TOP THREE MOST REQUESTED:

#3 - parking ticket validation

#2 - green Amoeba dollar off coupons.

#1 - directions to the Amoeba public
        restroom

-  The Top Three Requested Things that people are asking  for at Amoeba Music Hollywood  this week - according to Amoebite/musician Tim Ranow who is profiled in this AMOEBLOG.

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AMOEBLOG:  How long have you worked at Amoeba, what is your job at the store, and how exactly did you end up working at Amoeba Music Hollywood?

TIM RANOW:  I lived with Laurie W. in San Francisco in the Santiago Party House for six years.  We hosted several Amoeba get-togethers. i got booted from Wired magazine and decided to move to Los Angeles. Amoeba and I seemed to have a lot in common so we formed a special something. I've been at the Hollywood store since 2001.   I'll be celebrating my 47th anniversary with amoeba in 2048!    I'm an information person at Amoeba. I'll figure out what the name of that country singer you're looking for is even if you only know that his name might be John or Ronnie and his last name might have the letter "J" in it somewhere. Then I'll tell you where you can find it used on cassette tape because I know your money is tight    I remember that your cousin isn't allowed CDs in prison due to the inherent shankiness factor.

Damn!  It's already November 8th!  Where did the time go?  It seems like only yesterday when this AMOEBLOG corner of the Amoeba Music website started up. But actually it has been jumping off since March of this year - not that long ago, true,  but long enough for the accumulation of a bounty of ever-engaging AMOEBLOGS covering oodles of different topics (music and otherwise) from a stable of gifted and insightful AMOEBLOGGER's including (but not limited to) Mike Battaglia, Job O Brother, Brad Schelden, phil blankenship, Miss Ess, Gomez Comes Alive, Whitmore, and the Bay Area Crew. In all there are hundreds and hundreds (well in excess of a thousand) of AMOEBLOGS posted and available to read in the Archives right here. Just for me alone there are 170 AMOEBLOGS archived and I am only one of a dozen active AMOEBLOGGERs.


Glancing back at some of these AMOEBLOGS I have posted since May I think it is time that I should follow up on a few of them.  First up was the AMOEBLOG  (one of several) posted about the historic Paul McCartney instore at the Amoeba Music Hollywood store on June 27th that generated a ton of COMMENTS from Amoeba shoppers who were lucky to make it inside to witness the former Beatle's memorable performance. Anyways the follow up, good news, is that next week (November 13th) one of the songs from Paul's performance that day ("I Saw Her Standing There") will be released on an extremely limited edition, 12" vinyl only release, titled Amoeba's Secret. This Paul McCartney maxi-single will feature the four songs: “Only Mama Knows” & "That Was Me" (both from his latest release) plus ”C Moon” (the classic Paul McCartney & Wings song), and of course the live-at-Amoeba track, .  The sure to be highly collectable, vinyl-only Amoeba's Secret will be available in all three Amoeba Music stores next  Tuesday (11/13) and also here at   amoeba.com - priced at $6.98. (Note: that this rare release will not be released digitally or as a CD and since it is limited is bound to sell out fast)

When the giant inflatable green-and-purple Frankenstein arises from the center of the store to welcome all visitors, you know it's... Halloween at Amoeba L.A.!!!

The store looked spooky for weeks... cobwebs, bats and pumpkins everywhere, skeletons dancing... even a skeleton with a handlebar moustache over the info counter!  Hmmm... also an old-timey gentleman skeleton in a top hat lounging above the opera CDs in the Jazz Room.  A spectre from beyond the tomb hung over our eerie Halloween section, filled with spooky sound effects, every compilation ever made with "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo on it, and some Jennifer Lopez movies.  Creepy!

Halloween dawned bright and sunny (as it sometimes does in L.A.) but we kept it appropriate in the store with some Cramps blasting on the stereo and candy bowls everywhere for trick-or-treaters.   Many folks arrived in costume... I was particularly startled by a co-worker dressed as Richard D. James a.k.a the Aphex Twin!  Pretty scary... and a really good cardboard robot (the Bot-O-Tron) and a girl with her head in a milk carton that said "Missing", and many more... Minnie Mouse, a mime, an evil clown, a melancholy bumblebee even!

At 3 we kicked the party off with our Halloween DJ, DJ Heebie Jeebies (real name Mike Dehlin, frontman for local psychobilly outfit The Goddamn Gallows).  He kept it real (scary) with lots of good old evil tunes from "She's My Witch" by the Sonics to "Run To the Hills" by Iron Maiden, interspersed with amazing horror movie trailers (the one for the transgender "Dr. Jeckyll and Sister Hyde" was my favorite!).  Around 5 the excitement was building... it was almost time for our annual Halloween costume contest!

As the many spooky contestants gathered round the stage, I donned my giant silver head with the monocle and purple moustache (no catchy name for this costume... I called it the Old Time Space Gentleman, others thought it looked like Mr. Peanut or the Monopoly Man, but all in aluminum foil).  Like Ed McMahon to Johnny Carson, I introduced our host and handed off the mike -- it was our old friend Lance Rock!

 HARLEY

Harley  - a Black Labrador Retriever is almost four years old. She is best pals with Lori who works as manager at the Berkeley Amoeba Music store.  The two start everyday by going up to Lake Chabot for an invigorating morning walk/run.  "My other dog Cody passed away and someone who worked at Amoeba put me in touch with someone whose dog had just had a litter. All seven of the litter were girls" recalled Lori.  "Organic dairy farmers out in Cloverdale  - so we went out there and saw her at 4 weeks and then at again at  7 weeks old when we picked her up."  Lori notes that Harley has a good "dog friend" in a fellow AmoebaDog. "I share an office with Naomi and Harley and Liebchen (scroll down to see her profile) get along really well together," she smiled. 





KAHLESS

Kahless (rhymes with Payless) is an Australian Cattle dog breed and is the best friend of Paul Vasquez who works in the world music section of Amoeba Music Hollywood. Recently Paul recalled that fateful day three years ago when he and Kahless first crossed paths. "It was one afternoon  in April 2004, I was looking for a dog at the animal shelter in Pomona. I looked at plenty of animals, but none of them really caught my eye.  On the way out, I saw a picture on a bulletin board of a dog with beautiful eyes and super crazy spots. I looked to my left, and there he was in his little cell. I went to him and knelt down to see his reaction. No barking, no weirdness, just eye contact and a wagging tail. All of a sudden he put one of his paws through the bars onto my knee. That was it. I chose him and he chose me. We've been best friends ever since."