Bar#29 – 21st Amendment

this place is located perfectly for having a few drinks before a giants game. especially on a sunny day, it’s nice to chill at the outdoors area. the beers at this place were pretty damn good, except that they didnt have the watermelon beer that i had heard so much about. dammit! the food was really good as well… i had the jerk chicken sandwhich, which was the bomb. unfortunately though, the people that work at this place are kind of dicks. all three people who i interacted with at the place were really rude and unfriendly. honestly, i think that if you are a bartender, part of your job is to be warm and friendly. it’s almost (but not quite) as important as making good drinks. i understand that everyone has a bad day once in a while, but if all three people who are behind the bar are lame, then your bar just sucks, and no tasty sandwhich will ever make up for that.

21st Amendment is at 563 2nd Street in San Francisco

Killer Joe

Last night I went to go see the play Killer Joe. I’ve wanted to go see it for quite a while now, but was kind of worried as to whether it would be any good. It’s always so hard to choose plays to go to. I usually like to go to plays that are a bit out there, and different than your usual run of the mill theater production, and usually the reviews for these kinds of plays are really mixed. On yelp.com, some people said they totally loved killer Joe, while others said they were absolutely revolted by the play and that it was pure crap.

Well, in the end, I didn’t have any need to be worried. The play was super good. It’s about a white trash family who lives in a trailer park and hires a hit man to kill someone for the insurance money. To begin with, before the play even started, the set itself was wonderful and really did a great job of setting the mood of a grimey hopeless trailer park home. The actors were also really good and played roles that were pretty out there and probably difficult to play.

The play itself was really really intense. A lot of the things that happen in the play, and a lot of the topics touched upon were just ridiculously depressing. One scene especially was just excruciatingly painful and intensely emotional… to the point where I actually was expecting audience members to leave. Yet at the same time, a lot of the play was hysterically funny. You don’t often see plays that are like this. Most plays/movies are either a comedy with everything trying to be funny all the time, or a drama with a much more serious note, but this one was a really interesting blend of the two and kept your emotions flip-flopping back and forth. Just when you were laughing like crazy, the play would take a turn and take you back to a more depressing reality. Heh, I guess that’s the thing about rednecks, on one hand, they’re easy to laugh at, but if you really stop to think about it, their lives are really really sad.

Something that struck me last night that I hadn’t really thought about before is just how much harder a play can hit you than a movie. I think if we had seen the exact same show, but on a screen, it would have been so much less intense. Watching something on TV or in a movie theater, you’re always somewhat removed from everything that’s happening, no matter how realistic it is. but when it’s a play, and everything is happening to people who are literally right there in front of you, it really adds to the emotional charge and even though it’s just acting, it all seems so real cause it’s *right there*. And when a play is as intensely emotional as this one, and you’re seeing it up close in a *small* theater, with a realistic looking set, it really gets you.

anyways, if you want to see a really good play check out Killer Joe… but be careful, it’s really not for those who are fain of heart.

*v

recurring

what the hell is up w/ recurring dreams? i dont really have the same dream over and over, but i definitely have several themes that happen again and again..

1. not graduating- i’ve had tons and tons of dreams where i’m still in either highschool or college and am really messing up in my classes so bad that i’m not gonna be able to graduate. i’ll usually spend the whole dream totally freaking out about what i’m gonna do if i can’t actually pull through school, and yet making millions of mistakes over and over that make it more and more inevitable that i wont actually graduate. there’s also the variation where it’s already a few years after college, and i’m trying to figure out how to go back to college since i didnt graduate. these kinds of dreams have happened so many times and are so realistic that very often now, even when i’m awake, i’ll wonder to myself “wait, did i actually graduate? or not?”.

2. teeth – even more often, i’ll have dreams where i have a loose tooth. it SUCKS. i’ll spend the whole dream worrying and freeaking out that my tooth is eventually gonna fall out and i’m gonna spend my whole life with a big gap in my mouth. every time i close my mouth, i’ll feel the loose tooth and keep hoping that maybe, just somehow, it will stay in. but it falls out in the end. it always does. in an even worse variation of this dream that i had recently, i somehow smashed my teeth up, and as the dream went on, more and more of my teeth slowly disintegrated into gravel in my mouth.

3. hand eye coordination – the most common theme in my dreams though, is not having any kind of hand eye coordination. i will try to do the same physical task over and over and over, but even though it’s just a simple movement, i wont be able to do it right. for instance i’ll be parking my car, and i just cant gas or break correctly and i keep crashing over and over. or i try over and over to push something that’s in my way, but my hand keeps missing the thing completely even though it’s just a foot in front of me. or i’m trying to walk and yet keep tripping on my own feet.

none of these dreams is pleasant. not quite nightmares or anything that bad (though i do have plenty of those too), but just really disconcerting. all of these 3 types of dreams are filled with being worried the whole time and a feeling of not being in control. is this supposed to be some kind of reflection on my life?

*v

the not so bright side of SF

i’ve already written about how much i’m psyched on my new neighborhood with its great weather and central location. but, unfortunately, there is a downside to living there. behing my apartment, there is a tiny street called Rose. it somehow attracts homeless people from miles around. i’m seriously sometimes surprised at just how many different homeless people hang out in my neighborhood. anytime i come and go from my place, i’ll get asked for money a bunch of times. often times i have to ask people to move from my doorstep, and sometimes these people are passing crack around to their friends.

now, i dont actually have a problem with the homeless people per se. i know that they’re just looking for a place to sleep and live (and smoke crack). the problem is that because there are so many of them, Rose St is absolutely filthy. it smells like someone dropped a hundred gallons of piss on it, and just let it steam in the sun. when people walk by, they actually cover their faces with their hands because of the foul smell. and dont even get me started about the foot high mound of human shit i saw the other day. ugh.

then, to top it all off, caryn’s car got broken into this weekend. i really cant understand why someone would choose her car to break into. it’s an dirty 10 year old honda. it’s not like it’s a nice car. yet, someone picked it out to break it’s rear window and then steal her subwoofer, a $300 tent, and a bunch of clothes. yeah… fucked up.

i have to wonder if it was just some random hood that came by and did it, or if maybe one of the street people who always hang out in the alley did it. i always see the streetpeople carrying around random ass stuff… whole shopping carts full of it. i always assumed they just got that stuff from dumpsters… but who knows? what would i do if i came home one day and saw a homeless dude w/ caryn’s tent… or wearing her clothes?

*sigh* i guess this kind of shit happens everywhere all over SF, and even in the burbs. cars get broken into all the time all over the place. still, i cant help but be suspicious that whoever did it may be someone who i see evry damn day and i just dont know it…

*v

Bar#28 – Blur

sheez, it’s been 2 months since i’ve posted about any bars. i’ve got a bit of a backlog.

anyways, blur was an ok bar to check out. we went there because Vertigo was charging a cover. what’s up w/ that? i’m sorry, but unless you have some famous djs playing, it’s pretty much bullshit to charge a cover for a bar that hhas nothing special about it. so yeah, we didnt bother w/ vertigo, and hit up Blur across the street. this place was pretty cool… a little fancier than a lot of bars in this area, but not all stuffy and lame. our friend bob was celebrating his birthday and he did a”three wise men” shot which led to some serious vomiting later in the night. nice.

Blur is at 1121 Polk Street in San Francisco

Bar#27 RJ’s Sports Bar

This place is as divey as it gets. it’s a tiny little bar with a pool table filling most of the room. the decor suggested that there should be jocks high fiving each other while chugging shots of jagger, but instead the crowd was mostly young latino guys who looked at the 10 of us wondering what the hell posessed us to come here. we didn’t stay long… but when i think about it now, this might be exactly the kind of place where interesting stuff happens.

RJ’s Sports Bar is on 701 Geary Street in San Francisco

some random stuff from the last 3 weeks

moving in

on june 23rd, i finally drove up to pick up the keys to my new home. i was way excited to be living in SF again. unfortunately, most of our stuff was still in storage, so we lived here with nothing but an air matress for a while, but we’ve been slowly getting this place together. we’ve bought a couch, had cable/internet hooked up, and had movers deliver our stuff out of storage. living here has been great. i totally love the neighborhood.. it’s been so nice to have everything within walking distance. trying to park in the garage on the other hand, has been a nightmare. i scraped my car every single time i parked in it 4 or 5 times in a row. i finally got the hang of it though.

Fur Coats

Kevin, Jason, and Trent’s band, the Fur Coats played at erica’s house. they were hella good.

here are some more photos of the Fur Coats.

Trivia

i’ve been going to trivia nights every monday at the blackthorne tavern. it’s pretty cool to consistantly have something to look forward to on monday nights. usually, going back to work after a weekend hella sucks, but at least this way, monday is little less sucky.

Rave at DNA Lounge

there was a party at the DNA lounge where they had all old school djs like dj dan, carlos, dutch, jeno, etc play records from 1994. for the most part, the music was phenomenal. it was really a crazy feeling hearing all those old tracks again. also, they showed old flyers as visuals, and i recognized practically almost all of them. it’s so weird to think how seriously into raving i used to be and for how long i did it for. sometimes, i definitely feel nostalgic for those good old days.

4th of july

the night of 4th of july, we went out for drinks at gordon biersch on the embarcadero. unfortunately, we didnt get ready to go check out the fireworks until it was way too late. we spent the whole fireworks show walking to where the show was only to get there just as the finale happened. doh!

Laptop

i finally bought a laptop. the desktop i’ve been using is hellza old and is pathetically slow. it’s nice to finally have a new computer and it’s also really nice to be ab le to take my compter wherever i want. the other day i spent the day working from a cafe in the Mission instead of from home. so nice!

World Cup Finals

the other day i went to Dolores park to watch the finals that they showed on a huge 13 by 9 foot screen. i’ve never really been into sports, and didnt actually watch most of the world cup, but it was really cool to watch the finals with almost 10,000 other people. every time anything exciting would happen, the crowd would go totally crazy and it was just a really fun atmosphere. randomly enough, it turned out that this whole event was put on by Peter who used to be yan’s roommate. he’s from germany where the worldcup is shown on screens all over the place and when he found out that there wasn’t any place to watch it here in SF, he decided to take matters into his own hands. so, he got together $17,000 (half of which he got from the german consulate) and rented a screen, got together djs (for breaks during the game), and set up this dope event that a huge amount of people came to. i really just couldnt believe just how many people were there. way cool.

*v

Bar #25 John Barleycorn Pub

wow, we made it to halfway. the goal is to hit 50 brand new bars in SF this year and we’ve now been to 25 before june is over. damn, we’re good. if only we could do this for a living….

anyways, this bar was pretty cool. the drinks are good and people can play boardgames etc. there’s this small room just big enough for 6 or 7 people in the middle of the bar. inside, we were surrounded by different games, old books, Mr.Potatohead, etc. and being in there almost felt like we were just hanging out in some kid’s room in a cabin. we just hung out, drank, and tested each other on random trivial pursuit questions. definitely a very comfortable bar to be in.

John Barleycorn Pub is on 1415 Larkin Street in San Francisco

Bar#24 O’Reilly’s Holy Grail

My friend called me up andsaid to meet him here to go drinking in the tenderloin. i came out expecting a gritty, seedy, divey bar on a dirty street that smelled like urine. hopping out of the taxi, i looked around and realized that this part of the “tender nob” was much more “nob” than “tender”. the bar was decorated extremely elaborately with fancy stained glass windows, dark polished dark wood counters, and lots of other interesting decor including the most enormous bellows i’ve seen in a long time (ok, actually, it’s the *only* bellows i’ve seen in a long time). this would be a great place to have dinner (i hear the food rocks) and then keep drinking afterwards, but since we weren’t eating, and the beer selection was a bit limited, we took off after a little while.

O’Reilly’s Holy Grail is at 1233 Polk St in San Francisco

Bar#26 Red Room

with a name like the red room, it’s fairly obvious what the theme of this bar is gonna be. the real question, is just how far they will go with the theme. just paint the walls red? have the seating be red too? well, here they really went all the way with it. everything in the whole place is red from the floor to the tables to the seating and even the small speakers that hang from the ceiling are red. the entryway to the bar has two walls made out of red translucent bottles which is a pretty cool effect. the drinks here were pretty good too and they had a bomb passionfruit mojito.

The Red Room is at 827 Sutter Street in San Francisco