The All Time Lows

From US News & World Report:

Ways to fix your life: Quit your job
By Caroline Hsu

At 28, John Doyle was an overworked New York investment banker on the
fast track. By most measures, he was a success. But he was also miserable. So
during a semiannual review 2 1/2 years into the job, he simply quit. "Almost
immediately I lost 35 pounds," says Doyle. For four months, he did little more
than relax, rollerblade through Central Park, and read books. "Honestly, it was
one of the happiest times in my life," he says.

After moving back to his
mother's house, working for no pay as a line chef in a hip Chelsea restaurant
for six months, and then relocating to Philadelphia, Doyle finally found his
niche. As the founder and co-owner of John and Kira's Jubilee Chocolates, an
artisanal chocolate company that promotes social change, Doyle expects to do
half a million dollars in sales this year. His partner and wife, Kira
Baker-Doyle, whom he met through social activism circles, is pregnant and due in
March. The Food Network is featuring the couple in a reality show. "Quitting is
extremely liberating," says Doyle, now 35. "It allows you to open up, listen to
yourself closely, and hear things that you couldn't hear before."

Longconsidered the choice of losers and slackers, quitting can be one of the most
empowering and active decisions that a person can make, says Evan Harris, author
of The Art of Quitting . All things must come to an end, and by choosing when to
quit a job, a relationship, a philosophy, or a bad habit, quitters direct their
own destinies. History is rich with examples: Andrew Jackson quit school and
joined the Army at 13--and later became the seventh U.S. president. Novelist
Jack London quit both high school and college. Bill Gates (news
- web
sites) quit Harvard and started Microsoft. Edward VIII quit being king of
England to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Greta Garbo quit being a
movie star while still in her 30s to pursue a life of privacy.

Full Story

In no particular order:

• Von Iva at the Mesh Magazine Issue 4 Release Party... StudioZ, April 30 (Totally smokin' and rockin)
• The Mall at the Mesh Magazine One Year Anniversary Party, The Rickshaw Stop, November 20 (The kids are alright)
• Mission of Burma atThe Fillmore, June 9 (Old men can still rock)
• Whysall Lane at The Ritespot, October?, (Acoustic-style pop goodness by candlelight)
• The Pixies at Freeborn Hall, UC Davis, April 29 (All the missteps just made it better)
• Hot Snakes atGAMH & Slim's, October 3 & October 30, (The greatest live rock band in the world today)
• PJ Harvey at The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, August 20 (Finally, finally got to see her live. The Catalyst is fairly intimate, despite their no-photo nazis, and she rocked it.)

This goes out to everybody in San Francisco,

"Take your ass to the barber shop Tell the barber that you're sick of looking like an asshole."

Thank god I live in San Francisco. It will be tough to get through the courts once the NRA throws its weight behind fighting the ban, but maybe it will set a precedent. Too many shootings in my hood. Though the ban will probably take years to have any impact, at least its a start.

From yesterday's Examiner

Five city supervisors concerned with gun violence in San Francisco have created a ballot measure asking voters to prohibit the possession of handguns in The City and to ban the sale, manufacture and distribution of firearms in The City.

The bold move Wednesday triggered expressions of support from many civic leaders and an instant declaration of war from the powerful and litigious gun lobby.

"This will reduce homicide, suicide and domestic violence incidents involving guns," said Supervisor Chris Daly, who registered the November 2005 ballot measure with supervisors Matt Gonzalez, Bevan Dufty, Michela Alioto-Pier and Tom Ammiano.

With the additions of Mike Matheny, Omar Vizquel and Armando Benitez, the median age of Giants players is 74 years old. Seriously, I've watched these old guys in Giants uniforms collapse toward the end of the last two seasons. Please sign some youngins... Carlos Beltran please. Or let them bring oxygen tanks onto the field.



Mike Matheny, relaxing after signing with the Giants.

You all know about Found Magazine, but I didn't realize there was a Dirty Found Magazine. What is Dirty Found, you ask?

We collect Dirty Found stuff: pervy Polaroids, sleazy birthday cards, raunchy to-do lists, nasty poetry on napkins, illustrations-- anything that gives a glimpse into someone else's sex life. It's just like our sister, Found Magazine, only sleazier.

We certainly didn't invent the idea of found stuff being cool. Every time we visit our friends in other towns, someone's always got some kinda unbelievable found note or photo on their fridge. We wanted to make a magazine so that everyone can check out all the strange, hilarious and heartbreaking things people've picked up. After a few years of collecting all these finds, we ended up with a big, fat folder of pervy stuff, and now it's time to share the goods with you guys.

I saw this on a lampost on the way to work this morning. Lower Haight. Oh the joys of living in San Francisco!



Gangster.

Riot-A-Go-Go is playing tomorrow, Thursday, December 16th. Go support live music.

I got this message today:

Hey people of Mesh Magazine, this is Matt, the drummer from Riot-A-Go-Go, if your around tomorrow we'll be playing at The Cherry Bar, 917 Folsom St. It's a fundraiser to help us get some money to record our second record in February. It'll be a great show, the lineup is: The Teenage Harlets, Riot-A-Go-Go, The Mouth Offs, and Rawful. The show starts at 9PM, $5, 21+. It should be a fun night, thanks so much and have a great night,

Matt

A painting by Christopher Savido, Bush Monkeys, was removed from the Chelsea Market public spacery at the insistence of the gallery manager because it's a painting of George W. made up of tiny chimpanzees. He apparently flipped out, yelling, "Get this work down or I'm gonna arrest you!"

Here's the piece:


Click here to read the story.

This site has to do with facial hair, and the theory that Britney Spears would look better with a goatee.



http://ogfhc.com/SheDoesLookBetter.htm

I watched "The Eye" the other night. It's a Hong Kong horror movie (which is actually going to be remade by Tom Cruise) in Cantonese, Mandarin, Thai and English. The plot revolves around a blind woman who gets an eye transplant and starts seeing dead people. Okay, the plot's a little weak, but this movie is scary as hell. Go check it.

We love Hamburger Eyes. Buy their magazine. It's 100% boobs, like this shot by Ray Potes:

Well, I don't think he sucks.
Yeah, dude, awards shows are bullshit. Get over it.

The America Music Awards(AMA's) were Sunday Night, and while Usher and Outkast cleaned house, Kany West went home empty handed, 0 for 3 in awards. "I was the best new artist this year, so get that other bullshit out of here," said West. Usher on the other hand said, "Oh man, this is one of the greatest things of my career. I can't say it's the greatest because there's so much to look forward to, but I'm really happy with winning every category in which I was nominated."
On Monday, Usher is nominated for 5 Vibe Awards, 4 on Thursday in Rome for the MTV Europe Awards, and considered a leading contender in nominations for a Grammy. Big Bio of Outkast vowed that Outkast is working hard to put a new album out by June.

Credit: Yahoo Music News

Update!
My opinion of Kanye West has definitely improved. First, he called upon hip-hop artists to stop using "gay" as a derogatory term. Last night, he ripped into President Bush and his response to Hurrican Katrina: ""I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family and they say we are looting, you see a white family and they say they are looking for food. And, you know, its been five days because most of the people ARE black ... We already realize a lot of the people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way. And now they've given them permission to go down and shoot us. George Bush doesn't care about black people."

I'm glad he had the guts to do say something that needs to be heard. There is something seriously wrong with this country. Thousands of corpses are lining the streets of New Orleans. Poor people are ignored and keep getting poorer. We can have a war on terror and a war on drugs, what we really need in this country is a war on poverty. That's what's killing Americans on a daily basis: lack of medical care, lack of hope, lack of food, lack of a quality education.

We've got a new blog that I'm incredibly excited about. It's Confessions of a Restaurant Whore by Joy Lian Alferness. It covers the restaurant scene in the City and is hi-larious. Go read it.

I used to rock out to Pantera a lot. Now we can expect the inevitable, "What is it about heavy metal that makes people violent" storyline.

Full Story Here.

AP

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A gunman charged onstage at a nightclub and opened fire on the band and crowd, killing top heavy metal guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and three other people before a police officer shot him to death, authorities said.

The gunman had a hostage in a headlock and appeared to be preparing to kill him when the officer fired, police spokesman Sgt. Brent Mull said. The hostage escaped uninjured, Mull said.

Two other people were hospitalized. Police said one was in intensive care and the other stable.

Police identified the gunman as Nathan Gale, 25, of Marysville, 25 miles northwest of Columbus. Police said they had no information on a motive or any connection to Abbott or his band, the Texas-based group Damageplan.

Apparently there may be video of the shooting. It happened on the anniversary of John Lennon's murder by Mark David Chapman in 1980.

Portable Urinal - - with plastic cap. Stop worrying about finding a restroom when you travel. Keeping a portable urinal in your car means you won't be forced to use dirty or deserted rest stops when nature calls at inconvenient times. Can be a real lifesaver if you're stuck in traffic! I know that from personal experience.
Suitable for the whole family. Includes an adapter that lets female travelers get relief while standing.

Unbreakable plastic washes easily. 10" long; 2-cup capacity; weighs 8 ounces. Urinal is red; female adapter is blue.

I was talking to my roommate Audrey last night and for some reason I started singing "Poison" by Bell Biv Devoe, which led to an epiphany. Early '90s party. The "Smack it up, flip it, rub it down" party. I want some brainstorming, so e-mail me at "brian (at) meshsf.com" or leave comments here. You know, Cross Colors, Nike Cortezes, overalls with one strap hanging, flannels...

From the AP:

Spc. Thomas Wilson had asked the defense secretary, "Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles?" Shouts of approval and applause arose from the estimated 2,300 soldiers who had assembled to see Rumsfeld.

The defense secretary hesitated and asked Wilson to repeat his question.

"We do not have proper armored vehicles to carry with us north," Wilson concluded after asking again.

Wilson, whose unit, the 278th Regimental Combat Team of the Tennessee Army National Guard, is about to drive north into Iraq (news - web sites) for a one-year tour of duty, put his finger on a problem that has bedeviled the Pentagon (news - web sites) for more than a year. Rarely, though, is it put so bluntly in a public forum.

Rumsfeld said the Army was sparing no expense or effort to acquire as many Humvees and other vehicles with extra armor as it can. What's more, he said, armor is not the savior some think it is.

"You can have all the armor in the world on a tank and a tank can (still) be blown up," he said.

Read the full article here.

Today, for the first time, Mesh truly became a part of San Francisco. I saw pages of the latest issue littering the sidewalk. Ahhh....

In related news, here are some of the words that are being used to find our site on Google:
ass videos
upskirts
nurse fuck
smoking marijuana with aluminum cans
nurse ass
stupides people ever
photo gallery girls
deaf gangsta name
danish girls
"even the kid with the babylon 5 t shirt got a hand job"
fuckasses
history of fuck
history of the burrito

This is from the Associated Press:

Fox to Provide News for Clear Channel

SAN ANTONIO - Clear Channel Communications Inc., the nation's largest radio station operator, has selected Fox News Radio to provide national news for most of its news and talk stations in deal expected to nearly double Fox's radio presence.

No terms of the five-year cash deal were disclosed Monday. But Fox, a unit of News Corp., says if all options in the agreement are exercised, its radio service could have more than 500 affiliates by the middle of next year.

Fox currently provides one-minute newscasts to 275 stations. Starting next year, it will provide more than 100 Clear Channel stations with a five-minute top-of-the-hour newscast, a nightly news broadcast, and around-the-clock dedicated national news coverage. Fox News will be in many of Clear Channel's most prominent news/talk stations, including Los Angeles, Phoenix, Atlanta and San Diego.

In return, Fox News Radio will have access to news produced by San Antonio-based Clear Channel's news network. Fox also expects to hire more news anchors, studios and staff, but said it was too early to be more specific.

"This deal positions Fox News to become a significant player in the radio industry and is another example of our commitment to the medium," said Roger Ailes, Fox News chairman and CEO.

This is the first time the two corporations have worked together, according to Jack Abernethy, an executive vice president for Fox.

"Working this closely with a premiere national news provider for the majority of our news/talk stations makes overwhelming sense," John Hogan, chief executive officer of Clear Channel Radio, said in a statement. "Because of the breadth of this relationship, our local news directors will get a more customized and higher quality national news product — and that's great for listeners."

Clear Channel, which operates 1,200 stations, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment about the deal and how it will affect its current news providers.

Shares in Clear Channel rose 51 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $33.66 in afternoon trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites) — toward the low end of their 52-week trading range of $29.96 to $47.76.

Shares of News Corp. edged up 1 cent, or 0.1 percent, to $18.18 on the NYSE. The stock has traded between $17.16 and $39.74 in the past 52 weeks.

There's a new documentary about the media's coverage of the Iraq War. Here's the press release:

FLASH TRAILER OF THE MOVIE: http://www.wmdthefilm.com/flash.html

WMD in Theaters

Directed by MediaChannel.org's "News Dissector" Danny Schechter, WMD (Weapons of Mass Deception) is a hard-hitting feature length documentary that is inspired in part by Danny's study of mainstream media's reporting of the Iraq War. The film opens this weekend in selected theaters in three cities and soon will be "rolling out" nationwide.

Like Fahrenheit 911 and Outfoxed, WMD can reach large audiences with a powerful critique of a media failure. Two weeks ago, the presidents of the news divisions of NBC, CBS and ABC admitted for the first time that their coverage of the run up to the war was not critical enough. "Simply stated," says ABC News President David Westin now, "we failed the American people."
But the networks did more than that. They helped sell the war in the guise of reporting it.

That's why Danny Schechter's WMD is so important -- it raises the issues that the mainstream media avoids. A former CNN and ABC producer, Danny couples an insider's experience with an outsider's analysis to chip away layer by layer at the media's facade of service to the American public.

We need your help in spreading the word about WMD. We want it seen everywhere. The Cinema Libre studio that distributed OutFoxed has begun to get WMD into theaters but we want it shown in your community too.

WMD opens December 3 in Austin (Landmark Dobie Theater), Cambridge (Landmark Kendall Square) and Denver (Starz Theater). On December 10, it opens in San Francisco (Landmark Embarcadero), Berkeley (Oak Theater), St. Louis (Tivoli Theater) and Washington, DC (Landmark E-Street Cinema).

You can help us promote these screenings and set up other ones by visiting the WMD website (http://www.wmdthefilm.com) and downloading our outreach tools, flyers, flash animations and press releases (http://tinyurl.com/5p7o7).

You can also volunteer your time. Contact WMD Outreach Coordinator David DeGraw at David@wmdthefilm.com. David aims to present WMD in more than 100 theaters nationwide but he needs your help.

Thanks again and stay tuned for more,
Tim Karr
Executive Director
MediaChannel.org
Media for Democracy

Modest Mouse
Wed., 12/8
Late Night with Conan O'Brien, NBC

The Hives
Thurs, 12/9
Last Call with Carson Daly, NBC

Green Day
Thurs., 12/9
Tonight SHow with Jay Leno, NBC

The Pixies
Tues., 12/14
Late Show with David Letterman, CBS

My Chemical Romance
Fri., 12/17
Late Night with Conan O'Brien, NBC

So, we're working on putting up the new Web site, which is taking ten years longer than I thought it would. We're also thinking about adding some more pages to the next issue. It's pretty hard to fit things into 36 pages. We also need another ad salesperson (for commission only), so e-mail me.