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Al

I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area having fun with my wife Marla and our two furry American Eskimo dogs, Gnocchi and Mojo. In the early 1960s my family moved from Hawaii to the San Francisco bay area. I grew up listening to the great mix of different pop songs on KLIV, KYA, and KFRC. From Sly and the Family Stone, the Beatles, Otis Redding, Horst Jankowski, The Rolling Stones, the Count Five, the Grass Roots, Dionne Warwick, Buffalo Springfield, to Jeff Beck's "Hi Ho Silver Lining" - this stuff is the bomb. For 28 years, I've played bass with the best pop band on the planet - The Rubinoos. It's a really really good band. When we do play soon, please come check it out and say hi. I lead sang in Vox Pop and along with Alex Carlin of the Psycotic Pineapple, we played as Al & Al at San Francisco's Paradise Lounge and Slim's A LOT in the late 80s and early 90s. Nowadays, I play solo or with friends at the good old Kensington Circus Pub singing a lot of songs by Justin Currie. I also have a fun Who tribute band called "The HOO" where I have double duties playing guitar and lead singing. It's quite a thrill that a lot of hardcore Who fans give us the thumbs up. Our website can be found at www.thehoo.us, or you can see several videos of the us on you tube. Our dog Mojo sings along with anything by Justin Currie because it makes him happy.

My Interests

Marla, Hawaiian food, Italian food, Lithuanian food, KC's BBQ (mmmm), Chinese food, Thai food, Mexican food, any kind of food! I love FOOD! bad movie night, good monster movies, cheap and lousy monster movies, 1960's music, 1960's pop culture, our cute fuzzy-wuzzy Eskie dogs, singing harmony, my island home Hawaii, any beach with warm water, walks on foggy beaches in the bay area with Marla and the dogs, Justin Currie-Kasim Sultan-Robin Zander-Corey Glover's voices, Fuller's ESB, gardening, playing bass and singing with the Rubinoos, overseas touring, getting together with friends at the pub, cool vintage clothes shopping, and long vacations in Italy with Marla.

I'd like to meet:

The Raspberries (again!), Michael Weldon, Gary Stewart, and if he were still alive...Peter Cushing! My wife and I even went to Whitstable UK and visited beautiful "Cushing's View". It was kind of like visiting Graceland for me...

Music:

Del Amitri, Justin Currie, The Who, Semisonic, The Rubinoos, The Everly Brothers, Suzy and Los Quattro, The Raspberries, The Jackson 5, Dionne Warwick singing Bacharach/David, Rick Danko and the Band, The Smoking Popes, Badfinger, XTC, Marshall Crenshaw, The Kinks, The Move, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Al Green, Cheap Trick, The Hollies, anything from the first 12 volumes of Rhino's Have A Nice Day and Didn't It Blow Your Mind? series, Cream, Nick Lowe, Lou Christie, The Stones (Brian Jones and Mick Taylor), Led Zeppelin, Ricky Nelson, Jimi Hendrix, The Grassroots, Dusty Springfield, Sly and the Family Stone, Ten Years After, Roy Orbison, Superstone, Neil Young, and The Faces/ Small Faces. And Elvis Costello and the Attractions. And Sly and the Family Stone. Oh and of course...AEROSMITH and RITCHIE BLACKMORE!!!!!

Movies:

It Came From Outer Space, The Lord Of The Rings, Curse Of The Demon, Them!, The Grudge, The Haunting (Robert Wise), Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, The Andromeda Strain, Night Creatures, The Relic, Re-Animator, The Thing From Another World (Howard Hawks), From Beyond, Enchanted April, John Carpenter's The Thing, My Favorite Year, Princess Bride, Annie Hall, Quatermass and the Pit, The Last Waltz, Army Of Darkness, Hammer movies from the 50s and 60s (Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Michael Ripper!!), Shaun Of The Dead, Best In Show, Help!, A Hard Day's Night, The Exorcist, The Triplets Of Bellville, 30 Days Of Night, and An Inconvenient Truth

Television:

Three Stooges (SHEMP - of course...and Larry), SCTV, Green Acres, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Monty Python, The Daily Show, Creature Features with Bob Wilkins, The New Red Green Show, Pete and Pete, Doktor Goulfinger, muting the commercials, and turning it off and getting outside

Books:

Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, The Kinks-All Day and All of the Night, Bush's Brain, Dandelion Wine, The Onion-Dispatches From The Tenth Circle, The DaVinci Code, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere, Hit Men, Temples of Sound, Joel Whitburn's Top 40 Hits, If Chins Could Kill, McElligot's Pool, Shake Some Action(I'm in it! - Thanks Popdude!)

Heroes:

The Chan Ohana, Amy Goodman, Molly Ivins, Robert Fisk, Ben Fong-Torres, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, 4E Ackerman, Daniel Ellsberg, Albert Lee and Helen Au

My Blog

The Rubinoos Great American Music Hall gig

So I have to say a BIG THANKYOU to several of you myspace friends that came out to see our show in San Francisco on June 21st. I'm a bit late since I started a new job immediately following the gig, b...
Posted by Al on Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:16:00 PST

Rubinoos rehearsals for the Great American show

Rehearsals are going well for the upcoming  June 21st Great American Music Hall gig. The songs are a LOT of work vocally, but with the musical caliber of everybody involved, the harmonies are kno...
Posted by Al on Thu, 22 May 2008 09:28:00 PST

$130 a barrel!! Having fun at the gas pumps?

When George Bush took office in 2001, a gallon of gas cost just $1.47. Now it costs $3.80 per gallon -- up more than 150 percent! During that same time, oil company profits more than quadrupled, from...
Posted by Al on Thu, 22 May 2008 09:01:00 PST

10 things to know about John McCain

These are the facts:1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civi...
Posted by Al on Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:39:00 PST

What's the Music Scene ?

1. Gold Dust - Justin Currie2. She's Looking Good - Rodger Collins3. Beat On The Brat - The Ramones4. Whenever You're On My Mind - Marshall Crenshaw5. 'Til I Die - The Beach Boys6. Not Where It's At -...
Posted by Al on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 02:38:00 PST

Glossary of Election Terms

The Onion's Political Glossary Featured Term: delegate: A demented, often screaming individual who experiences intense arousal at the sight of a vertically printed placard bearing his or her state...
Posted by Al on Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:46:00 PST

The Rubinoos San Francisco gig

Thanks to all who braved the dark and stormy night to see the Rubinoos open for Jonathan Richman at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on a Thursday night. It was our first US public gig i...
Posted by Al on Sat, 08 Dec 2007 07:33:00 PST

Back from Japan!

Just got back from playing several dates in Japan. The audiences were outstanding at all of the shows and very polite when we signed autographs afterwards. I have to say in all of my years of playing...
Posted by Al on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:10:00 PST

Justin Currie at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco on Sept. 21

So Marla and I arrived early to the club, but they weren't open yet. We got our suburban selves something to eat in the good ole' Haze Valley district and went back to the club as it started to rain. ...
Posted by Al on Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:41:00 PST

Del Amitri songs at the pub

Somebody asked me this recently. What songs have I played at the pub that were by Del Amitri/ Justin Currie? So here's what I came up with:Just Like A ManNot Where It's AtTell Her This Always The Last...
Posted by Al on Mon, 03 Sep 2007 12:24:00 PST