It's with a heavy heart that I post this. I am now in my classroom watching my third period class furiously type essays on laptop computers but my heart is elsewhere....


This past weekend Jen and I engaged in some major chilling at the Pool residence. We ate and drank and played and boated our collective guts out.

It was a sort of viking funeral weekend for their house. While we didn't burn the place to the ground, we did burn some stuff. Charcoal.... umm... candles? It was definitely to the max as the Pools are the best hosts and weekend companions one could hope for.

So here I sit, quietly shedding a tear for all the good times had in Big Bear. I wish they never had to end. Except I don't want to live there.

I need more coffee.

Right now I have finished grades for the upcoming report card; I am enjoying the Russian River Brew Co. Damnation Golden Ale and I am listening to the Pipettes.

It's good times here. Really.

As a side note, does anyone want to go see the Pipettes at the Poopadour on the 11th of June? You would have to go with me and Jen. We would do our best to make it fun for you though. I'm going to buy tickets soon..... I think..... Maybe.....

July

Just a couple of things that I'm extremely excited about and that I want to know if anyone else is extremely excited about.

1. sunn0))) + Earth @ the Casbah in San Diego July 2nd and a tba venue in Los Angeles July 3rd.

2. Smashing Pumpkins 8 night residency at the Fillmore in SF from the 22nd of July to the 1st of August.

Exciting no? A couple of long distance shows? Let's do it.

So I have an agent now. Her name's Becca. Yeah.

Becca just got me some strange side work for a guy who needs music to play during a 7 day long photo shoot for Sara Lee.

Yes. That Sara Lee. Snack cakes and ball park hot dogs.

Why do they need my music selecting abilities? Aside from the fact that I rule at picking music (music that I like that is), this photo shoot is about the "Joy of Eating" (what ever happened to the Joy of Cooking? I'm not usually one to gripe about American eating habits, because you can do what you want, but it's strange that the creation of food has given way to the consumption of food. I agree with Jesse. Skippy bars are awesome.) and they need some music to get people pumped up so they can have their picture taken in the throes of joyous rapture that only gobbling down Sara Lee products can bring. How to select such a soundtrack..... a few Weird Al songs come to mind.....

So now, when you're perusing the most current issue of Rachel Ray Today or O (Oprah), you will probably begin to notice images of normal people, like you might see at work or in the store, driven mad with passion as they savor one of their favorite snack treats. Those people were listening to mixes that I made. Weird, right? I have no doubt that the snack cakes are the true cause of their euphoria, but I like to think that I will have helped.

Right now LA is on fire. Griffith Park is literally on fire. I could see actual flames (not just smoke) and a helicopter dropping water very clearly as I drove home from work today. It's strange seeing something like this so close up. I really like Griffith Park and I hope that it's ok in the end.

This burnination was strangely timely as I just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It was really good and there was a lot of burnination in it.

We (not me, but the students) are taking a week long standardized test. I finished the book while the kids were testing today and I would liken this to watching, say, It's a Wonderful Life on your ipod while you are waiting in line at the DMV. What does that mean? Yeah... er... nah. Ok.

In other news, I am now listening to "Oracle" by sunn0))) and it is pretty good. The first track is kind of a remix of the track they did for the Jukebox Buddha comp. They remixed it by having Joe Preston play jackhammer (yes, that kind of jackhammer) over the Buddha Box track and adding vocals. Oooo and drums. There's drums now too. I bet it's Atsuo doing the drumming. It sounds a lot like Etna off of Altar. Only with echo-y static. Yeah. It's good though. The jackhammer is much less jarring when it's used as a textural instrument rather than what it's creator intended it for.

On a final note, I would like to congratulate all those that are moving or marrying or birthing in the near future. Hooray! I wish very different things for all of you. Good things, but different for sure... Hooray!