Drunken Owls and Other Delights

So yes, as was my duty, I headed up to Amoeba today for Record Store Day (Emm headed instead over to the de Young Museum to check out the Olmec stone head and the Balenciaga fashion exhibits) and spent mumbletymumble dollars on some nifty things. It was a bit of a chore getting there, as I decided not to wait the extra 24 minutes for the next 33 bus to get me just over a mile's distance. Walking up Arguello to Fulton wasn't too bad...but walking from Fulton up to the northeast corner of GGP is a bit of a chore, since it's all uphill. On the way I did walk by 2400 Fulton, known in 60s lore as the house owned by Jefferson Airplane, which looks pretty much the same as it did back then.

[Side note: one of these days I'd like to take a walking tour through the Haight and take pictures of all the houses and stores that were famous back in the hippie days...I know it's probably been done and posted/published, but given that I live in this city and am just a bus ride away from a neighborhood with a very famous musical history, it would be fun.] [ANYWAY...]

So! The spoils:

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part I dvd

Buffalo Tom, Skins (Ltd Edition with outtakes cd)
Crowded House, Intriguer (surprised we don't own this already)
Crowded House, Travelogue 2010 (3 cd live album I didn't know existed!)
The Feelies, Here Before (Yay, new album!!)
Foo Fighters, Wasting Light (WOOO! Been waiting for this one!!)
Good Charlotte, Cardiology (yet another album I picked up for Emm...I sense a theme here)
Ladytron, Best of 00-10 (I keep forgetting I like them)
Low, C'mon (came with a free 5-track acoustic EP)
The National, High Violet (Ltd Edition with extras cd...again, another theme here)
The Smithereens, 2011 (Yay, new album, with Don Dixon producing!)
Yellowcard, When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes (Yay, new cheap album!!)


And some odd freebies, including random posters, an Epitaph Records sampler, a Christian Gospel sampler, and a Belle & Sebastian seven-inch. I figure that B&S single is the only thing I'll end up saving...

I was very close to buying the new remaster of The Church's Starfish (which has an album's worth of extra tracks), but I think I'll wait on it for now, since it just came out and was a bit over twenty-two dollars. Yeah, in the past I'd have picked it up despite the price (and if I hadn't picked up the Harry Potter dvd, it may have made the cut), but I figure I'll wait for a sale or find it online for cheaper.


So! After a few hours' of browsing and listening to the Kinks' Lola vs Powerman and the Moneyground, Part One (a very odd choice for Amoeba's store play, but a nice one nonetheless, at least it wasn't something horrible or earshattering), I headed out to Golden Gate Park to meet up with Emm, who by this time was hanging out at the Arboretum. I cut through due west, surprising myself by finally finding Hippie Hill (and yes, there were neohippies there) as well as the very quiet and nice AIDS Memorial Grove, before coming up on the back end of the Academy of Sciences. There was, I believe, a high school band playing Sousa marches on the Music Concourse stage. That's when Emm and I finally met back up and headed home. We stopped at the Hawaiian BBQ place on Clement on the way (Two large chicken katsu sammiches and 2 drinks for just $8.50? That's a steal!), a quick shopping stop at the Smart & Final, one last stop for iced coffee/tea, and then home.

So yes...I'm tired, but we had quite a lot of fun today, and I got to celebrate Record Store Day in the process. Woo!