I felt like a fish out of water riding with two complete strangers. Not knowing carpool etiquette, I decided to remain quiet, observe the interaction between the driver and the other passenger and listen to their conversation. What I was able to figure out during the brief ride (which may not be news to anyone who’s tried this before) is the following:

1) Salutations–Greet your fellow passengers, it seems like this one would be obvious no?
2) Requests–Passengers are the co pilots here so making requests about the volume or radio stations or air conditioning is not welcome. Once again, seems obvious but I was surprised that the other passenger in the car actually made these requests.
3) Dating–Just because a passenger is in your car Mr. Driver, does not mean such passenger is interested in dating you. The free ride is great but you can’t honestly expect me to say yes to a date?!

This is based on my first experience, but there have to be other “rules” that apply. So if any of you have suggestions or if there’s some kind of Roberts rules of Order for carpooling, can you all share? I can get used to riding in a nice luxury car to work every day.

Hey Mister, I pay a significant premium, perhaps foolishly to live in “the city” and call it my home. You do not get to say you live in San Francisco or even hail from San Francisco, when you’re more than 60 miles away and in a different county all together. Granted we were in SoCal and Concord isn’t exactly a place that most folks are familar with. In which case, saying you’re from the Bay Area would be acceptable. But I repeat, Concord is NOT San Francisco.

Have I become a SF snob or is there any merit to what I’m saying?

You ever feel like you’re always the last to know about certain happenings? Well, this is probably old news to most of our readers, but since it hasn’t been posted, this might be of interest to all y’all. Conan O’Brian is coming to San Francisco for a week in yet another one of his road trips. This lovely photo on the right is from his photo archive at nbc.com. He’ll be filming at the Orpheum Theatre April 30 to May 4. I am a fan of his self-deprecating sense of humor and have already requested tickets to the show. A friend mentioned he was coming, but it appears that preferential treatment is given to those actually living in the city so be sure to request the tickets sooner rather than later.

The line was already around the building and doors didn’t open until 11pm, leaving some of us soaking in the rain. Security staff at the venue was a whole ‘nother story–don’t get me started on those buffoons. After a couple of good opening acts and enough time to dry off from the rain, Dave took over at midnight. He was scheduled to perform for one hour, but stayed on until 3:30am.

Did you read that–3:30AM! He should have left after the first hour because it went rather flat from there. He entertained questions from various hecklers and audience members to “squeeze every bit of laughter out of the crowd” before leaving. He managed to redeem himself in the last 30 minutes with the underlying themes of the evening; references to Spiderman, certain individuals in the crowd, sex and masturbation. His humor is not for everyone because he forces you out of your comfort zone–and he quickly picked up on those cues from the moans and jeers that came out now and then. But its exactly what our left of the middle, walk on eggshells, uber PC friendly city needs sometimes. Its exactly what we all need sometimes.

San Francisco’s very own Gravy Train is rocking the Bottom of the Hill this Friday. It’s not too late to jump on this bandwagon especially if you’re a fan of the new wave, electro and Le Tigre sounds. The band is promoting the release of their upcoming album, All the Sweet Stuff due out in July and you will go crazy for this stuff. It’s an all ages show so I can’t speak for the crowd. I’d be willing to offer a money back guarantee that you’ll have a fabulous time, ‘cept I might go break. See ya there!