Hooray! It is a banner entertainment week when I close Monday night karaoke with "Seasons in the Sun," go see David Bowie --- for the second time this year, mind you --- in Portland on Tuesday (and it was an amazing show, even better than his Seattle concert in January, which was the first time I had seen him since the "Let's Dance" tour at Oakland Stadium), learn on Wednesday that Oregon is having its first steel cage wrestling matches in many years next month and that one of the stops is Eugene, get excused from jury duty by 11:35 a.m. on Friday, and then learn on pollstar.com that Kiss is back on tour this summer! June 22 is already reserved on my calendar, as the most entertaining rock band of all time --- well, a version with the two most important founding members and two no-problems-there long-time substitutes, at least --- hits the Clark County Amphitheater that night. More on this later, I am off to do further research . . .

Okay, after numerous requests (mostly coming from the same three people), I am going to try to update my blog more regularly. I have been thinking about taking a different approach --- I am just not sure what yet. As most of my friends who are into blogs know, I try to avoid the most popular format, the confessional blog. It is great for some people and a wonderful way to work their issues out, but I have always been a very private person when it comes to dealing with relationships, be they friends-, dating-, or work-related. I would rather just speak with the person or persons with whom there might be a concern. So today's update will be a bit of a potpourri, and naturally a hurried one . . . this time because I am leaving to see David Bowie at the Rose Garden tonight. He was fantastic when I saw him at the Paramount in January, and I am excited to see him again tonight.

I just returned from a San Francisco trip, which was momentous for me because it was my first solo trip there in about four years (for those who don't know me that well, I used to live there), and I saw some fantastic friends who I hadn't seen in about that long. We clicked liked the last time we'd seen each other was yesterday, and had a lot of fun. As an added bonus, I met a friend-of-a-friend who was great. And the timing of the trip was such that I got to see one of my all-time favorite bands since the '70s, Sparks, in one of only two U.S. appearances, and they were amaaaaaaaaazing! If you're unfamiliar with Sparks, visit allsparks.com. Brothers Ron and Russel Mael started as somewhat of an ahead-of-their-time art rock band, had some great albums out (including the classic "Kimono My House") during the heady glam-rock days of the '70s, found their biggest U.S. success (they have always been more popular in Europe, though they hail from Los Angeles) in the '80s during a new-wave phase (they charted in the top 40 here with "Cool Places," a duet with Jane Weidlin of the Go-Gos), focused on electronic danceable music in the '90s, and have been putting out a new CD every few years. Their most recent release, "L'il Beethoven," blends strings, electronica, and multilayered vocals for a one-of-a-kind sound. Their lyrics have always been clever, and alone have kept them ahead of most musical packs.

Back to San Francisco proper. Yes. It still has that vibe for me. Here is about as confessional as I will get in this posting, and it is nothing new to those who know me well: I did not move away to San Francisco, nor to Eugene, of my own accord. I have made peace with being here for the next four or five years, and then I will move back to San Francisco --- my number one choice --- or to Portland or Chicago. And with that inspiring thought. I bid you adieu for today!