SAME STUFF, very DIFFERENT DAY… Each week I submit this conglomeration of bars, stripes and star-spangled banners for a deadline that allows the editorial and artistic folks down at Weekly central to plug it into the proper space. For the purposes (for our aquatic friends out there, for the porpoises) of some form of functioning categorizing system, I name each one by the date of the Thursday the issue will be coming out.

After eight-plus years of doing this, the procedure is fairly rote– type in the date and year in all caps, bold and underlined, skip a line, indent and start waxing. This particular episode falls on Sept. 11. It is really difficult, especially as a former New Yorker (is there such a thing?) who grew up before the towers, saw them being built, became used to the city skyline with them, then from afar saw their destruction live on national television, to see that date and not go somewhere deep in my normally overlooked sorrow.

Despite my reactionary feelings for vengeance that day– after the overwhelming horror and soul-wrenching sadness had subsided a bit– the evolved response in my mind was always one of sharing in the empathy and good will being showered upon us from around the world and using it as a springboard to greater cooperative human interaction among people everywhere.

We all know what happened instead– at least the versions that are publicly available. I believe there is an underlying tier of scumbags above (a relative term) governments who dictate world circumstances, but that’s another story. As a memorial to all those everywhere who have been victims of horrific man-made crimes against humanity and in the spirit of those of us whose greatest dream is to someday witness and feel the shift in mass consciousness that indicates we are turning away from that madness, take a moment this week to visualize what might have been had we embraced our world during our sad time that followed Sept. 11 and allowed it to comfort us and cradle us in its loving arms (what an ironic use of the word).

ON ANOTHER NOTE… Many of you may not know it, nor care for that matter, but I’m really an old jazz guy. Back in the day, about a five-minute cab ride (late at night) uptown from those beautifully monstrous towers, lay a slew of jazz clubs in Greenwich Village: The Village Vanguard, Sweet Basil, Lush Life, The Blue Note and more. Many were the nights I’d head there after working a shift in some downtown restaurant, get to a joint at like 1 or 1:30am, sit in the front little cocktail table a few feet from the band and catch the last two sets (N.Y. goes till 4am) of some titans blowin’ and jammin’.

Now that I’m a bit more genteel and less inclined to walk the mean streets at ungodly hours, I seek a bit more refined versions of my jazz experiences. This Wednesday, Sept. 17, at the Steinbeck Center in Salinas, you have the opportunity to step back in time into a certified jazz supper club. This one is run by Cal “Axe Man” Stamenov orchestrating the food and Fred “Nothing Like-a” Dame and Mark “Twinkle Toes” Jensen dancing with the wines.

Three wonderful vocalists, Mary Stallings, Masha Campagne and Spencer Day will provide the musical ambiance to round out a magnificently decorated Bernardus Supper Club atmosphere. This great, high-end event is a collaboration between the Monterey Jazz Festival and the National Steinbeck Center and benefits MJF’s Jazz Education Programs and the National Steinbeck Center’s Youth Programs. You do not want to miss this night. All types of packages are available, some that include limos, so get on the horn (oh yeah) at 775-4723 or www.steinbeckcenter.org.

PROPER PLACEMENT… My boy Iron Mike McSweeney was up from L.A. last week, getting fresh breaths and relaxation. Along with Sweet Thing we hit An Choi, with its fabulous Asian contemporary cuisine on Lighthouse Avenue in P.G., way down almost to the cemetery. We discovered a great Vietnamese beer, “33.” It was smooth and creamy, almost like a lighter style Belgian, but a touch of sweet in there, just nice. A couple of burnt-out bar guys like us don’t often get excited about anything fermented or distilled.

The food there always pleases me. Owner/Chef Thanh Truong has been around and brings solid, diverse fundamental cooking skills to his creative menu, pulling in touches from dozens of regions around Asia. I had a duck that was one of the best I’ve had anywhere. Miss Thing, the vegetarian, had more options available than just about anywhere in town. Christine, Thanh’s wife and front-of-the-houser, infuses the experience with a lot of love and care. Make this spot a regular on the rotation, 372-8818, www.anchoirestaurant.com.

This Sunday the 14th sees Gary Ibsen’s great great TomatoFest as the only place to be, especially if he does end up riding off into the sunset. I can’t believe I’ve got to miss it– it’s one of the weekends Sweet Thing and I go off to learn about developmental psychology in the hope that we might be able to correct some of the waywardness of our ways. But you don’t have to. Get out there and enjoy a great day in the sun. The lineup of chefs is great, and so is everything else, www.tomatofest.com.

Just got the word that the 20th edition of Taste of Carmel hits the Mission on Oct. 2. This is one of my all-time favorites, especially as the sun is going down in that glorious setting with all that glorious food and drink and the always-glorious Chris Caul running around slapping people on the back. All your Carmel favorites will be there, 624-2522 or www.carmelcalifornia.org.