Friday, September 08, 2006

happy birthday phil! adios j, j & m!

at midnight, guadalajara joe led us all in 'happy birthday' to shiny haired phil!

i went to santa barbara yesterday for
jay & jess & miles' going away dinner/art sale/music show and it was fantastic.

loving the west indian girl spacey trippy rock that rolls


kind of like the flaming lips but easier on the eyes & just very damn good


art show!


jay gets down to another awesome performance by tweener king guadalajara joe!

damn i'm going to miss that guy on the dancefloor.

not so fantastic was the deal at the hotel santa barbara. hotel security shut down our 'party' before it even started.


they didn't buy the line that it wasn't a party, we were working, it was a photoshoot. it was only 7 or 8 of us, fine upstanding citizens, being civil and polite and not drunk, wanting only to converse reasonably and maybe have ah beer and that's it.

on the train home today i wrote some lyrics for "welcome to the hotel santa barbara" (to the tune of the eagles' classic 'hotel california').

Welcome to the Hotel Santa Barbara
We'll kick you out
You don't even have to shout

Plenty of room at the Hotel Santa Barbara
Where it's always late
And we don't negotiate

Party in the lobby
not up in your room
no one has a good time here
we're the hotel of doom
nice people kicked on the sidewalk
at 2 AM
if they're not registered guests
out the door with them

Welcome to the Hotel Santa Barbara
now it's time to go
this means you, G-Joe

No livin it up at the Hotel Santa Barbara
grumpy front desk guy
just won't let it slide

Booooooooooooo





and then just about 40 minutes from home, my train smashed a small pickup truck and man who was driving it. trainwreck in encinitas.

hope you had a great birthday phil, dig the spirit of 76, and best of everything (mejor de todo?) to jay, jess & miles the intrepid adventurers in search of a home that fits their vibe in cadaques, espana.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Train wreck...glad you're still skippin'.

Damn the no party hotels. Reminds me of being 15 years old and hiding behind a bathroom door when the heat busted our hotel bash.

Anonymous said...

That's some very intense stuff

Anonymous said...

it was intense. i didn't feel anything, the train just slowed down & we could smell burning rubber and buring oil and the conductor came on & was kind of shaken up & said "well folks we just came into contact with something. we'll let you know when we have more information, but please remain in your seats." and we sat there for over an hour, they kept updating us, i guess some people were getting irate about not being let off - amtrak won't open the doors & let people off if the train's not at a station - but they were kind of hostage for a long time just a few miles from their final destination. part of a crime scene.

Anonymous said...

Hey Skippy thanks for the action shots! Do you have any more?

Anonymous said...

hey SH30! i do have a few more photos from thursday, i'll def. post them to the kitshickers photo gallery later in the week. what a fun time. somebody else had a camera - ultimate james?

Anonymous said...

Driver In Amtrak Train Collision In Critical Condition

POSTED: 11:01 am PDT September 10, 2006
Email This Story | Print This Story
Sign Up for Breaking News Alerts
SAN DIEGO -- The driver who was ejected when an Amtrak train slammed into his truck remains in critical condition Sunday morning.

The accident happened Friday afternoon at Highway 101 and Leucadia Boulevard in Encinitas.

Witnesses said the truck crossed the tracks despite a warning signal. The train plowed into it, tearing the truck to pieces and throwing the driver about 50 feet.
Click here to find out more!

The California Highway Patrol is investigating whether the driver of the truck was under the influence of alcohol.

Anonymous said...

all my photos are up on kitshickers.com -
http://www.kitshickers.com/?p=photos&set_id=127

Anonymous said...

Driver of truck hit by train dies of injuries

UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

8:33 a.m. September 14, 2006

ENCINITAS – The Carlsbad man whose truck was struck by a train last week died at a hospital Wednesday, officials said.

Rufino Espinoza, 61, died at 5:50 p.m. An autopsy is pending.

Investigators said they believe he may have had medical problems that contributed to the crash.

Espinoza drove onto the tracks at Leucadia Boulevard and North Coast Highway 101 that afternoon, even though there were flashing lights and a lowered gate arm.

Family members said he worked cleaning buildings and suffered from diabetes.

He was thrown from the pickup truck when an Amtrak train struck the vehicle.