the first night, i got to town and called the Popster. He was busy but there was a yoyo meet up the street so he told me where it was and i was on my way. i know my way around SF ok so i found the bar they were yoin at pretty easy.
i walked in and Nathan Crissy, spencer berry (dont know what he looks like but i heard he was there), Simon ? (1st in UK) and a bunch of other amazing yoyoers were there.
I held up my project and said hi. Suddenly i had a bunch of new yoyo pals. the guys who design for anti-yo were really the only people who were interested in talking, as all these super cool yoyo guys hadnt seen each other in a long time and were catching up. and i also think it was a bit clickish (what do you know, clicks in yoyoing?) They showed me the new Anti-yos, the BSP, if its the skinny shiny ugly one, sucked, but the new babezilla/eatsit was great, with a shape like a small G&E in red and gold (another shitty color combo).
there wasnt really anywhere to yoyo though. the cool kids were taking up all the space and i found myself stuck doing front style in front of a blinding neon light, with no one to talk to. i was super tired from the flight and the beers were kicking in. i thought "well i guess i will talk to this table of angry looking girls". One asian girl who was very pretty seemed to have been kicked out of the rest of the pack so i said hey. it turned out they were all the guys girlfriends. what do you know, girlfriends sitting around looking angry at a yoyo meet. why were they there? they didnt seem to like each other (as the picture shows). i believe this is the "being supportive" i have heard so much about; Go to a yoyo meet, create an uncomfortable vibe for everyone else, and make your boyfriend leave early. rad.
i could sense the fellas didnt like this new guy mackin on their women, and the fellas werent that into talking to me either. i would have loved to get to know them but... i said goodbye, went home and watched TV.
the next day was rad. i spent time with my homey Greg. we went and had beers. the jukebox was playing Warm San Francisco Nights, it was perfect. but Docs girlfriend was making dinner for us so i walked over to Pops and he and i went to her place. Creps and Absinthe were on the menu and we had a great time. his lady was super nice and din din was great. A note about Absinthe, though it may not seem to be doing anything while your drinking it. the next day you will find yourself more than half retarded, walking like an ape and wishing you were dead. with a strange hang over i spent the next day looking at art and the night catching up with some old friends.
Docs room is very nice, full of equipment of all sorts. music, sewing, yoyoing. there were...two? boxes that i could find FULL of rare and strange yoyos. lots of novel stuff but nothing that i needed. DP had an End sitting around so i threw that alot. he had a computer for me to use a giant bed to sleep in. i was pretty well set up.
Though it is completely not Doc Pops doing, the rest of his apartment was a hellscape of garbage, smells and idiots. his roommates were total and complete douchebags. they were bartenders so they slept until 5 in the afternoon and played Videogames until 7 am. they hadnt paid the garbage bill so there were 3 count em 3 large garbage bags of trash overflowing in front of the moldy dish filled sink, which was located directly next to the bathroom which had not been cleaned in at least 6 months. the bathtub was full of competing molds and algaes, forming a map like pattern of nation states of primitive life. the air outside of Docs room wreaked of what i believe to be a lifetime supply of cat urine. it clawed your face when you walked in the door like BAM! none of this is docs fault. his room is a little sanctuary. he says at his ladies house and just uses his place to work on projects. im not dissing him at all and he knows it. he thinks its lame too. the relationship between him and his roommates is strictly convenience. i couldnt imagine living with people i didnt like, or talorating that kind of environment. i almost brought up kicking them out and moving in to start a yoyo commune.
I mean, have you been to my place? not that tidy lets say. sure, i forget to do the dishes for a week sometimes, and i have to make space on the couch when you come over because i have yoyos and magazines all over it. I used to feel bad about it. but i am like a neat freak compared to these cats. its like they were trying to grow a mold creature that would walk in one day and snatch the life out of their stupid bodies, taking them away from their useless existances. i had to shower at someone elses house i was so scared of that shit.
after more san fran fun, a beautiful sunset and a 5 star dinner from a gradeschool friend, i had one day left. Doc, his pal Mike and i walked around and checked stuff out. we yoyoed in allies full of great graffiti, had designer french fries and even tried "doc pops bubble tea" which was ACTUALLY on a menu in his neighborhood. the day i left we said goodbye and he gave me a bunch of amazing music to bring home with me, as music is prolly why were are friends in the first place.
it was a pretty cool trip. san fran is a crumbling shithole but the art there ways a ton. Doc Pop is a great friend. i have a tan. you dont. haha. but i am very glad to be home, where the air doesnt have pee in it.
