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Wow. Sitting by the north fork of cache creek watching the heavens reveal themselves slowly. This post will be sent from willows or colusa but as I write it is the distant sound of us hwy 20, the burble of the creek, the insects of night, and an invisible silence that sits beneath the white noise of nature and man.

 It is by this creek that my bike stands, perched on its kickstand but ever ready to be called to duty. It is by this creek where I stopped, convinced of my remoteness, and stripped naked and bathed after 60 difficult miles on US highways. It is this creek, the first unkown destination, that asks the question so loudly, "is it the journey or the destination?"

 When riding a bike multiple miles per day one gets to think. This is only the end of day two and already I see the joy that awaits the solo travler mixed with a balance of isolation. Last night I stayed with some friends in calistoga (much love Jamie and Jarred!) and was blessed with friendship and a dry place to rest my head while the rain came down in napa valley. Otherwise my first night would have been wet, guaranteed. Instead, Tucker was in a garage with his people (a "project rawanda" coffee cargo, lomg haul volpe, and another)and I was on a blow up matress listening to the rain fall.
It was good. Day 1 involved a century, fully loaded (double entendre?), trip from sf to the top ofthe napa valley. The shower I took upon arrival, before calistoga inn burgers, made my top 5 alltime shower list.

  
woody.fridayarts.com

With such beautiful weather I had to go for a ride. It was spectacular.
Here is a map of the route.

 http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2533181

 The highlight of the ride had to be riding through pit-row of the
supercross race being held at AT&T park and yelling out "Two wheels, two
pedals is all you need" and "Pedal power, power to the people!!!" and the
old favorite "Get a bike!"

 Eating a grapefruit on top of Twin Peaks was pretty great too. Ahhh,
nothing like winter riding in the bay area.

September 21st, a Sunday. Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams was playing the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. The last time I saw the band play was this same venue. And though I prefer to stand while watching the band, this venue is very much a sit down establishment.

Well, my friend from Texas was in town and even though the cowboys were on he agreed to go check this show out with me. We got our tickets for $18.50 before the doors officially opened. Joziah was in there so I welcomed him back to the bay and shook his hand. He remembered my face (or so he said) but I wasn't looking for validation, just to wish them a good set.

We bailed for a bit to grab a bite to eat and then made our way back to the venue. The best seats were taken so we found a spot just to the side but with a completely unfettered view. I don't remember the whole set list but I know it started with one of my all time favorites Sunday in the Rain.

The band was on, these guys are true professionals, and the show was going along well until in the middle of "The Great Unravel" the title track from their new cd the amp and power for the guitars just went away. Completely gone in an instant. After a fracas of F&S folks getting a breaker switched back on the band asked if they should play again or start over. The crowd, anxious for this new treat requested the do over. And what do you know, once again as Sharkie is getting ready to start his solo the sound dropped in the SAME spot. damn. too much power needed for that solo i guess.

The band toned it down a touch after that and got through a number of great songs without further incident. Standouts had to include Tink and yet another fun and rousing version of the Yodel Song.

The band split their set into two and played a wonderful encore for us as well. Once again, one of the most humble bands I have ever seen put on another show to remember. Well done Gandlaf Murphy.

Sorry. No pics.

34. it has been loomin but is here today. it has been a great day. the brewers made the playoffs and that makes David real happy. I made delicious skillet. makes me happy. volker came by. talked to friends. today has been beautiful.

need to post about gandalf murphy and the slambovian circus of dreams. and going to see calexico tonight so look for more music updates.

Sent from my mobile do it all device...

So I went out with AP last night to Hieroglyphics at the Fillmore. DAMN DOGG!!! Those guys are hot, hot, hot. It looks like Opio is primed to make a run towards being a star. I had a chance to see him at his cd release party a couple weeks ago. I should have been blogging then because that show was crazy.

(Old school eastbay emcee JC performed, warming up the stage for Opio. Well JC's cousin was there and causing some ruckus on stage. When it was just JC and his cuz it was fine. But when JC got on stage with Opio and cuz-zo started getting wild with him security stepped in and it got a little ugly. I saw cop cars outside the venue but don't know if the guy was arrested.)

Ok. So we are watching the show and having fun and the fillmore is TOTALLY smoked out. Hiero puts on a great show, 7 or 8 emcees and two turntables. Each guy had numerous chances to shine but the night seemed to feature Opio and Pep Love the most. A-plus did his thing and Casual did a Handsome Boy Modeling School song, It's Like That, that was super hot.

I started to get these weird thoughts of how Hiero is the Wu-Tang Clan of the West. 7-8 emcees that all can kill it and each take their time to shine. Crazy verses that twist and turn. Longevity...

That is when I realized that Del is a cross between ODB and Method Man. Like ODB because you should have seen how drunk Del was. He went into a couple barely inteligible rants about supporting the Hiero cause and paying the crew. Then, after the set and everyone had left the stage, Del stayed on with the mic for another jaunt. By this time we were 10 feet from the stage and Del was just in the zone. I looked off to stage right when people were getting restless and sure enough, there was a-plus waiting there for Del with the stage manager... a-plus is the man. Got him off stage and looked after... So we thought. And of course the Method man comparison because Meth is the star of the Wu. Del is definitely the star of Hiero.

So hanging for minute outside the venue what do we see? Del and JC cruising the street! Well, JC was more keeping track of Del... Don't want to loose your star in the Fillmore at midnight... I noticed the good deed JC was performing and shouted him out. He turned back, stoked I think, that someone recognized him. Don't sleep on that guy. He can straight spit it...

One last pass by the front of the club and there was a-plus, chattin up the fans. All in all an awesome night and a nice bike ride home. No pics. Sorry.

i love riding bikes in san francisco. at night. with my friends. we are the posse. what kind of posse? a bike posse.

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