...nwood...

I'm moved to report on what I've been up to: I met a large number of friends and acquaintances at the Toronado this evening. I'd compare this revered site (blocks from my freshman SF apartment) to the Oracle at Delphi, only all the seers there suffer from micro brew-induced myopia. The future can always be forecast - it is always the same.

After two (three?) pints of Pliny the Elder [1] on top of an empty stomach and no sleep last night, I found myself outside The Filmore paying $55 for a (face value $40) ticket to see My Morning Jacket on the second sold-out night of their three-evening New Years stand. Now, I know this band somewhat - at least their albums "It Still Moves" and "Z". I respect their recorded efforts...but as I watched them work the crowd with the predictable tactics, I thought to myself..."would this have stood up at the Cotton Club [2] in the 30's?...at Minton's [3] in the 50's?" Well I can't say of course because I wasn't there (or those past lives are too frustratingly vague)...but I will say that these dudes whipping their long hair over their Gibson Les Paul's and Flying V's...although entertaining, even exciting at frenzied moments...hide behind saccharine artifice. (Oh, what fun it is to be a snobbish bastard and bash things.)
It is time now...for me to sleep...and to prepare for a new years eve of clarity and equanimity.

[1] http://www.russianriverbrewing.com/pages/beers/plinytheelder.html
[2] http://www.cottonclub-newyork.com/about.html
[3] http://www.uptownatmintons.com/