bruins_jamb

Difficult endgame positon -- Q sticking Q

2009-01-14T06:15:12Z

From move 19, Q had just bingo - bango - bongoed me and I ended up losing by 10.
Then I replayed the endgame from this position several times, and could only close the gap to 4.

http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=2886#19

It is quite a sequence that the championship player utilitzed to eke out the win..
Try playing along with Q anyway to figure it each move in advance as it
gives you the best sequence of moves.

PJ

Taking Poetic License with The Mamas and The Papas

2008-12-18T08:58:36Z

I finally get to unwind to the final episode of Californination, Season 2 on the DVR. Great show -- first I thought it was cool as a guy's version of Sex and the City, but the writers and actors have more than proven they're better than that and deserving of every award that
comes their way. If only network TV had more (any?) shows this unique and funny.

Inevitably it gets to the end of the poignant episode where (spoiler -- don't read if you haven't seen) Duchovny's character decides to stay in LA with his daughter while his ex takes a lofty New York job.   The new age/hippie baby birthing scene in the tub of water just before the end is by far the funniest moment I've ever seen in TV history -- couldn't help but rewind and play 3-4 times after I got up off the ground (and when I fell on the floor ..I drank more).

So they fade out with California Dreamin' classic while father and daughter (offspring as he drily calls her) walking in Venice after watching the mother's plane take off to NY. Great song we've all heard, so I started singing it after the episode. Little did I know
I wouldn't get far with the lyrics before being hammered by my four year old, Roman..

The exchange went like this about my second time through:

Me (doing both the Papas and Mamas part) :   " All the leaves are brown... all..the leaves are brown---"

Roman( indignantly): "No! No! The leaves are different colors!"

Me:    "And the sky is grey ... and the sky is grey"

Roman:   " No way! The sky is blue.. The sky is blue..look at it!"

Me:   "I've been for a walk....I've been for walk... On a winter' s day"

Roman: "Daddy, don't sing dat song anymore! "

Can I petition the Wilson Phillips chick to get her parents to change the tune? Maybe
then it won't create such a ruckus when we're singing from an East Coast perspective....

Jamb

learning curve

2008-08-23T00:05:01Z

After hitting that nice nine earlier this month, wouldn't ya know it,
I have another that played at the same club. This time, I just didn't know the word....

http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=1955

Slowly but surely, I am getting very familiar with the high prob
nines, and will be able to see plays like this. In playing games
with Trey a few years back, his advice was not to learn them too
quickly as they "rarely" come up. However, my experience has
been that playable 9's are coming up more frequently. Maybe not
one in 100 games, but counting blanks, about one in twenty tow twenty five.
I think to some extent they are more valuable that low prob 8's...

There are more of them with the updated dictionary, and a lot of the
opportunities come up in the first 1/3 of the game, where there
are overlapping plays creating many two letter words. So given
familiarity with the word, I should be able to find it -- not like it's
disjointed letters like Edley's trailside -- which has played for
me since I had seen it...

On this game, I played PRAT and eventually got down back
to back ANISOLE and HOMAGER to build a lead and win about 80.

This is the type of play that separates an elite player from an average one...

Position From Orange County Club Last Night

2008-08-08T07:33:43Z

This position came up early in game 2 with the director Gary Moss.

Relieved I didn't give up easily....

What's your turn 2 play ?

Don't give it away if you find it :)

http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=1833#0

British Open thoughts

2007-07-23T23:06:53Z

This had to be be the most casual, yet funniest commentary I've ever watched in a golf tournament.

Starting with this year's Master's, my favorite tournament, I now DVR the entire 5 or 6 hours Saturday and Sunday,
go into a sports/news blackout for the day, and watch the tape at night in 3 hours, going through all the
commercials and side shows.

But some of this riff raff was classic. Faldo, not one of my favorite golfers when playing, has got the gift for TV.
When he bemoaned ABC omitting the clip of his beautiful 3 iron to inches of the cup, while showing the
tap in putt to win the Claret Jug, it was genuinely funny and prideful (Aw, my 3 iron? Where IS it?).   Funny how he was such a technician on the golf course, but lets it rip like John Daly
in the booth.   While Sergio waited agonizingly (which golfer hasn't done this, but not with everything on the line)
for the 2nd to last group to clear 18th green, and the grounds crew man was raking the bunkers at a snail's pace,
Faldo blurted with impatience "You're not doing the marble of the Sistine Chapel, mate!" Classic! Of course,
Sergio hit his approach into the bunker on the other side, so it goes.   When Sergio started his bogey
run and the leaderboard tightened from a runaway into a 3-4 man race, Faldo quickly conveyed the awkward tension as "This is like the first time on a camping trip with your girlfriend — the excitement is intense." Wow -- when is the last time you heard that color commentary with golf?   Umm, never?

Lot of casual banter and joking in the booth between Tirico, Faldo, and Azinger. Zinger was solid too. But securing the all
time height of golf commentary, a sport that thrives on the reverence and debonair tones: Some idiot had just
yelled the original "GET IN THE HOLE" at one point, and Peter Aliss from the BBC said what we all *wanted* to say
back ..."Aw, shut UP!"

Happy for Harington, guy won with class. Hard for me to root for Sergio. He comes off as a brat every time he gets
close and loses. I know he's an emotional guy, but his post round interview hardly complimented Harington's 67, and
just focused on all the bad breaks he thinks he got. Like missing the putt at 18, or the hole in one on 16 in the playoff.
Hey Sergio, who said golf was fair? No one is gonna HAND you a major, you have to go out and earn it. Last I checked,
having Tiger by and large OUT of contention, and the two guys in front of you (Romero and Harington) pulling a near
Van de Ville meltdown on 17 and 18 is a huge break in YOUR favor.

Carnoustie is almost as nasty without being all tricked up. Only reason why so many golfers went low is lack of
wind. The place is such Machiavellian theatre, they should have the British Open there every 5 years and not
wait so long next time.   What a bizarre sequence of events. Who could script this any better? Vive Car-Nasty !

The Bedtime Routine

2007-07-21T01:47:07Z

Most kids past babyhood need that routine before bed.
For us, it's changing into PJ's, brushing Roman's teeth,
saying good night to most of the stuffed animals lining his
room, and reading one or two kids books.

He seems to like the same books over and over, so when
Diana or I try to skip pages to get it over faster, he catches
us now ...."Dad - deee, you skipped a page!" Acck, clever boy!

Some days, we're met with stiff resistance and a tantrum "I don't
want to go the bed, ayywahhh.." Some days, usually after
a lot of activities, we're helped with "OK, Daddy, read me da book."

Now I can relate to all those years I fought my parents over bedtime.
While the baby is still as easy as placing in the crib or rocking one minute,
Roman takes after me. He'd be up till 3 AM if I didn't do anything.

After the baby goes to bed, we've started throwing an old
set of blue Scrabble tiles on the floor to get him familiar with
the shapes. He seems to be able to match up the letters with
me into different piles fairly well for a (almost) 3 year old. It is
funny how the game always ends, though -- Roman takes his
forearm and knocks over all the piles, throwing some of them,
scattering the tiles about the room. From there, it's cleanup time.

One of my favorite parts of the day is right after they fall asleep.
As baxwest noted, they do sleep at odd, obtuse angles,and rarely
in the same position, but it is as peaceful as can be. Almost
impossible to believe that it was the same kid throwing his
major meltdown, with veins popping in his forehead and neck
earlier in the day. Hector31 witnessed a couple minor meltdowns
when he was out here.

We've finally reached the stage where Roman and Ivan are sleeping
through the night. Ivan turns 1 in September.

Life's small victories..

Jamb's Best & Worst Concert Attended (final, part 3)

2007-07-12T04:38:37Z

5. The Pixies / March 24, 1990 / Crawford Hall, U C Irvine

2nd time I got to see the Pixies. First time felt weird when they opened for
Depeche at Dodger Stadium previous year -- too big a venue for a college radio
band at the time. But Crawford Hall was was right place at the right time for them.

From beginning to end, a complete assault of Joey Santiago's guitars and every possible animal like
sound from Black Francis's mouth, which somehow seemed to go with the quirky brand
of music. Kim Deal's bass and backup lyrics were soothing. The Pixies are the master of fast to slow and back. The pit never seemed to die down. My friend Mac had the misforture of wearing a long sleeved polyester paisley shirt, which was dripping in sweat 1/2 way through the mammoth 31 song
performance.

The concert was notable on the grand scale as it was the last of the Doolittle tour,
and the first time Here Comes Your Man and Cecelia Ann was played live. Very few songs
below average. Interesting how they would go from one song to another without a break.
This Monkey's Gone to Heaven quickly became on my all time faves, but close behind are
Gigantic, Gouge Away, Debaser, and in future years, University of Massachusetts.

The Death to the Pixies T Shirts were everywhere, a macabre self titled early stage for the band.
Although bummed to see them break up, they influenced countless 90's groups, including
Kurt Cobain & Co. who thought highly of Surfer Rosa. They are at the head of the family tree
for many 90's alt/grunge bands.

Great to see them reunited in 2004, and better yet see them one more time at the Greek Theatre

4. U2 / November 17, 1987 / Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Who hasn't seen U2? Who that has attended didn't like the performance?
Of the 3 times I've seen them, the Joshua Tree tour was the best. The Joshua
Tree songs stand the best test of time as some of their best work, although to
their credit their new work is fresh compared to other bands that fizzle later in
their careers.

Seeing Bono and his cowboy hat gradually lit up as the opening song Streets Have No
Name started was a rush. Not the best seats, but with the massive overhead screens,
which were well ahead of their time, it somehow worked. The quality of the music
was rich, and the crowd singing along made it a community event. They played from
the open end of the Coliseum, which hosted both L A Olympics.

An almost 3 hour blast late into the autumn night. This area of L.A. is normally not a place you'd be
caught without a sturdy flak jacket at midnight when we got out, but felt safe enough with the
masses leaving.

3. The Cure / June 27, 1992 / The Rose Bowl, Pasadena

One of the best live performing groups. The emphasis is on both the entertaining
and the music. So many songs in their history, even back then. Too many great songs
to mention.

Had floor seats to this one. The Rose Bowl set was in the stands between the 40
yard lines, much better than an end zone set. Acoustics and sight line were great for such a big place.
I had seen them earlier that tour at Long Beach Arena, a dismal smoky indoor place making
horrible sight lines. Outdoors worked like a charm.

The people watching was terrific at this show -- all kinds of band look a likes, hairdos, and goth
outfits. It turns out my future wife Diana was at this show, 6 years before we met. Not the first
time we had crossed paths at concerts before meeting.

2. Morrissey / October 31, 1992 / Del Mar Fairgrounds, North of San Diego

It is no accident that Morrissey concerts frequent non traditional
concert places. He is a non traditonal artist. Del Mar is a racetrack.
This venue was neither all indoors or outdoors, but a big
dance floor with open aired canopy over it. Having learned
his lessons about security from his Pauley Pavilion experience,
Moz had more than adequate security for the Your Arsenal tour.

Gen admission was great -- still did not stop a wave of fans
from rushing the stage during the concert. His new material
departed from the earlier melodies. It was raw, rockabilly, and
edgier. You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side was A +
opening song -- I never get tired of it. Great mix of old and new
material.

When Moz threw his purple shirt 20 feet to my position at the
end of regulation (but before encore), I thought I had the souvenir
of a lifetime. I actually had a good grip on one of the shirt tails,
but like a medieval criminal being quartered, the shirt was being
yanked in an all direction tug of war. I was not exactly a weak guy, but this was before I started lifting weights. Gradually pushing ensued and my grip lessened -- I saw the souvenir
opportunity erased in a mass rugby pushing circle 30 feet in
diameter, depending on who was winning the contest. This went
on until I had to give up, and continued for several minutes as
security broke it up. Someone got out of there with a tattered,
but authentic souvenir. And just as the fracas was winding down, the encores of We'll Let You Know, Jack the Ripper, and National Front Disco were crooned.

Only reason this show misses # 1 is due to Moz's time limitations -
he rarely goes over 75 minutes. However he is one of the most
accessible of all artists while singing -- and Southern Calif
is always his top base of loyal fans.

1. Depeche Mode / July 29th, 1990 / San Diego Sports Arena

My first time to see DeMode, after balking at an opportunity to see them at the Rose Bowl in '88. Now I saw what all the hype was about. Sure,
their CD's were A +, but Gahan was born with the entertaining gene.
He dances effortlessly, and always gets the crowd involved. Because
of the length of the show, it was good to hear Martin Gore solo a few
songs to give Gahan a breather.

This was the Violater tour, coming off of the buzz of the Music for the Masses 2 years before. I can't remember music ever being clearer,
well played, and done with more of a flair than this show. San Diego's
Sports Arena was smaller and gave you a more intimate feeling with
the band. Once again, had my hand on the souvenir of a lifetime
when Gahan chucked his shirt at us, but this time it was amongst
folding chairs and despite a long tug of war, it was like pulling
against King Kong. Relieved no one got hurt with the chairs splattered
all over the court.

They have had other great shows, but this one was tops for me.

I was disappointed to see Gahan go through his drug stage in
'93 - '94, but happy to see him recover and continue to help DeMode
put out cutting edge stuff for years to come. Babylon, indeed!

- Jamb

Jamb's Best & Worst Concerts Attended (part 2)

2007-07-10T09:25:11Z

No Best list is entirely complete without having the other side
of the coin as a measuring stick, not to mention the many mired
in mediocrity. So before going ahead to the Top 5, here's the worst.

5. Pet Shop Boys / Universal Ampitheatre / cira 1999

A cold, sterile place to see a concert. Too modern, too
cliche of a venue. Think of what all the cookie cutter baseball
stadiums did to the viewing of the game in the 70's.
It would tough for even the best bands to pull this off.
But Diana really wanted to go.
PSB are a great studio group that produces great music on CD's.
Kind of robotic in concert. Seats were so far away from the action,
or lack of it that we might as well sat cross legged and listened
to a symphony for a couple hours.

4. New Order 1989 / Universal Ampitheather / April 1989

I had really been looking forward to seeing one of my favoite
groups at the time. Their songs are great on CD. I was also
becoming a big Joy Division fan, many years post Ian Curtis suicide.
Unfortunately, for the same reasons as PSB, New Order's concert
didn't live up to expectations. I did not see them again, but continued
to enjoy their music. I did see Sumner and Marr in their side
project Electronic the following year, a good group that never fully developed with all of Marr's side projects, and New Order continuing its work.

3. Marc Almond / mid sized Anaheim theatre / circa 1990

This was a joke. An absolutely forgettable experience. I went with
my friend as big Soft Cell fans, and was treated to 2 hours of Almond's preening, theatre mixed in between songs, bad solo work, an only a couple Soft Cell songs done in superslow motion. Sucked the life out of the building. Almost walked 1/2 way through while exchanged befuddled glances with my buddy, but kept hoping he'd go through a Soft Cell sequence.
Almondy might be a new Scrabble word, but a Tainted Almond, thump-thump Tainted Almond. Please!
Sounds funny admitting I went to this show today, but LJ is
something of a catharsis.

2. Morrissey / Pauley Pavilion, UCLA / November 1991

Hate to put the Mozzer in the bottom 5, as he has several top 10 worthy
performances, but this was poorly planned from top to bottom. Background:
Excited to go with a group of friends to Pauley, site of 11 UCLA Basketball Championship banners, great campus and area, and only 2nd time
seeing Moz. This was the Kill Uncle tour (First time in SD that summer was his first ever North American solo show and it was awesome)
So we broke into the Pavilion, with a sponge and a rusty spanner, to
get decent, but not quite floor seats. Not a gen admission concert, but
seemingly a good venue. Concert starts off fine with his supporting
quarter blasting out Viva Hate and Bona Drag material. Moz, however, is
accustomed to feeling the love of the crowd, the chants, the hails of flowers from the epic Smiths days and his concerts abroad. Most of them
were gen admission. So maybe out of a sense to be the best performer,
he pauses after the 5th song and I paraphrase here: " thank you all for coming -- you don't have to stay in your seats...feel free to come up --
you don't have to stay in your seats if you don't want to"
The music starts again. November Spawned A Monster, Indeed.
Pandemonium breaks out. Most of the 12,000 people can't get down to
the floor level fast enough. We're all climbing over seats, eager to
get close to the stage. We make the final jump onto the floor. I take
a final look behind and it's a scene repeated over and over. You would
have thought someone detonated mustard gas up in the seats. A fracas
develops as we are all fighting for position amongst the hundreds of
folding chairs now strewn all over the hallowed UCLA basketball floor.
There is pushing... The band keeps playing -- they seem to be
feeding off the crowd's energy. Some people are still trying to dance,
but all the chairs are trapping ankles down below. Shrieks of pain as
ankles get stuck in the stairs. A surge of people is now crushing people
against the stage. The security is woefully unprepared for this tsunami
of youth. My friend Mac comes out of a heap a bodies on the ground
without his right shoe, never to be found again. During the 8th song, aptly
called We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful
(about 3 songs of mayhem), the security abruptly stops the concert, physically
escorted Morrissey from the stage, turns
on all the lights, and the band walks off without saying a word
.
We are told they will come back after this mess gets sorted out.
We wait, still down on the side of the floor. 10 minutes. 20 minutes.
Ambulances are showing up outside. The crowd is growing agitated and
chanted "More A SEEE" over and over. At this point, we don't care where we end
up sitting, we f**king paid for Morrissey and want to see the show. My friend
even surmises most people here wouldn't mind if Morrissey came out and
read poetry to us like a professor while the mess got sorted out. 30 minutes pass.
Would you believe an hour passes...

An announcement comes. Short and sweet, but it's over.
What? Yep, please vacate the building. They don't think the people have calmed down
"enough" and that more injuries could occur if the band takes the stage again.
We walk out onto campus to the surreal scene of ambulances
all over tending to the wounded (legs, pancaked people, a couple collapsed lungs, etc) My friend is walking with a barefoot all the way to the car. There were hundreds of shoes still lost in piles of
chairs on the floor, now cordoned off.
It's a little stunning to have your concert cut short. As we
drive home back to the O.C., it is breaking news on the radio, and makes
the nightly news. Except they call it the "group" Morrissey.

Later Morrissey expressed regret at how everything unfolded, and while the apology was sincere
and real, no rain check was ever provided. Although he did hire a delivery person to attempt
to bring all the orphaned shoes back to their owners. Other crowds
of shall we say less scrupulous fans have been known to overturn cars and full on riot under similar
circumstances. Not that this crowd left without any disgruntled patrons. Fire alarms were
pulled on the way out, and the souvenir stands (Tshirts, hats, etc)
all got bull rushed, toppled, and pillaged.

And the concert had to open with November Spawned A Monster.
November 1, 1991 to be exact. Pauley now had a chip in its armor

1. The Stone Roses / Hollywood Hills High School / 1990

The most talented group of their era, if only for a couple years time. This was an uncertain time in alt music history. We were post 80s, and many of the great 80's groups were winding down careers, and Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and the great Seattle movement was a year off in the future. They inspired many 90's English groups, like Oasis and Blur (who have had quite a rivalry).
These guys were absolute godhead at every So Cal campus. They were
glorified on KROQ, 91-X, and any radio station that mattered. Their
videos were creative. Their hype was massive. Their gigs in England
were getting great reviews, especially Spike Island which is now
something of a Woodstock legend.
So imagine my glee when they announced the most unusual venue
for their first American show. None other than Hollywood High
School. Yes, THE famous Hollywood High School.

http://www.seeing-stars.com/Schools/HollywoodHigh.shtml

Unique band, unique venue.
I can't remember how, but I must have stood in line in the old
wristband days and got tickets. My friends and I were hyping the event.
Almost a countdown on the days.
And then just like that, it was announced on the radio that it
was cancelled. Rumors abounded. Was Ian's Brown's head too big
to get in the door of the airplace? Was the band breaking up? New venue
needed to address security concerns? Nope, nope and nope.
Something really stupid. I can't remember if it was Squire or Brown,
but, someone didn't have a VISA to come to the states. And couldn't get one done. At the time, it seemed silly, but we thought there would
be plenty of time for more Stone Roses concerts. Years went by, and soon
it became clear they were never to play on U.S. soil. And so one of the most influential English groups
ever lost a golden opportunity to expand its U.S. base. They lost momemtum gradually and eventually broke up after their Second Coming CD in '94.

Reunion rumors have come and gone, and it seems unlikely, as the old
members have gone on to other groups.
Can a concert that never happened make my list? In this case,
with all the buildup and hype of a Super Bowl, yes it does. Oh,
what could have been.

(top 5 to come)

Jamb

Jamb's Best & Worst Concerts Attended

2007-07-10T08:07:56Z

Listening to the alt rock TV station triggered a lot of great
concert memories. In the spirit of walterzuey's top concerts commentary, here are my top concerts going from memory (I don't have a Millcake like
documentation of them). Though many of the groups
merited multiple visits, I am listing only their top concert in the bunch.

Concrete Blonde / 1990 / The Coach House

Almost like discovering a fine wine not that many people knew about.
This was the Bloodletting tour, and it was great to see them at the CoachHouse, a mid size bar in the South O.C. One of the best LA bands of
all time. The title track muses about the ways and means to New Orleans, the Tomorrow, Wendy finale is chilling. They continued good work in '93
with Mexican Moon. Napolitano now lives in a remote Palm Springs home.

Replacements 1989 / U C I Crawford Hall

A complete array of guitars and lyrics for over 2 1/2 hours at Irvine.
Westerberg really knows how to entertain -- I wish I had seen them earlier
in their career.

Love & Rockets / Dodger Stadium/ 1990 (opening for Depeche Mode)

Dark, gloomy melodies played against a rare summer thunderstorm
in So Cal. (Wow, a Daniel Ash songs just came on
the TV station as I was typing this -- how freaky is THAT?) No shortage
of great songs from the recycled Bauhaus guys: Some favorites
No New Tale to Tell, Ball of Confusion, Motorcycle, So Alive. I do
like a lot of Bauhaus, just L & R gets the entertainment side of it better.

Beck / West L A / 1996

The Odelay tour. Mid size venue. Proved he's anything BUT a loser.
Great publicity on Letterman and Leno pre tour. The kid is good,
and has many influences.

The Violent Femmes / The Coach House 1992

A little past their prime, but what a treat to see them in a small
venue playing all their old greats, plus the American Music new material.
Too much body of work for 2 hours to do justice to. An acquired old
Milwaukee taste, and a good one.

Tears For Fears / Sugar Cubes / Siouxsie and the Banshees
Irvine Meadows Under the Stars / circa 1991

3 bands. 3 great performances in a good outdoor venue. No one
left feeling cheated. Glad to see Orzabal and Smith reunite and start making music again.

10. Lollapalooza / Irvine Meadows / 1992

Featured about 14 bands, including Lush, Jesus and Mary Chain,
Soundgarden, Ministry, Ice Cube, Pearl Jam, and headliner Red Hot
Chili Peppers.

This was a kick ass event. It almost got out of hand with the reverse
cyclone mosh pot during Pearl Jam's performance. Eddie Vedder at the
peak of his powers. Very hot during the day, and cool at night Lush sounded great, Soundgarden was fun, even Ice Cube was entertaining. The only band that looked a little off was J & MC, who got a poor 4 PM daytime billing. They are a nighttime band, and more cultish, so they did not get the energy to feed off like the other bands. J & MC made it up to me in later smaller venue performances.

9. P.I.L / Flesh For Lulu / UCI Crawford Hall 1989

The smaller, general admission venues are far and away my favorite
places to see bands. The energy is elevated, and the bands seems to feed
off it. Crawford Hall was a small basketball court on its last stages
before the big Bren Events Center was put on the Irvine campus. It was
loud, sweaty, raucous -- in other words everything thing that Irvine as
a planned city from 1970 was not. Chief complaint on campus was that
we did not have anything to do at night -- it was (and still is) a city
out of Mary Poppins suburbia. A far cry from Cal St. Fullerton or
the parties up in Westwood (UCLA for the unversed).
Flesh For Lulu was a flamboyant, entertaining band that
typified the 80's big hair alt rock bands. But what a craftsman of songs
with my 3 faves: Siamese Baby, Postcards From Paradise, and I Go Crazy.
Great segueway into P.I.L.
Mainly I was there for Flesh For Lulu. Never much of a Sex Pistols fan, but always found PIL's stuff very listenable. I had heard
from classmates that the Pistols frequently showed up half drunk and played poorly. I guess they partly cleaned up their act since the drug
death of Sid Vicious. Gradually PIL won me over with their spirited play,
constant energy. Johnny Rotten knows how to work the crowd. Things were
really heated up until this epic moment during God Save the Queen: some
idiot decides to throw a glass bottle, missing Rotten's face by a couple inches. To his great credit, Rotten and co. finish the song, and he halts the concerts, tells the stagehands to turn on all the lights, and
tells everyone what just happened. He informs us if the culprit is not
identified, he's outta here! An uneasy silence followed, then a mass of finger pointed towards the center of the now collasped mosh pit. The pen dejo was summarily removed by the beefy bodyguards. Rotten comes back front and
center, smirking, and throws this at us in his heavy English accent: "Now
there's a lesson in all this you need to take home -- POLICE YOURSELVES!!!" Then they launched seamlessly into This is Not a Love Song and the students went ballistic. I still laugh at this incident when I hear their songs on the radio.

8. Oingo Boingo / Anaheim Convention Center / 1986

You never, ever forget your first concert. And I'm lucky my first was
so unique. (OK this is getting really poltergeist -- thier Only A Lad classic just came on the radio this minute -- WTF divine intervention
for this Live Journal entry?)
The background was that this was a free concert won by my ENTIRE
HIGH school. Some Top 40 Schmuck named Rick Dees ran a high school contest for over 200 Southern Calif. high schools. The school who
could write the most self addressed postcards sporting his radio station within
2 weeks would win a free Oingo Boingo Concert, only for our high school.
We were a large school, maybe in the top 10, but shocked we were in the
top 3 with a few days to spare. We were writing cards day and night,
even in class. Our Spanish teacher basically shut down curriculum the
last 2 days so we could write cards the whole hour. Still, we were neck
and neck with Marina HS in Huntington Beach. Our hands were getting tired
from all the writing. Then it was announced: We won! A pre Stuart
Scott Boo Yeah! It was to be a heavily chaperoned teacher concert,
with teachers at all the entrances checking for pot and booze. Not to
be without a plan, a lot of us tailgated in the parking lot beforehand
and went in loaded.
I wondered if Boingo would take their take it down a peg from
what I'd heard about their other concerts. No way-- full intensity --
full slam pit in effect. I was maybe only a buck 60 in those days,
so I got pushed around a bit, but it couldn't diminish hearing all the songs live for the first time. A lifestyle was born.

7. B-52's / San Diego Sports Arena / New Year's Eve 1990

No better way to rock in the new decade than with one of the best
80's bands in SD. This place was smaller than LA venues, making
it worth the 90 min drive. Their only tenants were the Clippers before
they moved up here, and San Diego State. Otherwise it was pure
entertainment facility.

A full, well planned show. A tasteful pause for the countdown
to the new decade, then started right up for another hour past
midnight. They were polished, and on the heels
of the Love Shack CD. I liked their earlier stuff, having grown
sick of Love Shack :) I could listen to them perform things
like Whammy, Here Comes Brenda, Rock Lobster, Planet Claire, and
Private Idaho all night long.

6. Lollapaolooza / Cal St. Dominguez Fields /1994

The concept of the 2nd stage was a great idea. Anytime a band
came on I despised, like the Beastie Boys, their were a lot of
up and coming acts playing on the other side of the field. Some
of the 2nd stage gems: The Verve, the Booradleys, Shonen Knife
(a girl Japanese group),and the Black Crowes

A Tribe Called Quest was fun. I Left My Wallet In El Segundo is
one of the funniest songs ever. The Breeders knew how to play.
Kim Deal did a good job with this group, post Pixies. Green
Day was everything they were cracked to be, although I think MTV
did them a disservice by overplaying the hell out of them, as their
later work suffered. Or maybe it was just the rich band slacking off
syndrome.

But I was there for one reason. The Pumpkins. A lot of them.
Preferrably Smashing. I had seen them before they were huge during
Siamese Dream at the Roxy, an unbelievably small club in Hollywood.
There were not as many great bands in the 90's as the 80s. I really
believe that. But the Pumpkins were great in concert, and in the studio.
The art of crafting the 3-4 minute melodic song has been lost, or misplaced. Corgan and co. have quite an arensal. Disamed (Killer in Me Is A Killer in You), Rhinocerus, most of the Siamese album, and this
was BEFORE Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness came out next year.
Impressive pit, great venue, one slight Jamb neck injury from some
dork jumping on me during the peak of the slam pit , but all healed
in time.

(worst 5 interlude to come)

-Jamb

The Raccoon Situation (long, PART ONE)

2007-06-16T07:54:38Z

My goodness, where to begin with this bizarre saga?

We've been under seige by raccoons off and on the last two weeks.

I think I'll start from before the invasion with Hector's visit in
February, and go through this human animal battle royale for turf in
chronological order. Let me state right now I am NOT embellishing the
facts of this at all, or taking dramatic license for the sake of
writing a story. But I feel I must document this thing.

Feb 2007:

Just before Hector's visit, we noticed a musty odor coming
from the hall closet. We had just moved into our new place in August,
and done some backyard drainage repairs.

This odor was like nothing I'd ever smelt before, and it
was getting stronger by the day. I was certain it was a moisture problem,
leading to mold, from the little rain we had. Only thing was, it was
the coldest, dryest winter in 50-60 years in So Cal.

So I had my home inspector come out for a courtesy visit, and he quickly
associated the odor with a dead animal carcass, likely under the home. We
hire an animal removal company (there are a few, for a hefty fee), and the
man gets under the house in the crawl space, and locates the source of the
odor. A massive 20-25 lb. dead possum, easily the size of 1.5 house cats. Who knows how long it had been down there with the rare freeze we
had in January, but I'm guessing the cold gave it frostbite and eventually
killed it. The animal man found the point of entry under the deck as
18 by 24 inches, and told us they do not do work to seal it -- only
handymen.

Moving ahead through the spring, we tried several times with handymen
who did not do "under the house" work, or were too busy. Yeah, not
a high priority item. You're in a vulnerable position down there on
your stomach in the dark with only a flashlight. So we put it off...
And that's where the saga unfolds.

Friday, June 1st (two weeks ago):

We had just finalized the last major project in the backyard. We resodded 2/3 of the grass, rebuilt the sprinkler system, added a stylish
border, and installed a new computerized sprinkler timer. I taped off
entry into the backyard with tape so the nanny and kids would not go out
there for a few weeks while the new grass could grow and its roots could
take hold.

So imagine my shock when I wake up Sat morning to see piece after piece of
new lawn pulled back like a Pringles can opened. Who could have done this? Why? Diana and I guessed either a dog got in, or Roman did it. No cat could be strong enuf to pull up heavy, wed sod. So I carefully replaced all of them, and voila, it kept happening. The mystery was upon us.

Sun morning, June 3rd:

I hear a strange sound below the entry way of the house. It's almost like
birds, but not as high pitched. Sounds like baby somethings nursings with their mother. Now we know. We've got serious problems. A mother animal
has set up her den and brought her babies.

Sun night, June 3rd:

I keep watch every 10 minutes on the patio lit backyard while in the computer room. I find the culprit. It's no possum. I can't believe what I'm seeing. Even in the low light, I can see the striped tail, and the
black eye patch of an animal that appears to be a cross between a large
fox and a skunk. Back to the computer to reference: Uh, oh. It's
the worst possible critter: A raccoon. I estimate it to be 25 lbs. After watching his M.O. of pulling up grass and chomping on grubs and worms for 5 min, I go out and shoo him off over the fence. No remedy,
coz the next morning the yard is torn up again. I know I'm up against
a wily creature, and it's time for research and professional help.

Mon morning, June 4th:

Make several calls to animal trappings. Apparently, this is "high season"
and most are booked for 3-4 days. A couple can make it out next day,
but they're $ 100 over the avg. price of $ 250. Damn, what a racket!

Wed, June 6th:

I am concerned. We are hearing unnerving loud noises coming from under
the house. From the internet research, we learn the raccoon is a very
destructive animal to walls, pipes, insulation, and they try to get into
homes. Pound for pound, they are the strongest mammals in the world. They are directly related not to the rodent family, but to the bear
family. They are known to carry rabies, parasites, and all other sorts
of diseases that can get into homes. With the baby and Roman, we're
very concerned parents. A mother raccoon setting up shop is the worst possible thing I could imagine. The lawn is torn up every night. Two nights beforethe trapper arrives, I buy my own cage from Ace Hardware fors $ 55, a great deal.

After a quick seach on food, we put in some carne asada scraps off the
BBQ that night. And not 90 minutes after sunset, we have caught our first
raccoon!! It's a baby, about 8 inches long and around 6or 7 lbs. I try
to approach the cage, and catch the mother raccoon out of the corner of my eye! The mother and baby are squealing at each other, with the mother
standing her ground, determined NOT to let me anywhere near the cage. The mother is afraid and angry. I do not know what to do -- I had assumed
we would catch the mother first. I get a broom for defense and shine the flashlight on the cage and the mother, getting two sets of eerie red diablo eyes staring right back at me. The mother decides she can't wait
any longer. She starts DRAGGING the cage from the fence across the lawn. I can't believe the strength. Lots of squealing from the baby.

I feel helpless as animal control will not come out unless we have an injured animal. They open the NEXT DAY at 10 AM. What are all my property taxes supposed to be going for? Christ!! The mother then jumps
atop the 6 foot wall, and body slams herself back onto the cage like a pro
wrestling move from 6 ft in the air. Nothing happens, but the sheer determination and willpower is astounding. Eventually, after 20 minutes,
the large mother racoon now starts upending and flipping the cage end
over end like it's a beach ball. I'm kicking myself now for not securing
or fastening the cage. A mistake I will not repeat. We watch in amazement from the deck while this goes on, wondering where the cage will end up by mornng. We go back inside, and settle in for what could be a long, noisy night.

To be continued....

V Tech Tragedy

2007-04-23T04:30:06Z

Copy of my post to Cesar expressing my thoughts about guns' role:

It was a horrific tragedy that we are still finding out information about.
However, the question should not be why guns aren't banned, but why it was so easy for this psychopath to get his hands on one. It took him less f**King timeto get one than it takes me to get my Starbucks latte!!
It's preposterous to "ban" the guns, thus guaranteeing only the bad
guys will obtain them on the black market. There should be a middle ground
of banning assault weapons, and making it very difficult to obtain them: full
background checks, both criminal and psychological.
In the future, what would be safer would be to let the professors be armed, plus the military or ROTC students that have passed a psych and background check. Think about it: If just a couple of those professors and students had guns, it would have been a totally different outcome -- much less victims. The deterrent value alone is huge. The cowards that do this must have DOUBT in their mind that instead of walking in and fantasizing about target practice with their twisted sick minds, they will likely be staring at the barrel of a gun or two or three themselves. That DOUBT, coupled with the sane, good people having guns, will ultimately save lives. Otherwise, we will be handcuffed while we watch this happen every few years and have to ante up 32 innocent kids every time.

as a footnote, the tapes that Cho made were so evil and scary, I think NBC
made an error airing them. The "right to know" did not outweight the copycat threat.
Hey, just wait 10 years and then put them out. Or release only to law enforcement. They added almost zero value to the investigation. They did success in giving millions
nightmares, especially those with kids like me.

PJ

Jamb on Board

2007-03-08T01:24:38Z

OK, Jamb is in. Just leaving Santero to join LJ.

Jamb On Board

2007-03-08T01:20:26Z

Ok, Santero is now the last Rhomboid left to join.

PJ