Tijuana Cinco

I AM BLOGGING INTERNATIONALLY!!!!!!!11!1

For the next nine days, I'll be calling the front room of Jason Fritz's two bedroom apartment in the La Cacho neighborhood of Tijuana home. I just arrived here three hours ago via trolley from the San Diego Airport. I'm still a little dazed from only sleeping one hour last night after Kasey Capp's stellar going away party at The Mint, so sorry if this post seems a little off. (Apologies to anyone who had to witness my lackluster performances of Dreams and Time After Time).

Not sure what's on the agenda today...I think when Jason wakes up from his nap we're going to go wander around and check out some of downtown and do a little shopping. Must remember to get sunscreen while I'm down there. I don't want to add to the sunburn I've already got from a week spent sunning myself in Dolores Park and at Bass Lake. Have I mentioned that funemployment rules? Oh, only about 188958943 times? Ok.

Anyway, here are five tunes I'll be getting all hella breezy and vacationy to in the next few days. Listen to these yourself, close your eyes, and pretend you're down here with me on the beach. mmmmyyesssssssssss....

1. Phyllis Dillon - Perfidia

(sorry the sound quality is so bad)



2. Jorge Ben - Menina Mulher de Pela Preta

(for ben)




3. The Records - Starry Eyes



4. Can - Moonshake



5. Emmit Rhodes - Fresh As A Daisy

(for jessica and rion)

Addicted to Jesus

brooke: have you talked to the jesus guy?

melanie: oh, not yet

brooke: he's probs busy with his loaves and fishez

melanie: lololol probably 7:42
turning water into wine, etc

brooke: walking on water for exercise

melanie: grooming his beard
shopping for robes

brooke: buying new sandals

melanie: blessing people and shit

brooke: rising from the dead
frankincense and myrrh

melanie: getting nailed to a cross

brooke: wearing a crown of thornz

melanie: imprinting his face on a shroud somewhere

brooke: ok im out
you win
haha
that's the extent of what i learned in catholic school

melanie: i know, im kinda wracking my brain over here too
oh yeah
flipping tables in marketplaces
condemning fornicators

brooke: being xxxxxx' addiction!!!
(i winnnnn)
haha didn't you see that?
he posted something on facy
his top 5 addictions
and jesus was one of them
alongside starbucks iced lattes
i am not kidding

melanie: um that is so hilarious dude!
there was this girl i went to high school with named liz something
and she wore a silk baseball jacket that said
CARMEN ADDICTED TO JESUS WORLD TOUR 1993

brooke: was it serious or ironical?

melanie: pam and i would crack up about it all the time
she really was addicted to jesus dude!
he was like her meth
she couldnt get enough
"i lost me to jesus"

Fifth Five

Hey guys! I've been pretty silent for a few days, but I'm back today to graciously bestow upon you my fave top jams of the week.

1. Grass Widow - Yellow Balloons.

GW is playing with Nodzzz this Saturday afternoon at a Lower Haight house party. How pumped am I? Totes pumped.



2. Nick Garrie - The Nightmare of JB Stanislaus

Rion Rinker burned me and my fellow supper clubbers the Nick Garrie album (titular track here) from a couple of weeks back and I can't stop listening to it.



3. Sibylle Bayer - Tonight



4. Brian Eno - Golden Hours



5. Will Oldham - Rider

(Is it weird that song is so pretty that it makes me weepy? Maybe I'm just a tad emotional right now.)

My Dancing Skillz in the Bay Guardian

After spending a day hiking around Bass Lake and driving around Bolinas, it was pretty hard to work up the motivation to go out last night, but for some reason intuition told me that going to the Soul Clap 60s soul night/dance competition at the Elbo Room would be a stellar idea. Well um, I'm glad that I did because Colin convinced me that we should both enter the dance competition because a lot of the contestants were shaping up to be pretty chumpy and uh well...I won! The competition was judged by a bunch of local writers/dj's and semi-celebs, including Jello Biafra. Jello rallied for me, saying that I was hot (yessss) and had the best moves. YES! Sorry to brag but I am feeling a little awesome today. And $100 richer.

Chris Brennan pointed me to this article in the Bay Guardian. I'm number 26, obvs. I like how I'm totally rolling my eyes at the runner-up on page one of the article. Ha.

Cold, Drizzly July Five

WHAT HAPPENED TO SUMMER??!?! Seriously last weekend I was riding my bicycle carefree through Golden Gate Park in a short-sleeved dress, and today I'm wearing a fucking sweater and a scarf? What kind of cruel joke is this? Am I going to be planted inside in front of the space heater this weekend or for the love of god can I please get some sun time in? Am I gonna have go back to Stockton?

Anyway, my five songs this week are songs from my "Singalong" playlist on my iPod. Yes, I'm a giant nerd and I sing in the shower, and I made a special playlist of songs that I know all the words to just so I can sing along really loud and make my roommates feel embarassed for me. But did you know that I'm a singer? You probably did, right? Did you know that Bertie Pearson and I are in a band called Wine Club and that we're going to start playing shows soon? See? I need to practice, ok? I need to keep my pipes nice and strong so I can belt my shit out proper.

Anyway, here are five of the songs you'd hear me give my all to if you were in my house during shower time.

1. Espers - Dead Queen (Black is the Color is actually my song of choice, but it's nowhere to be found on Youtube.)



2. The Finches - Step Outside



3. Alton Ellis - Why Birds Follow Spring



4. Dolly Mixture - Never Let It Go



5. Francoise Hardy - La Maison Ou J'ai Grandi (I kinda know the words in French...?)

Tijuana Dreamin'

In three weeks I will be at the above beach in Tijuana, getting a sunburn and drinking Jarritos. Admittedly Tijuana is a weird place to vacation, but I have a good friend living down there that I can hang out with, I'll be able to pratice my rusty, broken spanish, and it's the only place I can think of where I can vacation on the beach for a week and only spend like $200. I'm so excited!

Oh, did I mention that next Thursday is my last day at my job? Summer fUnemployment here I come! To make a little extra money to supplement my unemployment benefits, I've opened up an ebay store called Year of the Cat. (Bookmark it now, even though there's nothing in it!) I'll be posting more info when I stock it (within the next couple of days) and I expect you guys to buy EVERYTHING. I picked up a ton of rad finds in the amazing thrift stores of Stockton last week, plus I'm selling off all the designer shit I never wear that I bought last fall when I was rich. You guys will be super stoked, trust.

Love Always,

Melanie A Berlin

Evil lurks in the water

Watch your back this weekend...