I'm back in the 757 from Cali and really happy to back to my home life. As for the broader ghetto context, I am not thinking about it.

My last weekend in SF I was invited to a series of rock shows (my friend out there getting comp tickets to everything that comes to town) none of which I really wanted to attend but I had to be polite so I settled on the Melvins play with the Butthole Surfers (skipping the Jesus Lizard and also the 2 day rock fest on Treasure Island. hard to believe all of this shit was happening on one weekend).

The Melvins kicked some serious ass--they were of course heavy as it comes and also so damned tight it was a marvel. They really are still as great as ever. Listen to their newest record and see if it is not better than any previous. Why fuck with perfection?

The Buttholes are by this point tired and done and the show was a waste of time. If they had any honor they might consider ritual suicide. Or, failing that, retirement. I last saw them 22 years ago at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, the realization that that was more than 2 decades ago has definitely made me feel old. I had seen them in the mid 80s when they were great, and then the last time in 1987 when they started up the whole insane stage show with the films and on down. They are still doing the same shit, minus the girls and the flames, the music pretty dull, and at least at this show were just going through the motions. And if they could give a shit in SF where would they be any good anymore?

Of course the best music I heard over the weekend was a Norteño band playing at some Mexican bar on 16th street.