The All Time Lows

President Bush flipping the bird.
Check it here.

You generally don't hear to much about Iraqi civilians dying, but the British medical journal, The Lancet just published a study that reports more than 100,000 Iraqis (past the pre-war death rate) may have died since the US invasion began.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=Iraq

Howard Stern called into KGO AM 810 in San Francisco today while FCC Chairman Michael Powell (son of Colin, hater of free speech and fan of media consolidation)was being interviewed by Ronn Owens. I'll try to find a transcript, but you can read the story here:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041026/people_nm/media_stern_dc_3

First of all it's Ashley, not Ashlee, bitch. Second of all, everyone knows you're fucking lipsynching, just admit it. Thirdly, don't blame your fucking band for your sorry ass voice. These guys are a bunch of tools, but if they let her get away with saying, "My band started playing the wrong song, and I didn't know what to do..." they are a bunch of wankers as well. Of course if they say anything, they'll just find some other tools, give them mohawks and make them the new Ashlee Simpson backing band.

"RED SOX PLAYERS JOIN GODSMACK ON STAGE
Boston, MA - Fresh off a 7th game win, and headed to the famed World Series,
several members of the Red Sox team joined Boston's own Godsmack last night,
at a special invitation only party hosted by the band at Lucky Strike on
Lansdowne next door to Fenway Park."



Seriously, could I make this shit up? Godsmack, by the way, loves George W:

Godsmack, rock band, “Unfortunately, there were some really bad things that happened [involving the Middle East], and I think if we don’t cut out the cancer while it’s still young, then it’s gonna grow to be this entity that we may not be able to defend ourselves against,” Godsmack frontman Sully Erna said. “I applaud the government and President Bush for doing what they’re doing."

If you been following independent rock music at all for the past 20 years, you undoubtedly no what a great label Bomp! Records is. They have released music from some of the most amazing bands of the past few decades, including Modern Lovers, Iggy & The Stooges, The Black Lips, The Hardons, The Dead Boys, The Heartbreakers, The Dwarves, The Warlocks and many, many more.
Greg Shaw, founder of Bomp! founder Greg Shaw passed away at far too young an age on Tuesday and rock music has lost an important figure in the scene. Here is the news from Bomp!:

"I guess I'd most like Bomp to be remembered as a label utterly dedicated to the people who care most about music: the fans and collectors."

--Greg Shaw
1949-2004

We have some very sad news to report-- Bomp's founder, Greg Shaw, died on Tuesday, October 19, from heart failure at the age of 55. Greg's lifelong devotion to discovering, raving about and releasing authentic -albeit obscure- rock & roll, and promoting rock fandom over four decades was extraordinary. Among his many accomplishments were fanzine publisher, magazine editor, band manager, author, indie label owner, and rock historian. Though his roles often varied, two things were absolutely consistent: his impeccable taste in music and the ability to be there first.

Though we grieve for him now, please know that Greg's legacy is the Bomp/Voxx records he was so proud to release, as ever they will be in print and available to inspire music lovers everywhere through the efforts of his business partner, Suzy Shaw, and Alive/Total Energy's Patrick Boissel.

However you choose to honor Greg's memory-- do it with anything but a moment of silence Š

For a full biography, go here :
http://bomp.com/Facts.html

Most of you out there probably are too busy to give a lot of thought to the Community College Board of San Francisco. I didn't even really know there was one until a few weeks ago, when I read an article about the construction of new sports facilities for City College, which the Community College Board had been planning on renting out to Lick-Wilmerding High School (a private school in the City) from 3-6PM on weekdays. It doesn't seem right that one private school should have exclusive rights to state-of-the-art athletic facilities, while the people that have paid taxes to support the project are locked out. It doesn't seem right to Julio Ramos, a current board member running for election, who I heard speak last night. He's fighting against that debacle, as well as fighting to keep fees for students low. So, instead of skipping the Community College Board section of your ballot, make sure you vote for Julio Ramos.

I went out to a fundraiser for Jane Kim (who is running for San Francisco school board) at Cafe Du Nord last night. On the bill was headliner Dealership, just back from tour, and the band John Heartfield, just back from a six-year hiatus. Rocking on bass was none other than San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Matt Gonzalez, with the rest of the band including Whitney Leigh and Chuck Gonzalez.
John Heartfield pretty much rocked, especially for a band that hasn't played in six years. They churned out that crunchy, melodic, indie rock flavor with a welcomed '90s feel to it. Ex-supervisor Tony Hall was even in the house.


Matt Gonzalez on bass

Frontman Whitney Leigh

San Francisco rock god Chuck Gonzalez

Bronson Arroyo and his Bo Derek cornrows:



And the guy's named after Charles Bronson... who must be rolling over in his grave.

This is crazy:
http://www.marthatalks.com/

The Wave bills itself as "The Bay Area's Best Entertainment Magazine." Ha, more like "The Bay Area's Worst Entertainment Magazine." Get it? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Did anyone see Jon Stewart on Crossfire today? He came right out and started ripping on Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson. They tried to talk about his new book, America, but he just wanted to talk about how bad Crossfire is. He was pissed, he was pissing off Begala and Carlson and it was hilarious.

Here's one exchange:

In many ways, it's funny. And I made a special effort to come on the show today, because I have privately, amongst my friends and also in occasional newspapers and television shows, mentioned this show as being bad.

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: We have noticed.

STEWART: And I wanted to -- I felt that that wasn't fair and I should come here and tell you that I don't -- it's not so much that it's bad, as it's hurting America.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: But in its defense...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: So I wanted to come here today and say...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: Here's just what I wanted to tell you guys.

CARLSON: Yes.

STEWART: Stop.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: Stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America.

Here are some more:

STEWART: Now, this is theater. It's obvious. (To Carlson)How old are you?

CARLSON: Thirty-five.

STEWART: And you wear a bow tie.

CARLSON: I know. I know. I know. You're a...

STEWART: So this is theater.

CARLSON: Now, come on.

STEWART: Now, listen, I'm not suggesting that you're not a smart guy, because those are not easy to tie....

...CARLSON: You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think.

STEWART: You need to go to one.

Here's what Stewart has said about Crossfire in the past (from a Bill Moyers interview):

STEWART: CROSSFIRE or HARDBALL? Which is funnier? Which is more soul-crushing,
do you mean? Both are equally dispiriting in their… you know, the whole idea
that political discourse has degenerated into shows that have to be entitled
CROSSFIRE and HARDBALL. And you know, "I'm Gonna Beat Your Ass" or whatever
they're calling them these days is mind-boggling.

CROSSFIRE, especially,
is completely an apropos name. It's what innocent bystanders are caught in when
gangs are fighting. And it just boggles my mind that that's given a half hour,
an hour a day to… I don't understand how issues can be dissected from the left
and from the right as though… even cartoon characters have more than left and
right. They have up and down.

I mean, how... it's so two-dimensional to
think that any analysis can come from, "It's the left and it's the right and
well, we've had that discussion and that's done."

Doctors have diagnosed a new sleep disorder called "sleep sex," where a person has sex with strangers while sleepwalking. I can't wait to see some guy use this excuse on Cheaters.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3744226.stm

I was in Walgreens today buying a Vitamin Water (because I'm a stupid fucking yuppie) and walked down this aisle that was completely dedicated to vaginal maintenance prodcuts. The penis gets a tiny section, featuring only condoms, yet the vagina gets an attire aisle. Amazing.

Well, they're undecided voters. Samantha Bee of The Daily Show did a hi-larious piece where she berated a bunch of undecided voters, "How the fuck haven't you made up your minds?!! What the fuck is wrong with you people?!!!"

The only undecided voters that may not be complete idiots are republicans who don't want to vote for Bush, but are having a hard time voting for a democrat.

Here's an article on these people.

It's unseasonably warm here in San Francisco. Yesterday there was some huge wildfire North of here and the entire city smelled like someone forgot to open the flew in a fireplace. I'm stuck inside when I'd much rather be sitting my white ass at the beach. Anyway, go to this if you're in Oakland tonight. Mesh contributor Jamie Flam is reading before hi-larious writer Neal Pollack at Diesel Books:

NEAL POLLACK
When: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 7:30 PM
Location: 5433 College Avenue
Description: Neal Pollack, acclaimed humorist and Vanity Fair contributor reads from his first novel, Never Mind the Pollacks, an epic history of rock-and-roll told through the eyes of two rival rock critics, and featuring cameos by such real-life characters as Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Bruce Springsteen, Joey Ramone, Patti Smith, Kurt Cobain, and many more.

Like something out of a bad teen comedy, President Bush was possibly being fed lines from a wireless device during last week's debate (I first saw this on Fecal Face). As you can see in the above photo, which, according to Salon, hasn't been altered, there is a large bulge underneath the president's jacket. As the Salon article points out, Bush yelled out, "Let me finish!" at one point in the debate, for no apparent reason. No one was interrupting him and he had plenty of time to finish his ramblings.
Salon also points out that at a previous news conference, a reporter picked up a signal of someone feeding Bush his lines and broadcast them. Oh, the hilarious hijinx that could ensue: Bush's wire picks up a 50 Cent song and W starts rappin' about Bacardi...

Read the full story:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/08/bulge/index_np.html

7x7 threw their latest issue on my steps this morning. Can anyone tell me what this magazine has to do with San Francisco? Why is "The Fiery" Maria Bello on the cover? Who is this magazine for? They cover indie rock and hipster culture occassionally, but they have ads for Mercedes, Shreve & Co., Gucci, Cartier and Maserati. Why don't Gucci be advertising in Mesh? Whatever, being broke is the new ‘80s. Fucking Yuppies.

I'd caught the trailer for Garden State and it looked pretty good, like a dark comedy with nice cinematography, and I'd been looking forward to seeing it. Last night, my girlfriend and I decided that since we are adults, we can go see a movie on a weeknight with a moment's notice (yes, we are wild and crazy like that). So we head out to West Portal to catch Garden State.
Every moment that I watched this film, I felt a little piece of my soul being sucked out, never to return again. It tried to be deep, but dissolved heavily into cliche, with no plot, which is okay, I liked Lost in Translation, but unlike that movie the themes just fell flat. I hated all the characters (except Peter Sarsgaard's character, but that guys such a good actor it's insane). Writer/director/star Zach Braff played a twentysomething, depressed, overmedicated guy named Larch (the amount of prescription medicine he's on is so fucking ridiculous it's annoying) whose Mom dies, so he returns home to New Jersey (which really could be Anywhere USA, making the film's title pretty weak) from California where he's trying to become an actor.
There he meets one of the most annoying characters in cinematic history, Sam, played by Natalie Portman. Sam's age is never very clear. She talks with an inflection where everything she says sounds like a question, as really annoying 16-year-old girls tend to do, but then they show her at a bar and hooking up with Zach Braff, who looks like he could be 30.
The whole premise is ridiculous. Braff's character goes through a transformation with no real impetus, except for meeting this annoying bitch who should be on some of the medication that he's decided to quit.
I couldn't sit still in the theatre. It pissed me off so bad that I paid $9.50 to be tortured for two hours.

I, and an unusually large posse, went to the Great American Music Hall last night to catch the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world, Hot Snakes. Opening was San Diego's The Peppermints, a band that my old band had played a show with up in Chico a long, long time ago. The Peppermints are pretty much the most punk band I can think of. Their music is difficult to listen to, they piss off at least half the audience everytime they play, and they rock my pants off. Read a review I wrote of their album here.
Next up was the Bay Area's own The Husbands, whose shake 'n' roll wowed the crowd with their down and dirty sounds.
Finally, Hot Snakes took the stage and just destroyed everything. John Reis rat-a-tatted his guitar while frontman Rick Froberg wailed and screamed ferociously on the mic. They opened with "I Hate the Kids," the lead track off Suicide Invoice and rocked many more tracks off their amazing debut, Automatic Midnight and their new album Audit in Progress. Check out a short interview with John Reis here.
After the show I forced Mesh on the kids outside the show. Hooray!