Jamie’s Brain

So my little ‘hood is the location for a couple of movies. RENT will be coming out soon, starring Rosario Dawson and Taye Diggs. It was filmed along 6th street before I moved in.

Lately I’ve been catching glimpses of filming going on for Zodiac, about the still at large Zodiac killer that wreaked havoc on the bay area in the 60s and 70s. The main characters in the film work for the San Francisco Chronicle, which is right around the corner from where I live. There have been big Universal Studios eighteen wheelers with old school Chronicle delivery trucks and cop cars and taxis in the area. Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), Mark Ruffalo (Eternal Sunshine), Robert Downey Jr.(uh…of cocaine bust fame), Chloe Sevigny (Boys Don’t Cry), and Gary Oldman (Dracula, among many others) are the all star cast that is being directed by Seven’s David Fincher. Awesome!!!

I would boast that I was a very early adopter of callertunes. This most due in part to the fact that t-mobile released the service at the same time that I was setting up my service with them. Plus, I’m into just about anything that is music related. At first people were really confused, especially the ones that were calling me for business. I caught people singing several times. It really turned out to be a great conversation piece. I first had Willie singing ‘Always on My Mind’, and now I have him singing ‘Over the Rainbow’ for part of the day, and ‘Stop, Look, Listen’ another part, and ‘California Dreaming’ for another part. I’ve gotten fancy.

Ringtones have become a ridiculously successful market. We’ll see if this catches on as well.

I used to claim that I threw good parties. But now I must retract that statement, because this guy, Warren Hellman, takes the cake. Apparently he like to throw this yearly festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. To see the performers normally would set you back $100 or so for this three day fest, but he likes to do it for free, since he’s a philanthopist and all.

I only went on Sunday, and I went alone, because I’m new here and all and don’t yet have an established social circle. But it made for an interesting experience, as I got to do a lot of people watching and eavesdropping.

I caught the end of The Austin Lounge Lizards set, since they’re from my former home. Then I went and watched Ricky Skaggs, who played a really awesome set. Then I caught some of Ralph Stanley before I ran to see the real reason that I was there - the one, the only, Dolly Parton.

Unfortunately, I was not alone in this effort. This stage was particularly full - not only in the long narrow field in front of it, but across the street and perched up on an adjacent hill - basically anywhere where one could catch a glimpse of Dolly, there were lots of people. This meant that I could barely see or hear her, just a little sparkle of her blue and white sequins and that bleached blonde hair. She started with ‘9 to 5′ and then ‘Joleen’, and then ‘Crimson and Clover’. Then the sound got worse and the crowd around me started yelling ‘turn it up’, but it never was. Someone behind me started yelling “Dolly, I can’t see you!!!! Dolly, I can’t hear you!!!”. Yet another person had a cardboard full size cutout of her that he was holding above his head. It was really something else.

Besides the sound issue, the event was pretty well produced. There were lots of food options, from the usual fair fare to organic meals. There were some hippies offering ‘vegan energy balls, ganja free’ to walkersby. People generally seemed to be having a great time and there was lots of dancing and hand clapping. I will definitely return next year.

Donnie took me to my first Giants game last night. He had really been looking forward to seeing Barry Bonds, but since the team was out of the running for the championship, he didn’t play. I think that’s whack. Apparently he thinks he’s too good to show up for fans that are still willing to pay to come see a game that doesn’t really count.

They played the Arizona Diamondbacks. We had bleacher seats in what was apparently the rowdy section. In about the third inning, I heard what I thought was someone tripping and falling down the bleachers. But then the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ made me turn around in time to narrowly miss two guys flailing around trying to injure eachother.they knocked someone’s garlic fries all over the people to my left, and spilled several people’s beers as they kept at it. One of them fell face first into then corner of the bleachers, but that didn’t slow him down much. As someone in the crowd yelled, “This isn’t a Dodgers game!”, two cops came and broke them up, cuffed them, and sent them on their way to what I’m sure was a fun-filled evening.

Exciting point number two was, yet again, not game related. A chick for the next set of bleachers over jumped out onto the field try to steal some kisses from an outfielder. Other players and refs that ran to his aide also received her advances, and she was soon whisked away to what I’m sure was also a fun-filled evening.

By this time, everyone around us was drunk, since that is the point of attending a game. Some girls started yelling right behind me and wouldn’t stop, so we moved to the standing area. This is where I got to observe the phenomenon of the ‘kayakers in waiting’. These guys wait in the water on the side of the stadium in hopes of catching home run balls. Very interesting, but also weird, like the guys that slink by you on a popular beach with a metal detector.

All in all, my first Giants game experience was very memorable. I look forward to next season.