san francisco and montreal, 11/99
san francisco, 11/19-23/99
11-19, friday
after a much delayed flight, i met stephen at the gate. we rolled over to his office in 3com park, and he put me to work editing one of their sites. his friend jeff, who was out in sf from oklahoma to remodel a house and ended up staying, came and rescued me from work, and we rolled down to the haight (haight-ashbury). jeff was very cool, and we were friends before we even arived. we strolled down to the church of saint john coltrane on divisidero and the record store across the street, then back up haight for a slice of pizza a more record shopping at amoeba. found a couple of steve reich's and a new sonic youth experimental cover double lp (used!). jeff and i cruised over to northbeach and met steve at fuse, a groovy bar, for a drink. after that we walked over to o'malley's irish pub, which had outdoor seating so we could drink and smoke at the same time (it is illegal to smoke indoors in california, unless you are at home). we left there and drove back to mill valley (across the golden gate from sf, where stephen lives) and had a final drink at the 2am club, cut even shorter by the chiropractor student who told me how much she liked cutting up cadavers... we all piled into the car and went over to the mall to pick up trish (stephen's girl) who works at macy's, then back to their apartment where i proceeded to fall asleep on the couch, sitting up, in my clothes.
11-20, saturday
i woke early and walked down three blocks to downtown mill valley, a beautiful little burg, and had coffee at the bookstore/coffee shop that's in the town common. steve and trish (s and t) came down and we went to the breakfast place where the menu proclaimed "eat here or we'll both starve", where we met laurean, an electronic musician on the sunburn label, and his girlfriend for a fabulous breakfast. after breakfast we drove into the city to the yerba buena center for the arts which is right across the street from the sf moma. we check out a really interesting exhibit of multi media art and sculpture, then we went over to the sony metreon and its microsoft store, its virtual bowling, and its multiple starbucks'. we left there and drove over to 9th and irving and met jeff for dinner at pj's, an awesome seafood place. after dinner we dropped jeff's truck out in mill valley and went over to sausalito, another beautiful town right on the bay across from sf, to see being john malkovitch. after that, we watched saturday night live and then went bed.
11-21, sunday
s and i got up and went into mill valley for breakfast at the same place, then took a stroll around town. he dropped me off at the bus stop and i went into sf, alone, because he had to work. i hauled ass down to amoeba on the haight and checked out a little show by the handsome boy modeling school, aka dan the automator (dr. octagon) and prince paul (de la soul). fun and funny. cruised the haight for a while and had coffee at the people's cafe, my favorite coffee shop in the whole world. while making a call from the liquor store, i happened to run into our cocktail waitress from pj's, a little cutie, and this was the most blatant of many odd syncronicitious events of the weekend. i walked up to carl and cole and caught the muni which took me over to the starbucks at 9th and irving (our main meeting place from last january) where stephen picked me up a bit later. we picked up trish, picked up some pasta stuff, cooked up some dinner, and chilled for the rest of the night.
11-22, monday
woke up after s and t had gone, and i strolled down to the coffee shop and listened to a woman cuss about everything, but it was a beautiful day. i went over to the bus stop and got directions to sf from a kindly old guy (the busses run differently on weekends) who pointed me the right way. i got off after a nice chat with the bus driver in sausalito, strolled and had coffee, then got on the ferry, where i dug scenery and chatted with "petita", an older english woman. from the embarcadero, i went back up to the yerba buena and went through the sf moma, mostly to see the video collection of a couple who's future house was being modeled at the moma in new york when i was there, and which i read about in last months wired. they did have a really nice collection of jasper johns' recent work (unfortunately mostly variations on one theme). i headed back to the streets and wandered aimlessly, stopping for a burger at carl's jr, my west coast fave, then muni'ed over to 9th and irving, buying a groovy bauhaus font on the way, and meeting s and j at the starbucks. we chilled out at the bar next door for a while, then s and i went back to mill valley. we stopped at the video store for "so i married an axe murderer" and the grocery for steak and potatoes. we ate and dug the movie, then stayed up till 2 conversating, then a good night's sleep.
11-23, tuesday
up and out with s, who slept in, grabbing coffee on the way to the city at whole foods. we picked up trish at the conservatory of music where she is a student and the three of us went to howard's on 9th (an awesome breakfast place) for lunch. i had coffeee. they left and i muni'ed over to powell and market, then walked over and chilled out in the cyber cafe in the yerba buena, checked my email, then ran over to 1 embarcadero center where i met my mom's childhood friend billy for lunch. we ate in a place right next to his office, then walked along the embarcadero center, which i had never known existed. i went back over to yerba buena for a carrot juice the barista convinced me i had to have, then over to the urban outfitters on powell. picked up a grey turtleneck and a paul frank long sleeve t (as well as a "red map" for sf, a must have for every city), then decided to keep walking up powell. i crossed downtown, into chinatown, then into north beach where i ended up at a really nice coffee bar, cafe piazza across from washington square. after chatting with the barista and his italian friend about "s.p.q.r." (essapeekooairray), i went on over to city lights and jack karouac alley. walking back to market i stopped in the diesel store, then muni'ed once again to the 9th and irving starbucks (in the outer-sunset, btw) where i met jeff and we rolled out to mill valley to hook up with s who gave me my passport that had gotten fedexed (i had forgotten it). i decided not to go to the stereolab show that night and instead go ahead and catch the red eye to montreal, as opposed to spending all day wednesday on the plane, so i went ahead and packed and we all went to dinner at houlahan's in sausalito, which has a beautiful view of the bay. the service was beyond awful, the food was cold, and soon i had an upset stomach, but we listened to "love line" on the radio, and it was all good. we made it to the airport, and the four of us went to the gate where i almost didn't get on the plane. we all hugged and said goodbyes. then i slid into the last seat on the plane (first class), and flew onto montreal.
san francisco is a wonderful city, stephen and trish are wonderful friends, and i had a wonderful time. if you visit after the summer of 2000, look me up and say hi...
montreal, 11/24-29/99
11-24, wednesday
after a 2.5 hour layover in chicago, a long flight, and 4 time changes, i made it to montreal at 10am, ahead of schedule! i collected my stuff, got directions to daria (d)'s place from my voice mail, got some canadian dough, and grabbed a cab over there. got buzzed in at her building on hutchison st. which is 2 blocks from mcgill university, where she is a student, and cruised on up to the room. kristen came over and we had coffee and chatted, then d and i cruised the campus and had coffee; it was a georgeous day, especially for canada at the end of november. we came back and had some more coffee, kristen and jeff came by, and we talked about the state of things in montreal (which by the way is run by the mob). we ate hummus and chatted, then went out and took the metro to the latin quarter. we s topped in to a tea/shisha (an aromatic tobacco smoked through a hooka) bar, and drank a pot of tea each, sitting on and reclining against pillows in a bay window, smoking cigarettes. after the bar, we walked over to a tibetan restaurant and i had an amazing beef dish, best meal i'd had in weeks. we walked back to the building, digging the city the whole way, rented the usual suspects at the videotron, watched that with the whole crew, then i was too tired to even sleep (i managed though).
11-25, thanksgiving day (us)
woke up at noon to find k and d already having coffee, so i joined them (from my futon). got up, had a shower, and went to the second cup (big coffee chain) for more coffee. we stopped off at the ultra convenience store ("open 25 hrs"), then on down sherbrook to d's pottery studio. i met malmoud, her professor, and we inquired about her pieces coming out of the kiln, then we were invited to a party (a pot party) on saturday. we cruised over to the school to their networking center where d's friend john's cousin grant the scenster works. we paged him and got info on the fine sushi place where we were planning on having thanksgiving dinner, then i followed d to her african history class. we ran a couple of errands, then ended back at the place for a pizza lunch with hillary (h) that d made. after pizza we cruised down to tad's (t) apartment to watch part of the cowboy game, but gave up at half time because it was so lame. we came back up and i spent the next hour or so helping d set up a website on the globe, then i took a much needed nap (while she washed dishes!). i showered and dressed in my new turtle neck and we took the metro down to the treehouse, the sushi place and we ate until i thought we were going to pop- and we still brought home leftovers. wonderful conversation that continued over dinner, back to the apartment, during espresso shots, and our entrance into angel's a two story danceclub that was having a jungle/drumnbass night upstairs. we chilled there for a while then cruised across the street to the very groovy and very exclusive jai bar. i met matt, who works with grant, and talked about software; d danced all night and dug the house music, and joked about modern art in the bathroom and women in polka dots. at 2:15 we went outside to cool down and strolled over to the cafe de nuit to say hi to k and j, then back to jai for more. at 3 we got pizza at madonna's right next door, then went on back to the apartment to sleep.
got up, had coffee, and rolled out into the rain. d went to class and i hung out with luc in the network office, then met d and we went to her world religion class where we watched a video about badhisatva (sp?) buddhism that was hilarious. we came on back and i did some much needed laundry, then i set off on a long walk up st. laurent, across at mount royal, and back down st. denis, in the pouring rain. i picked up a copy of enigma's sadness part one 12", then came on back to shower, finish my laundry, and take a nap. d made some mac and cheese, and i drank a pot of coffee and read charles bukowski, listening to zepplin's swan song. i got ready and went out with the whole crew (d stayed behind, not feeling well) to a gigantic 4 story multi leveled bar and talked about our cultural differences. noteable differences include women who look at you as you pass on the sidewalk (after san fran, this was a shock), female bartenders outnumbering male bartenders 1 0 to one, not selling real marlboro's, only marlboro canadian, coat checks, etc. once i was sick of all that, i ran out and caught a cab to tokyo, a dance club on st. laurent that has two rooms: one, reddish and futuristic where a band and disco dj played, and a blue room that was clinical and las vegas at the same time. once in the blue room, i proceeded to shake my ass to house grooves 'til 3am, left and got some pizza, turned down an offer for drugs, and back to the apartment for a little chat with d and sleep.
11-27, saturday
got up at noon and had coffee with j, k, and d, we all showered (seperately), then finally rolled out at 3 to go to d's pot party. i looked at pots, wrapped up pots, and ate hummus and a very interesting yogurt dip with pita bread before departing out into rain. we got a cab and shot down to old montreal which is down near the river, very picturesque, and almost empty. we got to a little cafe and had a lite lunch and coffee, forgot to tip (which is mandatory by law), and cabbed back to get her pots that were all boxed up over at malmoud's. we grabbed mona, another hutchison terrace resident, and cabbed over to st. catherine street to the paramount theatre, which has to be the worlds biggest movie theatre, to see the insider. after, we all went to a second cup for espresso, then on back home. d and i dressed up and walked over to the luba lounge, a very cool bar with couches and overstuffed (for a bar) chairs, for drinks a philosophical discussion of how our arts reflect the way we see life (the luba is d's favorite). josh, another ht resident and big customer of montreal's "1-800-dial-a-gram" service, showed up and we continued chatting until 12:30 when we got a cab over to groove society, a hip hop and house dance club. after meeting up with the crew over there, we all shook our collective ass in the hip hop room until 3, and after some dormroom drama, we went on back to the apartments. d, k, and i sat up until 4:30, then crashed.
11-28, sunday
up at noon again, and after getting ready d, j, and i went over to a breakfast place on milton for a traditional sunday breakfast. we came back and hung out in the apartment all afternoon, then i went on a walk down sherbrooke, over, and back up st. catherine, stopping at the urban outfitters and the second cup for a cup of coffee. d had given me a grocery list so i went over to the provigo (grocery) and picked up stuff for dinner, then cut through back to the apartment. on the way, a few snowflakes fell, and it was very nice. d cooked us up a fabulous meal of fettuccini alfredo, grilled portobello mushrooms, salad, and french bread, white wine (i had cider), goodness it was good. i finished reading her "love is a dog from hell" (bukowski) and took a 3 hour nap. after my nap i showered and met them (d, k, and k's friend jenny) over at sugar's, a bar over on st. laurent that had an open bar til 12. i found out from the dj, dj boogie, that the gallery is where i needed to go dancing, so after goodbyes, i got a cab and cruised down st. laurent to get there. huge club, loud music, and danced 'til 3, again. came on back, tossed and turned til 5, then slept.
11-29, monday
got up at 11 and d made me coffee and eggo's, and then she worked on her paper that was due that day. at 2 she got our asses in gear and got us showered and ready and paper finished by three (i was still around because my 4pm flight got canceled). i went ahead and packed, then we walked through the (inch or so of) snow over to the school to turn her paper in, throwing snowballs the whole way. we cruised over to a second cup and had hot chocolate, the walked back to the apartment to finish packing, chill for 12 minutes, say my goodbyes to everyone, and take a few last pictures. d and i said our goodbyes at the corner of hutchison and sherbrooke after the cab showed, then rolled on to the airport through blowing snow, then flew to chicago, then on back home. once again, i believe a wonderful time was had by all.