señor taco’s travels

So i broke down and got a new phone. With it comes new service (Cingular versus Sprint) and a new contract, but thems the breaks. I move from CDMA to GSM and I get one heck of a good phone (and at a good price too, I end up paying $50 for the phone after a rebate).

I ended up selecting the Siemens S56 for several reasons. First, it is GSM. While CDMA is a fine system I decided that down the road it’d be easier to switch providers with a GSM system (but that’s a while off), however, when traveling I can get a pre-paid GSM SIM card and just put that in my phone and off I go. The S56 also has BlueTooth so that I can connect it to my computer and keep my address book and calendar in sync between the two (not to mention it’s a good way to keep it backed up). I also like the fact that I now have SMS text messaging, now my friend KP and I can send retarded messages back and forth across the country.

I have to admit, this phone is so much lighter than my old phone (it’s about 3 ounces, eep!) I’m actually scared to lose it. It will all be fine, I just have to get used to it. Now I just have to transfer all the phone numbers around and I’ll be good to go.

Many thanks to KP for pointers in the right direction, advice, and opinions.

More new music (of course). Today features a long awaited release, shall we get to it:

• The Mars Volta — De-Loused In The Comatorium
  There once was a band, At the Drive-In. They were from El Paso, Texas and every album of theirs is fantastic. After releasing Relationship of Command they went on indefinite hiatus. From ATDI 3/5 became Sparta and the other 2/5 formed The Mars Volta. Sparta was first out the door with a full-length album, Wiretap Scars. I think Sparta is great, definitely a departure from ATDI, but in a good way. I listened to that album for 3 weeks straight and it’s still in regular rotation for me.

  Now The Mars Volta has released De-Loused and I find it fantastic too. A little weird at points, but great. To me Sparta and The Mars Volta have split, gone their own way, but picked up right where ATDI left off, just in different directions. The Mars Volta is a little closer to ATDI, especially on Relationship but even then they seem to have pushed it a little farther. This album will be in rotation for a long time. If you liked ATDI (especially Relationship of Command) then I suggest you pick this album up. If you’ve only ever heard Sparta then you may or may not like this, I can’t say for sure. However if the music doesn’t do it for you let the Rock Afros that they sport convince you.

• Rufio — MCMLXXXV
  Another good effort from Rufio. While I did listen to this and I found it to be just as good as Perhaps, I Suppose… I have to admit I mostly listened to The Mars Volta all night. I’ll post an update when I listen to it some more in regular rotation. Sorry Rufio.

I was on the phone with my best friend Matt the other night and he asked if I was happier in California. With the exception of missing my friends that are still in New York I told him “yes.” I feel much happier out here for a variety of reasons, and just to torment some of said NY friends I shall recount them here:

• weather: I know there can be bad weather out here, but darn it you just don’t think about the weather unless it’s hot or cold. The humidity is pretty much perfect and there is plenty of sunshine.
• music: I’m an admitted punk junky (punk rawk! woooo!) and most of the bands that I like are either from San Francisco or SoCal. They do a lot of shows only in California. I’ve only been here about 3.5 weeks and I’ve already seen one show, I have plans for another one in July and maybe one two days after that. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing a lot more shows out here.
• stores: yeah, yeah, consumerism is bad. blah, blah, blah. I’m going to live my life my way. What makes me happy is that there are plenty of stores close by that I can just go to easily. Best Buy? There’s one down the street from work and another about 10 minutes from my apartment. In NY that was a 30 minute drive, at least, and more trouble than it was worth.
• women: yes, I mean that in the most lecherous way possible. There are beautiful women out here. Far and away more than were in NY (at least to me) and they have a better attitude (at least so far :). I like to see that around. It makes me feel better about moving here :P

Thats all I have for now. I had some tasty Vietnamese food for lunch. Not much more I can say to that.

On Friday night a bunch of friends and I met up at the Metreon in San Francisco to see Hulk. Now, I’m going to preface this by saying I had no expectations of the movie. I loved the TV show as a kid. I love the character of the Hulk and I’m glad to see a movie made on it.

I liked it. Some in our group hated it, but that’s fine, they’re more than welcome to do that. I thought the editing, pacing, transitions and storytelling were all exactly what was needed to transform a comic book into a feature film. It didn’t try to be more than it’s roots and I think it did a very good job of sticking to them. Ang Lee was very innovative in his use of comic book style transitions, it almost made me feel like I was reading a comic book. Some of the effects were off, but for the most part they really helped tell the story and fit just fine (it was also nice to see some friends names in the ILM section of the credits).

Overall the movie satisfied me and I’ll definitely own it on DVD when it comes out. I liked the cameo from Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno. The acting, while not stellar, was just fine for a comic adaptation. If you’re expecting a movie like Spiderman you’ve got the wrong film, Hulk is much darker. I will say that of this summers comic adaptations so far I still like X-Men 2 better, but Hulk is definitely up there.

At least that’s how Dode described it, and I’m going to agree with him. What we were talking about was the Dropkick Murphys show at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz last night. The pit was non-stop, I saw more mohawks in one night than I ever saw in New York, and the Murphys were absolutely incredible. They played for an hour straight with no breaks. I love seeing DKM, their shows are always so good. When we pulled up Al (the singer) was out front with his crew making sure some troublemakers weren’t causing problems. He was pissed and didn’t want them in to be allowed into the show (I think it was skinhead of some ill-gotten pursuasion…and yes, I know there are good skinheads).

I just wish my friends Matt and CB could have been there. They would have enjoyed it. Oh well fellas, next time.

Update (Tue Jun 17 17:40:09 PDT 2003): I nearly forgot to mention. There was more stagediving at that show than I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately the people doing that were knocking mic cords out all over the place so the sound was a little off and on until the crew got it locked down. Some people did okay, one woman just looked like a dork trying to dance, she was so totally white and probably drunk. There was one injury that I saw, a guy that was easily 200+ lbs. dove off and squished a kid in the crowd. They took the kid out and his face was all bloody. I feel sorry for him, that big guy should have known better than to do that.

I finally got the Blackout album from the Dropkick Murphys. Man, this is a good album. Very much in the working class line like Do or Die. I so can’t wait to see them on Saturday. That show is going to rock so hard.

I also got the One Man Army DVD, Live at the Troubadour Hollywood — The Show Must Go Off!. I’m waiting to watch it with dode though so I’ll have to report on it later.

So, on the drive to work today I am at the 9th Street exit from I-80. There’s a wrong way sign to my left to tell clumsy motorists not to try driving the wrong way on the exit ramp. Between the wooden pole and the sign are wedged several folded up pieces of cardboard. I was kind of wondering what they were when a panhandler walks up, pulls one out, looks at it, puts it back and grabs another one. He then unfolds it and stands on the corner with his “need help, god bless” sign. Wow, what a system. I wonder if the other one was the “I’m a vet down on my luck” sign (I’ve nothing against vets, in fact I’m gad there are vets, but panhandling is not my idea of “honest work”).

Thanks to the very generous parting gift from my friends at Blue Sky I was able to get settled in San Francisco with some new punk rock. The albums are as follows:

• No Use For A Name - Live In A Dive #1
  good live show and one hell of a best of. I’m glad Fat Wreck Chords is putting out this series (although I will probably not get the Sick of it All).

• Bracket - Live In A Dive #2
  again, really good live recording. I like most versions of the songs and it’s got most every Bracket song I could want.

• Strung Out - Live In A Dive #4
  ditto. also, the comic books in the CD insert are fantastic, especially this one.

• None More Black - File Under Black
  This group is coming out of the break up of Kid Dynamite. It’s no Kid Dynamite (yet), but it’s really damn good. I like cranking this on the way to work in the morning.

• Dropkick Murphys - Live On St. Patrick’s Day
  I wish I had seen these shows. I love the Murphys. In fact, I should be seeing them play this weekend. woo hooo!

• V/A - Punk-O-Rama Vol. 8
  Yet another in a long line of fantastic and cheap comps from Epitaph. 2 Discs in this one. The Bad Religion song is awesome.

I know it’s only Thursday morning, but I figured I’d put this down. Work has been great so far. There is a lot for me to learn. The commute isn’t that bad (yes, somewhat long at points, but meh). The group of people here are great. Wild Brain really reminds me of Blue Sky when I started there. And to any Blue Sky friends reading this, I really miss you guys.

Anywho, more work to do, more stuff to learn, and maybe some food to get.

Today I start my new job at Wild Brain. I’m really excited, but the commute is going to suck until I get it all figured out. Oh well, the challenges that lie ahead are going to be good, and that’s what matters.