the frig blig

Right on time, the Fremont Fair 2008 solstice celebration welcomed the start of summer with, among other traditional and nontraditional activities, the art car outdoor gallery. My fav was CHEWBRU from Kansas, a truly impressive presentation of dental obsession and paranoia. This photo shows the top of the car.

Q: How is playing guitar like shooting pool?
A: They’re both all about leave.

Viz. when playing guitar, in order to sound like less of a klutz and move smoothly to the next note or chord, the player needs to be thinking ahead about which fingers will be used in that next note or chord…and that means making sure those fingers are available by using other fingers now.

And when shooting pool, in order to sink more than a single ball, the player needs to be thinking ahead about positioning the cue ball to leave makeable shots.

Q: how is playing tennis like playing go?
A: they both can be approached using a certain style of play; i.e. keep making good returns or moves and wait for your opponent to make a mistake — then capitalize on it. With each mistake your opponent makes, he or she is more likely to try to overcompensate…to your advantage.

There seems to be a bumper crop of new bumperstickers popping up this spring. This one was on a Prius on Jackson Street:

Runners-up for today’s award:
2nd place goes to ‘Your humvee looks stupid’
3rd place goes to ‘WTF’ using the Bush team’s re-election logo design.

I recorded this video of my friend playing guitar on Thanksgiving 2007 and finally got around to editing it and posting it to youtube:

From Vincent Chow dot Net

S and I were lucky enough to view up close many original drawings and prints by R. Crumb, underground comix illustrator and more. I’m happy to report that he is still going strong! He even has a website: www.rcrumb.com where you can buy his books and stuff.

I discovered his work via Zap Comix in the early 1970s, spending countless hours engrossed over their mind-blowing pages. It was quite inspirational to me and my housemates at the time (Jeff & Dina & Bob & Janet & David: the Electric Flamingo gang).

Seeing his stuff again after so many years, the originals lifesize at the Frye museum, almost made me cry. He is a master illustrator and observer, and has no fear. He is my hero. He is weird and offensive and hilarious and shallow and deep. He has drawn/painted some true classics, for instance “A Short History of America”:

S and I spent friday and saturday being tourists in Victoria BC. We visited some residents at St. Joseph’s hospital, swam in the hotel pool, and did a lot of walking. More photos are under the Victoria listing in the galleries.

I knew there had to be a gas station like this…unfortunately you can’t judge a book by its cover, etc. (and it’s way down south in Georgia).

I’ve been teaching myself to play guitar for the past few months. I try to play 15 minutes a day, although a workingman’s schedule doesn’t always permit. It’s tons of fun (although I can have hours of fun with almost any musical instrument).

Last night I dreamed I was playing a song on the guitar…I remember figuring out what would work for the chorus…I awoke and forthwith in groggy state, went to my guitar and played the song. I then found a piece of staff paper and wrote it out.

I was mightily pleased, I’ve dreamed compositions before but never for guitar. This bodes well for my future with the instrument I think.