New Sightings of "Transformers Guy": AKA He DOES Exist!... Unfortunately.

Ever since my post a couple of months back on Transformers Guy, my friends have been curious about his existence. After all, the way I described him could have been mistaken for Bigfoot himself. Well, looks-wise that is. And then, one by one, my friends began telling me of their own encounters with the "man" himself.

One friend encountered him for the first time near Safeway and knew exactly who he was the minute she saw him. I don't remember what she had told me about what he had been muttering on about, but all I remember was that she saw him and completely went the other direction, trying hard not to be noticed by him.

Another friend had told me of his experiences with him and had even said he had talked to him a couple of times. My friend's prognosis: he's definitely crazy. He had told my friend that he doesn't like going downtown because, and I quote, "he's afraid the gays will rape him." I really can't make this stuff up... I could, but it might not be as remotely funny as the truth. One day, according to the same friend, he once got on a bus and asked out loud: "Who wants to hug a fat, sweaty man?"

And then my flatmate saw him, getting on the L from West Portal just as my friend was going home from downtown. He knew who he was the minute he saw him as well, but his looks or words were not the things that he took offense to -- it was his odor. My flatmate said that he had smelled so bad, he almost got off the bus just to avoid this guy and get away from the smell. Luckily, Transformers Guy got off the bus before my friend got off the train way earlier than he should have. He was lucky enough to hear an exchange between Transformers Guy and an unfortunate lady which, as told by my friend, I can only remember as such:

Transformers Guy: If you were the only woman on Earth, would you kill yourself?

Woman: Yeah, anything to get away from you.

Even I had the fortunate opportunity to see him recently while on a late-night adventure to get tapioca/boba drinks... by the way... BB Tea on 20th Avenue and Noriega... new favorite boba place. Anyways, while in my friend's car, I saw the mythical creature talking to (or harassing?) some guy working on his car on 19th Avenue near Taraval. Two new people got to see him that night, and another friend and I exchanged our encounters with the beast.

I know I had posted in the past about Transformers Guy being a "harsh reminder" of what I could become if I don't watch myself. I was in a dark place then... I guess? Anyways, today, I think I can safely say that I would never ever ever ever EVER end up like Transformers Guy. Here's why:

• I have too much respect for the people around me to not bathe and start awkward conversations with complete strangers, especially calling women bitches for not bowing down to men. Seriously, this guy didn't bother me until the second or third time I bumped into him when he started verbally abusing the lady passengers on the bus and trying to get awkward-looking guys to awkwardly agree with him.
• I have too much sense. At first, I was going to say I have too much fashion sense because I would never wear a black metal band shirt three sizes too short for me along with dirty shorts and a greasy balding mohawk, but I also have the sense not to tattoo ANYTHING ON MY FACE!
• I have friends and family who will call me out on my shit. I also have friends and family who care about me enough to where I will never be in that position to end up like him. Man, I don't know what tick crawled up in my head to even let me think "Holy fuck, I could end up like him if I'm not careful," which I guess is good since it just makes me more self-aware about my physical and mental health, but I'm pretty confident now that thankfully, I would never turn out to be that.

I have gone on the Google and the YouTube for proof that other people have bumped into him and talk about him. Unless my search skills suck (and you would think with what I'm learning, I'd be a pro at that all ready) I haven't found anything. To that, I'm kind of disappointed in college kids/millennials/hipster San Franciscans/anyone who posts on MUNI Diaries to NOT blog or take pictures and videos of this guy. He's offended so many people with his words and stench that SOMEONE must have talked about him.

The only thing that MAY or may not be directly talking about this guy is this reddit post.

So I took it upon myself to (horribly) sketch a rendering of this mythical cave troll that has blessed the overworld with his presence. My friend says he needs more head and facial hair, but other than that, the picture has been approved by those who have met him.

Honestly, I don't know if I was able to grasp the wretchedness and despair of this guy, nor was I able to fully express his aura... mainly the smell. Seriously I should have drawn some squiggly lines. His head is definitely more pear-shaped than illustrated here. Plus, his under-the-shirt flab is more square like with rounded edges, like a huge, disgusting curtain of skin. That's gross, I apologize.

Now it may be wrong of me to make fun of a clearly deranged and sick man. (And homeless?) Obviously, he has some type of mental disorder or something. However, the way he goes around public, not giving a crap about personal hygiene, spouting out his beliefs on women and every other crazy wacko theory he's immediately thinking of at that moment, verbally berating people who look at him funny, and talking extremely loud so that people can hear him are grounds for immediately being mocked and ridiculed. He's obviously a shitstarter... a true troll in both traditional and modern definitions. Even if he can't help some of those traits (like possibly being homeless and smelling like shit), there is STILL no excuse for him to be a fucking asshole to most of the people he encounters.

So be warned out there, people who use the 28 and L, and those who are generally in the West Portal/Parkside area. If you see this guy, take a deep breath before he gets anywhere near you, and if you're too late... well... weather the storm... unless you don't take shit from anyone, in which case, knock this fucker out for me and everyone else... and then immediately wash your hands. And if you want to go the humane way... maybe lead him into the direction of a City social worker? Call the police? I don't know... go with your instincts... just don't let your nose lead the way.

The More Things Change, The More Likely It Happens ALL AT ONCE!!!

Life has a strange habit of kicking me in the balls every now and again... especially when I start going through some changes. For some reason, when one thing changes, almost everything changes around me. All at once. Without remorse or regret.

I really shouldn't complain. None of these life changes were for the worse, but when three huge life changes happen all at once, it can be way too fucking stressful.

So what are these three huge life changes that has prevented me from talking about The Monkees and stupid people for two months, you're probably not asking yourself. Well, I'm not quite sure on the best place to start this, but here it goes:

Grad School
It took me about seven to eight years to take every single person's advice on going back to school for a master's degree, but as of this semester, I'm officially a grad student. At the time I applied for grad school, I thought I had all the time in the world to go through the program. I had come to a point in my job that I could do it blindfolded while sleeping and still do a fantastic job. I'm not trying to brag... it's just that I had been doing it for so long, that it had become as naturally easy as breathing and walking... and just as vital. And with the amount of reading that I have now, I thought I could find some way to do most of it all at work... and I was wrong.

Promotion
For some reason, I thought I should move up at my workplace and apply for a new position, which obviously I got since I'm talking about it. It did come with a new title, a new ranking (I moved from a LSS II to a LSS III), and a substantial chunk of change per month. But with that comes more responsibility, new job workflows (which is a term my new boss uses and now I use as well because it sounds professional,) and less time to do all that I want to do since I have way more shit to do.

Sometimes I wonder if the dramatic change from completely lax and complacent to ALWAYS FUCKING WORKING was worth the couple of hundred dollars... I still think that to myself, especially when I see a shitload of e-mails, trying to figure out what I need to do when something arises that I need to fix.

And while I was going through all of that, one more life change had yet to come, and would take away even more time from BOTH grad school and the new job...

Moving
It was always up in the air whether I was going to move into the place that I'm staying at now. The new landlord (or rather, one of my best friends) had been trying to get rid of the assholes that were downstairs for being complete pricks, and my friends who are living upstairs were hoping they would just move. After months of trying to figure out whether it was going to happen or not, it finally became open, and my friend and I had to move on it.

I, like all of you, hate moving. Anyone who loves moving does not have tons of stuff with them because if they did, they would realize packing up their shit and cleaning up and packing up their shit and cancelling services and packing up their shit and talking with landlords ON TOP of MOVING their shit fucking sucks. If you're moving shit all by yourself, that fucking sucks... and if you are lucky enough to have friends who are willing to help you out, you feel guilty about having them move your crap and THAT fucking sucks... well I know I did... because I have too much crap. And when you realize you should be getting rid of your crap but it's too late to do anything but bring it with you, then fuck.

First world problems.

I know. I know. I really shouldn't complain. Everything about these life changes is a change for the better. Going to grad school will increase my chances for better opportunities... and I can be a real librarian. The new promotion also increases my chances at better opportunities since it pretty much connects to my concentration within the masters' program. And moving into my current place brings me closer to my friends while paying less. So there really is nothing to complain about... but when change happens so quickly, it's just a sudden jolt to what I'm use to and I have to adjust quickly to catch up.

With the way things are going now, after taking weeks to write this blog and having time to settle and adjust, I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it.

Why Are People Fucking Stupid? Discussion 1: Public Restrooms

[Yes, yes, I haven't posted in two and a half months, and don't worry, I'll talk about THAT soon in another blog, but in the meantime, I REALLY need to talk about this because I've been meaning to talk about it for a real fucking long time.]

Back in the days of 2012 (and quite possibly many years before that,) I had the idea for a post entitled: "Top Five Reasons Why I Have No Faith in Humanity." Since I've been known -- sometimes very proud of it but not lately -- for being very misanthropic. I have had an acute dislikeness -- quite possibly seathing hatred -- for people in general... not friends, mind you, but people living in the world, somehow affecting my day-to-day life, whether it's people on the road, people sharing the same public venues that I use, or assholes who have way too much power and fuck up the way I see life (i.e. rich people, Republicans, you know, the usual.)

Over time, I have tried to extinguish that burning desire to go Super Saiyan on half the country and become a little more at peace with my daily surroundings. Well when there's fucking stupid people who don't know how to flush or wash their hands or lift up a goddamn toilet seat or RESTRAIN THEMSELVES from using their FUCKING PENIS to SPRAY THE GODDAMN STALL... sorry, sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself.

When there are blatant things that I just can't ignore and let go, I must rant. It's in my genetic code to rant against fucking idiots. So instead of doing the whole top five reasons gimmick, I'm just going to turn the whole damn thing into a series, because why regulate it to JUST five reasons? Seriously, there is just way too much material to ignore if I just did five topics... so here we go.

Now, just today, maybe about thirty minutes ago as I write this (not twenty minutes ago from the time this will eventually be posted,) I went to the bathroom at work. Now as a human being who tries not to leave a fucking mess everywhere I go, I expect the bathroom to at least not be a fucking pigsty. Sure, it may smell, but whatever, the bathroom is used for bowel movements so you can't fucking avoid that. However, when I leave the bathroom, I flush the toilet, wipe the seat if I've sat on it, even with one of those paper seat protectors, I wash my hands, I SHAKE the excess water in the sink because no one wants a fucking wet floor, and I dry my hands. I DON'T FUCKING SPILL COFFEE ALL OVER THE GODDAMN STALL FLOOR AND NOT ATTEMPT TO CLEAN UP!

Now to be fair, at my workplace's restrooms, there are no fucking paper towels... just stupid new-but-somehow-outdated hand dryers, so there's no way at that exact moment a person who made a mistake can correct their wrong.

If it's not a Dyson Airblade, it's fucking obsolete.
Image from prodryers.com, found on Google Image Search.

BUT WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU BRING IN A FULL CUP OF COFFEE (or it could have been one of those Quickly's hot milk tea that my co-worker loves, since there's a fucking Quickly's on campus) INTO THE GODDAMN STALL?

Now, I don't know if there are people out there who don't know me and just love to read about my concert outings and posts about my love for The Monkees, but most people who know me know that I work at a library on a college campus. Now, it isn't Oxford or MIT, so I don't expect everyone who goes here to be a genius... but even then, geniuses are fucking stupid when it comes to normal, everyday things... or as my dad calls it, they're book smart, but street stupid.

Nevertheless, I expect people who are at a college level to actually apply critical thinking, or apply thinking. So if you make a boo-boo in the bathroom, and there's no paper towels, inform someone at a help desk that a custodian has to clean up your fucking mess and apologize profusely... not just leave it for the next person to find so that person can rant on the Internet about how people are fucking stupid.

Now this isn't the first time I have found a public restroom stall fucked up. For some fucking reason, there is an asshole out there who likes to shove tons of toilet paper into the toilet, hopefully causing a potential flooding of the stall. Who THE FUCK finds this funny? Now, there are only two types of people who I can imagine doing this: 1. a bored ass white kid from the suburbs who needs to pull pranks like this to get any excitement or joy from their boring existence, or 2. a mentally unstable homeless guy who goes to public places like libraries and just mess shit up for the fuck of it.

Now, if that person who shoves tons of toilet paper into a toilet just to flood is idiot #1, that person needs to be expelled. Seriously, you're in an academic setting where you're suppose to transition from pimple-faced teenager to functional young adult. Functional young adults DON'T FUCK UP A BATHROOM BECAUSE THEY'RE BORED! And if they do, they need to be cattle-prodded... in the face... because when you act like an untamed animal when in fact you're a human being that's suppose to know better, you need to be tamed with pain... 50,000 watts of pure electricity straight into your eyesockets.

Yeah, that sounds like overkill, but that's what makes it sound funny.

Now believe it or not #2 happens all the fucking time. Not just here, but at libraries all over, especially in big metropolitan cities with a homeless problem. Now, I'll have pity for a homeless person who is down on their luck, but if they have a long track of creating a public nuisance on campus, BAN THAT MOTHER FUCKER! Now I know the campus has tried, but unfortunately, there are certain rules and regulations that prohibit us from banning anyone like that for a long period of time... which is a shame, because there are several people I'd like to see banned from this place for being a fucking asshole.

These are extreme examples, however. There are other things that really irk me when I'm in a bathroom, like hearing someone walk out of a stall and not wash their hands. Bitch, you just came from a stall. You either touched your dirty dick or you wiped your ass or both, and your hands are fucking dirty. WASH YOUR FUCKING HANDS! Or I hear people walk away from the stall, not even bothering to flush the toilet. Now maybe that person is in Environmental Sciences and wants to "conserve" water... I don't fucking know... or they're just too lazy to lift their hand a couple of feet and push down on a lever... but seriously, no one wants to piss in your fucking piss, asshole... especially me. I don't want your pungent piss splashing against me as I urinate. I can't mind if it's my own piss because that's my own damn fault if I aim it in a way where it splashes against me... but seriously, not cool if you don't flush. You can not flush in your OWN bathroom and conserve water then... because that's your own bathroom and the toilet's low enough so that splashing isn't usually a problem... but in a urinal where it's higher up and there's a higher splash rating, NOT FUCKING COOL!

And don't get me started on the grunters, or the phone talkers, or the group who needs to converse while in stalls, or the assholes who dump their Cup O' Noodles in the sink where chunks of processed vegetables and noodles clog the sink because that's not where you're suppose to FUCKING DUMP CUP O' NOODLES. There are the people who wash their hands and just shake it on the fucking floor instead of shake it into the sink... there are the people who fucking wash up... not just brush their teeth but use the fucking sink as a way to sponge off. There are the people who leave their garbage in the stall instead of dump it in a fucking garbage can. There are people who use up the one mirror in the bathroom, looking at themselves for way too fucking long.

There are the MANY people who need to piss in a stall and never fucking lift the seat up so they piss all over the goddamn seat and NEVER FUCKING CLEAN UP! Seriously, piss in a urinal. There are barriers for people not to peek over and realize you've got a small one... oh yeah, and there are the peekers, but I've never bumped into them.

Image from quickmeme.com found on Google Image Search

Oh yeah, and then there are the fucking assholes at concerts who get drunk and cut the line because they gotta let it loose. Seriously, I hope you die of alcohol poisoning or die of passing out and hitting your head on porcelain, breaking your neck in the process.

Oh, and then there are the chicks who get in line of the men's bathrooms at concerts. Seriously, it's not our fucking fault the line is long and you all got a small fucking bladder. It might be the venue's vault for not realizing they need an extra women's bathroom for big events, but don't fucking get in our line, especially when you bitch about men going into your bathroom... so fuck you and I hope you piss yourself waiting in line for another beer.

Now I don't know if women have similar problems with stupid women who don't know how to use a restroom, but if there are, discuss. And hopefully, I'll be back to normal, blogging about music and video games and pop culture and all the fun stuff, but there may be more rants in the future... especially if there is a trigger that sets me off like it did today.

Oh, and by the way... yes, I do know Cracked.com did a way better job at this than I did, so here you go... this came out first and it's probably WAAAAAY funnier.

Ode to "Transformers Guy"

Imagine this... right in the middle of a guy's forehead.



Oh, crazy Transformers Guy, who haunts the 28 from Stonestown to Taraval, and quite possibly the L-Taraval line, you're a haunting reminder of letting oneself go to the point where one man's gut will transform into goo and will just sag, the skin of the stomach not being able to contain the mass of fat any longer and a big, nasty fleshy tarp will spill over the belt line, creating a protective barrier over the presumably small penis he hasn't seen since Bush Sr. was in office, losing the power to suck in, to the point not even a XXXL will cover your disgusting body properly.

You're a haunting reminder not to eat in public while waiting at the bus stop, especially cans of what I assume to be beef chunks with juicy gravy, hopefully not from Pedigree... because eating dog food in public is just one more sign of giving up.

You're a haunting reminder to not let your obsessions go too far. It's one thing to really like something and be more invested into it than other people, but to be a total, creepy otaku about it is just going too far. I mean seriously, who tattoos the Autobots ensignia on their forehead and expect "normal" human beings, especially women, not to look at you funny or disgusted and wanting to walk away?

You're a haunting reminder to respect the female sex, regardless if they're not physically attracted to you. These are some excerpts coming out of the mouth of Transformers Guy:

"I'm into women but not into bitches like you." --after some lady probably looked at him weird and walked away, probably not even talking to him in order to illicit that specific response

"I hate you fucking lesbians who hate men." -- probably still talking to the same lady who looked at him funny, probably not a lesbian

"That's why men are looking to Asian and Latina women because they know how to please a man... and American women are crazy." -- telling some guy sitting down, probably wanting not to be in this awkward situation

"Oh yeah, you're attractive. I'd like to bend over and fuck you if you weren't such a bitch." -- on some other day in the past, probably didn't say it like that, but said something vaguely familiar

I mean, seriously, I know there are women out there who think they're hot shit and will just roll their eyes if they even see a man they don't find physically attractive just glancing their way, but even I know not to make a huge scene out of it on the bus.

You're a haunting reminder to take my meds, not that I have any, but if I did, I seriously need to take it in order to function in society.

You're a haunting reminder that you could very well be the Onslaught of the darkest parts of myself and my dad, taking the darkest, deepest frustrations and rantings and otakuness and lack of proper fitness from me, multiplying it by a million, and fusing it with a super-hyper amplified version of my dad's machismo, misanthropism, and downright lack of inner monologue.

You're a haunting reminder that if anyone should ever find me as misogynistic and creepy and tactless (and smelly) as this guy, that Slightly-Less-Crazy me of today -- like right now today -- would want someone to mercifully take me out of my misery, for I have given up on my life and have all ready died, and the dark soul that has taken over the shell that I once resided in needs to be banished from this world before it hurts anyone else.

Oh, Crazy Transformers Guy, while you do make a typical bus ride more interesting than usual, I think I'll take boring over super crazy any day.

Concert Season 2013: Episode 3: Peter Tork

To those who aren't in-the-know, Peter is the one on the far left, or 9 o'clock, if this button was a clock.

So if you've read any of my previous entries to my blog, you all ready know how I feel about the Monkees. As of now, there's a slight-to-good chance I'll go to this year's Monkees show, depending on whether I can get my act together and talk to my friend about buying tickets and getting our asses down to wherever they're playing that's NOT San Francisco but it should be.

I missed out on the Michael Nesmith show because of scheduling conflicts with my friend who was interested and since I can't really enjoy a concert without a like-minded friend by my side, I just didn't bother, which is my own damn fault. So when Peter Tork scheduled a show in San Francisco, my friend and I jumped on top of that and got some tickets. I didn't realize how sweet these tickets were until we finally sat down in the Great American Music Hall and looked at the stage. And fuck, you would hope so with the price on that ticket, right?

Now I've been to the venue about twice in the past and I've sat in both the balcony and on the floor on respective trips, but I've never eaten dinner here. I had the pork spare ribs... and I shouldn't have gotten the pork spare ribs. It wasn't because they were bad... the meat was pretty good... but I am the most inefficient person in trying to get meat off of bones. Plus, I was eating in the dark since we got our food during the opener. Aside from that, I was feeling guilty while eating while the opener was playing, because honestly when I'm at a show, the music should be priority. I didn't really finish because the music was going on and I was getting into that and I felt a little frustrated trying to eat in the dark and paying attention to the music and all that. I had enough food to make sure the booze didn't completely fuck me over, though to be honest, I don't know if I really had enough booze to fuck me over... at least at the venue. The food was good and the service was cool, which is something I never get to say in regards to a concert show. I'm use to nachos and lemonade at the Oracle, not spare ribs with au gratin potatoes and asparagus and a Ring of Fire and a Fat Tire.

So on with the music. The opener was a guy by the name of John Wicks, who was the frontman for this band called The Records that was popular during the 70s... or was it the 60s? He did an acoustic set that was really good. I tried to listen to a couple of songs from The Records from Spotify, but I didn't recognize anything while I was listening to him play, except for his cover of "Yesterday." Wicks' accent reminded me a little bit like Fred Armisen's Ian Rubbish character, since he was British and all, but unlike Ian Rubbish, The Records were more power-pop, like The Cars and Cheap Trick, than it was punk. Steve, my friend's husband, really dug his performance and actually got to talk to him for a little bit after the show.

It looks like their big hit was "Starry Eyes," which he played acoustically (duh). This version is from the album.

So while trying to finish dinner, they played a short homemade movie that starred a very young Peter, probably during the late 50s/early 60s... not really sure. They were playing old Monkees songs but obviously that wasn't the original audio, if there was any, to the video. Basically the small movie has Peter Tork in love with this girl, who is with someone else. Desperate for her love, he goes to a psychic gypsy who gives him a love potion. At a party, he tries to slip the potion into her drink, but instead, slips it into a jug of lemonade or some type of drink. All the females at the party take a drink, even grandma, and chase him off into the wilderness, ending the short. It was cute, and it really looked like it could have been an episode of The Monkees, humor and all.

So the man of the night comes out and let me just point out something right off from the start... Peter Tork is a damn fine performer. People can play an instrument on stage perfectly, but some can't pull off the performing part once they get on stage. Not only can he play, but damn, he gets everyone's attention when he's up there. He's funny, his stories are entertaining and engaging, he plays three instruments while on stage (piano, banjo, and acoustic guitar) and he moves unlike someone of his age would stereotypically move. You would think he could break a hip moving his hips the way he does, but no. Maybe he does yoga? I don't know.

I'm not going to be able to talk about every song or every single detail, because my memory is a piece of shit... maybe it was because of the booze... maybe... maybe not... anyways, someone was awesome enough to actually know what was played and the order it was played in here on this site, so check it out, if you want to follow along.

So the entire gist of the show is that he talks about his musical career -- his background, his beginnings, the Monkees, and post-Monkeedom -- all while playing music in between the stories he tells. He talked about how folk music was more of his background, with some inspirations like Burl Ives, and played some music that he was use to hearing while growing up, like "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho", which I only know because it was a "previously unreleased" song off the 90s re-release of Headquarters.

He talked about his time living in New York, playing in Greenwich Village, talking a little bit about the scene. He then talked about his move to Los Angeles and how he wasn't doing as well as he did in New York because everything is so spread out down there. He then told the story of how Stephen Stills suggested he audition for a role for the Monkees TV show, with the producers asking Stills if he "knew someone better looking but with 1/10th the talent," or something similar to that. It was funny, and I think it was meant as a joke. He had said that the pilot for the show tanked amongst the test viewers, but did way better when they added the personality interviews of each of the Monkees to the shows, giving the audience some background to who they were. This is a video of all the screen tests, since I can't find a separate video for just his, but if you want to see Peter's, it starts at 9m25s.

He talked about the time The Monkees created a traffic jam in front of the roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe for hours because the directors wanted zany action in Paris. While he was cramped up in a Paris hotel room, he wrote "Lady's Baby," an ode to his then girlfriend and her baby. He also sang his own song that he wrote for the movie Easy Rider that they rejected and went with something else. He went on to talk about his times after the Monkees and the bands that he formed, leaning more toward the blues nowadays. He sent the audience home happy with some more popular Monkees songs, playing "Shades of Gray" and "Daydream Believer" on a piano, and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" as an encore.

I was pretty happy with the show. I was hoping for more songs that he wrote for the band, especially the ones he wrote for the movie. Then again, he did play "Do I Have To Do This All Over Again?" at the beginning so I was happy about that.

We contemplated getting in line to meet Peter Tork, but by the time we got out of our chairs, the line was pretty big. Plus, we had to go to the bathroom -- there was no way I was shaking Peter Tork's hand with my spare rib greasey hands -- so we stayed in line for that. Fortunately the line for the bathroom wasn't nearly as long as the line for Peter. However, as we were waiting in line, the biggest moment of the night happened for me: Peter Tork came from a different door away from the bathrooms, and walked past the bathroom line, thanking everyone for showing up. That's right, I was eye-to-eye with Peter Tork while waiting in line for the bathroom. I don't know if I should be bragging about that, but fuck it, I was a foot away from Peter Tork! That made my week.

My friend Bernadette and her husband Steve were awesome throughout the entire night. We had a great time at the concert, and we had a fun time when we out to drink after giving up on waiting in line. Bernadette thought if we were last in line, we would be able to spend more time with him since there'd be no one behind us, but Steve thought that he'd be completely tired by then and would just want to get to his hotel room by then... and quite frankly, I kinda thought that, too, because I'd probably think the same if I was in that situation. But you know what, I never would be in that scenario where a hundred people would want to shake my hand and take a picture with me, so who knows... I might be thrilled that a hundred people want to meet me because they loved my music and just give each person my utmost attention. Either way, I was satisfied with the night.

But anyways, we went to Tommy's Joynt on the corner of Van Ness and Geary. Even though I'm a San Francisco native, this was my first time here. We didn't get any food because you know... spare ribs... but the beer selection there is pretty cool. I got myself a Grolsch because if I'm not talking about music and video games, I'm talking about Amsterdam. At the bar, we just talked more about beer and random topics that will stay between the three of us... mainly because my memory is shit.

So yeah, if you couldn't tell, I had a great time. It wasn't just the performers that made the night for me... it was mainly the company that was I keeping. This is why I can't go to concerts by myself. I need to enjoy it with someone, and even though most of the time I'm not drinking during or after a show, I'm still sharing my experiences with someone I like. It'll be nice to see the three remaining Monkees one more time just to get another Monkees concert in, but we'll see. But even if I go to the next concert, there's probably no chance I'll have a random encounter with any of the Monkees, or any artist I might see this year, like the one I had last Friday. Now if I could only meet Micky Dolenz at a barbershop and Michael Nesmith at a local grocery store, then my life will be complete. :D

Stone Temple Pilots's New Frontman is WHO?!

About a week or so ago, my friend and I were talking about music, like we usually do, and he told me that Stone Temple Pilots kicked out Scott Weiland... again. I wasn't too surprised about that; he had been booted before due to drugs and no-shows, and I guess that was the case again. It's pretty sad, of course, but what had really surprised me was who they replaced him with.

Linkin Park's Chester Bennington.

I know.

I admit... I gave a WTF face about it when I first heard about this. I haven't been a fan of Linkin Park lately and I associate them with Transformers and songs on the radio that get overplayed. Not only that, their songs had begun to sound too similar and if it weren't for lyrics, I couldn't distinguish them apart. I'm use to "New Divide" which sounds way too similar to "What I've Done", two songs that played about five times an hour on Live 105 at one point. I mean, those songs are okay, but when they're played ad nauseum and associated with shit like Transformers, it just gets old quickly.

My friend, however, assured me that the combination works. Not only does he sings the old songs pretty well, the new song which STP and Chester wrote together, sounds very much like an old STP song. Apparently, they knew each other since 2001, something my friend told me, and later reinforced in this video.

And to be fair, I really liked Chester and Linkin Park back in the days in 2000 and 2001 when Hybrid Theory came out. And after listening to the album again just recently, I still like most of that album. Aside from "In The End," which I love to do in Rock Band, "One Step Closer," "Papercut," and "A Place for My Head" are still favorites, and it's surprising that I still remember the lyrics to those songs. While I thought Meteora wasn't as good as Hybrid Theory, I still liked "Somewhere I Belong" and "Numb." Sure, I lost interest when Minutes to Midnight FINALLY came out, thinking that the wait wasn't worth it, and I got tired of Chester's scream-singing, I still didn't hate them. I was just disappointed.

So I decided to check it out. After typing in "stone temple pilots chester bennington" into the YouTube search engine, I checked out his version of "Trippin' On A Whole In A Paper Heart".

Not too bad. I thought he did a good job. Sure, it wasn't as good as the original album version, but most stuff sounds better in a studio. Plus, he sings it better than Scott can sing it now. Trust me, I've seen him live a couple of years ago, and while it wasn't bad, Weiland definitely doesn't have the voice that he use to and it was a slight disappointment. I hate saying that, but it's true.

So he did well on one song, but how about "Sex Type Thing?"

You know, since this was live and in the nosebleeds, I really couldn't tell at first it was Chester... until he went high and then I was like... ahhh okay. Not bad, especially during the low part. So two songs down and he's way more than adequate. But how will Chester do on my favorite STP song, "Interstate Love Song"? I found a video that has minimal crappy crowd vocals from the show at BFD, a show I could have gone to if it weren't for my seething hatred toward the Shoreline.

Not bad... it's not the best, but it's not bad. Aside from a couple of hiccups that may have either been performance-based or the lack of capabilities from the camera's microphone, I didn't find anything wrong with the performance. In comparison, this is Scott Weiland with a new backup band playing with a Southern twang after getting on that Southern train only yesterday. (Haha... see what I did?)

It's probably one of the better live performances I've seen from him but it's still not the same from all those years ago. Then again, that can be an unfair comparison, despite all the life choices he made that consequently got him kicked out of STP for a second time. He doesn't sound bad here, but like I said, it's just not the same.

So how about that new song? (I tried to link the video but it just wouldn't work.) I dig the music. I'm still on the fence about it. On one hand, it sounds like a STP song, musically, but I'm just so use to Scott Weiland. I can probably get over it if I heard more songs. When Chester sings high, it just doesn't sound as STP-y. It's not bad at all, but to me, it's not quite STP, which is weird since the only thing they replaced was the singer.

Man, I wonder if this is how AC/DC fans felt when Bon Scott died and Brian Johnson stepped in. I'm not going to compare this to the whole Green Bay Favre/Rodgers or the San Francisco Smith/Kaepernick situations because I like Rodgers (new) and Smith (old) in those comparisons... yeah yeah, Kaepernick is okay, just give me a couple of seasons to be fine with what Harbaugh did to Smith. Chester's fine, and I understand why they had to replace Scott, but I'll have to get use to it. The ultimate test will be to see him live with the band. Those videos aren't going to convince me because the pitchy sounds could be from camera microphones not picking it up properly, and crowd sing-a-longs could be fucking with the sound as well. I hope Scott does well, but unless someone really wants to go to the show and desperately needs me to go with them, I won't be going to his show at the Fillmore next Friday. But hey, anything can happen in a week.

Well I know one thing is for certain... both Scott and Chester are still better than Jaguar Love... or at least the frontman to Jaguar Love. Seriously, why does he sound like a baby with chronic nasal congestion and a vice attached to his nuts while high on cocaine or meth or whatever the fuck skinny white boys take to get high that's not marijuana?

Weezermania??? "Blue Album" Came Out Today... 19 Years Ago!

So according to Rolling Stone's Facebook page, Weezer's first album, titled "Weezer" but nicknamed "The Blue Album" because... well... you can guess why, came out on this date 19 years ago... back in 1994, if my math is correct. I think they did it so they can get some hits for their 1995 article on Weezer's rise to fame, but I'm glad they did it because it gives me something to write about.

It's been a while since I've listened to Weezer's songs back-to-back. Sure, there will be a song randomly playing as I listen to music on my phone on the way to work, but I really haven't listened to an all-Weezer playlist or an album in a long time. In fact, while I was writing this last paragraph, I was listening to Metallica because a conversation between me and a work friend about a particular politician reminded her  of "And Justice for All."

At several points in my life, Weezer had overtaken The Monkees as my favorite band of all time. I know, I know... "How can a band as awesome as The Monkees be dethroned as my #1 band?" you're definitely not asking yourself. Well, my first concert was a Weezer/Foo Fighters double headliner over at the Oracle back in 2005. Yeah... I started REALLY late with concerts. Weezer's Green Album, really named Weezer but nicknamed Green Album because... well... if you can see the Blue Album above, you can guess why again, really won me over, and Make Believe, the more emo of the five albums Weezer came out with at the time, spoke to me on a personal, emotional level. Even though they're not my all-time favorite band at this point in time, they're always going to be in my Top Five Personal Favorites, and 90% of my playlists and mix-CDs contain at least one Weezer song.

The Blue Album and Pinkerton, the first two albums by Weezer always switch spots over my top favorite album from them. Most people who like Weezer in general will agree that those two albums are the best in their discography. Some will say it's because of Matt Sharp, the original bassist, who co-wrote some songs off the first two albums before he left on bad terms with Rivers Cuomo, the frontman/lead guitarist... or is Brian Bell the lead guitarist? I can never get that right. Back when they toured with two nights playing "Blue Album" and "Pinkerton" respectively, in its entirety, I chose to go to the Pinkerton show. To be honest, I chose that one because I knew it would be easier to get tickets since most people know the songs off the Blue Album.

Most people who know Weezer know the three big songs off this album: "Sweater Song," "Say It Ain't So," and "Buddy Holly." I was first introduced to the band from the "Buddy Holly" video, which put the band inside the Happy Days universe, with clips of the show integrated into the music video to look like they're there, playing at Arnold's.

To be brutally honest, I hated that video when I first saw it. I thought it was a gimmick, trying to do the whole Forrest Gump meeting JFK and LBJ thing. Back then, I wasn't as rock-centric as I am today, despite Weezer being more power-pop or post-grunge pop-rock... whatever you want to call it. When I revisited the music video and the album in general back in college, I fell in love with it. The songs just speak to my inner... ha! more like outer... geek.

If it weren't for my days in college, and Napster, I don't think I'd be as rock-centric like I am today. Would Weezer be considered college rock back then?  I know that was a term used for alt rock but I don't know if they were considered college rock or if that term was made for bands like Local H or Cake.

Back on topic, there's a lot of songs off the first album that I genuinely love. I would say I can listen to seven of them without ever feeling the need of skipping them. I know one of my friend's favorite songs from them is "In the Garage." I think the song reminds her of just geeking out with her brothers, playing D&D and reading X-Men. I love it for similar reasons, and I love it being unapologetic about being the nerd, loving the nerdy hobbies with similar-minded folks, secluded in a safe place.

Personally, I love "Say It Ain't So." I don't know... I think the emotion behind the song, the topic it's covering, and the way Rivers just sings this song hits me personally... that and it's just one of my favorites to sing in Rock Band. If I go into my old iPod and check the #25 songs listed, this may be #1... that or it's "Buddy Holly" I forget... but this is definitely one of my favorite songs ever. I don't know if it's my #1 favorite since all my favorites move like water when it comes to placement, but it's definitely a song that will instantly get me into listening to Weezer on a constant basis the minute I finish listening to it, possibly singing along as well.

Happy anniversary, Blue Album. You have definitely helped shape my music tastes for the better and get me through some rough patches in my life. If I remember to talk about it during the 20th Anniversary, I may have more to say. I don't know... but for the time being, this album is a major reason why Weezer is in my top 5 favorites of all time.