Attack Cat

San Diego Comic-Con International, 2009

2009-07-17T00:19:00.000-07:00

(This is just a collection of stuff to do and see at this year's Comic-Con. I'm mainly posting here for my own reference, but thought that others might find it useful too. Let me know if there's anything I should add.)

Official Program Schedule at Comic-Con.org

Panels / Exhibitors to See

- Adult Swim
- DC Panels
- Peter Jackson's first Comic-Con appearance, Friday, July 24
- Jane Wiedlin's signing schedule:
Thurs: table AA18 11:00–3:00
Fri: table AA23 11:00– 3:00
Sat: table AA18 3:00 – 7:00
Sun: table AA24 11:00– 2:00

Merch & Swag

- Mr. Toast! featuring Ninja Joe and new t-shirts
- Futurama Box Set (Comic-Con Exclusive)
- Star Wars Comic-Con Shop
X-Wing Pilot Hoodie!
- Awesome Capcom Resident Evil Zombie T-shirt
- Adult Swim Comic-Con Prize Bundle, register to win online now, ends Tuesday July 21

- Sideshow Collectibles, booth #1929
- Chris Turnham - Seductive Espionage

Stuff To Do Outside the Convention Center

- Off-site events and parties happening during San Diego Comic-Con 2009, list from San Diego City Guide Examiner
- Tweet Up, 5pm Wednesday, July 22 - free with RSVP, limited space, no Comic-Con badge required
- 3rd Annual Comic-Con Zombie Walk, 7:30 pm Thursday, July 23
- Tim & Eric's Summer '09 Awesome Mini Tour, Friday & Saturday
- Robot Chicken On Wheels '09 Tour, 8pm Saturday, July 25
- Comic-Con Party with Good Charlotte DJ Joel Madden, Saturday Night, Free with RSVP
- Wine Down, 4pm Sunday, July 26 - free with RSVP, limited space, no Comic-Con badge required

Following on Twitter & Facebook

- @Comic_Con ~ Official feed
- @JaneWiedlin
- @TheWBdotcom
- @ComicCon09 ~ Fan group blog & feed
- @EntEarth ~ Entertainment Earth
- Marvel
- DC

- @collectsideshow ~ Sideshow Collectibles
- @TM_SDCC ~TweetMeme
- @GldnAplComics ~ Golden Apple Comics from Los Angeles. Follow them for clues to free hidden t-shirts.

Facebook:
- Giant Robot
- Sideshow Collectibles

News & Blog Coverage

- Survival Guide from Hero Complex at the LA Times
- 10 Essential Comic-Con Must Sees from Hero Complex at the LA Times
- UGO
- SignOn San Diego

- 9 Steps to Surviving Comic-Con from io9
- Bear's (McCreary) Battlestar Galactica Blo g
- Kevin Smith's "5 Coolest People I've Met at Comic-Con" on EW.com
- Great map of related events, food and drink in the downtown San Diego area.

Eats & Drinks

- Point Loma Seafoods
- Tornado
- Blue Water Seafood Market & Grill
- Hodad's, I hear you want the bacon burger
- Richard Walker's Pancake House, really international pancake house
- The Field, Irish pub & restaurant
- Bali Hai Restaurant, Have yourself a fruity drink.
- Turf Supper Club, Grill your own steak!
- Mr. Tiki Mai Tai Lounge
- Great map of related events, food and drink in the downtown San Diego area.

The line at Starbucks

2008-11-04T10:19:00.001-08:00

The line at Starbucks
Originally uploaded by robjtak

..for free coffee is longer than the line at my polling place.

Get Out the Vote!

2008-11-04T09:29:00.003-08:00

Get Out the Vote!
Originally uploaded by robjtak

Massive line outside the polling place at 1111 Atlantic Blvd. in Monterey Park, CA.

Get Out the Vote!

2008-11-04T09:29:00.001-08:00

Get Out the Vote!
Originally uploaded by robjtak

Massive line outside the polling place at 1111 Atlantic Blvd. in Monterey Park, CA.

Get Out the Vote!

2008-11-04T09:28:00.001-08:00

Get Out the Vote!
Originally uploaded by robjtak

Massive line outside the polling place at 1111 Atlantic Blvd. in Monterey Park, CA.

USC v. Oregon St.

2008-10-04T16:53:00.001-07:00

USC v. Oregon St.
Originally uploaded by robjtak

Pregame

USC v. Ohio St.

2008-09-13T19:20:00.001-07:00

USC v. Ohio St.
Originally uploaded by robjtak

Moon over the Coliseum

BBQ at An & Trevin's

2008-08-23T17:39:00.001-07:00

BBQ at An & Trevin's
Originally uploaded by robjtak

Ridin' Bikes to Sunset Junction

2008-08-23T16:23:00.001-07:00

Ridin' Bikes to Sunset Junction
Originally uploaded by robjtak

Comic-Con Saturday, Terminator: Salvation panel

2008-07-27T10:34:00.001-07:00

Comic-Con Saturday, Terminator: Salvation panel
Originally uploaded by robjtak

Lost panel

2008-07-26T13:30:00.001-07:00

Lost panel
Originally uploaded by robjtak

Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof & Matthew Fox

The real heroes

2008-07-26T10:27:00.001-07:00

The real heroes
Originally uploaded by robjtak

Comic-Con Saturday - Longest Line Ever

2008-07-26T10:24:00.001-07:00

Arrived an hour early for the first panel of the day in Hall H (the Heroes panel). Line was so long that it took 15 minutes to walk to the end.

It did switchbacks all the way through the park on the south end of the convention center and then turned the corner around to the marina side. It continued all the way north past the Marriot to the hotel just north of the Marriot.

I'm guessing that I will not see the "Heroes" panel and probably not the "Lost" panel either. If patient, pehaps the "Terminator" panel is in my future.

If I thought the line wasn't relatively the same length. I might try to go see Tori Amos or the "Battlestar Galactica" panel.

Tron 2

2008-07-25T01:47:00.000-07:00

The following was hastily thumbed into my Treo immediately after watching a teaser for Tron 2:

F U C K I N G AWESOME TRON TEASER!!!

Lightcycle battle. No more right angle turns. All fluid and bangin' into each other. Driving over terrain, up and down hills, jumping and then a terrific crash.. Plus an appearance by an older, grizzled Flynn watching the whole thing. Finally, the winning lightcyclist grabs the disc off his back to finish off the loser.

Comic-Con, Thursday... so far

2008-07-24T16:57:00.000-07:00

- Waited in an enormous line to get my badge.

- Wandered about 1/3 of the exhibit hall.

- Lots of cool plush toys.

- Apparently, the video game guys have gotten smart & moved away from
E3 to Comic-Con.

- Some good costumes.

- Sat in on most of the panel for the "Greatest American Hero" comic
book & animated web series. William Katt, Connie Selleca, Robert Culp
in attendance.

- Best swag seen so far: Yellow "Pineapple Express" terry-clothe headband.

- Best booth: Dharma Initiative personality screening & recruitment booth.

Now waiting for the "Race to Witch Mountain" panel where I have it on
good authority that Disney will screen a trailer for a remake/sequel
to a videogame movie from the early 80s. At least that's the rumor
I'm spreading.

Correction:

- Best booth: the Clairvoyant Sleeping Cat that's telling fortunes in the Adult Swim booth.

The Plundering of My Youth, #4

2008-01-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

Joe Jackson steppin' out? Some would say selling out.

Apparently "One More Time" from Dress Sharp is being used in a new Gordita ad for Taco Bell.

I don't begrudge him makin' some money off his work, but a Gordita commercial?

C'mon! Damn it!

The Sarah Silverman Program, Season Two Premiere Party

2007-09-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

Check out my post on last night's event at the Velvet Margarita in the heart of Hollywood celebrating the start of season two of Sarah Silverman's funny-ass show on Comedy Central

USC v. Idaho Game Recap on LAist

2007-09-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

Check out a write up on the game and some images of tailgating and whatnot now on LAist.

Fight On & Huck the Fuskers!

My USC v. Idaho "Preview" on LAist

2007-08-31T11:29:00.000-07:00

You know how when you start talking about the weather you realize that the conversation is pretty much over?

Well, that's pretty much what I do in this preview of the USC v. Idaho game, now up on LAist.

Enjoy...

...and Fight On!

R.I.P. Merv Griffin

2007-08-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

Merv Griffin obituary at LAist.

The Plundering of My Youth, #3

2007-08-01T23:42:00.000-07:00

The who sell out?

The Jam sell out, that's who.

It's been out for a while, but I'm just getting around to posting that Cadillac is using The Jam's "Start" for a TV commercial.

"What you give is what you get!"

Indeed.

.

Tribute to Tom Snyder on LAist

2007-07-31T18:17:00.000-07:00

I've posted a short tribute to late night talk show host and chain-smoker Tom Snyder on LAist.

Transformers Review

2007-07-03T00:22:00.001-07:00

My review now available at LAist.

Rialto & Bob Hope Airport

2007-06-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

Spider-Man 3 Tagged

2007-06-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

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.

Abstracts

2007-06-25T21:13:00.000-07:00

Grindhouse Premiere - 03/26/07

2007-06-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

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

Las Vegas Toilet

2007-06-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

Street abstracts around Sunset Junction.

Windows

Mirrors

One Evening in Silver Lake

2007-06-21T23:43:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-21T23:26:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-21T22:32:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-21T22:18:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

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

Change

2007-06-21T22:15:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

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?

It's June, so this is the last Sundance post you're getting

2007-06-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

This is a shot of cool interstial animation played before an after screenings.

Jill Sobule and Julia Sweeny play a music and comedy gig at the music lounge.

The yummy Blue Plate Diner in Salt Lake City.

A Pinto wagon out back of the Blue Plate Diner. I like the bumper sticker and the license plate and the icicles.

Self-portrait in the mirrored columns at Sam Weller Bookstore, Salt Lake City.

Big time producer, Troma's Lloyd Kaufman on Main Street, Park City.

Burgers and beer at the Squatters Roadhouse Grill, Park City.

More from Sundance 2007

2007-03-21T23:56:00.000-07:00

THE PARK CITY TROUSER WEASEL

Well, you do have to keep warm there in January. For some reason, for at least two years running, this store has had this product prominently featured in it's front window on Main Street. I wonder how many they sell.

THE HITCHER

THE HITCHER II

I like these two images. This guy was thumbing a ride on the road out of Park City, heading towards Salt Lake City. I like how the part of the image blocked out by the sideview mirror in the first is almost all that is in the second. Both of these were shot out of the window of a moving car, so it wasn't planned at all. Just a happy accident.

THE WAITING

Everyone thinks, "Ohhh... Ooooo... Sundance is so fun and glamourous!" Well, for the average attendee, this is what the film festival looks like. This is a shot of the line up tent outside of the Holiday Village Cinemas at around 6:30am. That's when you have to arrive if you don't already have a ticket and you want to get into the 8am screenings... and I just barely got in. A couple more views of Sundance at early morning.

Looking away from the tent, towards the Albertson's and the ski slopes beyond.

It starts to lighten up as I make it back from the Albertson's with my coffee and muffin to enjoy the wait list line.

WAIT LIST

An all too common sight for your humble servant.

A VERY SUNDANCE QUEUE

If you have a hard ticket, you wait to the left and you get in. If you don't, you wait to the right and you send up a little prayer. They say that there's no such thing as an atheist in a Sundance wait list line.

* * *
Check out all the Sundance pictures and more at Flickr.

Catching Up

2007-03-20T23:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't think that I can actually catch up, but I'm going to try to put something up on a more regular basis. Seein' as how I got a new camera at Christmas, courtesy of my lady love, Elina, and I've shot several hundred pictures since then, I'm guessing that you'll be seeing more pictures here.

To kick it off, here are a few favorite shots from way back in January when I made a quick trip out to Park City, UT for the Sundance Film Festival.

MAIN STREET

If you've never been, this is the glamourous heart of Park City.

POSTERING

While lots of studio money, read "corporate money," has taken over the "independent spirit" of the festival, there are still little films that promote themselves any way they can. A lot of them do that by postering every flat surface on Main Street. This is a detail shot from the big board outside of the Slamdance Film Festival headquarters. The nature of postering means that this board will be covered over with new posters in about 30 minutes.

NOODLES

Food. You're going to be seeing more of it here. I like food and a lot of liking food is liking the way it looks. So, I'm taking more pictures of what I eat. (Why I didn't take a single shot of the Corned Beef with Cabbage and Colcannon that I made on St. Patrick's Day, I do not know!) Above is a shot of my meal at one of the Noodles & Co. outlets in Salt Lake City. Elina and Bjorn discovered Noodles & Co. last year and it became an instant favorite. I know it's just a chain, but we don't have them in L.A. and the food's decent and at a reasonable price, so why not? I believe that's the Japanese Pan Noodles with the added chicken breast. Check out Noodles & Co. if you have one in your town.

SUPER TARGET

I like Target. Elina likes Target. Salt Lake City has a SUPER Target. It's frickin' huge. I think the last register in this picture is number 85. Quality's not as good in this image as it was shot with the ol' or rather new Treo.

That's all for now. Check out these pictures and more at Flickr.

* * *

Oh yeah, one more thing...

FIGHT ON & BEAT THE TAR HEELS!

LA Times

Sundance Film Festival - 01/20-21/06

2007-01-21T22:12:00.000-08:00

Got invited to come to Sundance again this year to work at the HD House.

The flights weren't nearly as harrowing this time, but here's a nice picture from the flight as we approached Salt Lake City.

A little more organization and a little more money at the HD House means that yours truly didn't have to work until 6am to set up. Professionals got everything together this time around.

We're located right on Main St. this year, so a lot more foot traffic means a lot more visitors.

The guests at the HD House have gotten better as well. Yesterday, Crispin Glover came in to talk about his film It Is Fine. Everything Is Fine!. Today, Buzz Aldrin stopped by to talk about In The Shadow Of The Moon. We closed with a panel with Hal Hartley, who discussed his new film Fay Grim.

Tomorrow's the last day of the HD House, so if you're in town stop by and learn all about fancy HD production workflow.

Films: No films yet.

Weather: High of 24˚. Tonight -15˚. I'm happy I have a new jacket.

* * *

Some more pictures from around the HD House...

Buzz Aldrin interviewed

Billy Baldwin interviewed by Corey from IndependentFilm.com

Corey also sits down with Crispin Glover

.

R.I.P. Mario Danelo

2007-01-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

Just heard the news that USC kicker Mario Danelo was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in San Pedro. Though he missed a couple of PATs at Monday's Rose Bowl, he also put up two field goals, one of which was the entirety of USC's scoring in the first half of the game.

I know all Trojans will mourn his passing.

Danelo's Player Bio

More on the story at...

L.A. Times

Sports Illustrated/CNN

FOXSports

ESPN

Fight On!

.

I'm Back

2006-11-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

...and Some Thoughts on USC Football

Truthfully, to be back, I'd have had to have actually gone somewhere and while I have traveled since the last significant post, I was no where that could not be touched by that thing we call "the internets."

But the internet is like Starbucks. It's everywhere, but that doesn't mean you have to go in.

The funny thing about being back is that I'm not at home nor am I even in my home town. Currently, I'm situated at Café Madeleine, on O'Farrell near Market St., in San Francisco. I'm in town for the Stanford game. That's USC at Stanford. I should clarify that for those who don't already know that this is partisan territory.

My dear friend Steve was given some sweet, 50-yard-line seats for the game and he extended the invitation to me to come up and join him, and who am I to say "no"? (I was just trying to figure out a clever answer to that rhetorical question, but I couldn't. The closest I got was, "I'm no one to say 'no,' that's who I am," but it didn't really tickle me enough, but apparently it tickled me enough for this lengthy aside.)

I just flew into Oakland this morning at 9am. The game's at 4pm. I'm excited. By all reports, this should be a cakewalk, but all enthusiasm should be tempered with the proper amount of skepticism after last week's loss to the Beavers of Oregon State.

Sure, enduring the first regular season loss in three years was a little hard, but it wasn't as hard as I imagined it might have been. I was ready for a loss. I was ready for a loss this season halfway through last season. Last year, I knew we had a great team, so a loss would have been more devastating. I knew last season that this season we'd have a different team and that the same couldn't be expected of them.

What I wasn't ready for was the loss in the Rose Bowl. After that, while expecting we might not have a perfect record this year, I wanted to win even more. It became more and more evident that we probably wouldn't keep up that spotless regular season record after a few close games this year, but losing to Oregon State was unexpected.

I still haven't decided if it was harder or easier to take after looking at the game stats. Anyone can see that we beat ourselves by turning over the ball four times, but then you look at Booty's numbers. Sure, he threw a shitty pick in the end zone, but other than that, this kid had stellar numbers for the day. His stats at this point in the season are still better than Leinart's at the same point in his rookie season. Had our receivers caught a few more of his catchable passes last Saturday and had our pass blocking been a little bit better, everyone would be singing the praises of J.D. Booty and we'd probably still be an undefeated team.

All that said, there's something of a feeling of relief now that there's a positive digit in the loss column. As if playing college football for an elite team isn’t hard enough, these kids have been carrying the burden of team's record from the past three or four years, going back to Carson Palmer's senior season. I think and hope that the team can now create, what many have felt the team's been lacking most of this season and that is its own identity.

Regardless of when and where they play, the USC football team is going to carry the burden and be carried by the tradition of Trojans of years past. Some days it's going to grab at their ankles and make them feel like they're running from the boogey man in a bad dream. Other days it's going to send them soaring above the clouds, etching their names in the legend that is USC football.

Fight On!

I think you've made the right decision this time...

2006-09-19T00:20:00.000-07:00

For Neal & Janet...

London

Smoke lingers 'round your fingers
Train heave on to Euston
Do you think you've made
The right decision this time?
Oh ...

You left your tired family grieving
And you think they're sad because you're leaving
But did you see jealousy in the eyes
Of the ones who had to stay behind ?
And do you think you've made
The right decision this time ?

You left your girlfriend on the platform
With this really ragged notion that you'll return
But she knows that when he goes he really goes
And do you think you've made
The right decision this time ?

Lyrics: Morrissey
Music: Marr

...that's not Janet in that picture, by the way.

Sunset Junction 2006 Schedule

2006-08-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

Just found this flyer at my local Bogie's liquor as I picked up the LA Weekly.

You can also check out the schedule at the Sunset Junction site.

Comic-Con 2006, More Photos

2006-07-23T02:31:00.000-07:00

Some pictures now available at Flickr and Buzznet. More words to follow soon.

Comic-Con, San Diego - 2006

2006-07-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

Bumpin' Uglies at Comic Con.

More to come...

Hello, Goodbye

2006-06-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Tony Pierce as he takes over the editorship of LAist today.

Take a look at this clip from my first Pixel Pushers film, where Tony floats an idea about his employment future into the ether. Soon after he uttered these words, he lost his job at Buzznet and almost as quickly was offered the job at LAist.

Tony's Job Wish

[Apparently, Buzznet's been hit with a big server bill and isn't allowing embedding of video for a while, thus you'll have to use the link above to see the clip.]

We must also bid a fond farewell to Carolyn Kellogg, former editor of LAist and the eponymous Pinky of Pinky's Paperhaus. Carolyn's off to Pittsburgh to study writing. In the mean time, we can study her writings and talkings on the Pinky's Paperhaus podcast.

T.C. Boyle in the LA Weekly Literary Supplement

2006-06-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

Hello readers of books and other literary things. The current issue of the LA Weekly comes with their regular Literary Supplement section.

His new novel doesn't come out until next month, but right now you can enjoy an excerpt from T.C. Boyle's upcoming novel Talk Talk.

Here's a little taste:

There was a moment of suspended time, the cop frozen at the wheel of his car, she giving him a helpless exculpatory look, and then she was past him and cursing herself as she watched him pull a lazy U-turn behind her and activate the flashing lights. All at once she saw the world complete, the palms with their pineapple trunks and peeling skirts, the armored spines of the yucca plants climbing the hill, yellow rock, red rock, a gunmetal pickup slowing to gape at her where she’d pulled over on a tan strip of dirt, and below her, a descending expanse of tiled rooftops and the distant blue wallop of the Pacific, no hurry now, no hurry at all. She watched the cop — the patrolman — in her side mirror as he sliced open the door, hitched up his belt (they all did that, as if the belt with its Mace and handcuffs and the hard black-handled revolver were all the badge they needed) and walked stiffly to her car.

For the full excerpt go to LA Weekly.com or TCBoyle.com.

Blogorrhea, The Director's Cut

2006-06-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

...well, not actually. My first cut, was over eleven minutes long and I'm not going to ask you to watch that.

For Pixel Pushers, we're supposed to make films of five minutes and under, so at over twice that, cut number one was not going to stand. My second cut, the eight minute one was tighter. I had to take out a lot of stuff I liked but it ran better. Still, it was too long.

So, finally I got it down to just over six minutes and that's the one that went up at Pixel Pushers, but I still liked the longer one.

Now you have a chance to see the much anticipated extended cut of Blogorrhea!

Please enjoy.

Pixel Pushers, "Addiction"

2006-06-02T00:46:00.000-07:00

I could tell you all about Pixel Pushers, but why don't I let your fingers do the walking?

www.pixelpushersfilm.com

My first film for the group is a conversation with Tony Pierce about "addiction."

You can check out my film and all of the current series films at
the site or subscribe to the podcast:

iTunes
RSS Feed

The version of the film at the Pixel Pushers site is just over six minutes because there's a five minute limit. It started out at over 11 minutes and then made it down to around eight and finally to six and change. The 11 was too long and the six too short. The eight's just about right. I'll put it up on YouTube or Buzznet or some such place soon. [Update: "Director's Cut" available at Buzznet.]

I must thank the following for their invaluable help in making this film:

- Tony Pierce for talking with me
- Sean Rowley and Blockage for providing music.
- Andrew Takeuchi for providing a camera.
- Neal Romanek for post production assistance.

Actual Snake, No Plane

2006-05-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is what I believe is the San Bernardino variety of the Ringed-Neck snake. It just showed up on the floor of my office about a week ago. I scooped it up in a flower pot, shot a few pictures of it, and then let it go in the grass adjacent to Forest Lawn Glendale.

Since there's nothing to show scale, I'll say that it was about 12 to 14 inches long and slightly less thick than your standard Sharpie.

Snakes on a Plane

2006-05-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

Snakes on a Plane
Posted by: robtak on Buzznet

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, it's the plane that says, "Bad Mother Fucker."

Sadly, the hype will be way better than the actual film. It can't be good and it can't be bad enough to be good-bad. Until then, please enjoy the key art above or visit the official site.

Coachella 2006 - Sunday

2006-05-03T03:44:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on the Coachella weekend. The bands I caught on Sunday:

Mates of State
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
Phoenix
Matisyahu
Bloc Party
Sleater-Kinney (from far away and just for part of a song.)
Stellastar
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Madonna
Massive Attack
The Go! Team
Scissor Sisters
Tool

Here's a quick shot of Stellastar. Their performance may have been the highlight of the weekend:

...and the bassist, Amanda ...Mmmm, girl bassist.

Coachella 2006 - Saturday

2006-04-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of time to write. Going to be heading out to day 2 in a few, but check out my photos of Day 1 at Buzznet.

More to follow.

Bands what I saw yesterday:
Wolfmother
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Kanye West
Ladytron
Franz Ferdinand
Cat Power
Depeche Mode
She Wants Revenge
Daft Punk

You can also check out the podcast interview with my friend Steve, conducted by Neal over at Rabbit+Crow.

Conflict in Indio

2006-04-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

I have issues.

In fact, I have a frickin’ lifetime subscription.

I know that my issues are pretty minor and this post is not meant to belittle anyone with real issues, though I’ve found that most issues, short of terminal disease, can and should be treated with a prescription of “get over it.”

That said, how am I supposed to get over my issues?

Photo by Tony

First, I’m going to Coachella this weekend. I don’t usually like mentioning something here before I do it. I’ve done it too often and then not followed through with actually writing about the event. I don’t think that’s going to happen with Coachella. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to write about and be plenty inspired, but still, I’m a little conflicted about putting it out there.

I told you they were minor issues.

The second bit is not so minor. With a show like Coachella, a show with too many bands, too many stages and not enough time, I run into this problem. Too many bands I want to see are playing at the same time.

~My Coachella Schedule~

Here are some of the battles that are sizing up for this weekend:

Saturday
The Duke Spirit v. Wolfmother
Kanye West v. TV on the Radio
Sigur Ros v. Ladytron
Franz Ferdinand v. Cat Power
She Wants Revenge v. Daft Punk

Sunday
Sleater-Kinney v. Bloc Party v. Stellastar
Yeah Yeah Yeahs v. The Editors
Tool v. Scissor Sisters

Okay, I know these aren’t all fair fights. Even though this is ostensibly an “indie” fest, I think that Kanye West will probably kick TV on the Radio’s ass. I heard The Duke Spirit recently and liked them, but I think that they will be overwhelmed by the hype of Wolfmother.

Tougher fights will be ones like Franz Ferdinand v. Cat Power. I’ve seen the archduke on another festival bill (Inland Invasion a few years ago) and they were great and I’d really like to see them again, but I really want to see Cat Power. I’ve tried to see She Wants Revenge three times in the last four months and that album’s great, but man… the chance to see Daft Punk. Can I pass that up?

Photo by renegademartian

The hardest one is on Sunday. I’ve only ever seen Stellastar do a short in-store at Virgin and really like their first album a lot. I did see both Sleater-Kinney and Bloc Party headline shows last year. I’ve seen S-K a few times and that’s because they’re awesome. The Bloc Party show at the Palladium last year was great too. I think Stellastar may win, only because I’ve never seen them play a for real set, but it’s gonna suck missing Bloc Party and Sleater-Kinney at the same time.

I reiterate, my problems are not real problems, but they are problems nonetheless.

If you’re going to be in Indio this weekend, look for me. I’ll be the one in shorts wearing lots of sunscreen and a wide-brimmed hat.

Coincidence & Confluence in LA

2006-04-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

Here's one of those stories of how things happen. How things just kinda come together. Not in a particularly significant or meaningful way, but it just an interesting way.

The whole way the Tony/Carolyn/(and not) Neal drinks night happened was this: Tony wrote something on the BusBlog. I don't know what it was and it's not really important what it was, but whatever it was it caused Carolyn to post something in reference to it on LAist. With in a day or two of that, Neal had posted something about Tony, and Tony, blog-mensch that he is, linked back to Neal.

Well, I read all this and found it interesting and coincidental. Neal, Carolyn and I went to college together and I used to work with Tony, but Carolyn and Neal didn't really know Tony in person, just from what William Gibson once referred to as "cyberspace." So I zapped out an email to all of them, introducing them electronically. Then it came up that we should all meet up and finally we did... except Neal didn't make it.

So, like I said, not really significant or meaningful, just interesting. So, I found it interesting again, two days later, when the new issue of the LA Weekly came out. It was their first "Who We Are" issue, focusing on "the people who give Los Angeles its character," profiling the famous and unfamous and the should-be-famous and the infamous. Okay, I don't know if there's anyone who's really infamous on the list because I haven't read the whole issue yet, but you get the idear.

The interesting thing about this LA Weekly is that two of the people who are profiled were also at our little gathering on Tuesday. Of course Tony got profiled. He's Tony. Name a more famous blogger in LA.

The other listee is Reuben Rueva. "Reuben who-what-now?" you ask? Well he's the man who mixed our cocktails at Musso & Frank Grill and has been providing the same service for Angelenos famous and infamous and... you get where I'm going with this. Have this man mix up a drink for you and you know it's gonna be mixed right.

Along with all the folks that the Weekly profiles, it's this kind of confluence of people and events and whatnot that make me love this town.

A few others I want to point out are Fred Eric and Petros Papadakis. Way back in the dark ages, before the internets existed for most people, circa 1989, I worked in this club in downtown LA. Fred Eric (far left in the picture collage at the top of this post) and his chefing partner Octavio Becerra were the rock 'n' roll cooking team who were a big part of what made Flaming Colossus THE place to go at that time.

Petros... well, I don't actually know Petros, but as a USC grads, we're both part of the Trojan family. I've been a die hard Trojan football fan, even through the time that Petros was captain of, what he often calls, "the worst football team in USC history." I've enjoyed his on-air antics going back to when he showed up as the USC side of the equation of the broadcast team during the post game of the USC v. ucla game. He seemed drunk in those early appearances, but after watching him for many years on Fox Sports West and listening to his show on 1540 the Ticket, I'm thinking that that was just Petros. You can catch him as the host of Pros v. Joes on Spike TV.

That's Petros (#35) on the right. The crazy lookin' one.
Photo from USCTrojans.com

Drinks with an LAist & a BusBlogger

2006-04-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

Finally got together, after much planning, for drinks with Tony and Carolyn at Musso & Frank Grill, the oldest restaurant in Hollywood. Despite all the planning Neal couldn't make it, thus our first toast of the post goes "to absent friends!"

Here, here...

What do I have to say about last night? Not a lot more than Tony was able to pound into his keyboard with alcohol drenched fists.

I can bring you the following images of the night.

Here's Carolyn's cocktail. Pinky had a Chopin vodka Gibson. Mmmm... can't you feel your lips tingle?

What did your humble host have? Well, this is the remains of a soda and bitters, which followed a Ketel One Martini with bitters.

The great thing about Martinis at Musso's is that it comes with the sidecar. It's like two - two - two drinks in one.

Sure... everyone wants to know what Tony had. Well, we established that his Amaretto Sour would be the favorite of your spinster aunt or bachelor uncle. You decide.

We close with this traditional toast:

Here's to you and here's to me,
better friends there'll never be,
but if we should fight and disagree,
then to hell with you and here's to me!

Trojan Huddle - 04/09/06

2006-04-14T00:33:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, I made my way down to the Coliseum for the Trojan Huddle, a public scrimmage, which was the first opportunity to see the immediate future of USC Football in the wake of The Dynasty.

Got to see Mark Sanchez toss the ball around a bit. He led the first team offense. He looks good. Young and untested, but good. No Booty. He's out with an injury. Michael McDonald ran the second team offense.

Receiver Patrick Turner looked good, catching a bunch of passes including a couple touchdown receptions.

The most troubling aspect was the multiple fumbles by our running backs. Hopefully, it's just nerves and inexperience and we'll be able to maintain our positive turnover record of the past few years.

Don’t know if they'll be a factor during the season, but it was good to see the Ting boys all over the field. They combined for four tackles, a blocked punt, fumble recovery and a punt returned for a touchdown.

...and what trip down the campus would be complete without a stop at Chano's for a some good grub.

Recap of the Huddle at USCTrojans.com.

Kevin Smith - He and His Shadow

2006-04-13T00:42:00.000-07:00

Some love Kevin Smith and his movies, some hate them both, some like one of them and not the other. Regardless of what you think, you should take a look at Smith's blog. He's been writing about his friend Jason Mewes' addictions. You may know Mewes as the loquacious Jay to Smith's Silent Bob.

It's really a great read. Both Smith's writing, the intrinsic drama of the story and the taint of celebrity and semi-celebrity make it quite fascinating.

Here's a little tease from Part I:

On a mid-December early morn, circa 2003, on the balcony of my house in the Hollywood Hills, Jason Mewes, my friend of seventeen years and co-star in five films at that point, dropped a bomb that shoud’ve repulsed the shit out of me, or at the very least, made me vomit a little in my mouth.

"Last night, at the Spider Club, Nicole Richie dragged me into the bathroom and fucked me."

Part I starts here. Links to the subsequent parts are on the right side. He's still not done, though he estimated that he'd be wrapped up by April 4.

I don't think that the story's going to shake any one if they're an addict. It might, however, help someone who's dealing with a friend or family member who's an addict, if only to give them a laugh or two.

Enjoy... and if you're a fan of Kevin Smith, follow the links from his blog page to the Clerks II website and trailer.

Snoogins.

Lucky Number Slevin

2006-04-06T23:09:00.000-07:00

Got to go to a screening of Lucky Number Slevin the other night. I enjoyed it. It's clever and has some nice twists.

Tons of talent in the acting department. I've never really cared one way or the other for Josh Hartnett. The only things that I've ever liked that he was in are Black Hawk Down and The Virgin Suicides and I think his being them in them was just coincidental to me liking them. Not that he's bad, but he's never really jumped out at me. He's good in this. You like him, for the most part, the fact that he's getting his ass kicked by bad luck for most of the film makes him endearing.

I always like Bruce Willis. He's good in this. He's not funny-tough Bruce Willis like in Die Hard. He's more tough Bruce Willis like in Sin City. Good though. Plus, his character's named Mr. Goodkat, so the Attack Cat's got a soft spot. Throw in Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley and Stanley Tucci and you've got yourself a cast.

Downside of the film is that it feels like it's trying too hard. The speechiness of some of the scenes... of a lot of the scenes. There's a lot of fancy banter that feels like it's auditioning for an erudite version of a Quentin Tarantino script. It's good, but it just doesn’t feel natural, kinda like Chicken McNuggets or breast implants. The production design's a bit over the top as well. Slevin's friend's apartment looks like a low rent, grubby Jonathan Adler decorated it, where the apartments of the two wealthy gangsters look like a Tiffany lamp that's evolved into a living space.

The criticisms aren't really as significant as they read. I did enjoy this film. It's a fun, if a bit dark, little crime thriller.

I'm saving my biggest criticism for the advertising campaign. I remember seeing the trailer in the theatre and I didn't have a problem with it. Now that I've seen the film and subsequently have seen the ads on TV, I have to say that they really suck. They give away one of the big twists of the film. They could have the same campaign and remove just one line and it'd still be as effective. I don't know what the hell's wrong with the idiots who cut these trailers. It's almost as though they're mad at the audience and want to ruin the film for them.

If you want to see this film, please do. I'd recommend it. However, if you are going to go see it, try to avoid the TV campaign supporting it.

The Plundering of My Youth, #2

2006-02-23T21:57:00.000-08:00

Diet Coke is using Adam Ant's
"Goody Two Shoes" in a new commercial. Okay, it's got a foxy lady in it, but it just seems wrong.

Sundance Film Festival - 01/26/06

2006-01-29T23:09:00.000-08:00

Wordplayers: Director Patrick Creadon (center), editor Doug Blush (right), Creadon's brother (left)

* * *

Thursday dawned liked many of my days in Park City. I tried and failed to get into see Wordplay. Damn it!

Seriously, I'm getting angry at this film. Okay, I'm not angry at a movie. Not really angry. Maybe a little disappointed.

Still got one more chance on Friday. If I don't get in I'm taking that pencil they handed out with the promotional crossword puzzle and I'm jamming it right in my eyeball.

No, no, no... don't be silly. I'd never do that.

I'd jam that pencil into my throat and open up a big vein. The pencil in the eye thing would be horribly painful and probably not fatal.

Well, the rest of the day wasn't a total washout. Okay, the part where I wait listed for Stay, written and directed by Bob(cat) Goldthwait, and didn't get in was kind of a washout too, but the rest of the day after that wasn't so bad. I did see Goldthwait walk, apparently unnoticed, through the tent with about 150 people waiting in line for his movie.

Headed down to Main Street looking forward to visiting the Music Cafe for a set by Brazilian Girls. The Music Café isn't so much a café as it is a bar. It's a nice little space with terrible sight lines. Unless you're super tall, it's kinda hard to see the stage unless you're down front. I hang out on the balcony-ish area where the main bar is located. If I hang out over the railing I can see the stage... kinda.

Blurzilian Girls

One of the nice volunteers -- the ones in the grey Kenneth Cole ski jackets who tell you which busses to get on and, increasingly, that you're not getting into this movie -- scooted over enough for me to sneak up to the railing next to her.

Sarah is from St. Louis and took two weeks off from college to volunteer at the film festival. She tries to convince me that she's the "bitchy" volunteer who gives the gruff but to-the-point directions on how to wait list. I hear her spiel and realize that she was the one who was at the Racquet Club Theatre where I was waiting for Stay earlier in the morning.

We chatted about music. She said that she's a Brazilian Girls fan and I tell her that I've heard good stuff about them and have heard them on the radio. She's surprised that they get any radio play. I tell her that she should listen to KCRW on the web when she gets back to St. Louis.

They do a nice little set. They play for about 30 minutes, maybe a little more, but it's a free show so I can't complain. However, I can complain about the three idiots standing in front of me who talk, rather loudly, through the entire show. I have yet to understand people who go to see a band and then don't actually listen to the band (more on this later). I'm more surprised when I hear that the woman in the group has something to do with the band. I believe she's a manager or some such thing. Apparently she's a manager who doesn’t like her client's work. I send up a small prayer for black ice beneath their collective SUV as they drive home.

After the show, I walk back down Main Street. Stop in at Harry O's where Cargo magazine has set up shop for the latter part of the week, promoting themselves and others (T-mobile, iRiver, Cole Haan) with a series of live shows. I only want to get in to see Liz Phair, who's playing on Friday night. I walk in and poke around a little. I ask the guy who looks the most in charge what it takes to get in to the show. He says to come back tomorrow between 10am and 4pm and I can get on the list. I am stoked.

Continue down Main Street to the Alpine Internet Café to catch up on email and post some more to this blog. I crank out as much as possible and then rush back to the condo to meet up with the rest of the crew for birthday dinner for the boss at the Blind Dog. Good food, they specialize in seafood. Yes, seafood in Utah. They do a good job. We see Julia Stiles leaving as we're getting ready to order.

Manage to do another interview with Neal for the Rabbit+Crow podcast before passing out on my bed.

Movies: none

Music: Brazilian Girls

Sightings: Julia Stiles

Weather: Snow and high of 31˚

Sundance Film Festival - 01/25/06

2006-01-26T18:09:00.000-08:00

Did a little more wrapping out of the HD House this morning after getting shut out on the wait list line for Special .

Wandered about Main Street and did a little shopping, picking up some Park City souvenirs. Posted yesterday's entries from the Alpine Internet Café.

Next wait list shut out came at Eccles for the 6pm screening of The Darwin Awards. There was a huge wait list crowd for this film. I'm not sure if it was the draw of Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder or news of the death of Chris Penn, who is also featured in the film.

Later I wait listed for the 9:30pm screening of This Film Is Not Yet Rated and this time I actually got a ticket. The film, directed by Kirby Dick, is an expose of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the veil of secrecy that surrounds the members of the ratings board and its proceedings.

This is a really fantastic film. The best thing I've seen at the festival. I believe it already has distribution, but regardless of that, if you are at all interested in filmmaking, you should see this movie.

It goes over facts that many already are aware of: Sex is rated more harshly than violence, sexual pleasure for women is rated more harshly than the same for men, gay and lesbian sex is rated more harshly than hetero sex, and independent films are rated more harshly than studio productions. The nice thing about it is that he brings together all of these facts and illustrates them well, all in one place.

A big part of the film is Dick's desire to uncover the identities of the ratings board members, who wield so much power of films and filmmakers and how much each might ultimately earn.

One of the most enjoyable moments is when he announces that he will be submitting his film, which names both the members of the ratings board as well as the members of the appeals board, to the ratings board.

I don't want to ruin too much more, so I'll just reiterate that everyone should seek out this film.

When I got back to the condo, I got a call from Neal over at Rabbit + Crow about doing an interview podcast on the festival. That interview, conducted from the condo's hot tub as snow fell can be found at Rabbit + Crow. Enjoy.

Movies: This Film Is Not Yet Rated

Sightings: none

Weather: Still cold, though it snowed in the afternoon and evening.

Sundance Film Festival - 01/24/06

2006-01-26T17:29:00.000-08:00

Tuesday is the last day of the HD House. After a panel by Melissa and Brandon Balin, a pair of filmmakers who used the Viper Infinity on their independent production, Freezerburn, we began breaking down our little piece of Sundance.

In the evening, I drove into Salt Lake City to catch a screening of Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out documentary on The Police directed by Stewart Copeland. It's a compilation of Super 8 footage shot by the drummer during the band's rise to fame. As a documentary, it's not a great film. Stewart is a great drummer, but he's not a great filmmaker based on this film.

As a fan, I enjoyed it as a peek behind the scenes of one of my favorite bands. You get the chance to see the other side of all those pictures of the band where you see Stewart holding his Super 8 camera.

It's fun to see some early moments in the composition of some of their hits like "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da." You also get a pretty clear picture that though Copeland respected Sting's talent, there was no love lost between the two. He lays the blame for the end of the band squarely on the singer's shoulders, though I've never heard Sting deny that this is true.

The downside is that the sound, which was probably recorded on a little mag stripe on the Super 8, is far from hi-fi. The scenes from concerts are more fun as a record of the band's point-of-view than as a source of newfound live tracks.

Since it was a screening in SLC, no one from the production came down for Q&A, though I've seen in the trades that all three members of the band have been in Park City. In addition to being one of the subjects of this film, Sting along with his wife Trudie Styler, are in town as producers of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. I'm assuming that Andy Summers was here to support Copeland and his film.

I've always thought this and the film really illustrates it well, but Andy really reminds me of a chatty version of Harpo Marx. Not only does he look like him, but he also has that sort of sense of humor.

I wouldn't recommend this film if you're looking for a great movie, but if you’re a fan of The Police, it really is a must see.

Movies: Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out

Sightings: none

Weather: Cold and clear

Sundance Film Festival - 01/23/06

2006-01-25T14:43:00.000-08:00

Julien Temple, director of Glastonbury

Had to wake up early-ish again, but this was for a good reason. I actually had a ticket in hand for Julien Temple's movie Glastonbury. I had just a short walk down the street to the Holiday Village Theatre, where I had waited unsuccessfully to get a ticket for Wordplay the day before.

Grabbed a coffee and muffin at the nearby Albertson's and by the time I got back to the line it was nearly time to go in. Got my seat and settled in after peeling off multiple layers.

I enjoyed the film a lot. It's a history of the festival as well as a survey of acts, mainly from the last few years. Temple shot the festival from 2002-2005, but also go access to archival footage going back to the beginning. It's not the most in-depth of documentaries, there are not long expository interviews about the history and meaning of the festival, but the on-the-fly discussions with farmer and festival founder Michael Eavis give one a good idea of where the festival came from and what it's all about.

Temple eschews sit-down interviews and titling to identify performers and time frames, but as he described in the post-screening Q&A, he wanted the film to be as from the festival-goers' perspective as possible. Along those lines, he has included lots of footage shot by fans. He also focuses on popular British acts, though foreigners like Cyprus Hill show up, as do plenty of acts who've made it big on this side of the Atlantic, such as David Bowie, Coldplay, Bjork, Joe Strummer, Morrissey and The Prodigy.

In addition to excluding titling, he also uses moving images exclusively. While I'm sure there's a wealth of still images available, again Temple wanted to keep the subjects moving, as one would experience were one there on the Salisbury plain in late July.

Besides the musical acts, there's plenty of screen time given to the fans who attend, who are just as much part of the spectacle and experience as the musicians are. The costumed characters, the drunken yobs, the Travelers and the everyday folk make up a crazy mosaic that's as entertaining as the music.

Sightings: Rosie O'Donnell, Ethan Suplee (My Name is Earl and festival premiere Art School Confidential) and John Malkovich

Movies: Glastonbury, Art School Confidential

Weather: Still cold and clear.

Sundance Film Festival - 01/22/06

2006-01-24T15:32:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning was pretty much a repeat of Saturday morning except I got there a little earlier and actually got into the box office. My main goal, to get tickets for Wordplay was once again thwarted. I did manage to get tickets for Stephanie Daley.

Did a bit more of the marketing of the HD House. Also, put up posters on kiosks. The putting-up-of-posters-on-the-kiosks game is interesting because everyone promoting something is putting up posters all day long. Posters hung at 10am will very likely be covered over by posters for Small Town Gay Bar, The Trials of Darryl Hunt, or a selection of flyers from the good folks at Troma Films by noon. The HBO people are especially tenacious and have no qualms about covering and entire side of a kiosk with their posters. There must be a half-foot of glossy paper stapled to those kiosks by the end of the festivals.

My first screening of the festival was Stephanie Daley. It was a late night screening, 11:30pm, at the Library Theatre. Picked up a little pizza on Main Street to have while waiting in line. Got into the theatre and got situated. They run this, for lack of a better term, screensaver while the lights are up before the screening. It's an image of a movie theatre audience made up of cut out images of past Sundance film characters and some old-timey lookin' characters. You can see several characters from Kung Fu Hustle, "Napoleon Dynamite, Super Size Me and others.

The film's writer/director, Hilary Brougher, along with the DP, editor and actors Amber Tamblyn and Melissa Leo were in attendance, all but Tamblyn doing Q&A after the screening. The film doesn't have a lot of light moments. It's a hard subject matter, but performances by Tilda Swinton and Amber Tamblyn are quite good. The scene of the bathroom birth, while shot with "less is more" approach, is nonetheless hard to watch. I'd recommend the film, if you're in the mood for a heavy drama. This one's no light romp.

Sightings: Amber Tamblyn (in addition to the screening, on the Main St. earlier in the day), Giancarlo Esposito, Sally Kirkland

Movies: Stephanie Daley - My first Sundance screening - 11:30pm at the Library Theatre.

Weather: Cold and clear.

Sundance Film Festival - 01/21/06

2006-01-24T11:26:00.000-08:00

Get up early to head to the main box office. If you can't get tickets in advance, don't have a press pass, are not a volunteer or festival pass holder, the first step in trying to get tickets is to wake up waaaaay too early and head over to the main box office. They open up at 8am and sell whatever tickets they have available for that day.

I got there around 7:15am, which apparently is not early enough. The people near the front of the line had blankets and other sleeping gear, indicating that they had been there for some time, arriving much earlier than I was willing to do. I wasn't really near the door to the office when they announced that all of the screenings for the day were available by wait list only.

The second way to get tickets is to show up at the venue least an hour before the start time and get in the wait list line. They hand out numbers in the order you lined up and then start selling tickets about 15 minutes before the screening starts. For some reason, they don't actually count the number of seats available, because there's a chance that you could purchase a ticket, get into the theatre and not find a seat. At which point you'd have to go back to the wait list tent and get a refund.

I was going to try to wait list for the 11:30am screening, but was caught up in the duties of my actual job here in Park City. Crazy, I know, but what're you gonna do? The work was actually kinda fun. I was doing some "guerilla" marketing for the HD House, which included being driven around to various screening venues and gathering spots for festival goers and filmmakers and dropping off postcards promoting the HD House. Since we're not an official sponsor or anything fancy like that we have to do this on the down low. It's not really as sneaky as I'm making it sound, but I do have to be a little sly dropping the cards.

After all that, we headed back to the HD House. My duties are... well, they're not that intense. Mainly, I'm a greeter. I point people to the Viper or into our little theatre for one of the panel discussions that happen twice a day. In the evening, I actually was converted to mixologist as I was charged with mixing up batches of the "Infinitini," a cocktail celebrating the camera we're showing.

The drink is a mix of vodka, blue curacao and lemonade, garnished with a slice of fresh lemon. I think the recipe that this drink was adapted from was more like a real martini, meaning the lemonade was replaced by fresh lemon juice, making the drink more alcohol-y. We made them a little more drinkable using Newman's Own Lemonade, a nod to Butch and Sundance.

There was a good turnout, people got plenty tipsy and a fine time was had by all.

Sightings for the day: Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette and Steve Carrell walking by the HD House being interviewed.

Movies: none

Weather: Cold and clear.

Sundance Film Festival - 01/20/06

2006-01-24T11:17:00.000-08:00

After the little adventure in Las Vegas, I got into Salt Lake City with little fanfare. Shuttled up to Park City directly to the HD House, where I'd be stationed for the next five days. Demos and panels of the new Viper Infinity HD camera are the order of week.

We spent most of the night setting up and opened up the HD House at 11am on Friday. Didn't get out much at all, but did visit with Cecil at the Slamdance press office.

Sightings for the day: Laura Prepon, walking past the HD House.

Movies: none

Weather: Lovely snow falling for most of the day.

Back at the condo in the evening, enjoyed a nice hot tub under the stars with writer and fellow HD Houser, Elina.

The view from the condo, looking east.

The plan for Saturday is to wake up early and try to get tickets for Wordplay, edited by Doug Blush, a friend of ours. The film is a documentary about Will Shortz, the man who writes the New York Times crossword puzzle and is NPR's Puzzlemaster.

Sundance Film Festival - 01/19/06

2006-01-21T15:27:00.000-08:00

Got invited to work for a week at the Sundance Film Festival. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and never having been to "Sundance," as those in the know call it, I asked my boss for the week off and boarded a plane for Utah.

The adventure begins barely after leaving California. Flying Southwest Airlines, I had to change planes in Las Vegas. The trip from LA to "Vegas," as those in the know call it, is usually the most uneventful flight you can book. You take off; the serve you a drink; you land. That's really all there is to it.

But not this time.

As we're coming into land at McCarren, we had some slight turbulence, but nothing that worried me. It wasn't until we were just about to land that things changed. At that point where you've just gotten over the runway and you can see ground coming up to you, you usually feel the nose of the plane kick up and you set down gently. Rear wheels first followed by the nose wheel.

Well, as we were at those final few feet of descent, probably the last several hundred feet, it looked and felt like the plane was going down faster than it was moving forward. It was a very flat drop and only at the very last moment did the nose pull up a little. I felt the wheels, or perhaps just the right rear wheels touch down, but things still felt a little off.

At this point, I turned from my window and looked inside the cabin and realized that we were actually tilted to the right. Before the rest of the wheels touched down I felt the engines power up and we took off before even really setting down.

At this point the cabin was abuzz with lots of "heys" and "whoas" and "what the fucking fuck?" The latter being what was going through my mind. I've heard about the touch-and-go landing before, but never experienced it. The closest thing I've been through was a take-off where the pilot aborted before leaving the ground. What I realized pretty quickly was one of two things: Either the pilot fucked up the landing or some serious wind fucked up the pilot's landing.

It turns out the latter was true. The pilot came on the p.a. a little while later, too much later if you ask me, and said that they had gotten a wind shear warning as they were coming in and decided to abort. I guess I should count myself lucky. Wind shear has put enough planes into the ground that I appreciate the fact that we landed in one piece, even if it took two tries. Upon completion of the successful landing, there was applause from the passengers. I just wanted to get off the plane and scoop the poop out of my shorts.

* * *

Next up: Destination Park City, Utah.

Hot Nude Ladies!

2006-01-07T23:57:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to pass along a little TV recommendation for Sunday night.

Some of you know Christen Sussin (formerly Nelson) some don't.

Well, she, along with her friend Carrie Aizley, have created the show Campus Ladies which is going to debut on the Oxygen Network on Sunday, January 8, at 10pm. In addition to creating the show, X-10 and Carrie are also the stars.

The not middle-aged ladies play a couple of middle-aged ladies who decide to go to college after one is widowed and the other finds her husband cheating. It may sound a bit like two women doing the Rodney Dangerfield "Back to School" schtick, but it's more than that.

I saw this back when it was just a presentation at the Groundlings and I've seen an episode or two of the finished show and it's really good. Don't let the fact that it's on Oxygen scare you away. Guys... it's not going to lower your testosterone level to watch Oxygen for thirty minutes a week.

Handling the executive producer duties along with X-10 and Carrie is Cheryl Hines of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm.

X-10 and Carrie are alumni of The Groundlings Theatre which has spawned loads of talent over the years, including SNL cast members Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Lisa Kudrow, Cheri Oteri, Julia Sweeny, Will Forte, Chris Parnell, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer as well as stars of other TV shows and movies like Mindy Sterling (Austin Powers), Jennifer Coolidge (Joey, Legally Blonde), Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Kathy Griffin (Suddenly Susan, The D List), Michael McDonald (Mad TV), Phil LaMarr (Mad TV, Pulp Fiction & voices on Futurama and Samurai Jack).

Campus Ladies has been getting lots of good press:

Los Angeles Times

New York Times

Hollywood Reporter

TVGuide interview with Cheryl Hines

If you don't get Oxygen or live outside the U.S. you can catch a stream of the first episode at AOL.com.

There are also lots of clips and outtakes on the Oxygen site.

...and the direct link to the Campus Ladies area of Oxygen.com

So, check out the show. Let me know what you think or even better, let the people at Oxygen know what you think: feedback@oxygen.com

Anticipation...

2006-01-02T23:48:00.000-08:00

There's nothing I can add. The hype's already beyond the atmosphere.

Greatest game of the year?

Greatest college match-up ever?

Hard to tell until after the game.

Most anticipated game since last year's most anticipated game?

At least.

We all got a little Trojan fix seeing the band march in the Rose Parade this morning. My heart goes out to them and everyone else who participated in that five and a half mile swim down Colorado Blvd.

fescue @ flickr

I got an additional fix stopping by the SC bookstore to pick up some Trojan swag.

Missed the pep rally at Citywalk.

TrojanTalk.com

I still don't have tickets, but will be in Pasadena watching the game somewhere... unless you have a pair for me.

Fight On!

Beat the Longhorns!

Happy New Year!

* * *

Get some hype:

1540 the Ticket

L.A. Times Rose Bowl coverage

Tribute to Troy

More from the game...

2005-12-07T23:22:00.000-08:00

This is how I saw the game

Here's one thing that about last Saturday that made me sad. I missed the flyover. I love a flyover. I guess I should go to an air show if I want to see a flyover, but a flyover at a game is so cool. It's a great way to kick off the game, even in a game that literally starts with a kick off.

That's about it. That was the only downside. I didn't get to spend a lot of time tailgating and I wasn't sitting with friends, but those things didn't bring me down as much. I got to make game friends with the people sitting near me. Lots of post-Reggie Bush tearing ass down the field high fives bring people together.

* * *
Here are a few of the fine t-shirts of the day.

Something old...

something new...

...and a couple that are downright blue

Though not very PC, perhaps my favorite new rivalry shirt is powder blue with the classic gold ucla script reading "UCLGay." It made me laugh, what can I say? It also made me think that if I went to ucla (Heaven forbid) and was coincidentally gay, I would totally want one of those shirts.

One of my favorite non-game moments at a USC game came at the 2003 Orange Bowl. At some point, late in the game, the band went into "Tusk." Of course, when they got to the chorus, all of the Trojans chimed in with the traditional "ucla Sucks!"

We had traveled across the country to watch our team face a serious Big 10 opponent in Iowa and we were singing about our dislike of ucla. The Hawkeye fans looked at us like we were crazy. We shrugged and said, "We really don't like ucla."

Fight On!

Beat the Longhorns!

Looking forward to adding another flag atop the Coliseum.

USC 66, ucla 19

2005-12-03T23:27:00.000-08:00

...and so it went much of the day.

Good for us Trojans. Bad for the bruins.

Who's going to make the creepy sci-fi TV series about the aliens who landed on this planet and left us Reggie Bush?

It's not like watching a man among boys, it's like watching a Kryptonian among Pop Warner players.

It's sick... sick I tell you!

...and I mean that in a good way.

It's just crazy watching Reggie Bush play football. I'm not sure that you get the same effect watching him on tape. Maybe the thing that makes his play more dramatic in person is that sound of 90,000 people gasping each time his hands touch the ball.

When Bush gets the ball, it seems like anything can happen and it usually does. He makes games as he breaks games. He turns a hand-off in the Trojans' own end zone into a first and ten on the bruins' 35.

Can't say enough about Reggie Bush. He's a force of nature, in his particular case that force just happens to be Lightning.

...but can you really talk about Bush without talking about LenDale?

Oh you mean that one random guy who just happened to set the new USC record for career touchdowns today?

Yeah, that's the LenDale I'm talkin' about.

He ran like a locomotive today and when he wasn't pounding it straight down the bruins' throat, he was actually putting on a few moves like he thought he was Reggie Bush or something.

What about Leinart, you ask?

Well, Matt's had better days, but he still looked like one of the best ever to play his position. His first few passes flew over the heads of his receivers. It could be blamed on the wind that was either getting under the ball or getting behind it and sending it out of range. I think he was just trying to downplay, in order to move Heisman votes from him to Bush. Shrewd Matt, very shrewd.

* * *

More on the game tomorrow, as well as some pictures of my favorite rivalry t-shirts.

Fight On for Ol' SC!

2005-12-02T23:49:00.000-08:00

Get ready for the rhetoric.

What can I say?

Tomorrow's the day.

I've spent the past two weeks soaking up the hype.

Watching TV coverage. Reading articles online. Watching tapes of earlier games.

As I sit here now, a tape of today's Trojan Rewind marathon on Fox Sports West plays in the background.

Tomorrow is the USC v. ucla game. The Rivalry. The Crosstown Showdown.

No. 1 v. No. 11. The city championship on the line. That and the Rose Bowl. Not just a regular Rose Bowl, but a National Championship game.

Honestly, I was more worried about the Fresno State game, but as they say, anything can happen in these rivalry games.

It's shaping up to be a great game. A couple high-powered offenses shooting it out against each other for 60 minutes. The Trojans go in as a 21 point favorite, so look out. The score could be 82-60.

I'm going to drift off to sleep now, secure in the knowledge that I have a ticket for tomorrow's game. The final regular season game of an already amazing season.

* * *

Some reading:

On the game:
Best game of year will be USC-UCLA
Tickets For USC-UCLA Game Off The Charts
(Hey, I only paid $95 over face.)

Reggie heading for the Downtown Athletic Club's little get-together:
Bush turns running back into glamour position
Nobody's going to catch Bush
Heisman Watch: Bush still leads

The Ice Harvest @ The Arclight

2005-11-27T03:14:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a long time and I've done a bunch of stuff since the last time I posted so I'm going to be writing about stuff but not necessarily in the order it happened.

* * *

Went to see The Ice Harvest tonight. I liked it but not as much as I thought I might. I think I was thinking it was going to be funnier and while it's funny, it's a lot darker than it is funny.

I haven't read much about it, but the combination of director Harold Ramis and actors John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton suggested the funny, but it's a lot more like A Simple Plan, which Thornton was in a few years back, than it is like Groundhog Day or Caddyshack. This is not to say that it isn't funny, because there's a lot of funny stuff in it, but even a lot of the funny is darkly humorous.

Cusack and Thornton are great, as is a drunk-ass Oliver Platt, but the one face I remember most is that of Connie Nielsen. I always like her, but for some reason I never remember who she is, which is probably good for an actor. Her persona never overshadows her performance. I had no idea who she was through the entire film until I saw the credits. Perhaps it was the American accent that this Danish beauty put on for this part. Maybe it was because her performance was so reminiscent of a young Lauren Bacall that I was thrown off. I have no idea if it was intentional, but she sounded and even looked a little like Bacall, circa To Have and Have Not.

I've written previously of my love of Lauren Bacall, so I won't go into it again here, but suffice to say, Nielsen really hit her Bacall tribute on the head in this film. You can see images of Nielsen looking Bacall-esque on the pain-in-the-ass to navigate Flash interface on the official site.

* * *

More movies, more music, maybe some food and definitely more Trojans to come.

The Plundering of My Present, #1

2005-11-27T02:23:00.000-08:00

The Donnas' song "Fall Behind Me" is being used in a Nissan commercial.

The Plundering of My Youth, #1

2005-10-30T20:10:00.000-08:00

The Modern English song, "I Melt with You," is being used in a Ritz Crackers commercial.

USC 34, Notre Dame 31

2005-10-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

It's over 24 hours after since the last second ticked off the stadium clock (for the second time) in South Bend and I can still hardly believe what I saw in the last few minutes of that game.

From friends to the news writers to the network and cable sports networks, across the board people are calling it "the greatest game in the USC-Notre Dame rivalry," "the greatest college (or pro) football game of the year (decade or century, you choose)," "the greatest thing since sliced bread" and none of them are wrong.

Ultimately, it's how you finish that people remember. Thirty years from now, no one will be showing the bad passes from Matt, the passes dropped by the receivers, or the near crippling penalties.

They will show Leinart bouncing off the pack less than a yard from the end zone, less than 7 seconds left in the game, and then spinning to his left, with an assist from Reggie Bush, making one of the most awkward and ugly backwards falls into the end zone you'll ever see.

Yet it was still beautiful. Usually it's a graceful catch or a skillful, defense-shedding run up the field that is described as beautiful, but somehow that stumbling backwards tumble was a thing of beauty and a step into legend.

Why did Matt Leinart come back?

This is why he came back.

He went from USC football hero to Trojan legend in four seconds and one yard.

No amount of money could buy what he earned for himself and gave to every Trojan on Saturday.

Just ask the Irish. They'd pay anything for those seven seconds never to have been put back on the clock.

Heisman Trophy winners and Heisman Trophy contenders, 300 pound lineman and 170 pound assistant coaches, all men's men could not help but shed tears of joy as time expired and the Trojans held on to a three point victory.

A look at Leinart's stats for the day show that he ran 6 times for a total of -11 yards. That's not unusual for a quarterback who doesn't run much, those sacks add up. In this case, however, the negative yardage seems more appropriate in that he scored his lone touchdown, the game winner, going into the end zone backwards.

Sure, I've mentioned Matt a lot to this point, but he's not the only man on the field. Without Reggie Bush, USC does not win this game. Without Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith and Dominique Byrd, USC does not win this game. Without Keith Rivers, Oscar Lua, Frostee Rucker and Lajuan Ramsey, USC does not win this game.

Oh yeah... there's another guy I should mention: Head coach Pete Carroll. Without Carroll, USC is not the team it is today. He has, more than any single person, orchestrated the glory of the current dynasty.

It'd be easy to go on and on about this game. Two of Reggie Bush's touchdowns, rushing 36 yards for one and 45 for the other. A sweet pick by Keith Rivers. The clutch pass by Leinart and catch by Jarrett on fourth and nine during that last drive. It's late, so I'll come back later and put up some pictures and maybe say a little more about it. My final word: Wow.

...and two more words:

FIGHT ON!

The Midday Wine Club, Wed. 10/12/05

2005-10-08T00:20:00.000-07:00

C'mon... do the chant with me.

One. Two.

One, two, three...

One-two-three-four... WINE CLUB!

One. Two.

One, two, three...

One-two-three-four... WINE CLUB!

Are we fired up?

Sweet.

Yes, Wine Club's been away for a while, but we're back.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry. Most people have never been to Wine Club.

Well, the proper name is The Midday Wine Club, but it hasn't happened during the day since last year, but it's still called The Midday Wine Club the same way I still call 'em mix tapes. So, get over it.

Cecil and I started it because we could. We thought there would be something cool about having a drink during the middle of the day, in the middle of the week. When most people were worried about getting back to work after lunch, we were sitting down to our first drink. There was food too. Cheese. Fondue. Charcuterie plates. Sometimes there were movies after. All in all, it was just a nice bi-weekly escape.

"An escape from what?" you ask. We never figured that out. Then again we really didn’t think about it much. In retrospect, it was more of an escape to something rather than from something.

So, that's a lot of yappin' without a lot of substance. Hold tight for the substance:

Midday Wine Club
Wednesday, Oct. 12
Silverlake Wine
2395 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 662-9024

You can come anytime from 5-9pm, but I won't be able to make it until after 6pm. The price is $12 and a fellow I know, name of D.P., will be there with his gourmet cream cheese spreads. Try the "My Blue Heaven."

USC v. Arkansas, Oregon & Arizona State

2005-10-06T01:02:00.000-07:00

Quick Confession.

Yes, it's been more than two weeks since my last post. Yes, that means I'm a slacker. Have I ever denied it? No, so let's move on.

...and now, some football.

Over the past three weekends, we all got to watch USC beat up on one team, toy with another before beating them down like the first, and finally sleepwalk through the first half of a game before coming to life in the second.

Now I'm gonna get all simile on your asses.

The Arkansas game is like when you first meet a girl and you're totally dazzled by her. Her smile. Her eyes. That body. She moves in slow motion, tossing her hair in the breeze. You can't believe how lucky you are the she's yours and you feel sorry for everyone else with their no-better-than-second-best ladies.

The Oregon game is like when you've been dating for a few months and everything's still great, but out of the blue she says something weird or tells you something that gives you pause. You think, "Did I hear that right?" You look at her a little quizzically for a moment. Then she flashes you that smile and jumps into your arms and whispers something naughty into your ear and you've forgotten that she just said that she voted for Schwarzenneger.

The Arizona State game is like when you've been going out for over six months and she calls you on your birthday to say that if she could, she'd vote for George W. for a third term, she's thinking of leaving her job as in-house counsel for the PlayStation division of Sony, is joining the Church of Scientology and wants to get married and pregnant immediately. You feel nauseated, confused, sad, angry, but mainly nauseated... and that's just about the George Bush thing. You say that you'll talk when you get home and you can't believe that you're going to lose this perfect woman.

Later as you're approaching your front door thinking that the game's over and the first words out of your mouth should be, "We're breaking up," she greets you with a Ketel One martini, decked out like she just jumped off the Victoria's Secret runway and purrs "Surprise..." into your ear. She's bought you a DLP projection TV and has given you the currently-under-development PlayStation IV (and that's not a PlayStation 4, it's actually an intravenous gaming system designed by criminally insane Japanese engineers, doctors from Johns Hopkins, William Gibson and an extra-terrestrial treasure hunter from the future). She was just kidding about the earlier phone call and then proceeds to promise you, in the most salacious detail, that all sorts of deviant sexual activity is in your immediate future.

You then throw your arms up in the air, signaling a touchdown.

Sure that was an excessively long intro and overly-belabored conceit, but I'm talkin' about three weeks of football, so back it off.

USC 70, Arkansas 17
I got to go to the Arkansas game. It was the USC home opener. Did a little tailgating before with my fellow Phi Sigs. Picked up a couple of tickets off of a scalper. ("$150 for a pair? How 'bout a hundred? One twenty-five, huh? Let's make it $120 so it's even.") The Coliseum was packed and the Trojans ran away from the start. We had the ball for just over 90 seconds in the first quarter and scored on four out of the eight plays run. The second quarter was much of the same as the Trojans scored on their first two possessions, ending the game having scored on nine of their first ten possessions. Tom Malone punted once and our second and fourth string quarterbacks each threw touchdown passes. Arkansas didn't play poorly, it's just that USC played too well. It's too bad that the firing-on-all-cylinders team wouldn't be showing up until the second half the following two weeks.

USC 45, Oregon 13
Some said that the trip to Eugene to play the Ducks would be the first real test for the Trojans and it turns out they were right. It was a bit of a flashback to the past few seasons, with SC falling behind early and then rallying big in the second half.

The Trojans spotted the Ducks 13 points before finally scoring just a few minutes before the end of the first half. Conveniently, they continued to score in the second half, racking up 45 unanswered points and denying Oregon another score.

The defense has to be credited with keeping the team in the game, while the offense was unable to make anything happen for most of the first two quarters. This is the same defense that people have been worried about, especially considering we had also lost Dallas Sartz (LB) and Terrell Thomas (CB) prior to this game. Regardless of that, the Trojan D shut out Oregon in the second half.

38 is the new 28: USC 38, Arizona State 28
It seems that the ASU football program would have benefited from reading this blog. As it was, they thought that all they needed to do was score 28 points to beat the Trojans. Had they read a recent post or been the recipient of one of my birthday CDs, they'd know that 38 is the new 28, though even 38 would have been only good enough to tie, not win.

How many of you thought during the first half of this game that it was possible that the Trojans could maybe possibly not win? Well, anything's possible, but even in the darkest moments of being down 18 and all those penalties and all those dropped and/or bad passes I knew that we had all we needed to win. I also had faith in Pete. I knew that he knew what to say in the locker room and what adjustments to make.

That said, I still felt sick every time one of Matt's passes fell harmlessly to the turf or every time we moved backwards from some stupid penalty. We weren't shooting ourselves in the foot, we were taking a shotgun and blowing our legs off at the knee.

Luckily, when it comes to losing, the Trojans have a lot working against them. With all of the talent and experience on USC's side, it's a relatively hard proposition to pull off the loss.

I tend to eschew the nicknames assigned to teams and players, but SC surely reclaimed the title Tailback U. last Saturday, if only for the second half. The two guys who made it happen go by the names Thunder and Lightning, LenDale White and Reggie Bush, respectively. Watching these guys run is just a pleasure. LenDale's the straight-ahead runner who drags defenders downfield, if he hasn't already knocked them down. This assumes that the defense can lay a hand on him. There must be something about the desert heat, because it was on the same field two years ago that LenDale had his coming out party, helping the Trojans out of another deficit in the game that started the current win streak. He ended his day just three yards shy of 200, but it seemed like he must've run for more.

Reggie's the guy who makes amazing things happen from nothing. When he starts to cut back across the field, you have to think that there's no way that he won't be tackled for a loss and then suddenly he's ten, 20, 30 yards down field if not in the end zone.

Though the ground game stood out, there was a least one story about the passing game. Here is the value of Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith: Fullback David Kirtman is the day's leading receiver with seven catches for 97 yards.

Finally, though the offense is so often the focus of all the glory, the defense has to be credited with a huge part of this win. So many key stops, so much stamina. Taking this guy who hadn't thrown an interception in 131 passes for 5 picks is pretty huge.

A couple of those take-aways came at key times. Midway through the third quarter, the Sun Devils took away a fumble after the ball slipped out of Jarrett's hands. In a key momentum swing, on the first play of ASU's ensuing drive, Justin Wyatt stepped in front of the receiver and took away Keller's pass. Four plays later, Reggie was in the end zone and the Trojans were within four points.

The defense held the Sun Devils to seven points in the second half and the offense poured it on scoring 35, enough to erase the first half deficit and then some.

38 is the new 28.

General Update (not a character from the Star Wars films)

2005-09-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't been writing, but then again there aren't that many people reading. I could probably just call the couple of people who tune in regularly, apologize and then let them know that I'll be writing something soon, but instead I'll write this kind of bogus post to make it seem like I'm writing.

I haven't been at home a lot, thus the lack of posts. It also means I've been out doing a bunch of things that I will eventually write about. Here's a smattering of what you might be looking forward to...

   - Rocky Horror Picture Show 30th Anniversary Screening at the Hollywood Bowl
   - USC demolishing Arkansas, 70-17
   - Bloc Party at the Hollywood Palladium, which I'm going to tonight
   - Tenacious D & Friends Benefit for Katrina Relief, which I'm going to Thursday
   - Working on a photo shoot
   - Report from a Buddist funeral service

Okay, I'm not saying I'm writing about all that stuff, but I'll write about some of it at least.

Consider your appetites duly whetted.

Mix Tape: 38 is the new 28

2005-09-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

So, I make these birthday mix tapes (yes, I still call them mix tapes even though they're CDs, just to put on the affect of a cranky old man who will not change his ways regardless what you crazy kids are calling them these days!) each year. I've been doing it for a few years now and usually I hand them out for a while after my birthday, until I don't feel like doing it anymore. I add an insert with the track list and some sort of cover art, just to make it kinda snazzy, but that's usually all people ever know about it.

The crazy thing is the ridiculous amount of time and thought that I put into putting these things together. Really it's just my stupid brain making it hard for me to decide A) which songs I'm going to use and B) the order they're going to appear. It should be a lot simpler than I make it, but that's just the process I've come up with up to now. The final part of the whole thing is that even with a year between each CD, I'm always up late the night before my birthday burning discs and printing inserts.

The criteria for choosing songs are relatively loose, but besides it being a song that I like, they are often songs that are new in the last year, are bands that I've seen live in the last year, have something to do with me (at least in my head I think they're about me), September, summer, Los Angeles and/or California.

So, here's this year's track list with a little bit of commentary:

01 - Har Mar Superstar - Transit
Saw Har Mar Superstar open for Ben Lee at the Troubador earlier this year. It'd be easy to dismiss this guy as a joke or novelty act, but the fact is he can sing and his songs are good. You really have to see him live to get it.

02 - Dogs Die In Hot Cars - Lounger
Heard this band either on KCRW or Indie 103 in the last year. Saw them play at Avalon with Phoenix. Picked "Lounger" because much of last year was spent living the life described in the song.

03 - Kaiser Chiefs - Born To Be A Dancer
Heard the Kaiser Chiefs first on Indie 103. They played "I Predict a Riot" and I was instantly hooked. That song is so super catchy. The whole album's good. Picked "Born to be a Dancer" because it reminded me of Adam Goldberg's line in Dazed & Confused and because I enjoy dancing and used to go out dancing relatively frequently, but haven't of late. The idea of me saying that I was born to be a dancer kinda made me laugh. Yeah... that's pretty much all it takes for me to pick a song.

04 - Tsar - Conqueror Worm
First heard of Tsar back when my desk was next to Tony Pierce's. Saw them once at El Cid and once at Spaceland, the latter being part of their record release tour. I could have picked one of many songs from this album. This one just jumped out.

05 - Bloc Party - Banquet
Can't recall when or where I first heard Bloc Party. Chad was nice enough to take me to see them at the El Rey. Sadly, they couldn't find us on the list, so we didn’t actually get in to see the band, but we did go to the El Rey with the full intention of seeing them. He's making it up by getting us into the Hollywood Palladium show later this month. This song's only slightly less catchy than "I Predict a Riot."

06 - The Donnas - Fall Behind Me
Saw The Donnas play an in-store record release show at the Virgin Megastore in San Francisco in October or November of last year. Them girls has growed up real good. Their music has growed up good too. The whole album's great. Choosing one song from it was hard.

07 - Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers
Caught the Sleater-Kinney show at the Fonda Theatre a few months ago. A very good show. A very good album. Again, hard to choose just one of the songs from this album. Like the song that follows, I just really enjoy the vocals in this song.

08 - Garbage - Bleed Like Me
Saw Garbage at the Wiltern right before their new album was released. (Side note: Had never heard of The Dead 60s before seeing them open for Garbage at this show and was immediately hooked, even if they don't show up on this mix.) You really have to see Garbage live at least once, then you can say that you've seen the sexiest front person, bar none, in rock & roll. Shirley Manson takes the stage and you know who's going to be in charge for the next 90 minutes. No disrespect to Butch, Steve and Duke; Shirley surely does not stand alone in this band, but her presence is so overpowering that it's hard not to go on and on about her.

09 - Billy Corgan - The Cameraeye
Saw Billy Corgan at the Fonda Theatre this year. I'm a big Pumpkins fan, but wasn't big on the solo album until seeing the live show. It really turned me around. It's no "Mellon Collie" or Zwan, but it's still awfully good and so much better than most of the dreck out there.

10 - VHS or Beta - No Cabaret
Again, another KCRW or Indie 103 discovery. These guys have a sound like the bastard child of Duran Duran and The Cure but a little more grindy and a little more rockin'. Saw them play the El Rey and they were really good live.

11 - Röyksopp Vs. Erlend Øye - Poor Leno/There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
I find that I often like covers. Maybe that's why there are four on this mix. There are quite a few good Smiths covers out there. Heard this one during one of the KCRW pledge drives and enjoyed it, so here it is.

12 - Butterfly Boucher & David Bowie - Changes
Another KCRW find. Another cover, which also features the original artist as well... some kid named "Bowie"? He's pretty good. He may have a future.

13 - Petra Haden - Tattoo
The third cover in a row. Check out my post about Petra's performance of "The Who Sell Out" at the John Anson Ford Theatre.

"I Can See for Miles" seemed too obvious...and I have a tattoo.

14 - The Lascivious Biddies - Head Over Heels
Heard these ladies through the miracle of podcasting. Adam Curry talked them up enough that I subscribed to their podcast an purchased a bunch of songs from iTunes. Oh yeah, it's another cover. Love the Go-Go's... love the Biddies.

15 - John Doe - Hwy. 5
It's John Doe... from X... what else do I have to say? Well, I guess I could also say that Hwy. 5 cuts through California and the rest of the West Coast from north to south and back again.

16 - Beck - Earthquake Weather
A great show at the Gibson (formerly Universal) Amphitheatre a little while back. Not your typical Beck song... as if there was one. Some people think that when it gets hot that it's more likely for an earthquake to hit. Thus earthquake weather.

17 - Chet Baker - Summertime
It's Chet Baker. It's "Summertime." I like to include something classy and what's more classy than jazzman/junkie who died in obscurity?

18 - Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends
I enjoy the melancholy tone of this track by an otherwise punky band. Plus, it's a September song.

19 - U2 - City Of Blinding Lights
Another classic show at the Staples Center. This is a great song. It's about New York, but it could be any city, like yours for example.

Buy the iMix, sans two tracks, here.

"Time Is Running Out for Stranded Pets," Los Angeles Times

2005-09-09T01:14:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from the Los Angeles Times, 09/08/05:

Time Is Running Out for Stranded Pets

"We were on the ground Tuesday, the day after the hurricane hit, but we were excluded from going in by state and federal authorities for the first several days," [Wayne] Pacelle (Pres., U.S. Humane Society) said. "We've received 2,000 e-mails and phone calls from people who evacuated from New Orleans, who left animals in their homes and are pleading with us to rescue them. That's just in New Orleans. It doesn't count surrounding areas."

Pacelle said there may be 50,000 pets trapped in New Orleans homes. "The clock is really ticking. It's tearing us up knowing that so many animals are in need and [we] can't get to every one on our own."

Earlier during the crisis, rescuers had been ordered to save people but leave their pets. But "that works against the larger imperatives for disaster relief because people will not leave without their pets, and many people will go back in to get their pets," Pacelle said.

Animal rescue workers slog through the water and muck carrying crowbars to pry open or smash their way into houses where pets are believed to be. "I've been bitten, scratched, had [my] head cracked open," said Jane Garrison, a volunteer rescuer from South Carolina. But it's worth it, she said, because after a long Wednesday, Garrison and her four-person team had 18 animals — dogs, cats, chinchillas and rabbits — in crates in their truck.

Many animals, cats especially, won't come when called, so Garrison and others spend hours peering into unfamiliar nooks and crannies, cooing and soothing and finally grabbing. If they can't find the escaped animal, they'll put out a bowl of food and water and make note of the location. They've crawled into houses surrounded by fire, and pulled dogs off rooftops that are sagging and about to collapse.

"The suffering is overwhelming," Garrison said. "Sometimes they have food left, but all their water is gone. Every second is critical."

The good news is that so far, most of the animals left indoors seem to be alive.

Link to article - requires subscription

Other resources sited in the article:

KatrinaPetfinder.com

ASPCA Hurrican Relief Resources

This site seems to have lots of good information as well:

KatrinaFoundPets.com

Pet Sounds

2005-09-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

It's not a race thing.

It's not a class thing.

It's a heart thing.

We all bring them into our homes.

We can't abandon them now.

We teach them to beg, so let's pay up with more than a pat on the head.

Give something to help our furry and scaly and feathery friends.

If you've already given to another group, give a little bit more. Think of this donation as the doggy bag of that other big donation that you made earlier.

Arf!

Woof!

Puuuurrrrrr...

Give.

Hey! Look Over Here!

2005-09-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

Ahhh... nothing like a devastating, natural disaster coupled with a holiday weekend to distract the American public:

Bush nominates Roberts as chief justice

This story appears "below the fold" on most news sites today.

Attack Cat's Wacky Conspiracy Theory of the Day

2005-09-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

Why is the Bush Administration against stem cell research?

Because said research may result in cures for heretofore incurable diseases such as cancer.

Why wouldn't they want a cure to cancer?

I have no idea.

Rhenquist Dies: Chief Justice Succumbs to Thyroid Cancer at 80

After the Flood

2005-09-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

It's hard to get a handle on the big picture of what's going on in Louisiana and Mississippi just because it's so big.

Take a look at Rabbit+Crow where my friend Neal writes of his family's search for his brother Sean in New Orleans.

Sometimes seeing the micro helps you understand the macro.

Decide how you can help.

Mission Accomplished

2005-08-31T00:42:00.000-07:00

Jeff Danziger

Sunset Junction, 08/28/05 - Pt. II

2005-08-29T23:55:00.000-07:00

For the week or so before this past weekend, the weather here in Los Angeles was pretty mild. The blazing heat died down for a little while and took mercy on the baked souls of this city. I'm guessing that I'm not the only one who was looking forward to spending 2005's Sunset Junction on a warm Southern California weekend. This, of course, was not to be.

It decided to get hot and it was an angry kinda hot. People from other parts, like to say we have it easy because it's a dry heat and usually that's true. This weekend was hot and dry... hot and dry like the inside of a kiln. It was also nice and clear, so there was no relief from the sun.

Luckily, Sunset Junction doesn't start at sunrise and end at sundown. As the sun starts to drop on the western end of the Junction, blinding the audience for the Eagles of Death Metal, the heat begins to dissipate. Granted, even after the last band left the stage, it hadn't dropped past the high-70s, but by contrast the darkness and slight breeze was a relief.

The other effect of the night is that it changes the complexion of the city, especially the mile's worth of Sunset Blvd. blocked off for the street fair. Where there were once unattractive metal-framed booths, now there was a brightly colored stream of light moving up and down the street. The somewhat sinister looking carnie rides trailered in look a lot more inviting at night with their lighting effects in full gear.

There's something undeniable attractive about a well-lit building or sign. Think how much a daytime concert is different from a nighttime show with lots of lights flashing, tracking, strobing and pulsating. The best example: What's the point of daytime fireworks?

So, a lot of what follows here are what I was able to capture with my woefully obsolete digital camera. Anything that looks like it's supposed to be artsy is probably more on the fartsy side of Sears. That goes especially for the concert shots. The colorful shots of food, those I was really trying to do.

Juicelight

I don't think I captured it exactly as I hoped to, but you get the idea. At night, even these banal looking plastic containers come to life.

Fruits of the Night

If you learn one thing from reading through all of this crap, let it be this: There are few things more refreshing than a cold limeade, ladled from one of these big glass jugs, on a hot summer day or night. It's better than lemonade. It's better than soda. It's better than beer... yes, even better than beer, and since I'd already finished off a few liters of water, a couple of limeades were a sweet, tart, green treat.

Speaking of sweet tarts, next, we have the Suicide Girls...

Suicide Hula-Hoop

I've only ever seen pictures and a couple small Quicktime movies of the Suicide Girls. Of course, I was an instant fan. After their short performance on Sunday, I may have to become a member.

The girl above, her trick was the hula-hoop. She managed to get out of most of her clothes, all the while working her hoop. Now, for those unfamiliar with the SGs, they do a burlesque show, not a strip show. Sure, they take off most of their clothes, but it's about the tease and about the routine and they have both down pretty darn well.

Suicide Girls of Death Metal

After the girls did several one and two girl numbers, the Eagles of Death Metal took the stage again and backed up an all Suicide Girl finale. It was like the finale of Live Aid, but mostly with girls in lingerie.

Panty Aid

So, by the time the SGs took the stage, I was pretty close, maybe about 15 feet from the stage and getting ready for the New York Dolls. This is where the assholiness peaked. Maybe I'm getting older, but I don’t think crowds were this shitty back when I was a kid.

I got up to about 2 or 3 people deep from the stage. I'm not stupid, I know it's going to get tight and people are going to get jostled, but there's the enthusiastic surge and then there're the fuck heads who wait until a band starts and then decide to push through the crowd violently to get up to the front. I don't care, I can take my licks, but inevitably I see some little girl who's getting her ass kicked by some asshole who doesn't care about the music, but instead is drawn to the stage, like a very stupid moth to a flame.

Though it wasn't just the Dolls who drew out the fuck nuggets. While still a ways back from the stage during the Eagles of Death Metal, this dipshit showed up. (I'm talking about the dumb chick in green, not the dude in the Speedo.) Luckily a friend of this idiot shot a picture of her, so I can share it with you all. Well, out of nowhere, she blasts into a loosely packed portion of the crowd and starts a spastic kind of mosh. Thing is, for most of it, she's the only one moshing, and instead of just exuberant dance inspired by the rock & roll music, she spent most of her time hitting, pushing and pulling at the crowd around the edge of her sad little pit.

Now I was in my share of mosh pits before graduating high school and it seemed like there was some order to the anarchy then. If you're in the pit, you're in the pit. If you're not, you're not. Sure, every so often inertia would carry the occasional punky into the crowd and he or she would be helped back into the pit. The one thing you didn't do was aggressively attack people outside of the pit. I guess once the mosh pit spent some time in the suburbs (and I include myself in that class of part-time suburban punks) it became all about the violence and less about the fun. It's kind of like a Chinese whisper, the structure's still there, but the content's all fucking wrong. So, for being the supreme example of this kind of stupidity, this girl gets my "Dumb Ass of Sunset Junction Award."

I stayed up front for several songs, managing to hold on to a couple LA Weekly posters and my newly purchased hat, at the same time staying on my feet and shooting pictures. All of the snazzy looking swirly lights in these pictures are mostly thanks to me getting knocked around by a crowd being rocked by the Dolls.

The New York Dolls brought to you by McDonalds

I believe all that remains of the pre-1977 Dolls are Johansen and Sylvain. This is one of the only pictures where anyone's recognizable.

Bumped to the Right

Nice Light Show

I must have almost gone down for the count as I was shooting this. Tres squiggly.

After moving to the back of the crowd, I managed to enjoy a little more of the Dolls set without the bump and grind.

To finish off the evening, I walked to the opposite end of the fair to enjoy the end of Chaka Khan's set. It was a slightly smaller crowd and certainly more mellow. Not to say that they weren't enthusiastic. I shouldn't be surprised that just because I don't know the words that other people wouldn't. It was a nice way to end the day. After Chaka left the stage, I took my tired dogs out of there and hit the road back to the real east side.

Sunset Junction, 08/28/05

2005-08-29T00:07:00.000-07:00

This is me admitting that I'm a total Johnny-come-lately to Sunset Junction. I think I became aware of it after the fact the first few years I knew of it, then for some reason or another, scheduling conflicts kept me away. Thus, last year was my first Sunset Junction. It was pretty great, in that I got to see The Sweet & Tender Hooligans, Camper Van Beethoven and, best of all, X, but it really shouldn't have been my first.

This year's was enjoyable enough. Mostly the same food and tchotchke vendors and the band line up wasn't quite as stellar as last year, though there were certainly were some draws like John Cale, Rilo Kiley, Chaka Khan, The Weirdos, and The New York Dolls. I wasn't able to make it to day one of the Junction, so all of the following is about Sunday and because I took a bunch of pictures, there will be a lot of pictures. Is that clear?

Welcome to Sunset Junction

Eastbound on Sunset Blvd.

Yeah, I know, it doesn’t look all that crowded, but trust me there were a lot of people there. My brand new and subsequently partially crushed hat will be testimony enough to that fact.

Ritmo Flamenco

I've started out my Junction experience for the last two years with the Flamenco dancers. Not sure why. Just happens that way.

Ummm... yeah.

There were a lot of dudes who looked like this. Overly pumped up, often shave-headed, and always shirtless. I'm not sure what'll kill them first the side effects of steroid use (not that I'm saying that they use steroids) or the skin cancer.

Until I got home, I hadn't noticed two things about the guy on the right. One, he's not quite as buff as most of the shirtless lads and two, he's got a tattoo of a bone on the small of his back. Now, that's kinda funny.

The Weirdos

Okay, maybe punk's not dead, but he's gettin' old and his cholesterol's kinda high.

It was fun to see The Weirdos today. I haven't had a chance to see them before. I'm sure having seen them in their heyday would be a more interesting story, but it was still cool to see them. I guess I shouldn't be, but I was still surprised at how many kids, who must've been born five or ten years after the bands' first break-up, showed up for this set. It wasn't a pose for most of them either. They really knew the music. It was refreshing to a point. Some of those same kids can be real assholes as they get closer to the stage. More on that when we get to The New York Dolls.

Eagles of Death Metal with guest Jack Black

Before today, I only knew Eagles of Death Metal as a Queens of the Stone Age side project. (Didn't QotSA start out as a side project too?) They were okay. Engaging enough while you're watching them, but they didn't really stick with me too much.

The Guys from Utilikilt

I tried on a couple Utilikilts today. I've been considering getting one since last Sunset Junction. Still considering, mainly because I didn't have the $150 to $230 on me to pick one up today.

* * *
Notable sightings today:

     - Rock star Jane Wiedlin watching The Weirdos
     - Comic actor/former Groundling/former MadTVer Michael McDonald just walking.
     - Kid in the Hall Kevin "no relation to Michael" McDonald also just walking.
     - Actor Geoffrey Rush watching Chaka Khan.
     - Blogger Tony Pierce with lady friend Karisa.

* * *

More tomorrow, including Suicide Girls and The New York Dolls. I think you'll tune in.

Starved on FX

2005-08-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

Is anyone else watching Starved on FX?

I really like this show. Though maybe my enthusiasm for it has more to say about me than it does about the show. It's funny and fucked up and dark and funny and twisted and funny and mostly it's fucked up... and funny... in a dark way.

It focuses on four people in an eating disorder group. It's not your usual touchy-feely kinda twelve-step. Instead of welcoming each participant after they introduce themselves and describe their disorder, the group responds with, "It's not okay!" Then the leader of the group goes on to berate each individual for their specific issue, like the cop who pulls over food delivery men and then extorts food from them so that they can avoid a citation. He then binges and pukes, which gets him in trouble on the job.

The show stars and is created/executive produced/directed by Eric Schaeffer, who you may recall from My Life's In Turnaround, If Lucy Fell, Fall and his TV show Too Something. I know that they're not all winners -- I kinda remember being angry after seeing Fall -- but I've always found something appealing about the characters he creates and plays.

Much like his other creations, Schaeffer's character Sam is another extension of the same guy. He's vain, quick-witted, improbably gets super hot women, and always has a really nice apartment.

I can totally understand if people hate him and all his work, but you should really check out this new show. It's one of those shows that the broadcast networks could never do and that cable stations like FX seem to be doing really well.

* * *
On a side note, Darryl Hammond guest stars in an episode and plays one of the creepiest characters I've ever seen. It almost seems like a SNL character, but he never breaks and it never becomes funny. It's so unsettling that you have to see it to understand it. To whet your appetite, he has a unique way of vomiting. That's all I'm saying.

Upcoming Live Show: Laura Martin at Highland Grounds, 08/31/05

2005-08-24T00:54:00.000-07:00

Come check out Laura Martin playing her album release party, Wednesday, August 31.

8pm
Highland Grounds
742 North Highland Ave. - map
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 466-1507

Laura goes on at 8pm and will be followed by Angela Correa @ 9pm and Arrica Rose and the Dirty Sluts @ 10pm.

Laura's a great voice to go with her great original songs, gorgeous eyes, and a cool Star Wars tattoo that she might show you if you ask really nicely. Also, you'll be able to get her new CD at a special price at the show.

You should also hang around for Angela Correa. I've seen her play with Tom Brosseau in the Les Shellys a couple of times and they're worth a listen.

USC Scrimmage, 08/21/05

2005-08-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Coincidentally enough, the final score of Sunday's scrimmage at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was slightly less of a blowout than the Trojans last official game, that being the National Championship Game at the Orange Bowl in January of this year.

The USC Second Team managed to keep the difference to just 34 points (50-16), where the number two ranked (at the time) Oklahoma Sooners lost by a margin of 36 (55-19) in Miami.

I'm not the biggest sports fan in the world. I don't know everyone's name and all of their stats. Heck, I'm not even sure about all the rules, even though I played football in high school. One thing I am is a huge USC Trojans fan, especially football.

I know, you're saying, "Sure it's easy to be a fan of a team with back-to-back National Championships." Thing is, I was a fan when we weren't winning all those games. If I wasn't at the game, I was watching it on TV or if I couldn't get to a TV, I was listening on the radio. I got hooked way back in 1985 when I was an undergrad and went to my first game.

But I'm not here to talk about how cool I am...

...okay, who am I kidding? Isn't that what this blog-o-land is all about?

Mostly, but you will come to know my coolness through my witty and incisive comments about pop culture, current events and, from now through bowl season, USC football.

All of that said, it was both nice and odd to be in the Coliseum this past Sunday. It's always great to hear the best college band in the world, the University of Southern California Spirit of Troy Trojan Marching Band. Odd note #1: The band left part way through the third quarter.

For a scrimmage, there was a pretty big crowd. Estimates put the attendance between 20,000 and 30,000, but for a building that holds around 92,000 for a football game, it seemed kinda empty. Odd note #2: Even though it looked empty the crowd noise was very loud for most of the scrimmage, mainly because there were loud speakers on the field pumping in recorded crowd noise. It's not so much odd that they were doing this, it's common practice to help acclimate players to game conditions, it was just an odd experience as a spectator.

Odd note #3: I got to park right next to the Coliseum for $8.00. I guarantee that's not going to happen again in the next five months.

Of course, all of the above is just prologue to the main event.

photo from ValleyTrojan.com

A scrimmage is a weird thing because it doesn't count for anything, but it can be hugely important for the team. Just getting into the game time routine as well as running plays under semi-real world conditions can be invaluable.

For the fans, it's just a great bonus after waiting eight months to see the Trojans back on the Coliseum grass. It was fun and funny to see how the crowd reacted to big plays. Reggie Bush breaks a kick off for a touchdown and the crowd goes wild. Did I mention that as far as the record goes this game is meaningless? Well, obviously stats aren't everything. I was up on my feet cheering too.

Lendale White and Steve Smith also brought the crowd to its feet on several occasions. As Petros pointed out on the SCSR last night, where Bush is the flashy player, who can make big, game-changing plays, White is the guy you give the ball to over and over again and he'll produce every time. As far as Steve Smith goes, my prediction is that he'll make a lot of people forget the name Mike Williams.

We also got a glimpse of Matt Leinart, but we already knew that he was great. The treat was getting to look in to the future of Trojan Football when John David Booty and Mark Sanchez took the field. Booty flung a few nice passes, but Sanchez, playing for the scout team, spent a good part of his day getting beat up by the defensive first team. There are no promises for the future from these guys, but things look like they could be very good.

The bad thing about a scrimmage is that it's not real. It's not a game. If I wasn't a dyed-in-the-wool Trojan, I'd have had a hard time justifying baking out in the midday sun for four hours to watch a not-a-game. It's like seeing a preview for a really cool looking movie in October and then at the end it says, "Coming Next Summer." Luckily, Trojan fans only have to wait until September 3 for the blockbuster to begin.

Fight On!

photo from ValleyTrojan.com

Comic-Con 2005 - More Pictures

2005-08-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more shots from the Con:

Boba Fett or Jango Fett or Scatman Fett or one of the many Jazzmen/Bounty Hunters with first time Comic-Conner, Lucas.

Star Wars is still fashionable with the costumed set or "cosplayers" as the kids call 'em.

There are super elaborate costumes, like the General Grevious who was wandering the floor, and then there are the SIMple and creative ones, like the SIMs who showed up in San Diego.

Then there are people who aren't really in costume, but still want to participate. I've always enjoyed the freaky contact lenses.

I told Eric I'd pimp GR on the blog and I'm making good on my offer. Eric Nakamura (above) and Martin Wong (not pictured) are the co-creators of the excellent Giant Robot magazine. I will do a whole post about these guys some day, but let me just say that you should read their magazine, shop in their stores and eat in their restaurant and then you'll be cool. GR rules.

...and finally, a parting shot of the dealer room at Comic-Con 2005. This is just a small sliver of this massive room of all things nerdy, geeky and dorky. Truly, it is Mecca and Wal Mart, all in one, for all fanboys and girls. You gotta problem with that?

Comic-Con 2005 - Sunday

2005-08-03T23:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, enough with Comic-Con.

Well, maybe this post and then enough with Comic-Con. Gonna try to boil down all of Sunday into one post.

First stop was the panel for the movie of the video game Doom . Actually, the first stop was getting stuck across the street from the convention center on the other side of a train that decided to sit on the tracks for 30 to 40 minutes.

Hey San Diego, how 'bout some pedestrian bridges or tunnels?

The videogame-to-movie path doesn't usually end up well, but I'll probably check this out. Actors on the panel included Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Karl Urban, Eomer from The Lord of the Rings movies. The clip that everyone was excited about was the movie version of the first person shooter experience. They shot a live action version of what one sees when playing the game. At one point the viewers go from observing the characters in the film to seeing through their eyes. It was kinda fun, but I was thinking that it was such a no-brainer and I was surprised that it hadn't been done before.

The panel I was really looking forward to was for The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe . Now, I read maybe two or three of the Chronicles of Narnia books when I was a kid, but that was a long time ago, so I barely remember what went on in those stories. Thing is, I actually kinda like the fact that I'll get to see this movie knowing something about it, but not really remembering it completely.

Even though it's been a long time since reading C.S. Lewis' books, seeing the clips at Comic-Con brought back a lot. I thought, "Hey that stuff looks familiar," and "Cool, Aslan!"

I have to give a tip of the hat to Disney for putting a few bucks behind the presentation in San Diego. With members of the FX crew, including people from WETA and KNB Effects, in person, Disney also set up a satellite feed to London with director Andrew Adamson and the four actors who play the siblings who go into the closet and come out in Narnia. Granted, the feed sucked a little due to an annoying delay, but it was still cool.

A very cool part of the presentation was when the panel took questions, the guys from WETA gave out actual movie props to people, who they deemed, asked great questions. I had heard that they did the same thing on the LOTR panels over the past few years.

After the Narnia panel, I spent the rest of the day wandering the dealers' room. So, to finish Comic-Con, here are a few images and snarky comments:

Our friend, Athena , dressed to kill as Poison Ivy.

Athena also captured this:

Check out this video, to see how a big man in a tutu moves. (If that link does not work go here and click on the "Mr_TuTu_Dances.avi" link.)

This is what the fashionable Comic-Conner is wearing these days.

Redd Fett

Thanks to Funimation for dinner on Saturday night.

Comic-Con 2005 - Tenacious D

2005-07-28T23:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's Tenacious D time, you muthafuckas.

Actually, it's about two weeks after Tenacious D time, you muthafuckas.

The great thing about The D's show at Comic-Con was the fact that, geek that I am, I was already going to be there. Seeing The D was just icing on the cake, gravy on the meatloaf, chocolate sauce on the girlfriend.

As pointed out previously, Hall H was filled to capacity, perhaps beyond, with a generous mix of King Kong and Tenacious D fans. This was easily the biggest audience I've ever seen specifically to see The D -- I'd seen them play the Forum in Los Angeles, but they were the unannounced opener for X and Pearl Jam, so that doesn't really count.

The whole idea of The D at Comic-Con is a bit like the "When Worlds Collide" episode of Seinfeld. I mean, I guess that there's cross over in the audiences, but I never really associated the comic book/sci-fi/horror/fantasy convention world with The D. It's kinda like when there was a Mr. Show panel at the Con a few years ago. I love Mr. Show, but it didn't make a lot of sense that they'd be at Comic-Con. That said, the crowd for their panel was huge, so what do I know?

The show kicked off with a reappearance of Kevin Smith to do the honors of introducing the band. I could tell you what happened, but why not hear all about it from the man himself :

So we're backstage, the house is packed, and the New Line trailer show is coming to an end, signaling the start of the Tenacious D set. I'm given the hand mic and told to go. I ascend the stairs, the happiest boy in the world.

And then trip on the top step and fall flat on my face in front of 6500 people.

Yes, it was embarrassing as fuck - 'cause when a fat man goes down, he goes down hard. But I immediately leapt to my feet, dusted off, and got a thunderous greeting. I joke around for a bit, and then tell the crowd "There are only nine cocks in the world I would suck. There were ten, but I topped Affleck off and crossed his name off the list. These guys I'm gonna bring out are numbers six and five. Give it up for the men of Inspirado... TENACIOUS D."

As I leave the stage, I hug Jack and get stopped by Kyle, who turns his back to the crowd, drops his shorts, and thrusts his dick at me. I mime making the drop, and then rush off stage, through the backstage, and over to the small private seating area on stage right, where I watch the killer performance two chubby guys who're flat-out geniuses drop on the crowd.

Smith falling as he mounted the stage is slightly ironic, in that during his hour earlier in the day, he had mentioned the footage going around a few months back of Kelsey Grammer walking off the edge of a stage during a performance.

The D did not disappoint. They played a set of some stuff old, some stuff new, some stuff borrowed and a lot of shit that was blue. Things I hadn't heard before included "Dude, I Totally Missed You," which I believe is in the new movie, and "The Government Totally Sucks."

Hits from the album included "Wonderboy," "Tribute," "Fuck Her Gently," "Dio" and "Lee," which was accompanied by the eponymous super fan dancing back up.

Possibly my favorite moment was when The D segued into their cover of Queen's Flash Gordon theme , which I believe is titled "Flash" oddly enough. I really enjoy their version, possibly because I have such strong associations from listening to that song as a kid -- I have the 45 stored somewhere -- or maybe it's because that's the first thing that I ever saw The D perform live, which was at the aforementioned X/Pearl Jam show. I just enjoy it because it's so dumb and fun.

For some reason, their cover really works and it almost seems more serious than the original version. At least it seems like The D is taking more care in covering the song than Queen took in writing it in the first place. I've often thought that under different circumstances, Jack Black could have easily been the lead singer of some rock super group, a la Queen. He really does have a fantastic voice, which would so suit him for being the frontman of an arena rock band. Luckily he gets to show off his serious pipes and be a funny bastard at the same time.

Since I've been stroking JB so hard, I want to give a little ink to Kyle too. There's no way that The D would be The D without KG. They're a team and without Rage Kage's killer guitar work and harmonizing with Jack, The D wouldn't be much. He's also every bit as funny as Jack. They are truly a match made in heaven... hail satan.

Back to the Con...

During their set, Jack interrupted the music to show off some of his human beatbox stylings. There's no way I can do justice to this bit, you'll just have to catch them live and hope that he repeats it. It was a ridiculously stupid and hilarious bit of aural comedy and it involves shit and piss.

Throw in a Sax-a-boom solo and you'd have a complete night, yes?

No. After all that KG and JB come out for a encore, playing a medley of songs from The Who's "Tommy." How frickin' sweet is that?

The answer is: Pretty frickin' sweet.

* * *

- The D's official site.

How many push-ups can you do?

Comic-Con 2005 - King Kong

2005-07-25T23:21:00.000-07:00

It seems like it's taking an awfully long time to post about the events of just one day, doesn't it?

Well, yes... yes it does, but what're you gonna do?

Onward and upward.

So, there was a King Kong panel on Saturday. The line to get in was gigantic, even a half hour before the panel was supposed to start. The double whammy was that the Kong panel was being followed immediately by a performance by Tenacious D, so fans of both The D and the big ape were crowding into Hall H.

The program didn’t really have any details on the panel other than the promise that Peter Jackson was sending some special stuff just for Comic-Con. It kicked off with a video of Jackson sent from Australia. He greeted everyone at Comic-Con and declared, much as he has on previous Lord of the Rings video presentations, that he would one day make it to the con in person.

He talked about the film and then ran the trailer for anyone who hadn't already seen it online or in the theatres. It may have been right after the trailer, as the lights came up that the three stars of the film, not including Kong, took the stage. Adrien Brody, Naomi Watts and Jack Black made their way onto the stage and braved an onslaught of questions, mainly from barely literate Tenacious D fans. (Not to say that The D and all of their fans are dolts, just the retards who managed to make it to the microphone to ask questions. They just managed to embarrass themselves and every other fanboy in the hall. Assholes.)

L to R: Adrien Brody, Naomi Watts, Jack Black... image quality courtesy of shooting off of a projection screen from an angle in a brightly lit hall with a six year old digital camera.

Besides the glow of Oscar nominated and winning actors on stage, the highlight of the panel was when Jackson rolled a few minutes of ultra-rough footage from Kong. He explained repeatedly that the footage was VERY rough and that he was very nervous showing it, but it seemed to go over quite well with the fans.

The clip was a mixture of animatics, live action against blue screen, 3D animation and some nearly finished shots. It was footage of the end of the T-Rex fight. To amp it up a little for 2005, Jackson has the big ape fighting three T-Rexs. Even as rough as the footage was, it was a great scene. From the Lord of the Rings films we know that Jackson knows how to do big action and he seems to be carrying that torch right through Kong. It was pretty spectacular and as the director noted, if you're familiar with the original movie, you may recognize some of the old Kong's moves.

Through the miracle of the internets, if you're interested in catching a little of what the panel was like, sans Peter Jackson video, check out this collection of clips at iFilm .

- Totally decent officially recognized "fan site" at KongIsKing.net

- The official site, aquí.

* * *

Seriously, The D's up next.

"Christ? Fuck 'im" - Kevin Smith at Comic-Con 2005

2005-07-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

A friend has told me that I'd love the An Evening with Kevin Smith DVD and I've never argued with him, I've just never bothered to go out and rent or buy it. After seeing his short, one hour appearance at Comic-Con, I am now very motivated to get this DVD.

Since Clerks, I've been a Kevin Smith fan. Not everything he does is gold. The second half of Chasing Amy is weak sauce and Jersey Girl just kinda sucks.

Regardless of his ability to maintain a level of quality in his films, he's always shined in interviews. He's a quick wit and though most of his speech is peppered - very heavily peppered... like the amount of pepper I put in my ketchup when I'm eating fries peppered - with dick jokes, blow job jokes and jokes which contain the word "fuck," he seems to be a genuinely smart guy.

Big Brother Kevin dwarfs standing-at-the-podium Kevin

He also seems to be the king of extemporaneous speechifying. Although, you'd be hard pressed to say what he does is a speech. It's off the cuff, somewhat vulgar, informative, and very, very funny.

What sort of sad state of affairs is it when the guy whose movies are chock full of dick jokes and shit monsters is a better speaker than the President?

When he's doing one of these live appearances, Smith's greatest asset is his ability to be strong-willed and opinionated as well as incredibly self-effacing. He's the first to say that he's made some shitty movies and that the ones that are good have a hard time finding an audience unless some nutbag religious group was protesting outside.

He gave credit to all of the people who hate his films without ever seeing them for going public to condemn him and his work. He pointed out that it was impossible to get that kind of coverage, on CNN and other similar outlets, without the controversy that his detractors stir up.

There was a micro example of this as he was talking about the Clerks sequel, Clerks II: The Passion of the Clerks. He was pointing out that his film has no relation to the similarly titled Mel Gibson film about Christ getting his ass kicked, except in its title. It's not a parody. He also mentioned that he didn't really like the Gibson's film because he doesn't need to see two hours of Christ getting a beat down. He'd rather see something about all the good things Christ did and said during his life.

How this is controversial, I don't know, but it prompted some idiot to start yelling to Kevin, "Christ died for our sins!"

Kevin agreed and went on to say that he loved Christ and that's why he didn't appreciate Gibson's film. He said something to the affect of, "I know he died for my sins. I love Christ. In fact, I love Christ more than you do, motherfucker!"

Somehow he managed to express his love for his deity and be completely vulgar in the same sentence but came off as completely sincere. I have no love for organized religion and even less for the kind of dolt who'll yell at a guy like Kevin Smith when he's on stage. I would, however, be completely happy to hear Smith talk about religion for as long as he wants because he deals with it in real terms not, not in catch phrases. Though I think his line, "Christ? Fuck 'im," might actually catch on.

He dropped this line when he was talking about his ability to get free publicity based on all the attention he gets from people who hate his movies without seeing them.

Another fine moment came when a nearly brain dead conventioneer asked Kevin a question about Return of the Jedi. I'm not sure why he asked it, but for some reason he wanted Kevin's take on the look on Hayden Christensen's face in the updated version of ROTJ. If you don't know, Lucas has replaced Sebastian Shaw with Christensen as the Anakin ghost at the end of Jedi. Essentially, the guy's question was, "What's up with that look?"

Kevin seemed confused by the question but responded with, "Well, he's only got like three looks, doesn't he?"

It got a huge laugh and ovation from the crowd. Funny that just a year before, Hayden Christensen got a similar huge ovation from the crowd when he came out on stage during the Episode III panel and announcement of the final chapter's title.

Smith also got into a little bit of work he's been doing on Degrassi. Right before he left the stage he introduced Richard Kelly, writer/director of Donnie Darko and the upcoming
Southland Tales, in which Smith will be featured as a legless Iraq War veteran. They screened this bit of animatic (nsfw) for the audience.

I don't think I have or could do justice to the hour with Kevin Smith. It was one of those "had to be there" moments, but I'm guessing you can get a taste of it on the An Evening with Kevin Smith DVD... which I have yet to rent.

* * *
To get it right from the horse's mouth you can read Kevin's take on his day at Comic-Con at SilentBobSpeaks.com.

...and yes, The D is yet to come.

Comic-Con 2005 - Aeon Flux

2005-07-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

So what were we talking about?

Oh yeah, Superman.

All that was just the beginning of the day. After Superman was Aeon Flux. This movie was not really on my radar, but that doesn't mean I won't check it out.

I remember really enjoying the Aeon Flux segments on MTV's Liquid Television waaay back when. Though maybe I didn't pay close enough attention back then, because it didn't really seem fit for a movie adaptation. Maybe it's because I didn't watch the half hour series, but all I recall is that scantily clad lady with the guns shooting non-stop.

Then there would be tongues. Always with the tongues! There was always this licking and those tongues never looked like they belonged to their owners. They seemed nearly sentient. Mmmmmm... sentient tongues.

So, Charlize Theron will play the title character, sadly not in the same outfit from the animated series. She still looks good in the tight black costumes from the movie.

Miss Theron on the big screen in Hall H

Chalize gets into character

Miss Flux is always in character

I'm going to withhold my take on this movie. It looks like it could go either way. My smarmy description of it would be that it looks like The Matrix meets Logan's Run, both of which I like. You never know.

Do remember, it's Charlize Theron in skintight outfits for 90 minutes. How bad can it be?

* * *

Still coming: Kevin Smith + plenty of dick and Christ jokes.