The plan after the show in Eugene was to drive straight to San Francisco. Aaron (Duckmandu) would be doing that. I had uncomfortable sleep but at least I got sleep. I don’t know how he did it. On the morning of the 24th, we stopped somewhere near Mt. Shasta and it was beautiful.

somewhere between Eugene and Oakland is beautiful

convenience store wisdom I didn’t take. I got whoppers and jerky.

We arrived in Oakland at Aaron’s place which is a converted furniture store. It has a nice stage in the living room for his band to practice. I took a nap one of five couches and woke up to a call from my friend who told me he’d had dinner with Mel Brooks and watched him drink too much Grapa, giving him courage to do his act from his Catskills days. Gold. I went to the bathroom that housed a fishtank and one of the two fish was dead. The other one stayed at the other end of the tank.

Mel Brooks

12 Galaxies is named after a guy who has . . . I don’t remember. I met him, talked to him and have forgotten everything except that he carried a picket sign that said many things, one of the things being “800 Galaxies”, and that he did some spoken word before the set and walked through the crowd with his sign. I do remember him explaining the galaxies but the sound of his voice was trumped by everything else that was louder. I should have listened closer but I didn’t. Any local hero that has a place named after him should be listened to closer.

All of us, including Frank Chu, had good shows.

My friends, Jen and Rich, came to the show. I stayed with them. We played Guitar Hero and then Gears of War. I fell asleep as my guy was dying. Excellent dreams.