At long last.

Ah, gentle readers, it's so good to again be staring at this blank text box that isn't blank anymore now that I've written this sentence.

I have made it out the other side of paper mayhem, and remain intact and generally unscathed.

It's been a while (obviously) since I've written, so I'll sort of give a reader's digest version of a few highlights of the past week or so.

Last Friday: my long-awaited night at the track. I lost my only bet, had fun celebrating Jennifer's birthday, but was suckered into spending over two hours in line for beer. A little back story: this was the last Friday that Bay Meadows would be in operation, so that paired with the dollar night promotion and the fact that Tainted Love was playing between races means everyone and their mother (and father, kids, and grandparents) were there. It was a tricky situation, as I would have gladly waited like half an hour or so, but with each ticking minute, I just wanted to get to the front of the line out of spite. Come to find out in hindsight, there were fourteen thousand-odd people there that night, which is the largest crowd they've had there in the past fifteen years.

Live Shows: I saw Tapes 'n Tapes on Saturday, who were surprisingly good live. They sounded tighter on stage than they do on their record. I was a little surprised at the crowd: it was as if the band, who tend to be hipster darlings and very highly lauded in the blogosphere, drew a crowd as if they had been hyped on KFOG: the crowd was widely older than me and generally polo shirt clad. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but I figured this crowd would have been a bit more like the Raveonettes show of a few months back. Maybe the cool kids don't go to the Fillmore. I caught Murder by Death tonight at Bottom of the Hill, and they were impressive as always. I was pleasantly surprised by the opening band, Dios (also known as Dios Malos). I'd never heard of them, and I'd actually be pretty hard pressed to describe them. Do yourself a favor and check them out at www.wearedios.com There is also a lot of buzz around the fact that My Bloody Valentine is coming to town for a show in September. Here is what I have heard: the main chick in the band isn't playing with them anymore. I cannot refute or confirm that at this point. Here is what I know: they are palying at Design Center Concourse which is a poor excuse for a venue, but it holds a bunch of people. Here's what else I know: tickets are $47.50 face value. We Are Scientists are coming to The Independent in July, but I'm trying to keep that quiet since I don't have my tickets yet. You city-ish folk, let me know if you wanna see that show - I should be getting tix by early next week.

Fortunately, that seems to be about the extent of stuff that I really missed reporting from this week. I should be blogging like always soon, but figured I'd give this somewhat less smarmy and clever blog just to knock out all the perinent info. Now I've got to get some sleep and give my liver a rest. High five!