MEDIA WHORE . . .

. . . or just a whore?

SOPHOMORE

FUCKING FINALLY!

My beloved Fleet Foxes have announced upcoming tour dates in support of their second album, Helplessness Blues, due to drop on May 3rd.

If this song is any indication of what this album is going to be like, then the long wait has been well worth it.

BREAKFAST IN A BOTTLE

Introducing the Johnny Midnite Oatmeal Stout from Buffalo Bills in downtown Hayward. It goes nicely with a BLT.

I brought some home with me because I just LOVE oatmeal.

PICTURE THIS

During a spontaneous urban hike yesterday, I found myself at the recently (and beautifully) restored Palace of Fine Arts.

It's looking real good, although next time I visit, I'll make sure it's a bit sunnier and less crowded.

NYUT NYUT NYUT

It has brought me great pleasure to see The Three Stooges back on Television, and on the artsy-fartsy Independent Film Channel (IFC), no less.

Now that's respect.

Oh, and yes, they're still funny after all these years.

FILL YOUR HAND, YOU SON OF A BITCH - REDUX

A lot has been said about the new version of True Grit. and how it's more of a return to the book than a remake of the original film.

Having seen both versions, I'd have to say that's not an entirely true statement.

Although the original version, released in 1969, is a bit more light in tone and features a happy ending (it was produced by Hal Wallis and directed by Henry Hathaway, two old-school Hollywood heavyweights), the new version is an ALMOST shot-for-shot remake.

PICTURE THIS



I came across this little gem on a walk recently. It's been covered up since 1936, when the Transbay Terminal (recently demolished to make way for a replacement structure) was built up against this building.



I was trying to get a little artsy-fartsy with this shot, but I'm not sure if I accomplished it. What do you think?

MY OZ

Some of the best photographs ever taken of Manhattan were shot by Berenice Abbott.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS: CREATURE FEATURES

When I was five years old, I had my first sleepover with a friend from kindergarten, Matt. It was at his house and it was Matt who introduced me to a local late night classic television show, Creature Features.

The movie broadcast that night was I Was A Teenage Werewolf starring Michael Landon. We eventually went to bed and about twenty minutes later, I saw the werewolf in Matt's bedroom closet, so of course I screamed my ass off. Matt's mom came in and when it was obvious she couldn't convince me that there wasn't a werewolf in the closet, my parents were called and I was sent home. It amazes me that I was allowed to stay up and watch Creature Features after that incident, but there was no stopping me. I was HOOKED.

Bob Wilkins was the host and with his cigar and dry-wit, introduced me to such cheesy horror films as Tarantula, The Beast With Five Fingers, The Deadly Mantis, It Came From Beneath The Sea, and the movie that introduced me to Joan Crawford (and I'm still a fan of hers today), Trog.

Bob was also in the habit of showing true classic horror films like The Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Wolf Man, and War Of The Worlds. It was also his show that had the honor of  broadcasting for the first time ever on television, Night Of The Living Dead (unedited, no less). I stayed up for that one, against my parents wishes, and another childhood trauma was born.

By the way, I'm still pretty sure there was a werewolf hiding in that stupid closet.

ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER

I bought two cans of the same soup at the same time and later noticed the nutritional information is different for each can.

Hmmm, very interesting.

And how was the soup, you ask?

Meh, I'll finish the second can but from now on, I'll stick with the full-fat version.

HAVING YOUR CAKE

A lot has been said about the inappropriateness of the MTV show Skins, with the censorship group Parents Television Council calling it "child porn," which of course, it isn't.

I'm always disturbed by people who so freely use that phrase.

Behemoth retailer Wal-Mart has announced plans to sell a line of cosmetics called Geo-Girl, which is aimed at girls between the ages of 8 and 12. Set to be introduced next month, Wal-Mart says this target group of consumers has a buying power of 2 Billion dollars.

2 Billion dollars? Damn, that's a lot of babysitting money, huh?

I wonder what the PTC is going to have to say about this, because I believe that marketing a line of cosmetics to little girls is WAY more disturbing than anything that is currently being serving up on the MTV.

MY OZ

There are few sights as beautiful as Central Park under a fresh blanket of snow.

Oh, to be there today with the nearly two-feet of powder they got overnight.

FLUNKING HISTORY

" . . . the very founders that wrote those documents (the constitution) worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States . . . Men like John Quincy Adams, who would not rest until slavery was extinguished in the country . . . "

-- bat-shit crazy, tea-bagging Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R) on slavery, and how she seems to think that it was the founding fathers who worked to abolish it.

3, 2, 1, here I go.

(inhale)

Actually, Ms. Bachmann, John Quincy Adams was resting quite comfortably, since he died in 1848. It wasn't until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, that the tireless work to end slavery began. Mr. Lincoln continued on to work for the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery (1865). You also seem blithely unaware of the section in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3) known as the Three-Fifths Compromise, which basically states that slaves only counted as "three-fifths human."

(exhale)

Thanks a lot, Minnesota. This is the best you could come up with?

EAT SHIT AND DIE

If this is how much you spend on a meal, then you can't complain when you find out it may have less than 35% beef.

Just sayin', is all.

MY OZ

THE LIBERTY FOUR

Another Facebook-inspired reunion.

Organized by Gwen, we all met in downtown Petaluma for a drink and then drove out to our beloved elementary school, Liberty.

Denice (with her husband Jeff), Ken, Gwen and I had planned to climb the fence and walk around but the gate was open, so we helped ourselves to a nice afternoon of fond memories, like Mr. C, Ms. Buford's fondness for cooking in class, the science center, the Point Reyes camp trip, Blueberry Hill, etc.

There have been a lot of changes on the campus, but there is much that is still the same. It was good to go back and dust off those memories.

PICTURE THIS - THE REAL BIG SKY COUNTRY

lucas valley looking west

lucas valley looking east

nacasio resevoir

Sorry, Montana.

I know you've claimed that moniker as your own, but I doubt very much you've got anything that could match what Marin County was serving up yesterday.

RHYTHM IS GONNA GET YOU

BUS STOP

I found myself downtown recently and was surprised to see that the Transbay Terminal was pretty much gone. This seems to have been a VERY efficient tear-down, as they started destruction just a few months ago.

Click here to see what the new terminal building, which will also serve as the Northern California terminus of the high-speed rail system (if it ever gets built), is to look like when completed.

FEED ME, SEYMOUR

This Beef Rib Stew, served at the monthly choir nerds get-together last night, was fucking AWESOME!

Thanks, Kim.

HAPPINESS IS A RESCUED PUPPY

If I could have a dog, it would definitely be a Beagle. I love 'em.

I came across an article on SFGATE this morning about an amazing organization called The Beagle Freedom Project. They rescue this particular breed from laboratory research facilities, who not only breed these dogs specifically for research purposes, but prefer to kill them after they are no longer needed.

Disgusting.

The goal of this terrific organization is to not only find homes for these lovable dogs, but to discourage research facilities from destroying these dogs and instead, give them a chance at a few years of happiness.

Awesome, check 'em out.

THE SMITHS

Will and Jada Smith produced the remake of The Karate Kid for their son, and now they're producing a remake of Annie for their daughter.

Just say no to the Smith's.

LATHER, RINSE, REPEAT

During the fall campaign, Republicans ran around telling everyone that Obama wasted time targeting health care reform, instead of creating jobs.

Is it me or isn't it a little ironic that now they have the majority in Congress, Republicans are targeting health care reform (by repealing it) instead of creating jobs?

Just saying.

POT AND KETTLE or IT'S GOT ELECTROLYTES

Sex-tape and reality "star" Kim Kardasian recently took to her Twitter to fire a cannon at another member of the reality world:

"It seems that shows like 'Teen Mom' are all of a sudden making teen pregnancy seem cool in the eyes of young girls . . . The kids from these shows are all over the news, even on the covers of magazines, and have been become almost like celebrities, but girls, these are not people you should idolize!"

Amber Portwood, the "star" of Teen Mom fired back with:

"Last time I checked, Kim Kardashian had a sex tape floating around on the Internet and I'm pretty sure she made a lot of money off of it . . . She made a sex tape when she was younger and she wants to bash the girls on 'Teen Mom'?"

Touche'.

Good comeback or not, I see shit like this and think that the Mike Judge film Idiocracy was more of a cautionary tale (and one that seems to be coming true) than a mildly amusing comedy.

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT?

A recent survey by Travel+Leisure Magazine has listed Los Angeles as the "Most Rude City in America." Hmm, okay. I'm not sure if I would call Los Angelenos rude. Vapid, yes, but rude? Meh. The obviously flawed survey goes on to place New York City at number 2, while San Francisco landed at number 14.

HUH?

Having lived for many years in both cities, I can tell you that it's San Francisco that is way more rude . . . and smug . . . and dirty . . . and phony than the city I call "My Oz."

Comedian Jim Dialikis says it best when describing the people of the city so nice, they named it twice:

"They're friendly but they have a different way of showing you. I love New Yorkers, they stab me in the front."

Yup, pretty accurate assessment, if you ask me. You will always know what time it is with a New Yorker.

*note to self, cancel subscription to travel+leisure magazine.

8 MILLION STORIES

While waiting for a lunch date outside the fabled Dakota Apartments on Central Park West, I saw Lauren Bacall come out and get into her towncar.

The lunch date never showed up, which sucked, but seeing Ms. Bacall was pretty cool

There are 8 million stories in the naked city, and this is one of them.

BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME

In an interview with an Austrian journalist, former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said that the job of running the state, and I use that term loosely, cost him over $200 Million in lost film work wages and endorsement deals.

Hmm, that does sound like a lot of money to me, but it doesn't even come close to how much it cost having him in Sacramento.

What an asshole.

GOLD WATCH

Back in 1986, I went through the interview process of getting a job as a toll-taker on the Golden Gate Bridge. The job paid $14 an hour, a very nice wage at that time, since the minimum wage was $3.35 an hour.

Bridge authorities recently announced a plan for electronic toll-collection, effectively ending the careers of those who currently perform the duty.

Hard to believe if I had gotten the job (and stuck with it), that I'd have my 25 years in already.

PICTURE THIS

Nice sunset,  huh?

THE DREAM

A song with a message just as timely today as it was over 40 years ago when it first came out.

Happy Birthday, Dr. King.

ON THE GOOD SHIP

In of all places, I found this jar of lollipops sitting in the waiting area of a tattoo and piercing salon.

PICTURE THIS

Just a few shots from my "urban hike" yesterday.

NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET

My new favourite, can't get enough.

GIRL, YOU'LL BE A WOMAN SOON

Former office mate Ryan texted me yesterday that him and his girlfriend, Junna, were around the corner getting her ears pierced. I ran over and met up with them at Body Manipulations on 16th Street, where the deed was done, and where I might get my next tattoo.

No pain at all, like getting her nails done. Looks great too, doesn't she? Junna writes a terrific blog as well, helloyummy, and writes about things of beauty and comfort.

Check it out.

LET'S GO OUT TO THE MOVIES AND HAVE OURSELVES A SNACK

Cookie and Irving were supposed to spend the evening at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, where a vault-print of the Walt Disney classic Fantasia was playing for one night only.

Instead, they made it as far as her West Oakland warehouse loft, where they dined on Calzones, washed back with mason jars filled to the rim with Jack Daniels and Coke.

Oh, the carbs, the carbs.