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Eagle*Seagull @ The Independent in SF

Last night Megan and I had a chance to see JJ and the rest of Eagle*Seagull perform at the Independent in San Francisco to a crowd of 500+. They played a 45 minute set, followed by a wonderful, young band that I've never heard before: Tokyo Police Club (get your download on!).

This show was one of the first in a long US tour for E*S, after which they will head (back) to Europe. JJ's birthday was yesterday, so Megan and I brought him various gifts (a small, Monterey pillbox and a CA-1 pin) and also baked the band some double-top secret cookies (double-top secret meaning that Megan and I will never reveal the secret ingredient [and you'll never guess it]!).

Sound at the venue was awesome, and as Jim (who was along for the tour doing sound) said: it was the best he's heard Eagle*Seagull sound in a long time. We enjoyed the show from some great balcony seats (thanks for the wristbands and drinks, JJ!).

Aside from all that, we grabbed some dinner at Herbivore with JJ, which was stupendous. It was a great night, but even now, 12 hours later, I'm beat. We didn't stay in the city and arrived back on the peninsula at about 1:30 a.m. Good thing my first class isn't until four in the afternoon!

Tomorrow, E*S will play the first of three shows in Los Angeles. Best of luck to them on the tour, it's nice to see Nebraska represent on the west coast.

brett at 01:55 PM on March 25, 2008 | | Comments (0)

On Top of Tank Hill

One bus ride and a short hike later, Eric, Megan and I ended up at the top of Tank Hill in the Twin Peaks neighborhood right at sunset.

It was a beautiful view, but the climate was completely different than what we had experienced in the Haight and the Mission earlier that day. This is to say that it was windy as hell. Megan thought she was going to be blown back down into the city.

brett at 12:42 PM on March 24, 2008 | | Comments (0)

New Wheels

A few weeks ago my Bianchi San jose was stolen out of our carport. It was sad to see her go--the bike was a beautiful, baby blue single-speed--but I didn't let it get me *too* down, and used it as an opportunity to make another "investment."

I had the Bicycle Shop in Santa Cruz hook me up with a custom built Bianchi. I selected most of the parts and had them build me a single-speed from scratch. Thing rides as clean as it looks (I also bought a super-duty lock to match). More pics on Flickr.

brett at 11:53 AM on March 19, 2008 | | Comments (1)

Life Can Be Bleak

It all depends on how you look at it. I've been doing a lot of reading, which can be quite a dangerous thing. Recent words digested include:

This is Endgame, by Derrick Jensen. Don't read it if you value your own sanity and complacency. It's a book I like to call the "contentment destroyer."

Why mess with Peter Singer when there's people like Tom Regan? This is a good book, but a bit dense for getting your feet wet in the animal lib movement. If you're in the struggle, then you know Regan's name and should have read his work by now.

brett at 11:35 AM on March 19, 2008 | | Comments (0)