I Try to Hide All These Gay Thoughts and Feelings...

...I don't know where they coming frooommm!



Going to see The Growlers tonight with Dr. Dog at The Independent.  It's going to be a psychedelic rock extravaganza.  Pictures and/or videos to follow.  Until then, here are a couple more gems.

Dr. Dog - "The Ark"



The Growlers - "Empty Bones"



The Growlers - "Camino Muerto"

I Wish I Could Get Paid to Buy Vinyls

Went to Amoeba Records today to buy some vinyls.  It was literally the perfect day for walking around San Francisco and browsing through the mecca that is Amoeba Records.

It's a converted bowling alley, which naturally  makes it ideal for stuffing it with vinyls and letting people like myself run loose and splurge on new additions to my collection.

Seriously, mecca...

While I was looking around I got to thinking.  What I wouldn't give to take a shopping cart into this store and just go nuts for like 10 minutes, Super Market Sweep style.  For 10 minutes, I can go around the store grabbing any vinyls that I want, and after the time is up, I get to keep whatever I could fit in my cart.

Side note: how awesome was Super Market Sweep?  Seriously, just people going around throwing anything and everything in their carts, trying to ring up as much money as possible.  I'm even pretty sure they got to keep what they put in their cart.  I remember watching marathons of that and always getting pissed when the contestants did anything but go after the Butterball turkeys.  Everyone knew those things were worth like $30 a pop!  As a 10-year-old, I was convinced I could beat anyone in that game, because I'd go straight for the turkeys, and pick up any of the bonuses on the way.

Anyhow, I digress.  After about an hour and a half of browsing, I left the store with the following bag o' treats:

*  Bon Iver - Bon Iver
*  The Black Keys - Rubber Factory
*  Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III
*  Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
*  The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
*  Deerhunter - Cryptograms


When I'm shopping for vinyls, there's always an internal conflict that involves me wanting to (1) complete collections of certain artists I have (see Black Keys purchase above); (2) buy new release vinyls of albums I've heard lately that I consider to be really good (see Bon Iver); or (3) expand my collection of classic albums that I ultimately want as part of my collection (see White Stripes and Led Zeppelin).  At the end of the day, I'm usually just very happy to be able to grab some new vinyls to listen to and stack on my shelf.

Speaking of which, here's the current vinyl collection:

There's about 90 or so LPs (12-inch), 20 or so 45s (7-inch), and three 10-inch albums.  I'm pretty proud of it thus far, but here's the space I ultimately need to fill:

Three shelves under the window to be filled.  After about a year I am about 3/4 of the way through the first.  Gives me something to shoot for, I suppose.

Someday, I'm hoping to have a room that looks like this:

And if You Show Me to the Stage, I Rock It

Alas, there is hope!

Cliff notes for those who don't feel like reading:

- Representative Joe Barton (R - Texas) is introducing a bill to legalize online poker
- Bill allows states to choose whether or not to legalize online poker within their state
- Poker sites need to already be licensed in at least one state
- Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (2006) does not explicitly outlaw 'poker', making it difficult to define what is/is not legal
- According to Barton, Republican leadership is generally in favor of such a bill
- Bill is co-sponsored by 11 congressmen, 7 of which are Democrats
- Provisions in the bill restrict those who could apply for a license for the first three years to licensed gambling companies that have significant assets, and require significant vendors to be scrutinized the same way
- Barton does not support legalizing other forms of online gambling because he believes poker involves more skill than luck.
- Barton hopes to have a bill on President Obama's desk during the current Congress.

So this is what Republicans and Democrats actually agree on?

How can you love me, when you don't like me, baby?

I apologize for the lack of posts in the past week and a half.  I am currently finishing the process of moving residences within San Francisco, and have spent a lot of time packing, moving, unpacking, putting things away, splurging at IKEA, and putting furniture together.  As a result, there was very little time to blog.

Anyhow, yesterday was new music Tuesday (literally one of my favorite days of the week besides the weekend).  A number of good albums came out, but one I really want to toss out there is the self-titled debut from Unknown Mortal Orchestra.  It received an 8.1 rating (out of 10) from Pitchfork (my primary source of musical news, etc.).  Basically, anything over an 8 is considered really good. 
I've had the pleasure of seeing this band live twice in the past couple months. It took a little while, but I really started to get into their music.  If you're into psychedelic rock, give it a shot. 

You can stream the entire album here.  Or, just buy it on iTunes.  Better yet, buy it on vinyl for $14 and get the free download card. 

                       *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Side note, it's been a little more than one year to the day that I started my vinyl collection.  Not only that, but it was approximately one year ago that I attended the Portugal. The Man concert at The Fillmore with my girlfriend and my friend who was visiting The City (looking at you, Adam Toy).  Anyhow, the picture behind my blog title was actually taken at The Fillmore during that concert, so technically I am in there somewhere (on the right towards the back, if I remember correctly).

Happy Wednesday!

Anticipation has a habit to set you up for disappointment...

I've been busy moving to a new apartment, which is why there have been no updates lately.  I apologize for this and will surely update more often now that I am somewhat settled in.

On another note, I'm excited to relay that The Cool Kids have a new album coming out July 12th entitled "When Fish Ride Bicycles."  Originally scheduled for release on December 29, 2009 (no typo there), it appears as though the dream will finally become the reality. 

One thing I really enjoy about The Cool Kids is that for a hip-hop band, they don't embody a lot of the things that turn people off to hip-hop music.  For example, their first album, "The Bake Sale", consists of them rapping about such things as going to the grocery store and buying milk, playing basketball, playing Sega Genesis, shoes, pagers, and bicycles.  Notice no mention of drugs, sex, cash, hoes, etc.?  That's why they're so great.  They can rap about the corniest of topics and still make it sound sweet as hell.

Here's a new track off the forthcoming album entitled "Bundle Up", as well as reminder of some of The Cool Kids' current gems to get you all as excited as I am for July 12th:

"One, Two"

"Mikey Rocks"

"88"

"A Little Bit Cooler"

"Gold and a Pager"

Listen to them all, or listen to just one, I don't care.  They're all good.  And the beats are dope.

I don't want to work forever, know what I know, or beg or borrow

Happy Friday to all!  Be safe.


The video is 13 minutes long, but it's so worth a watch.  It's Portugal. The Man's new song "Sleep Forever" followed by another new song called "Got It All (This Can't Be Living Now)".  They played the video to start their show when I went to see them last month.

"Got It All" is currently the free single of the week on iTunes until Sunday, so get it while it's hot!

In These Modern Times

Within the last month or so, the city of San Francisco has imposed a 5% credit card processing fee on all taxi cab transactions.  The main issue seems to be that taxicab companies want to hire cab drivers as independent contractors so they don't have to pay them benefits.  However, they are now trying to install machines in the cabs to record every transaction made, most likely to reduce the risk of drivers stealing money / not recording every fare received.  To make matters a bit worse, fares start at $3.10 and haven't increased in seven years.  With the price of gas getting out of control (currently in the $4.30 - $4.50 per gallon range in the city), this makes it hard for cab drivers to make a solid living.

Now, I don't take a ton of cabs, but if I'm out with a group of people and we're all relatively far from home, taking a cab and splitting the fare often seems like the most logical choice.

I took a cab the other day operated by the San Francisco Taxi Cab Company, which not only takes credit cards, but advertises on their windows which credit cards they accept.  A group of us get in the car and we start heading home, at which point (and not until then) did the driver say, "It'll be cash only tonight, I'm not accepting credit cards."  When we questioned why, his response was along the lines of "because they take 5% and I won't get my f*cking money until Wednesday (it was a Friday)."

At this time, I was unaware of the newly-imposed credit card fee, and was a bit taken aback by the driver's tone / attitude.  I mean, as an accountant, I am well aware of costs of doing business, and to me, while it was unfortunate for taxicab drivers, this seemed to be a new cost of doing business.  While these taxi drivers count on their fares for the day, my friend Brent pointed out that they would only need to take this hit up front.  In other words, after the first few days, even though fares earned in a given day would not be received for 2-3 days, they would be receiving fares from the previous 2-3 days, which would ultimately cancel that out.

Therefore, the only real issue would be the 5% fee, which got me thinking.  I know that 5% of a driver's daily take can be a significant amount of money to him/her, especially with the price of gas.  But is it worth being a dick about?  Is it worth losing out on a tip or losing someone's business altogether (assuming the driver refuses to take a credit card and the customer decides to try his/her luck with another cab).

In general, I would think that most people tip approximately 15%-20% for cabs, restaurants, services, etc.  I generally like to tip 20%, mainly based on the facts that I live in a high-cost-of-living area, and and cab drivers, waiters/waitresses, etc. depend on tips to help make a living (I'm not judging, though).

I can only speak for myself, but when I use a cab, I find my experiences / thought process to follow one of the following scenarios:

Scenario A - Driver is a dick about me paying cash when he clearly has an operational credit card machine.  I reluctantly pay cash (if I even have any) and don't give a good tip (10%) due to the shitty service.


Scenario B - Driver says he only accepts cash, I ask if he will take a credit card, he says "no, cash only."  Because I only have credit card, I find a new cab and driver keeps looking for business.


Scenario C - Driver asks if I can pay cash, I say that all I have is a credit card, he agrees that is fine.  Driver is friendly and treats me with respect.  I tip at least 20% and probably round up to the nearest 50 cents or dollar to help him make up for his 5% hit.


Scenario D - Drivers asks if I can pay cash, I ask if credit card is okay and he says he's sorry, but he can honestly only take cash or he genuinely prefers only cash.  In this scenario, he may/may not be telling the truth, but as long as he seems genuine/remorseful/caring about the situation, I don't mind paying cash and leaving a normal tip, even though I don't generally have much cash on me.


While these aren't the only scenarios that could play out, they demonstrate my general opinion towards this issue.  I have no problem tipping someone for doing well at their job, and that includes demonstrating high quality customer service.  Even though they prefer cash, it's ultimately more beneficial to them if I pay a $10 fare with a credit card and leave a $2.50, less a 5% charge, vs. them being mean / demanding / disrespectful and me paying somewhere between $10 - $11.


Overall, I guess my recent thoughts regrading this issue really made me realize that treating people with respect, delivering high quality customer service, and being a good person, especially in the face of a little adversity, can really pay dividends.  In some ways, literally. 


I have no problem paying a little extra to help out my fellow man, especially if I feel the respect or kindness is reciprocated somehow.  With credit cards being the way of the future, it will be interesting to see how things shake out, especially if there are no base fare increases in the near future, not only in San Francisco, but in cities around the country.  I guess we will all have to stay tuned.