Thursday, June 23, 2005

There goes the last DJ...


Doug Smith
Originally uploaded by dlew022.
My friend and my favorite radio DJ Doug Smith died last Saturday night in a motorcycle accident. I still cannot believe it. When I got in my car to go to work Monday morning, I fully expected to hear his show on The Krush. What I got instead was this horrible news. I know it might seem silly to still be upset at the loss of "a voice on the radio" almost 5 days later, but you'd have to have heard Doug's shows to appreciate the man.

He had killer taste in music and brought a ton of new and interesting people onto his morning show. Wine experts, science experts, food experts..all local. He even had segments on film, books, plays and live music. His show was more than entertainment...it was enlightenment.

I got to know Doug over the years and the guy was as genuine in person as he was on-air. I'd see him at shows and we bumped into each other on the ferry to the Giants games all the time. We'd grab some beers and talk about the Giants or music until we docked and then off we'd go.

Lately I've kind of resisted the fact that I'm a part of this community, but the loss of Doug has made me feel closer to this area- and moreso the "scene" here- than ever before. I'm going to try to live my life a little bit more like Doug and appreciate what I've got around here. Yet...not having him and his show make it hard to know what direction to go next to find out where all the cool stuff is. I hope he's doing well someplace else but I know the people of this community miss him dearly.Check This page out and see what I mean.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

...slap it up, flip it, rub it down...OH NOOooo

Last Christmas my in-laws got us an overnight stay at a spa in Calistoga. It included a room (duh), a mud bath, a blanket wrap and a 1 hour massage. I've never had a "real" massage so the idea was both appealing and scary as hell. See, I work with youngins in Calistoga and I have just the kind of luck that says I'll get one of the kids' parents as my masseuse. Or worse...as my masseur. "So, Billy tells me you don't let him play with Legoes any more {crack!} why is that..."

We checked in and went to our room which had a HUGE hot tub in the room. That was a nice start. Being six-foot four and 250 pounds, my usual routine of sitting in the tub with a 6pack of Coors Light tall boys isn't usually very satisfying. A big ole hot tub seemed pretty sweet so I already felt the trip was a success. After checking for the bible (none) and seeing what kind of coffee was available (crappy), we headed down for our mud bath.

Calistoga has a geyser and a natural hot springs. All the water in the place is powered by said hot springs. Pretty neat. However, such natural amenities are usually powered by sulfur which smells like a cow-shit/rotten egg milkshake. So as we stripped down and went into our private mud room, I saw what looked like a giant "L" shaped tub of shit with the accompanying smell. What the hell, you only live once so into the drink I went.



It was actually kind of neat and very hot. I closed my eyes and it felt like I was one with the mud. Very relaxing in a weird, everything-your-mom-said-not-to-ever-do kind of way. My wife however, couldn't quit squirming around and that was annoying. It's bad enough sitting in a tub of hot mud but when the person at your feet is like a 4 year old at a movie, it's a drag.

After we rinsed off, we got wrapped up in cozy blankets and they locked us in a dark room. It felt like preschool nap time and I conked out immediately. Although the back of my mind was plagued with who my massager would be. I decided it's not right to kill the massager (ohhh SNAP!) so I let it go. Soon our guide came in and said it was massage time.

As we waited in the hallway, a tall nurse looking gal and a short, portly, could be Ron Jeremy's brother guy in a pony tail approached. I looked at my wife and smiled. "Heh heh...your masseur looks freaky. Have fun!" But sure enough, per my usual luck, I get a chubby hand in mine and a nasally plugged voice says, "I'm Son-Bear, I'll be your masseur today." Perfect. We had asked for a female masseuse for me but...whatever.



The massage was O.K. I was pretty knotty (not naughty, dick) but as an eternally smart-assed guy, the sound of lotion being squeezed into a hand is cause for an automatic Beavis & Butthead type moment. I stifled my laugh and eventually realized *I'M* not rubbing on *HIM*, it's the other way around and I'm fairly certain that sucks more for him than for me. When it was all over I felt so-so and went to take a nap.

When I woke up my neck and shoulders were pinched to no end and they still are today...a day and a half later. Isn't that exactly what's NOT supposed to happen? I even sat in the hot tub watching Bruce Springsteen: Live in New York which was on PBS. That's a LONG show and my neck still hurts. Ugh, annoying. I can't say I'd never get another massage, but it wasn't everything I had hoped for. At least there was no happy ending from Ron-Bear.

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Everybody's workin' for the weekend


FiveAM
Originally uploaded by dlew022.
So how was your weekend? Mine ended up being pretty damn good! It didn't start out looking that way...

I manage a band called five a.m. which is pretty miraculous considering I can barely manage getting through a day. The other miracle is...they're really, really good and they allow me to drink all their beer while onstage. The guys just finished their new album entitled "This Morphine Life" and it's fricking awesome. Go buy it...NOW! Anyway...

I book the gigs and I booked them to play this great venue called The Mystic last night, June 11. No sooner did I do that than I see the greatest band ever just announced a gig in Berkeley at the Greek. DAMN IT! That hurts. But I believe in my boys so was able to get over it...for the most part.

A few days after that I get an email from my heterosexual lifemate Pete that says he and the Film Threat crew are going to VEGAS for this really great film festival. I call Gore and he says I can totally go! Sweet! What days are the guys going? You guessed it...June 10-12. SHIT!

I made my bed and had to lie in it but I'll tell ya what. Five a.m. kicked so much ass last night, it made it all worth it. I've "managed" these guys for almost 10 years and there's been some highlights and some lowlights. but last night was one of the best life experiences I've ever had and I'm glad I could be there. Plus, Vegas is really hot and I've seen Wilco about 12 times. So...there.