bg/ish: "Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep)"

Well, it's Friday, and whilst folks tend to thank the gods for this day, I'm just glad it's almost over here at the office. I'm sleepy, and I'm tired. "Weekend of the Wolfman" will likely be posted this weekend. I've had a chance to sort through the pictures, but at the moment don't have the energy or time to complete that post. Almost there though...

Your boy and mine ag is galavanting around downtown San Diego this weekend and hopefully getting some excellent coverage of Comic-Con 2009. Yes, I'm still jealous that I was unable to secure a ticket for today or tomorrow, but I'm sure ag will do just fine without me. *weeps* Is it dusty in here?

In other news, it's no secret that we here at the 'Pub suckle Johnny Depp without qualms. Thus, we naturally lust for his latest flick, Alice in Wonderland. So, on this Friday, we'll leave you with this tidbit of goodness, albeit goodness filled with annoying ads from your boy Disney...

bg/ish: 1 Year High & Rising

Well kids, 1 year and 180 posts later and the rebirth of bg/ag publishing as a blog can, at worst, be considered a mild success. Yes, it was a year ago that we openly challenged the gods to defy us:

"If all goes as the gods have forseen, this rebirth will amount to nothing more than an aborted attempt at a legendary comeback the likes of Magic in '96. One last fat, bloated and uncoorordiniated quest for glory! This is why we mock the gods openly and defy them to do anything about it!"

Of course, to the delight of all of us, we are still here, and dare I say, better than ever. I'd like to personally offer up heartfelt thanks to everyone who takes just a little time out of their day to read our musings, click our links, and generally indulge our madness. We've had a presence on the web for almost 10 years now, with readers both existent and non-existent, but we always get a lot of satisfaction out of knowing that we've made someone laugh or enlightened them with one of our opinions.

I'm also pleased to announce that our domain is live once again. www.bgagpublishing.com is back, and now redirects to this blog. Thanks to Go Daddy for offering up a deal so good, not even our cheap, black asian broke asses could pass it up.

So, be on the lookout tomorrow for a rather large post called "Weekend of the Wolfman". The Wolfman was in town again with his "muy ridiculoso" camera and I'm still sorting through tons of pics but hope to get all that sorted by tomorrow.

Once again, many thanks to nv@ag, chair, and all of you who read our shit. We love you (but your boy bg hates you at the same time).

Out.

bg/ish: Fixie Gangstas

Saw this tagged up on Post St. near my office.

bg/ish: Action Camus

What's my favorite book? That's easy. The Stranger by Albert Camus. Hands down. I've read it more times than I can count. In fact, I'ma go read it right now...

I came across this image that seriously made my day over at this isn't happiness...


If you've never checked out "this isn't happiness" I recommend it. I'm adding them to our blog roll recommended reading list, so it should be easy...

bg/ish: "Good days, bad days, halfway days..."

"...but I'm still lookin' for a Greatdayindamornin'"

The last few days have been great. Summer in the city. The kinds of days when going to work seems almost pointless. Too beautiful outside. Too distracted inside. Morning walks through a city bustling with tourists. 2 hour lunches. Cigarette breaks in the grass at Union Square. Afternoon elevator rides to the top of St. Francis. Frozen yogurt. Quiet moments in a rooftop garden.

Then 5 p.m. rolls around. Mashing. Always. Never not. Straight to Dolores Beach Park. Tecates. Red Stripes. Tasty herbs. Georgeisms. I love my backyard. Hill bombing in a go kart. Tumbles and rolls. Road rash. The laughter of good friends. It hurts so good.

Late dinner at Monk's Kettle. Siamese Twins. Late night walks through the summer air. Climb to Buena Vista. No Sherpa. Slice of Castro Special. The pizza, not the lifestyle. Sketches and Haiku. Just because. Falling asleep to Burial one night. Emancipator the next. A beautiful smile in the middle of the night. Waking as the sun rises... a greatdayindamornin'. Feeling content.

"Buy the ticket, take the ride." - Hunter S. Thompson

agIsh: New brew, you!

I had a Newcastle Summer Ale the other day. I'll wait while you re-read that sentence. After 82 years of specializing in their signature brown ale with unmistakable nutty flavor, the folks over at Scottish & Newcastle decided to change it up a bit and introduce a new beer.

Although refreshing, I can probably best describe it as a slightly watered-down Hefeweizen with the smoothness akin to a cider. The nutty flavor we've come to expect from Newcastle now becomes almost bland and watery - thus, its refreshing quality; the subtle bite is all but gone.

I can't decide if I hate or like this mythical-status beer. I've tried searching for a label or some acknowledgement on their site but found only a picture of a coaster and a note on the site saying, essentially, that they're under construction. Newcastle was probably my first favorite beer so there's some sentiment behind these words. I've only had a pint of it so I really should give it a couple more rounds before I decide conclusively.

If you've tried the Summer Ale I'm interested in your review. Please include photographic proof lest I will call you a liar.

Be well,
nv@ag

bg/ish: "Innocent Bones"

I'm not sure if I'll ever dig another Iron & Wine tune as much as I dig "Innocent Bones". Whenever my mood calls for it, this song comforts me. I wanted to share it with you all, so I rigged together this "video" of a live version of the tune I have from his debut performance in Paris, France. Enjoy.



"Cain got a milk-eyed mule from the auction
Abel got a telephone
And even the last of the blue-eyed babies know
That the burning man is the color of the end of day
And how every tongue that gets bit always has another word to say

Cain bought a blade from some witch at the window
Abel bought a bag of weed
And even the last of the brown-eyed babies see
That the cartoon king has a tattoo of a bleeding heart
There ain't a penthouse Christian wants the pain of the scab, but they all want the scar
How every mouth sings of what it's without, so we all sing of love
And how it ain't one dog who's good at fucking and denying who he's thinking of

Cain heard a cat tumble limp off the rooftop
Abel heard his papa pray
And even the last of the black-eyed babies say
That every saint has a chair you can borrow and a church to sell
That the wind blows cold across the back of the master and the kitchen help
There's a big pile of innocent bones still holding up the garden wall
And it was always the broken hand we learned to lean on after all
How God knows if Christ came back he would find us in a poker game
After finding out the drugs [drinks] were all free but they won't let you out the door again"

bg/ish: "Up" Did Nothing But Bring Me Down


I recently saw "Up" in 3D at the gorgeous and classy Castro Theater. How classy? So classy, there were no previews or annoying commercials, but rather, a live organ player pounding out the Disney classics.

But that's where the praise stops...

First of all, I'm pretty averse to organs. Don't care for the sound. Plus I tend to hate Disney. Meh. Why go see Up then? Well, I ask you, why not? Honestly, I don't know. It was in 3D. Snuck in some wine. Got a little stoned. Then the movie started, and it all went to shit.

As soon as the movie ended, I turned to my friend and said, "That was terrible." I pretty much figured that would be the last I thought of or spoke of that film. Then today, I came across this article on Deadspin, "Dear Pixar: Stop Making Me Cry Like A Little Bitch", and was so joyously reminded of my hatred for the film:

"...this time around, the people at Pixar didn't bother wasting time taking out my heart and tearing it to fucking pieces. They decided there was no point in waiting until the end of their little movie to turn me into a blubbering lump of shit. No, they had to do that shit RIGHT AWAY, packing in as much sad shit as they could into the first ten minutes of that fucking thing: aging, cancer, infertility, and death. Hey, thanks a lot, Pixar. Thanks for gutting my insides with a fish scraper. I really enjoyed that. Fucking infertility? In a movie about balloons? How is my Cambodian son Maddox Pax Zahara Pitt Magary supposed to feel about that, YOU FUCKS?

What the fuck is wrong with these people? I'm here to tell you folks out there that Pixar is not the sweet and wonderful little filmmaking giant that everyone makes them out to be. They are the single most sentimental, emotionally manipulative filmmaking entity to come along since Steven Spielberg was conceived by his parents.

These people are fucking sociopaths."

Ah, and it just goes on from there.

This is such a lazy post I'll admit. But hey, when someone else writes all the things you'd want to say about a pile of crap like "Up", I figure it's worth it to spread the word.

Hell, I don't think I spent more than 30 seconds on the crappy Photoshop job I did on that "Up" image that will likely get us "Cease and Desisted" from your boys Disney.

Meh.

bg/ish: Afternoon in Dolores Park

I find this video to be full of beauty, both conventional and unconventional. Also, this is my home, and I love it...

An afternoon in Dolores Park from Aaron Fagerstrom on Vimeo.

agIsh: Average, Median, Mean

I've grown up ordinary and think I'm pretty good at being so. I expect to remain ordinary. But like everyone else, I've hoped to contribute to life somehow, to mean something. How does an ordinary man accomplish this?

Well, at first I thought being a doctor would provide this opportunity. I had it all planned out: I'd wake up every morning, throw on a white coat, drape a stethoscope around my neck, and just go change lives. It'd be so simple yet so fulfilling! Turns out good grades are important for this.

For some odd reason I thought that working in the computer field would get me where I wanted to go ("You have to learn computers!"). I'd used computers all my life and thought I would excel at it and just meet people that way. Somewhere in between the mutex and the customer call queue, I felt like I was on a one way street heading into a cul-de-sac. I was not to make my mark on the world this way.

About seven years passed before the idea of teaching popped into my head...and it made sense. Unlike my associates here, I actually like people. I like helping people in whatever way I can. I like seeing them succeed. I've taught a couple classes now and it's more fun and more fulfilling than I ever expected. The following is from one of my students:

"I want to thank you for a fun six weeks because if it wasn't for you the subject would've been more boring than it already is...(no offense). I learned quite a bit from you these past couple weeks."

To have just one student say 'You helped me understand' makes what I'm going through worth everything. It's a total cliche but you have no idea how true it can be until you're on the receiving end of it. Here I am, an ordinary man, doing what I feel is an extraordinary thing.

nv@ag