This past week has been such a blur. I don’t want to hear anyone saying that I have become domestic or a homebody. Roger and I found ourselves out of the house six out of seven nights this week. The following is a short/mid-length recap of the places we managed to squeeze into our already chaotic schedule.

Monday
We went to see Matthew Sweet at Belly Up. See previous post.

Tuesday
After a lovely relaxing dinner on the patio of Apertivo on 30th, Roger and I took a walk over to U-31 for the last Too Cool for Karaoke at that venue (see this previous post).

On the way, we popped into Avalon on Ohio Street. We had the good fortune to meet the owner, Mark who has multiple generations that have lived in San Diego. He is savvy to the history of San Diego as well as to the history of the building that the Avalon now occupies. We talked about the space and it’s capacity issues. Due to zoning and the layout of the building, it only has a 50 person capacity when it could easily fit 200-300 people. He is working on getting it designated as a historical landmark in order to get a variance that could bump up the capacity to at least 150 people. Be patient, this could be an awesome all ages venue in North Park. For now, stop by every now and again to support his efforts. What he is doing for the community at large is not easy or cheap.

The last night of Too Cool for Karaoke was busy. Not as packed as the Derby Doll fundraiser, but busy… as in Adam and Pants couldn’t really keep up with the requests. I offered assistance with organization since I wasn’t drinking and I don’t really sing. It was a fun night… next stop is San Diego Sports Club for this source of entertainment.

Wednesday
Leaving at 3:45ish, we headed down to the worst planned venue in San Diego, Cricket Wireless Amphitheater for Radiohead. We tailgated in the parking lot for hours before the show, playing Yahtzee and talking to my sister and her friend. The show itself was incredible. It was a spiritual experience for many. Mesmerized by the beautiful lyrics and masterful sounds, I really wasn’t braced for the long wait to get out of the parking lot at the end of the night. I am not really an aggressive driver, so we didn’t arrive home until after 1 p.m. Knowing that the 805 was closed didn’t really affect my route, since Roger and I are pretty good with our Thomas Bros. maps. I really wish the City of Chula Vista would reconsider their city planning efforts.

Thursday
Being that it was the last Thursday of the month, one could easily find us playing music trivia at Whistle Stop. This month’s name that tune was done by the Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra. It is a robot singing songs. It is a bit borderline to a standup comedy act with music as it’s roots. They are definitely innovative and worth checking out if you haven’t seen them.

Friday
Friday was a horrible day. I needed at least one night off this week. I really didn’t want to see anyone.

Saturday
We ended up at the Radio Room on Saturday night for a benefit for a friend’s dog, Whiskey. The show featured three bands: Unruly Bangs, The Mice and Spazboy. It was really a derby-like night as two of the bands had derby ties. I managed to stay for the first two bands, but was exhausted from working most of the day.

Sunday
After a long day at the races, we managed to make it down to the Casbah for Manual Scan. A popular and influential Mod revival band from the 1980s, Manual Scan made it’s own revival the other night performing live for the first time in who knows how long for a crowd excited fans and scooter club members. It looks like Manual Scan may be back in action pending each of the band member’s personal scheduling conflicts.

I really want to get better at posting before I go out (advertising awesome things that you should be at) but I really can’t see that happening. There is lot of awesome things coming up in San Diego this month in particular. Please get out of your hole and check things out. If you need advice on what is cool, email me or check out all of the other cool music blogs in San Diego to the right.

Right now, I just feel like writing. I guess this is why I created this blog. Who cares if it is entertaining to others or serves as any sort of educational commentary. Sometimes you just got to get shit out of your head.

Personally, I feel I am a positive person. I have goals and dreams probably more extensive than most. But sometimes the nature of life gets me down. At these times, I take a look around me to check out all of the great things in my life… sometimes it takes some thinking. Right now, I have many things that make my life meaningful. But somehow it seems I still let the sour parts get in the way.

When I went to the gym today, I was nearly crying (OK, I did cry). Things at work… not so great. That is all I’m going to say on that since I vowed from the start of this blog that I would not burden the world with my work woes. Anyhow, I was thinking how I need to bring back my positive energy. It is there.. just suppressed.

Roger awhile back helped to create a mix for the North Park Festival of the Arts to be played on the main stage between acts. I remember he took a while to make sure that all the songs on the playlist were appropriate to play for a family crowd and were mostly upbeat. It never got played sadly since the sound guy had his own mix and had better things to worry about, like the monitors not working. Anyhow, I never really got a chance to listen to it until recently. I thought I would share with you the tracks that are on it (in order).

Artist: Song from Album
1. Vampire Weekend: Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa from Vampire Weekend
2. Wilco: Shake It Off from Sky Blue Sky
3. What Made Milwaukee Famous: Sultan from What Doesn’t Kill Us
4. Nada Surf: I Like What You Say from Lucky
5. Spoon: The Underdog from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
6. Langhorne Slim: Worries from Langhorne Slim
7. Silverchair: Straight Lines form Young Modern
8. She & Him: Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? from Volume One
9. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) from Raising Sand
10. She & Him: This Is Not a Test from Volume One
11. Wilco: I’m The Man Who Loves You from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
12. Neil Young: Walk On from On The Beach
13. Nada Surf: See These Bones from Lucky
14. Vampire Weekend: Bryn from Vampire Weekend
15. Matthew Sweet: I’ve Been Waiting from Time Capsule: The Best Of Matthew Sweet
16. Tegan & Sara: Back In Your Head from The Con
17. The Magnetic Fields: Washington, D.C. from 69 Love Songs, Vol. 2
18. The Flaming Lips: Do You Realize?? from Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
19. Dead Rock West: Highway One from Honey And Salt
20. The Replacements: Kiss Me On The Bus from Tim
21. Pinback: AFK from Summer In Abaddon

The last two songs really don’t flow with the rest of the tracks… but I left them on there anyway. When I was looking for a link to The Replacements, I really couldn’t find much since they really don’t play. So I linked it to this Paul Westerberg blog that is for the super fans of the Replacements. It is entertaining at best.

Anyhow, my brain and my emotions feel a little clearer after this post. Even though I haven’t solved all the world’s problems, or even my own, I will at least feel better as I fall asleep tonight. It is amazing how a little bit of music and little a bit of sweat can calm the soul, at least temporarily.