I promised I would write about the new ©Picfeeder and ©Loudfeeder web apps -- although that was before I found out (e:Paul,4255) would throw me over for a Latina peep in a NYminute. ANYway...

I knew I might have some regrets about not getting the sexy, footloose, new MacBook. Don't get me wrong, I still stand behind my decision to go with the equally seductive but more anchored iMac. But having indulged my fantasy of untethered computing with my last two Mac laptops, then being forced to buy a PC laptop, (ok, nobody held a gun to my head, but I had a signed contract for 3 months onsite in Seattle that required I provide my own JSP development environment, so what else was I supposed to do?), I figured I was long overdue for something more substantial. Then (e:Paul,4256) goes and writes all these cool mobile apps for publishing "on the go." D'oh! You know I always wanted to be a roving reporter! This week alone I could be reporting "live" from San Francisco at any of these varied events listed for in the Chron's Pink Section:

NOISE POP FESTIVAL
The festival turns 14 with a jam-packed schedule of indie music, film and comedy at 16 Bay Area venues through April 2. It starts Tuesday at Bimbo's with the Flaming Lips

THE BUTTERFLY ZONE
Go eye to eye with a butterfly: At the Conservatory of Flowers' Butterfly Zone you can watch as butterflies do their thing amid the brightly colored blossoms.

SEX DIARIES
An ever-changing cast of characters read from their journals about getting freaky.

Now wouldn't that be fun? But no, all I get to do is snap pictures and grab sounds in my living room. Anyone want to help me pick out a ringtone? ;-)

But I did try out both apps and they ARE awesome, even though I don't have any content that would do them justice. Maybe when (e:Twisted,345)'s GetADate!® empire gets off the ground, I can justify buying a MacBook to record my interviews -- which not only would be an efficient use of time, but would also provide footage for the reality TV show demo tape. Not to mention an on-the-sly podcast for you guys, but that would be our little secret.

In the meantime, there must be some gizmo for the iPod that turns it into a camera/microphone, right? An iPod would be WAY more stealth -- I mean, convenient -- for my purposes. Hmmm ... I'll have to look into that.

So sorry I can't provide a podcast right now, but I'm working on it. In the meantime, check out the coverville podcast. Even if you're not into Nick Lowe (happy birthday Nick!) at LEAST fast forward to "Cruel To Be Kind" (time marker 6:30) and sing along at full blast. It'll do you good, I promise. Hey, there's an idea for an estrip-produced podcast -- karaoke covers! Put (e:Mike) in charge of that.

p.s. -- you guys are so lucky. I clipped "Cruel To Be Kind" from the podcast and made it my usersound. So now you have no excuse. Come on everybody -- sing along!!

p.p.s. -- is it me or does Ian Gomm sound remarkably like Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner? Maybe I've just listened to that playlist one too many times. But I swear I can hear strains of Mardy Baum in the background. Maybe it could be a mash-up.

Went to the beach this morning with Ron and Sammi. She's a celebrity now!

We met some friends there (three human, four canine) and basically had a great time. I wish I had found my digital camera battery charger on my shopping spree to the storage facility. But here are some generic pix of Fort Funston, exactly 9.2 miles from my house.

While we were wandering and regrouping and basically taking the dogs' lead by investigating whatever seemed interesting at the moment, someone said, "hey! that guy was totally checking you out!" It never dawned on me I might be the object of appraisal, but turned out it was me. And I missed the whole thing! Anyway, now I know how you feel, (e:Mrmike,27).

The last time I went to the beach with Ron and Sammi was in February, so I foolishly thought a jacket might be in order. Everyone else was wearing shorts and/or t-shirts then, so I felt a bit overdressed. Thought I would make up for it today with one of my newly liberated long-sleeve t-shirts. Got to the beach and it was windy and chilly (50degrees!) Luckily Ron had an extra jacket with him.

The moral of the story is, always wear layers in the Bay Area. And check the local webcam of the microclimate you're going to.

(...?...)

Today I was asked to vote for (my other friend Paul)'s band. Of course I did so immediately. You can tell from my usersound why.

So, this evening I poured myself a nice glass of wine. And when I returned to my "station" at the computer, I found another full glass already waiting there for me. That's the kind of day I've had.

I took my friend's advice and went shopping in my storage containers. Found quite a bit of stuff just my size. ;-)

I'm finally weeding out things to get rid of (yeah, I know I should have done that before I moved) and it's kind of scary to actually examine all my stuff. I have quite a collection of stockings. I couldn't tell you how long it's been since I wore any of these, but I remember a time when I had a lot of fun accessorizing. Oh yes, I used to be quite the fashinista! Just ask (e:j3sse) if you don't believe me!



But I gave that all up when I started working from home almost five years ago. And it's been oh so easy the past five months living out of a suitcase -- makes it very simple to decide what to wear in the morning. But as long as I have to actually go to work starting Monday, maybe I'll give some of these another go. Although I don't know -- are brightly patterned tights in? Not that that ever stopped me before. I definitely have to add some fishnets though.

You don't even want to see my scarf collection. Now THAT'S out of control.

Hey guys. The show last night was stellar. I've only been to the Design Center once before, back in '04 to see Franz Ferdinand with the Futureheads. That was the show that launched my interest in "new" music, so it will always hold a special space in my heart despite the fact that the Design Center is the most humongous vacant warehouse you'd never want to see a band in. Well, I actually don't have that much of a problem with it -- somehow it fits some shows. But most people hate it, although not enough to keep the show from selling out.

I'm more of a New Pornographers fan than a Belle & Sebastian fan, so I was there right at 8PM. Good thing too, since they hit the stage at the stroke of eight. That's one crazy thing about the SF music scene. Some shows start wicked early and right on time. Most venues post the set schedule at the door so you know exactly what time each band goes on. Very handy if you're trying to fit in more than one show in a night, or to text message your perpetually late friend to tell him how much time he's got.

I'm definitely going to buy the new B&S album now. I wasn't familiar enough with their stuff to know if the set list last night matched the one in this concert review which also includes a link to NPR's archive of a live stream they did of the entire DC show. The set list is pretty close for NP's set, although lucky for me last night they DID play my fave tune "From Blown Speakers." I was initially disappointed Neko Case wasn't on this tour (guess I was lucky to see both Neko Case and Dan Bejar with the rest of the band at Bimbo's last year, plus Dan Bejar's band opening). Anyway, any hypothetical disappointment melted away when they started to play. I'm so glad I went.

Seems most people here are more likely to be B&S fans, so I chose my fav tune (which unfortunately they didn't play) as my usersound. For the plug-in impaired, it's "I Don't Love Anyone." I'm dedicating it to (e:Jason,320) after reading his last post. (Is that for real? Not that you'd make something like that up. Wow.) Anyway, I hope you like it.

I got my eyes checked today. My last eye doctor said he didn't need to see me for 3 years, so I thought 6 years might be pushing it. Guess not. Still excellent. I can't wait to tell my little brother when he gets back from Italy. We seem to have dipped into the same end of the gene pool on most things, so he's looking to me as a harbinger of his future. God help him. ;-)

p.s. - I hope you all aren't sick of hearing me blog about music. Seems like that's all I've got going on lately. When I first met (e:Paul) I tried to talk him into using the estrip technology to create a music-based blog community, but no dice. If you're sick of listening to me here maybe you can convince him.