This is a story about Proposition H, the clean energy act and patriotic kittens.
I live in Sonoma county and I can't vote on it because it is a San Francisco thing. I also admit that I learned about proposition H completely by accident while trying to be hip and cool (sort of). Here is the deal, I got an email from the Independent on Divisadero telling me that Cake was going to play there for a special benefit blah blah blah. I wanted to see Cake at a small venue and I was excited. By the time I figured out that my wife and I could both go, all that was left were the expensive VIP tickets and I really wanted to go so I bought them. The VIP tickets allowed us to go to a meet and greet and I sort of hate those things because the band is supposed to be nice to you because you paid more..... blah, blah blah so we figured we would just go to the show.
OK, OK so get to the point. Well I got an email a few days before the show and it said come for food and drink etc. and the address was intriguing so we decided to go. The house was a grand old victorian with an amazing history all it's own. the vibe was mellow and friendly and I walked past John McCrea (lead singer of Cake) on my way in trying to act non chalant...... I was so damn successful at the non chalant thing that i did not speak to John all night. I did get in 2 different conversation circles with him though and he had a bit of a sore throat so he was sipping hot tea.
So we are hanging out and checking out this amazing house and the owner said it was OK to go anywhere in the house and have a look around and it was a truly amazing pad! As we are looking around and chatting here and there, we keep noticing these people getting really excited about proposition H and we learn that the gist of it is that they want to achieve 100% clean energy in San Francisco by 2040 and PG& E is spending millions to try and stop it. Think about that folks, PG$E is spending millions of dollars they collected from you to try and defeat this proposition. You need to get informed and make your own decisions. We heard from Alix Rosenthal and Julian Davis from the campaign and John McCrea spoke for a minute as well. When Ross Mirkarimi spoke to us, I got really fired up and excited. In the middle of his speech, I remembered I had a video camera. I was standing up front and you can see John McCrea just to the right in the doorway and Vince DiFiore (original member of Cake) to Ross' left as well. It is just a small clip to get you excited too.
OK, OK so get to the point. Well I got an email a few days before the show and it said come for food and drink etc. and the address was intriguing so we decided to go. The house was a grand old victorian with an amazing history all it's own. the vibe was mellow and friendly and I walked past John McCrea (lead singer of Cake) on my way in trying to act non chalant...... I was so damn successful at the non chalant thing that i did not speak to John all night. I did get in 2 different conversation circles with him though and he had a bit of a sore throat so he was sipping hot tea.
So we are hanging out and checking out this amazing house and the owner said it was OK to go anywhere in the house and have a look around and it was a truly amazing pad! As we are looking around and chatting here and there, we keep noticing these people getting really excited about proposition H and we learn that the gist of it is that they want to achieve 100% clean energy in San Francisco by 2040 and PG& E is spending millions to try and stop it. Think about that folks, PG$E is spending millions of dollars they collected from you to try and defeat this proposition. You need to get informed and make your own decisions. We heard from Alix Rosenthal and Julian Davis from the campaign and John McCrea spoke for a minute as well. When Ross Mirkarimi spoke to us, I got really fired up and excited. In the middle of his speech, I remembered I had a video camera. I was standing up front and you can see John McCrea just to the right in the doorway and Vince DiFiore (original member of Cake) to Ross' left as well. It is just a small clip to get you excited too.
So then we mingle a little more and I see a guy who had been filming interviews and goings on at the party and it turns out it is Gabe Nelson who plays bass for Cake and I am so terribly smooth that I go up to him and I say "hey! your in the band right?" smooth huh? Then I get even smoother and tell him of a show I attended at the Cattle Club in Sacramento in 92 or so. I was there to see Jonathan Richman and Cake just happened to be opening up. I told him that I was totally impressed and instantly liked them and I thought..... those guys are going places! and that is when Gabe informs me that he was not in the band at the time but he was actually at the show to see Cake and he really dug Jonathan Richman too. I got to speak to some more supporters of proposition H and I did get to speak with Vince from Cake a bit too, Vince plays keyboards, percussion and trumpet in the band and I must say that the trumpet really puts the icing on the.....sound. Bottom line: Nice party, lots of fun.
My wife Lori and I then go out and grab a bite to eat at a great little Ethiopian restaurant on Divisadero right near the club, go grab a coffee and pop on over to see the show at The Independent . The opening band was a great band called King City and we had a lot of fun and you can too by clicking below.
Those guys really know how to liven up a party! You should go see them and pay them money. I did, I bought a CD. It feels good to buy merchandise directly from the band, be selfish, do it for yourself!
Small break, a little more talk about proposition H from Julian (very passionate fellow) and up comes Cake. This was a really great show and a lot of fun. Small club with less than 400 people in it and it is very relaxed and the band is relaxed and I shot a little more video. I am posting a small clip below just because it shows how the band was actually there to support proposition H and it wasn't just another gig. I cut it off because John's throat was hurting and I just don't feel right posting an entire song, it's just not my place to do that and so this is all you will see from me.
It just felt like the right place to cut it off eh? I am almost a genius in the editing room huh? By the way, the guy saying he was a really bad singer was Abraham who became my new best friend for the evening. It was a lot of fun and they had a good time and John kept threatening to quit and then just kept going. These guys really walk the walk. They just installed solar panels on the roof of their studio and they are recording their next album fully solar powered! They also gave away a tree to a woman for correctly naming the type of tree it was, they made sure it would survive in the city and they asked that she send photos in of the her and theb tree on their new path together. Not only that but they are there to support proposition H in San Francisco and they are from Sacramento. I have always felt a kinship with these guys because when I discovered them I lived in Sacramento myself and I started raising my little family there......
OK, so that is pretty much it. Oh, wait, I need to tell you about the title of my blog "kittens on H". After the show we were hanging around waiting for autographed T-shirts we had won in a raffle - I got one for my 14 year old daughter for her birthday, she is going to freak out! and.... John McCrea is hanging out talking with some supporters about how to get the message out in a funky and unique way and he has this great T-Shirt on with a kitten in front of a glittery American flag and we started saying things like Kittens for H and I said kittens on H! and I thought I was really funny and so here we are.
Have fun, enjoy life and vote yes on prop H!
OK, so that is pretty much it. Oh, wait, I need to tell you about the title of my blog "kittens on H". After the show we were hanging around waiting for autographed T-shirts we had won in a raffle - I got one for my 14 year old daughter for her birthday, she is going to freak out! and.... John McCrea is hanging out talking with some supporters about how to get the message out in a funky and unique way and he has this great T-Shirt on with a kitten in front of a glittery American flag and we started saying things like Kittens for H and I said kittens on H! and I thought I was really funny and so here we are.
Have fun, enjoy life and vote yes on prop H!
