Last Friday afternoon i dropped off my posters at the printers for the upcoming Academy of Molecular Imaging meeting in Orlando, then hurried home to see Bud as he put the finishing touches on our living room remodeling. All that's left now is to paint, which we're putting off until V's mom comes to visit in June. V, who was been suffering with a virus that she most likely caught from me, then downed some dayquil and advil and we headed to the city. First dinner at the always tasty Chai Yo with Geoff and Naomi, then off to Slim's for the evening's hot ticket, the first Bay Area appearance of current NME darlings Kasabian as they opened for fellow brits the Music. We arrived just after the conclusion of the opening band, and worked our way through the crowd to a passable standing point and waited for the lights to go down. I've mentioned before that i really dig Kasabian's debut album, but am always suspicious when the hype machine kicks into high gear. No worries here though, the boys from Leicester lived up to all expectations. The set began with the electronic noodling intro to "ID", building into the rolling groove of the main part of the song ("music is my world"). Their performance included all the highlights of the album ... "Processed Beats", "Reason is Treason", "LSF (Lost Souls Forever)", "Cutt Off", plus a few b-sides and other unrecognized but engaging songs. They closed with the primal "Club Foot", with the guitarist and singer shouting "ah aaah haa haaaa ha haaaa" at the top of their lungs during the chorus. The best part about the show was the complete lack of pretension and attitude. As someone on Live 105 remarked the next day, most British bands come to the US after having had their asses kissed continously by the UK music press for a year or so, and react violently to the marked decline in fan and media interest across the pond. None of that from Kasabian, who were at all times very friendly and chatty with the crowd. I told V we should leave at that point since there was no way the Music could compete with their openers, but we stayed for one song. It got me interested, but unfortunately at that point V and our old friend Sean, who we'd run into in the crowd, opted to head to Club ID to see Kevin Anderson (up from LA) so i was taken away. While it was good to hang with Kevin and his friend Doug, my feelings for Club ID can be summed up with a slightly modified Love and Rockets quote: "Ball of pretension, that's what this club is today ... hey hey". Apart from the uninspired djs and the horrible Moving Units-esque band Ashbury from LA (prompting the quote of the evening from Kevin: "This kind of music must be really easy to make"), you could occupy yourself with watching the parade of the self-obsessed.

V spent the weekend recuperating so i busied myself around the house, washing lots of laundry, tidying, and reassembling our entertainment center in its new location in front of the newly-installed living room wall. Geoff and Naomi stopped by Saturday evening for dinner and some Halo 2 action. I'm not sure why, but my skills seem to ebb and flow in very odd cycles. On Saturday night i got schooled repeatedly. Sunday morning i was slightly more competitive, but i still get the feeling i'm not putting in the time to beat down the 12 year-olds. Oh well, i'm not going to go into training just for that. V decided it was time to see a doctor Sunday morning, so i took her to Kaiser before the four of us headed north to have brunch with Michael. That effort was thwarted as i had failed to account for the presence of the St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown, halting our progress towards the Golden Gate Bridge and Sausalito where Michael was patiently waiting in a cafe. We called him to apologize and cancel, then had lunch in the Mission. V and i ended the weekend by picking up my sister's futon in Fremont and having dinner with my parents at the Palo Alto Creamery. The futon has replaced our living room sofa, which in turn completed the furnishings in our music room.

On Saturday i'm off to Orlando for the AMI meeting, which should be good (even if i don't get a chance to check out Disneyworld). That leaves V to care for our doggies for five days by herself. I'm trying to convince Tara her name is Dorito ... why? Dunno. Just for the hell of it i guess.