Yesterday was Jen’s birthday. As part of the day’s festivities, she wanted to have dinner at Corner View Restaurant, specifically because she wanted to try the scallops. We discovered earlier this year that the restaurant only serves scallops during its dinner service, so we headed to the place, located in the heart of downtown San Luis, in the late afternoon.

We arrived and were seated immediately at a window-side table. (One of the cool things about Corner View’s location is that it affords diners nice views of Marsh, Chorro Streets and the city beyond.) Our server took our drink orders (we both had iced tea) and left us to peruse our menus. Jen already had her order planned out. But it took me a few minutes to make a decision. I was in a mood for something new, so I skipped over some usual choices (fish and chips, burgers) for the chicken scallopini with lemon pepper sauce. The menu indicated that the chicken is served with sauteed vegetables and the ubiquitous “potato of the day.” Normally, I would’ve asked what the day’s potato would’ve been (and probably asked if I could’ve substituted it for french fries), but like I typed above, I was in the mood for something new. So, I rolled with it. Potatoes be damned.

Read the rest of this page »

Tags: California, Corner View Restaurant, Flickr, food, San Luis Obispo
Posted in photo, text | No Comments »

This audio post was inspired by this post I made to Twitter. Or, more specifically, it’s based on the small discussion that came about in response to my post. Am I misunderstanding the definition of a power chord when it comes to guitar playing? Or do these young whippersnappers not have the proper appreciation for a full-bodied chord?

Podcast: Download (Duration: 6:40 — 4.6MB)

Tags: guitar, Ken Turetzky, music, podcast, Twitter
Posted in audio, text | No Comments »

jen and I (and a few other local Twitter users) attended yesterday’s rally at Mitchell Park in downtown San Luis Obispo. The rally was held in protest of the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Proposition 8. I recorded the different speakers at the rally using my camcorder and then ripped the audio from that recording. I also took some photos:

A few more photos can be seen here.

Podcast: Download (23.0MB)

Tags: California, Flickr, Mitchell Park, podcast, Proposition 8, San Luis Obispo, Twitter
Posted in audio, photo | 4 Comments »

A Tuesday afternoon audio blog entry. Here’s some of those pictures:

See more photos here.

Podcast: Download (6.5MB)

Tags: Atascadero, California, car, dog, Flickr, podcast
Posted in audio, photo | No Comments »

To Whom It May Concern,

I recently learned that the Planning Commission is considering putting a stop to live-music events at The Clubhouse at This Old House in San Luis Obispo, due to apparent noise complaints. I believe this action would be detrimental to our local community for multiple reasons. I have attended several concerts at The Clubhouse, and have found that this venue has a unique ability to bring people together. I’m not just referring to musicians and music fans, but friends, neighbors… everyone. This venue has also catered to many out-of-town travelers in the forms of touring musicians and music enthusiasts. I can imagine that these people leave the area with good thoughts and plans to return, based on the experiences they’ve had at The Clubhouse. It’d be a shame to potentially lose this source of positivity and publicity for the city of SLO as well as the county. Furthermore, turning off the live music at The Clubhouse would shut down a viable outlet for the local arts community, a group that is often hit harder than most during difficult economic times. Finally, while I can’t speak to the exact nature of the noise complaints you’ve received, I can say that all of the music I’ve experienced at The Clubnhouse has been acoustic in nature. I wouldn’t describe any of it as being overly loud or noisy.

To summarize, please keep live-music events alive at The Clubhouse. These events are beneficial to our community’s artistic, social and economic well-being. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Shawn(o)
San Luis Obispo, CA

(This is a slightly modified version of the letter I’ll be forwarding to Steve Key, who is planning on attending the Planning Commission meeting tomorrow. If you care about the local music community, please consider making your thoughts known on this matter.)

Tags: California, music, San Luis Obispo, Steve Key, The Clubhouse
Posted in text | No Comments »

We’re doing something different for the next Sidebars song. This time, we’re collaborating with Colin in the UK. He’s written some lyrics, and we’re going to mold them into a finished song, then record that song. We’ve decided to document the process through a series of video diaries. Here’s the first entry.

Podcast: Download (58.4MB)

Tags: music, Ourobouros, podcast, The Sidebars, YouTube
Posted in video | No Comments »

I contributed a review of Star Trek to Nathan Lott‘s Rental Reviews podcast. Comments are welcome here.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 6:59 — 8.0MB)

Tags: film, podcast, Rental Reviews, Star Trek
Posted in audio | No Comments »

I was born with Optic Atrophy. It is the reason that I’m considered legally blind. My naked-eye vision is 20/400. Glasses/contacts can’t really do anything to help, and I’ve been told my whole life that there is no way to treat my condition. I decided to do a Google search on Optic Atrophy today. It’s the first time Ive done so in a few years. (The last search I did turned up very little. But, it’s no surprise. Optic Atrophy isn’t an incredibly common condition.) Not surprisingly, some sponsored links on Google’s sidebar claim to have cures for Optic Atrophy. I clicked through to a few of these sites. Each one offered a different homeopathic concoction that could be taken to treat the condition. The least-expensive option costs $48.00. Kinda pricey for something that carries no real guarantees. I mean, how can a bunch of Chinese herbs cause new optic nerve tissues to grow? Well, they do use radiation to treat cancer, after all. But still, I haven’t ordered this stuff. Not yet, anyway.

Read the rest of this page »

Tags: health, life, Optic Atrophy
Posted in text | 3 Comments »

Metabolically, Jen and I are almost complete opposites. She usually eats small amounts of food, and then burns that food off quickly. Whereas I can eat a small planet’s worth of food, and my tea-light powered metabolism will do practically nothing to burn any of it. And apparently, sickness amplifies our natural metabolisms. She is driven to eat less, while I am stricken with deep hunger pangs and unexpected food cravings. Since we’re both sick right now, these differences in our relationships to food are omnipresent.

Read the rest of this page »

Tags: Albertson's, California, Flickr, food, health, San Luis Obispo
Posted in photo, text | No Comments »

I wrote yesterday about how both me and Jen are sick. Well, she took the day off on Thursday (something she hardly ever does, and something that she has to go through a multi-stage process to justify doing) and decided in the late morning, after doing too much reading online about the swine flu, to go see a doctor. Knowing that her primary doctor’s office wasn’t likely to get her in on short notice, we headed to Med Stop, an urgent care office on the other side of town. We showed up there around 12:30PM. Jen checked herself in, and they gave her a SARS mask to wear. (She declined my offer to take a picture of her wearing the mask.) A few other people came in and a few others left. Things seemed like they were moving along at a reasonable pace, as Jen was called by a nurse to be seen, or so we thought. She returned a few minutes later, stating that they were simply taking her vitals, and that they didn’t yet have a room for her. So we waited. I played some games of Flight Control on the iPhone, listened to some podcasts, checked in on Twitter. Jen was eventually called again to return to Med Stop’s inner chambers. I held my ground in the lobby, playing some more games of Flight Control and checking my Facebook account.

Read the rest of this page »

Tags: California, Flight Control, health, iPhone, life, Med Stop, San Luis Obispo, swine flu, Twitter
Posted in text | 3 Comments »