Think A Man Would Know

As Gawker.com has already reported this morning, I’m blogging today from the horizontal position. No you crazy sickos … I threw my back out over the weekend and finally decided to take a sick day, although that hasn’t stopped the barrage of work-related calls this morning. There’s no such thing as a sick day at our offices – it’s just harder for people to get in touch with you. Gotta love it. Anyway, let’s just say I’ve got a ton of free time today to spew worthless crap, so settle in for some randomness … Snikes style.

After seeing Ben Taylor open for Tracy Chapman a few weeks back (10/13 blog), I got another chance to see him perform over the weekend. I won tickets through KFOG’s weekly email rag. It was a private concert for about 40-50 folks at the Hard Rock Café. I was under the impression that the HRC was no longer in bidness in SF, but I guess they reopened down on Pier 39 a few years ago. Shows you how often I or anyone else I know makes it down that way. Anyhoo, the show was obviously more intimate than when he played the Fillmore. He opened up the hour long set with 4 acoustic songs, including Nothing I Can Do, which didn’t leave many dry eyes (including (sap) mine) in the house. The song is about his mother, Carly Simon, and “how she still thinks of him as baggage”. One of the most emotionally wrenching songs I’ve come across in a long time. (Download it from iTunes and thank me later. While you’re at it, grab Island, prolly his most well known song, which is from his first album) Seeing yesterday's show inspired me to pick up my guitar again, do some more writing and get some damn lessons. Just need to find a teacher who isn't a flake. Taylor offered up a little background for almost every song he played, which really added to the intimate vibe. The play list included tunes about his ex-girlfriends, his famous father and mother, a best friend who’s serving time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit and an appreciation for the success that he’s achieved so far. There’s still time to catch him if you’re local. He’s playing another small gig at Sweetwater tonight, the hippie Marin joint up in Mill Valley.

Classroom Buddies started up again last week. I’ve got a class of 20 first graders in Sunnyvale this year and the same fun/young teacher, yet again. I’m hoping to spend time with them once every other week, at the very least. First graders are the perfect class. Super warm and affectionate, anxious to learn, high energy, polite and most importantly, they haven’t developed attitudes just yet. After spending a few hours with the class, it’s pretty easy to tell who’s going to be a problem child and who’s going to be an honor roll student. There are also way too many sad stories from what the teacher tells me … from a handful of welfare students to malnourished kids to parents who are running from the law. The teacher’s job does not end at the 2:20 bell … it’s only just begun. She plays many roles, some which are more important than just teaching them about math and science. I’ve got incredible respect for her and would count myself lucky if I can make even one ounce of a difference in some of these kids’ lives.

Some interesting articles in Sunday’s New York Times.

First, I’m sure many of us, Jewish or not, can relate to “My Big Fat 80s Bar Mitzvah” . A bunch of New Yorkers got together and published a web site and book which organizes old school photos, centerpieces, commemorative souvenirs and videos of their friends’ (and now strangers, too)bar and bat mitzvahs. It’s far more than just a chance to look back at the age old rite of passage. It’s more akin to “a sociological history”. How and why did this religious experience turn into what it did and how that ultimate experience tied into the overall generational point in time (i.e. 80s excess, etc). To all of us who attended the tens of bar mitzvahs, it was an elaborate event, but we didn’t (and still probably haven’t) analyze it much more than “wait, he hooked up with her!?!”

After the Poker craze that grew to epic proportions over the past 2 years, TV execs have been killing themselves to figure out the next big thing that has similar potential. Turns out, they’ve got just the thing. Actually, we can’t give them full credit. As is the case with many a successful television show as of late, we’re borrowing a page from the Brits’ playbook. Yep, darts ! ESPN is putting the finishing touches on a World Series of Darts series that will air some time in 2006 and they’re convinced there’s a huge market for it. They’re right. There are millions of darts players throughout the US, but not one official league … for amateurs or pros, for that matter. I think the most exciting part of the series is going to be the players. From what I’ve seen thru the Brit leagues, these guys are some of the most colorful characters you’ve ever come across. As the article puts it, “These guys have lived life and they look like it”.

If anyone’s looking to invest in some Caribbean island real estate and is looking for a partner (or someone to accompany them on an early retirement dream), I’m in! After reading about Vieques (6 miles off of Puerto Rico), I’m convinced that the author is right … this is the next big vacation place. It’s not commercially rundown and has done a fine job, if not unintentionally given its admittedly lazy inhabitants, of maintaining its local flavor. The cost of living is still very manageable and the land is a plenty. Doesn’t sound like there’s much to do apart from experiencing the land, some biking and of course, sitting your ass on the beach. Sounds like my kind of digs. I’m guessing it’s probably akin to what Turks and Caicos was about 20-25 years ago (which now appears to be one of the biggest hot spots).

Ok, enough about The Grey Lady for today! So, t-minus 2 weeks to Chapel Hill!!! The way things are looking right now, Carolina has a small prayer of matching up to BC. Somehow they pulled out a 7-5 (yeah, that’s not a baseball score) win over UVa on Saturday. You just can’t get a good read on this year’s squad. BC had a bye week and is traveling to big bad Blacksburg for a Thursday night contest vs. the Hokies. This is their season right here. This will make the difference between BCS consideration and another shitty holiday bowl. If they lose, god help the Heels when I’m down in NC!

And finally … not sure how long it will take for San Francisco to see this trend, but from all accounts, it sounds like Chinese food is making a quiet comeback and will be back on the dining scene in 2006 in many urban areas. The early 90s saw the beginning of the dominance of the “other” Asian cuisines – Japanese, most notably, followed by Thai and Vietnamese. Chinese was really the first Asian cuisine to find its way into the homes of Americans (going back to the California Gold Rush) and it took many different incarnations over the years. I think American diners naturally grew sick of it and sought out more exotic, unique fare (or what they thought was that at the time). So, not only is it coming back next year (it’s already started in NYC), it’s coming back on a more sophisticated (read: expensive) plate. I’m trying not to be cynical (or city snob), but I’m guessing that expensive Chinese food seems to infer “fusion” and I think most of us are pretty much over the whole fusion trend, which has worn out its lonnng welcome.

If I can get my back in working order, we've got a good week lined up including visits from Sharp and Mattis later in the week. Stay tuned.

Note: Hopefully, we’ll get the Guest Column feature back up and running soon. God knows, we need a little bit of spice here at Snikes.com.