Standard's Last Stand

Does anything on this sign catch your eye?

Besides the outrageous gas prices?

This is the gas station at the corner of Pine and Van Ness Streets where I filled my tank today. It's a typical Chevron gas station - except the word "Chevron" is not on any of the signs. Before Chevron was Chevron, it was Standard, and that's what's on all the signs. For some reason this particular station never updated its signs when the name changed in the early seventies.

It's like a slice of nostalgia.

Until you fill your tank.

These gas prices are decidedly modern.

Bay To Breakers: Running Upstream

Like the group of runners in salmon costumes, who run "upstream" by starting at the finish line and ending at the start line, I ran the reverse course after chilling out in Golden Gate Park for a couple hours. The Bay To Breakers race was still going strong, but at this point no one is running. Staggering is a better word. Take a look at what I weaved through on the way back.

Bay To Breakers

This is it. The big one. The most over-the-top, jam-packed, dress-up, dress-down, or don't-bother-dressing-at-all foot race in the world. Miles and miles of healthy madness. Beer flowing as much as Gatorade. The harbinger of spring for San Francisco. The annual Bay To Breakers 12K foot race was held this morning, with 70,000 sneaker-clad runners, walkers, and dancers trekking from one end of The City to the other - from the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean Breakers. A little rain, a little sun, and a lot of fun. This was my tenth annual Bay To Breakers, and this time I brought my camera to capture and share the experience with you.

Ready? C'mon, let's go!

Living With War

War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing ... except for inspiring creative sparks like Living With War. Neil Young's new song collection (a self-described "metal folk protest") is a passionate call-to-arms against the Iraq War and its excesses (soldiers coming home in boxes, lying leaders, telephone taps, etc.).

This is a plugged-in, crank it up, angry and urgent set. It has the fire of Ragged Glory or Freedom and the attitude of Ohio, his 1970 anti-Vietnam War hit with Crosby, Stills and Nash. Young recorded Living With War quickly, in just one 12-hour session. The sound is worlds apart from his last album, the acoustic, gentle, and tender Prairie Wind. It's as if his anti-war rage had been simmering and now it's boiling. The only calm track is the closing gospel rendition of America The Beautiful, which presents a glimmer of hope for the country.

There's nothing wishy-washy about the songs on Living With War. In the bluntly titled Let's Impeach the President, the chorus has embarrassing, contradictory sound bites by George W. Bush against chants of "Flip! Flop! Flip! Flop!" Those Americans who voted for Bush in 2004 don't escape Young's barbs either: "We had a chance to change our mind, Somehow wisdom was hard to find ..."

It's a shame that it takes a wrongheaded war to inspire a great work like this. Some of the best rock music ever was born of the anti-Vietnam War sentiment of the late '60s/early '70s. Let's hope history does not repeat itself in this fashion. I'd settle for mediocre music over more of this pointless Iraq War.

Read more at the Living With War blog.

Click here to listen to the full album right now!