I have to say that recently, I have been, well, unexcited. Unexcited about writing in this blog (as you can probably tell), unexcited about music (except for the new Wilco which I basically have been playing non-stop because I’m too disinterested to take anything out of it’s case), unexcited about work, life, etc. Something has been missing; a spark, an obsession, also (and this is really starting to get to me a little here at the beach) the sun.
Now though, everything has changed. THE NEW SPOON RECORD HAS BEEN LEAKED. Before you get on my case for listening to it six weeks before it’s release, let me just tell you that a) me NOT listening to it is akin to going off wine for a couple of months (in other words, impossible) and b) I went to the Spoon store and preordered a copy of the CD as well as a T-Shirt and a Hoodie to the tune of eighty bucks. Guilt assuaged.
So I’ve got it now, way early, and here is what I think: No Joke, This is an Awesome Record. And I am not just saying that because of my Britt Daniel obsession and insane love of this band.
On my first listen I had a sort of anticipation that almost put me over the top. I’ve been reading Lolita for the gazillionth time and I can only guess that it’s the same sort of anticipation that Humbert Humbert felt on that first night alone with Lolita… kind of a weird comparison I guess, but I feel, well, alive again.
It was only a matter of time; I’ve always known that Britt Daniel will eventually be a very famous rock star.
Now he’s on the cover of Spin. It’s started. Actually, he is not really On The Cover; unless you fold it out. The company he is keeping there is pretty impressive.
Well, (heavy sigh), life changes. I knew it would happen and I guess in the future I won’t get to see Britt at smallish clubs like Canes anymore. I’ll be forced to go to SOMA and wait on the friggen’ pavement of a strip mall for four hours and then I won’t even be able to pee all the wine I consume without fear of not getting back on the floor. Or I’ll be sitting in row H at the Greek Theatre in Hollywood. I’m not so sure I like this chain of events. It really sucks, for me!
But it is good for Britt Daniel so I suppose I should be happy for him. Sniff.
Speaking of change, yesterday I took a long walk around my own neighborhood. I don’t usually get much past the Vine, but yesterday I had a special hankering for fried seafood or some other kind of pub grub. I had heard about a new Irish pub on Newport called Gallagher’s, but they don’t seem to be open for business yet – though they look to be almost there. So I kept walking around the corner to Tower Two – a sort of fish taco/breakfast/cheap wine and good beer sort of place. Unfortunately for me, the three server chicks completely ignored me for about twenty minutes despite my meaningful glances. Guess it was a mistake to sit inside by the door (huh?) So finally I got up and left. Yesterday I did not have the energy to scream out “YO CAN I GET A PINOT GRIGIO AND A FISH TACO IN THIS PLACE OR WHAT?” Oh well. On my way out, I looked up and noticed that the OB location of Nick’s at the Beach, after what seems like two years of getting it together, is about to open. Those chicks at Tower Two had better get their shit together.
Finally in a sort of I’ve Got to Eat Now or I Will Pass Out state of being, I wandered over to what used to be Ortegas but is now the Blue Parrot Cafe. I hadn’t been back there since I got an extremely violent case of food poisoning there about a year ago, and it was with major trepidation that I ate my cheese enchilada. But I seem to be OK today (though the food wasn’t so good.)
People were out in force, though it was not exactly warm, and everything was packed. I don’t like Newport Street on the weekend so much. I definitely prefer it on my morning walks when there is hardly anyone out and when I sometimes see three or four people I know, because we actually live here.
Anyway. The Vine might be opening for lunch soon and then I won’t have to bother with these other places at all. Now that is one change for the good!
You might be wondering where I have been. Well, I was traveling, and then I got home and I have been haunted these past few days by dreams and imaginations of bad, bad things. It hasn’t been a good week what with the worries and the cold sweats. I will not bore you with details… after all I have a reputation to protect.
BUT…. big news and that news is, a new season of Top Chef is starting June 6. I think the REAL season actually starts June 13, but there is some stand-off episode between the winners of seasons one and two on the 6th. (I think.)
At any rate the contestants of next season are up on bravotv.com and in the very near future I will give you my run-down on all of them. I didn’t do so good on my last season’s preshow predictions; I did, however, do quite excellently on my predictions after the first episode.
Of course, I did not predict how I would end up rooting for Marcel in the end. By the time that came around, the show was so boring I didn’t even write about it anymore. Let’s hope they handle it all a little better this time.
What with all the concerts coming up – Arcade Fire, Raveonettes and THEN Spoon (whoo hoo!) AND Interpol in the first ten days of June alone, it’s already looking like a crazy summer. So, it would be in my best interest to not think about identity theft or pole shift for a while. There are better things to obsess about.
I am quite exhausted today, this fantastically beautiful Friday the 13th. It is killer out there. But I am tired and for good reason – last night Shins show at SOMA.
Let me get this out of the way right away. I hate SOMA. I hate it with a passion. I don’t care what history this club had in the history of punk rock, whatever happened in the 80’s or 90’s is over, and NOW THIS PLACE SUCKS. I cannot reiterate it enough. SOMA is a disaster waiting to happen. I foresee that in the not so far future, something really bad is going to happen there – a fire or a round of gunfire by a teenage girl (because they only search the boys, not the girls when going in) and people are going to freak out and die. Seriously. The place is a death trap. Plus it smells like an airplane lavatory. It is freeking disgusting and an affront to humans. If Spoon plays here on their tour, well, I will do something very rash. Very very rash. Don’t worry I won’t like, try to smuggle a gun in there. But I will be totally and fully bummed if I ever have to see a show there again (which I will.)
Rant over, and moving on, doors opened to the last night’s show at seven PM and I made Mark go with me at FIVE to secure a place in line. The reason being, there is only one way I could do this thing and that was to secure a place on a little ledge on the side of the venue. The only way to secure said spot was to get there really early. So we got there and Mark went to the new Phil’s BBQ and got some food and we sat there and ate it and talked to two teenage girls and a 32 year old bald music freak named Dave. We also had a little wine and it went by really fast. As for Phil’s, which is sort of a big deal here right now, I can say this: the meat was really good, but the fries and coleslaw sucked. I can’t really complain though, as I ate it sitting on the ground in front of a picture framing place in a strip mall off Sports Arena Boulevard.
Then it was seven o’clock (!) and we were in. I quickly secured my spot on the ledge, telling Mark over and over “you will thank me for this, later.” He wasn’t so thrilled about the getting to the venue so early thing despite the BBQd ribs and wine. However, thank me he did, because we stood up with maybe fifteen other lucky people on the ledge and looked over a crowd of 2300 people crammed into a hot, stagnant space.
The opener, Viva Voce, was pretty cool – Mr. Happy Pummeling My Drums and Hot Chick With a Double Ax. Moments of brilliance, moments of tedium. After a bit I went to the bathroom and security did not want to let me back in the door from which I came. They were like, it’s too crowded. I was like, MY FRIENDS ARE RIGHT THERE. I would have been oh, so pissed if I had waited four hours to get a spot and then had to give it up because I had to pee. But they let me back in eventually. Fuckers.
Finally, the Shins come on. The setlist is no surprise to me, somehow. They open with Sleeping Lessons, which is fantastic, but right then we notice a fucking CHILD right below us. As in, a Ten Year Old. The motherly chick next to me immediately lifts him up to the ledge, which is fine except for, WHO THE FUCK WOULD BRING A TEN YEAR OLD TO SOMA. I’m all for youth and music, but at some point this all-ages thing fails to make sense. It’s like throwing a child into a war zone or a mosh pit. So now I am stuck with this kid who cannot cope standing right in front of me. I felt bad for him. I really did. It was LOUD (which I love.) It was HOT. We were standing on a LEDGE. The poor kid kept rubbing his ears and fanning himself desperately as I got more and more irritated. Finally Mark traded places with me and I began to really enjoy the show.
I saw the Shins a few years ago at a much smaller club called Canes and at that time I was shocked by the size of the crowd. That show was good – not great – but the Shins have really embraced their new-found Zach Braff inspired fame. Their new record is awesome, and the live show last night was really, really great. James Mercer isn’t the most animated dude, and drummer Jesse Sandoval looks to be on many hits of valium, but it doesn’t matter, because they sound fantastic. James Mercer has the most incredible voice and he manages to hit these crazy notes, even in a lame-ass place like SOMA. Pretty remarkable.
My favorite though, my absolute favorite who I am totally in love with at the moment, is Dave Hernandez. Homeboy is a crazy good bassist, and a super fun guitarist, and also he is totally In The Moment and having such a great time that it is hard not to smile when you are watching him. I love watching musicians who really and truly live for that moment of being on stage, and this guy is one of them. Put some blue eyeshadow on him and he is a New York Doll, put a leisure suit on him and he is a Bay City Roller, it doesn’t matter, he belongs on stage, and his energy last night really got the crowd going.
And it was an incredible crowd. From my vantage point looking over all 2300 heads, it was pretty awesome when at the end of the night the entire crowd was just SCREAMING for more. I dug it, while the poor ten year old rubbed his ears in horror.
There is some killer and recent live Shins on youtube right now. This one is especially aweome. And Sunday, I’ve got an encore in L.A.
Berlin has every possible ethnic restaurant along with all the German places, not to mention a gazillion street stalls, bakeries, and street markets serving up all kinds of grub. You can literally eat 24/7 in Berlin. A lot of the food was just OK, some good, some great; though Berlin has the scope of a foodie destination like San Francisco, some of the end results are not so impressive. Am I a stuck-up snob? Yes. Did I let this hinder my trip? Hell no! I ate everything with gusto even if it sucked. Anyway.
Street food.
This is the famous “currywurst” of Berlin – a sausage fried and cut up with some sweet ketchupy stuff on top. Not sure where the curry was. It also came with fries and/or a roll. I liked it OK but I think I am a mustard/sauerkraut kind of person, and you know you can’t be in both camps. It’s one or the other. Also currywurst made my stomach feel icky, but that could be due to the fact that I never drank wine with it.
Now this is more my style. Not only because I had wine with it. It’s a long-ass bratwurst stuck into a hand-sized bun (for convenience) and not only was it almost three Euro less than the currywurst with fries, it was also grilled and served in a giant box around a guys neck. I wish I had a picture of the portable bratwurst cooker. Oh well, next time.
Yes, it is true, I actually took this shot on an escalator in a train station only because I did not want to ever forget the moment of biting into a croissant with a frankfurter in it. They have these at “Le Crobag,” a bakery that has stores in all the train stations and subway stops. My brother and I could not stop cracking up about the name of the bakery but, I have to say, these croissant thingies ROCKED. Some seriously tasty stuff, with or without mustard.
Ethnic food.
Yes it is also true that I ate Mexican food in Berlin. Now you have to remember that I was a stranger in this land, unfamiliar with the language, and sometimes on my own. Fortunately for me I know how to say “Enchiladas Suizas” in almost every language. Whether they turn out to actually BE Enchiladas Suizas is the difficulty. In this case, they weren’t quite, but I had a hangover and the salad, beans and rice (also the wine) were exactly what I needed to get me through another day (and night.)
Thai on the otherhand, they can do, probably because the food is cooked by actual Thai People. This was a place that Kasch took us to off the Kollwitzplatz, and it was awesome. A bottle of Beaujolais for only seven Euro! One GLASS of wine costs seven dollars at a Thai restaurant here. Bastardi… anyway they had the best Pad Thai ever.
Ah, the famous Monsieur Vuongs. I dragged Kasch and Tom there and while it was crowded, the food was very good and it was a great deal. This time my chicken curry was the best.
In other countries, American food can be exotic. At White Trash Fast Food, the burgers were really good (Tom and Kasch pounded theirs) but my burrito? Shannon, will you ever learn. Still, this place is hella fun.
Whoever guesses first why I loved this cafe will get a prize.
This was what I ate at the top of the Fernsehturm. It was a herring thing on top of potatoes and it wasn’t so good but who cares because LOOK AT THIS VIEW:
I wrangled together a nice picnic for our outing to Potsdam – cured meats, cheese, wine, cookies, and mustard in a tube. Also some little pepper thingies stuffed with cheese.
Kasch and I enjoying the dregs of our wine. I love wine, it just makes every experience so Very Extra Special.
Note to self: Never leave the house without German phrasebook. My last day I went to the KaDaWe department store with a bee in my bonnet to have a glass of champagne at the Moet & Chandon bar in that ginormous gourmet department there. I wandered and looked for what seemed to be an hour but could not find the bar so finally I sat at the counter of a stand that served potatoes in a million ways. Only – had no clue what they all were and wasn’t willing to admit that to the counterfella. So I ordered “champignons” and this is what I got. Right after I ordered I looked up and, THERE WAS THE MOET BAR. Oh well, this was good and also substantial. Not that I really needed anything that substantial but you gotta go with the flow.
I am so sleepy I can hardly keep my eyes open. Jet lag sucks. If I was still in Berlin, I wouldn’t have time for jet lag. No more reason to ask, Why Berlin.
It is my last day in this city that I have totally fallen in love with. Tomorrow I have to go home. But I am already planning the next trip here.
In the past few days I managed to do a lot of the things on my list; Wednesday Tom, Kasch and I went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, a collection of exhibits and photos about not only the Berlin Wall but also non-violent protest and the fall of Communism in other countries. It is shocking to me that less than twenty years ago, people were still burrowing tunnels in efforts to escape to the west. My apartment here in only a block and a half from where the wall once stood. Crazy.
After that museum – and it is a very big one – we went across the street and ate some lunch and then Tom and Kasch left. It was about three in the afternoon but I knew I was running out of time so I went to the Jewish history museum, housed in a zig-zaged modern building. I spent about two hours in there, checking out the history of the Jewish people in Germany starting in the middle ages until modern times. THEN I decided to go to the top of the Fernsehturm. There is an elevator that takes you to the top very quickly, and there is a viewing area where you can see the layout of Berlin. They also have a restaurant one floor up that rotates so you can sit and have a drink and look at at all of Berlin. When I first went up they said the restaurant was full, but heading to the elevator I noticed there was no one waiting, so I asked and was given a table. It was so cool! I had a glass of wine and a herring salad that was kind of nasty but who cares! I revolved around a couple of times with my head pressed against the window. Looking down at Alexanderplatz I could see all the people walking around like so many ants. I did not get home until nine that night – it was a very full day.
Thursday Tom and I went to the Pergamon museum, which has an an ancient Greek altar and an actual city gate from Babylon reconstructed inside. It was really cool but I think I was a bit museum-ed out. Then I met Paul Scraton, a writer who writes A Berlin Diary among many other things, and his wife Katrin and beautiful baby Lotta in a ginourmous beer garden called “Prater.” Later Tom and Kasch and I went to dinner at a place called White Trash Fast Food. I had an “L.A. Style Burrito.” Not! But it is a cool place and we had a lot of fun in there.
Yesterday we went to Potdam and Park Sanssouci. This is an amazing place just a half hour away on the train. The town itself got heavily bombed but there are still some cool buildings there that have been restored {also some really hideous DDR buildings.} Sanssouci is like the German Versailles. You walk in from the town and round a corner and WHAM, there is the most amazing, huge palace in front of you, with terraced grounds sloping down. And that is not all; there are amazing buildings all over the park, in all sorts of architectural styles. I brought along a picnic which we ate in the shadow of the Sanssouci palace and then we walked and walked through the vast park. We even saw a deer!
Last night was Thai food and then a drink at a place I went to last week called Scotch and Sofa. The bar has all kinds of kitsch from the 50’s and 60’s in it so I wanted Kasch to check it out.
This week hasn’t been the 24 hour party last week was but I think I am glad because I did manage to see an awful lot. Even with Sad Arcade Fire day.
I’m off then, for the last adventure. I am going to have one final wine at the outdoor wine bar in Alexanderplatz and then head to the KaDaWe where I WILL have an overpriced glass of champagne. I promised myself.
Tonight I am cooking for Kasch and Tom at their house. Tomorrow I will be home. Onward.
I am sitting in an internet cafe with a window looking out to the giant Fernsehturm, the TV tower which you can see from everywhere. It is in the middle of Alexanderplatz, a square that I have become very fond of these past few days. The square has been around since then beginning but in the days of the DDR the East German government built all these futuristic buildings in a sort of “city of the future” theme. As anyone who knows me knows, I am loathe to call any city Disneyland, but heck if parts of Alexanderplatz don’t look like Tomorrowland. Except, as I told Tom a couple of days ago, Tomorrow has passed them by. Tomorrow, is now at Potsdamer Platz and where all the new government buildings are. Two days ago, Tom and I took one of the Spree river cruises which took us by the chancellory and all these other amazing modern structures. There is some truly spectacular architecture here.
In Alexander Platz they have just opened all these kiosks selling crafts and food, and there is a wine bar there. You can sit at one of the tables and stare straight up at the Fernsehturm. I love the guy who pours the wine there, he likes to fill it up all the way to the rim so I have to take a sip before I head to my table. He is just one of many things that I love about this city.
I am trying to shake off yesterday’s depression because I only have four days left and there is so much I have not done. Yesterday was sort of a lost day, Tom and I went to the ticket agency to see about a refund, going to Charlottenburg was “an adventure” and I am glad that we went to that area and walked around. It is the heart of West Berlin, and there are lots of cool shops and nice looking apartment buildings (well some nice and some totally seventies characterless jobbies.) We walked to Schloss Charlottenburg, a big palace right in the middle of the city, with a big park and gardens all around. Then we got on the bus and were going to go to an exhibit called “The Story of Berlin” but when we got there, a million schoolkids were queueing up and I was like, No Way. One thing that was really trippy and cool there though: it is in the lobby of a big office building, and there are all these little tiny bars down there. Only two were open, but there were maybe ten of these tiny little bars. THEY looked like the Story of Berlin. I want to go there when they are open to see what that is all about.
Later I dragged Tom to the Gendarmenmarkt which is a lovely square that actually looks like Old Europe. Somewhere I thought I had read there was a wine bar in the cupola of one of the churches there, but I think maybe I dreamed that. Instead we sat in a really cool cafe full of people in business suits and had a view of the whole square from there.
Last night Kasch made us “Boulettin” which are meatballs that are typical of this area, with a sort of mustard cream sauce. Tom talked her into this because I was so depressed. They were good and then we all went back to the Youth Center and these youths are going to end up with lung cancer because that place is so smoky I literally could not breathe. I managed to stick it out for a while but mi dio. My nose closed in revolt and my eyes were burning.
Today I am meeting Kasch and Tom to go to Checkpoint Charlie and the museum there. I have not been to Checkpoint Charlie yet! I’m going to make the next four days as full as my feet will allow.
When I was taking care of my nephew Ryan a couple of months ago with my mom, there was one night when Ryan totally flipped out and started crying insanely. Tears were spewing from his red and puffy face and they would not stop. My mom kept saying, “those are real tears.”
Today it was my turn. I woke up all sad that I will be leaving Berlin soon, but tonight was suppose to be the Arcade Fire show. This was a big night for me and one that I invested a lot of emotion in.
My phone was down this morning so I went to the internet cafe first thing to email Tom, and that is where I got the news – that Arcade Fire has cancelled the next nine shows. I burst into tears, spewing the walls with water. It was, is, a devastating blow.
I went home and cried hard until my face was approaching something unrecognizable. I do not think I have cried that hard since 2001, I almost thought I would puke. Then in an effort to calm down I poured myself a medicinal shot of wine and went on the balcony. My day was destroyed, but the weather remained stellar.
Just then Tom showed up. He had read the night before about the Arcade Fire cancelling and had been trying to call me but something was wrong with my phone so he just showed up. We spent the day walking around Berlin and it was nice but it has proved hard for me to let this go. I should be on the rail right now seeing one of my favorite bands.
I’m trying to put it in perspective. Perhaps I should go to the Topography of Terror tomorrow, the exhibit of the Nazi Torture methods. My real tears mean nothing. But they are tears just the same and my heart is heavy tonight.
Maybe it is because I am traveling and when you travel every emotion is magnified.
In the meantime if anyone can hook a sister up with a ticket to the Arcade Fire show at the Greek Theater in Berkeley I will find a way to get there.
I’ve only got four days left. Gotta dismiss this heavy heart and get back to the happiness I knew yesterday. What a spoiled wanker I am.
