I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO

And this is as much of it as I saw, apart from the ride to and from the airport.



Consequently, my trip highlights are confined to the following:

1. Business Class

The company responsible for the trip splurged for it, possibly because they knew that offering to fly me 12-13 hours in coach for an hour long press conference that I also could have watched online via webcast probably wasn’t going to cut it.

So I got to find out that Business Class on the Upper Deck of Cathay Pacific Airlines comprises these diagonal capsuloid seats, with a personal 17” screen, video on demand and – the best part – power plugs for the laptop.

The downside: no window view at all. And I still couldn’t sleep. But boy did I get a lot of typing done.

2. Dita Von Teese on a Perrier can

Business Class was also where I discovered that Dita Von Teese is now appearing on cans and bottles of Perrier. Turns out that’s been going on for awhile now. Either way, I’m amazed that a burlesque revivalist and fetish model has become the spokesperson for a major corporate brand (albeit a French one).

3. Hotel amenities for the 21st Century

By which I mean the iPod dock in the boombox in my room. That came in handy, because I didn’t turn on the TV once. I didn’t see the point – there was no BBC America, BBC World or Adult Swim. And the World Series hadn't started yet. So why bother?

And so much for San Francisco. I wish there was more to report. Maybe next time.

City by the bay,

This is dF

GO GO HELL

Spotted in Miramar Shopping Plaza in TST:



Which is something to do with this:



It wasn’t open when I saw it. It looks like one of those deals where you go to a different station, collect stamps and get a free gift or something.

Either way, if there was a club called Go Go Hell, I’d go every weekend.

Going to a go-go,

This is dF

SHE ALWAYS TIPPED WELL

... Even to zombies.



[Via Scandy Factory]

Gratuity not included,

This is dF

DEF HALLOWEEN, TRACK 10: THE FINAL FRONTIER

You may have noticed that this year’s list has been leaning heavily towards surf rock and 50s novelty tunes. That’s how it goes with Halloween playlists sometimes, especially when you’ve been doing them for several years and yr trying not to repeat yrself. Also, the 50s and 60s are probably responsible for about 57% of all Halloween songs ever recorded – metal bands account for another 30-35%, depending on whether you think (say) Iron Maiden’s back catalog counts as Halloween songs per se.

Anyway, I’ll fade out by changing gears with something that sounds genuinely creepy: “Frontier” by Dead Can Dance.

Play this over yr hi-fi speakers on Halloween night, and you’ll have a lot of candy left over.

PRODUCTION NOTE: I’d hoped to take this up to 13 tracks, but my US trip and subsequent deadlines threw me off schedule. And indeed I’m rushing this because I’ve got to get up at 0600 hours and catch a plane to Kuala Lumpur in the name of telephones journalism.

Big fun, eh?

Anyway, Happy Halloween, my pets.

Trick or treat,

This is dF