The San Diego Union Tribune's Fair Coverage is Glorious & Mysterious

Hey look I'm a front page story in the San Diego Union Tribune

I understand that the "theme" of the San Diego County Fair this year is "Music is good" or equivalent. I know that the San Diego Union Tribune will "cover" the fair every year: An overview piece at the beginning of the summer ("What's new in fair food") with a couple of American Idol inspired concert reviews. ("Karla Peterson about Kelly Clarkson, "Kelly Clarkson is talented!")

But how to explain their continuing series of in depth features about the music situation at the fair? Yesterday: Reggae banned at the fair, people upset. Today: Budding musicians find a rockin' role at the fair

All I have to say is: As long as their role can accurately described as "rockin'" those kids are doing all right.

Additionally, I appreciate that the San Diego Union Tribune employs headline writers that can unabashedly use the word "rockin'" in a head line. Dude, are you a million years old? Here's a marketing tie in for that headline: Adult diapers. You know those kids with their twitter- they love urban slang. Seriously though, do they pay someone to write headlines at the Union Tribune, or are they being written by a computer in Dallas?

Man Arrested for One Sexual Assault Suspect in Many Sexual Assault

SAN DIEGO — A man who attacked a woman in the garage of her Mission Valley condo complex Wednesday was arrested shortly afterward, and is suspected in six similar home-invasion robberies and sexual assaults of women during the last year, police said.

Thomas Parker, 39, of Tierrasanta, was apprehended after the victim, a marathon runner, and others began chasing him and an off-duty Border Patrol agent who was nearby also took part in the chase and made the arrest.

Parker will be booked into county jail on charges of burglary, robbery, assault with intent to commit rape, and false imprisonment, said San Diego police spokesman Gary Hassen.

Additional charges may be filed based on results of DNA tests, Hassen said.

Detectives believe Parker, who was wearing a ball cap and sunglasses, may be the suspect in a year-long series of similar attacks, Hassen said. Those attacks were on Asian women. The woman in Wednesday's attack is white, Hassen said.

The woman, who is 33 years old and married, had been shopping when she returned home to the complex near Fenton Parkway and Friars Road about 1:30 p.m. She was in her garage when a man entered, grabbed her and threatened her with a knife. He started to close the garage door and the woman began to fight with him.

The man fled, and the woman chased him while yelling for help. Neighbors called 911. The woman flagged down other residents of the condo complex who were driving nearby and they began chasing the man with her.

The assailant ran across the intersection of Fenton Parkway and Friars Road. An off-duty Border Patrol Agent who was stopped at a traffic light got out of his vehicle and also joined in the chase. The agent arrested Parker without incident.

A second off-duty Border Patrol Agent assisted until police arrived.

The woman was slightly injured during the assault, but did not require immediate medical attention, Hassen said.

(SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE)

Pfork Name Checks Art Fag in Blank Dogs Review

Weighed against the well-received On Two Sides, released by Troubleman Limited, Blank Dogs' second full-length is more colorfully composed, without straying too far from Brooklyn's increasingly popular ragged-reverb aesthetic. Admirers of Crystal Stilts and Vivian Girls, in particular, will already have a soft spot for Sniper's particular flavor of pop deconstruction. (As of 2008, you can even call them labelmates: the recent Blank Dogs EP The Fields was released by Jeremy Earl's Woodsist Records.) Where Vivian Girls sand their sharp, discordant edges with harmonies, and where Crystal Stilts shower rain over sun-kissed 1960s pop, Sniper veers off in a different direction. There's a temptation to slander these family resemblances as hipster herd thinking; given the obvious sense of community across labels like In the Red, HoZac, Art Fag, of like-spirited musicians collaborating and ideas cross-pollinating, the truth is brighter. The emotions, of course, are darker. In Under and Under, especially, today connects to yesterday through Sniper's abiding love for the overcast moods of post-punk and the gloomier regions of new wave.

(Pitchfork)

Diprivan Fingered in Michael Jackson Death

Several months ago, Jackson had begun badgering Lee about Diprivan, also known as Propofol, Lee said. It is an intravenous anesthetic drug widely used in operating rooms to induce unconsciousness. It is generally given through an IV needle in the hand... Three and a half hours later, Jackson jumped up and looked at Lee, eyes wide open, according to Lee. "This is what happens to me," she quoted him as saying. "All I want is to be able to sleep. I want to be able to sleep eight hours. I know I'll feel better the next day. (Yahoo!)

Diprivan® (propofol) Injectable Emulsion is a sterile, nonpyrogenic emulsion containing 10 mg/mL of propofol suitable for intravenous administration. (Drugs.com)

made in mexico all leather rapid youth kevin greenspon che cafe

made in mexico all leather rapid youth kevin greenspon che cafe, originally uploaded by catdirtrecords.

07 25 09
$5/8 sliding scale
8 PM
Made In Mexico
All Leather
Rapid Youth
Kevin Greenspon
Che Cafe
San Diego CA.

AP Reports "10 More" to Be Charged in Madoff Case

OK I haven't mentioned the Bernie Madoff case at all here. I have worked alot in federal white collar crime cases, and I have this to say about the 150 year sentence handed down yesterday:

Most white collar fraud cases that plead involved a guilty plea to one or two counts, which establishes a maximum sentence by statute. In other words, if Madoff had pleaded to count one, he would be looking at a maximum of 10 years, for example. That's not what happened here- Madoff pled "to the sheet" in the hopes that short-circuiting the process would result in leinency from the Judge. Because Madoff didn't have a plea agreement in this case, his exposure was not the 10 years a hypthetical plea to count one carried, it was the total amount of time the judge could give him by stacking all 15 counts on top of one another. That's how he got 150 years- 10 x 15. Ten is the maximum for a single count of fraud. Thus, the 150 years sentence is the result of a tactical choice gone wrong.

However, if I had represented someone in this general fact pattern, I might have said, "look your best chance is to get a really high sentence in the hopes that the court of appeals will reverse it for being ridiculous."

As for the human toll in all white collar crime cases- I have heard enough victim impact speeches in these cases to last a life time and I'm always suprised at how unsympathetic the victims are. Alot of it has to do with the fact that succesful fraud prays on victim greed. It's difficult to be sympathetic to a victim that was trying to make a quick buck. That isn't necessarily the case here, but certainly before the fall these victims felt 'privileged' with exclusitivity and years of clock-work high returns.

Today I read that the Feds are going to charge 10 more people in this case. THAT should be interesting- more interesting then Madoff himself.

New Crocodiles Video for "Summer of Hate" on You Tube, Stereogum, Skull Kontrol

Stereogum

Skull Kontrol

You know I find funny about the Crocodiles/Wavves attention explosion?

First off, it's almost exactly like the San Diego vibe

except a) haters are now from all over the country and b) there are also fans in addition to haters.

Crocodiles Haters Read Spin Magazine

Spin magazine still exists, and Crocodiles haters are their steadfast commenter.  Spin and Stereogum should merge.

Concert/Book/Movie Review: Phoenix @ the Wiltern; The Book of Manu; Land of the Lost, Transformers

Phoenix @

The Wiltern Los Angeles CA.

June 28th, 2009.

The Book of Manu

translated by Wendy Doniger

Land of the Lost

starring Will Ferrell & Danny McBride

Transformers

director Michael Bay

I. Concert Review: Phoenix @ The Wiltern June 28th, 2009

Driving to the concert venue, I was thinking about an article I had read in the LA Times that day, about how Korea Air was going to demolish the Wilshire Grand hotel in downtown and construct an enormous luxury hotel, brand tbd. The Wiltern is in what is now known as "Korea Town" and if you've been to Los Angeles more then 5 times and haven't at least checked out the area (i.e. driven through) you are missing out. Korea as a culture is one the rise. Have you heard of Pinkberry? That was started by a Korean LA resident. She was 32.

The Wiltern is a Live Nation venue, but it's a top-of-the-line facility to listen to live music, even if the atmosphere made me think of the enormous Wilshire synagogue two blocks down: Live Nation: We're No Fun!(TM)

Awesome Baby opened. They have a connection to MGMT? Playing the Casbah tonight. I heard one song.

Phoenix took the stage promptly at 9:05 PM. Well, that is one thing that Live Nation has going for it: They're not afraid to start a sold-out rock concert at 9 PM. Rock and roll shall live forever on the NYSE.

Phoenix gave the crowd what it wanted- the material from their new album. It was a crisp 75 minute set that had us at the hotel bar by 11 PM. They opened with Liztomania and closed with 1901. And they were, with few exceptions, really good. The crowd was regular-people heavy. I imagine Live Nation has some closed circuit lounge where the VIP's can hang out with schmucks from the San Fernando valley who pay $2000 for the privliege. Or like, they're next to one another. Regardless of my personal animus towards Live Nation, the Wiltern is a good place to hear a rock and roll concert. I even saw someone toke up, which is something I would never do at a Live Nation venue. I guess I'm just a pussy.

II. Book Review: The Laws of Manu translated by Wendy Doniger

This is likely to be the last in my series of Hindu-related book reviews. Many will no doubt sigh with relieve but I wanted to take one last crack at emphasizing how interesting these books (The Rig Veda, Upanishads & The Laws of Manu) and accessible these books really are. Anyone who is comfortable reading Homer or the Bible can relate to the deep wisdom of this triology of Hindu cultural/religious works. Hopefully, that's everybody.

From a modern perspective, the Laws of Manu is probably your best bang for your buck of the three. The edition I read was less then 300 pages, and you basically get a comprehensive look at ancient/midevial hindu and indo european culture. It's more accessible then the Bible, that is for sure. Reading from page to page, the reader has to constantly confront apparent contradictions and reconsiliations that make for energizing mental activity. It's easy to see why the British fell in love with the Laws of Manu, and also easy to see why this book is "most-often-burned" at protests held by members of the indian "Untouchables" caste. The Laws of Manu is probably the best single source on operating and maintaining a "caste system" in all of recorded history. Perhaps a dubious distinction, but an important one. Caste/class issues are common to all of humanity.

III. Movie Reviews: Land of the Lost with Will Ferrell and Danny McBride, Transformer directed by Michael Bay

These two movies are both the worst pieces of excrement and no one should see them ever.