No point to this, really...

Sometimes it's so distracting just walking down the street, especially if I have my camera with me. Case in point...Pacific Avenue in Russian Hill. Apparently, it's the place to go to get your hair done, particularly if you have just arrived here from 1970 and want color AND exquisite styling:


But wait...what if my hairstyle isn't nice?


Oh, okay. Whew. I just want my hair to be perfect.




So then I crossed the street. Always look both ways before crossing.


First the left:


Then the right:


Oh crap...it's the phantom 12 Folsom that I never actually see stopped at a stop...it always just seems to appear out of nowhere. Good thing I looked both ways, huh?


This block is a little different...we have yoga:


Folk music:


Folk music lessons:


Vases:


Hidden alleyways:


And no exceptions:


The sky was pretty...


...and I cut through an alleyway...


...filled with the most interesting graffiti...


...and art:


Anyone care to translate this? UPDATE: This has been translated by a reader: FYI, my friend, who is originally from Taiwan, said the meaning of the four chinese characters is "pedestrian passageway"



So anyway...I was playing around with Audacity again, and I got an idea. You see, back in the day when I had my radio show, I once played the song "Boys Don't Cry" by The Cure, but I started it at the wrong speed. I played an 33 rpm record at 45 rpm, but since I had the monitors turned down and wasn't wearing my headphones, it sounded like this. I was unaware of it until the phone started going crazy with people telling me I was a complete douchebag. I turned up the monitors, and after my initial shock and an "OH FUCK!!!" yelled into a live microphone, I kinda liked it. I always thought "Boys Don't Cry" was a bit too slow and plodding, but the Robert Smith Chipmunk Sound was just too ahead of its time, unfortunately. Now, with Audacity, you can change the tempo of a clip without changing its pitch. So I thought to myself, "What if I speed it up to 45 rpm, but keep the same pitch? Here is the result.

Now we're cooking with gas!

So I started thinking...there's a song on the 1978 C'est Chic album by Chic (the one with Le Freak and I Want Your Love) called "Happy Man" that I think should have also been a big hit. I first heard it when I was a little kid at a neighbor's house down the street, and I liked its smooth and nasty Nile Rogers bassline and soaring synth. I remember humming it and singing it out loud as I rode my yellow and black Schwinn Tripper to school. Thing is, in 2005 we dance a hell of a lot faster than we did in 1978, so I thought, why not punch it up a bit? Speed it up 15 percent, throw some phasing on a few parts, bump up the bass a few db in the 200hz range, and voila...fresh life in an old forgotten disco song!

If there are any DJ's who read this blog, I think you should really, really consider remixing this song.

So anyway, here's my final rough product...I kind of like it. It's going to be on my Stairmaster Mix for the gym. If anyone would care to improve on it, add to it, or have fun with it, be my guest and send me a copy.