Monthly Archives: August 2018

happy birthday to my all time favorite blog about busses

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do you remember everything? like how this started?

like how you were frustrated and sad and felt like your life would add up to nothing?

do you remember how Blogger used to crash all the time, several times a day

and you had to write to support and Real People would write you back and say oh try this

or oh we did this for you

and it was all free and it was nice and you sorta made friends with them, virtually anyway, because they were good souls?

does anyone remember laughter or 40 comments on every post or blog rolls or

the all powerful technorati 100?

of course you don’t, youre so young and so much has gone under the bridge

i dont remember half of it but this blog, my blog, the weirdest thing ive ever made, documented most of it

due to broken links and poor planning a lot of the pictures are gone

and the pictures made it so much better

but the tales are somewhere in here. fond memories of not so fond experiences sometimes.

and fortunately the only thing that was true

was you.

and i thank you.

happy 17th birthday, busblog of hope.

thank you for refreshing my memory.

last night we saw Randy Newman at the Bowl

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it was a perfect night, weatherwise and otherwise

it was only about 2/3rds full which made things soooo much better

no huge lines for anything, plenty of room to get around and lots of space in the rows, where we were, in the middle.

on top of that, we lucked out and got a row that had no one in front of our two seats, so

leg room for dayssssssss (pictured)

randy has recorded like five million records in his long and storied career

this show was supposed to be him, the Hollywood Bowl orchestra, and an all star band

playing at least one song from each of his albums

it was so great.

he played pretty much all my favorite tunes and the orchestra added a lot because his music has always been so cinematic

even before he started writing music for Pixar and Disney films.

most of the Bowl events let you bring your own food so i packed lots of salad fixins for her

and i grabbed some grocery store sushi for myself, and chips and a Mexicoke (pictured)

it was a really beautiful night out there in Hollywood

but because i am a sensitive poet i think my nose was affected by all the fires burning around us

and today im a little sniffley and headachey

after the show we walked down like 2 miles which was hard on Amber because she had heels on (pictured)

but the good thing is we got to walk around Hollywood and take pics of all the best thing

like Ice Cube’s star

a totally random wall

and my favorite building in Hollywood that no one has ever gone into because it’s haunted, barren, unlivable

and full of dead bodies probably

afterwards we watched John Oliver and passed out

The End

never meet your heroes

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a coworker was offered the opportunity today to interview one of the people who she loves

but she may not do it because of this bizarre saying “never meet your heroes”.

i suppose i can understand that sentiment, but as someone who has met quite a few famous people who i admire, i would say

meet everyone you can. especially those you admire.

i had the great good fortune of meeting my favorite band, The Replacements, a few times.

the first encounter was back stage at UCSB’s Rob Gym before their Don’t Tell A Soul tour.

it was revealing, fascinating, and ultimately not what i expected and a bit of a downer.

later i would meet Paul Westerberg when he was on a solo tour – and that was much better

but i would rather have experiences, memories, and interactions that were real than fantasies of what could have been.

we are on this merry go round for a very short time

all the nonsense we make up about people because they can play a guitar or because theyre pretty or rich or on tv is so much baloney

one reason i totally love driving Uber and Lyft is because I think the guy who saved the other guys life by shoving his thumb in the guy’s bullet wound is just as fascinating as the guy who can play bass really fast

just yesterday i had a lady from Houston who had never driven down Melrose before so I took her that way on the way to The Grove. Just watching her see people on Bird scooters, telling me about how Texans feel about “the Devil’s lettuce” (weed) was as good as saying hi to a famous football player.

of course i have been star struck, and of course i have had not-so-perfect encounters. but i am so happy that i have had the chance to meet and chat with the likes of Hugh Hefner, Bruce Willis, Perry Farrell, Paul Tollett, Hillary Clinton and so many others.

i say meet your heroes.

i say meet everyone.

i say make tons of people your hero.

but don’t hassle the Hoff.

took amber to see Weezer and the Pixies last night

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amber with prince

it was great.

i was nervous we werent gonna go because when i got home she was dead tired and napping.

i have an interesting relationship with her in that right before i come home she starts napping.

the cats are the opposite, they nap when im out, but when i get home they pop to life and hug me, take my hat, fetch me my slippers and pack my pipe.

amber though is snoring and smiling. you can literally see the Zzzzs floating from her pretty face.

i got home before 7. by 730p she was still in snoozeville and i was getting nervous because twitter told me that the Pixies were scheduled to go on at 8pm. i live more than a half hour from the Fabulous Forum so i was like please wake up please wake up.

at 7:50p she was up, dressed, had a hot black metal number on, bright red lipstick

Lyft for some reason knew i was going to the show and gave us a free ride there.

got this driver who told us he drives 60 hours a week. he rents his car from Lyft and if he can drive that much the car only cost $30 a week. all he has to do is pay for gas which he says is a tank a day. maybe a half a tank, i dont know, my head exploded with the 60 rides thing.

got to the show and the Pixies, who i thought were about to end, were only in the middle of their set. they were pretty good. amber was surprised that frank black was fat. i was all, girl, bro has been fat since before you were born.

weezer came out and their set (seen above, pic by DVL) was a tribute to their Happy Days / Buddy Holly video. Then after a few songs the set changed to their “garage” (yes the one I once jammed in with Rivers) , then it changed to a traditional Rock Set.

then rivers took a Bird scooter through the crowd and sang Amber two songs from a little boat that he later sailed to Catalina.

true quote from Amber during her favorite tune that Rivers pretty much sang right to her: “this is my favorite concert ever.”

so i guess she’s happy she rose from her nap.

oh yeah, they also did Africa by Toto and Weird Al showed up to play his accordian

today we are going to weezer and the pixies

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last night amber dyed her hair to prepare

me, i shaved and got a hair cut.

it was so hot today – like 95 degrees.

but in my office it was super cold. i have a little space heater. imagine that.

plus i wore a little hoodie.

i hardly ever eat at work, just nibble. my life is so boring.

all amber and i ever do is walk around and say hi to homeless people and then eat tacos.

thats what we did yesterday.

i had bought her a bowl of soup at Pho 2000 but still when we got home i was like, let me change into shorts and lets walk to Silver Lake

you gotta get in your steps.

you gotta live.

the more you live the more your body is all hell yeah.

so keep living, rock stars.

never die.

fire, fire on the mountain

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i had a busy weekend. LAist party on Saturday afternoon. UCSB reunion on Sunday.

drank laughed ate drank ate laughed. it was sorta magical.

this morning amber woke up early. i dont like it when she does that.

it wakes me up. then im alone. then i think i should have an Early Morning Girlfriend.

that would be someone who replaces Amber when she leaves me in the AM.

this girlfriend would spoon with me, make my breakfast, tell me im wonderful

and then kiss me goodbye as i get on the bus.

pretty sure Amber wouldnt go for this, but you never know.

anyways Orange County is on fire right now.

pray for them.

men are from mars, women like penis*

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biggest problem i have in sensual relationships is when a sobbing young lady spills her guts to me describing her problems

i give advice.

i’ll give you advice even if you arent crying.

hell, i give advice on here to people who arent even seeking advice.

bottom line: im garbage and should probably be avoided.

but some have been unable to avoid my charms and end up in a romantic relationship with me and are bombarded with

if i was you i woulda said this or

you shoulda done that

or have you tried this technique

or in my day we woulda just done it thisaway.

amber gets so upset when she is trying to confide in me she has thrown phones, books, and even a tire at me out of frustration.

a long time ago Etienne would say “stop bossing me, busblog” and i didnt fully grasp what her problem was with me but now it is clearer. im terrible.

if you tell me it hurts when i do this

im gonna say stop doing that.

when all they wanted was someone to listen. but i am not a listener. im a fixer. im michael cohen minus the secret recording devices. i am a problem solving machine. i enjoy fixing. i do not enjoy listening and keeping my mouth shut.

my innards do not work that way. my brain says “this girl you love is in pain, give her the pain relief no matter what it is. be the hero. use your love gun. put a bandaid on the problem. BEGIN THE BEGUINE.”

but i am told in more ways than one that a beguine is not being ordered. two ears two eyes and no mouth is whats being ordered. back rubs are being ordered. walks on the beach are being requested. scalp scratches. butterfly kisses. viewings of Blackish. uh huhs and oh nos.

but i am not that robot. i have two turn tables and a microphone. if anything its a maxiphone.

im gonna die alone.

tony, what if someone doesnt like you because of politics

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gentle reader, i was the only black kid in grade school and junior high.

the way i look at it, i was lucky that anyone liked me for any reason.

but weirdly lots of people liked me. so bonus.

but dont get me wrong, lots of people also didnt like me, for many reasons, some of which are valid.

for example i am a loud mouth. for another reason, sometimes i omg get things wrong.

also i was punched a few times for being black. i wouldnt call it beating beat up, we were small kids and they didnt have a lot of strength. if anything it hurt emotionally to hear the n word accompanied with other kids holding me while another kid hit me.

and of course there was that time when i asked a girl to be my girlfriend in 6th grade and she said no because she said her dad would kill her.

those experiences and others made me believe the best thing I ever could: who cares if people like you as long as you are being cool to everyone.

thus i have had zero problems talking politics, the cubs, music, religion, or anything on this blawwwwg, or in life, or in my dreams, because who cares.

heres who you should care likes you:

the Lord

my mom,

and puppies.