Season Three, Episode Four: Daniel Kessler, my Lover: my night @ the Fox Theater with Interpol

I've been listening to Interpol for a few years now, ever since my friend from I-House lent me her Antics CD, and ever since then, I was hooked. There was something about their sound that was hauntingly beautiful, and emotionally gut-wrenching, all wrapped in an otherwise other-worldly amalgamation of poetic lyrics and distinct patterns of guitar riffs and drums. There was something about that album that spoke to my inner indie emo punk self.

I've never seen Interpol live before, and in my desire to see them in concert, let's just say that I paid a handsome amount of monies to get a pair of tickets to the sold-out show. But it was all worth it. And then some.

Before the concert, Karmela and I decided to have dinner at Pica Pica, a Venezuelan restaurant in the "Valencia district" part of Mission. We used to live together a couple of years ago, and have not seen each other for a few years. Over a Pabellon (Shredded Skirt Steak, Sweet Plantains, Black Beans, Cheese) Arepa and Cachapa, Guiso and Tilapia empanadas, and Pasapalos (Sweet Plantains) (what can I say, we're the kind of people that eat, and eat well), we caught up with each other's lives, swapped life stories, man issues, professional endeavors, and the like.

This is the second show that I've seen in the Fox Theater. Over the summer, I saw The New Pornographers with a couple of my friends, and since we bought our tickets too late, we were not able to get General Admission tickets, and instead, we ended up sitting up in the boonies. I still had a great time listening to them live, but I've made a resolution that I will only watch concerts via General Admission; at least while I'm still young and the jumping around and the other stuff that crazy kids do while in concerts haven't gotten old to me yet.

Once we got to Fox Theater, a funny thing happened after we got our beverages; we were about to check in our coats in the coat check area, and as we were paying, the guy manning the booth thanked me and called me by name. I thought for a second, trying to place him in my memory. Did I meet him from somewhere already and just don't remember him? Not that I would put that past me, I definitely have done that in the past. As it turns out, my old pal from college, Julianne, was back there; we were in Student Council @ UCSD, and we haven't seen each other since then. Apparently, she's in Sacramento, and just finished law school. It is such a small world, indeed.

The set list was a mix of their old and new stuff. They opened with "Success", one of the songs off their self-titled fourth studio album. They played all of my favorite songs (C'mere, Summer Well, Rest my Chemistry, Evil, Barricade, Narc, Take You on a Cruise, PDA, Not Even Jail), so I have no complaints there. They sound amazing live! They sound very similar to how they sound on their records, which for them is a particularly good thing. 'Mela and I danced, grooved, bounced, and reveled in their music, and at times, I felt like I was 21 again.

And Daniel Kessler is just amazing on guitars. 'Mela must've snapped over 200 photos, and more than half of it was all Daniel. It's been decided: Me and 'Mela are going to have his kids. I'm still trying to figure out how that's going to be biologically (and logically) possible, but as soon as I figure it out, I'll report on my progress.

A couple of things just got on my nerves. The "Oh, excuse me, coming through, I'm just trying to find my friend" routine is just a nuisance; just go through and stop making lame excuses. At least have the cojones to own up to your actions. And oh, tall guys (and girls), can you all do us a favor? Please try not to be so close to the stage, because you are blocking precious real estate. Thanks!

The encore was more of the same awesomeness. They opened their encore with "Untitled" (a song that was used in the Friends season 9 finale), and then they followed it with "Stella was a Diver and She was Always Down". Throughout the concert, I was wondering when they were going to play "Slow Hands", one of my all-time favorite songs, and they played it as their last song; a fitting end to the night.

I walked away from that concert not just with a $30 Interpol shirt (which I wore to school the next day, by the way), but also with a deeper appreciation for Interpol. Until the next concert! And this time, I'm getting those tickets as soon as they're released!

Season Three, Episode Three: Single in the City goes to St. Louis!

The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacists Educational Showcase was in St. Louis this year. The consensus that I have gathered was not a favorable one; actually, I don't think anyone said anything remotely positive about St. Louis.

The weather throughout trip was actually quite wonderful: low 70s and sunny throughout the day, and a crisp mid 50s at night, which is apparently quite different from the "normal" weather pattern in St. Louis; one day it will be sunny, the next it is pouring down rain.

The conference itself was well worth my of time, though I would say this year as compared to last year, the speakers were a bit disappointing. This year, we had the "Three Doctors", who I thought were very inspirational, but the fact that that I flew into St. Louis that morning via a redeye flight meant finding creative ways in trying to stay awake: coffee, self-inflicted pinches in multiple areas, and the occasional slap in the face. CMS Deputy Administration and Director Jonathan Blum delivered the Friday Keynote, and you can tell that he's not very used to public speaking; he's a very intelligent man, but perhaps his nervousness made him speak without any pauses (not even for breath breaks).

I didn't get to go to as much educational showcases this year compared to last year (not getting reimbursed = no required events to attend), though the ones that I did attend were quite useful. I especially enjoyed my roundtable discussion about medication adherence; now I don't feel so lost about my project.

Our search for our Friday night entertainment was quite entertaining, to say the least. Most of the UCSF contingents stayed at the Four Seasons, so we tried to hang out around the area, which was Laclede's Landing, a nine-block industrial area with cobblestone streets and vintage brick-and-cast-iron warehouses. One thing that I made sure we DIDN'T do was cross the Mississippi, into East St. Louis; apparently, it's not a very safe place.

For dinner, we decided on getting our grub on at The Old Spaghetti Factory. I hadn't been to one in years! After dinner, we strolled along N. 2^nd Street, trying to look for a "happening place". Walking down this street reminded me of Tijuana for some reason. Sleazy doorman trying to get you into their bars. Even sleazier men clogging up the street hooting and hollering. At one place, there was a scantily clad rail-thin woman shaking her pom-poms. Seriously. True story.

I don't remember the name of the bar that we eventually went into, but what caught our attention was the "$1 shots/$2 jaeger shots" sign out front; it was too much to pass up. The place was decidedly "gritty" and "grungy". They served their shots on ketchup container cups (WTF?). The DJ played a LOT of late 90's/early 2000's songs, but to his defense, he was VERY responsive my song requests. Though I think the people that were there were looking at us funnily, especially when my song requests came on; I don't think this place regularly see people dancing to dance music.

It is in this bar where I heard the weirdest pick-up line someone has ever used on me; A scruffy, buttoned-up shirt dressed man, perhaps in his mid 20s, came up from behind me with his flipped phone opened up as if he's ready to take a number, and asked: "Hey, are you a hairdresser?" Now, I'm not sure if this was the "code phrase" in Missouri for "Are you gay?", but nonetheless, I missed that whole exchange. And he was actually kinda cute. Bummer.

We ended the night at a bar titled "Big Daddy". We passed by this place on our way to the hotel on Wednesday, and they were playing music on full blast at 9 AM; yeah, it's THAT kind of place. I was half-expecting this place to be crawling with the "corn-fed Midwestern" folks and I was half-right. The good thing about the nightlife in St. Louis is that some places stay open until 3 AM, with last call 40 minutes before closing time. I was also amazed at how cheap it was going out in St. Louis! One round of drinks for 5 people cost me about the same as 1 drink here in the city.

Most of the UCSF contingency left on Saturday morning/afternoon, but I thought that I'd take a later flight to play tourist. I was gonna try to go to the Arch, but apparently I had to be there BEFORE 10 to avoid the crowd, so I passed on that. I also wanted to go to St. Louis Museum of Art, which actually sounded kinda interesting: they had a very eclectic art collection as part of their permanent collection, plus they had some Impressionist/Post-impressionist paintings by Monet, Degas, Gauguin, and van Gogh ), but I woke up too late; I didn't get out of the hotel until 12:30. That and I had an assignment due on midnight Saturday that I had to finish, so I just strolled around Laclede's Landing, ate lunch al fresco while working on my assignment. There was a classic car show that I checked out; I had never been a car enthusiast, but I was able to appreciate the stunningly immaculate condition of these early to mid-century cars.

Would I ever come back to St. Louis? The weather could've fooled me to think I was in San Diego. The nightlife wasn't as horrible as I thought it'd be. So I guess, maybe. Though next time, I'll be prepared for any weird pickup lines that may come my way.

Season Three, Episode Two: A Weekend of Nuptials, Natalitial Shindigs and Nudities

When I go back in time to figure out when exactly my liver started to fail me, this past weekend would probably be as good a starting place as any other time. But I guess when you have a wedding, a birthday and Folsom Street Fair to celebrate, knowledge and logic go out the window. Or at least that’s what I’ll keep telling myself.

The weekend started off tame enough; friend from Japan was in town until Saturday afternoon, so we had a chill Friday night, dinner and wine around the ‘hood, and had an early day anyway, since my call time was 8am for my clinic’s volunteer orientation the next day. Had to ditch that early to make it to my friend Larry and his beau’s sail boat wedding, and my friend Susan was picking me up @ 2:15.

It was such a gorgeous day for a sailboat wedding. The afternoon temperature high was in the low 90s, though a gentle breeze from time to time made sure that it was bearable.

This was the third non-Filipino wedding that I’ve been to, and the second wedding that I’ve attended that involved one of my classmates. I guess we’re getting to that stage of our lives. Oh, snap, does that mean that I have to start growing up? I digress.

The wedding party was dressed in a nautical theme, down to matching sunglasses, belts, and the whole nine, which I thought was such a classy touch (way to go, bride-zilla… ahem, Larry). Paul’s son (and one of his best men) played a Led-Zeppelin inspired interpretation of Canon in D with his electric guitar; man, that 14 year-old boy is going to be trouble (if he’s not already). The girl next to me was balling her eyes out, so either the ceremony was very sweet and touching or she was just one big crybaby; I’d say it was the former.

Sail boat weddings are such great ideas; something about being at sea (or I guess in this case, bay) and nuptials seem to just work. Maybe it’s the openness, or the symbolism of the voyage that the couple is about to embark upon, with their love acting as the main sail that will direct the course of their paths together as partners. Just FYI for those who are contemplating sailboat weddings in the future: it goes without saying that a summer wedding would probably be the best time to have it, and if you’re going to do it, that means end of September/mid October is your best bet.

On to the reception – where the real fun begins! Bubbly, you’ve always been my nefarious nemesis, and you strike once more! I had a great time with my “date” Allison even if you were such a cheap date; well, not as cheap as Susan, who was blurry after 4 sips of the margarita =p And those lemon cakes were AMAZING! Man, if weddings do one thing right, it would be cakes.

Luckily, this wedding didn’t have the usual horrors (Macarena, line dancing, YMCA), but they did do the train and I definitely didn’t partake in that! We did however, danced to some groovy music, and even did a little “Single Ladies” dancing; Liza Minelli would’ve been proud.

Bottles of champagne and endless pitchers of margaritas later, somehow, I managed to make it out of Tres Agaves alive just in time to cut in with Krystal, Katie, and Nikolai for Joel’s 25th birthday celebration at Roe the same night. At that point, I remember bits and pieces from the night, but mostly good memories. I saw my friends who I haven’t seen in awhile, so that was good.

Sunday was all about a different kind of love. I met up with my friend Vannida and her friends Gina and Katie for some afternoon delight @ Folsom Street Fair. Or as my friend Vannida calls it, “San Francisco’s equivalent of church.” Well, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were certainly there spreading the love and the protesters armed with their affable “Jesus-loves-you” placards certainly made their presence known.

It definitely was neither for the faint-hearted nor the flinchers, but I guess that’s just par for Folsom’s course. The rest of Sunday’s events were not suitable for children under 18 (though someone was enjoying the festivities with her baby (who couldn’t have been older than 18 months) in a baby sling; in her flimsy defense, at least it was made out of leather). Heck, for professional reasons, it’s probably not suitable for anyone over 18 for that matter. I guess you’ll just have to dig that one out of me.