CoViD-19: Relief Is Coming, Aid For Venues | Vaccine Rollout & Allergy Guidance | Virus Mutations Raise Concerns | SD LEAs Violate Disclosure in Tactical Gear Acquisition

Teddy Bear Christmas At Hotel Del Coronado in the Before Times (Taken 12.28.2019)

I have so much to talk about today, but I'm gonna put a lot after the jump, because today was actually a lovely day. I'm trying to reset my circadian rhythm so I didn't let myself sleep all day as I had been from our DDD experience last week. I woke up to Nova and Darren in the kitchen, and she was inspired by the bag of yeast I bought to make pizza dough from scratch. I spent some time outside, the weather perfect, and I went through some things to donate from the studio, put away laundry, and I messed around shooting Jupiter and Saturn at dusk. For the pizza makers, it ended up being about a six hour process and I wasn't super happy that D had to run to Vons for mozzarella and other stuff because I'm trying to make us fully quarantine so we can do backyard Christmas at my mom's, but I told him that's it: if we run out of stuff, we run out, or we can do grocery delivery, but there will be no leaving the house for us besides late night dog walks. 

Meanwhile, I caught up with my sister on the phone, and she told me that a girl from my niece's soccer team tested positive. The girl hadn't been to practice since Tuesday, and they've been doing outdoor, separated, workout only practices, but (a) I was so glad we pulled Nova from her team when we did because it was easy to see how the rules slip and (b) it made me mad because her program (though not her specific team) were the ones shown over and over on the news demanding the reopening of youth sports and competitive play. My sister and the girls found out on Saturday and all went and got tested, so hopefully they'll get their results tomorrow, but they're on lockdown now, too, or as my sister said in soccer speak, the DL. 

More and more friends are testing positive or knowing people who are sick. I found out a college pal who lives in London is a long-hauler after getting COVID in March and her symptoms are debilitating and devastating. Another friend's dad died last week. And then I caught myself fighting with someone on Facebook who is literally making up her own statistics, fighting with nurses and people who work in hospitals and morgues that they are all just exaggerating the numbers and danger. It is maddening. California is quite literally the world epicenter at the moment. If you think you don't know anyone adversely affected by COVID-19 at this point, you're are just not paying attention. 

Anyway, lots to get to today, so all of that after the jump. 

CoViD-19 Stats | CDC: On-Site Eating & Drinking Risky | Must Watch: /The Social Dilemma

Nova: Retiring From Soccer in 2020 (Taken 11.16.2019)

There was so much news yesterday that I didn't even mention that the reason Darren and I were quasi-celebrating in the studio on Thursday night was because after an agonizing week of making the decision to pull Nova from soccer and a dozen drafts, we finally wrote the email to her coaches. I'm still not super happy with the decision having been involved with sports from the time I could walk, but you can't force a square peg into a round hole and in a time when kids are already challenged by the circumstances of the pandemic, her extracurriculars should bring her joy, and soccer just wasn't doing that for her. We expect she'll be taking advantage of Derby United open skate nights, we've already been playing tennis, and she's pretty consistent about getting a bike ride in every day, so we just have to keep up the motivation. Which I guess is what everyone is going through in our own way. \

I haven't read much news today; I guess /The Social Dilemma really sunk in. And I also realize that citing a CDC study the very day after they admitted to have been edited by communication aides, but it can't be overstated: the CDC advises in a new report that dining and drinking at places that offer on-site eating and drinking is one of the riskiest activities for COVID-19 transmission.  

I'm keeping it short today. Stats and stuff are after the jump. San Diego hit a second trigger today based on their own self-imposed metrics. Hospitalizations are on the rise at 11%, which we should be keeping under 10%. Meanwhile Canada had a day without a COVID-19 death nationwide. 

CoViD-19: California Budget Revision | Cats & Bunny Disease Dangers | Soda Bar Hoodies | LA County To Open More Recreation | Covidiot Ammosexuals

It looks like today is going to be a big news day, so I'm gonna just share this now and I'll work on another post for the City and County briefings, plus a bunch of news articles I've gathered since last night. I finally caught up with sleep with a late afternoon nap, then vegging on the couch to catch up on my Bravo shows while Darren was in the studio recording, and then reading for a bit before going to sleep by 2am...much more in line with my normal Casbah lifestyle than staying up until 8am. It's been a chill couple days, we haven't left the house at all since my early week Costco trip, but I think we may go for a coastal drive or walk or hike or bike ride at some point this evening because I've literally gone from walking 3-5 miles a day to big fat zero. I know the picture I used today isn't the best, but that little bird was so bright and I'd never seen it around before and it gives me a goal for a new camera and better lenses, which was supposed to happen in 2020 but may just have to wait until 2021. I'm off to see my butterfly now. Lots of info after the jump.

Photos: Failure @ The Fonda Theatre

Failure reportedly had issues booking their current tour and ended up skipping SD this time around. Luckily our photographer Tim Fears was in Hollywood to capture the space rock legends' incredible performance in this set of photos.

FAILURE

more photos after the jump.

Django Django w/ Vinyl Williams & HOTT MT @ The Echo- 09.26.12

The UK's newest buzz band Django Django lit up (figuratively speaking) The Echo's stage in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago with a small bit of help from supporting acts Vinyl Williams and HOTT MT.  More words and pix below...

FYF Fest '12 - Photos: Refused, Quicksand, Sleigh Bells

FYF fest in Los Angeles was quite an impressive event. Although I've never been to Coachella, this is what I imagined it to be like, with multiple stages, vendors, beer garden, VIP tents and over 40 bands & DJs. Even with all of that talent, my primary focus was only on two bands... I'll explain:

Growing up in Chula Vista in the 90's exposed many of us to the hardcore scene with local bands like Amenity, Unbroken, I Wish I, Impel, No Sympathy, and record labels like Vinyl Communications, Revelation and Three One G. The refinement of this sound for me, distilled two seminal bands: Quicksand (NYC) and Refused (Sweden). Both have been dormant for close to 15 years after messy splits.

Suffice it to say, neither of these bands were expected to ever reunite. Refused resurfaced earlier this year at Coachella and Quicksand at the Revelation Records 25th Anniversary show series in Pomona. When I heard that they would both be on this bill, I HAD to be there. You may not recognize me after a facemelt of that magnitude... Enjoy!

Refused

Quicksand

Video: Quicksand - "Fazer" @ FYF Fest 2012

Sleigh Bells

FYF Fest 2012 Slideshow

Tim Fears Photography

Cowboys and Hipsters

The hardest part of getting ready for the Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses/ Silent Comedy show was figuring out what to wear. Let me explain- I have played with Ryan Bingham, and know that this boy is straight up rodeo, country. (This Oscar winner is an ex-bullrider from New Mexico for crying out loud!) But I've only seen the Silent Comedy at U31, The Royal Dive, and the Casbah- so deciding between my Wranglers and Ariats vs. Chick Jeans and Vans was a little tough...(But since I don't have any chick jeans...These hips don't lie... jussayin...) One thing was for sure... I was gonna wear flannel. (but was it gonna be tucked... or untucked... sigh...)

But so did every other person at the SOLD OUT show at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles last night. The line for the show wrapped around the Wilshire sidewalk, and seemed to surprise every single LA model and actor/(AKA Baristas and waitresses...) who stopped to ask, "Um... is this like... the line???"

The show started with the band's front man, Joshua Zimmerman, conjuring up the spirits of our ancestors, to come out of the Pacific Ocean and help the crowd respect what the Silent Comedy was about to slap them across the face with. The spirits definitely showed up through a SCREAMING harmonica solo by the obviously excited, Tim Graves, who started the show in his usual rambunctious manner and kept the excitement going from beginning to end, with a climax of climbing up the sidestage and playing a ridiculous-lung collapsing solo from 30 feet in the air. (One handed... and for a hell of alot longer than 8 seconds!!!)

The band's talent obviously surprised the sound/light guys at El Rey because on the second song, when Jeremiah Zimmerman started to sing, they couldn't seem to figure out where his voice was coming from or where even where he was on stage for a few seconds- Then, as he moved down to work the crowd and go back again, and they simply didn't have enough staff to keep up with the Silent Comedy's energy! (Grrrrr... That dude can SING!!!)

But to the Audio/Visual guys' credit, looking at the Silent Comedy's style, you might think that they were going to do covers of Mumford and Sons all night- as I overheard a girl next to me drunkenly ask her boyfriend... (or agent... or manager... or whatever he was...) They don't seem to have the style of a rock band that's about to take you prisoner, get you drunk, tell you that you don't belong in church, and then make you sing "Hallelujah" with them, but that's exactly what they do, and every person in the crowd will find themselves led to the "waters of rock" and "baptized" by their sound. (Please don't tell my mom I wrote that...) (Also, will you guys take me shopping???)

The Silent Comedy also paid tribute to Chad Lee's grandfather who passed away the day before the show. Playing an extremely resounding song in his honor, they grasped the hearts of every person in the theatre.

I bought their album/t-shirt/pin/postcard deal and will be rocking it at my next show, because they have made me an even bigger fan than I was before! If they are coming to your city, do yourself a favor, and purchase your tickets early, so you don't miss one of San Diego's new class of musical royalty, that gives a headlining performance as an opening band.

P.S. Justin Buchanan has the best mustache in San Diego. He's my Brett Favre.

http://thesilentcomedy.com/ *website

http://www.twitvid.com/MMEY0/ *Crappy Blackberry Video of my favorite song '49.

Fuck Yeah Fest Announced in LA, August 30, 2008

LA's Fifth Fuck Yeah Fest has announced their lineup:

F YEAH FEST 5
Day One: Saturday, August 30th
No Age
Negative Approach
Matt & Kim
Fucked Up
Sex/Vid
Two Gallants
Ladyhawk
David Vandervelde
Glass Candy
High Places
Mika Miko
Monotonix
The Strange Boys
Mannequin Men
Best Fwends
Crystal Antlers
War Tapes
Frank Farfield
Graham Forest
+ many more bands that will be announced shortly.

A comedy show will take place with Josh Fadem, Matt Braugner, Jonah Ray + a dozen more comics.

We will be showing the work of 25+ artists.

There will also be a taco eating contest, a kissing booth, probably a dozen vendors selling records, a mariachi band, dozens of street performers entertaining you while you stand in line (for real) & a number of other things that will pass the time.

For more information please check the official site.

@ the Echo, EchoPlex & Jensen Rec Center
1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
All Ages / $16 / 4:00pm

Day Two is a Scavenger Hunt, and there's a bunch of other shows associated with the event during the weekend.