OK - I told Linda I would beat her to this board before she got home. So here it is.

The food was great. Especially the steak tartare on little toasty things with garlic aioli.

We scored an amazing booth about 3 feet from the stage - for arriving earlier than we intended because we stopped at a pub that was neither Irish (as claimed) nor pleasant. Crowded full of yuppies. On a Wednesday.

The music was quite remarkable. I mean full horn sections - and the trend seems to be combining rap with other types of music, especially Jazz.

Thise who remember Diggable Planets will realize that this was done in the early 90's previously. It's BAAAA-AAAAACK!

Our favourite was a group called Jazz Mafia All Stars. But there was a chick with an acoustic guitar and a cello player who seemed quite talented - sort of a Suzanne Vega vibe, but less poppy and more classical.

There was a classically trained rapper - seriously - B.A. in music from Southern Indiana (Southwestern?) who insisted on no samples - everything live - full horn section, drums, percussion, bass, backup singer girl second keyboard dude - and he owned that stage and his keyboard chops were just as strong as his rap chops. He owned the stage.

I've seen/heard more live music in the last few weeks than in the last few years - and these guys/girls all had seriously chops.

The club featured overpriced drinks, a great sound system, and a room full of music geeks. Usual TSA type NARAS security. Thick lists and a crew checking you against the list.

Overall, a very positive experience. Linda is a very nice and fun person - moreso than you might think from her posting style sometimes. It's weird how people are different on the internet.

But the trend is rap/jazz/classical/gospel/funk combinations.

You heard it here first.

Thanks to Linda for coming to the party, and for wanting to leave just when the thumping bass in the techno beats they played between acts was starting to make me crazy.

No, thanks to you V-dog. It was a really fun night. Great place, great music. Fun people. We let one guy sit with us and it turns out he is a guitar playing, singer, songwriter and often plays at one of my favorite clubs in the City, Biscuit & Blues. Once he heard about V-dogs background he whipped out his CD and asked if he would please listen to it and e-mail him a critique. We also met a really nice guy in line, he was taking names for the guest list. Turns out he is getting some graphic arts engineering degree. I am sure I messed that up and V-dog will set me straight. The guy stopped taking names and was listening to V-dog wax poetic about forensic engineering and cell phone patterns, all over my head but still fun and interesting to listen to.

So, a little music, I did a little dancing, a couple of adult beverages and a good time was had by all.

Home safe and sound.

Linda

I stopped off at a Korean place across from my hostel where I discovered a new Korean beer called "OB" - which stands for oriental brewery. It really hit the spot.

Listened to part of the CD the dude gave me - and it's powerful good. Will have to help him get it together.

Then, back at the hostel, was given another CD by a local musician which sounded eerily similar to the music we had heard earlier at The Temple.

I've been offered points to produce and am assured that there is a budget as soon as I come up with a business plan. He's got investors lined up - and with good reason. The stuff is amazing.He's already been on tour and gotten radio play from the tracks he recorded at a cheap studio. Could be a winning deal.

So the trip was a success from a business point of view as well.

Hostels are the only way to go. Met people from Spain, England and Australia once the serious hostel style partying started.

Shows were booked for young acts and a plan for the new CD for Jamal was hatched. E-mails and Facebooks were exchanged.

Made it home- and feel energized despite two nights of only 4 hrs sleep. San Francisco no longer feels like my hometown. Both the club and the hostel I stayed at were in areas that were considered "off limits" when I was growing up.

I did get panhandled well over a dozen times, and stepped over at least six people literally sleeping in the streets/doorways - urine and feces in the street.

Sure, it's like it used to be - but NY was so much cleaner and safer feeling. Of course I was only in Manhattan and the artsy part of Brooklyn - so maybe it's not a fair comparison - but I prefer NY now.

Maybe the NYers are right about Bloomberg having fixed things.

Going back to mix a track for one of my new clients. This is so awesome. Even with his limited gear I can make it 1,000 percent better.

Then I'll hit him up for the money to do the whole CD.

ROFLMAO, but hoping it works.

You've never been in the music biz, have you?

I get to do something I love, get a new mix for my portfolio, get to party in The City = so there are no losers.

BTW - Mr Admin - Can we post music here somehow?

I'd love for people to be able to hear the cutting edge stuff I'm hearing.

I am not aware of any way of doing that. There would probably be copyright concerns as well.

Well, in America, every bit of music is copyrighted, technically. the moment it is written. So the only real concern is DMCA notices.