THOUGHTS ON COFFEE...

My friend wanted to give his employees a cool holiday gift. Since they are programmers for a start-up, I suggested a quality espresso machine as they all tend to work looong hours...

Sorry, I had to stifle a giggle there...

I did some research for my friend, though I confess - espresso is something about which I feel I am already quite knowledgable. Men of leisure have to start their mornings or afternoons somehow, and espresso usually does the job.

The Saeco Incanto (above) ended up being the machine my friend selected, thanks to my research. What I can't believe is that my friend brought in someone else to calibrate the machine to make the optimum espresso. I may not be technical, but uhhh, did I mention I know my coffee?!

ps one week later, the machine that had been "carefully calibrated" for optimum espresso-making was spewing out dirty water - I went into my friend's office and worked my magic. My friend's team of employees all love me now. Amazing what good coffee can do to people.

WHITE XMAS

It snowed in San Francisco during the holidays. The Union Square Christmas Tree (above) was blessed with the first snowflakes in God(s) know how long. [I say God(s) as such because who really knows and as a trained lawyer I've learned the benefit of the C.Y.A. doctrine.] But I was talking about Christmas, the time we celebrate the birthday of Jesus though Jesus was not born in December... have you ever seen a shepherd in the winter? Everyone knows or should know that the late December celebration was picked merely to replace the big pagan festival that used to occur at this time of the year. Typical. Bonus for the commercial capitalists to have one last chance to boom the economy before years' end.

I don't mean to sound like a Grinch, but I find it kind of comical that I spent my Christmas Eve with Max the Dog. I wanted to put my Cosby antlers (with bells!) on the poor creature, just like the Grinch did for his Max, but Max's mom absolutely forbade it. I don't blame her, I guess...

When I start my religion, I won't replace Christmas... I'll just add more days of holiday and reintroduce some of the ol' pagan practices because they had it right, albeit in a twisted and kinky celebration kinda way, but hey - there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, it sounds like what I have planned for New Years...

OZUMATLI

no cameras allowed at the Fillmore - pah!

Saw an amazing show at the Fillmore. Ozumatli - a ten-member Brazilian hip-hop funk band. They've won a grammy and they sure deserve it because these guys have got it going on. If you're looking for something cool and fun and upbeat, IMOL highly recommends.

FARMERS' MARKET

Here's another reason why San Francisco kicks ass - the Farmers' Market. Located along the bayside of San Francisco, the Market offers the locals a chance to buy just about anything under the sun. Or rather just about everything which has been nourished by the sun. At least indirectly. Wait, I guess everything organic is nourished by the sun, even humans. The infamous Vitamin D. Wow do I digress...

I bought lots of cheese. Because, quite frankly, I love cheese. I don't know a single snack which pairs better with wine. So there you have it.

I think my posts are becoming not-so-subtle attempts at enticing Sadie to move to San Francisco.

A NIGHT AT THE OOOOPERA

My next door neighbor sings for the San Francisco Opera Company. He had gotten me tickets for Mozart's Magic Flute a couple years ago, but he didn't perform in that show, so I hadn't seen him in a production until MoFo and I caught the SF Opera's performance of Carmen.

I knew the music from Carmen, but I did not know the story. My god, what an awful story. The soloists were great, but what a horrendous plot. If I'm going to sit through 3 1/2 hours, I expect lots of champage between the acts and a good story at least. We had plenty of champagne anyway... I couldn't get the Harold Hecuba episode of Gilligan's Island out of my head for the rest of the night, though. A musical version of Hamlet with the Carmen score would have been a better show.

(Ugh... I just took a sip from the wrong can [the one I'd been using as an ashtray] - serves me right for being so critical, I suppose.)

A positive note. It was pretty cool to see my neighbor perform. MoFo also seemed to enjoy herself very much. That in itself is enough for me to have a good time. Afterwards, we stopped by Dimaggio's for one of their fancy concoctions. By the time we left, I had completely forgotton about my hang-up over Carmen's stupid ending. I love happy endings... maybe the opera is not for me.

A DECEMBER TO REMEMBER

MeRe and IMOL drinking WCB's

MeRe makes me laugh like no other. She and I used to be in a comedy troupe called drunken monkey, a San Francisco improv/sketch group comprised of 3 men and 3 women. We met on the first day of auditions - in fact, we happened to be paired together during the first round of auditions... and we've been performing for the world ever since.

We are creating a new comedy super-group and hopefully we will be joining forces with Barry Holiday of L.A. for 2 shows next year. If you have some time to break from work, visit the site of wackiness which is barryholiday.com.

Speaking of holidays and MeRe... I received this little invite from my comedic partner in crime:

Can't wait to see the photos from that party.