House Guests: Trey's Second Day

Sunday we had a really fun day. We started off at my favorite coffee shop (Kapé @ 16th and Dehon) before we went over to the Mission, to meet Matthew and Xa, for brunch at Foreign Cinema (http://www.foreigncinema.com/). After brunch we shopped around a little and tried to find Twin Peaks so Trey could see the phenomenal view. It was so foggy and windy - but beautiful nonetheless! That night we had dinner at a new restaurant near my home called Farina. I recently saw that it had opened up and have been dying to try it out. We had a great time there, the food was delicious and all was merry - until Trey tipped his wine glass over - leaving Matthew drench from head to toe in red wine! Luckily we were all able to laugh it off and make the best of a bad situation - my friends have such great attitudes! We finished the night at a few bars - Trey got a little tipsy to say the least! Enjoy the video for a visual recap. Love and Peace!

House Guests: Trey's First Day!

My friend Trey flew into town yesterday from Ft. Myers, Florida. We became friends back in 1999 when I lived in Naples, FL and we havent seen each other since I left in 2000! It was SO great to see him, it felt as if we were just together last week. Here is a video clip of some of the things we did after he got settled in. This is his first time visiting San Francisco, so we have a lot of ground to cover before he leaves on Thursday morning! Fun Fun!

Concert Reviews: Daft Punk

Ok, so when it came time for Daft Punk to finally take the stage the crowd went CRAZY! The curtain finally came up on this space age, pyramid contraption that had a window inside it. The two DJ's were situated inside the window, totally decked out in Robot garb! The music started and it was all uphill from there. Everyone was dancing and having an awesome time. One of the best parts of the show was the light effects. The pyramid also served as a video screen, which flashed images that got progressively more complicated as the show went on. Behind them was another huge screen and there were a million lights flashing out into the crowd, almost constantly. The light show was SPECTACULAR. There were times where I found myself totally mesmerized by the array of special effects that never stopped as the music pumped on! I had such a fantastic time. This had to be the best show of this kind that I have ever seen - it was HUGE.

Here is a mish mash of videos that I put together over the course of the night. There are two parts since I took so many. I think they came out pretty well, so you can get a good idea of what the show was like. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Part One


Part Two

Concert Reviews: The Rapture

Last night I went with my friends, Matthew & Xa, to the Daft Punk show @ the Greek Theater in Berkeley. This show was a far cry from Loretta or Erykah Badu, but PHENOMENAL nonetheless. The Greek Theater (http://facilities.calperfs.berkeley.edu/greek/) is an outdoors venue that is modeled after an ancient greek theater - it's really beautiful and huge! I wasn't expecting such an enormous crowd, but they came in droves and brought such an excited energy. It kind of felt like a college party, but there was a wide variety of people there. I never knew Daft Punk had such a devoted following. The show was fantastic and I had one of the best experiences of my life! You must try to see this show if it comes to your area - fo' real!

Here is a video of the opening acts, The Rapture & DJ Sebastian. The first part of the video is us on the BART on the way to the venue, as you can see there were other Daft Punk fans riding with us! I have two other videos of Daft Punk that I will post in the coming hours, so stay tuned! Believe me, it is well worth the wait! I also have pictures that I will post as soon as I get some of the ones Matthew took, which may take a week or so.



P.S. I miss you Sugars!!! :)~

Dancing Man In Wheelchair

My first chatty blog!

The Results Are In...

...and the outcome is not surprising. Whitney Houston is voted "Biggest Diva" by 41% of her devoted fans! Though she has been through a rather turbulent past few years, she is set to make a major comeback within the next year. Be on the lookout!


Miss Pussy takes second place as "The World's Biggest Diva." For the past few years she has been recupperating from a turbulent relationship with actor Eddie Murphy and a severe dependency to xanax. We haven't seen Puss in the spotlight for sometime, but her fan base is still holding strong.


Mimi takes third place in the "Biggest Diva" poll. With the recent success of The Emancipation of Mimi, her fans are starting to come back around after the breakdown that nearly ruined her career a few years ago.


The Queen of Reinvention takes fourth place in our diva poll. We all love her, but let's face it, she couldn't hold her own on stage with the likes of Whitney, Mariah or The Puss. She is the one who consistently pumps out the hits however, she is currently working in the studio with music it-men Justin Timberlake & Timbaland - this promises to be something "madge-ical!"

Tampons... Ha Ha Ha Ha!

If you want to make me giggle, crack a joke about tampons, or just say the word tampon for that matter! For some reason tampons just make me laugh - maxi pads do too. I know they are kind of gross, and a sore subject for most of our female friends, but for some reason I can always find a reason to smile about tampons. Tampons. Chuckle. Maxi Pads. Smile. Douche.

Today I was using one of the unisex bathrooms at work when I looked over from the toilet and saw this lone silver box sitting out in the open all alone. When I read the sign I thought it was prety bizarre that this box was designated for the sole use of depositing tampons (Giggle) and it was just sitting out in the middle of nowhere! I sure would hate to be the person to clean that out!

Tampons,

Chuckle

Josh

Caught In A Tree!

Alan called me, only a few minutes after he left for work this morning, to tell me that he had forgotten to bring the Netflix with him to mail off. Instead of coming all the way back upstairs he asked me to just toss it out of our third story window so he could catch it on the sidewalk below. I love throwing things out the window, so I said, "sure!"

I raised the blinds, opened the window and waved to him before I gently let go of the Netflix. It was a tad bit breezy so it fell a little sporadically before it was picked up by a gust of wind and deposited snuggly at the top of a tree! I started laughing hysterically before I realized that we had to get it down or we wouldn't be able to get another Netflix to replace it, or we would have to pay some outrageous "lost video" fee.

Down below Alan tried shaking the tree to no avail. I suggested that I toss something else out the window to try to shake it loose, but decided that probably wasn't the best idea. I grabbed a broom and took off downstairs hoping we could poke it free. The top of the tree, where the Netflix was resting, was too high for the broom to reach without us climbing up into the tree. Luckily a FedEx driver had just pulled up and saw what we were trying to do. "Did you loose your cat up there?" he asked. "No, it's a Netflix." He looked at us puzzedly before he offered to boost Alan up into the tree. It was so funny to see him scurrying up, you could tell he wasn't built for tree climbing. I would have done it but I had flip flops on and not to mention I wasn't wearing any pants under the long jacket I threw on. I didn't think the driver needed to see a little jingle jangle dangle first thing in the morning!

After poking and prodding for a few minutes the Netflix finally fell to the ground! It was quite a trying experience though and a little embarassing. The sidewalk was full of people hustling to work or having thier morning job, and of course they were all gawking at us climbing trees at 8 in the morning!

I attached the one picture I took from my window. I wish I had taken a video of Alan climbing the tree but I was too caught up in the moment.

Have a good one ya'll!

Love, Josh

Cha-Ching!

I found $10 today when I was out and about during my lunch break! Holla!

Abs Of Steel!

Y'all! Check out my new ABS OF STEEL machine I found on the street yesterday! I'm so excited. I really think this will motivate me to do a lot more crunches!

Cleaning Out The Closet!

Last night Alan and I decided to tackle a chore we've been dreading for a while - cleaning out our closet! I usually keep my wardrobe pretty updated, but he has stuff that he hasn't worn in 10 years or more! With the move approaching we thought it would be a good idea to get rid of stuff, instead of lugging it across the country to sit idly for another decade. It ended up being kind of fun, he found a lot of cool stuff that he had forgotten about over the years. We got rid of a lot though. Check out this heap of clothes we donated to a local thrift store, whose proceeds will go to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (http://www.leukemia.org/hm_lls).

Clean It Out!

Josh

Making The Rounds, Pt. 2

There have been several new restaurants popping up in the Mission lately. One of which, Spork, opened a few weeks ago and I have been excited to try it ever since. The funny thing about Spork is that it used to be a KFC! From the outside it still sort of resembles the classic style of all KFC's across the country, but once inside you would never know in a million years! The whole motif is really cool, it is kind of like a diner with a lot of swank! Our food was delicious. We started out with a glass of wine, of course, and for an appetizer we had a scrumptious trout croquette with marinated beets and trout caviar. We ordered a pacific sea bass, which came with sweet corn and other toppings, as an entree. The portions were rather small so afterwards we decided to indulge in dessert and coffee! The "Pot Brownie" we ordered was warm and topped with vanilla bean ice cream. No, it wasn't the kind of brownie that will make you high, it gets it's name because it is baked in a pot! Oh, did I forget to mention the rolls we had before the entree came? They were the most delicous dinner rolls I have had in a loooooooong time.

Anyways, it was a really fun experience and another restaurant to mark off of our "Places To Dine Before We Leave SF" list!

I uploaded more pictures onto my Flickr page, if you are interested you can see them here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justjoshfunk1/sets/72157600956400583/

And visit the Spork website here:

http://www.sporksf.com

Holla!

Love, Josh

P.S. Yes, they really use sporks here!

Birthday Shout-Out: My Cousin Whitney

My first cousin, Whitney, turned 17 years old on Friday, July 20!!! Happy Birthday, Cuz!

Whitney is about to enter her senior year at Garrard County High School. She is a star volleyball player and a trained singer! I remember when she was just a little baby, her second word ever was Joshie!! I hope you had a great birthday Fancy, love you!

Joshie

In Memoriam: Tammy Faye

Tammy Faye Baker Messner
March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007

Old-Fashioned Treasures

Yesterday UPS delivered me an amazing package! Last spring I modeled for a costume class, at the Academy of Art, where I had the opportunity to wear clothes from almost every decade known to fashion. The director, Shaun LeBlanc, owns a vintage clothing shop in L.A. (www.valentinoscostumes.com) and he supplied all of the fabulous costumes. Recently he contacted me and told me that he had a huge load of clothes that he wanted to send me!!! It took a while, but yesterday it finally arrived. I wasn't sure what to expect, but let me tell you what I found made me leap for joy! First of all, it was so kind of him to take the time to send it, out of the kindness of his heart. Thank you Shaun, if you are reading! Second, I can't even explain how much I loved some of this stuff! There is too much to write out, but my favorite outfits included two three-piece suits from the 70's, several pairs of slacks, a black corduroy blazer and a wool jacket that made my heart skip a beat! I can't be certain what period most of this stuff came from, but I believe some of it is as old as the 40's or 50's! He had a record of all my measurements so everything fits like a glove! I will need to dry clean it all before I can wear it out, but I did try it all on for a little photo shoot that I thought I would share with you all! You can check out some of the photos by clicking on the link below to my Flickr page. Try to ignore some of the camel toe shots! Holla!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justjoshfunk1/sets/72157600933733445/

P.S. In other news, I'm biting @ the chomp to find out the big announcement Mimi has been teasing us with on the World of Casey blog. Insiders say an answer should come sometime through the weekend. To find out check out the World of Casey link to the right of my page - always an entertaining read! I love this bitch!

Rumble, Rumble!

This morning, around 4:45, a 4.2 earthquake shook me from my sleep! I have felt small tremors before but this was the biggest one yet. I felt like I was being rocked from side to side and the walls were popping non-stop! It even shattered windows at a Safeway in the East Bay. I was a little frightened so it took me a while to get back to sleep. When it was happening I kept wondering if it was going to stop and when it did I wondered if that was just a pre-cursor to a bigger one. Fortunately, it only lasted a few seconds. I sure want to get out of San Francisco before a bigger one comes!

Love, Josh

For more details visit this link from my favorite local, morning news show starring Laura Garcia-Cannon:

http://kntv.weatherplus.com/weathernews/13720218/detail.html

Southern Sissy: Straight Lines. Don't Cut It.

Once upon a time, in arts & crafts hour, my kindergarten teacher noticed that I had trouble cutting straight lines. She voiced her concern to my mother shortly after and persuaded her to order a "learn to cut kit" that would allow me to practice at home. When the kit finally arrived I was super excited. Inside the box was a colorful pair of safety scissors and a wide variety of lessons that I could cut to pieces in my attempt to perfect my lackluster cutting abilities. Immediately, I began to dilligently snip away so that I could prove to my teacher, my mother and the world that this kid could cut a straight line!

Follow the lines, Follow the lines, Follo-wing the lines, Following the lines, Dots, Dots, follow the Perforated Dots......

Before long I was cutting the most intricate of shapes - circles, stars, octagons and a line that was as straight as a 0 on the Kinsey scale! Words cannot express the pride I felt in the fact that now I was cutting just like everyone else.

Looking back I can see how this early experience in my past eerily foreshadowed other events of my developmental, young life. It turned out I was never very good at "following the lines." I can remember countless times when I was criticized for not being "straight" enough. I didn't walk "straight," didn't talk "straight," couldn't play "straight." Fortunately, I had certain people around who helped me to find beauty in myself and to see these attributes, which some described as imperfect, as special characteristics that make me who I am today.

My new crooked bang haircut (inspired by ad in July 2007 issue of Vogue Magazine) is an homage to that precious little boy who couldn't cut a straight line to save his life, and to the grown boy who has learned to see that true beauty lies in the slight veering of the scissors, the imperfect square or the circle that looks more like a jacked up egg. There is certainly beauty to be found in a straight line as well, but straight lines don't always cut it - except maybe in arts & crafts hour. Yea? Maybe......Nah!

Making The Rounds, Pt. 1

As most of you know Alan and I are moving to Philadelphia in September. He accepted a position at a pharmaceutical company there called GlaxoSmithKline. We are both super excited about the move and can't wait to experience life in a whole new city!!

As the days quickly count down before departure I am starting to realize how much I will truly miss San Francisco. Of all the places I have lived, this is undoubtedly the most unique and fascinating. San Francisco is so beautiful, it embraces an amount of culture and diversity that is unrivaled in any other city in the world. I am proud to have lived three years of my life here. I have learned so much about myself and about life since I have been here, it is a gift I will treasure in my heart forever!

Recently we have been making mental lists of all the things we want to do in San Francisco before we take off. There are so many restuarants and points of interest that we have yet to experience, and some that we must visit again! Last weekend we decided to dine at a pizza restaurant not far down the street called Pizzeria Delfina (www.pizzeriadelfina.com). This place is quite a hot spot in town, usually when we pass there is a massive crowd of people outside waiting for a table. We went around 5:30 so we would be sure to beat all that craziness. We did end up having to wait for about twenty minutes, but boy was it worth it! The food, which is made from the freshest of local ingredients, was superb! We started with wine and an appetizer of tuna and marinated cannellini over watercress - yum! For the main course we had a pizza called Broccoli Raab, which was topped with broccoli raab (this looked more like spinach to me), ricotta, oven-dried tomatoes and mozzarella. The service was super friendly and the atmosphere was upbeat and fun.

If you are in the area I definitely suggest you try it out for yourself!

Here are a few snapshots I took with my phone while we were there.

Peace!

Josh

Obridgett Bin Laden!

Last week, my mom went on vacation with my aunt Bridgett and her family. Every year they drive to Destin, Florida for a week of relaxation and sunbathing. They sent me some photos they took while they were there. One of them struck me as funny, because Bridgett looks like an Arab — Obridget Bin Laden! There's another picture of my Mom. Ain't she pretty!?

Love, Josh

I'm Bringing Bloggy Back!

Hello friends, family and dearly beloved. I have decided to bring back my blog. I stopped doing it before, because I was in the middle of my semester and just too busy to add another task to my already long list of must dos. I have missed it, though, and am anxious to start it up again. So save it to your favorites list and be sure to check often.

Love, Josh