Memorial Weekend

I finished dissecting the Sunday paper. Since I live in the city I thought I should at least get the weekend papers. I love the weight of the Sunday paper and along with a fresh hot cup of coffee it is the perfect way to ease into a Sunday. Now before I can read the paper I must first separate out the ads and other non-news stuff. To my surprise I found there is not much left. The San Francisco Popsicle leaves with me with 2 news sections and some arts and leisure. I get more text on the side of a water bottle.

Spring fever has set in and since I am done with the paper I have a few things I’d like to get off my chest. First, I can’t shop anymore. There I said it. The pain and self control are becoming more manageable as I head into week two of the “You can’t shop challenge!” Last Friday at 6:00 pm PST the window closed. No retail purchases of the personal indulgence type. Alexis and I have a little bet as to who can go the longest without shopping. It may seem simple but it has turned out to be quite difficult. Purchases initiated and gift certificates/cards or other vouchers dated before the deadline was grandfathered in. Good thing, I had an order from Macy’s and Amazon already in the pipeline. The loser must be a quiet obedient servant for 24 hours. I can already see Lexi washing my car in a pair of Daisy Dukes dancing to Motley Crüe, I’ll keep you posted.

Last night I went to see Super Diamond at Bimbo’s. Sounds like a stripper performing a gentleman’s club. Naaa! Besides I wouldn’t write about that here. Super Diamond is the definitive Neil Diamond experience. Yes, Neil Diamond. This band gets it and gets it right. Fronted by Surreal Neil the band performs all things Neil and occasionally twists it a bit for fun. It took me a few minutes to figure out the ska number was “Red Red Wine” but once I did it was great fun to try to sing along. Every band member was in a sequined shirt and the crew provided smoke and lights that gave this show a Vegas feel on a Reno budget. The cheese was perfect because these guys know it’s a goof but they still love the songs. The crowd loved it too, many dressed as if they were in Vegas or at a Neil show. The room is amazing too, very very cool. Basically a big ballroom with a sloped floor with tables running back to a bar and seating area built to resemble a patio with a view into the main ballroom. A chic 30’s style bar lies off to the left for those wishing a break from the stage. It’s good to get your Neil on once and a while.

Next order of business. What happened to small, SMALL, SM, sm, Sml, etc.? The news reports on how overweight America is. The diet and fitness industries are billion dollar businesses that grow exponentially each year. Then why can't I find any smalls. Old Navy to Macy's it is near to impossible to find the size small. I guess no one believes there are any small people left. Nordstrom's has a personal shopping service that helps me out but I find it frustrating that small has disappeared from my impulse retail experiences.

A few rants later and I know that I feel better. Stay with me because below we have an update from Snowy. Let's go live to Snowy for her report.

The California Music Awards with Leftcoastlove
reported by Snowy Forest

I arrived at Leftcoast’s new headquarters in downtown San Francisco. There I got a pastry at the door since it was Sunday. Free brunch, nice. From there we hopped on the Bart for the adventure to Oakland. We did a flip flop on the knick knack and patty wak before we arrived in the city center. We caught the wrong train by accident and witnessing some rats heading out for a picnic while we waited for the correct one. Fresh train and splat we were in Oaktown. A churro, or two later and we had snagged some chairs for some butterfly blues.

It was a swanking good time. The annual California Music Awards were free and outdoors this year. For free live music we braved the BART. Later that day we were back at Leftcoast’s pad. Dinner adventure was next.

All is well and we are all still in one piece. We had visits from Lexi and Nikki even appeared from the fog to join our soirée. He he! K-luv is working on a research project with Leftcoast, the Raccoon-dog was mentioned in the SF Chronicle and we had to know more. What! Yes, a Raccoon-dog! We had never heard of one. We now have pictures of them and their skulls thanks to the internet. Yes, as scary as it is, the raccoon dog, also know as Nyctereutes procyonoides, is sold for human consumption, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Update to the shopping bet between Alextacy & Leftcoast. The contest was in peril Sunday after I noticed the 4 brand new comic books laying on the coffee table. Leftcoast had unconsciously bought them, without realizing they are something he doesn’t need but instead "a personal indulgence". K-luv and Snowy both acted as judges, we were weighing the weak excuse that Leftcoast does read a lot and the fact that he had bought them for a creative project. Lexi will make the final ruling, but in the meantime punishment and an opportunity for Lexi to purchase something of equal or lesser value. The new term Lexi has started using for Leftcoast is “OL” (Official Loser). Stay tuned for more startling details.

Snowy Forest & K-luv

Leftcoastlove Reports Back In: Grab the SARS stick on the SARS tube. I braved the new world of public transportation with Snowy and Kevin. We tunneled under the bay and after a quick flip flop on the nick nack we made it to Oaktown. People and sun, music and fun and a view into a way different world. The downtown plaza in Oakland was filled with enough fashion tragedies to keep me amused all day. One woman had something on her head that resembled a bandage applied in combat to a gushing wound. I laughed so hard inside that I almost had gushing stomach wound. Later back in the Fran San Bisquik we ordered some grub and visited with Ruby Manchester who was making a rare cameo appearance. More from me later, I gotta go snak pak for zip trip to the Tex-asss tip. Kickin’ it OL (official loser) style it’s me Leftcoastlove.

BART and California Music Awards

Photo Album

Contest Confession: I Sean A. Wheatley being of sound mind and body do hereby concede and declare myself the "official loser" in the retail challenge. I do also claim that Snowy threw me under the bus and in fact did incite Alexis to consider cruel and inhuman punishments. The transgression was so small that most would not have noticed, I didn't. Comic books? Please, I was only buying them for an art project. But in accordance with the challenge rules I am the "official loser" and I must state publicly that I did indeed lose. One more thing we here at the retail challenge want to thank Snowy for her interference, I mean impartial participation in this year's contest. One more time the retail challenge was LOST by Sean A. Wheatley and WON by Alexis. I believe this is the only the first portion of the duties I must fulfill as the "official loser".

Thanks for playing and check back next week for more fun as Jimmy the Jag flies in for Coldplay.
Peace,
Sean