Day Two

Rise And Shine: 6:40
Thanks to my big push to finish reading Danielewski’s House Of leaves, I’m running on four hours of sleep. The day at Lackland Air Force Base waits for no man. We all rush out of the hotel at 7:10 to make a 7:30 orientation of the weekend’s events and various government acronyms. Crappily, we arrive 30 minutes late and hang around for three hours to catch the next one. I did get to see my brother take his last 2.5 mile run as a trainee and witnessed him receiving his Air Force coin, promoting him to the rank of airman. However, an unfortunate misstatement in someone else’s Physical Training results prevents him from receiving the award for best physical performance over the six-and-a-half week basic training. Fortunately, the person responsible is being appropriately reamed and my bro will be able to receive the reward of traveling off base this Sunday.

We had a good afternoon hearing about the different ways in which a person can be called “retarded” or be made aware of a wide spectrum of their inadequacies. Most of these methods involve pushups or “pushing Texas” as those in-the-know know.

The Rest Of The Afternoon
We pretty much just fed my brother all the crappy food he wasn’t allowed to eat, until he again became government property at seven.

7:30-9:00 PM: San Antonio Downtown
Damn SA’s architectural community is holding it down. There is a great mix of Spanish-style and classical styles. Plus they do a great job of lighting up everything at night. The centerpiece of the downtown experience is the River Walk. It’s an inspired public space that manages to be intimate and accessible at the same time.

So yeah, music. I didn’t get a chance to listen to much stuff yesterday. However, I did give the new Coldplay single a spin, and while a lot seem to be complaining, I think it’s a welcome respite from their tried and true aesthetics. Surely it will be a million seller yadda yadda. Kudos to the band for giving it away for free.

[mp3] Coldplay – Violet Hill (alt)

In other news, a symphony of 100 electric guitarists will be performing Glenn Branca’s Hallucination City on May 16. The performance is part of SAM’s 75^th annual Gala and will be held outdoors at Seattle’s shiny, new sculpture park. It sounds like an awesome experience, but the only problem for a starving blogger is that the event runs a whopping $175 to an even whoppinger $275 for a premier ticket.

if you can afford this diamond crusted guitar,

you can see Glenn Branca on May 15