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Shake it Up -- A great local band, crazy animals attacking

I did a music feature on a local band called The Shake Ups. I really dug their sound. A nice mix of poppy sounding tunes, like the Cars and B-52s, put in a blender. And they covered a Nick Lowe song. That was cool.

They called me a month later, to invite me to a show of theirs at the House of Blues. But I had a full day of football play-offs and other things.

One of the things I was doing, was a small get together at my friend Bonnie's house. But when I found out her and her friends were going after drinking wine and eating some munchies.

She invited a neighbor over that she had never met. It was a jackpot. He worked for a place that gives him free beer, which he brought. And, he was a great story teller.

Somehow, we got on the topic of animals that have attacked people.

He brought up a woman at a zoo standing too close to the polar bear exhibit, who was having her leg grabbed. I brought up the thing you see on TV a lot, where a woman is sitting next to the bear. The bear looks over, and there's a few second pause, before he goes to town on her head, as the trainer tries jumping in to stop him.

It was a great time. I met a woman that was over six feet who had played college basketball. Since my girlfriend gave me a Pete Maravich book for Christmas, we talked about him. Her high school coach, was roommates with him in college.

But, our basketball stories kept being interrupted by more animal attacking stories.

After we finally made it to HoB for the show, which was a great set by The Shake Ups. And, a pleasant surprise seeing my friend Kevin and Bart Mendoza (the best music writer in San Diego) play on the bill, I headed out for some late night racquetball.

I got home, and saw a newspaper in the bushes near my front door. It was from a few days ago. Some how I missed it.

I glanced at it as I was brushing my teeth. And...I see an animal attack story. It was at a Beijing Zoo, and it was a panda biting a tourist that jumped into the pen to retrieve his son's toy. Gu Gu, the 240 pound panda, mauled the dudes legs pretty pad, and zookeepers had to pry the jaws open with tools. Not sure what kind of tools. Maybe the jaws of life.

Gu Gu had gotten into these types of things before. In 2007, he bit a drunken tourist who jumped into the pen and tried to hug him. But, that tourist didn't stand for it. He bit the panda in the back.

I remembered the Panda attacking the guy who sat to close to the case, but it just ended up with his denim jacket. That's a video you see once a month on those crazy video shows.

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Seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise

I did a music feature on a local band called The Shake Ups. I really dug their sound. A nice mix of poppy sounding tunes, like the Cars and B-52s, put in a blender. And they covered a Nick Lowe song. That was cool.

They called me a month later, to invite me to a show of theirs at the House of Blues. But I had a full day of football play-offs and other things.

One of the things I was doing, was a small get together at my friend Bonnie's house. But when I found out her and her friends were going after drinking wine and eating some munchies.

She invited a neighbor over that she had never met. It was a jackpot. He worked for a place that gives him free beer, which he brought. And, he was a great story teller.

Somehow, we got on the topic of animals that have attacked people.

He brought up a woman at a zoo standing too close to the polar bear exhibit, who was having her leg grabbed. I brought up the thing you see on TV a lot, where a woman is sitting next to the bear. The bear looks over, and there's a few second pause, before he goes to town on her head, as the trainer tries jumping in to stop him.

It was a great time. I met a woman that was over six feet who had played college basketball. Since my girlfriend gave me a Pete Maravich book for Christmas, we talked about him. Her high school coach, was roommates with him in college.

But, our basketball stories kept being interrupted by more animal attacking stories.

After we finally made it to HoB for the show, which was a great set by The Shake Ups. And, a pleasant surprise seeing my friend Kevin and Bart Mendoza (the best music writer in San Diego) play on the bill, I headed out for some late night racquetball.

I got home, and saw a newspaper in the bushes near my front door. It was from a few days ago. Some how I missed it.

I glanced at it as I was brushing my teeth. And...I see an animal attack story. It was at a Beijing Zoo, and it was a panda biting a tourist that jumped into the pen to retrieve his son's toy. Gu Gu, the 240 pound panda, mauled the dudes legs pretty pad, and zookeepers had to pry the jaws open with tools. Not sure what kind of tools. Maybe the jaws of life.

Gu Gu had gotten into these types of things before. In 2007, he bit a drunken tourist who jumped into the pen and tried to hug him. But, that tourist didn't stand for it. He bit the panda in the back.

I remembered the Panda attacking the guy who sat to close to the case, but it just ended up with his denim jacket. That's a video you see once a month on those crazy video shows.

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Furious George -- Chimps Gone Wild!

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