Westside, Eastside, Northside, Southside

2310.3; 52.2. Yeah, longest ride so far, but only by about half a mile. Really tried to keep the energy up, via 8-mile rests and small snacks. STILL got sluggish around 35 miles, but did manage to continue for (evidently) 17 more, stopping more often, but pressing onward. Man that WIND! It seemed particularly bad on the last stretch, the westbound Rodota trail. Stopped in at the shop to make appt for tune-up and ask about tire life. He says (a) if you're not getting regular flats, you probably have some mileage to go (b) the "tread" (really just angled grooves in the basically smooth tire) still has some depth, and you could probably keep going even when it doesn't (unlike a car), (c) If the tire spilts, you can use a dollar bill (?) for a temporary repair, or electrical tape you have ready by winding it e.g. around the seatpost.

Is a century doable? Jeeze, that's a tough call. It's basically two of this, but the second one a LOT harder, I'd imagine. I'm looking at Cloverdale as a probably round-trip destination for it. Lunch in Cloverdale, definitely. With an early start, on a good day, I think I could make it. Need to map out 60, 75, 80, 90-mile rides first, maybe, but I might also just get on the bike one day and go for it...

Some Miles Are Tougher Than Others

2258.1; 20.9

I snuck in five miles on Saturday with John, going up to Andy's produce for a veggie drink and some fruit to bring home.

Today, I just never got comfortable; never got in any kind of groove like I usually do. It seemed like every inch was Work--even the downhills were uncomfortable.

I will attribute it to my "weekend condition," nyuk nyuk, having not ridden (seriously) since Friday.

Further, I started hittin a sugar low at about 10 miles and had to stop and eat (new macadamia/almond/cranberry/cherry/ginger mix is quite good--so probably bad for me). A mile later, still didn't feel right, so consumed this "hammer" gel I've kept in the pack for times like this. One or the other kicked in and I felt okay by the time I got home.

Nonetheless, I did the Blank Road hill, the quite steep Orchard Station Rd. hill, and the short but tough Hessell grind, all without stopping.

Got a chin-up bar today; It may not work in this house, with tops of doorways only about 6" from the ceilings. If not, I'll make a place in the garage for it. Need to diversify my exercise portfolio AND have something to do when it rains or is too hot or windy or whatever for biking.

All Twos

2232.0; 49.4

If I'd known I was this close to 50, I'd have gone around the block! Usually I remember the starting mileage and have it running in my head all day, but today I wasn't sure.

Another Petaluma lunch run. I rather like these, because I feel I can eat and drink whatever I damn well please after riding 27 miles over hill & dale to get there--BUT keeping in mind that I have to ride similar mileage over hill & dale to get back, so must exercise a little moderation. So, ice water and thai peanut noodles with chicken. Couldn't finish the gigantic portion. Saw the ex-boss and a couple of ex-coworkers; that was a tough one, that job, but I'm proud of having turned things around as I did in the last year, and I always like to keep the network open, so was happy to make this little connection. And it's an excuse to ride to Petaluma and back.

New speed record: 43.1 on Spring Hill Road heading into Petaluma. I had to ride the brakes when it got a little rough--still could go faster on that hill!

I passed 2222.2 on the odometer right at the Washoe House on the return trip, which in turn is apparently almost exactly ten miles from home on this route.

Wind, wind, wind, nonstop. It was bad enough to slow me down on many of the good downhills, and to actually blow the bike around a little at speed.

Some of the hills and roads on this route are really daunting: Canfield Road hills; Bodega Highway with headwind and traffic; Spring Hill Rd. going up from the west; getting out of Petaluma; the Chapman and Eastman hills in the old 'hood; Stony Point with full-on headwind; Roblar with no shoulder and 50mph cars; the Hessel hill; then 116 with traffic and headwind. A weird thing happens, though--you just keep pedaling and eventually, you're there! I geared way down a lot of times in the face of the wind, and just took it easy getting on my way, so no time records today. I have to remind myself to stop and rest, for the sake of my numb hands and wish-it-was-numb butt. But it does seem this one was a tiny bit easier than the last one (which, granted, was about 2 miles longer).

And that's a 133-mile week!

Vine Hill Non-Stop

2182.6; 34.3

Almost the same loop as Monday, but on a whim more or less, I took Vine Hill Rd. instead of Laguna Rd. I managed to do that full section of Vine Hill without stopping, so I guess I've progressed! It added only a mile to the loop, but added a pretty major elevation gain too. I think I'm good for Petaluma Friday.

West County Trail near O'Reilly: woman reins in her kid as I approach and then for some reason lets go of him and of course he toddles right out into the path and I literally had to lock it up to not hit him. I like kids, but the parents really piss me off sometimes. I try to be polite on the byways, though, and generally do very well. At worst, I'll just say nothing and move on.

Trenton-Healdsburg Rd: Pickup truck couldn't wait to pass me safely, so barreled by right next to me. No shoulder there, not much to be done for it. Shortly after, teens in a sedan yelled something as they passed me; startled me, but no harm done.

Talked with a guy who may or may not have had a mental disability of some kind, on the Greenway near Santa Rosa. He'd just bought a mountain bike and the high gear wasn't working well. I offered my multi-tool, which he didn't accept, so just sat and chatted while I ate my Clif bar.

Then, on the Rodota trail near Sebastopol, homeless guy oddly veered his shopping cart right in front of me and again I had to slam on the brakes. WTF? The guy is always out there, usually oblivious, though he once said hi to me. Who but the republicans and neocons do we have to thank for this kind of person being left to wander the landscape unassisted?

Back in the Saddle Again

2148.3; 32.9

And so almost 50 miles on a week where I hope to clock a hundred (I did the short Forestville round-trip yesterday). Nothing much to report, except a little more fearlessness on the big downhills, and another 2 lbs lost at naked weigh-in this morning, for an even 200 lbs. and officially halfway to my stated goal.

Nice day for riding; not too hot or bright out; not a lot of people on the roads and trails; headwind not too daunting.

I plan to ride significant miles Wednesday and do the Petaluma lunch ride (though probably not the 50-mile big-loop version) Friday. And get more work done when not riding.

Two Thousand Miles

2009.5; 38.4

It's kinda (not) interesting to land on mileage that corresponds to the current month and year...

Hope to get one or two more rides this week, try to keep my weekly average around 100.

Headwind

1939.8; 32.9

That's total miles on the Marin bike, and mileage for today. Other info I track:

Miles per week (61.7), month (241.1), quarter (513.3), and year (799.0);
calendar days since start of quarter (50) and year (140);
riding days since start of month (7), quarter (17), and year (33);
Average miles per calendar day this month (12.7), quarter (10.3) and year (5.7);
Average miles per riding day this month (34.4), quarter (30.2), and year (24.2);
% of riding days this month (35.0), quarter (34.0), and year (23.6).

I track my blood sugar on the same spreadsheet. There's probably some clever calculation wherein I could show bike miles reducing that number, but in very simplistic terms...
Q1: 285.7 miles, blood sugar average 139.1;
Q2: 513.3 miles so far, blood sugar average 100.4 so far.

Once again, just trying to keep up momentum. Out to Forestville and back, then out to Santa Rosa and back, all on bike routes. Seem to need about 16 mph to ride hands-free, so with the headwind, didn't ride hands-free much today. Bought a second extra tube and have it on the rack now. Tires say 26" x 1.4. Tubes come in 1.75 or 1-3/8 widths--what's up with THAT.

I know I shouldn't say anything, but I'm about due for a flat--the last one was probably reported here, and was probably about 500 miles back. Well, I'm ready for it.

Will probably take a rest day tomorrow and then go for 40 or so, possibly to Petaluma again, on Friday.

Maintenance

1906.9; 28.8

Just a "short" ride to maintain the momentum from the big 40+ rides last week and before. Windy but pleasant riding on the Rodota trail to Santa Rosa and the Greenway back out to Willowside--a reliable 13 miles. Then took Willowside up to Guerneville Rd., to Vine Hill, to Green Valley, to the West County Trail. Instead of heading directly home from there, I went on out to Forestville and back first.

Felt sluggish at first, but oddly, had good power throughout--the Guerneville Road climb, usually a real slog for me, seemed like a snap today.

I have a sunset/supper hike with Sonoma County Land Trust tomorrow night, so I get a bit of cross-training there; haven't decided if I'll ride tomorrow or not.

I'm eating so much less of the fats and carbs and sugars, and with all this exercise, I FEEL the results even if I don't SEE 'em. But man, it's discouraging. I feel I shouldn't have to be starving myself here, and really, I don't know how I can reduce my intake so much without seeing SOMEthing. Afraid to weigh myself for fear I'll still be the exact same weight and might as well have gorged myself on Trader Joe's potato chips and Ben & Jerry's ice cream this whole time.

(Just for a little perspective, I've biked 766 miles so far this year--480 of that in April + May... and as you see, I'm very close to 2000 miles on the bike, which I bought last August.)

Well, for now I'll just keep going on faith. Maybe I can find ways to improve my intake for weight reduction, but really I'm not sure how much I'm willing to do--maybe I'm just *supposed* to carry this extra weight around. :-(

Peta-Loop

1878.1; 51.3

Bigger ride still. This also included some major, major hills, and the corresponding downhills, one of which (on Spring Hill Road) got me a new speed record, I think, at 37 mph--without even pedaling!

I had guilt-free pasta and half a beer for lunch in Petaluma after 26 miles. After lunch, it was a bit of tough going for a while, but I stopped for a longish break in Cotati and seemed to recover. I expected Stony Point to be really windy and was pleasantly surprised to have almost no wind, and in fact a little bit of a tail wind when a truck would pass me, making those last 10 miles easier than they could've been.

One problem with riding around this area: you want scenery, you get hills; you want flat, you get traffic, industry, commerce. That seems to be the trade-off.

I'm wondering about the headaches, always on the left side near my eye. Maybe I should start taking ibuprofen before riding on sunny days like this, or maybe my helmet isn't fitting right. I did remember sunscreen on my face and neck, but got sunburned a bit on arms and legs.

I don't see how I can do 100 miles, ever. This 50-mile ride took about five hours including the breaks, and I NEEDED every minute of break, so we're talking at LEAST 10 hours to make 100. However, if I can work out the formula for not hitting the wall at the 35-mile mark, maybe that'll make it all more feasible. We'll see. At any rate, gotta feel good about a week with 48- and 51-mile rides.

Two Rides

May 11: 1803.0; 48.1
May 13: 1826.8; 23.8

Neglected to blog the 48-mile ride, longest to date on this bike (longest ride ever: 65 miles, but that was not intentional!). It was good.The 22 miles from here to Healdsburg must be one of the nicest rides in the county, at least on a weekday. On the bike path from Sebastopol to Forestville, then down the hill to the river and Westside Road following the river. Rode back on Old Redwood Highway, which isn't the nicest route but probably is the flattest. I thought it might be shorter than the Eastside Road route from last time--not so. Though I had a long "lunch" stop in Healdsburg, I was still beat by the time I got home, and really struggled to keep up any speed the last few miles, and my hands were numbing out from riding so long--it seemed to take so much more energy to ride hands-free (and upright) I couldn't do it for very long periods towards the end. But still, a milestone and something to build on.

So today, I was okay with just a short ride--but not TOO short. Thus I went up High School Road from Sebastopol to Occidental, across the Laguna, left on Sandford, right on Hall, left on Willowside, and onto the bike path. I could've taken that straight home for 18 miles, but felt I should do 20+ to keep up my pace, so turned left on Llano, right on Todd to the south end of Sebastopol, and into and through town and home on 116. Kept up a pretty good pace throughout--didn't time it, but suspect I did better than my usual average of 12-13mph. Felt good.

Back in the Saddle

1754.8; 39.5

The usual 8-mile start out to Forestville, down the Mirabel hill, along and across River Rd. to Wohler and Eastside. Then a deviation over to Windsor Rd and up through the town of Windsor, before heading back south on Old Redwood Hwy, to Fulton Rd., and then to the old familiar bike path again. After about a week of rain, I was very much ready to get back out and continue piling on the miles.

Lately I've regained the ability (confidence, really) to ride no-hands, which is VERY beneficial on a longish ride like this, and probably necessary for anything over 50 miles if I don't want permanent numbness. I wasn't prepared for the additional wind resistance that entails, though! Just sitting upright in the saddle seems to change me from a low-slung sports car to a cement mixer truck.

Considered going around the block at the end to get to 40 miles, but it really doesn't matter. I was happy just to get out and get more than 30 miles, and to pass 1750 on the trusty Novato, knowing I can build on that in the coming weeks.

Down By the River

1715.4; 33.1.

This ride's getting familiar. 8 miles of West County Trail to Forestville, down to River Road and then Wohler > Eastside > Trenton/Healdsburg > Laguna > Guerneville (I guess all that's about 12 miles) and the 13 miles of bike path boomeranging through Santa Rosa.

Bit of a chill and a pretty strong headwind today, and it felt like the tires could use a little air (but not quite enough for me to actually stop and pump air into them), but all you can do is keep on pedaling. Still, weary now.

Forestville-Laguna Rd-Santa Rosa loop.

1631.1; 33.0

Just tracking miles on this bike now, since it's pretty much the only one I ride anymore unless it rains. New goals for the 2009 "biking season": keep riding; get to 2000, maybe a bigger round number; do one or more "centuries."

Last two rides, I've gone for bigger miles off the "end" of the West County Trail in Forestville, continuing down to the river (and make no mistake--that's a drop from what seems more or less a plateau, about 200 feet in about two miles.

Took Laguna Rd. back up and out this time, and it's much easier than Vine Hill Rd., doable for me without stopping or even going down to the smallest ring in front. Also, three 30mph+ downhills on this part. Unseasonably warm weather again today, allegedly 86 F right now (about 1pm). Glad I got out early.

Recorded Works That Changed My World

The meme:

"Think of 15 albums (CDs, if you're under 40), concerts, or other musical events that had such a profound effect on you that they changed your life; dug themselves into your soul. Music that brought you to life when you heard it. Royally affected you, kicked you in the wazoo, literally socked you in the gut is what I mean. Now, imagine you're one of those pompous, pretentious 'rawk' writers. Are you with me? When you finish, tag others (including moi). Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you're it..."

Now maybe if you're a dilettante, you have just 15 of these. For me, 15 isn't nearly enough. Having thought a bit about this, I'm just gonna try going chronological.

• Mary Poppins soundtrack. Hey, don't laugh! It's the first album I bought, and with it came the realization that one could have one's own personal music in the house--and that music could evoke a remembered experience and thus activate emotion, etc. etc. Honorable mention: My friend's dad's Tom Lehrer album: That Was The Year That Was. Unlike Poppins, I still love this one!



• Everything the Beatles released. I don't remember much about their arrival in the US (I remember hearing "The Beatles are Coming," and picturing a row of insect beetles marching into the country), but I remember the tremendous anticipation of each new album, and the joy of bringing it home and putting it on the record player and being immersed in their world. Everyone talked about it the next day at school. Eventually, everyone from your parents to first-graders listened to them. The Beatles were universal like no entertainers had been before or will be again, probably. Honorable mention: the Rolling Stones, for a while there.



• Movies: Hard Day's Night, Help!, Head, The Song Remains the Same, The Kids Are Alright, Baby Snakes, Urgh! A Music War, This is Spinal Tap...



• The Monkees. Yeah, they were a prefabricated rip-off of Hard Day's Night-era Beatles, but I was only about 10, and they were also in our living room once a week, and so here were guys I "knew" producing music. This is where I first entertained ambitions of being a musician and living that zany life. The Beat! The Chords! The Girls! Honorable mentions: The Raiders, the Turtles, and a hundred other 60s AM-friendly pop groups.



• The Guess Who: American Woman. First "real" rock album. I stared at the cover while listening endlessly, thinking about which guy played what instrument, what the songs meant.



• Simon and Garfunkel: Bookends. My parents' music (and my mom was named "Mrs. Robinson"), but I came to love it. So profoundly witty and introspective. Honorable mention: Harry Nilsson: Harry.



• The Who: Tommy. An album that made a coherent and cohesive statement, with a high-minded concept, and that French Horn! I did a book report on it at school--teacher didn't figure out that it was a musical album, and thought it was a very strange book.



• Elton John: Elton John. Before the big glasses and platforms and superstardom, before he was gay, there was this unassuming little album that played constantly on the basement stereo.



• Alice Cooper: Love it to Death, Killer, School's Out. I liked some music for entirely non-musical reasons, and am amazed to find later how good these albums actually were musically. Also the first concert I attended alone, during the "Killer" tour. How can you not like a band that hangs their lead singer at every show? :-)



• Grand Funk Railroad: Closer to Home, Survival. Okay, guilty pleasure. I find much of it nearly unlistenable now, but back in the day I listened to it on eternal-replay. Their cover of "Gimme Shelter" is pretty good.



• Firesign Theatre: Four or five classic albums. If rap is music, then this is certainly music. The Firesign Theatre, in simplest terms, was four guys doing comedy. However, this is how comedy would sound if the Beatles did comedy: multilayered, full of multifarious references all over the intellectual map, and slyly funny, with its own set of catch-phrases and one-liners, but much more, and it bore repeated listening. I *still* hear new stuff sometimes.



• Jimi Hendrix: War Heroes. This is the one where I first saw clearly what Jimi did. Electric Ladyland was his best mainstream release, but this is still the best Hendrix album you never heard (most of the songs have been released on Hendrix family reissues now, but it still bears listening as delivered). Ask nicely and I might make you a copy.



• Led Zeppelin II. Monstrous. I'd choose this one to introduce the Zep to an alien or hermit emerging from a cave. Honorable mention: Deep Purple: Machine Head.



• Jefferson Airplane: Surrealistic Pillow. Don't take the brown, but if you can find some of the purple, "tell me how do you feel...?"



• Various: Woodstock. I was too young for the concert, but the album and movie were cultural touchstones.



• Johnny Winter And: Live. Serious blues chops. Played along with this album over and over and OVER, and never did catch up.



• Allman Brothers Band: Beginnings. Another album I attempted to play along with. Honorable mention: Eric Clapton/Cream/Derek and the Dominos. Guitar-playing 101 through 199.



• The Who: Live at Leeds. Whenever you need to turn it up to top volume, here's your album.



• Dylan: Greatest Hits 1 and 2. I came to Dylan late, but spent a good deal of time with these three LPs (vol. 2 was a two-LP set), and of course took to writing imitative poetry which I certainly hope has all been destroyed.



• Grateful Dead: American Beauty, Terrapin Station. These albums have pretty much everything there is to like about the Dead and little of what there is to dislike. Initiated a short but enjoyable Deadhead period in my life.



• Neil Young: After the Gold Rush, Harvest. Everyone had these albums. There was an era before Nirvana when everyone wore jeans and flannel shirts. For better or worse, following on James Taylor's heels, this was the blueprint and model of the 70s sensitive male, and I studied it probably more (a LOT more) than I should've. Honorable mentions: Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young: So Far (First/only Greatest Hits package released after only two albums?); Cat Stevens: "Tea For the Tillerman."



• Spirit: Spirit and Clear. These were repackaged as a double LP when I found them. Beautiful combination of psychedelia, folk, rock, and jazz, with a liberal dash of humor.



• Frank Zappa: Apostrophe'. Get past the Yellow Snow for amazing guitar work and excellent writing. This is repackaged on a single CD with "Overnite Sensation," which is not a bad thing.



• Steely Dan: Countdown to Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic, Katy Lied. The first six or seven albums are capital-G Great, though I do think of the first, "Can't Buy a Thrill" as something of a warm-up, and the sixth and seventh, Aja and Gaucho, as somewhat more mundane and jazz-derivative (when the rest of the world discovered them, BTW). These albums came with my first serious girlfriend, and brought new levels of cynicism AND musicality to my world. Did you know there are time signatures other than 4/4? Chords other than major, minor, and seventh?



• The Who: Sell Out. You could buy it just for the cover, but after that it might just get lodged in your top ten of all time.



• Sarah Vaughan: No Count Sarah. I rate Sarah above Ella and Billie, maybe just for this album (and to a lesser extent, "Swingin' Easy"). Check out "Doodlin'" for starters. Thanks for this one too, Mom!



• The Kinks: The Kinks Kronikles. A two-record set that introduced me to a quaint little village (and sold me 10 or 12 additional albums).



• Aretha Franklin. With Aretha or any of the Motown artists, you don't really usually talk in terms of "albums," but in terms of hits, and in some cases, of entire bodies of work. Aretha deserves much more than "Respect."



• Chet Atkins and Les Paul: Chester & Lester (repackaged on CD with "Guitar Monsters"). Every guitarist should own this and study it.



• Compilations: Nuggets and Nuggets II. If you liked anything about the music of the 60s, you need both of these.

(****Had enough yet? Okay, let's move on. ****)

• David Bowie: Heroes, Low, Lodger. The Berlin trilogy. Bowie here merged art and rock in a way that made you feel smart for listening to it.



• John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band. This was something entirely different--pure, raw, emotion. So personal, it was hard to listen to at first.



• Talking Heads: Fear of Music. Scary brilliant.



• Compilation: Warner/Electra Loss Leaders: Troublemakers. This introduced me to the Sex Pistols, Jonathan Richman, latter-day Marianne Faithfull, Gang of Four, Devo, and to some extent, to Punk Rock and New Wave as a genre (And a general huzzah to Warner for all of the "Loss Leaders").



• Compilation: Life in the European Theatre. Introduced me to another swath of punk/new wave acts, including the Clash, the Jam, XTC, the Undertones, the (English) Beat, the Specials...



• Compilation: The Last Stiff Compilation. The Stiff label produced some of the best music of the late 70s. Here we find the Damned, Madness, the Cure, John Otway, Lene Lovich, Wreckless Eric, Motorhead... (Honorable mention: Stiff Records Box Set: some of that glory reproduced on CD.)



• The Jam: Setting Sons, the Gift. Lumped in with punk, they were really a logical progression from the Who. Very musical and articulate, with a solid conscience and you can dance to it--I'll give it a 10, Dick!



• The Clash: London Calling, Give 'Em Enough Rope. I actually drove an intransigent roommate out of the house with the latter.



• Nick Lowe: Jesus of Cool, Labour of Lust. Like the man said, "Pure Pop for Now People."



• The Pretenders: The Pretenders, and everything since. Chrissie seemed to me the first woman who really rocked. She always has great backing too.



• Psychedelic Furs: Psychedelic Furs. I loved this. It hasn't aged that well...but better than Grand Funk.



• XTC: Drums and Wires, Black Sea, English Settlement, Skylarking, Oranges and Lemons; and Dukes of Stratosphear: 25 O'Clock and Psonic Psunspot. D&W was the intro, but each of these albums went a little further, from raw, minimalistic punk to lush psychedelia.



• Kate Bush: The Dreaming (and all others). Complex, virtuosic, beautiful.



• Van Halen: Van Halen. Okay, yeah. Eddie was really the first person to do anything new with a guitar since Hendrix. The bombast of DLR made it fun, which is why Sammy didn't work nearly as well.



• King Crimson: Discipline. Adrian Belew also took the guitar to new places, on the wave of intricate, mesmerizing Frippertronics, Tony Levin on The Stick, and Bill Bruford pounding skins. I saw them doing most of this album live at the time and it did change my life.



• U2: War. Nothing of theirs since has really grabbed me like this one...



• Butthole Surfers: In general. No particular album, just various tracks across the years. But really: revelatory.



• They Might Be Giants: Lincoln, Flood, Apollo 18. Nerdy geek-rock!



• The Austin Lounge Lizards. A National Treasure. Why haven't you heard them?!? I suggest you start with "Employee of the Month."



• Posies: Failure, Dear 23, Frosting on the Beater. My mom's one-time tenants made some wonderful music.



• Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes and the "Crucify" EP. And she was something to see and hear in concert, just her and the piano.



• Nirvana: Nevermind. A breath of fresh air. Honorable mention: Pearl Jam: Ten.



• Richard Thompson: Rumor and Sigh. But you really have to see him live to appreciate that he's playing ALL THREE guitar parts.



• Compilation: The Money or the Gun. 22 versions of Stairway to Heaven by Australian bands. One of my most prized possessions!



• Compilation: Ferrington Guitars. A coffee-table book of beautiful custom-made guitars with accompanying CD on which you can hear some of them. Beatiful, warm, production; amazing guitar-playing.



• Breeders: Last Splash. Women rock again!



• Tempest: Serrated Edge. Somewhere near that tiny sub-genre "Celtodelic," Tempest played Bay Area clubs in the 90s, and actually helped me get in at one place when I forgot my ID (tho I haven't looked under 21 since I was 14). I loved learning these on guitar, and added bonus, singing the "Gilligan's Island" theme to "House Carpenter."



• Compilation: If I Were a Carpenter. Just for Sonic Youth's brilliant, transforming cover of "Superstar."



• Liz Phair: Whip-Smart, Whitechocolatespaceegg. I know, "Guyville," but these two just affected me more.



• Alison Krauss: Now that I've Found You, Live (w/Union Station). If angels sing (and are female), they sound like this. But they probably wouldn't have that dobro.



• Compilation: Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits. Introduced me to some groups (Wax, "Happy Happy Joy Joy") and delivered necessary songs from others (Violent Femmes, "Eep Opp Ork"; Ramones, "Spiderman"; Butthole Surfers, "Underdog"...).



• Compilation: Sing Hollies in Reverse. Rare tribute that is mostly as good as the originals, and that sent me back to them for another listen.



• Compilation: Alright, This Time, Just the Girls. The Sympathy for the Record Industry label collected some absolutely wonderful stuff here. It sold me on Candypants, the Stool Pigeons, Matson Jones, and others. Honorable mention: the preceding comp, "Their Sympathetic Majesties Request."



• Gillian Welch and David Rawlings: Revival, Hell Among the Yearlings, Time the Revelator, Soul Journey. Touches the heart in a funny way.



• Stool Pigeons: Rule Hermania and Gerry Cross the Mersey. An unfinished trilogy of British Invasion tributes. Much-better-than-the-original covers of Herman's Hermits and Gerry and the Pacemakers.



• Red Hot Chili Peppers: Californication. I liked the Chili Peppers before, but LOVED this album; they seemed to me to show some maturity here and create something more worthwhile and lasting. And my band covered the title song.



• Compilation: Short Music for Short People. 101 songs on one CD! Maybe more artists should limit their output to ~30-second bursts.



• White Stripes: White Blood Cells. A breath of fresh air, again (see Nirvana)! Brought rock back to the garage, and me back to my guitar.



• Steve Earle: Jerusalem. The most coherent response to 9/11 I've found.



• Green Day: American Idiot. The most coherent response to George W. Bush I've found.



• Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. Absolutely lovely. Stirring. I am running out of adjectives.

As soon as I publish, I'll think of ten things I forgot.

Food Critic

I was walking in Petaluma the other night and, passing Velasco's, saw a Mexican family just leaving, waiting to cross Washington Street.

It used to be common lore that the restaurant where all the trucks were parked was a "good" restaurant. I wondered if it held true that the Mexican restaurant where Mexicans eat is a "good" Mexican restaurant.

Just as the WALK sign came on, the youngest child vomited onto the sidewalk.

Burned Out or Burnt?

I've been burned out on a job. Five years of tech support did it to me--twice. Burnout is now a pretty well recognized effect of extended continuous thankless stress in any kind of work (r play, for that matter), especially if you find that it really wasn't your life's ambition to do this thing.

"Burnout" is also a shorthand phrase increasingly used by managers to identify a reason for less than enthusiastic performance by employees. However, I've been here too, even with a type of work I genuinely like doing, and I suggest that it's just lain old "burn," something quite different.

Excluding contract jobs, I've worked in what I consider major jobs at a bank, four software companies (one of them twice), and a web commerce company. The bank laid me off after seven years; the first software company more or less tricked me into resigning after three years; the second software company laid me off once after five years and disappointed me in the second, three-year, stint; the third software company strung me along for a year in a job I hated; the fourth software company laid me off--on my birthday--after a year and a half; and the web commerce concern laid me off after two and half years.

After this string, one might be forgiven for being a bit cynical when a company expects "loyalty," and for keeping an eye on the door and the job market, even in the face of continuing optimism on the part of company leadership. In fact, one might even be considered an intelligent being, practicing the most basic of self-preservation techniques. After being a team player on more than a few teams, and being kicked off of those teams with no warning, one might be less than enthused about jumping in with both feet. The employer might call this "burnout," but it isn't, necessarily. It's just the effect of the repeated burn.

Easier to Stay On Than to Get On

1455.9; 1105.6; 21.7

Sickness, travel, and thanksgiving all conspired to keep me off the bike in November--only 4 rides all month, and those the shortest possible. My blood sugar hit 200 two days this week and I knew it was time to get back on. MAN it's hard, when used to breezing through 25, 30, 40 mile rides, to go back to 16 and 20 mile rides, huffing and puffing. Well, 17 yesterday and 20 today, and I hope to keep it up tomorrow and Friday and see my sugar back under 130.

Slug Weather

1400.9; 1050.6; 16.6

There's a kind of weather we have, I guess people call it Winter, but I think of northern Cali "Winter" as full-on rain (even though it's usually somewhat warmer when it rains). This weather, like today's, is chilly, overcast, brisk--like Fall almost anywhere else.

I haven't been getting out on the bike much, and really need to. My blood sugar is still not terrible--nothing over 200--but the average is steadily climbing the longer I go without this exercise. So, I made myself get out today; even these relatively short rides help. Maybe I can get back on a roll here...

Making the Grade

1384.3; 1034.0; 16.5

Mitch Mitchell died about a week after we saw him at the Experience Hendrix show. Sigh.

12 days since the last ride, and that one was 7 days after the previous one. Well, I've been traveling, and then sick. This slacking has been reflected quite apparently in the blood sugar.

But riding was surprisingly easy--at least the relatively gentle slopes of the trail to Forestville and back--and indeed the Occidental grade on the return, which sometimes seems like it takes forever, was pretty much a breeze. Need to keep it up while the weather's good.

Experience Hendrix 11/3/2008

Nob Hill Masonic Center
San Francisco, CA (8:00 - ~11:30 pm)
http://www.experiencehendrixtour.com/

Mitch Mitchell & Billy Cox of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, plus Doyle Bramhall II, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, David Hidalgo, Eric Johnson, Robby Krieger, Jonny Lang, Chris Layton, Mato Nanji, Cesar Rosas, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Hubert Sumlin.

A phalanx of guitar players tried to conjure Jimi Hendrix in San Francisco last night. They almost succeeded--at least they showed that a little bit of Jimi is in every electric guitarist.

The Nob Hill Masonic Center is a pretty plush venue. There is a five-level parking garage directly beneath the auditorium, so we drove right in (paying $15 extra), and took an elevator up to the hall in the same building. There are about 25 rows of cushioned seats in a semicircle around the stage on the ground floor, and some more on a balcony. We were in row "S", right of the stage, with a clear view of most of the proceedings.

Eric Gales: Purple Haze, Foxy Lady

Gales opened with the two best-known of Hendrix compositions, tearing through them with plenty of flash, speed, and authenticity--and reminders to the audience to applaud via stopping and holding his hands up to his ears after almost every solo. But he's a good player and in the unenviable position of opening, so we'll forgive that minor annoyance.

Robbie Krieger, Mato Nanji: Manic Depression

The legendary Doors guitarist played rather quietly through this one, one of only a couple of Gibson guitar players in the bunch (the tour is sponsored by Gibson--a brand Jimi rarely played). Mato Nanji was also an understated but solid soloist--actually not an unwelcome break from the loud screeching trebles we'd hear most of the night.

Doyle Bramhall II: Angel, Remember

Bramhall played slide, and never seemed to catch his stride on these two numbers. I could imagine him perhaps doing them quite impressively on other nights, but just didn't see it tonight, and I was starting to wonder if this whole show was going to be a wash.

Jonny Lang: Rock Me Baby

Blues guitar wunderkind Lang finally brought a little bit of fire to the proceedings.

David Hidalgo, Krieger, Bramhall: ?Blues number

The Los Lobos guitarist joined the other two understated players for a 12-bar blues I couldn't identify. I like Los Lobos, but when I think "Hendrix-influenced guitar music," that's not really where I tend to go...

Eric Johnson: Love or Confusion

Okay, now we start to get somewhere. Johnson is one of a handful of modern guitar wizards in the Hendrix tradition, a la Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and the like. A likeable, unassuming guy, he produces cascades of notes in a nice round tone--sometimes too quiet for the high-powered backing, but again rather a nice reprieve from the piercing top-of-the-neck screaming of some others.

+ Gales: May This Be Love, Bold As Love, Are You Experienced

Gales returned to join Johnson for an inspired rendition of May This Be Love (aka "Waterfall"), and stuck around through a few more, having mostly the good sense to not try to upstage Johnson.

Brad Whitford, Jonny Lang: Fire, The Wind Cries Mary, Spanish Castle Magic

OK now here we go. Whitford of Aerosmith and Lang, returning, gave an (insert incendiary adjective here: "scorching"?) rendition of Fire, Lang delivering one of the best vocal performances of the night. When two guitarists attempt to solo at the same time, it's a very tricky proposition unless they can agree to stay each in their own tonal neighborhoods. The urge to go high and trebly is often overwhelming when you want to cut through the sonic sludge, and that works for one guitar but not two. Both of these guys are excellent, impressive players, but playing simultaneously, they cancel each other out.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd (Noah Hunt on vocals): Come On, I Don't Live Today, Voodoo Child, Slight Return

Shepherd is another hot guitarist, and he did fantastic versions of these songs, especially the segued-together Voodoo Child/Chile. I had to look up Noah Hunt on the web, but he is a great singer who performs with Shepherd regularly.

Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, + Nanji?: Can You See Me, Little Wing, Them Changes

Now we had another Los Lobos guitarist, and I don't know, these guys just didn't grab me that much, but they did creditable versions of the songs.

Hubert Sumlin: Shoulda Quit You

Sumlin is one of Jimi's stated influences. At 77 years of age (Hendrix would be 65 now), he was spry and chipper, of course not a dazzling guitar-god, but that's not what he was there for. It was nice to have him included, and he came out again for several songs and the other players always deferred to him.

Buddy Guy, Ric Hall, others: Best Damn Fool, Hoochie Coochie Man, ... Red House

Buddy Guy is another Hendrix influence, and I guess the headliner here. He's a great bluesman, and he plays the audience well, getting laughs with some clever lines and his delivery. He's also a killer guitarist, and he could riff with the best of them. Ric Hall, uncredited, plays rhythm for Guy mostly, but did get a chance to step out and play a couple of solos and show off his ZZ Top-style twirling guitar...

I felt the show devolved in here somewhere, and it stopped being about Jimi and started being about Buddy--not at all a bad person for "it" to be "about," but not what we came for. At one point, Guy held the same feedbacking note for upwards of a minute, and that was it for me.

All in all, this review might belie the fact that it was a very good show with a lot of high points, and in fact a little of that Hendrix spirit throughout... In case it wasn't obvious, there is a little of Jimi on EVERY ROCK GUITARIST, since he first appeared on world stages in 1966/1967. Listening to "American Woman" from the Guess Who's live album on the way home, I could not help thinking THAT was a tribute to Jimi as well.

What we saw here was that there was so much to Jimi, any other guitarist can possess even some small fraction of it and use it as his (no women players here, were there!) entire act. I picture this tour going from city to city, and each player having standout nights and slow ones, overall a different, powerful show every night.