Attack Cat: June 2007

Rialto & Bob Hope Airport

Spider-Man 3 Tagged

Billboard for Spider-Man 3 tagged by a guy who I believe goes by the name "Augor". Actually, I think the kids call it "modifying," while a tag is just a name or alias scrawled anywhere and everywhere.

While all tags are lame, there is some really amazing graffiti out there and this guy's modifications are pretty cool. You can search Flickr for more of his work. I especially enjoy the Silver Surfer one, which I saw, but didn't manage to shoot.

Labels: billboards, graffiti, movies, spider-man

Abstracts

Labels: abstracts, photos

Grindhouse Premiere - 03/26/07

I think I've said it before, but it bears repeating; if you live in Los Angeles, there's a decent chance you know someone who works in or around the film industry. It's like living in Detroit and knowing someone who has something to do with making cars.

The nice thing about knowing these people is that occasionally you'll get to ride on their coattails to some sweet event. This night was the premiere of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez' double feature event Grindhouse.

This was a fun night at the Orpheum theatre, one of L.A.'s historic movie palaces on Broadway in downtown. The downside was not having invites to the party, which is really where you want to go on premiere night, if only for free booze and appetizers.

The nice thing about this night was that you got a crap load of movie - two movies actually - along with fake trailers and 1970s movie theatre interstitials.

Both movies are very entertaining, with Tarantino's film Death Proof edging out Rodriquez' Planet Terror as my favorite of the evening. Tarantino puts together one of the best car chases in years and it's the real thing. It's not one of these crappy, Fast & Furious, 99% CG crapfests of a car chase. This are real cars zipping down the highway and one of them has a girl on the hood, holding on by her finger tips.

Not to be outdone, Rodriquez gives us the sexiest amputee you'll ever see. Rose McGowan and her rifle leg are an exquisite match and the epitome of the grindhouse estetic filtered through the lens of a skilled filmmaker with plenty of money.

Sadly, I think these movies were a victim of this country's average attention span of zero. At somewhere between three and four hours, a night at the grindhouse is a bit of a commitment, but as long as you do a little pre-show bladder management, you should be okay. All you weaklings who balked at a sixth of a day inside a movie theatre should know that Europeans were nearly rioting in the streets, because these movies were being released seperately. Perhaps I can appeal to your cheap side. Think of it as seeing two seven dollar movies. You've paid twice as much for movies that are a third as long. If you can still find it in theatres, you should take advantage of this little gift from Dimension Films.

Orpheum abstract

Labels: Los Angeles, movies, Orpheum Theatre, premieres, theatres

Las Vegas Toilet

Not all abstracts are squiggly lights. Sometimes they're just glasses at a bar with some nice lighting on them.

This is the comode in the men's room at The Mix Lounge at THEhotel at the Mandalay Bay. As you sit to TCOB, you are facing a floor-to-ceiling window that looks west, out over the 15. It's not a view of the Strip, but it's the best view you're gonna get with your trousers around your ankles in most parts. There's also a window above the urinals, so you don't have to poop for the view.

Signs & Squiggles

Street abstracts around Sunset Junction.

Windows

Mirrors

One Evening in Silver Lake

More neon. This sign is on Sunset Blvd. in the Sunset Junction neighborhood.

Pazzo Gelato

Ohhh... damn it, this good gelato!

You'd be hard pressed to beat this stuff. As we head into the heart of summer, I see myself visiting Pazzo more and more.

I was just fiddling with the settings on my camera and ran across this long shutter pre-set. I shot down the street and got all these squiggly lights, like free form neon art. Oh man, I'm gonna take a lot more of these. In fact, check out a bunch in my Abstracts set.

Amy Raasch at Hotel Cafe

I have this friend Amy. She's a singer and a songwriter. She's also an actress. She used to be a waiter. Well, I guess she could still be a waiter if she had to be, but luckily she doesn't have to be anymore.

She debuted her first album at the Hotel Cafe, here in Hollywood, CA, just a few short months ago.

Check her out at her very own internet web site, right here on the internets!

Then get on the iTunes or the Amazon or the CD Baby and get yourself some music.

Lucha Va Voom! - Feb. 14, 2007

This guy's called Dirty Sanchez. You don't want to know.

You should check out Lucha Va Voom. It's a mix of lucha libre, Mexican masked wrestlers

and sexy burlesque dancers, that's the va voom part.

There are teams in chicken outfits, like Los Gallineros

and there are sexy ladies in ostrich feathers.

There are flying men in tights

and sexy ladies disrobing.

Wait a minute! Those sexy ladies are flying too!

Ahhh... yes. It's the Poubelle Twins. Beautiful, but dangerous.

Like M&M's, luchadores come in all sizes. Here's a sexy lady with a mini. That's Tsuki. So... he's a Japanese Mexican wrestler?

Looks like Chupacabra might be in trouble

but don't count him out just yet. That's a flying goat sucker comin' atcha!

Wrapping up the night are English-speaking MCs, Blaine Capatch and Tom Kenny. Tom's the voice of Sponge Bob Squarepants, don'tcha know.

Many more pictures from the same night here.

Videos here:

Everywhere a Sign

Broadway Bar, Los Angeles

I like neon signs. Technically... more generically, they should be called flourescent signs. Glass with neon gas is red.

I like the way they look at night. You can't have enough flourescent signs. Vegas tries, but they don't quite get there.

I like taking pictures of flourescent signs, especially when I can capture that glow.

I think I'll be posting more pictures of neon signs.

Pho 4000

Pho.

Vietnamese noodle soup.

It's pronounced "fuh".

Before I saw that it actually existed, I dreamed of a place called Pho King.

Just say it out loud.

Pho 4000 is on Western Avenue in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles.

That's why Los Angeles kicks your city's ass. Vietnamese noodles in Koreatown.

There's a place called Pho 2000 just down the street. Our ethnic neighborhoods have ethnic neighborhoods.

I don't think it has anything to do with the calendar, but I like to think that Pho 4000 is planning to be in business for just under 2000 years.

I don't know where to get the best Pho in L.A., but Pho 4000 isn't the worst. Try the oxtail.

Pho 4000
414 S Western Ave
Los Angeles , CA 90020
(213) 252-4401

Modern Love

In this magical age of intenets and jet packs, people still try communicate this way.

Change

My awesome girlfriend gave me a awesome new digital camera for Christmas. Just goofing around one can manage to get kinda cool shots like this.

This is 40

As this is my 40th year, though I'm not yet 40, embarassing pictures from the past are bound to come out.

This is not me.

Sorry, Jeff.

I'm looking for a place on the beach to rent for a weekend in September. Probably in the Manhattan Beach area. Any ideas?