Jonathan Coulton

We had a nice time in San Francisco, even though I was troubled by my certainty that I was walking around inefficiently due to my lack of an appropriate algorithm. We had some drinks after the Book Passage thing (I know at least one person who went to the one in San Francisco because that’s where I said it was – sorry about that) at the Owl Tree bar, a spot we enjoyed the last time we were in town. There was a strange man there who was bothering all the patrons because he was an insane person. I asked him if he was going to sit at a newly vacant table and he just stared at me with a creepy smile and said nothing. I though he was going to stab me. Felt like home.

I must recommend the restaurant Canteen to everyone who eats food. It’s a tiny lunch counter of a place owned by our friend Dennis Leary, formerly the chef at Rubicon. The menu changes all the time, and everything he makes is delicious – it’s not diner food, it’s you know, fancy. We ate there as many times as we could, and it was not enough.

Next stop LA. Tonight we’re at McSweeney’s Presents: The World Explained, then Book Soup on Monday. Get ready Los Angelinos, cuz Hodgman’s about to KICK IT!

As some of you know, I’ve lately been feeling a bit under the weather. I saw a doctor recently, and I was diagnosed with – Olympic Fever! This week’s thing is about the US curling team, who will be competing in events next week. Those of us not intimately familiar with the sport would probably describe curling as bocce on ice, though the pros would probably have a thing or two to say about that. Just so’s you know, the leader of the team is called the “skipper” and the things they slide around are called “rocks” and the zone of concentric circles that you’re aiming for is called the “house” (thanks Wikipedia).

Standard disclaimer: I don’t have any idea how this really sounds because I did most of the mixing on an airplane with in-ear headphones. If it’s awful I’ll have to fix it in a week or so when I’m home again. Anyway: Curl

Day one on the latest leg of the Hodgman tour, and boy are my legs tired. Why so many hills San Francisco? The flight was fine, except for the fact that we were delayed for two hours on the runway while they fixed a broken part on the plane. A blessing in disguise though, because I was able to spend some time in a quiet plane mixing this week’s thing.

Tonight we’re at Book Passage in Corte Madera (even though my other post says San Francisco) at 7 PM. If you’re in the area come out and see us, and if you’re not, blog and scream about it.

Speaking of hills, I was trying to figure out if there’s an algorithm for how to minimize uphillness when walking in San Francisco. Always take the least steep option? Never go downhill until you have to? Who knows the answer?

Garrick Van Buren has taken a 1950′s promotional film for suburban life called “In the Suburbs” and edited together a nice video to go along with Shop Vac – another great example of Creative Commons-enabled collaboration. The video is public domain and available on archive.org, which is a pretty amazing resource for all sorts of things.

There is no funny here, so don’t bother looking. This is a breakup song, or maybe just something about the end of an old thing and the beginning of a new thing. Pretty sparse arrangement, but I’m digging the heck out of the guitar part in the left ear – minor 9th! Also, watch out for the bridgey solo section, lest you be frightened by the sudden appearance of the Ghostly Banjo ™. If you are a movie director who is currently on the set of “Tootsie 2: Still Mannish!”, you may want to call my lawyer to discuss licensing this song for the credits.

So Far So Good