are a pair from h and m from like 12 years ago that I cut off from my favorite jeans and they are literally falling apart. We are getting into pockets hanging out territory and I am no Britney Spears. Ladies: what are your thoughts about this?

A couple of spectacular Witch Room shows are coming up: Sonny and the Sunsets and the Memories this Sunday, and Life Stinks, Trashies, and Rad on July 2nd. Can't wait to see Rad!!!!!!!

run don't walk

First: RUN, don't walk to see Jodorowsky's Dune at the Tower. What an inspiring movie! He is the most positive guy in the world. Makes me feel sad I hated his new movie enough to walk out, but mostly it was because of the horribly cheap way the hi-def video (or whatever the hell he shot it on) looked.

Specifically, it inspired me to watch an actual movie on Netflix streaming, instead of horribly crap TV and I picked Assault on Precinct 13. That idea was planted by the fact that Jodorowsky was going to have one of Carpenter's special effects guys work on Dune. I realized once it started that I had seen it before, but it is awesome. It has such a slow build up to a quick, exciting resolution, and a lot of Douglas Sirk, noir-y lighting. I realized there is a pattern to some of my favorite directors (and musicians, if you count R. Kelly), in that the kitsch of the art can fool people about the fact that the artist is in on at least some of it. Does that make sense? It's true for De Palma, too.

I mean, obviously the part of Assault where the convicts play "one potato, two potato" to choose which has to make a dangerous escape is tongue-in-cheek. I think in his movies, sometimes you are laughing at Carpenter, and sometimes with him.

The extended sequence of the thugs shooting out the windows of the building also reaches enjoyable absurdity.

I also saw a show that was the first non-rap show to make me so stoked in a while. It was Mt. Eerie at WR. I had never seen him perform but what a guy. The part that got me so in the zone besides how the music sounds was the rapt crowd who seemed to want his low-key performance to go on forever and who kept their phones in their pockets. SM didn't want to hear about it because he thought it was a Pregnant show (as did I) and didn't go. I just went to hang with friends so Mt. Eerie was a wonderful treat.

Wow, right after I wrote this I saw this thing on Pitchfork with a teen Phil Elverum (Mr. Eerie guy) on MTV talking about Nirvana. What a cool coincidence because I had no idea who he was before Saturday. This clip illustrates what a disorienting experience it was to be "alternative" or "progressive" (terms that were used with a straight face at my high school) and then have this shit go mainstream at the speed of light. Let me clarify, I was by no means cool - I was a chubby dork who wore a Morrissey or Cure tshirt EVERY SINGLE DAY and was rejected by the goths - but I had built my identity around something that got appropriated for Calvin Klein ads. It's disturbing to me that cultural figures like Courtney Love get venerated because kids these days are getting it all wrong.

Which is a good segue into the new show "Champagne" at Verge, curated by a 23 year old skater/rapper dude (who is a great guy) and the strong feelings it provoked in me. Strong negative feelings until I got a new perspective by realizing that the strong feelings themselves are interesting, to me at least. You may not be interested in my navel gazing.

These kids are appropriating 90s icons through the filter of growing up on the internet. I don't share the humor or willful naivete. But it's at least interesting that they feel a connection to this time and are getting it wrong probably in the same way we got the 70s wrong when we were kids. But then again, even though I liked some classic rock because of my dad I was generally only interested in current culture at that age. And the endless churning/blendering of culture that goes on now is mind-numbing and exhausting. Instant nostalgia sucks.

long time no see

As you can tell if you've been checking, I've been super busy. I doubt if I've ever gone so long without blogging without being on vacation, not even during one of my many dramatic declarations that I was ending heckasac.

 

I got a story published in the Bee! I almost feel like I can retire from writing, especially since I have been too busy to do jack shit for foodways. I am kind of kidding but not really. Besides the difficulty of hooking up the interview with the professor, this article was a pleasure to write.

 

I have been working at UCSF and Bodega Bay which has been fun but like 13+ a day. I got to roll in a white Chevy with "UC Davis Safety Services" printed on the side so you know I've been feeling cool as hell.  Also ate at Bar Agricole which I recommend. Cool place and I've been loving rum agricole since VA tipped me off to it.

Dinner And A Show

The new Jodorowsky movie is at the Crest tonight at 7:30. I just got invited to a fun event at Witch Room so I am going to that instead but luckily they are showing it tomorrow, too. This is a good deal because it includes drinks1 Not sure about the band but who knows?

Saw Chef yesterday. It's fine. Here are a couple of taglines I made up. Chef: finally a movie about people fucking with their phones! Chef: no conflict, just hot lady asses and loving shots of food. Chef: a movie that your mom will love!

It did make me hungry and I was like "I should eat more good food and stop eating sardines and crackers for dinner". Then I had to return something at the mall and got a veggie corndog at Hot Dog On A Stick. LOL. Those things are so low calorie! Like 220 and meanwhile a pretzel across the way is around 500. I have officially shopped at Ann Taylor Loft for work clothes and bought navy slacks. Finally a real adult at 40. That part of being 40 is fun. The I Feel Bad About My Neck part not so much. But it beats being dead amiright?

The After Party's At The Marriot

We got quite a good crowd last night despite that it was Wednesday at that it was conflicting with Trapacana. It was really fun. MC Ham dipped heavily into the YG catalog which is as it should be. I played After Party which really should have been a bigger hit, especially with the sick DJ Mustard track


I don't know Dorrough's story but one time I was looking through the KMEL top tracks and he had like 3 songs on there. I think he's from Atlanta.

I just found out the next heckarap is June 12th! I totally thought it was the 19th. So soon!

Friday they are playing the new  Jodorowsky movie at the Crest!! Yay! I am so psyched that it's coming to Sac and that it's there. Now if we can just get Dune and the documentary about Dune, but I do n't know if that's happening.

this chicken's on fire

Jeez, I ate sooo much this weekend. But that's what acknowledging the sacrifice of the troops is all about, amiright? I ate cioppino on Saturday and then ate at 2 barbecues yesterday. I caught 7 pounds of chicken on fire and threw them away, which is pretty much becoming an annual tradition for me. It's how I support the troops.

Tomorrow is heckarap. That's all I got.

Who Do You Love?

Big night tonight! Pop show at witchroom with Rose Melberg's band Imaginary Pants, the Zebras, Arts and Leisure, Monnone Alone and the Mechanical Brides. It's like a roadshow of the SF popfest set up by Roger.

Jeez YG was hands down the best rap show I've ever seen. Ace was sold out, probably a bit more than that. The energy was crazy (some of the ladies were scaring me a bit. I took great pains to not bump into anyone). It was the first show of his tour and he is a great performer. Big contrast to Riff Raff's lackluster performance (summed up perfectly by Blake in the SNR). He was wearing that classic LA Compton style of long cutoffs w white socks pulled up to the bottom of the shorts. He has a definite T.I.-ness about him so he made that style cute. Cute dancer too. Played probably his whole new album (album of the year) and then some other stuff like Toot And Boot It. The crowd sang along with every word. LOVED IT.

Luckily he only let everyone on stage (including some kids) for the last song "Who Do You Love" which is a siiiiiiccckkkk song.

chop bustin'

 I was surprised more people weren't at the Tyvek show. They were so awesome.

G. Green were super rippin'. That's my favorite set of theirs I've ever seen. I've really come around to G. Green over the years. The line up has changed a ton and this is my favorite one.

Man, KJ getting his chops busted on Deadspin. This is big. I hope it continues.

new Vanilla Ice?

Riff Raff kinda sucked. I was with some people who were really excited, so that was cute. He went from promising to the new Vanilla Ice. Totes buffoon style. Giant cutouts of Katy Perry's face and a husky paraded around stage for instance. A horrible Kid Rock-ish rock song called KoKayne that I will just pretend I never had to hear. A dude whose musical taste I trust said the Neon Panda mixtape is the one I should check out.

On that note, I am kinda over Heckarap. For one, we couldn't get a Thursday this month and ours falls on the one year anniversary of this night at Sidetraxx called Trapacana, which is really popular, mostly due to the crazy cheap drink specials IMHO. So Heckarap will be dead. It will likely be banging in June but I don't know, I just feel like we accomplished what we set out to do and we will just be chasing to duplicate that experience from now on. I'm kind of bummed how much the crowd prefers current stuff. The only good rap albums I have heard lately are YG and Future. I'm tired of sifting through mixtapes for the possible one good song. Chicago drill turned out to be a total bust as far as quality output.

About to eat Masullo leftovers for lunch even though it's not even 11. Pizza never lasts long when I bring it for lunch.

commute

Tyvek and G. Green are at Witch Room on Thursday folks

I really wish that the walk to the tracks for Amtrak and the bike racks on the train didn't anger me every time. I won't say rage because that is too strong. I have yet to successfully put up and take down my bike without hurting myself in some small way. And it takes so long for 3 people to get theirs down or up that there is always a backup of people waiting and being annoyed that you are running into them, etc.

I wish it were possible to have a whole car for bikes with seating on the top, but then more people would have to ride Amtrak, but more people would ride if it was more convenient or cheaper so it's a catch-22.

Time: Even the 5 minute walk rather than the none there used to be means an extra 50 minutes a week which is  3.3 hours a month which again pushes my commute to quite a bit more time than driving, even with occasional traffic. I estimate I spend 22-24 hours a month commuting by car, and about 30 if I took the train. So the time would only about three hours apart if not for that walk. But I may be underestimating the traffic. I'm so used to it.

Cost: If I enroll in the program UC Davis offers, my train ticket would cost 7 dollars a day. So 140 month. I would save 55 in parking (going up soon, I think), and it's nice that the UCD train thing offers one free parking pass a month for when I have to drive. I would save about 40 in gas a week (I think, I'm not good at calculating these things). Hmmm...I would save at least 75 bucks by taking the train and that is not factoring in wear and tear, and much more wear and tear on my car will mean I have to buy a new car within the next couple years because mine has like 180,000 miles. So that could mean the difference between a car payment every month in like a year or maybe like 4 years. I'm glad I rambled and figured this out.

Right now they are offering discounted tickets for 6 bucks a day, I wish they could do that all the time. That would save 240 bucks in the course of the year. This is all based on me not taking vacation, sick days, not factoring in holidays etc.

I was also thinking about sometimes biking to the UCD Med Center Shuttle, which would add about a half hour of biking today and put me in the same traffic, but is wayyyy cheap.

Most interesting post ever! What are your commutes like?

fullness bursting at the seams...at Il Fornaio

I was combing through listings of food events in Sac so I could beef up that section on Foodways, when I came across this. Here's the text:

Note: this is an intimate, seated gathering for only five women who love and crave the honesty and intimacy that Naima brings and the ambiance that IL Fornaio restuarant provides.
The opportunity to be mentored by Naima will be offered to those where the fit seems right.

A note from Naima:
I'm a full Woman.
I love hot sex.
I love enjoying pleasure in all the ways men love to please me.
I find delight in gathering with other hungry women who are claiming what they desire, what they're no longer tolerating,… Show more and what they're creating in their lives.
I love seeing a woman be all of herself; her ugly, her inappropropriate, her glory, and her grace.
We'e so f~~king amazing we don't know what to do with ourselves.
And neither does this world.
That's part of why I exist; to be the beacon of Womanhood.
To be a respite for women who feel their sex, their soul, their fullness bursting at the seams and are going crazy trying to make themselves fit or thinking they're wrong or crazy for feeling what they naturally feel or craving what they naturally crave.
So when we gather in our intimate group of no more than six at IL Fornaio on May 29th, it'll probably be unlike anyting you've ever expeirenced. Your entire life could change by a thought or an admission or an experience or just one moment that happens while we're together that evening.
Nothing is off limits. When I talk about the fullness of a Woman, I mean it. :-)
And if it feels right, we'll discuss deeper ways to work together.
I look forward to connecting with you.

Love,
Naima
Hot Sex Mentor
To learn more about Naima, click here . (there is no link!)

To review IL Fornaio's menu, click here . You're responsible for your food and beverages.

That last part doesn't sound very friendly! I may go here on May 29th just to see if I can spot this group. Although I will be probably just be Naima.

Oh, also this is happening at the Colonial on June 7th. Also, something called the World Famous Popovich Comedy Pet Theater will be there in December. The flyer said he is "The Baryshnikov of juggling". I like to think that I'm the Barishyshnikov of blogging:

Saturday June 7, 2014

RP"Princeology"

 

This event will feature the showing of the movie "Purple Rain" and a

live band playing all of Prince's hit songs. 

Countless Prince memorabilia will be on display. 

 

Doors open at 7:00 pm

 



Read more here: http://events.sacbee.com/sacramento_ca/events/show/370508738-an-intimate-gathering-with-sacramentos-hot-sex-mentor#storylink=cpy

Hey Nineteen

The Riot Grrl on her first trip to the Met w/Bikini Kill tshirt. Meeting a different penpal from New Jersey, also super awkward even though he was an awesome guy.  He wrote an earnest feminist zine called Hey Nineteen until he found out the Steely Dan song was about a 19 year old girl and then changed the name to Quiet Nights for Quiet Stars. I believe his penpal ad may have been something about masturbation, but in a way that's hard to convey it was not a creepy ad. It was something where he was conflicted about fantasizing about  women cuz it was sexist and akin to rape. Jeez can  you believe this was only about 20 years ago. It's like a whole different world

Very 90s Feelings

I'm having so many 90s feelings right now. I started down some internet hole that led me to a Bikini Kill tumblr and this video. Some random thoughts:

1) Kathleen Hanna's voice and Kiedis' are similar at times
2) Wow, things really were intensely anti-fashion. A baggy tshirt for The Jam and a skirt she had cut off and probably some sneakers. I dressed exactly like that. I remember how when Lipstick (the dance night) became a thing that I couldn't believe all these girls that were wearing, well, lipstick and high heels. We even called them "Lipstick girls". I for one was very threatened. I mean, a few years before that I felt some pressure to not even shave my legs (and didn't for a while) and I felt like these younger girls were from another planet.
3) Hanna when she strips down to a bra tells people to stop taking pictures and says "I thought punk was about living in the moment" and urges them to just enjoy it and stop making her feel self-conscious. And meanwhile I recently watched a show through a bunch of giant phones because everyone in front of me was filming. Sigh.
4) Why did I get rid of everything? All my Sassies, all my tshirts, all my zines, why??? I guess because I didn't enjoy the 90s while I was living through them, at least the early and mid-90s
5)I've probably told the story of how I missed Bikini Kill at the Loft because I couldn't find it. (If you've talked to me in person I'm sure I have). I saw them at Gilman the night before (she was wearing a baggy tshirt with a bikini body on it) and they said they were playing at the Loft the next day. I had some idea that it was behind a bookstore (maybe they said that) and I went to Levinson's books (where the first Temple started) and looked around behind there. Oh well, at least I got to see them thanks to reading MRR. I also remember going into Hindenberg and feeling very intimidated and uncool. SS was behind the counter and didn't exactly chat me up.
6) I will never stop being impressed that Scott went to the International Pop Underground in Olympia. I heard about it but didn't know anyone who was going.
7) Tobi Vail rules. Seeing her band Spider and The Webs maybe 8 years ago was a favorite show of mine.
8)I haven't watched the new Punk Singer movie. Really I have such mixed feelings towards that time that I'm avoiding it. It's dumb and I should watch it.

I have to tear myself away from the internet!

missed the GZA

I went to Madre Cervezeria last night at Mother. Very fun. The asparagus "Cochinita pibil" was spicy and satisfying. I think the spice came from the chile strips with a creamy sauce and my face was turning red even before I drank the beer. Loved the first beer, a Commons Saison, but between all the good food and conversation I really didn't pay as much attention to the beer overall as I normally would have. Also, the food got me feeling bloated up and I didn't really want all the beer. That is your daily window into my digestive system. There were churros to finish off the meal with just the right amount of salt and NM busted out a weird vanalla-y Bruery beer. It paired well but tasted like a cigar a little bit?  I hope they have more of these events. Very chill, and tons of beer and food for all. For 35 bucks you would be hard pressed to get that much food and special beer.  There was a lot of talk about IPA-gate and a little talk about Pizza-gate. So many controversies brewing lately and hmm I guess I have something to do with them. I must get something out of it, but that's between me and my therapist. See more re: pizzagate at foodways.

The Verge TV Dinner is on Saturday but I will be at No Bunny. Maybe I could bring some actual TV dinners there. No Bunny seems like he would be a fan.

What else? Can't think of anything. Probably stuff I am forgetting. I couldn't go see GZA because of that interview for Foodways. I had to transcribe it ASAP, so I sacrificed in order to roil the pot.

hilarious

If I had my druthers I would put a moratorium on one more single "artistic" bike rack until there were enough regular bike racks for every frigging bike in the city. The Bee had a piece today happily announcing that 8 new artistic bike racks are going to be distributed throughout the city including a set of 3 that if you stand a few feet away combine to make a  person! How cute! But can I lock my fucking bike to it? So infuriating. Davis has the best, most practical bike racks! Cute bike racks are for people who don't ride bikes.

Also in the Bee today is a story about the new public art that's going to be commissioned for the arena. The head of SMAC is heading it up, which is a good sign. The LOL in the article is that the King's president likened it to a "museum" and said he envisions it as a place for performance art!! hilarious. I can't wait to see a naked woman lay on a block of ice in the middle of it surrounded by a pentagram drawn with her own blood. On the halfcourt at halftime.