California Senate race....

It's on... the GOP candidates are slugging it out to see who will eventually lose to Barbara Boxer in the Calif. Senate race. I just want to shine the light on one of those candidates as I used to work for her. Here are the highlights to the great Carly Fiorina as you get ready to endorse your candidate.

Sounds like she has everything it takes to get a republican nomination.

Wild Weekend

 Well, it wasn't that wild, but the title is a reference to a song by the Zeros, which featured Xavier Excovedo sharing vocal duties with Robert Lopez late of El Vez fame. (doesn't ring a bell? oh well)....Well, Xavier has a brother named Mario and he belonged to another local San Diego band called The Dragons. The members have all moved on to their own things, but once a year they have a one off at the Casbah and my wife, using her new SLR Nikon D5000 uber camera took some great shots. But, first....lets look at the rest of the weekend.

 I took this picture. On night one of the weekend, my friend who was in town specifically for the Dragons show, his wife, my wife and I went to an English themed bar called Shakespeare. There is the really cool phone booth I wanted to get a shot of.

During the day, we took this tour of San Diego bay via a bus that turns into a boat. This is one cool shot from the trip. In the background is a freighter that carries cars across the Pacific Ocean.Now, the show. (From Left) Bass Player Steve Rodriquez and lead singer Mario Escovedo get the show revved up.

 Master Axeman Ken Horne becomes the attraction as his fast fingerwork becomes all but a blur.

  "Let's get LOADED!!!"     Steve just looks like a rock and roll star.

Blah Blah Blah Lane Kiffin sucks...now grow up!!!

Tennessee Vols fans need to grow up. I said it...I don't give a shit who it upsets. Here's the back story for those who aren't familiar with the story. The longtime coach of the Tennessee Volunteers college football team retired last year. In his stead they hired Lane Kiffin, a former Oakland Raiders head coach and former USC assistant coach. Well, after one season as coach of the Vols, Lane Kiffin was offered what is his dream job as head coach of USC after their coach split to return to the NFL. Did I lose you?

Okay, so after one season, apparently the Vols fans were so attached that when the announcement of Kiffin's departure came to fruition....they rioted. They rioted, screamed, put graffiti to the tone of "Fuck Kiffin!!" on walls, homes, and their own automobiles. And just today, a Vol fan suggested that they rename the local sewage treatment plant in honor of Lane Kiffin.

What's completely insane in all of this is that the Vols fans see nothing wrong with all of this. In fact, their ire still goes on and over what? A guy who just saved the school a bunch of money by resigning (Kiffin signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Tennessee on November 30, 2008. The deal included $2 million in 2009, with additional performance bonuses, including a $300,000 bonus if UT competes for the national championship. His salary was set to increase over the six-year-deal, reaching a high of $2.75 million in 2014. The average salary of the deal was $2.375 million. If Kiffin had been fired in 2009 or 2010, the school would have to pay him $7.5 million under a buyout clause; after the 2012 season, the buyout clause decreased to $5 million.^[18] Kiffin's contract stated that if he resigned, he would have to pay UT $1 million in 2009, with the sum decreasing by $200,000 each year of his contract.^[19]) AND a coach who went 7-6 as head coach of the Vols.

Now, I won't win hearts over this, but you are all acting like fucking children over a guy who might have been fired next season. If you are this worked up over college football, you really need to get your priorities in order. Besides...it ain't exactly the Ohio State/Michigan feud. So.......GROW UP!!!!

Let the stress begin....

I'm not gonna talk about politics or world event...just me and my problems. In November, to stop the bleeding of our bank account via fuel prices, my wife and I purchased a 700 dolla 93 Ford Escort to ease the pain. So far, it has worked, to a point, but I have yet to switch the car over to my name and I have had the check engine light on since I bought it. Like I said...700 dollars (like you'd expect a perfectly working vehicle for that?)

Two weeks in, it became apparent that something was wrong with fuel fiter or possibly the fuel pump. But, since the car starts no problem, it's probably not the pump and I have yet to fix the fuel filter, which is under $20 to do. With X-mas and dentistry issues, we let it go unfixed. The way I managed it, was by keeping the car under 70 MPH on the fwy and thus far, it has worked pretty good with few exceptions. Then X-mas night, we noticed a clicking noise coming from the motor area when I have the clutch pushed in. That's just fucking great. I should drive this car off a cliff now and suck up the loss. A new clutch probably wouldn't cost too much. But, how much does anyone want to spend on a 700$ car?

So, it looks like I'll be back to driving the f-150 tommorrow so the car doesn't fucking break down and leave us stranded somewhere. At least I have that for backup. S'all good though, in March when that truck is paid off, I was gonna trade that beast in for a reasonable car....like a toyota corolla or something. The truch was great for hauling my longboards around, but those things have been bound to the wall since I got too fat to surf. 

On the upside, I got my wife a wii for x-mas and I worked myself sore playing Punch Out for 90 minutes straight. So, perhaps there's hope on the horizon for at least my sad ass physical state.

Currently Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) By The Rolling Stones, Rolling Stones see related

My X-Mas Tradition

For the past 10 years now, I have established a annual Christmas tradition as a way of basically staying in the spirit every year. I love this time of year, but my family (parents and siblings) have never really been that into it. We don't even celebrate Thanksgiving together. This has been due to money issues for as long as I can remember. I am okay with it, but I still needed something to get me through the holidays and still feel like I didn't miss out.

Enter, Exile On Kettner. This is an annual free concert at my favorite club iun San Diego, The Casbah on Christmas eve. It's a gritty indie rock club that rivals established (WhiskeyA-GoGo ) and extinct(CBGBs) indie clubs around the country. (I don't mean it's better than those...I just mean in this city it's the place to be).  Now, Exile on Kettner  opened my eyes to the wonder that is the music of The Rolling Stones. The entire album Exile On Main Street is played plus many more songs The Stones in a marathon set of perfectly performed tunes with a collection of the best San Diego indie-rock musicians. It is lead by a Mexican Mick Jagger, Mario Escovedo (Former Dragons frontman, Uncle of Sheila E, brother of Alejandro Escovedo and Zeros member Xavier Excovedo.) The rest of the band rotates every year. Two bass players, multiple guitarists, keys, sometimes additional percussion (in good year), drummer, and three female back up singers. It's a rich sound coming from such a small stage.

I started going more than ten years ago when the core of the group was the whole Dragons lineup plus some. I introduced whoever I could to this show and through the years many have enjoyed and never returned, but I keep the tradition alive. My wife has dug it ever since I introduced her to it four years ago. We introduced her younger brother to it (he's planning on going again with his wife) and this year, my kid sister will tag along (unless she flakes out). This makes the whole season worth it for me. Going broke every year to make others happy knowing that my return won't even be close (who's is really?). At least I will always have Exile On Kettner to look forward to. Oh, and tamales. You Latinos know what I'm talking about. (I gotta help make tamales at my brother-in-law's with his huge family before I can enjoy the tunes).