I WANT TO BE A SUPER-HERO

Stan Lee of Spiderman/Marvel Comics fame had his own reality TV show on the Sci-Fi network called Who Wants to Be a Super-Hero? I mean - wow. I confess that I watched the first episode and the last one, just because I have a sick and twisted sense of curiosity for the freakish things of this world. And let me tell you, that was something else.

I mention this only because I just found out that there is going to be a second season. I think IMOL may enter the competition. My special powers: immunity to alcohol (except White Zinfandel - that's my kryptonite!). Unafraid to sing karaoke but petrified of last call. Slurs and slants among the mightiest. Eats and flies with the wealthiest yet somehow never ends up with the tab.

FOREIGN CINEMA

Okay, so I like movies. And good food. So I was really excited for my dinner at Foreign Cinema where they play a movie against their courtyard wall while you eat your meal. Fantastic. I recall Ef and I had eaten a delicious dinner there before and watched Dr. Strangelove, one of my favorite movies. The food was fantastic - this time and last.

However...

Cabaret is really a painful movie to sit through. I'm just grateful for the company of MoFo, AnBy, Sa and the other Russians who helped polish off the beautiful bottle that was the Duckhorn Merlot. Mmm-mmm gooood. You can order their wine on-line, too. Tell them IMOL sent you... if enough of you do it, then maybe I'll finally end up with a some corporate sponsorship.

COOOOKIE

A night at 12 Galaxies. And who should be there but Mr. 12 Galaxies himself. MoFo, KeWe, JeMo and the Cookie Monster, too.

Cookie Mongoloid fucking rock. Its Sesame Street on speed. Go-go dancers, a mosh-pit and cookie cannons. A regular ho-hum quiet night on the town. Cookie Monster pelted MoFo with a stale-ass chocolate chip cookie while she was standing in the balcony. They played I am Cookie (sounds a lot like the Sex Pistols' Anarchy in the U.K.), C is for Cookie, and my personal favorite - 10 Cookies. I have to say - they get better everytime I see them. You think I would tire of seeing Cookie Monster enter the show through the crowd on a motorcycle, but I don't. And busting heads with Cookie Monster while he sings Me Lost Me Cookie in the Mosh Pit brings me joy everytime.

C is for Crazy.

REGIS & CONTRA-B

Hotels seemed like the next logical place to find things international... like people, so CaGa and I hit the St. Regis for bloody bloodies. This place is swanky swanky and as far as hotels go it gets the official IMOL mark of approval - 4 1/2 martini glasses! - that's not my rating system, it's the number of drinks I had after the bloody mary (the other half I spilled on some Swedish girl's lap).

Some say all things happen for a reason. After all, it's not like a man of leisure to spill his alcohol.

This quest of mine to know all things international is going very well indeed.

WHERE HAS ALL THE TIME GONE?

Latest thoughts on the life of leisure: it beats the hell out of working. Wait, I've had that thought before - mmmm... it's really given me a chance to philosophize and put things in perspective... uh, no - think I mentioned that before, too. How about - you start to notice the little things more and learn to really appreciate them... like the birds and squirrels outside my window, like the way water falls from a massage shower head... or like the dust on the top of my snooze button. Hee hee.

Also, if you have the time to write your own song, do it. At least try. I don't know of any other non-sexual activity more fulfilling.

12 GALAXIES

Ahhh... it feels good to be back in San Francisco. I would never have made it on Walden Pond. It's hard to be bored here in the city. Such characters. Such freaks.

When I moved back to SF in '99, I was working in Union Square, where I would often see the man seen in the above picture (we'll refer to him as the 12 Galaxies guy). Back then, the big topic was impeaching Clinton, and that's what the 12 Galaxies guy had on his picket sign: "IMPEACH CLINTON: Guilty of Crimes in 12 Galaxies". Since then, the names on his sign have changed and become a little less comprehensible, but the man has managed to get sponsors for the B-Side of his sign, not to mention that Nike sports him with some quality footwear. After all, the man does a lot of walking. That's all he does...

Not true, I was at a Cookie Mongoloid concert a couple Halloweens ago, and he was the emcee. Weird sight (weird intro - the man has a truly out-of-this world vocabulary) - especially because there was someone in the crowd dressed in a 12 Galaxies guy costume.

There is a club in San Francisco called 12 Galaxies (named after the man in the photo). And guess what new synchronicity I've discovered... Cookie Mongoloid is playing there next Friday. IMOL will be there.

A CABIN IN THE WOODS

On the way through the Santa Cruz mountains, one can find a 99-year old cabin made of redwood and hemp. There's a nearby waterfall and a virtual farm of animals: goats, a rooster & chickens, dogs of all sizes, and even a little pig named Snapple. Wild deer often visit the land, and at night you can hear the frightening grunts of a wild boar - pretty spooky when you don't know what the hell is making the sound (and when you had recently heard rumors that the chupacabra was in the neighborhood). All in all, an excellent place to retreat and think...

Conclusions: my body is happy, especially my head. The leisure life can take more out of you than a so-called "normal" existence. My new knight's quest shall be to seek out more things international. I am also opening the doors to suggestions for places to visit, so if anyone has any ideas, please share with a locale and an optimum time of year for that place. Looking at New Years' now as a start for the serious travel. Final conclusion: I get bored real easily - think it's time to head back up towards the city.

REBIRTH

Fitting that I was talking about the Big Easy so much recently because here we have a quintessential New Orleans band in the form of the Rebirth Brass Band. I can safely say that I have seen this band more times than any other band I know. I can't even say how many times because 1) it would be embarrassing and 2) because I actually don't know it's so high.

Rebirth used to perform at the Maple Leaf in uptown NOLA every Tuesday night, and I of course would go see them just about every week. Trumpets. Trombone. Saxophone. Snare & Bass Drummers. And a Tuba player who rocks. You might not think that you could rock out on a tuba but you can... or rather he can.

It was cool to get a flair of N'awlins without leaving San Francisco. It makes me feel I should do more things with an international feel to it while I wait for my passport to be processed.*

I think I'll order some take-out Italian for dinner tonight.

*TIP OF THE WEEK: Don't ever let your passport expire - renew it before that happens.

HELLO WEENIES

Or... "Halloween in the Castro".

Closest thing to a Mardi Gras crowd that San Francisco has.