hanging with Tacoma Girl in her 'hood

The Kraken, the punk bar in the U District not far from chez Tacoma Girl and indeed her favorite bar in the city (duh — she's a punk in her bones) had shut down a few months ago because the block it was on is about to be redeveloped. Yeah, it's the same story all over town. But in this case it has a happy ending: the old Cafe Racer space just four blocks away was vacant, and the astute punks of the Kraken just waltzed pogo'd on in. Cafe Racer, if you'll recall, has moved to Capitol Hill, which I think suits it better.

Tacoma Girl and I were strategic: we got there a few hours before the bands were scheduled to start. What we didn't count on was that since it was the first show since reopening, the crowd was bAnAnAs, as big as the space could handle. No bar food for you, punk and nun, because it was just too damn crowded.

So we hit Persepolis, where we almost closed the joint and there is no alcohol of any kind. I have now tried saffron ice cream and found it pretty great. The doh — yogurt soda, sort of, with dill, etc. — was fabulous as ever.

I was thinking earlier in the evening that maybe I'd make it to the Merc, but neau, I left the U District at 2330 and went home.