If you're going to San Francisco...

Forget the flowers in your hair. Bring a sweater and some good walking shoes. And a good wad of cash. And some patience: The Outside Lands Festival is BIG. I haven't been a festival this big since Radiohead played Coachella in what, 2004? And even that seems small compared to the polo field in Golden Gate Park.

The Another Planet people are the best in the business, and Outside Lands got off to a great start last night with performances by Black Keys, Beck and Radiohead. Our drive down was perfect, and we found parking up on the edge of the Presidio, about a mile away from the park, and walked. Smooth as pudding.

But the box office was quite a distance from the entrance to the polo field, and people were waiting in line for over an hour to pick up their tickets. Again, walking shoes. Once we got to the polo field itself, we were amazed by the sheer scale, and given that, by how well it was all laid out - Another Planet really went all-out on decorations, with huge tents surrounding the green, all the eucalyptus and other trees around the perimeter lit different colors from below, the fog swirling into this first night time concert in the park's history.

My first time in a GGP concert was Led Zeppelin in the now-destroyed Kezar Stadium, in a smaller-scale time. Zeppelin was much bigger than Radiohead at the time (heck, they still are), and it was a magical event. But this was even bigger, and as much as I LOVE Radiohead and GGP - and a well-produced show - this was too big for my taste. There is something in an event of this scale that saps a lot of live bands, even the really big ones. There is a disconnect between the audience and the band.

In the photo to the right, you can see how tight people are packed - nothing new there. But note that this shot was really pretty close to the stage - most people got the view above, which was perhaps only half-way back. We're talking BIG.

When the band is that far away - think about how big a polo/soccer field is - and everyone is standing on the lawn, there is a lot of chat, and really, to see the band, you have to look over a lot of heads (and I'm 6'1") and really focus on taking the band in. We were perhaps 4/5s of the way to the front, that is, relatively close. And it STILL felt like the band was far away. We couldn't really see the five members, and the Jumbotrons (or whatever) were broken up into four quarters so that you couldn't even see much on them.

The disconnect: When the band went off stage after "Bodysnatchers," practically no one around us applauded. And again, we were CLOSE. It was just...there was so little energy. People had already expended their energy. I imagine this could be different when Petty plays tonight, with all those songs that everyone knows and singing along, and dancing - and Radiohead isn't that kind of show, for the most part. But still: It's weird to have a band that big finish a set, and to have such little response. I'm sure it sounded bigger WAY down in front. But again, we were close.

On the other hand, while sightlines were tough, the sound was great - except for the TWO times the PA went out completely, right in the middle of songs (including "Airbag"!), something I've hardly ever seen in more than 30 years of concert going. It pissed the band off, too, especially the second time, but mistakes happen. In general, sound wasn't a problem, even with the wind blowing it every which way. And this is a band that deserves and uses great sound.

I just realized that I'm focusing more on the event than the music, but that's because that's what happens in an event like this. Which is why it's so good that AP Entertainment went to such lengths to provide a special environment. And we didn't see any of the smaller stages, which as I said were in much nicer settings, but we did see massage therapists and batting cages - batting cages? - which are all part of Another Planet's effort to mitigate the hassles of a big show and make it someplace where you'd want to spend the whole day. And we wished we could have. (Did I mention that the temperature was nearly 40 degrees lower than Sactown?)

The food was good, too, better than what you'd expect at such a huge event, MUCH better in fact. But remember: Bring a lot of cash. French fries, a tiny little grilled cheese sandwich and one bottle of water: $16. Tasty, though.

OK, Radiohead. They opened with "15 Step" from the new album, and in the next 95 minutes, they played most of In Rainbows, with shouts back to nearly every album, including The Bends, which gave us "Just" and "Fake Plastic Trees." OK Computer yielded "Karma Police" and "Paranoid Android," and there were songs from most of the other albums, including "Everything in Its Right Place," "You and Whose Army?" and "Pyramid Song" and "There, There" and "The National Anthem"...all played very well, though I felt that after five times of seeing the band, it's time for me to give it a rest - the shows have all been fairly similar, even the visuals.

But when you (and nearly everyone else) is so far from the stage, the disconnect makes it, to me, a much less interesting thing than seeing the band you want to see in a smaller venue. I don't know how many people were there, but it was 60,000 at least. That's a lot of people, and they all wanted to see the headliner. And "seeing" was a lot harder than hearing. I've posted a couple of pictures just to give the idea of the scale - those are with a 15x telephoto...and you STILL can't really see the band!

So, I'm glad I went, but I think that trying to catch one band out of all of this is counter to the nature of such a big show. It's about the event. And it was sold-out, so there will likely be another one, which is good. But if you're going, be prepared for some waits, some walks and some serious neck-craning to hear the headliner (tonight, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; tomorrow, Jack Johnson).

The other stages, such as where Beck and Black Keys played, were in other little glens nearby, and looked like where we'd want to spend most of our time if we were going for today or tomorrow. Very sweet.

Now, we finish packing, get the house sitter situated, and we're OFF TO BURNING MAN!!!

Mondavi Center single tickets onsale Monday

The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts just announced that individual tickets for their 2008-2009 season will on on sale Monday at 12:01 a.m. online at www.MondaviArts.org (that's just after midnight on Monday morning) and at 12 noon the same day at the Mondavi box office.

These are for shows that include performers such as Laurie Anderson (Oct. 22), Linda Rondstadt (Oct. 30), Cassandra Wilson (Nov. 1), Mavis Staples (Jan. 14), Philip Glass (Feb. 18), Ladysmith Black Mambazo (March 16), and Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar (May 13).

Go here for more information.

Outside Lands starts in hours!

We're still packing (and blogging), but after I'm on Insight, we'll be heading down to Outside Lands to see Beck and Radiohead. If you're not going to the event, you can still see it, live on the web.

Burning Man Again!!! Art, art, art...

One of the most amazing things about Burning Man - or Black Rock City, its temporary home - is that it's so incredibly well-organized. Despite its reputation for chaos and license - both of which are earned - it all takes place inside of a structure, or array of structures that work.

A picture - from a satellite - is worth 1,000 words. Which may not save you from them, but...

Here is Black Rock City from above, close to it's peak, in 2006. (We found our CAMP on this thing.)

Now, the 1,000 words. I'm doing this in part in prep for being a guest on Insight, at 90.9 FM tomorrow at 2 p.m. Not sure when I'm on.

So many things strike me about this photo. First of all, if you skipped the link, go back. For those who haven't googlearthed, all you do is click the plus sign to go close in and see more and more detail, which is just frighteningly, amazingly accurate. Again, we could find four vans and some tarps. From space. OK.

Just click the plus sign. First of all, the two images of the concentric circles (the city) are not matched up. I'm pretty sure (correct me) the years are 2005 (faint) and 2006 (in box) - it was moved about a mile out in 2006, further NE. Now I hear that it has been moved another mile east, because (I'm told by a good source) that the lack of rain has made the playa (dust plateau) even looser than last year. And windy plus flour-fine dust equals...not good. Last year, I went through six dust storms in 9 days. So, we know what we're getting into.

We get into it, as I began, because of this city. Wherever the city is laid out, it doesn't matter: With GPS coordinates followed by volunteers, who stake out a series of concentric circles that define city blocks, the city grows on a circle, with the "spoke" streets aligning with the half hours of a clock. The top of the circle, the NE (-ish), is open playa. So the streets start at 2 and go around to 10. The big circle you see at 6 o'clock is Center Camp, an enormous tent full of acrobats and musicians and some very engaged, smart, elaborately dressed, expressive, smiling people. And espresso drinks. And besides ice, that's ALL you can buy there.

OK, this is a little too Burning Man 101. Here's what's on the ground at Burning Man (besides all those people): art. It IS an arts festival, after all, and a great number of those 50,000 people will have created either amazing costumes, art cars or decorated bikes, small pieces of art they give away, or huge pieces of art that took literally dozens of people to design, build, haul hundreds (or thousands) of miles, and rebuild in the desert.

What kind of art? Well, just some random memories from years past: A pair of giant hands where people use rope to string a cat's cradle; a cluster of four gas jets suspended on a hook and remotely controlled to fire in different directions, moving the cluster back and forth, up and down; perpetual motion machines; a giant, lifesize reproduction of the Mousetrap board game, or "Operation"; A tree constructed entirely out of actual bones; a miniature planetarium projected inside a geodesic dome; and literally thousands of more pieces of art, many of which are too complex to describe in a single phrase.

And then there's the "gift" (not barter) economy. People do literal "random acts of kindness," just because it feels good. For instance, round about dinner time, two women dressed in provocative delivery outfits may bring your camp a hot, solar-cooked pizza, asking nothing in return. People set up massage tables by the side of a road and ask you if you want a massage. Or you can go to a "begging bar," where you can have a free drink - if you can creatively beg the hand puppet that is tending bar.

And then there's the playa itself, which is remarkable. Yeah, when the air is full of dust or it's hot as blazes, it can feel like one of the circles of hell, but it's also the great American west in its most extreme, breathtaking form. It FEELS incredible, out on your bike, the temperature (at 4000 feet, remember) just right, and the dusty softening everything it doesn't dry out or rust. And it feels like you can see for miles, because you can.

So, with that mind, here are a couple of the projects people are doing THIS year. Here's the page for the honoraria (art funded by the foundation that is funded in part by ticket sales), and I'm going to put up a couple of links to specific pieces, and video, when available.

The Flaming Lotus Girls create very large sculptures that breathe fire. Two years ago, an array of metal claws poking through the playa surface...the next was a serpent coiled around her egg. This year's creation is called Mutopia. Here's what they're doing this year on their blog.

Then there's another group of people who do the zoetrope, which last year was a 50-foot-tall carousel of monkeys and snakes who climb...well, you just have to see it to believe it. This year's theme (tied into the larger American Dream theme) is Tantalus.

So, this year, some interesting stuff. Did I mention the 35 foot tall ketchup bottle? Then there's Illusion, a light sculpture that will feature images projected on an arrangement of 64 weather balloons. Now, just stop and think about that for a second: 64 weather balloons. Think of the light, the movement...think of the SIZE (according to the artist's website, it will cover the size of a soccer field - take THAT, Beijing Olympics!). Where else could art that big be displayed? Then throw in the wind...

Some of it, like Swarm, a group remote controlled balls that roll around the playa in unison, was promised last year, but as far as I know, never materialized. Doing this stuff isn't easy. But just reading some of the descriptions is amazing.

Then there's this year's version of Shiva Vista, a cluster of 16 propane jets that fire in rhythmic sequences. Last year, they went in a long row that you could hear go off from a mile away. This year, they're trying something different. In the midst of a mandala of these jets will be a raised stage where other performers can do their thing.

Another project is the PyroCardium, by False Profit Laboratories. A double-helix structure that will also shoot flames (hey, it's BURNING man), the Cardium part of the name comes from the pulse that triggers the bursts of flame: the heartbeat of whoever happens by and allows a stethoscope to be placed on his or her chest.

Or how about The Hand of Man, a huge mechanical hand that you operate using an ergonomically correct glove?

Finally, there's Zsu Zsu, the Crybaby Queen, the video for which is great (but not embeddable). And the music! This whole project took some time, and skills, like many of them. And this doesn't even cover theme camps, or really even many of the honoraria. But it's a start. No description can convey the size and depth of this experience in this remarkable place. But I thought I'd try.

On the other side of the mic

Tomorrow, Friday Aug. 22, I'll be on the other side of the mic at Insight on KXJZ, 90.9 FM, at 2 p.m. Instead of hosting the show - as I'll be doing for seven days in September - I'll be one of the guests on the show discussing Burning Man. Which, I may not have mentioned, starts Sunday at midnight and runs through one heavenly, hellish week until Labor Day.

Not sure who else will be on, but it should be fun. Please tune in!

Also, the new Sacramento magazine just came in the mail, and it features a story by yours truly about a handful of bloggers in Sacramento. I can hear the howls about who was covered and who was left out, and consider yourself heard: It was a necessarily short list. My apologies to all who weren't included.

And what a week it is going to be...

This week is going to be a BIG one, folks. There's a lot going on, most of it out of town of course, but still. If you can't find something world-class to do, you're not trying.

For me, it all starts and ends with Burning Man. If you're not prepped by now, you ain't going. And tickets are now more than $295, and they stop selling them on Friday. But if you've been and would like some vicarious fun, here's a link to some of the biggest "honoraria" art installations (because it's all about the art).

The other big-ticket event of the weekend - and the other really big, only in NorCal event of the week - is the massive Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I've written about this quite a bit, but this is a reminder that RADIOHEAD is playing on Friday evening, the first-ever nighttime concert held in Golden Gate Park. We will be there.

Yes, it's expensive as these things go, with daily tickets at $85 a day, and the whole shebang costing $225. But it's cheaper than Burning Man, and a band like Radiohead can command nearly $85 on their own (and tickets for the Dave Matthews Band Monday at Raley Field are $70). And it's hardly about Radiohead alone (for videos of that epochal band, scroll down a ways). Playing just before Radiohead on Friday is Beck and his band, with other sets by Steel Pulse, Lyrics Born, The Black Keys and the Felice Brothers preceding them.

Things get really busy on Saturday, with headliners Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers preceded by local heroes Cake, Primus, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Cafe Tacvba, Two Gallants, Steve Winwood, Nellie McKay, M. Ward, Lupe Fiasco, Galactic and others. Among those others - to show that even if you've not heard of someone, they can be amazing - is Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck, which played High Sierra a few weeks ago and was absolutely breathtaking.

Then Sunday, there's headliner Jack Johnson with a whole raft of other acts, including current local hero Jackie Greene opening the show on the main stage at 1 p.m. Other acts include Widespread Panic, Wilco, Broken Social Scene, Toots and the Maytals, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings...the list goes on. Tickets are still available.

And you don't need a lot of money to have fun this week, either. First off, there's Mumbo Gumbo's gig at Cesar Chavez Plaza on Friday, with Ricky Berger opening. And it's free.

Less free, but well worth seeing, is the return Monday to Sacramento by the Dave Matthews Band, which plays Raley Field on Monday night. The band will be playing without saxophone player LeRoi Moore, who died yesterday of injuries sustained in June in an accident. Jones has been replaced for the summer by Jeff Coffin. Also not on the tour is keyboardist Butch Taylor. But in his stead, guitarist Tim Reynolds, an unofficial member of the band through much of its career, will be back with the band.

OK, I'm taking up too much space. What else?

Three grand ladies of the Bay area music scene will be together on the Crest Theatre's stage Friday night for a benefit concert for Francis House in Sacramento. Maria Muldaur, Holly Near and Tracy Nelson are all seasoned veterans who are sure to put on a good show. More information here.

And former local kids !!! (pronounced chik-chik-chik) will bring their fantastic blend of funk and electronica and something else altogether to Harlow's on Tuesday night. That's a show to see. Here they are in Europe somewhere.

And if you like your jazz smooth, then Dave Koz and Peabo Bryson's show at the Grove at the Radisson on Saturday will probably soothe you.

And if you want more FREE stuff, the next few days at the State Fair's free concert feature Natasha Bedingfield tonight, Air Supply (no comment) on Thursday, Vanessa Hudgens (who?) on Friday, Gary Allan on Saturday, Jessica Simpson on Monday, the Low Rider Band on Tuesday and Chicago on Wednesday. Al Jarreau plays next Thursday and Grand Funk Railroad plays Friday. Grand Funk Railroad. Wow.

Barton out...

New song: "Goodbye, Golden Child"

Here's a better version of "Goodbye, Golden Child," my new song. Recorded in my kitchen, on the computer, and natural light, for better or worse.

Weekly weekend ideas...

Hot enough for ya? Lots of action this weekend, especially regarding multi-act shows in the open air. And then there's the State Fair, which starts Friday.

First, a show just added: Singer/guitarist Frank Black is once again touring as Black Francis, his nom de guerre from The Pixies, since he started playing more Pixies songs live. The Black One will be playing at the Blue Lamp this coming Monday night. Tickets just went on sale. Check it.



The big multi-act show is the Van's Warped Tour at Sleep Train Saturday featuring Against Me!, Angels and Airwaves, Relient K, Rise Against and many, many others. Visit the website for more info. Meanwhile, here's Against Me!



Radio station The Zone's annual Day in the Zone Sunday will feature Daughtry this Sunday at Gibson Ranch in Elverta. Also appearing on the bill: Lifehouse, Tristan Pettyman and Nick Lachey, aka ex-Mr. Jessica Simpson.

Another big multi-act show is the Freestyle Old School Explosion at Arco Arena on Saturday, with a bunch of late '8os/early '90s hip-hop acts, including the inimitable Digital Underground ("The Humpty Dance"), Lisa Lisa, Montell Jordan, Klymaxx and local sensations (for a time) Club Nouveau, as well as new millennium has-been Coolio.

More compelling hip hop and R&B rocks Shoreline Amphitheatre in the Bay area on Saturday, when Rock the Bells opens with a line-up that includes original sons A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim and De La Soul, as well as great contemporary acts such as Nas, Mos Def, Method Man and Santogold.

For the old folks, the Steve Miller Band and opening act Joe Cocker play two shows in the area, one at the Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord on Saturday, and another at Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys on Sunday.

Also at Concord, the annual JVC Jazz Festival will feature the "smooth sounds" of George Benson, Boney James, Ramsey Lewis on Saturday.

For the local kids, as well as the poor ones, there's The Brodys and the Snobs at the free concert in the park at Cesar Chavez Plaza Friday night at 5:30. This is the penultimate concert in the series, the last show being next Friday featuring Mumbo Gumbo. Thanks for all the hard work, Jerry. You did it again!

In other local news, on Saturday at Old Ironsides, impressario Jerry Perry and some locals will be celebrating Madonna's 50th Birthday party. Madonna's 50?? She won't be there, but a host of local acts including Ricky Berger will play their versions of her songs. After Liani Moore and the Nibblers rocked the recent Prince Tribute, pity they won't be there to Express Themselves...

Finally, there's the State Fair. We're a long way from when important concerts happened there - remember Hendrix? Joplin? Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young? Dire Straits? The Police? Those days are gone. But there are still concerts at the fair, and they're free: Among them are the just-added Smash Mouth ("Walking on the Sun") on Friday, preschool kids' group Doodlebops on Saturday; Weird Al Yankovic on Monday and the Fab Four, a Beatles tribute band, on Tuesday - all for free!

Joe Craven interview: Listen up!

As I mentioned a couple of times before, my interview with Joe Craven was broadcast today on KXJZ's Insight, and I have to say, I recommend it. You can listen to it here. Click on Aug. 12 on the left.

And really, it's not about me, though I did my job; it's Joe. He's a pro, AND a natural. Great entertainer. Check out the squeaky toys he manages to turn into battling chimps (or something). His gorgeous version of "Sittin' on Top of the World" from his forthcoming album is at the very end of the 14 minute clip.

SO happy to know this guy. Now I'm going to try posting audio for the first time. Thanks to Paul Conley for editing the piece.

That's Joe and his "gasolin," an old gas can bass guitar.

Two videos: First is his wrap-up of his "Fear No Art" workshop. The second features Joe and Sam Bevin doing "Corina" at Strawberry Music Festival last year. He'll be there this year, too...

Spanish Fly gets "Split Ends"

So I cycle down to Spanish Fly to get a cut, and there's a film crew there, and they're not there for Tee Jae, my 'Do Master.

They're there from the show "Split Ends," which airs on the Style Network. No, I hadn't heard of either one.

But they've heard of Spanish Fly, the fashionable J Street salon, and they wanted to shoot the place in action.

They were particularly interested in stylist Jake Desrocher (pictured below), who is also known locally for his work in the band the Lonely Kings (a great name, in my opinion - don't know the band). Jake will be going to another salon in a radically different place - they don't know yet, or won't say - a fish-out-of-water or culture clash element. Haven't seen it, ain't interested, but thought I'd pass it along.










By the way, my 'do is great. Thanks, Tee Jae!

Craven speaks at 2!

And one more reminder: My interview with Joe Craven, the dazzlingly talented multi-instrumentalist, will air today on KXJZ's Insight, at 2 p.m. It will likely air in the last third of the show. Thanks to Paul Conley for editing...

Outside Lands schedule announced

Outside Lands, the big festival being held weekend after next (Aug. 22-24) in Golden Gate Park, has just posted its schedule for the weekend on its website. If you're going - we hope to make Friday night for Radiohead and Beck, passing on the two big days headlined by Jack Johnson and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - this will help you plan your attempt to see as many bands as possible of the several dozen appearing.

Here's the link.

On deleting posts...

Yes, astute blog readers, you're right: I killed a blog entry.

Inspired by the departure of Lisa Heyamoto and Todd Milbourn, I went off on "Bee management" and critiqued the new format and generally held forth as bloggers are supposed to do - and I felt all DIRTY afterwards. So I killed the post.

And I feel much cleaner now. But I feel I owe an explanation.

Blogging, as I've said before, is not natural to me, because while on the one hand it allows me to say whatever I think, I have come to blogging at a time when what I think is considerably less interesting to me than it's ever been. Which, generally, I like. But there's some cognitive dissonance in it. Blogs don't work all that well if they're not personal, but personal is so MESSY, and so opinionated, and I'm not feeling that so much. Ah, if I were 25...

Lisa and Todd's departure from the Bee inspired something else from me, something I value far more: a song. "Goodbye, Golden Child" is the first new song I've written in some time, and when I woke up this morning and contemplated the two responses I had - the song and the blog entry - there was NO doubt in my mind which was more interesting, valuable and ennobling.

One reason it works better is that it is less exact about details, less tied to any particular situation. It's art, it's amorphous, flexible, free...just as I like things. And it made it clear to me that I've always wanted to make that choice: art over the obvious. Not that I always have. But giving people something that can live and breathe and grow with them, that they bring something to, that they get something beautiful from; THAT is what I care more about than just spouting off and having people react, positively or negatively. That's what I've done for most of my professional life, and I'm just over it.

And I'm over the Bee. That was the other thing. I've ended up being a bit of a chronicler of The Bee's ugly decline, but not really, and not well, and not to any good effect. Friends say that I've encouraged people by example, and that's fine, if it's true. I got an email from someone at The Bee this morning saying he/she may soon be leaving as well, as I often do these days. People are so HAPPY to leave....and so scared. And I am able - as are an ever-increasing number of other Beescapees - to provide some encouragement and reassurance in a rough time.

That's great, but I don't want to go back to MY leaving, and my justifications and resentments and critiques...sometimes, it just comes out, like the tears that one friend still gets when she contemplates her forced departure of a few years back. It's real, it's true, but it's just old, old news. It's like obsessing over an old lover when you're happily married. I love my life and work NOW, and while it's been difficult at times, learning to deal with it has been the best thing that I've done in years. Lots of people have made lots of mistakes, including me. Why go back over that?

So..."Goodbye Golden Child" is about loss of innocence, and the JOY as well as the terror of that, and there's even a line I stole from a favorite bumper sticker: "Don't believe everything you think." I think that's great advice, and it fits the song. But it also fits the moment I'm in, when I'm tempted to spout off about The Bee and its miseries, self-inflicted and otherwise. That's no longer my problem. Getting older and losing your innocence can be painful, or it can be a time when you find the old illusions, especially about yourself, don't hold any power anymore, and you're freed from all the restrictions you accumulated over the years - especially the internal ones.

So, I'm going with that. I'll keep working on the song, and one of these days, I'll play it somewhere. In the meantime, I've already gotten MUCH more pleasure out of it than I'll ever get out of a blog entry.

So, for those of you innocents who come to this blog for INFORMATION about what's happening and....well, whatever you come here for...my apologies. And for those of you who still want to do battle with Bee management and mull the situation over there - and I DO appreciate your encouragement - it's time to let that go, at least for me. It's a new day, and figuring out the future is a lot better than rehashing the past.

Besides, I've got REAL work to do. And am grateful for it!

Beyond the Grid...

Honestly, it's been some time since I lived through a weekend that felt as momentous as this past one. A commentator in NPR said this afternoon that the date 8/8/08 will be remembered as long as the date the Berlin Wall fell. Which I THINK was 11/9/89. Right?

Anyway, two big things happened, and they hit me like a ton of bricks. The first was the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. I've searched on YouTube, and there's nothing much of the opening ceremonies, but if you didn't see them, find a friend who TiVo'd them, you will be nothing short of astonished. Much has been made of the fact that the Chinese spent $300 million on the opening ceremonies, more than even the biggest blockbuster flick. But it wasn't the money. It was the people.

When we watched the opening ceremonies, we were amazed so many times - not just by the scale, but by the depth, the artfulness - that it became chilling. We got a glimpse, as China wanted us to, of that government's and people's WILL and determination and yes, sheer numbers. And organization. And imagination. And talent. And precision. And passion. In the new century, the new global marketplace, America is starting to look a little thin. And China is feeling its power, and flexing it, for the whole world to see.

And people in other countries, in "third world" countries, are seeing this and thinking, "They're doing this BETTER than the Americans. The British. The French. Everyone." Now, this was "just" a performance as one commentator dismissed it. And China is still much less "powerful" than the United States. But power is a funny thing, and it felt as though the balance of it shifted over the weekend, if only symbolically, toward China. It was an amazing thing to watch.

And seeing President Bush glad-handing Vladimir Putin in the VIP box was nauseating - how is that not "cozying up to dictators"? - even before we knew what Putin was orchestrating in Georgia. Russia's invasion of Georgia, on 8/8/08 - and which is still just unfolding, barely three days old - underlined America's relative impotence and even irrelevance in the region, even as our troops die to the south.

What are we going to do, invade Russia?

If the fires last month underlined our environmental vulnerability in Sacramento, last weekend's events struck even harder, at our cultural sizzle and raw geo-political muscle, which most Americans take for granted. This is a very personal response, and could well be wrong. But the events of this weekend felt like a harbinger of a future that is not going to look like it did on 11/9/1989.

10th and K rising!

Just got an invite from Ms. Kitty to the first big event to be held at the new Cosmo Cafe, in the new Cosmopolitan building at 10th and K Street Mall. It's a fund-raiser for the California Museum but more importantly, to my mind, it's the first chance to see the inside of the Cosmopolitan, which is scheduled to have its grand opening on Sept. 28.

I've been watching the place go up from the outside, having posted photos of the building this spring, and having snapped some new ones a few days ago. What a difference!

I haven't seen the inside, but the outside is gorgeous. The Cosmo Cafe, created by Mr. Kitty (Kurt Spataro) and Randy Paragary, will have an outdoor dining area on the second floor. There's a big bar on the first floor, and then, of course, the main event, the 210-seat cabaret theatre owned and operated by California Musical Theatre, aka The Music Circus. They will be launching Forever Plaid there on the 28th, and tickets are already available.

This is a tremendously exciting opening to me, and it shows that private enterprise, when helped by the city, can really make things happen. In fact, it is questionable whether the city itself can make ANYTHING happen - nearly everything good has happened because of private investment, whether it's the Safeway complex at 19th and T, the MARRS building, the L Street Lofts, and now the intersection of 10th and K.

The city, meanwhile, has R Street, K Street Mall, the waterfront and the railyard on their agenda - and practically NOTHING to show for it. I'm simplifying, of course, and the city had a hand in every project that gets off the ground, because they can't HELP putting a hand in. But the city really just needs to get out of the way and let people who are willing to invest in this town do so. It's WORKING that way.

If you want to buy tickets for the California Museum fundraiser, which takes place Sept. 20, call (916) 651-0936 or email larmell@sos.ca.gov.

If you want to buy tickets for Forever Plaid, go to www.CosmopolitanCabaret.com. For more about the Cosmopolitan, go to www.SacCosmo.com. Check out the seating chart to make it a little more real.














And there's more action on that block. Just down 10th Street, at J, is the new Citizen Hotel, which is supposed to open sooner than it looks, as early as November, according to Dale at Parlare. Last week, some big steel I-beams went up to create the new atrium restaurant that will provide enclosed outdoor dining right on 10th Street. This should go SOME of the way to improving this unlucky neighborhood. What the city will do with the adjacent block of J, from 10th to 11th, is murky at best. But I remain optimistic.

Two weeks ago, left. This weekend, below...

Longer Joe Craven interview airs tomorrow (hack, hack)

Jeez, what's burning now??

I just rode back from the gym via the levee, and the air is BAD. The smoke-out of July 2008 was a wake-up call about where we live, and how bad it could be. But while it's cleared up a bit now, it's still bad, and getting worse. We live in one of the most polluted areas in this country.

Anyway...

Here's a heads-up that a longer version of my interview with musician/music educator Joe Craven - a five-minute version ran twice on Friday's Morning Edition on KXJZ (90.9 FM) - will air tomorrow at 2 p.m. on Insight on the same station. But this time, it'll be about four times as long.

Kiefer returns!

Like The Bee, The Sacramento News and Review has seen some recent turmoil in its staff, not least of which was the recent departure of Jonathan Kiefer, a terrific writer who served as arts editor until he resigned in protest over SNR management decisions. Sounds a bit familiar to Bee readers, eh?

Jonathan has resurfaced on the web, with a new blog of his movie reviews, which he calls Useless Jonk. Read it here.

Broadway Series tickets on sale at 10 a.m. today

Individual tickets go on sale today at 10 a.m. for Broadway Sacramento's presentations of the touring shows The Drowsy Chaperone, The Color Purple and Stomp. Get 'em at tickets.com or the Wells Fargo Pavilion Box Office (Music Circus) at 14th and H. By phone, (916) 557-1999.

Here are a few minutes of Stomp:

New posts at NoisyArtifacts...

Check out a couple of new music posts at my all-music blog, Noisy Artifacts.

Isaac Hayes died today at 65...

Dan reporting...

My old pal Dan Adams, late of KXTV-10 in Sacramento, has moved with his partner to Puerto Vallarta, but he can't stop reporting...we get it...

Here's his blog, just started.

Listen to Joe Craven

My Joe Craven piece ran this morning, here's a link to the Capital Public Radio website, where you can hear it (it's 5 minutes long) and dig Joe's amazing talent and ideas. He'll be teaching at the American River Acoustic Music Camp in Coloma this weekend. More info on that here.

A longer version of our conversation should air on Insight next week. I'll post that later. In the meantime, enjoy Joe!

Hovering over BRC...

Here's a great aerial view of Black Rock City from last year, with a map of the new, expanded city from this year.

More on Burning Man

It has been pointed out to me that my recent post on Burning Man, prompted as it was by the funny "If you're not going..." email that was sent by a friend who's not, focussed a bit too much on the party aspect, and NOT on the real reason many of us go: the community.


Burning Man is the most common name for the event. But for many of us, it's Black Rock City. That's because while the party on Saturday night, when the Man is burned, is what gets all the press, what's really spectacular, moving, involving and enlightening about the event is the city itself. That is to say, the people.

People build a city of 50,000 in little more than a week. And they do it with a degree of sophistication and creativity that is absolutely breathtaking. THAT is the real joy of Burning Man: Watching this city rise out of an absolutely barren dry lake bed. It is, really, nothing short of astonishing.



That's why I try to go early: because when I get there before the event, as I do nearly every year, I get to see (as well as help in) the effort to create something that will cease to exist only a week later: a "home" for a diverse tribe of folks who are working, sweating and paying for a city that is a work of art that will melt away (sometimes literally, in flames) in no time at all.

In that way, Black Rock City is an offering, a candle lit for inspiration and connection to something bigger than any of the participants. It reminds me of the offerings the Balinese make and leave at every doorway, intersection and stairs: beautiful, extravagant concoctions of flowers and fruit and palm fronds, which are consecrated and then trampled underfoot.

Black Rock City is an offering to the notion of community, a place where people look at each other - really LOOK at each other - and wonder: Who are YOU? What can you teach me? What do you need? How did you get here? How did WE get here, to this moment? What can I GIVE you?

People who don't know Black Rock City think that its a "barter" system. It is NOT. It is a "gift economy," where gifts are given, randomly, to strangers, because Black Rock City's citizens have learned, either there or elsewhere, that it really IS better to give than to receive. And that random, wanton giving is a way to celebrate the incredible gifts we have each been given just by being alive.



When we arrive in Black Rock City at the end of this month, the Greeters at the gate - of which I am one - will say "Welcome home." We'll say it to everyone, those who have been before and might literally get out of their auto and literally kiss the ground - and those who have never been, but knew they needed to come. Because when we enter Black Rock City, we are being given the greatest gift of all: the opportunity to express our gratitude, openly, profusely, for being alive. And to celebrate all of our fellow travelers in this great journey through a life that is, after all, nearly as transcient, and potentially trancendental and transforming, as Black Rock City is.

And we'll probably party a bit, too. It is, after all, a celebration.

KXJZ airing my Joe Craven feature Friday!

I recently sat down with multi-instrumentalist/music educator Joe Craven at his home in Yolo County for a piece on his theories about teaching music to kids - and anyone else - and he demonstrated some very cool things with such "instruments" as a Mason jar filled with water. The segment will air twice on tomorrow's Morning Edition on KXJZ, 90.9 FM, at 6:33 and 8:33 a.m.

There will be a longer version airing sometime next week on Insight. I'll post when it is scheduled.

Meanwhile, I cover my first court hearing this afternoon at Superior Court in Sacramento in my new capacity as a stringer for Bloomberg News in New York. Not sure where that story will ultimately run.

And another thing...

Actually, two. One is that tickets from one-time Sacramentan Jason Mraz's November 3 show at Freeborn Hall in Davis go on sale this weekend.

Another is that this weekend is the start of the 9th Annual Sacramento Film and Music Festival at the Crest Theatre, which runs from Friday the 8th through the following Sunday, Aug. 17.

The emphasis is on film, even regarding music: Saturday night's Sac Music Seen is a program of locally-made music videos featuring local bands, a few of whom are familiar names - The Secretions, Stunt Double and the Bennys among them.

More information is available at the festival's website, www.sacfilm.com.

Weekend in briefs (huh?)

Not a lot of excitement this week, music wise, but it IS Second Saturday, so who needs music? Plus there are lots of bands playing here and there on the streets. Check it out.

This Friday is the third-from-last free concert in the park on Friday at 5:30 with Seventy (a rockin' good classic rock band), Shannon Curtis, the Bobby Zoppi Band and Brandon Tyler. Next week is The Brodys and the Snobs and the last Friday, Aug. 22, is Mumbo Gumbo, breathing easier.

For country fans, there's Martina McBride and Jack Ingram at Sleep Train in Marysville on Saturday. Outta town, Steely Dan - again - play Ironside Amphitheatre on Saturday, while Sammy Hagar plays Harveys Outdoor Amphitheatre the same day.

More interestingly, tickets go on sale Friday for the Rockband Live show at Arco Arena on Oct. 12 with Panic! At the Disco, Dashboard Confessional, Plain White T's, The Cab. Here are Panic! live on Jimmy Kimmel....



And the Plain White T's doing a cover of last year's BIG pop hit...



Other tickets of interest on sale are those for Stone Temple Pilots at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium on Sept. 3. Tickets go on sale Saturday morning.

And for the oldsters and hipster youngsters, here's a WILDLY rare clip I just found on YouTube of Jimi Hendrix playing Sacramento's Cal Expo on April 27, 1970...I was invited to go by the skank across the street, but me being 13 and she being, well, TOO interesting, my parents forbade it. I still resent it. Hendrix died five months later...

Burning Man starts in 3 weeks...

If you've been to Burning Man, but for some bizzarre reason are not going back this year, you may find this amusing, even a relief. You won't be doing THAT again this year.

If you're going to Burning Man this year, especially for the first time, you may find it amusing AND daunting. Because Burning Man is a party AND a survival bootcamp.

For fun, here's a shot of our camp last year, after the first (of SIX) white-out dust storms...

If you don't give a @#*! about Burning Man, wait for the next post...

If you care desperately, going or not, here's a laugh or two...

--------------------------
Alternatives to Burning Man
---------------------------



Tear down your house. Put it in a truck. Drive 10 hours
in any direction. Put the house back together. Invite
everyone you meet to come over and party. When everyone
leaves, follow them back to their homes, drink all
their booze, and break things.

Paint your bike white. Stack all your fans in one corner
of your living room. Put on your most fabulous outfit.
Turn the fans on full blast. Dump a full vacuum cleaner
bag and a bag of flour in front of the fans. Hula-hoop &
spin yourself in circles for 6 hours. Then try to find
your bike.

Only use the toilet in a house that is at least 3 blocks
away. Drain all the water from the toilet. Only flush it
every 4 days. Hide all the toilet paper. Pitch your tent
next to the wall of speakers in a crowded, noisy club.
Go to sleep. Wake up 2 hours later in a 110+ degree tent.

Pay an escort of your affectional preference to not bathe
for five days, cover themselves in glitter, dust, and
sunscreen, wear a skanky neon wig; dance closely naked
with you, then say they have a lover back home at the
end of the night.

Visit a restaurant and pay them to let you alternate lying
in the walk-in freezer and sitting in the oven. Don't sleep
for 5 days. Take a wide variety of hallucinogenic/emotion
altering drugs. Pick a fight with your boyfriend/girlfriend.

Buy a new set of expensive camping gear. Break it. Buy a
new pair of favorite shoes. Throw one shoe away. Spend a
whole year rummaging through thrift stores for the
perfect,most outrageous costume. Forget where you put it.

Spend weeks preparing and freezing tasty, nutritious food
and then forget it in your trunk for a few days of 110
degree heat. Sprinkle dirty sand in all your food. Eat it
anyway - and like it. Snort baby powder & salt then pick
your boogers for a week.

Listen to music you hate for 168 hours straight, or until
you think you are going to scream. Scream. Realize you'll
love the music for the rest of your life.

Get so drunk you can't recognize your own house. Walk
slowly around the block for 5 hours wrapped in x-mas lights.
Cut, burn, electrocute, bruise, and sunburn various parts of
your body. Forget how you did it. Don't go to a doctor. And
tell everybody else how cool it was.

Rent an RV and trash it. Mail $200 (price of average BM
ticket) to the Reno casino of your choice. Then spend $100
on food and don't eat it.

Spend thousands of dollars creating a deeply personal art
work. Hide it in a funhouse on the edge of the city. Blow
it up. Set up a DJ system downwind of a three alarm fire.
Play a short loop of drum'n'bass until the embers are cold.
Have a 3 a.m., soul-baring conversation with a drag nun in
platforms, a crocodile, and Bugs Bunny. Be unable to tell
if you're hallucinating.

Drive for 10 hours straight with a car full of drunk circus
clowns. Ride your bike blindfolded in a casino for 5 days on
acid. Wake up in a random Chucke Cheeze with someone named
Dust Bunny. Sit in traffic for hours.

Go to a museum. Find one of Salvador Dali's more disturbing
but beautiful paintings. Climb inside it. Move to San
Francisco...

Pets rock Cesar Chavez Plaza NOW

Pets in the park in an hour. Be there!