The Cerrito Speakeasy is no more. I loved the Cerrito – loved it I tell you. I know a lot of you were Oakland Speakeasy fans – I’m sure it was great but I never got the chance to go there. But the Cerrito – had some amazing times there. In fact, I’ve seen countless numbers of movies there since my first visit in November of ’06 to see Science of Sleep. Kate and I dressed up and watched the Oscars there the last two years. Often times we’d wait for a movie to finish it’s run at the bigger theaters just to see it on those comfortable couches with a glass of beer and a pizza or some nachos. I will truly miss that place.

Speakeasy Theaters is signing off.

Thank you for 14 amazing years. What a long, strange trip it's been. We are proud of what we've built and are looking forward to whatever is next. We've built community, lovingly restored two beautiful theaters, met some wild and wonderful people and learned a lot along the way.

Our public demise has been glowingly at hand and we are here to bear witness, rejoice and mourn. It has been a fitful, exciting, exhausting and eventually frustrating tenure but it was a true representation of us. Catherine and I had a blast in the process and through the guidance of our genius shrink, learned much about our real selves.

Catherine and I are mulling over our next adventure. We need to walk the beach, clear our minds and let the universe speak to us. That's how we found Speakeasy Theaters, our publishing company before that and the neighborhood pub. The beach heals what ails. Thanks to all of you who have enjoyed what we have offered, who have shared in our vision and who love the idea of building and sharing community.

It is awesome and often extremely embarrassing to have your life play out in such a public manner. But you learn that you must strive to be bold in attempting to be true to your realest self. For better or for worse this has been an expression of our essence and people will judge us as they choose. Hey - whatever. We are at the same time amazing and flawed. Life is a great teacher. Rejoice.

Kyle and Catherine

PS. We had some wonderful employees. If any of them should pass your way, please offer them your assistance or a job. They served with very little compensation.

I know I keep hounding you people about this show I’m having tonight at the Bottom Of The Hill in SF (http://www.bottomofthehill.com) but it’s real important that I raise enough money for my buttock implants. My buttocks are woefully undersized. As if you couldn’t tell.

Wow.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090428/ap_on_go_co/us_specter_switch

Veteran Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania disclosed plans Tuesday to switch parties, a move intended to boost his chances of winning re-election next year that also will push Democrats within one seat of a 60-vote filibuster-resistant majority.

"I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans," Specter said in a statement posted on a Web site devoted to Pennsylvania politics and confirmed by his office. Several Senate officials said a formal announcement was expected later in the day or Wednesday.

President Barack Obama called Specter almost immediately after he was informed of the decision to say the Democratic Party was "thrilled to have you," according to a White House official. Spurned Republicans said his defection was motivated by ambition, not principle.

Specter, 79 and in his fifth term, is one of a handful of Republican moderates remaining in Congress in a party now dominated by conservatives. Several officials said secret talks that preceded his decision reached into the White House, involving both Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden, a longtime colleague in the Senate. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell as well as Democratic leaders in Congress also were involved, added the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details.

With Specter, Democrats would have 59 Senate seats. Democrat Al Franken is ahead in a marathon recount in Minnesota, and if he ultimately wins his race against Republican Norm Coleman, he would become the party's 60th vote. That is the number needed to overcome a filibuster.

Specter faced an extraordinarily difficult re-election challenge in his home state in 2010, having first to confront a challenge from his right in the Republican primary before pivoting to a general election campaign against a Democrat in a state that has trended increasingly Democratic in recent elections. Former Rep. Pat Toomey, whom Specter defeated in a close primary race in 2004, is expected to run again.

Specter has publicly acknowledged in recent months that in order to win a sixth term, he would need the support of thousands of Pennsylvania Republicans who sided with Obama in last fall's presidential election.

"I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate," he said in the statement.

Asked by a reporter what he had to say to his constituents, Specter replied with a smile, "I don't have to say anything to them. They said it to me."

Specter has long been an independent Republican, and he proved it most recently when he became one of only three members of the GOP in Congress to vote for Obama's economic stimulus legislation. Then, he proved it once more, pivoting not long afterwards to say he did not support legislation making it easier to form unions, a bill that is organized labor's top priority in the current Congress.

In Pennsylvania, the chairman of the state Republican Party, Rob Gleason, said that Specter should offer a refund to Republicans who have helped fatten his war chest, which totaled $5.8 million at the end of 2008. "He should give them the option," Gleason said.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said in a statement: "Some in the Republican Party are happy about this. I am not. Let's be honest: Senator Specter didn't leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record. Republicans look forward to beating Sen. Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don't do it first."

Specter has long been one of the most durable politicians of either party in Pennsylvania. In recent years, he has battled Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system, but maintains a busy schedule that includes daily games of squash.

As one of the most senior Republicans in the Senate, Specter held powerful positions on the Judiciary and Appropriations committees. It was not clear how Democrats would calculate his seniority in assigning committee perches.

As recently as late winter, he was asked by a reporter why he had not taken Democrats up on past offers to switch parties.

"Because I am a Republican," he said at the time.

"I welcome Sen. Specter and his moderate voice to our diverse caucus," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement.

A senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because no announcement has yet been made, said at 10:25 a.m. EDT Tuesday President Barack Obama was handed a note while in the Oval Office during his daily economic briefing. The note said: "Specter is announcing he is changing parties." At 10:32, Obama reached Specter by phone and told him "you have my full support" and that the Democratic Party is "thrilled to have you."

I’ll be playing the Bottom Of The Hill for my band’s CD Release week after next – I hope you can make it! The CD was recorded by Ian Pellicci (Deerhoof, 31 knots, The Mall) at John Vanderslice’s Tiny Telephone Studios on sweet, sweet analog tape and mastered to CD by Roger Seibel (Modest Mouse, Built To Spill, Tegan and Sarah, Death Cab For Cutie and a million other things) so it sounds real tasty.

This is a little over a month away but I figured I’d put the feelers out for any friend’s bands (or friends of friends bands) thinking of switching or getting a new rehearsal studio soon. I’ve been infinitely happier here than any studio in Oakland or SF I’ve ever been in. Here are the generics:

We have a great practice/music studio in El Cerrito (next to Berkeley/near Oakland) available for share starting May 1st (early move in/practice days can be arranged if necessary).

The studio itself is 400 sq. ft. (20’X20’) with a loft above for plenty of storage and lounging around. It’s a couple blocks from the El Cerrito Del Norte BART station and only a 20 minute drive from SF, and 5/10 minutes from the Oakland area.

What’s the damage?
$225 a month for 100 sq.ft. (10’X10’) for 3 days/nights of the week/weekend.

Other good stuff:
-PA included, or room enough for yours as well
-Alarm included
-No volume limits. Recording friendly (no next door bands)
-loft upstairs (plenty of storage)
-easy access from freeway, oakland, berkeley, sf, bart

Negatives:
-loud instruments off limits during normal business hours (6am-6pm M-F). Any weeknight and weekend (day or night) okay).
-No smoking inside.
-Any posters of Pat Boone, David Hasselhoff, John Tesh or Yanni must not exceed 2” in diameter.

About us: we're nice folks in our 20's to 30's into the indie rock/math/post punk/alt type scene who all have day jobs, sense of humor, and really concerned about our hair. Email me if you're interested. Thanks!

-Paulie.

MILK was a much more powerful film than Slumdog Millionaire. I know, it’s all subjective. If you’ve seen both movies – tell me you walked out more affected, more motivated, more enlightened after seeing Slumdog Millionaire than you were when you walked out of MILK.

Slumdog was an enjoyable flick – interesting story but suffered from some MTV-style shooting, bad acting and cliché tv-movie rate love story.

Our album is finally finished! Oh the agony. We started this thing over at Tiny Telephone in SF last March. Here’s some of the songs if you’re curious:

http://www.ourstage.com/fanclub/ghosttoatom

Planning on having a CD release at some point very soon…