5-8-2007

Boy was it hot this weekend but I liked it. It seems like warm
weather, especially the first warm weather in what seems like awhile,
really brings out certain qualities and behaviors in people. They
want to be outside more enjoying the sun, they want to take their
clothes off or wear as little clothes as acceptable, short pants, tank
tops, shirtless or some smart bright sun dress. They also tend to
want to drink more, especially if they can do so outside. There are
really only a handful of places in the city where you can do this,
save for your own backyards and the occasional street fair but I hear
there might be an end to that hallowed sacrament coming soon if you
can believe that. They took the booze from the Haight street fair
this year as well as the North Beach Festival, the North Beach Jazz
Festival, the How Weird Street Faire, and Halloween in the Castro.
Can you believe what a stodgy intolerant policed place san francisco
seems to be transforming into right before our very eyes? In other
countries there exist celebrations that draw millions of people to the
streets for drinking and merriment for hundreds of years and
civilizations do not fall out of balance and perish in some kind of
Bacchanalian nightmare. In London and lots of european cities
everywhere, some of them as old as Prague, you can drink alcohol on
the bus and no one blinks an eye. But here in liberal sunny
california why are we subject to such an atrocious retarded clampdown
on our rights to celebrate like everyone else does? And aren’t any of
the authorities thinking the slightest little bit about all the money
these outdoor events bring in with the sale of beer? That portion
I’m certain is the largest piece of the pie graph of revenues from
these events. So who are the people who want to change these street
fairs and outdoor events, some of which like the haight street fair
are celebrating their 30th year in existence? Who wants to spoil
every bit of fun this city can have or be?
It reminds me of a specific moment at a rock show a couple weeks ago.
I was seeing Jarvis Cocker at the Filmore and he was putting on an
absolutely stellar show showcasing songs from his latest solo LP
Jarvis, and he was chatting to the audience between songs and he said
it had been 11 years since he was last in san francisco and things had
changed a bit. He said he remembered being able to take a beer in a
paper bag out in the street and drinking it but this time had learned
that this simple act was forbidden and how silly that was, then he
asked the crowd “Come on, Isn’t this after all the birthplace of the
counter culture?” It was a point well made. Cocker breezed into town
and was intuitive enough to sense a symptom of an overall problem here
in san francisco and say something about it. The question “Isn’t this
the birthplace of the counter culture?” keeps running through my head.
It’s a good question to consider when thinking of all of the battles
we face here in san francisco lately to just have fun, create, commune
and be colorful, to continue the grand tradition of so many colorful
and important eras in the history of everyones favorite city. What
forces are at hand here? Why have things changed so drastically? Why
does the history and future of the counter culture seem to be in such
danger?
It’s a mystery to me, it seems there is no specific group or entity
to point the finger at. One could blame the continual progression of
builders turning every available structure or lot into residential
spaces, giving way to the new term i just learned called NIMBYs, an
acronym for “not in my back yard” or people opposed to numerous things
that they find unpleasant or dangerous occurring anywhere near where
they live. Hey, wait, i think I have heard of these people after all!
I just didn’t know they had their own name, one that sounds like a
lovable cartoon character that bends and rides a horse. How many new
cute names should there be for bitter and selfish? I can understand
people not wanting toxic chemical waste areas in their backyard but
the occasional street party or a bar can make a very good neighbor, I
know, I’ve lived on Folsom street before.
But back to the sunny weather and drinking outside, there are a few
places in town to do this and I’m probably not aware of all of them
but the main places i can think of are Zeitgeist, El Rio, Mix, and of
course The Eagle Tavern where I had the distinct pleasure of spinning
on sunday during the glorious afternoon of hot sun and a definite
levity among the fun-seeking crowd. I noticed right away that the
heat brings on a definite tone in my chosen musical selections. I
suddenly become much more rhythmic oriented and I’m not sure why but i
always sense a very positive response to this. I guess it might be
some kind of reference to international locations that are tropical
and hot and the music indigenous to certain places like that, like
Jamaica or Mexico or the Caribbean. Something about the heat sparks a
focus on drumming, which almost always inspires movement in some
degree, heads bobbing in unison and what not. Creating a motion and
then sustaining it can be a lot of fun and really gets a crowd going
in an upbeat way. It’s interesting how the music really does change
or reflect the meteorological conditions of the day. It also brings up
songs i remembered as being popular or attaching themselves to past
summer seasons and that opens a wealth of fun options and choices and
again people seem to respond to these references too. Then of course
there are the songs about actual hot weather, quite a few of those
actually. I could really go for some more sunny days because this one
was extra fun. The heat also makes people really horny I think.
Horny enough to just throw-down in somebody’s back yard or something.