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SWEET DANGO

ANOTHER SET OF WORDS FOR YOU TO READ -/THEY QUALIFY AS LEAF AND BRANCH AND SEED...

Saturday, February 28, 2009

#1389 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com

…haven’t posted in a while, over two weeks…giving a lot of attention to e-mails, and have also begun writing into notebooks by hand. These activities have been creatively satisfying, and they feel fruitful…

…was remembering the other day about something William Burroughs said about the word “the”…I think he didn’t like it for some reason, a reason I don’t remember. Buckminster Fuller also took exception to the word - specifically, in the phrase “THE universe” - I think he thought that was redundant, since “universe” is everything. Anyway, here’s a Fuller-related site:
www.miqel.com/fuller_design_science/futurenow.html - includes, interestingly enough, a photo from the late Fifties of “Bucky” in a group photo near Robert Anton Wilson.

Waiting in a Tenderloin line the other day, asked a guy I knew about anything happening - he mentioned the St. Stupid’s Day parade in S.F., on April 1st. Here’s something about last year’s event:
www.upcoming.yahoo.com/event/426014 - “Bishop Joey” is the leader, or anti-leader…says this is rooted in the millennium-old “Feast of Fools” tradition. Only in San Francisco?

Was in the Odd Fellows Hall at 7th and Market the other day, seeing Brother Pete - he was looking up the Keptone film production company on his Apple - here’s a link:
www.keptonefilmz.com/ - I think one of the other brothers has done work for it…Interstate is a movie by them, from last year…”Keptone Filmz” is their name - note the “z” - indicating some irreverence, I guess. (The machine I’m on just now is not the most advanced - as soon as I brought the Keptone home page up, it started to slow down in an extreme manner - maybe the site required too much memory, lot of moving visuals, for what this computer’s working with - otherwise, wanted to look into Keptone a bit more…have to do that later…)

And speaking of Pete, next week he’ll have me take a bus up to Sacramento in order to deliver papers for him to the governor’s office - so that’ll be unusual for me. Two hour bus ride there, same back, not crazy about that, but I can bring along reading material to pass the time. Never been to the state capitol before, should be interesting enough. Drop in on Arnie, ha…

Got into a little Blade Runner fan discussion with Odd Fellow brother Mark - he bought a recent multi-disc DVD package featuring several versions. Also talked about other film stuff - he’s a Vin Diesel fan, saw Pitch Black the other night. Unusually, he hasn’t seen the first Fast and Furious flick…

Got two dollars from Pete to carry a box of clothes across 7th to a guy sitting there - included, some Raiders garment. Heck, two bucks to be a beast of burden for 30 seconds, that’s four bucks a minute, two-forty an hour, good pay. Pete also indicated a bag of stuff in the office that he said I could have - looked through it all, just little odds and ends…took and wore a silvery bracelet, and for a couple of minutes donned a gaudy earring, but decided it was too much like a tranny item - don’t need to be sending out that signal. There was an old-fashioned fan I liked, but it was broken, left it.

Then out on the street again - overheard some guy saying “harm reduction model”…Dogpiling the phrase:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harm_reduction - philosophy of public health, it says…”progressive alternative to the prohibition of certain potentially dangerous lifestyle choices in society.” Appropriate, relevant, for San Fiasco.

Then a couple of usual sights: clipboard outside this very popular New Orleans soul food place, patrons needing to wait, then near that, guy standing, talking to no one in particular, and I don’t believe he had a hands-free cell phone, either…then woman talking to another woman, saying: “…his sense of humor is very adult…” - there was a stroller between them - was this a reference to some child? Good thing that a child has an adult sense of humor?

Geary porn star marquee sign: “March Into Spring Savings” - DVDs under ten bucks…no sexual innuendo in that as far as I can tell…then deep voice from a woman I passed - busty, looked pretty femme - transsexual in progress? Breasts easily mimicked…then from a vehicle, a really altered version of “I Will Survive”, the Gloria Gaynor tune, Middle Eastern variation…then guy rubbing the belly of a dog which was rolling on the ground - at least it was a girl dog…then into a store - found nori seaweed cheaper than where I usually get it, plus six eggs for about a quarter each…then nearly four bucks spent at another place: 4-pack of double A batteries, fifty each, chocolate from a Ghana cooperative, peach yogurt…eating better these days, no wine for two weeks, being good…

posted by Velcro  # 2:57 PM

Thursday, February 12, 2009

#1388 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com

IN THE BLOG #5 by Sar Gasso

...local grocery market just passed, has the same stuff, pretty much as all the other ones. Don’t know how some of these places stay in business, being so much the same.

Checked by cell phone what was left on my credit card – more than I thought – like, twelve dollars. Before the call ended I used a usual joke about if the bank phone operator could move the decimal point over a few places in my account, and that got a laugh. Leave ‘em laughing…

Newspaper item, about how Berkeley may begin allowing cremated remains within city limits. Was there for a few years a few years ago, maybe should go over there this year with a few bucks, spend a few hours…feel the same about Los Angeles - would like to stay there, tho’, maybe a month. Or maybe move back there? Been in San Francisco nearly the last twelve years, could be time for a change.

Cowboy shirt with North or South Dakota label – that’s pretty unusual, right? – got on the street for a dollar – seller wanted only 50 cents, but I gave her double that – thought she’d ask for, like, two. Knew her, anyway, from a place I’d lived, sort of a friend. Initially when I bought it felt the shoulders were too big – it’s an XL – but tried it on after it was hanging in my closet for a while, liking the way it looks now, and have had it on for days. Good thing is that it’s very light. For me, look and comfort are about 50-50 in clothing. And maybe other things also.

Ran into a guy I’ve known for a few years, met him in the Tenderloin. Owed me a few bucks, and he got that to me. Loaned him that, oh, two or three years ago, and finally got it paid off. Honorable guy, but it’s just difficult to get a hold of him, especially when he has money. Had a hundred buck bill that morning.

This guy into marijuana in a big way – told me there’s a place out on Ocean, in the southern area of the city, where he can get the “compassion” kind for free. I’d wondered why he’d go so far to get that, and that’s why. Also, this day he said once someone at a pot club told him to hold out his cupped palms, and thereupon gave him a whole lot of primo reefer. That made his day for sure, ha…

Guy sitting in the lobby of where I live – no one’s supposed to be inside without accompaniment. Didn’t ask him anything, just glad he didn’t follow me for some reason. Didn’t want to bother him – didn’t look happy. Might have another time asked if he wanted a door knocked on, or the use of my cell phone, but just then it seemed like I should just let him alone.

The LaVey name appeared recently – for Karla - on a flyer for some satanic Valentine’s Day event. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karla_LaVey. Daughter of Carole and ol’ Anton…not into any of that stuff at all – or maybe I am, but not using the metaphors and symbols they use, and not as intensely. The LaVey name, a long-standing part of the city’s counterculture, underground counterculture. Event at the El Rincon, 16th at Harrison – some Theremin guy to be there also, and a band called the Cloven Hoofers, among many others. (Theremin link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin. Jimmy Page used one, I think - yeah, this says so: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Page - I don’t believe Wikipedia can be trusted a hundred percent, but for some simple facts, such as this one, I believe.)

Been at the Phil Burton Fed building recently due to needing to file tax info – haven’t had to for about 5 years – but this past year earned about a thousand dollars by working for Brother Pete of the Odd Fellows, got a 1099 form…wanted to mention the unusual flora in front of it, on Golden Gate. Sea grass, I think it is.

Want to recommend the Celtic Coffee Company as a place to get a cup o’ joe and a seat, if you need to while away a bit of time, as I did the other day. See http://www.yelp.com/biz/celtic-coffee-company-san-francisco. Two big, black comfy sofas I like. Plus house coffee at a buck-40 – a buck-65 at my usual place on Polk – this one’s on McAllister near Larkin. The Hastings law school nearby…liked it that The Book of Salt, a novel, was sitting there…I make it my business to bring books to the place I usually go to. (This Salt written by a Vietnamese lady, Gertie Stein, Alice B. Toklas as characters, set in ‘30s France.)

While there, read an installment of the current Joel Selvin series about music history in the city – this one mentioned the place where Neal and Carolyn Cassady lived on Russian Hill – also, the Mark Twain Hotel, in the Tenderloin, where Billie Holliday was busted for, I think, heroin…

Also…nice fake fireplace at the Celtic Coffee place – but the heat it gave off was real enough, and it was welcome the morning, cool morning, I was there…and an entertainment newspaper section was there, and I glanced through and read about the current Andy Warhol show at the de Young:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1394249/warhol_live_at_the_de_young_museum.html - not really into “Andy”, but I recommend his diaries, Pat Hackett editing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andy_Warhol_Diaries. Juicy gossip from the ‘70s and ‘80s of Warhol’s realm of art….

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

#1387 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com
IN THE BLOG #4 by Sar Gasso

…bought a ham omelette for a friend at a diner the other day, was surprised at the amount of hash browns included. Said to her something like, "Wow, they're not bullshitting with those hash browns…" Taken from some Cheech & Chong routine, one of them, I guess Cheech, telling someone not to bullshit with the amount of something given. (Just took out a C & C Seventies disc from the library, the one with "Sister Mary Elephant"…also, just saw a picture of them in the entertainment section of The New York Times, standing at some wall in the Big Apple…)

Friend liked the omelette, ate it all, relished it - a big lady. Thought of a line for a fictional character, a guy: "I just loves a dame with a hearty appetite…"

Porn store big sign: "Bush Free" - meaning, we're free of Dubya. But in their line of work, the bush isn't free…pubic hair joke, get it? Ha?

Ran into a guy I knew from a while back - just out of jail, didn't ask what for…not a real good friend. But chose to buy him a burrito, and a soda, plus a malt liquor, and threw in five bucks in the bag with the drink "for later", I told him. Like doing things like that, if it seems right. Maybe brightened his day, especially after being locked up. (Was talking to him about the higher cost of things in general in the new neighborhood I'm in, like instant noodles costing more like 35 cents rather than 25. He laid on me a bit of jailhouse information: they go for a dollar inside…)

Chronicle headline about the drought in California…details of an emergency water pond near Bolinas that's dry…too low for pumping. Called, funnily, "Woodrat II".

Speaking of buying people meals, there's the Rue Lepic French place near the top of Nob Hill - imagining bringing people there, splurging. Guy I know likes sweetbreads - the, yuk, thymus glands of some animals - and they have that there - leave it to ze French…also, would like to bring a married couple there, treat 'em, since they've been nice to me, very.

Faux cable car, motorized one on wheels, going up Nob on Powell. Who'd ride those, when the real thing's really nice, a real Frisco experience? Recommended for tourists, or anyone - catch the cable car at the eastern end of California Street and ride it up and over Nob to the western terminus near Polk, enjoy the cute shops, take in a flick at the Lumiere, have a meal at any of the many restaurants all up and down that street, hit a bar or two, take in live music at one of the venues if it's night…

H & M store on Post - makes me think of the line in the Katy Perry song "Ur So Gay" - addressing a previous boyfriend who was into that item of clothing, says he should hang himself with it while jacking off as he listens to Mozart. Yow, kinda rough sentiment. (Wonder if H & M scarves are selling more due to this mention…also, she mentions Cherry Chapstick in "I Kissed a Girl" - probably sales have gone up behind that lip product…and…here's her performance of that song at the recent Grammy Awards:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EWbNuBMXeE - not up herself, I think, for anything, even Best New Performer, but I think by next year that will change. I think she has a good ten years of stardom in front of her - she's now about where Madonna was in '83, and that woman was going-going-going well into the Nineties - I mean, at her very pinnacle of superstardom. Katy's got what it takes to be like that, I say…)

Speaking of Katy Perry, was at the Zeke's bar on Nob a while back, played three songs of hers. I'm a student of The Gospel According to Katy. "Self-Inflicted", my favorite right now off One of the Boys:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1rz9dzN_ng.

Sticker near my crib: "Caligula is My Homeboy", whatever that means. Maybe a band? (Speaking of Roman emperors, still not finished listening to the audio book for Claudius the God, by Robert Graves. One of the nicer emperors unlike, by all accounts, Caligula.)

Little versions of Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bars in a British goods store. Brought to my attention in an article in a Maxim mag by Penn Teller, him rating candy bars - it was his choice as the best. Went and bought one on that recommendation at my friendly neighborhood Rite-Aid, in fact - just okay. Don't have the kind of sweet tooth I used to have, being better about my diet lately. (Don't usually buy Maxim, but did once recently because of a Katy Perry picture.)

Also in the middle of a reading of Gone With the Wind. Rhett Butler very into women's fashions - not WEARING them, of course. He's some sort of ship-owning trader at the beginning of the book, and always has an eye for what will sell.

450 Sutter, a Timothy Pflueger creation - stopped to look at a write-up outside of its cultural significance. Mayan-style ornamentation. Second tallest building at the time of its completion in 1929.

Recent purchase at Fields Books, from 1951, a catalog for an auction of rare books. Most notable among them, Percy Bysshe Shelley's own copy of his Queen Mab poem, with stuff handwritten by him in it. Fun going through it…may give it to Sean, owner of the Babylon Falling indie bookstore - I think he told me he likes to get books about books. Here's something about the poem - rather, I mean, the poem itself:
www.bartleby.com/139/shel111.html. (Strictly for English majors, looks like…)

Liked recently looking at a slideshow of photos from the Katy Perry concert at the Wiltern Theatre in L.A. about two weeks ago. She gives the finger during one of the songs…maybe to the guy with the H & M scarf and the thing for Mozart. Also, there's one of all the merchandise available with her picture on it - possibly makes as much or more from sale of that stuff as from ticket sales. (Los Angeles fact: Something they do with street names down there which I haven't seen in San Francisco - they'll take the first part of the name of a street and append it to the end of the name of an intersecting street - such as Wilshire and Western turning into "Wiltern". And "Hollymont" happens where Hollywood Boulevard and Vermont intersect…a car wash there, I believe - this about twelve years ago, last time I was in Tinseltown…)

Like the Candy Darling new store at Jones and Sutter - candy sold. Tho' the name could be for a clothing place with little stretch of the imagination - taken from the Andy Warhol person. Not long ago patronized the place, bought ten red foil wrapped milk chocolate hearts for a dollar - good price for a good item. Didn’t eat many - but don't have a sweetheart to give 'em to - I mean, a romantic one. There's a lady who's practically my mother who's got a sweet tooth, and I'll probably give 'em to her, when next I see her, hopefully before this week is up.

Walking back to my crib from a stint on a library computer, made eye contact with a woman seated at an outdoor table at a restaurant. Been more bold lately with my eyes. Kind of chunky, she was, didn't really appeal to me, but it was interesting making that contact.

Brought in yet another milk carton crate into my room - have about two dozen, used as shelving units. All very illegal, fineable, but I'm going ahead with that anyway. Needing more shelf space, for books, in particular.

Paused to look at the front page of The New York Times - person gathering firewood in Gaza. Caption said only older residents remember friendly ties with Israelis across the border.

Line for some woman: "It's unclear to me just what they're basing their self-esteem on."

Back at my crib - someone had left graham crackers and some sort of Philippine bar snack in a bag on my doorknob. Happens every so often - not sure who's the mystery gift giver.

On the radio, exoneration of a guy who'd spent twenty years in jail for some crime he didn't do, sheesh. Young black guy - or at least he was young when he was sentenced. Guilty of existing while being black.

Idea for a story: epic, mythic, guy looking for his spiritual/artistic daughter. (Yeah, similar to Joyce's Ulysses - going around Dublin, young Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom, in a father/son relationship.)

Listened to Steely Dan's song "Godwhacker" recently - lyric quotes the William Blake line about the "tyger" in the "forest of the night". "Eye" rhymed with "symmetry" in the poem - maybe those words DID rhyme in Blake's day?

Got a copy of a detective/mystery novel called The Big Fix, by Roger L. Simon. Like the L.A. setting. Not a whole lot of text, really, biggish spaces between the lines, less than two hundred pages. Blurb says it's like Dashiell Hammett crossed with Rolling Stone. Good read.

Went back recently to the hotel I had lived in in the Tenderloin, gave my new address to W., a daytime front desk guy. Want him to send me a postcard from a new journey he's going on, to Taiwan, for some lantern festival, then to Cambodia for three weeks.

posted by Velcro  # 1:57 PM
#1386 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com

IN THE BLOG #3 by Sar Gasso

Three Hamiltons from a guy on the street I wanted to help…he said, when I didn’t take them at first, better me than someone else, and I agreed with that sentiment. So to the Grant Victor “Bazar” on Polk – that’s how their sign is spelled – to spend some of that sixty bucks. Great place, all kinds of things.

Asian comic book porn that I glanced at there…bought four DVDs, including Samurai, with Eli Wallach, a Beverly Hillbillies compilation of five episodes, The Wizard of Oz – not the Judy Garland one, an earlier version…and Sister Streetfigher, with Sonny Chiba…giving the Beverly Hillbillies and the Oz one to a friend for her birthday, keeping the Eli Wallach, giving the Sonny Chiba to another friend. Dollar each, good deal…

$3.99 for a little statue of a fierce dragon guarding an egg, or something round. Passed on that, but liked it…

Poster later for the unrated version of the recent Jason Statham Death Race 2000 remake. Natalie Martinez is the name of the pulchritudinous young woman co-starring:
http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/2008_death_race_007.html. (Also: http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-pul1.htm.)

Also, poster for the current action flick Chadni Chowk to China:
http://streettalkin.com/chadni-chowk-to-china/. Looks like a fun one…

Often call my friend E., but mostly I don’t get through…just bought him a seven dollar Salvador Dali poster, a self-portrait, at a Lower Polk smoke shop. Hopefully he didn’t sell it to buy alcohol or drugs. But told him that that would be okay with me, tho’ I would prefer that he keep it…

Passed a Tenderloin auto repair place, four guys standing outside with their morning coffees, looking like the guys standing on the street in King of the Hill with their beers.

The Nite Cap bar has a decent jukebox, last time I checked – includes Blood, Sweat & Tears, “Sometimes in Winter”:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/nite-cap-san-francisco. Recommended T.L. destination.

With twelve of that sixty, treated a friend to breakfast at the Lafayette diner – ham omelette and coffee for her, a single egg and coffee for me…like to treat my friends well. Overpriced, but good old school ambiance.

Called another friend to see what was happening – I go to a pub in North Beach that he likes with him, on occasion. He lives in a house out Taraval way, near the ocean – was doing some room painting. Wouldn’t want a house of my own, too much work to maintain the thing. Even I could afford such accommodations. But would like to know more people who’ve got houses.

Line for something: “Takes some work to play.”

Friend I bought that omelette for gave a metaphysical explanation of that sixty given me – that I’d helped the guy, and he was paying me. Left him staggering down Polk, but I tried to do something – offered to get him to a hospital, make a call on my cell…friend mentioned something about karma…

Wanting to leave the city for a week, see a friend in South San Francisco, get there on Friday the 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day, but talked to her, it’s still up in the air. Could use time away, but for some reason it may not happen – hope it does…

Recent library print-outs: something about spiritual petitioning, by writing something on paper – a voodoo sort of thing. And also, a somewhat tongue-in-cheek discussion of Bill Gates, of Microsoft, and his connection with the Illuminati. Mention of Robert Anton Wilson…

Recent YouTube listening: the Dead, ’88, a live “Scarlet Begonias”…in Berkeley…about nine minutes, a usual lengthy jam from them – Jerry still there…

Friend, e-mail friend, sent me a message about Neal Cassady – began with a long number, written out – turns out that was, it was figured, the number of railroad track ties that the man, “Cowboy Neal”, counted during his final hours of life, down in Mexico. For something about him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Cassady. (Just bought in North Beach, at the Beat Museum, a “Dharma Bum” button…

posted by Velcro  # 9:52 AM

Monday, February 09, 2009

#1385 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com
IN THE BLOG #2 by Sar Gasso

…the man who founded Habitat for Humanity just passed away…name of Millard Fillmore…was a millionaire before he was thirty – and that’s a million in terms of decades ago – and then devoted himself to helping house his fellow humans. Will be buried in a simple pine box, said the radio…Jimmy Carter was a famous volunteer for the organization…

In the middle of the Gone with the Wind audio book…just now, Scarlett’s picking up her life after the Yankees overran her area…”Fiddle-dee-dee!” is something she says…Rhett Butler is described as a pirate – owns a ship, buys and sells via the ocean – didn’t pick up on this from what I know of the movie, which isn’t much, never saw it…something about him having a million dollars – and that’s in terms of money from long, long before even Millard Fillmore made his mil…Scarlett’s got a healthy appetite – in one scene she’s said to pour a large amount of syrup onto breakfast waffles. Like women with healthy appetites – so long as they don’t get so fat…

Line from the recently-departed John Updike: “Fiction is inching towards the condition of poetry…” Not sure what the means, but it sounds good. Does this mean that poetry is inching towards fiction’s condition? (Would that, in logic, be the “obverse”? Took a logic class once, didn’t do well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obversion.)

Mohammar Qadafi mentioned in the news…used to be much more of a newsmaker than now…I used to listen to political commentator, lefty, Michael Parenti a lot, down in L.A., and he spoke about Qadafi, how he was presented to the public as such a danger, so wrongly hyped in that context, or at least over-hyped...radio used this phrase about Qadafi: “rather eccentrically-mannered”…

Phrase from Orwell: “Double-Plus Ungood”:
www.goines.net/Writing/double-plus_ungood.html.

10pm a recent night, out to get animal protein – corner market on Polk, two hardboiled eggs, a can of sardines…in the window of Fields Books, one called Hitler’s Priestess:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler's_Priestess. The man into the occult…

…and also in the Fields window, John Coleman’s The Illuminati in America. Had his The Committee of 300 in L.A. a few years back, bought at the Bodhi Tree. Also at Fields, Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction, by Ian Shaw – that a bit like S. Hawking’s A Brief History of Time…

Strolled down Polk, picked up a couple of Christian Science Monitor magazines for a friend…could be leaving town for a few days in a few days, to stay at her house, and I like bringing her little gifts…

Into a video store, looked briefly at the cult films section – features things like The Big Bird Cage, a Roger Corman movie, with Pam Grier: www.prisonflicks.com/reviews.php?filmID=25. (Just joined this place, took out The Magnificent Seven – the classic 1960 Western, not the Nineties TV series, which you couldn’t pay me to watch…well, maybe you could, but I wouldn't enjoy it much...)

Was at Gino & Carlo in North Beach not long ago – spent seven bucks for twenty-one songs – a good deal, three for a dollar…liked hearing a live version of Neil Diamond’s “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”…since it was so early in the morning, avoided any really raucous rock and roll that I would have otherwise played, 6am or not…sat by myself, near the jukebox, with a crowd of regulars, looked like, at the other end, chatting. I think the music added a lot to the ambiance…

Local rock writer Joel Selvin’s rock music history pieces in The Chronicle, been missing ‘em. I almost never buy the paper, and just read the entertainment section when one happens to get to me, don’t look for it. Here’s something from online with Selvin: www.rockcriticsarchives.com/interviews/joelselvin/joelselvin.html.

I DID look at one installment of the Chronicle Selvin local rock series – 2200 Bridgeway in Sausalito noted – site of The Plant recording studio…also, Dana Morgan Music in Palo Alto mentioned – where Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir met, before starting the Grateful Dead…on New Year’s Eve, in 1963…

Spiritual dating site:
www.soulmates.gaia.com... And…liked, at the coffeehouse I go to, a cover of the Band’s “The Weight” – used most famously in Easy Rider…not the Aretha Franklin version…but sounded like a black lady…tho’ some of them white singers sound black, and fool experts – Pink, Madonna come to mind. Katy Perry not in this category…

Thursday, February 05, 2009

#1384 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com
[IN THE BLOG #1 by Hamm Hock]

…had time before I could go online, headed to the Borders Union Square - nice second floor café - can sit in there free, basically - they don’t seem so precise about monitoring if you bought something. A selection of comfy armchairs…like it that the front of it was bathed in the morning sunlight…an opportunity for solar panel installation…

Valentine’s Day coming up - How to Talk to Girls, by one Alec Greven, advertised in the window of Borders:
www.nypost.com/seven/12022008/news/nationalnews/i_wrote_the_book_of_love_141817.htm
- oh, didn’t know the author’s just nine years old! Sure to have a fresh perspective, gotta take a look at it…began as a handwritten, three dollar pamphlet at a school book fair in Colorado…says to be wary of “pretty girls” - “regular girls” are better…wants to be a full-time writer when he grows up, and work weekends in archaeology or paleontology…

Had a few minutes til the 8am Borders opening - so to the corner Walgreens. Nothing particular in mind to buy. A twenty buck pair of mirrored Foster Grants, a possible future purchase…also, this one’s open 24/7, so that’s something to consider.

25 dollar CD player’s something I could use from Walgreens…tight budget, maybe I can find something at a thrift store. Or just get better speakers - have a fine Walkman portable, but the speakers cost four bucks new, from China, and don’t crank up the volume. Have a reading of Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer I’d like to get to, on disc.

36 dollar digital voice recorder - should have a back-up - my Radio Shack unit’s still serving me very, very well, tho’…28 hours possible to store on the new thing - current one has 39 minutes, but that works just fine…

Checked out the Walgreens magazines - Scarlett Johansson on some cover…respect her work, but don’t really find her so…alluring, I guess would be a word - not like, oh, Katy Perry. Maybe “interesting” would be a better adjective…she’s in the new He’s Just Not That Into You, with an ensemble star or near-star cast - here’s the trailer, 1:57:
www.my.spill.com/video/947994:Video:290470.

Liked an eight buck alternative cures paperback - recommends that one “follow the rainbow” when eating - that is, eat foods of different colors - also recommends music therapy. And something suggested for “inhibited sexual desire”. Would be worth the cost - probably a lot of information in there I’d like to pick up on…

Adjectives to remember: Bohemian, Taoist, yogic, witchy…not necessarily in that order…did a search on those four terms and got:
www.magusbooks.com/site_map/Tarot-Decks
- a long, long list of different Tarot decks…and also this, for a “meetup group” in Portland:
www.metaphysics.meetup.com/es/cities/us/or/portland/.

At the Borders…took a lot of notes from issues of Black Belt and Inside Kung-Fu…then on Market, heading west…guy in a pimp-ish suit. Was trying to determine the color name - maybe “Off Mustard”…yellow-ish red…making a real sartorial statement…then a young guy with a major ‘fro - not a style I see a lot - Afro Samurai is a new video game featuring a main character with a big Afro…then a guy with a long walking stick, at least four feet, and a hat with feathers…and woulda done a crossing on a red, but a black and white prevented me from that violation of pedestrian rules…

To the Odd Fellows Hall, gave the elevator guy a postcard for Brother Pete, a little gift - pictured a modest house with the words, something like, “San Francisco Fixer-Upper: $1,999,950”. He and his wife do some househunting, but the city market’s a bit prohibitive…they were looking at a place up in Point Arena, way up north, in Mendocino, I think, but decided against…

Punning possible with “karma/dharma/shawarma”…that last being the Middle Eastern meat, therefore the humor, relating them to the non-carnal Eastern religious ideas. I’ve got a former Hare Krishna guy - two of them, come to think of it - on my e-mail contact list, and they for sure would appreciate the humor of that…to the library, bought a used copy of Armistead Maupin’s More Tales of the City sequel for a dollar. Then into the Tenderloin, to pay back a corner market guy 42 bucks he’d given me credit for in January...and out from the library, the audio book of Gone with the Wind…never seen the entire movie, never read the book…about fifty hours worth of this…still no woman in my life, or else it’s likely I wouldn’t want or need such an extensive listening experience. Am wanting to be all ears for a good (or bad) lady. (GWTW comparable in length to The Lord of the Rings, in terms of cassettes it takes to get it all on tape…)

posted by Velcro  # 1:19 PM

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

#1383 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com

…guy on Lower Polk - the Tenderloin part of it - smoking a pipe, outside a knife shop - maybe it also deals in smoking goods. Kind of an affectation, seemed like:
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affectation. Then, seeming more genuine, a Middle Eastern sort of guy - couldn’t place his country of origin - in a dress-like native outfit…heard a guy on the radio, or maybe it was in a newspaper, talking about how men throughout history have worn skirt-like garments - kilts, for example. But it’s the realm of the trannies these days, in Frisco, in general. Would not wear one myself…

Dog taking a leak, lifting a leg, no muss or fuss about it, public urination. And there are his testicles - not something I really needed to see. Someone should invent little pants for dogs…call 'em Rover Trousers…

O’Farrell Theatre sign with a quote from Hunter Thompson, identified as “The Night Manager” - 40th anniversary of the place this year…there was that Hollywood version of the Mitchell Brothers story a while back: www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ratedx/ratedx.html - called Rated X…saw some of it on cable…brothers Estevez and Sheen in it…and here’s an article about 9 ½ Years Behind the Green Door, a memoir by Simone Corday, who worked at the place: www.greendoorbook.com/. (Also, just out, a CD set featuring voice notes by Thompson: www.blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/11/hunter-s-thomps.html.)

Guy bending down into a reflecting surface, an outdoor bit of chrome on a building, to check something on his face - have seen some street people bending to see themselves in exterior car mirrors…passed guy on streeting parting from someone, shaking hands, saying “…always a pleasure…” Nice phrase, maybe use that myself. Then a Chinese lady standing outside a residence, leaning on a cane, I said hello in passing, she smiled slightly, nodded…

Name thought of recently: Joseph Chilton Pearce. Heard a talk by him on the radio a while back…see:
www.ratical.org/many_worlds/JCP98.html - into child development in a Sixties sort of way - Magical Child, and Exploring the Crack in the Cosmic Egg are two of his books.

Out walking to a library the other day, late afternoon - switched to the other side of California Street to get some sun at my back…dog pissing on a Christmas tree, just a bit of that canine urine, a small spurt, enough to mark the territory…nice, quick hike up to Jones, on California, where Nob Hill crests…Masonic Auditorium, Grace Cathedral both right there…was in that religious structure a few years ago - an inside labyrinth, and an outside one as well…Masonic logo outside the auditorium - compass, a “G”, standing for…what? (Here’s something about that:
www.watch.pair.com/symbol.html - says that G somehow stands for the male’s “generative principle”…said to be the same as the “Yod” in Hebrew…and…there’s a visitors’ center beside the auditorium that may be worth going to…was there a while back - I think Douglas MacArthur’s desk is in there…)

Eleven buck snails, just as a starter for a meal, at the Rue Lepic French place, just down from the very top of Nob…

For some reason remembered a line from Iggy Pop’s “Living on the Edge of the Night”, about how you’ve got to “deal with the real” - here’s an ’89 version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=43RePKdsfBE.

Another discarded Christmas tree, forlorn, on its side on the cold sidewalk - once so worshipped, not many weeks ago…night starting to fall on the city, the neon really beginning to pop…Stockton and Bush, parking structure, big tree on top, and much foliage along the south-facing front…down Stockton Tunnel stairs - area used in The Game, the Penn/Michael Douglas flick:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_(film) - David Fincher direction…watchable, kept my interest, as I recall…also did Fight Club, Panic Room, Se7en, did Fincher…all movies I enjoy…also did a few Madonna videos, too, some of her best work. (Penn, Milk…someone must already have done something with Dan White wearing a “Got Milk?” shirt - would tie-in with the Twinkies - dip ‘em in milk, y’know…)

Title for something: Organic Love…a novel, or a short story, erotic one. ("Organic" - what's the definition? Here's something from the Online Etymology Dictionary:
www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=organic…)

Above the store sign at a Starbucks near Union Square, a big sign for Ching Lee, an insurance salesman…Starbucks, I've heard, not doing so well, so they're renting out space above their signs?

New author/journalist I like, Dani Katz - read a piece - no pun intended - by her in Common Ground about celibacy - here's a list of articles from the LA Weekly: www.laweekly.com/content/result/author:27786. (Also, this site has a good slideshow of 26 photos from the Katy Perry January 31st show at the Wiltern in L.A. In one, she's jumping in the air, her feet out to the sides…gigantic cat head above the stage - she's a cat person, a thing I really like about her, or anyone…all those idiot pissing dogs on the streets, geez…I like the excretory discretion of the feline…)

Then heading back to my crib after online time…passed a café across from an Academy of Art University campus - back when it was still a college…had a brownie there, I remember, when I was less particular about my diet than I am now…

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

#1382 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com

…looking into the distance more lately - balancing out the close focus of being online, which I am at least two and up to four or five hours per day sometimes. Also, have a copy of The Book of Internal Exercises, by Stephen Thomas Chang, that has a section on eye exercises - Taoist stuff - and am doing those on occasion…

Pine and Leavenworth, dirty look to a driver with the front of his vehicle sticking into the pedestrian zone. But to no avail - chubby white guy, shaking his head, talking to the woman passenger, didn't see my indignation.

Pretty decent computer monitor left out on Nob Hill. A neighborhood where more decent stuff's left out. Found a pillow case the other day I took - needs severe washing, of course - some person's head on it, and not to mention the dreams...

Friendly dog, pointed snout into my crotch. I touched its head. Looked like a hyena.

And a bit later, guy with a little dog seemed to deliberately let it stop near me - my "gaydar" went off a bit - possibly he allowed this so that interaction could take place. A ploy not necessarily reserved for gay men, tho'…talking about one's dog can be a conversation-starter, regardless of orientation. Here's something about gaydar:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaydar.

February 2nd, a Christmas tree left out…but just read that Groundhog Day, early February, is considered by some the very end of the holiday season…

Been losing weight, and gladly so…and losing it in a healthy manner…belt tightening underway…tho' can't really tighten it that much more…saw something about "cinching" as a practice among women - that is, making the waist very, very small. Can be taken too far…look up "extreme wasp waist" if you wanna delve into this further…NOT healthy. Don't care for high heels on women either, not for me a turn-on…

Emphasizing the sensual am I, especially with this gentle series of warm mid-winter days - sun on the bare skin pleasant, me in a tank top…also take a lot of hot baths. Could transfer this feeling to a woman's body…still nothing happening in that particular department…

Newspaper top of the fold story line: forget the Boss and the game, it said - Springsteen at the Super Bowl half time show, and the game itself - to pay respect to Pilot Sully, true hero, of US Airways - Chesley B. Sullenberger III - who safely guided a malfunctioning jet down into the Hudson River, no lives lost…

Bought a little massage book - maybe two inches square - for a dollar on the street…and saw two Persian brothers who used to live in the hotel I'd been in. Was going through papers recently and found a letter the older one had written to me - both are into some heavy drugs, and this letter showed it…didn't say hello to them…

Have been looking at
www.femjoy.com again recently - relaxed women's bodies, languid. No overt sexual content, at least in the free clips you can see without paying…and thought: similarity between "languid" and "language"…

Spent three dollars on a single earring at the U.N. Plaza artisan market - the one I had been wearing was too gold, too heavy - it was working okay, but wanted something else. But then this new one, I concluded later, looks too much like something an off-hours tranny would wear - fairly flamboyant, a signal of some kind. So put that aside. Don't want to send the wrong message. It's lighter and more colorful than the gold one, which I like…

Into the library - checked dollar books at the Friends of the Library store. A Penguin edition - they're always distinctive, no? - of Aristotle's Ethics - not something I'd really read, but it'd make a good gift…and Castaneda's Journey to Ixtlan - the third in that series. (Also saw today Tales of Power there, in hardback, just a buck…but…have been into Castaneda for many years, passed on this core text…last related book I had, by one Victor Sanchez, is called The Teachings of Don Carlos - practical suggestions, specific practices, related to the Castaneda material - see:
www.toltecas.com/indicein.html - and also, if you're into this, the Amy Wallace memoir is very good, providing a unique, gossipy perspective into the sorceric world of Carlos - here's part of it: www.sustainedaction.org/Wallace_Book/chapter_3_of_Sorcerors_Apprentice.htm.)

Bought a hardback of The Ebony Tower, by John Fowles, for a dollar - no dust jacket, but that's no problem…not a collector, me, after perfect, pristine editions - have already begun marking it up…I do that with library books, also, tho' I feel a bit bad about that, a bit…then did my thing at a computer, then out again into the Frisco sun - square of grass near City Hall, 1pm, several out on the perimeter having lunch, al fresco. Yeah, one of the city's finest purveyors of cuisine, good ol' Fresco, Al Fresco…

posted by Velcro  # 3:15 PM
#1381 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com

…walking down the south loop, as I call it, of Polk – division line is California Street…fish and chips place, always nice for a good hood, then a place not currently occupied that’s the former site of the Lifetime used bookstore. Then a new business, City Kebab, a Bikram yoga studio, a nice little grocery store with organic stuff, the Internet café on Frank Norris…

…like, farther north on Polk, much, the Spencer & Daniel’s liquidation store – currently, item I like are the 99 cent bags of blue corn tortilla strips – I add these to some of my hot plate dishes…surely many bags sold on the just-passed Super Bowl Sunday – 10% off beer that day there, for the gridiron viewers…

Paul Madonna is a local newspaper artist, does the All Over Coffee feature – I like it much – great representations of Frisco streets. I like the text too, but a friend, who’s got good taste, thinks the guy should just stick with the pix…

Then there’s the recent Microsoft Songsmith thing – can use the software to make your own music videos, I guess…but users have been making funny videos from it somehow, inadvertently funny…not interested in testing this out myself, but here’s a link:
www.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Songsmith. (And here’s something about Bill Gates: http://members.tripod.com/~Diogenes_MacLugh/BGIlluminati.html.)

Santana’s Woodstock performance of “Soul Sacrifice”, on YouTube, sent that to some through e-mail recently…

Also looked up the ’67 Sausalito houseboat “summit” with Alan Watts, Tim Leary, Gary Snyder, and Allen Ginsberg – got the transcript, got it filed…Snyder just put out a collection of letters to and from Ginsberg:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/26/DDVM14QP7L.DTL.

Very slow rendering of the Hare Krishna chant at U.N. Plaza the other day – that one can be done fast, or slow, or anywhere in between…

Actually bought an apple at the Plaza’s farmers’ market the other day, instead of just sampling…

Dahlia is the name of a Tenderloin hotel – thought of the terrible Black Dahlia case out of L.A. from decades ago…guy around there, black with a shaved head, and tattoos on that bare skull – not your average white collar conservative, I reckon…

Passed the McDonald’s used bookstore on Turk near Market, wanted to go in and browse – peered through the window – true dishevelment…now THAT is a bookstore truly worthy of the Tenderloin…
http://www.communitywalk.com/location/mcdonalds_bookstore/san_francisco/ca/info/64857. Once got there a paperback based on the Judge Roy Bean movie, gave it to a friend who liked that, and also True Britt, the Britt Ekland autobiography. Eventually gave that away also…

Up Powell, young lady giving out free samples of some raspberry lotion the Body Shop – put my hand out, took some, joked to her, flirtily, about whether I could eat it, put it up to my mouth. She shook her head…subtle overtones of cunnilingus, or maybe not so subtle…

O’Farrell and Powell, the sign still up for the missed Marquard’s magazine and sundries store – now it’s some dumbass hat place…a real loss of an old school Frisco site -
http://www.sfchroniclemarketplace.com/c/a/2004/12/13/MNGOEAB3HL1.DTL.

Union Square, two girls looking into a little electronic device, giggling – probably at candid photos of themselves…and another art show there in the Square – different from the usual canvases, foot high metal figures, equivalent in that medium of line drawings…

The Summer Place, lower Nob Hill bar – sign says smoking permitted inside, since it’s operated by the owner…then a woman with avocado-colored cowboy boots, toes turned in…and: sky-oriented line comparable to the “water under the bridge one”: there’s been a few clouds over the mountain since then…

Choose tofu the other evening, a better option than canned beans…

Top of the fold in The Chronicle, feature about Lily Coit’s diary, Joe DiMaggio photos – about S.F. Public Library archivists…

posted by Velcro  # 11:24 AM
#1380 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com

…thought: geologically, geographically, even much of the Tenderloin could be considered part of Nob Hill, right?

Want to focus on Katy Perry's Myspace videos…interesting visuals there…seeing how she works the new media…

Title for something: Femjob - combines Blade Runner's "skin jobs" with FemJoy, the nude women site…

Words that are similar: chateau, chatelaine, chat (French for "cat"), chatty…

Joice - San Francisco Nob Hill street - stairs nearby that are picturesque…and Pine and Grant, erhu player:
www.paulnoll.com/China/Music/mus-erhu.html. Or something like an erhu…"er" means "two" in Chinese - two strings on it…erhu/airhead, punning possibility…also, machine that flattens pennies into souveniers…

Out from a library, Robert Heinlein's Friday, about a female "secret courier"…can be okay to listen to at times…not a big Heinlein fan, me…
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_(novel). Seems to hit you over the head with ideas, does the man…The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, from '66, is interesting: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_a_Harsh_Mistress.

Sign at an optometrist: "For people who can't see paying a lot for glasses." - get it, "can't SEE paying a lot"?

At Jamba Juice, "organic slow-cooked oats". Didn't even look at the price…over two bucks wouldn't surprise me - can get quite a bit of that grain in a bulk bin at Whole Foods or Rainbow Grocery for that amount…been eating a lot of oatmeal lately…here's something about the health benefits of eating it:
www.scienceblog.com/cms/oatmeals-health-claims-strongly-reaffirmed-15179.html. Also, it's considered a food to increase sperm - here's a site about other foods that reportedly do that: www.increasesperm.com/foods.html.

Audrey Hepburn photo, I believe, used in ad for the Torso Vintages store…yeah, confirmed at a Website…here are some quotes from that/our Fair Lady:
www.thinkexist.com/quotes/audrey_hepburn/.

Nob Hill, former tanning salon - "Crossroads of the World" sign above it…thought that was in L.A. - yeah:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads_of_the_World. Sunset and Las Palmas - once a busy shopping center, now it "hosts private offices"…Liberace's brother George worked out of one of those back in the Sixties…Jimmy Webb said to have sold "MacArthur Park" to some music biz scam artist who also worked there…also, this says that in the late Sixties porn giant John Holmes got his start in that industry through one of the Crossroads orifices - I mean, offices…

Dachsund walkin' woman…made me think of the Wicked Witch of the West, her line to Dorothy and Toto: "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!" -
www.en.wiktionary.org/wiki/and_your_little_dog_too.

West on Bush, at this time of day, this time of year, that part of Nob Hill, only intermittent rectangles of sunlight…pizza store - two slices, pint of beer, seven-99…doesn't that seem high?

Paid two bucks for the "new format" Sunday Chronicle - only took two pink entertainment section pages after closely looking at it all…not gonna buy this on any kind of regular basis, for sure…

Harrison Montgomery is a new movie set in San Francisco, starring Martin Landau - saw poster for this in the bathroom of the Polk Street coffeehouse I like…
www.popcornnroses.typepad.com/indie_film_spotlight/2008/03/methodfest-mart.html - set in the Tenderloin, my previous 'hood…"interesting little film", says this site…drug dealer character, and a single mother one…it's seeking a distributor…Mr. Landau's "considerable clout", says the reviewer, should help it find an audience…

Heading to Whole Foods, west of Van Ness, the higher rent side of the city, this this last Sunday morning - open at 8am every day the place is, a good thing - am a confirmed Rainbow Grocery fella, but Whole Foods is closer to my crib…Christian Science church up there…"testimony meetings" Wednesdays…two AM radio programs. At the store, paused at customer requests board: one person thought tartar sauce should be offered with the fish at the "hot bar". Response: that fish represented Spanish fish tacos, therefore tartar sauce wouldn't be appropriate…

posted by Velcro  # 10:11 AM

Monday, February 02, 2009

#1379 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com

…buck-29 is what I can pay for a can of sardines - tho' I've seen this particular kind, the least expensive, at nearly a dollar more than that…maybe I'll not eat them - Dick Gregory, in one of his books, said powdered kelp contains whatever you eat sardines and other fish for…he suggests eating lower on the food chain…here's an article about the man:
www.articles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20041219/aki_n12764887...

Traction is the name of an advertising and marketing agency near where I live - curious about them - here's their site:
www.tractionco.com/.

Picked up stickers for Wolfgang's Vault at the coffeehouse I go to on Polk - was gonna put them up on public places, but after a few times got worried about police seeing me - that's breaking some law - so have decided to just put them into paperback books…I like promoting the Vault…a lot of good reading about rock, rock journalism, at their site…

New Common Ground out, featuring love and relationship and sex articles, appropriate for Valentine's Day - great one about celibacy, by a woman, Dani Katz…getting a lot out of it, re-reading certain underlined passages a few times. Here's a site called Conscious Choice that features another article by her:
www.consciouschoice.com/2008/12/index.html. And here's another one by her from another place: www.wholelifetimes.com/2004/08/backwords0408.html. And another - could be the same as the first, but at least it's a link to the Common Ground site itself: www.commongroundmag.com/2008/12/shaman0812.html.

Line for a woman: "Their dietary habits - not to mention their sexual ones - leave a whole lot to be desired…" Title: Sexual Ones…by Hamm Hock…

Am needing/wanting a new pair of mirrored sunglasses - there are a twenty buck pair of Foster Grants at Walgreens I may go for…tho' I'm going without the shades a lot more these days. When they're on, I find I get more focused, narrow down my vision, which I like to do sometimes…

The Really Really Free Market happened the other day in the Mission, was planning to go, but don't get out much lately from a fairly small zone…here's the site:
www.reallyreallyfree.org/. In Dolores Park - apparently you can go there and get pretty nice stuff for nothing - tho' good form might require bringing something…wonder if anyone actually takes money if offered? Also, don't really need more stuff…but can always find room for a desired paperback or recorded music, or some easily-carried item that catches my eye and mind…

Left on the bus the other day, a "mojo" - a magic charm -
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojo - the definition there is: "A mojo is a type of magic charm, often of red flannel cloth and tied with a drawstring, containing botanical, zoological, and/or mineral curios, petition papers, and the like." Mine was just a bundle of papers I'd collected that I valued but didn't want to keep anymore. Hopefully someone found the collection and found some value in it…"petition papers"…like…requesting love, or money? Yeah, here's something about that, in terms of voodoo: www.neworleansmistic.com/spells/primer/namepapers.htm.

Been meaning to get more to the Katy Perry MySpace, for the short clips…interesting platform to communicate…Madonna in her big time didn't have such a platform…Grammy appearance coming up…on a world tour now…was just in San Francisco…review in The Chronicle pretty positive:
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/29/DDJ715JK90.DTL. "New black bob" - what's a "bob" - a hair style, I know that…"collective gasp" from the crowd at her entrance…Stefani plus Dita Von Teese…"wild exuberance"… [Note: That link to SF Gate doesn't work, tho' I double checked the alphanumerics - easy enough to find yourself, if you care to...]

And…read that Katy Perry had taken a year's vow of celibacy, but now I read that this isn't so, at
www.TheFrisky.com/katyperry. Gee, I was liking that she'd do that…this says she'd rather die than be celibate for a year…says she said she wishes the media would understand her sense of humor…

Saw a street seller - not drugs, I mean, just stuff laid out on the sidewalk - at Larkin and Geary, got off the bus - had a few bucks in my pocket…guy had a bicycle I liked a lot, tho' didn't care for the springy mechanism on the front wheel - shock absorbers, I guess you call 'em - never had those on a bicycle, don't want 'em…spoke with him about the possible hotness of it - said it was up from San Mateo - I said that was good, don't sell something stolen in the area where you got it…he said something about getting shot behind a bicycle theft. Bought a cowboy shirt, from South Dakota, that caught my eye - seller wanted just fifty cents, but I gave a dollar - it was worth that much. Really liked it a lot - metal snap type buttons, very light, nice design, unique source - but the shoulders were too big, and don't want to wear it…perfect otherwise. Doesn't look like it can be modified to fit…

Been into an electrolyte powder I got in bulk at Rainbow Grocery the other day, trying it out. Sort of a 21st century Tang. Not sure if it's doing anything, but sometimes I carry a little bottle of it. It's not like I'm exerting myself to the point of massive cardiovascular action lately, tho'. anyway. On a bicycle I'd be doing that - would be a good thing. Sex can also cause a similar reaction, but that's not happening, except in the self-pleasuring manner…

Got a little bottle of Finlandia vodka and a bottled beer for a homeless guy who lives near my crib, a buck each. A confirmed drinker…I like him…sort of made his day a bit with that gift. Joked that I was his waiter, and was taking an order…said his filet mignon was still being worked on when I brought back the drinks…

Title for something: The Woman Thing. By…my current nom de blog, Hamm Hock…

posted by Velcro  # 5:44 PM
#1378 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com

…part of Mason, towards the top of Nob Hill - wondering about the angle of the street, its…inclination? Thirty-three degrees? Ha, that would go along with the Mason thing, Masonic degrees…but…probably more like twenty-five degrees, or less…

Video Zone store - two dollar VHS tapes - these could make gifts for a friend or three who still use that format, I think - Bowie's "Modern Love" on the sound system…
Hand reading sign at some psychic/Tarot reader place - the thumb equals the will, logic…and the Café Mozart nearby - features, appropriately, Filet Mignon Salieri…French/Californian cuisine - half in competion with Rue Lepic, a bit higher on the hill, which does French exclusively, I believe. The chef’s a Japanese woman, if I read the outside text right, married a French guy…

Passed an Academy of Art University campus - many times picked up a friend there after she was done with work…

Davos, Switzerland - recently, Mayor Newsom there attending this year's edition of the World Economic Forum: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Economic_Forum. Speaking of the mayor, thought of the phrase: "Can't fight City Hall!" - see: www.answers.com/topic/can-t-fight-city-hall.

Union Square, counterclockwise stroll around it - also called "widdershins", a widdershins stroll. See: www.widdershins.org/ for an online "inclusive pagan community newspaper"…

Wheatgrass juice available at a Financial District Jamba Juice.

Children's clothing store used to be a B. Dalton's bookstore.

San Francisco Historical Landmark #141 - site of the first telephone exchange…built in 1908…333 Grant…and…found this online, a list of "Historic Sites in San Francisco": www.noehill.com/sf/landmarks/default.aspx.

The SF Follies show is opening on February 6th: www.sffollies.com/. At the Actors Theatre, 855 Bush at Taylor. I never go to live theatre myself, except whatever’s always around me on the streets, but I like the idea of this show’s local references, and the satire. Singing, dancing…I guess like Beach Blanket Babylon, for 2K9.

Lunar sliver above the city that night, a Cheshire cat moon. Paused in front of the Zeke's bar briefly, didn't hear music - have gone in there once and put money into their digital jukebox, had a Coke.

Tuned in Fresh Air for a little while - actor in cable series Big Love interviewed - series about polygamy - guy has three wives, three suburban houses to keep up. Religious basis of this - believes he needs to bring many kids into the world, in order to incur some benefit in an afterlife.

England said to be about the size of Montana - says John Hillaby in Journey Through Britain.

After midnight recently, loud music from the room below me - imagined going down there and telling whoever to turn it UP, that I couldn't quite hear it well enough. The psychology of sarcasm. Knocked on the floor a few times, hard, with a stick, and that seemed to make my point. But was a bit worried that whoever down there, a violent nut, would come up and be irritated, but that didn't happen. Or thought they'd shoot a bullet through their roof. I've lived in places where that was more of a possibility.

www.elluminati.blogspot.com/2008/01/illuminati-lapdogs-meet-in-davos-for.html - Davos, David Icke sort of material, the global elite at work.

Das Energi, Paul Williams: www.paulwilliams.com/Das.html. Book I liked years ago – should revisit it.

Bohemia, club, on California - remember when it was open a few years back – never went in - www.sloshspot.com/bar-club-pub/bohemia-san-francisco-1635. Also: www.yelp.com/biz/bohemia-san-francisco. Love the name.

Went through an introductory book about Transcendental Mediation the other day, underlined words and phrases, got a real good positive feeling from it. The actual method of it not revealed, tho'…www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendental_Meditation.

Madonna flashbacking, walking along, "Vogue" playing in my mind, moving to it a bit, tho' not so extravagently. Katy Perry's not the only one who's internalized the Material Girl's work…

posted by Velcro  # 12:14 PM

Sunday, February 01, 2009

#1377 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com

…Taylor near Market, “Art Theatres” sign on closed place – formerly a porn palace? Art and sex in the Tenderloin…now nearly everyone can get hardcore porn right on their laptops, don't have to go to a smutty venue in the bad part of town…

A “Monster” brand canned coffee, with energy drink components, from a Vietnam vet in a wheelchair, sparechanging on Powell – eight years there. Cans given out free earlier that day. Doesn’t like going out to Fort Miley, the vet hospital – too far to go, too much hassle to schedule that.

In the drink: taurine, Panax ginseng, and an “energy blend” featuring L-carnitine, guarana, more. Liked the taste more than standard Red Bull type drinks, liked the milky coffeeness.

Sitting at Union Square, talking to friend over my cell about the day’s Examiner. Second floor of Borders visible – nice café there, comfy chairs. Good place to sit with a magazine if one's got time to fill.

Artists Guild hosting an art show in the Square that day. Nothing particularly exciting…skulls like Georgia O’Keefe's in one person’s canvases, tho’ not as accomplished, not as deep…seven locations around the city for shows by this Guild, including Huntington Park, Washington Square Park, the de Young…

Bicycle locked up passed – handlebars not long enough. In the market for one, or at least looking. Wouldn't mind being on one again…in the new Common Ground, definition for a "bikesexual" - person very involved with his or her bicycle, to the exclusion of relationships with people…

Irwin Corey – look into his work, meaning to. Transcripts of his material would be fun to look at…I can do something like him, make up phrases that seem to say something, in an academic manner, but really don't…here's a site with something: www.irwincorey.org/routines.html. Just what I was looking for…

Mechanics’ Institute circular stairs, fun to go up and down. Classic building, glad to be in it all the time.

Laxative effect from nearly two cans of that coffee drink. Near-emergency, but got to a toilet in time.

Candelier, Maiden Lane – maybe get a nice big beeswax candle there.

Chaos magic site, with a sex magic article. Got those filed at my e-mail, studying 'em. Sexual abstinence, and fasting, considered a ‘sacrifice” by the writer.

Santana, YouTube, “Soul Sacrifice”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnamP4-M9ko – 9:37 – from Woodstock.

Roy Walford, caloric restriction and optimal nutrition. Am eating less, and what I do eat lately is pretty optimal in terms of delivering a lot of nutrition. And my body's showing it - lean, as lean as it's ever been, and getting more so. But not unhealthily lean.

Chronicle 144th birthday observance continues, special features, including Joel Selvin work on rock music in San Francisco…

“…didn’t like the curve of her ass, especially…” - line for some guy. I think this about most of the ladies I see out there on the street.

Los Angeles Times cover, top of the fold, in a street box – stimulus bill clears first hurdle…819 billion…also, L.A. wrongway driver, two dead…

Larry, on Market Street, with “love oil” for sale, and incense – said the “Obama” one features “Paris Hilton” and “Sean Paul”, for some reason…doesn’t seem that consecrated…should get to The Sword and Rose, Carl between Clayton and Cole, for some witchy incense…http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-sword-and-rose-san-francisco. Here’s their site – about the simplest I’ve ever seen: http://www.theswordandrose.com/. Style points, anyway, to this Larry for his gangsta gold teeth…

Given a Blondie’s Pizza card – three-50 for a drink and a pepperoni slice – seems really high, doesn't it? Friend from a while back, another Vietnam vet, thought Pizza was a total rip-off, in terms of what you paid for what you got. Same, he thought, with Gatorade.

15 bucks for twenty minutes of massage from an Asian man at the U.N. Plaza artisan market – now THAT sounds like a good deal…got there from another vendor, a little dollop of shea butter, rubbed that in – also…full price for small Eastern wisdom books. Rarely pay full price for books, tho' I like to support the independent stores…

“Cool Hand Luke” last in the Paul Newman tribute series at the library…have at my crib some of his popcorn – been popping that up with butter, pink salt - pink because of high mineral content…

Phrase for someone: “…emblematic of superfluity…”

Guy smoking in front of a California government building, with a lot of weight around his stomach…a living testament to ill-health.

Brenda’s New Orleans soul food place open, but no line outside – unusual. A very popular place in Noma - that is, North of Market.

Public urinator, pretty open about it – at least his back was turned into the bushes he was bestowing his flow upon…

Guess I’ll just plead guilty at the upcoming Odd Fellows hearing related to my behavior at the last meeting. But will add a few comments, not just completely expose my neck to the mercy of the committee.

Overlong steeping of green tea could lead to kidney stones - read that in a Roy Walford book…yerba mate, what I drink, is a form of green tea, from a South American holly…so have been aware of this possibility, been steeping it for shorter times.

Nob Hill, an apartment, many stairs from the sidewalk leading up to the front door – not a residence for the wheelchair-bound.

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