it's good to see you back in a bar band baby

It's been said often that The Hold Steady, especially singer Craig Finn, look like the guys who work in the cubicle next you. That's certainly true when Finn takes the stage in a short-sleeved polo shirt and khakis. However, Finn has 100x the stage presence of people who try 100x harder to look the part of a rocker.

Last night's Hold Steady show in San Francisco was, as is always the case when they play (or at least the times I've seen them) a loud, unabashedly celebratory, communal event. They are one of those kinds of bands that don't so much play *to* an audience as *with* an audience. There is no fourth wall with them. While some bands, like The National need the fourth wall to make what they do work so well, The Hold Steady need to tear down that wall and get down on the floor with you to celebrate the love of the music.

Finn's songs are full of references to a recurring cast of characters, most of whom would be at Hold Steady shows with the rest of us. At least when they aren't in jail, rehab, on a drug-fueled vision quest in the Sonoma, or hanging out at the banging "camps down by the Mississippi" smoking meth or inhaling nitrous oxide, or getting wasted in Ybor City. They turn up in song after song throughout the band's 4 albums. The newest, Stay Positive, continues the musical integration of keyboard player Franz Nicolay to the point where you can't imagine most of the songs written as they were without his presence. He's almost become as dominating a musical feature of the band as Tad Kubler's guitar or Finn's lyrics.

Though I got to the venue in a bit of a bad mood, I came away from the show in a great mood. The band did a great job of covering all four records in the set. The recurring "Stay Postive" theme would sound corny coming from any other band. But when Finn sings it so earnestly with his band grooving tightly behind him, it's hard not to have his songs be among those certain songs that get scratched into our souls.

if you close the door, the night could last forever

i hate stretches like this, when sleep doesn't come easy. the saving grace perhaps is that while work is busy, it's not as busy as it's going to get come late fall and into winter. also, I'm only 10 real days and 8 working days from vacation.

so since i'm up...

finally got around to watching the velevet underground documentary under review. not great, not bad. long-time fans will learn a little bit, novices will learn a bit more. it suffers from the total lack of lou reed's and john cale's participation, though it was cool to see mo tucker interviewed.

the hold steady are in town this tuesday and i can't wait. i missed them the last two times they were around. once i chose (unwisely) instead to go see voxtrot (liked the record, "eh" on the show, plus it was a second date that probably shouldn't have happened anyway). then last fall i was out of town when they came around, with art brut opening up. i'm really sorry i missed that one. this pitchfork review of the new record, stay positive, sums it up as well as anything else i've read. i expect the show will be the usual celebration of music and friendship and barroom camaraderie.

and how about this new song from the broken west? catchy. looking forward to the new album.

i don't have too many tv addictions, but mad men looks to be one. just now catching up on the first season (thanks to comcast on-demand). will need to dvr and catch up on season 2 asap. also on the horizon is the dvds for last season of the wire. kp and i cranked thru the first 4 seasons in a bunch of marathon sittings. i almost want to stretch out season 5 for a long while, if only so it won't be over too quickly.

damn. seriously, i gotta be up in three hours to go to work. tomorrow (well, later today) is gonna suck. hard. a shot or three on the snooze button may be in my all-too immediate future.

subpoenaed in texas, sequestered in memphis

it does seem i've sequestered myself from the blogging life for the last oh, 11 months or so. honestly not sure why. i suppose that for a few weeks i fell out of the habit and then just fell away from it altogether. and it's not like one less voice in the great wall of internet self-absorption is all that missed.

and not to say that this signals some return to regular posting, but this missive has come about because in catching up on a few other blogs i'd stopped reading, and getting to read a few new blogs, and in thinking about the microblogging that i guess i do on facebook (in the status updates) i got to wondering once again if there's something worthwhile i have to offer.

that is, does the world need more rants about how evil the fisa bill is or how great the national are or how great i'm sure the new hold steady record is, etc, etc. does the world need more navel gazing, or more personal life updates about my soccer-playing or my new music project or whatever else is going on?

i wouldn't mind posting more if only to keep my writing chops sharp. i've got a couple of scholarly writing projects that i'll need to finish in the next 3-6 months, so it's not like i'll just be number grinding guy at work. also, i've found that now firmly back into the music groove i want to keep up my creative chops in other ways (though my photography has fallen woefully out of regularity).

so anyway, yeah.

playing kiss covers, beautiful and stoned

** update, monday 8/27...

good review of the show here. i'll agree with most of it save for the comment about sky blue sky bieng kind of sterile. yeah, it's mellow and precise, but it's a beautiful record. everytime i listen i hear new things in the playing and arranging that i didn't notice before. i'll agree that played live the band added some dynamic range to the sky blue sky songs, but that's the point -- i don't want to see a band recreate the studio versions when they play live.

in any event, a great show. they're such a solid band, full of amazing musicians playing songs that are superbly written and imaginatively arranged. the greek is a wonderful venue...clean sight-lines, good sound. it's quite a sight to see the lights reflecting off of the tree canpoy behind the crowd.

*****
Wilco! Tonight! Hooray!

...doing "Heavy Metal Drummer" at Bonnaroo...

you cast a long shadow and that is your testament

yes, i did just post about joe strummer last week. but it's his birthday today (he'd have been 55), so why not. from streetcore, the last mescaleros album..."coma girl"...

she's got a new spell

the beginning of a new relationship can be such a roller coaster of emotions. you meet someone special and the chemistry and attraction can be an overwhelming rush...conflicting parts of your brain and heart (and yes, other organs) are sending simultaneous signals to "speed up!!" and "slow down!!". you want the "speed up" instincts to take over because there's no endorphin rush like what romance can give you, apologies to runners and adrenaline junkies out there who swear by the runner's high or the thrill of hurtling down a mountain on skis or a bike.

at the same time, especially if you've been through a few relationships, you want to be able to take time and take stock and make sure it's right. you don't want to get in too far and too quickly for fear of getting hurt (again). however, too much taking stock and too much caution dulls the rush. and you can't really experience the thrills of romance if you aren't willing to risk the hurt. so goes the internal dynamic, at least for us overly-analytical types. and especially for us overly-analytical types who also happen to be pisces...ruled by both rationality and emotion, by both the head and the heart.

then there's the interpersonal dynamic, the process of getting to know the other person. that's also terrain filled with the rush of exploration and the pause to make sure everything is as perfect as can be. you want to always be putting your best foot forward, not putting your foot in your mouth. you want to make sure you're reading signals correctly and responding appropriately, while at the same time signaling what you want and hoping that's taken the right way. you want to show off your best qualities and mute the less desirable traits (and let's be honest, we're all imperfect). you want to be both accommodating to the other person's desires and at the same time you have to be able to speak up when there's something that you're not totally happy with. it's a delicate dance for sure, but the best way is to just be yourself and be confident that if you've worked on making yourself into a good person that those qualities will shine through and that you'll be loved for those qualities.

it's complex and complicated and layered. it's exhilarating and a bit nerve-wracking. you as much want to dive into the deep end as you want to tip-toe in via the shallow end.

but in the end it's worth it, so says this unabashed romantic. at the moment i'm feeling as alive and on edge as i have in a while, but in a good way. there's something at hand that's worth making sure blossoms. i'm shedding the internal caution and hyper-rationality that marked my behavior in my last relationship and letting the moment take over, and it feels good.

they say the stars can’t see their rays, nor can they count their numbered days

sunday i finally got around to watching "let's rock again" a documentary about joe strummer and his last band, the mescaleros. shot in 2001 and 2002, it follows joe and the band as they tour japan and the united states. strummer passed away not long after the japanese tour and the recording of a final mescaleros record, streetcore.

preview clip here...


we see joe and the band on the road promoting their second record, global a go-go. in japan he is greeted backstage and on the street by people positively verklempt at meeting a true music legend. i know i'd have had a hard time not being a gushing idiot had i had the chance to met him.

we also see something remarkable -- a completely unaffected and blase joe, doing a cold call to a south jersey radio station to promote the album and the show in atlantic city. we see joe on the a.c boardwalk trying to drum up business for the show. we see joe sitting on the street and just hanging out with some kids who are presumably no older than his own kids...just chatting with them about music as if in fact they are his kids. joe *fucking* strummer doing what neophyte artists do to get noticed. that should serve as an object lesson to any artist who thinks he's too big to interact with the hoi polloi.

i'm not too much affected by celebrity death and misadventure. paris hilton in jail means nothing to me. however, i was upset when kurt cobain killed himself...though i sometimes wonder if he -- or rather his legacy -- like james dean and marilyn monroe, was better served by dying young.

with joe, though...his sudden death, at a point in his life where he was still making good music, still passionate about his work...any time i hear his voice i get a little sad. in fact, i stumbled on this clip for his version of bob marley's "redemption song" recently...

it affects me every time i watch it...i'll cop to getting a bit misty-eyed (and it's playing now as i finish this post, and well, let's say the room's a bit dusty). check out the comments, especially the oldest ones. you can see what strummer and his music meant to people. and this comment by zeke7777 speaks to the scenes i mentioned in "let's rock again" where joe is tirelessly promoting his show and the record -- "joe strummer was never bigger than his smallest fan."

joe was a true original, a true punk in the sense of living his values, even if the values cost him material goods. the clash really were for a while "the only band that really matters", because their music was so infused with politics and passion. joe never wavered from that combination. check out the voice-over that starts the clip. that was joe...idealism and passion, not afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve.

so hard to choose between conceit and rock

the music spigot's been on full blast lately...lots of shows seen and yet to see, lots of records to get...

saturday kp and i headed to amoeba in the haight for an in-store by john vanderslice. like the national and spoon (see below) vanderslice is a guy who for some reason i just hadn't gotten into yet, despite the fact that his music is right in line with what i tend to like. after his set, during which he was warm, engaging and fun, i think i'll pay a bit more attention.

thursday was my friend sadie's band, invisible cities. awesome indie pop, moving from upbeat and charming to moody to arty to straight out rocking. the new album should be a good one.

the last time i saw yo la tengo was most likely back in the early 1990s. yeah, a long time ago. seeing them again at the kusf birthday show brought back memories of my indie rock college days. they were in good form, opening with a cover of the ramones' "sheena is a punk rocker", part of a set-long tribute to the year 1977. they also slipped in a fleetwood mac song, as well as jonathan richman's "roadrunner" among their own songs. all that and the bass player looked a bit like ricky from "better off dead".

two bands that i'm surprisingly late to the party on are spoon and the national. spoon i saw last year open for death cab for cutie. seeing them live i came away liking them more than i had just from hearing some songs now and again on kexp. for whatever reason not enough to buy any records, but enough to open my mind. then hearing some tracks off of ga ga ga ga ga something clicked and i bought the last few albums. got-damn if girls can tell isn't as good as the hype. likewise with the newest record. seriously, where have i been the last 6 years or so on these guys, huh?

kexp has been playing the national for a while, and again, like with vanderslice and spoon, i'd dig them on the radio but for whatever reason didn't move on it. then i went to see them play along with the broken west a month or so ago, and as i noted, i was blown away. i've been playing boxer and alligator almost non-stop as of late.

and upcoming? well this week is patti smith for sure, and possibly the magic numbers and then detroit cobras. not to mention wilco the week after next!

listen, do you want to know a secret, do you promise not to tell?

** update...August 13 -- almost a week later and still no response to an email I sent to Sen. Feinstein's office. Shameful. I did get an unsolicited email fron Sen. Boxer about her sponsoring of legislation to prevent illegal spyware downloads. I'd like to know from Sen. Boxer how she could let her colleague vote for a bill with more pernicious spying capabilities than any software.

I can't begin to describe how disappointed I am in Democrats on Capitol Hill for capitulating to the fear-mongering and pressure from the Bush administration and passing a truly excereble piece of legislation, the update of FISA legislation. Twelve Senate Democrats, including one of my Senators, Dianne Feinstein, voted for it. Shame on you. Forty-one House Democrats voted for it (thankfully NOT my Rep. Nancy Pelosi). Shame on the 41 of you. Glenn Greenwald does his usualy masterful job of explaining why this is bad, so I won't rehash. Suffice to say that the party has control of Congress and thus the upper-hand in crafting legislation that would safeguard civil liberties without weakening security. All they had to do was pass that legislation and either let the GOP filibuster it or let Bush veto it and turn the "weak on national security" argument against them. As is the Dems now get painted as weaklings who bowed to pressure when things got heavy. It's like they forgot that they *won* in the fall precisely because people are fed up with current GOP policy in just about everything.

The legislation sunsets in 6 months. One can only hope that Congressional Democrats will grow a spine between now and then.

and you know when i'm down to my socks what time it is...it's business time

got-damn, but flight of the conchords is just about the funniest thing on tv right now. this is but one of the many reasons why...

all the faces that we used to know, gone from the places that we used to go

last week i was in miami for the first time since i left more than two years ago. the trip was one day's worth of work (well, 3 hours) and a few days of play. luckily my friend karen still lives there in her beachfront apartment, so i had an awesome crashpad.

walking around the university where i used to work and the neighborhood where i used to live, i was overcome by these odd feelings that were somewhat nostalgic and something else that i can't put my finger on. something a bit more complicated. it took me the better part of monday to figure out what was going on.

i left miami in such a hurry that at the time my only thoughts and emotions were of relief -- getting a better paying job at a university where the leadership wasn't dysfunctional, and moving to a part of the country that i knew would be a better fit for me. it was a month from the date of the offer until i pulled my car out of the driveway of my building and headed north and then west. i had no time to really reflect and process the move, it was all a flurry of finishing work, packing and goodbye lunches and dinners.

being back there after two years brought on a rush of emotions and thoughts to which i hadn't given much attention. it was a mix, some of familiar annoyance, thanks to the experience at the rental car counter in miami beach...the car jockeys taking 20 minutes to get my car after i'd finished the paperwork -- a reminder that half the people working in the customer service industry view their customers as annoyances. a similar experience at the versailles airport coffee stand bookended the trip, as the lady who took my order pretty much sneered at my gringo face.

but at my old workplace i had feelings more complicated than nostalgia...there was plenty of "what-if" mixed up in my head. what if i'd made it work better, published as i should have, gotten my personal life settled...would i have been happy, made better progress to tenure? maybe, or maybe not as the experiences of other friends made clear. one guy who published like a fiend is leaving, landing at a tenured gig in southern california. two other friends, who became a couple, are going to leave as she inexplicably did not get tenure and he may but they're both so disenchanted now it's a certainty they're gone.
this isn't to say i was unhappy. i do have an affection for my time here. i had a great apartment five blocks from the ocean and near lots of restaurants, bars, shops. the job was fine enough and my life had no serious complications or problems. after four years it became home, complete with favorite hang-out spots. all in all, it wasn't that bad. not that i'd want to go back and live there -- for me it's the quintessential "great place to visit but wouldn't want to live there" kinda place. sometimes it just takes a detached eye to notice the good things you didn't see at the time.

me, i've never seen dallas from a dc9

i've got two trips already scheduled this fall, both in november. one is to louisville for a conference. getting from the bay area to louisville is a bit of a chore and the connections are mostly atlanta or dallas. nothing through chicago that matches my schedule. even delta doesn't swing me through salt lake, which would make sense. it is, though (for now), less expensive than i imagine, around $300 +/-.

next is to philadelphia over thanksgiving weekend. my folks will be home for that holiday and it also turns out to be the weekend of my high school reunion. but that means traveling over the thanksgiving weekend, the 7th circle of hell for air travel...well, at least for people like me who love to travel but have developed a great antipathy for the process of air travel. and to make matters worse, since it's peak time, the prices are nuts...it's a $500-$600 ticket no matter what i do.

teleportation can't come soon enough for me.

we expected something, something better than before, we expected something more

my friend linh is moving to china for a year, so we had a bon voyage meal at farina. it's fairly new, in a very striking building on 18th st in the mission. after a little mix-up with their liquor license, they were open at full steam. and so we went...

*sigh*...there really is so much to like. the staff are very friendly. when i called for a reservation, i was *called back* within a few minutes after leaving a message. and got a table for 2 for a friday at 7:30 on just 6 days notice. excellent.

on arriving, the hostess greeted us warmly and took us right to the table. our server, kate, was attentive and all smiles the whole time. the decor is very cool...neo-modern with some classic italian cucina touches. sitting in the dining room you get sweeping views of 18th st from the wall-sized widows. though it needs some sound baffling...it was way too loud...all that wood and brick...there's not much to absorb all the talking.

for better or worse though, what matters as much as anything in a restaurant is the food, and farina has a way to go, especially given the prices. i've got no problem spending $60/per person on this kind of meal (more bistro vs high end) , but it's gotta be much better than what we got.

overall things were too oily. as a general suggestion i'd say to the chef "ok, the amount of oil you want to drizzle over the salmon atop golden tomato? or on the anchovy? cut it by at least half. the amount of oil you put on the pizzeta? cut by half." and so on. i had a homemade ravioli stuffed with eggplant that was tasty enough, but again *swimming* in oil. it also took a while for the first course to come out, and by a while i mean longer than it should.

so i really hope they get the food tightened up because otherwise there's a lot to like about the place. the kind of place you'd like to see succeed, if only to make it easier to get a table at delfina.

pack it up or throw it away, nothing goes in storage

for no particular reason other than a change of scenery, i've been thinking about moving. it's not that i don't like my apartment...i do. the building's well maintained and the propery management company are fairly responsive to maintenance requests. the apartment itself is good sized and the view is fantastic. the parking on my street is probably as good as i can get in sf. and as i've mentioned, i love living next to dolores park.

so why leave? well, again, change of scenery. lately there's been a rush of apartments in nob hill. sadly most are tiny, though a couple have promise. i have no idea if living in that neighborhood will be better or worse than where i am now. i know parking will be atrocious, and there'll be more fog, so less sunlight. the rent at a couple of places is lower as well...right now i'm definitely paying for the view.

mostly though, it's restlessness. a part of me gets antsy after too long in any specific situation. and since i really don't want to leave san francisco, what better way to satisfy my urge to roam than to just move to a different neighborhood?

whether that's enough to justify giving up a good apartment in what's right now probably the most desired neighborhood in the city, one that's close to some friends, places i like to go and my single favorite spot in the city...i don't know.

**update...10pm, wednesday...

ok, after having seen 4 places between taylor & mason and washington and pine (1 saturday, 1 sunday and 2 today [including one with an unbelieveably smug woman from a property mgt. company], seeing what parking is like at various times (horrible), seeing small places that while nice, are smaller than mine and no view...eh. no need to move. my place may be a bit overpriced but all things considered i have it good. the grass really is greener on my side of the fence.

do you really love me?

sitting here on july 4, watching the last hour of the devil and daniel johnston. it's a moving account of a man wrestling with some serious demons. but the most disturbing thing to me is that while a few people in the new york & austin scenes seemed sincerely interested in helping johnston with his music and art, there was a "freak show waiting to happen" vibe going on at the live shows chronicled in the film. makes me wonder how many people were there almost hoping to see him melt down.

spend your summer thinking 'bout the apple...

a while back i had a girlfriend whose dad was fond of saying on july 4th that "summer's over". while i'm not that fatalistic about what the day means, i am a bit amazed that the year is alredy half over. seriously, i feel like just last week was new year's day, and the other day was my birthday. so wha the hell have i been doing the last few months? besides drowning in work, that is.

first, there's been music. lots.

a few weeks ago i finally got around to watching the robyn hitchcock documentary "sex, food, death... & insects" shown on sundance. it's mostly the story of how his new band the venus 3 came together. it was also a view into his artistic process, one that includes both stellar musicianship and songwriting ability and an unmatched gift for improvisation.

i've spent a small fortune on cds and shows lately, mostly to good results (the less said about the disappointing voxtrot show the better). this last week the national/broken west show made me a happy man. i knew going in that i'd like the broken west. their record i can't go on i'll go on is near the top of my list so far for the year. their show was a bit more subdued than i thought it would be and at the start they looked like they'd just woken from a nap. but they finished strong and overall were good. kexp(**) plays the national quite often, but i hadn't yet gotten any of their records. so while i was more or less familiar with them, i wasn't totally sure what to expect. what we got was quite good -- layered guitars, keys and violin that made the slow songs rich and haunting.

upcoming shows include band of horses this week at gamh (if i can find tix on craigslist), and in august an incredible run that includes yo la tengo, patti smith, magic numbers, detroit cobras, and wilco. not to mention the new pornographers in september.

beyond that, it's been trips to pt. reyes, getting my knee healthy so i can get out and play soccer again (and shed some of the love handles i've built up while less active), and this last week getting over a nasty summer cold. no vacation this year (well, there was a plan to go to hawaii, but the break-up scotched that {oh yeah, so that's meant more dating...which is both fun and tiring}). with 80,000 miles in the bank at united and the saving of vacation time, that means a three-week trip very far away is possible next summer. at the moment southeast asia is high on my list, but i'm also intrigued by the idea of spain, portugal and a trek along the north coast of morocco. so many possibilities...

so yeah, summer's hardly over. still much more to do.


** (i should add as an aside that the possibility that stations like kexp might be forced out of netcasting thanks to the stupid and shortsighted decision by the copyright royalty board to increase royalty rates on internet broadcasts. i don't argue that performers should be compensated, but the fact is without the increase in listeners garnered by web radio, many artists wouldn't get as much attention and as a result sell as many records. the riaa and naras {of which i'm a voting member} are only seeing the issue as affecting the big webcasters like yahoo...the real impact will be felt down the line at the more shoestring budget stations, including many college stations. hopefully congress will pass legislation to make the crb's increase a bit more fair to low-budget operators who may serve a decent-sized audience but do not generate much profit, if any.)

i get good advice from the advertising world

during the last few months i've seen commercials featuring songs from bands that i'd never have guessed would be selling their music. there was the feelies in a volvo commercial, and mates of state who actually appear in a wireless phone commercial while for the actor plays. what really blew me away was hearing a brand new wilco song, sky blue sky in a vw commercial. the record's just out.

the trend started when vw used nike drake's pink moon in a commercial some years back. that seemed to make it safe for left-of-the-dial music to be used to sell things. i'm not as purist as lots of folks in this trouser press discussion, and i certainly don't begrudge the right of anyone to use their music as they see fit. it's more just, well, surprise at who i'm hearing, even wilco, who've got a fairly high profile. some of these aren't exactly mainstream artists.

this site seems to be a fairly decent source of information for finding out the name of that song/artists you heard in a commmercial but couldn't quite place.

shameless self-promotion

thanks to sfist for picking this shot...

...to represent monday may 28th's day around the bay post.

the carnaval parade was indeed a great opportunity for pictures. more later, when they're organized. for now, a few up on the flickr page.

***update...and on the tuesday may 29 round up as well..

anarchy for sale

thursday night i ended up at the jello biafra spoken word endurance fest at gamh. for well over 2 and a half hours (!), biafra talked and talked and talked almost non-stop. he started with a few original poetry/prose pieces including a biting "die for oil suckers" which was what the title suggests.

biafra spent most of the night ranting about the current political situation, firing not only on bush but on "corporate democrats". by virtue of the dems wimping out on the war funding bill that day, biafra had good fodder for the performance. sadly he spent less time on that and the gonzales/d.o.j issues and too uch time rehashing stuff that frankly the audience should have or did already know. much of it sounded like things he's talked about many times, and much of it was dated. memo to jello...give your audience a bit more credit for being up on current events. we don't come to get a rehash of current events but for some original commentary by a guy known for cutting to the quick.

and in the height of bougie irony, mike and i drove up and found a parking spot right in front of gamh...him driving his late model audi sedan. like the man once sang...all the young punks, new boots and contracts...

we will laugh and talk about the village green.

Though I am an avowed urbanite who loves living in a city environment, I also loves me my green space. Over the years I've been lucky enough (not by accident) to have lived within easy walking distance of awesome parks. Right now I live a block away from Dolores Park, a lovely piece of green with an amazing view.

It's a place with lots of opportunity for some good people watching and photography, something I try to take advantage of regularly. There's almost always something happening, like this past weekend when the Loyd Family Players showed up for an impromptu (for us) afternoon concert and stroll through the park....My morning commute starts with a walk through the park to BART, and even at the early hour of 6:50am (yes, oy) there's a handful of folks taking their dogs out for a romp. Sometimes there's a fitness bootcamp group doing situps, pushups or some stretching. Very quickly I began to recognize the regulars for that time of day...I like the consistency of seeing familiar faces, especially that early in the morning...helps one to feel community, even before sunrise. And of course, the walk home is great -- on sunny days during the months where the sun sets well after the end of the work day, the park is filled with people, often with their dogs.

Community is a central part of Dolores Park, whether it's thousands gathering to watch the World Cup final or for a Cinco de Mayo festival or to see the San Francisco Mime Troupe or for Film Night in the Park or just to hang out with dogs and friends.
Another wonderful downtown green space is Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. I was lucky enough to live around the corner from it for a couple of years, and within a short walk for a few other years. I spent many a weekend day there, reading, napping, people-watching...it's my favorite spot in the city.

So I was pleased to find on Netflix a documentary about the park, Rittenhouse Square: A Year in the Life of an American Park. It's not bad, though seems to focus too much on girl-watching in the park, almost getting into dirty-old-man territory...it had an uncomfortable leering quality to it (I went to college with one of the associate producers, I wonder if I should write and tell him). That aside it also highlighted one of the best things about the park, the musicians who use it as practice and performance space. I think the people who've decided to cave into a small cadre of uptight nimbys who moved to the park without a clue as to what makes it great and now crack down on busking and playing need to watch the film to understand how vital a role music plays in the life of Rittenhouse Square.

It's these urban and downtown green spaces that add to city life, provide for a wonderful counterpoint to the fast pace and the concrete and steel that mostly defines being in a city.

**Update...the Chronicle gets into the act, singing the praises of Dolores Park.