Notes from my couch...

Leaving LiveJournal

2008-11-12T17:39:46Z

Entering Tumblr...

http://charliefoxtrot.tumblr.com

See you there

Scott

Men Like Rice

2008-07-23T23:44:34Z

Whats even better is the recipe book you can send in for called "Rice Ideas Men Like". I guess back then, being a "Rice King" meant more to its true nature. Maybe I should let my friend Barry know about this...

Obama - We Go Play Hoop

2008-06-05T17:17:27Z

This comes from "Barry Obama's" high school yearbook. I so want this pic on a t-shirt with some "Obama 08" slogan or something.

Our (hopeful) new president playing hoopz with his buds in high school. How American is that?

My head lately... thanks to Samuel Beckett

2008-05-12T17:00:44Z

This explains exactly whats going on in my head these days with all this tech buyout crap thats going on... Thank you Charlie Rose and Samuel Beckett

More dot-com insanity

2008-02-13T18:49:35Z

There's a reason why my Facebook profile says "dot-com hater", and some recent news items can help explain it all.

All of you hear about the Microsoft-Yahoo news. All the roller coaster comments on blogs, news wires and business commentaries is enough to make anyone want to move to the most censored section of North Korea. I'm just working like usual and so far so good. Some people really like us (or just think our logo is cute), some really hate us (or just think Google is better). It all comes out when something newsworthy happens. We must be doing something good I guess. Some say we're worth $31 a share, others a say we're worth $40, others say we're worth $0.01. Its all relative.

In other hellacious news, I must be in the wrong business. Hot or Not was bought for $20M. 2 guys, a few servers and pictures of chicks and dudes getting rated by bored internet idiots. The site makes money by advertising and a premium fee if you want to hook up. Whoever thought this was worth $20M needs to get a reality check and all of their common sense privileges shoved out the door.

Still surviving...

New Years Detox and the "failure pile in a sadness bowl"

2008-01-09T01:45:11Z

So with the turn of the year comes a time to reminisce on all the things you've done and not done. One thing's for sure is you drink and eat way too much during the Thanksgiving-Xmas-New Years holidays. So with that comes a nice detox period.

So as I take myself off the bad stuff and try to regroup the insides again, B and I tried to find a place for some good 'ol Mexican food out here, but for some reason nothing was open at 5pm on a rainy Sunday night.

As we were going to stop by the grocery store, B said "There's always TacoBell" and thanks to Yum! Brands and their combo-restaurants (they have a KFC there too!), we stopped and there it was - the KFC Famous Bowl. This is basically their version of a shepherds pie where they take a bowl and put the taters on the bottom, drop some popcorn chicken on top (more bread than chicken - genius Mr Sanders!), add some sweet corn, top it all with gravy and then sprinkle a little cheese. Its become one of KFC biggest selling items of 2007.

I'm not even a frequent customer at KFC (I think this is the first time I've been at one since I moved here), but seeing the ad for this concoction made me shake my head thinking we're one step closer to Idiocracy. However, I'm a fan of their mashed potatoes and gravy so I just had to try one only once...

When we made the order at the drive thru, I was laughing with guilt. Like I was cheating on an exam and getting away with it. Like I was going thru a red-light camera and flipping the bird over my face. Like I was tearing off a mattress tag...

Anyway, the bag with our other food seemed pretty heavy, but once the bowl came out, about 90% of the weight was removed in one fell swoop. I cracked it open and began my culinary delight with one of the supplied sporks. They gave us 4 so maybe thats telling us something... Needless to say, this would have been better tasting if I was super-drunk or super-high.

I couldn't finish it and B took only a few bites. If this is truly a big-seller, then man we're falling back on the progression cycle way bad.

I'll have Patton Oswalt say it best...

New Order + Baywatch = Heh?

2007-12-13T00:55:42Z

I spent my flight to/from San Jose yesterday listening to 'The Brit Box' on the iPod and kept a smile on my face several times over throughout each 45-minute flight. How can you not when old tracks from bands like The Wonder Stuff, Echobelly, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Cocteau Twins and so on are all on my lil' player?

One track was 'Regret' by New Order and I felt the need to hear it again today while I was working. I went to YouTube to find the video and came across this. Why didn't I see this before? It baffles me beyond comprehension.

Oh those crazy Euros... they sure love The Hoff, don't they?

Too Much Vegas - Maybe?

2007-12-05T19:47:45Z

So I'm at another convention in the City of Sin and as I've mentioned before, the thrill has mostly worn off, but I still find the place intriguing. It had its charm back in the day and it seems everyone wanted to buy property there, but now its in one of the most depressed housing markets in the US next to LA and Detroit. I wonder how those condo towers will do with their dreams of time-share goodness next to one of the hottest tourist destinations in the US?

Still, if a convention or some special event comes along, I find some draw to going there. Maybe its just saying the word "Vegas", maybe its the lights and the money or maybe... well, who knows.

In any case, I'm here for the convention (Webmasterworld) and also to spend an extra day with B to catch Tom Jones at The MGM. Its nice that she can fly in and join me later. After that, I think the only other old-school show I must see is Don Rickles when he shows up again. After seeing the "Mr Warmth" documentary about him on HBO this weekend, I truly must see Rickles perform before he joins Frank, Dean and Sammy at their casino in the sky.

Here's a list of hotels and stuff I've done from memory from all my trips there... its pretty diverse:
1. July 2001 (road trip stop) - Frontier (now demolished) and seeing 'O' at The Bellagio

2. December 2001 (fun) - New York New York and seeing Danny Gans at The Mirage. When you see his ads plastered all over the city its overwhelming.

3. December 2002 (fun) - Barbary Coast (now called Bill's Gambling Hall - whatevs) and clubbing with Josh. Taking advantage of the buffet at Harrah's a little too much.

4. September 2004 (fun) - Imperial Palace - complete with tacky mirrors on the ceiling. We're kinda glad it may be the next to go onto the chopping block... But where will the Dealertainers go?

5. December 2004 (fun) - Westin Causarina with some spa action, discovering The Golden Steer with B, drinking some good wine at Aureole.

6. August 2005 (wedding) - Bally's - we attended a Ben Sherman open-bar party at Hard Rock to see The Dead 60's and because of a mixup in the room reservations, we got a suite with his/her bathrooms and a whirlpool tub. To help me pass the time while B was at her bridemaid duties I got some relaxation at the Spa as well. The 60-minute massage was by some old Russian guy who beat me up like I was a prisoner at a Gulag. No funny stuff...

7. December 2006 (convention) - Aladdin as it was being renovated to the "ph" (planet hollywood), attending an industry party at The Hugh Hefner Sky Villa at The Palms and a client dinner at The Golden Steer

8. January 2007 (fun) - Mandalay Bay to hang with D, L and S, checking out the Pinball Museum, laughing at all the AVN Awards attendees, driving around to scope out Downtown's old-school flair and discovering the beauty that is the Peppermill Lounge

9. April 2007 (convention) - Mandalay Bay, another industry party at The Hefner Sky Villa, scenic drive to Red Rock, check out the sweet pool at Mandalay, see Jay White as Neil Diamond (we were the youngest people there - sweet), score free tix for B to Le Reve while I have a client dinner at Red Square and more Peppermill action

10. December 2007 (convention) - Mirage, dinner at Japonais, Tom Jones at MGM, maybe catch Phantom, Blue Man or Wayne Brady thanks to some connections at The Venetian and there must be a dash of Peppermill added somewhere

Note: The first 3 December times I've gone have been the same week as the National Finals Rodeo so all the hotel bars become Country Hoe-Downs. Makes for an interesting stay. When we walk behind couples, sometimes I have to look twice and make sure its not my parents.

Internet Bubble Version 2.0

2007-10-24T21:42:03Z

I really don't understand the reasoning behind this other than dropping cash for exposure...

Microsoft just announced it is investing $240M for a minority 1.6 percent stake in Facebook, a price that values the social networking site at $15B.

In 2005, MySpace was bought by Fox Interactive Media for $580M. They also signed a deal with Google for $900M so they can use Google's display ads and search on their site.

And we know how Google bought ~~America's Funniest Home Videos~~ YouTube for $1.65B to tap into that audience who ~~can't get enough of soccer goals and people getting hit in the nuts with a wiffle bat~~ want to watch TV from a tiny flash window.

My big question is, haven't we already learned from the Dot-Com Bubble of 2001?!?! Companies are spending more money hand over foot for the next big stake and I'm sorry, I don't see Facebook, Myspace or Friendster being that relevant 5 years from now. Haven't we learned that already from Geocities? Angelfire? TheGlobe.com? Do we really think ads will prevail here? I know brand exposure is the key here, but I really think this money will run out soon.

Makes me think Google is this year's Netscape and Microsoft is this year's AOL.

Happy Birthday to Brandi!

2007-10-18T19:40:37Z

Today is Brandi's birthday, so when you have the chance, say 'allo and Happy Birthday to my lovely. We're going to Magic Castle for dinner and some cool entertainment.

We spent a quiet evening before her birthday rang in at midnight by catching up on our saved episodes of 'Flight of The Conchords' and this music made her laugh in her usual adorable way.

Here it is for your enjoyment:

Joyeux anniversaire Brandi! Et maintenant le voyage a la supermarche!

And we're having a party at our place on Saturday with DIY pizzas on the grill, DIY salad and DIY ice cream sandwiches. Starts at 4 and goes on into the night, be there...

Moz-Angeles

2007-10-10T17:52:57Z

I'm sure some people have heard this before, but Los Angeles has this obsession with Morrissey and vice versa. This is most notable in recent weeks as he is playing 10 shows in 13 days at the Hollywood Palladium. There was even a special with Ticketmaster/LiveNation where you could buy tickets to all 10 shows for the price of 9 (The Palladium is General Admission), and those offers sold out the day they went on sale.

However, you could still but individual night tickets, and we got 2 for the opening night on Monday, October 1. First, you may ask, what did he play... here's the setlist:

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before / Tomorrow / All You Need is Me / Sister, I'm A Poet / That's How People Grow Up / London / Billy Budd / The Loop / Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself? / Stretch Out And Wait / First Of The Gang To Die / Let Me Kiss You / Death Of A Disco Dancer / Disappointed / You Have Killed Me / In The Future When All's Well / I Like You / One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell / Dear God, Please Help Me / How Soon Is Now? // Irish Blood, English Heart

What I've liked about Morrissey over the last 10 years or so is he's made his concerts longer and he plays more Smiths songs. I remember seeing him at The Aragon Ballroom way back in 1997 where he played for 45 minutes (including the encore) and closed with one Smiths song "Shoplifters of the World Unite." This time he plays at least 4-5 Smiths tunes and the show lasts an hour and a half. Much better for the $57 ticket.

In some interviews he's revealed that The Palladium was one of the first US venues The Smiths played and since the building is going under some massive reconstruction, they asked him personally to close their season with a bang, thus the 10-night stand. Unfortunately, 2 of the 10 shows had to be canceled because of plumbing problems so those people got to use their tickets for a different night from the 10 shows.

The Palladium is a great venue on the inside and out and its said problems were invisible to the common public when we went to a second show last night Monday with Brandi's dad. He loved The Smiths and has been to several Morrissey shows, and last night's set was also not disappointing...

London / You Have Killed Me / Billy Budd / The Youngest Was The Most Loved / Good Looking Man About Town / All You Need Is Me / Sister, I'm A Poet / Death Of A Disco Dancer / I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris / Stretch Out And Wait / The Loop / Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself? / Tomorrow / Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before / Irish Blood, English Heart / One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell / Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want / Let Me Kiss You / Life Is A Pigsty / How Soon Is Now? // First Of The Gang To Die

So he still plays some repeats, but man, look at all those Smiths songs. Brandi loved the fact the she got to hear "Stretch out and Wait" on both nights. He even played songs from a new album he plans to record soon after this tour and in true Morrissey fashion, after playing one of them and the crowd's cheer he said something like "Thank you for applauding for a song that you don't know and that you don't like."

Thats another thing with Morrissey, its easy now to take his audience banter and insults with a cheeky grin. He loves his fans and they love him back and as much as we may insult him lightly with his mope-ness, he in turn sends it right back in style with comments like "Thank you for living dangerously, taking risks, being here and being you."

The Palladium is an amazing venue with its googie/streamlined architecture on the inside and out. Some pics here show it some justice. I just hope they don't completely change it to some neutral-like blah architecture malady.
exterior
Moz on full-stage
crowd at Moz with the cool circular ceiling
more interior from a private party
another interior shot with the balcony

And finally, the Latino community LOVES Morrisey, and in LA (where its basically 50% Latino in population) its full-force. Brandi noted to me the "Mexi-Mozzers" who would camp outside his house in Beverly Hills (a 1931 mansion one owned by Clark Gable) before he moved to Rome in 2006. Maybe its the Telenovela-like drama of his lyrics. Maybe its because he's a supporter of the Chivas USA league (as noted when we saw his first show and he and the band came out in full-Chivas uniforms) or maybe its the pompadour...

Anyway, some final notes to send you on your way...
- When it comes to opening acts, Moz has gotta stop choosing newbies. I know.. you gotta give people their big break, but so far Moz is batting at a low RBI cuz I've seen some mediocre stuff (Elcka? Kristeen Young? King Cheetah?). The only good opening act I've ever seen was when we saw him 2 years ago at the Universal Amphitheatre and that was Nancy Sinatra. F-in A, she was great.
- Dude still likes to rip his shirts off when he gets sweaty. He's not necessarily the owner of abs of steel, but he's not doing too bad for man pushing 50. However, I find it interesting that the 2 times we've seen him at The Palladium, he rips his shirt off during "Let Me Kiss You" when he says the line "Think of someone you physically despise."
- There's something to be said of your longevity when you can still get people running up on stage to hug/kiss you as soon as the opening guitar lick for "How Soon Is Now" begins to chime.
- Do Morrissey fans want to BE him or BE WITH him? Some people do find him sexually attractive, but he seems to pass that off. Is he the first paternal rock star?
- I never thought I would come to a day when I could come home from work and ask "Are we doing anything tonight? Morrissey is playing another night at The Palladium, maybe we can buy a ticket at the box office tonight." The guy's gotta be the next Vegas draw soon.

All I can say is stretch out and wait...

"Citizen Caine"

2007-08-17T18:01:57Z

Back in the day, I used to be a huge James Bond freak. I owned all the VHS movies from "Dr No" to "Goldeneye" and could recite any trivia answer to all the films in between. However, I've somewhat petered off of this bandwagon and have kept to some of the classic Connery films with some Moore and Craig in the mix.

Lately, I'd say in the last 6 years, I've grown attached to another actor's repertoire. That would be a Sir Maurice Mickelwhite, better known as Sir Michael Caine.

I guess it all stemmed from a pub conversation I had with some friends from the UK as one-by-one they would recite lines from his classic 60's-70's roles and denying that most films from the late-70's to the 80's didn't exist (The Swarm, Jaws: The Revenge and Beyond The Poseidon Adventure). Their claim for Mr Caine's greatness was best quoted by my friend's flatmates, Jimbo and Michael, who insisted that Caine never really acted out those roles, and he was merely just being himself.

The more I watch these films, the more I can somewhat understand this assertion.

1. Zulu (1964)

Most people don't realize that Caine actually came onto the scene playing Lt. Bromhead in the British war epic, "Zulu." Its an amazing war film (considered one of the top 10 war films of all-time) detailing the battle of Rorke's Drift between the British Army and the Army of Zulus. The story itself is considered one of true British heroism as 139 British soldiers suffer horrific casualties while they held off over 4,000 Zulu warriors. Its summarized in several history books and the military song the troops sing as they await their fate, "Men of Harlech," is considered the unofficial Welsh National Anthem. A bit of trivia was around that there was a line in the film where Caine says "Dont throw your bloody spears at me!" but this is untrue.

2. The Ipcress File (1965)

This was the beginning of Caine's spy-role career. As Sean Connery was #1 at the box office with his suave James Bond roles, Caine's spy was more realistic with his trademark glasses (which became in inspiration for Austin Powers), bullish wit and no-frills approach to solving crimes.

3. Alfie (1966)

This is the role that basically put Caine on the map. His attitude, wit, appearance and all the stuff in between in classic Caine. When he says "My understanding of women only goes as far as the pleasure. When it comes to the pain I'm like any other bloke - I don't want to know." you can tell he means it. Also, the soundtrack by Sonny Rollins and the theme song by Burt Bacharach is the stuff of legend.

4. Funeral in Berlin (1966)

Here we have Caine reprising his role as Harry Palmer in another story from the books by Len Deighton. Caine delivers the same dry wit and near-misogynistic bravado that you don't see in many films these days. A classic line when he gets a call from his boss and his girlfriend is in the kitchen wearing only his shirt, Palmer interrupts the conversation and tells her "You're useless in the kitchen. Why don't you go back to bed?" I'm no misogynist, but when they can be played like this, I gotta give props. If you can play a dick on the big screen, do it right.

5. The Italian Job (1969)

Here we have a classic Mod film from Sir Michael Its true when they say the cars are practically cast members themselves. The heist escape through Turin into the Alps is wonderfully shot and as colorful as a painting. Caine's line "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" is considered one of the best movie one-liners in British cinema. What I find interesting is that despite using the word "bloody" in the pic, the movie gets a G rating. Its probably one of the only G-Rated films I own.

6. Get Carter (1971)

Without a doubt, the character of London gangster, Jack Carter, is a true O.G. He kicks ass without sympathy, holds a cold heart and does whatever it takes to find out who killed his brother and "respect his authoritah." This is the only film I know where the word "craphouse" is spoken with such frankness. Makes me wonder if the city of Newcastle took offense to it. Again, you also have a great soundtrack by Roy Budd. I'll always watch this film with a pint of bitter (in a thin glass). Best line - "You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow."

7. Dressed to Kill (1980)

One of Caine's better films from the 80's. Its more of a Brian DePalma suspense thriller in a way, and the scenes with Angie Dickinson are quite revealing. Its a little overblown like most DePalma films, but the twists that involve Caine are quite unique.

I wanted to mention 2 other films, The Man Who Would be King (Caine and Connery on the same screen, sweet) and Sleuth, but I have yet to own these on DVD as they are the last ones I'd prefer in my Caine collection. Hopefully they can be re-pressed into better-quality as the ones in existence now are those dreaded "flipper discs" where you have to stop the movie halfway and flip the disc to see the other half. So silly...

Caine also did alot of WWII films in the 70s like A Bridge Too Far and The Eagle Has Landed, and another WWI prison camp story called Victory where he was a soccer coach to Pele and Sly Stallone as they defeat the Nazis in a prison-sponsored game.

So forget the remakes like Jude Law's "Alfie", Stallone's "Get Carter" and Wahlberg's "Italian Job" (although its kinda fun with the new Mini Coopers) and watch the true master.

Didja Feel It?

2007-08-09T18:37:17Z

The quote of the last week and a half is "Didja Feel It?" as it pertains not only to what happened early this morning at 1am, but also our recent family visit.

Last week we left for our quick Midwest trip which started very early Tuesday morning. Since our flight was at 6:20am, this meant we'd have to get to the airport early for parking, shuttle and the wonderful TSA security line. Rather than sleep a few hours and feel disheveled, we decided to pull an all-nighter along with our friend John who left LAX at the same time for Chicago, but on a different flight. All I can say is what sounded good in theory didn't do well in real-time for us. We felt the same with a few hours less sleep. Didja feel it? Oh yes, we did.

As a side note, what I find interesting about people and air travel, is despite the fact that many people buy e-tickets, they still wait in line to check into their flight rather than clicking a few things online. When we arrived at the airport for both the to and from flights, there were lines around the corner and down the sidewalk when all the kiosks were wide open.

After arriving at Midway, my folks picked us up and took us to lunch at a place they enjoy. While they said it had "good sandwiches" or maybe some "good shit", I think they meant "good shit sandwiches" as I later learned with Brandi's club sandwich. I opted for the salad (why do people consider Italian dressing appropriate for a Caesar salad?) and we headed home for a few hours rest and some dinner later at a local Mexican spot with my aunt and uncle where the Cadillac margaritas were a nice alternative. My uncle highlighted a cool activity he did with friends which involved making homemade sausage that became a day-long ordeal with delicious results and less filler.

We woke up early on Wednesday morning for a good day on Lake Michigan. My folks love their boats and like all boat owners, the one they own is never big enough, so they recently put their old one up for sale (I think its 23' long) for a new one thats 3' longer with a larger cabin inside. Larger cabin means a porta potty with a door. After launching the boat in Hammond, we set off for our 3-hour tour of Lake Michigan. I've never seen the lake so clear and calm in my life. You could literally see 15' down when I dropped anchor and the waves were minimal making the speed ride less rough and the breeze felt just a little better. We had some descent sandwiches this time with some beer and wine and headed home soon after. I'm glad Brandi was able to experience the lake at its best as I'm normally used to rough waters and unclear views to the bottom. Later we had some local sweet corn (white and yellow on the same cob!) and chicken for din din. We went to bed early because of the day-long ordeal in the sun. Didja feel it? Oh yes.

Thursday we had breakfast in town at a spot called Nellie Jane's. Its an old bank in town thats been turned into a local breakfast/lunch joint with mismatched antiques and some decent food. We split a breakfast sampler (I've never seen a menu with this item before) and enjoyed some waffles, homemade hash browns and eggs benedict heavy on the hollandaise. Soon after, my mom drove us to the train station over the border and we headed for Chicago. With so much food in the last few days, didja feel it? Uuuggh.

We arrived in Chicago and checked into the Swissotel. We later met up with John and his good friend Marshall for some Cubs game activities. After some searching, we found some seats from a ticket agent for $75 each and got probably the best seats I've ever had for a Cubs game. You can easily call them the "Ferris Bueller Seats" as they wereabout 12 rows behind the Third Base line. We drank lots of Old Style, ate a few Kosher's Best hot dogs and Polish Sausages and headed home for some rest. Didja feel it even though the Cubs lost? Indeed.

We later met up after dinner with Liz, Diana, Arturo and some more of John's Florida friends at Delilah's for some Mod music and good drinks. After the alcohol started flowing, we went to the inevitable 4am bar - Neo. Lets just say the night ended up with our group closing the place with their strong drinks, dark 80s music and many things lost including brain cells, sanity and cameras. Didja feel it? Yeah, but not until the next morning.

The rest of the weekend was Lollapalooza from Fri-Sun. Some days were a haze, others were full-on extreme rockage. Some good music from Polyphonic Spree, I'm From Barcelona, Blonde Redhead, Heartless Bastards, Muse, Patti Smith, Yo La Tengo, The School Of Rock Allstars and The Stooges (along with the 250 fans they brought up on stage). Having a 3-day wristband and an air-conditioned hotel nearby was a big help in many cases with the extreme humidity. Best part was running into every old music-biz friend of mine in the crowd of thousands. Didja feel it? Yes we can!

After Sunday's show, we had dinner at Iberico and I headed to my old neighborhood with Liz and Diana. After stepping foot off the Brown Line train at Western, my heart sunk. All of the old charm of Lincoln Square seemed to disappear in the last few years. Old stores are now coffee shops, baby gear emporiums and chain eateries. However, I almost cried when I went to my old bar, Huettenbar. Gone was the old people who love their late-night drinking. Gone was the old jukebox with the German tunes. Hello to me being the oldest one in the bar. Hello to a jukebox playing Emo. Hello to a bartender who started a friendly conversation with me since I knew the owner, but went sour when he said "I'm sorry" after I mentioned I move to LA. I didn't tip the guy. Didja feel it? Damnit, I did, but not the way I wanted.

We flew home on Monday to a flight that was literally 1/3 pre-boarded with families and small children. No matter where you sat, people had a screaming baby in their lap or some over-excited kids in their chairs kicking the seat back in front of them. Even after we boarded in group A (thank you SWA Mobile check-in), some families arrived late to board and had to sit together, this resulted in me with a lap-infant next to me and Brandi with a kicker behind her. Needless to say, my left ear needed an earplug with the screams I endured throughout the 3.5 hour trip. At least we got some good reading time for some bits here and there. I can surely say alot about flying with families, but all I can say is one the day comes and we have ours, people will visit us when the kids are under 5-6 and once the kids are that age, I'm teaching them about planes, the people on planes and airports. Maybe I can make a family video called "Get ready for the Fly-Fly". When we left LAX someone from the flight recognized us and said "You two deserve a free ticket for what you went through with that screamer." Little did he realize his little one was behind Brandi giving her the unnecessary vibrating chair treatment. Didja feel it? Yeah, my ear and her back sure did.

After arriving home on Monday, we decided to go all-vegetables in the diet for a little while since all we ate every day was meat meat meat. Some of the local vegetables we ate were delish (midwest sweet corn can't be beat) and the 4am bars built our alcohol tolerance a smidge. Didja feel it? Uugh, tummy hurts.

Then this morning around 1am I guess we had an earthquake. Brandi woke up right away and tried to wake me up, but I woke up barely when the 30-second shake was done. I guess it was enough to make some noise in the house, but nothing that caused any damage to our spot. So I came to work with the same question of "Didja Feel it?" and unfortunately, I didn't, but I wish I did.

An Open Letter to Isaac Hayes and Stax Records

2007-07-19T23:00:51Z

Dear Isaac and Stax,

Last night, my wife and I came to attend your special show at The Hollywood Bowl entitled "50 Years of Stax." Here is what we experienced.

Because of the well known-yet-horrible parking and traffic snafu that is The Hollywood Bowl, we left earlier than normal from our home in Echo Park an hour and a half before the show and still arrived late after taking the bus from Hollywood and Highland. So as we entered into our seats at 8:30, the show was already in full-swing. I know you have prompt schedules to adhere to, but for those at The Bowl and the promoters, why did you start promptly at 8pm? What about crowd flow due to bad LA traffic? It seems every other venue in LA does something about this and while annoying, it does help.

People were still packed on the buses on the way to the Bowl when we got there, and it wasn't some set of hipster or industry types who got free pair of tickets to waste the night away on someone else's dollar. These were fans of all races, shapes and sizes who came from all areas of LA to bask in the glory of Stax and their 50th anniversary reunion featuring some classic appearances by former artists on your label including Mr. Hayes, William Bell, Mable John, Eddie Floyd and Booker T Jones.

So as we came in, we sat down and caught the rest of William Bell's performance (missing Mable John and Eddie Floyd), Angie Stone singing a great rendition of Shirley Brown's "Woman to Woman" and Booker T Jones performing 2 MG's tunes (Time is Tight and Green Onions). My first question is, where was Donald "Duck "Dunn and Steve Cropper? According to their calendar on their individual websites, they were wide open. While the studio musicians playing with Booker T were fine, it didn't seem the same without Duck and Cropper. Can someone help?

After Booker T did his set, host Randy Jackson came out to announce a short break to set up for the second half. While I guess Jackson's a good choice for hosting the evening, as he was pretty knowledgeable for introducing all the acts, I wonder why choose someone who's on the popular-yet-loathed "American Idol" show.

So after the short break, we were given a short film about Stax with lots of old tune snippets and pictures to reminisce about the good old days. It was exciting to see all the old names again. Soon thereafter, Randy Jackson introduced Mr Hayes to the stage where he came on in a Black and gold tunic and hugged Mr Jackson.

Now, I love Mr Hayes and his endless contributions to music. His "Hot Buttered Soul" is as classic as they come. Songs like "Walk On", "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" and of course "Shaft" are timeless. Even his earlier penned greats like "Soul Man" and "Hold On I'm Comin'" should be preserved in whatever form they can exist forever. However, post-Jackson hug, I suddenly saw my heart sink.

As Hayes walked toward the stage and the crowd roared, he literally hobbled like a zombie to his keyboard. Once he got there, he took a few minutes to pull out his bench, sit down, and start things going. You could hear the crowd waiting in anticipation for the first song licks to come out while in the back of their heads they're thinking "is something wrong?"

After a few songs including "Joy", he babbled to the crowd "35 years!" (pause) "40 years!" (pause) "wow, 50 years!" I looked at my wife and thought "is he on something?" I know he suffered a case of exhaustion which may or may not have been a stroke, but if he's still touring, then there's gotta be something left. However, I seem to think otherwise. I don't want to say this, but I feel kinda ripped off. I know Hayes tours with an trio of dual-deck keyboardists, but could it have been a little more worth the effort to get a few horns or strings? Was it necessary to literally mash-up "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" with a backup singer doing "I Say a Little Prayer"?

If you're able to get the Stax crew for a legendary gig in Austin at SXSW this past March, why not do something of similar nature for The Hollywood Bowl? Why did Isaac perform his Hot Buttered Soul that came out more like Hot Buttered Vicodin? Rather than have a variety hour dedicated to Stax and a struggling second hour of Hayes performing, why not make the entire show dedicated to the 50-year legacy of Stax? Was Al Bell behind all this?

You had me at Booker T walking on the stage and lost me when Hayes couldn't even say his band mate names appropriately. Everybody on the bus back to the lot had these puzzled looks on their faces wondering what they just experienced, and I was one of them. Should I be angry or saddened? Sinatra knew when tho relax and maybe Mr Hayes should get some R&R as well.

Others seem to think the same as noted here:
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/fans%20puzzled%20by%20lost%20hayes_1038056

I'll always love what Stax has meant to me, but this evening puts a small frown on my face.

There goes the Square

2007-07-02T18:59:07Z

So I heard my old apartment in Lincoln Square is up for rent again, thanks to an insider who walked by the place yesterday and sent me a photo of the "for rent" sign from her phone.

The place being for rent is one thing, but the details stun me.

When I moved in in 1999, the place was a cool $750/month in rent. After some new windows from the management a year later, the rent went up to $765 and held that price until I moved out in 2004. When I moved out, the place went up to $1000/month as is with no new remodeling. My place was up for some re-working as my then-landlord wanted to upgrade my kitchen with all new appliances, cabinets and fixtures.

I'm guessing the fixtures and such have all been upgraded as the description says so in the for-rent sign along with a dishwasher. Cool, I guess.

However, now the apartment is $1400/month. So in less than 3 years, the place has almost doubled in rent. Unbelievable.

It almost reminds me of the LA housing market where a modest, 2BR starter home bought in 2003 for $200K now sells for $600K. I know people want clean neighborhoods and nice places to walk the streets, but at what price does it cost? Sometimes news like this make me wish that gangs would come back or a natural disaster would lower the stuff down to something reasonable. May the bubble please burst now.

Top Ten Reasons things are good in the neighborhood

2007-06-22T17:36:04Z

10. Pho Siam - Without a doubt our favorite place to get a massage. Massage therapy in general has come a long way over the last several years. Its no longer practiced in some shady area with "happy endings." Now I can get some Nuat Phaen Boran which is essentially a small Thai woman beating the living bejeezus out of you for an hour and you feel like a million bucks afterwards.

9. Taco Trucks - While Chicago has gyros and Italian beef, Echo Park has an array of these mobile vendors laid out across the neighborhood on some curbside. They're usually open for business after 5pm in some places but all of them are open after-hours when the bars close at 2am. Nothing like some homemade carnitas and carne asada tacos for a $1 a pop.

8. Crooked Cowboy and The Freshwater Indians - Our friend Bron and company perform a couple times a month and its always a great show. I've posted about them before but its simply nothing I've heard before. Imagine a spaghetti western with psychedelics and a little Tom Waits. You get a sonic orchestra of sights and sounds reminiscent of stuff you'd see in the desert on 'shrooms.

7. Our House in Echo Park - I'm living in one of the most unique places I think I've ever rented. The only other home I've rented was when I was in Grand Rapids on Robinson where it was an old gatehouse on the Blodgett estate. This pales in comparison because we have our own private backyard with a garden, room for barbecues with our Weber grill and a ping-pong table thanks to our tax return. Did I mention the backyard is about as big as the house and shaded by an old avocado tree? The other cool thing is the rent is phenomenal for this area.

6. Elysian Park - Consider this the backyard to Echo Park residents. You've got miles of trails in the hills, parks that teem with activity on Saturday and Sunday with just about every culture, sight and food aroma you can imagine, and its all free to the public. On any given day you'll find some pinata being thrashed by kids, a church picnic, a quinceanera and a makeshift ice cream truck painted with some cartoon character that is beyond copyright infringement. Plus, if you go East up the hill you'll be in Dodger Blue territory.

5. Churros! - There's a truck just south of Echo Park and Sunset that sells fresh, authentic churros. These aren't the crappy ones you get at the movie theaters, amusement parks or malls. I'm talking fresh out the fryer churros doused in cinnamon and sugar. Only 6 for $2, they're too easy to give in and indulge. Plus, I love having fun with Brandi and her story of "The Churro Elves."

4. Nostalgic Downloading - I've recently come back to my old music roots and have recently begun listening to either the most aggressive stuff from Big Black / Rapeman or the new Polyphonic Spree. Nothing could be more opposite yet so enduring.

3. Grebo Birthdays - to celebrate my upcoming 36th birthday, we're throwing a "Grebo Birthday party" at our place. Expect loads of Doc Marten's with long pants cut at the knee, baggy flannel and army surplus shirts and music from The Midlands. Hipsters beware.. white belts are forbidden.

2. Wine - So much of it comes around out here. Either a 2-hour drive East or North or a 2-hour flight/drive North can get you some of the best elixirs the US can offer.

1. Brandi's creative cooking - All I can say is I swear I married a Food Network star. Whatever she chooses to make I agree 100% without reservation. Consider myself truly blessed a thousand times over.

Three Stooges live in Echo Park

2007-04-02T21:58:34Z

Check out this episode of The Three Stooges entitled 'Three Little Beers'

The madness that starts around the 5-minute mark where all the beer barrels roll down the hill are edited from Scott Street and Delta which are right around our house.

Nyuk Nyuk

Chicago-bound for a long weekend and then some

2007-03-08T23:42:38Z

So we've been tossing around the idea of visiting the Indiana/Chicago area for the last week or so. We weren't sure if we wanted to do 4th of July or Lollapalooza weekend in August.

Well, after signing up on the Lolla mailing list, receiving an advance-purchase e-mail selling the tix for $60/each and successfully getting a pair after waiting for almost 2 hours with my browser open, we're going. Sweet sweetness.

See you in August.

Another camp story from California

2007-03-01T18:43:42Z

Over President's day weekend, we headed to Solvang for a night to check out the quaint Danish town, feed ostriches, eat some decent food and taste some wine. The place has become pretty popular because of the movie 'Sideways' and it shows. Just about every winery/shop had maps available so you could go to the same places Miles and Jack explored in the film.

We took a wine van tour of about 5 places, 2 which were notable and 1 which was horrible. In any case, after some other stops the day after our drunken tour, we headed back to LA down the 101.

About 20 miles outside of Santa Barbara we found this place called Refugio State Beach. What started as a quick stop for a nice view and a bathroom break became a future trip plan. The campground is right next to the ocean so you can basically wake up and surf. There's trails up and down the beach, its a small area and you're about 20 miles from some good wines in Solvang/Buellton. All in all, a perfect spot.

Then I fell into the craze of campsite reservations. Man, its a grueling task. The state park website says "On the first of each month, campers will have access to an entire month of available start dates, up to 7 months in advance. Count the month you are in as month number one. For instance, if you count September as the first month you can make reservations for all dates beginning in March." They use ReserveAmerica for their booking engine.

So as I checked the website for reservations in July/August, no dice. All the sites were either packed on weekends or open for a Tuesday night. This meant I would have to reserve for Labor Day weekend on March 1st. So like a good internet buyer, I assumed that it would happen on 12:01am, March 1st. I stayed up late while Brandi slept and waited for the sites to go on sale.

The first setback started around 11:57pm when I logged on and a notice appeared on the site saying that sales won't begin until 8am PST on March 1. Ok, fine. However, I lost an hour's worth of sleep/bar time. Dang. So I wake up and get ready for work and get online. By 7:45 I go online and see alot of the campsites already taken, but I can't get anything online. I shake my head in confusion and wonder how they were already taken. Was someone giving out favors? Did people hack into the system? The only thing I could think of was maybe some people reserved Friday, August 31 last month and automatically got spaces for the rest of the weekend in September.

In any case, I searched their map and found a site (#39). According to the map its toward the back of the campground, but its still somewhat by the beach. However, I was wrong. I read an article about the beach later this morning in the LA times that says the "premium beach side sites" were 34, 35, 36 and 60 and if they were any closer to the waves, you could shore-fish from inside your tent. So as I re-checked the map this morning, I realize we're not closer to the road, but the beach. So thanks to an error in mapping at ReserveAmerica, we got a sweet spot, shaded, near the showers and near the beach at a cool park. Thank you Amazon for a deal on a great tent!

Here's an aerial photo with the basic idea:

Urgh! A Music War

2007-02-28T19:01:06Z

Last night on INHD I stumbled upon this concert film called "Urgh! A Music War." What I thought would be a quick passing of channels became a 2-hour historical epic of 80's music at its best.

When Brandi came home later from class, she too became mesmerized at this film. Its basically a series of performances from several venues (LA, NYC, Frejus, FR and London mainly) by various new-wave and punk/post-punk acts.

There's more video info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urgh%21_A_Music_War

And some clips here:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=urgh+music+war&search=Search

Its having issues being released on DVD and the VHS copies are in upwards of $100 on eBay. In any case, this is a film not to be missed. Even the bands I had never heard of (The Members, Au Pairs, The Alley Cats and Athletico Spizz 80) are just as mesmerizing to watch like the bands I love (The Cramps, Gary Numan, Devo and XTC). You'll even see a crazy performance by the falsetto-voiced Klaus Nomi.

If you catch this on an occasional broadcast on Sundance, VH1 Classic or an HD Channel, don't miss it. Also, if you see Miles Copeland, who owns the rights, tell him to get this sucker on DVD asap. He's the brother of Police drummer Stewart Copeland, head of IRS records and a nutjob for not releasing this any sooner.

Other classic items of Chicago Coolness

2007-02-16T19:29:53Z

After posting about Moo & Oink, I had to do a search for some other classic commercials from my Chicago days.

Whats weird is most of these are still being broadcast on the local channels in the Tri-State area.

First we have Celozzi-Ettelson Chevrolet. These commercials had these two guys who looked like a mobster and his accountant. You can't deny the appeal of the phrase "where you always save more money." It was just as effective as that "Apply Directly to The Forehead" phrase from that headache remedy commercial 'Head On'

Next we have Eagle Insurance. These were always highlighted by bad acting and suggestive humor. These's one out there where a woman holds a pair of eagle eggs up high as if they were her own hooters when she says "Look at those Low Rates." It even sounds better when its dubbed in Spanish.

Then we have Empire Carpets. I know this is a nationwide chain, but its still Chicago based and the phone-number jingle used to not have the 800 in front of it.

And lastly, we have Victory Auto Wreckers. After seeing this commercial for over 20 years, that image of the dude opening his 71 Olds driver-side door makes me think it can happen to me someday. I dig the wristband he's wearing when he gets his cash.

Chicago coolness item #2381

2007-02-16T18:59:34Z

Before I left Chicago, I made a point to stop by this store and get a t-shirt. It took some time, but I eventually got to the customer service counter and got a shirt for $10 with the famous happy cow and pig face logo emblazoned on it.

I bring you Moo and Oink!

I think they still show this commercial even though its dated back to when Bobby Brown was a pop star.

Law. Suit.

2007-02-09T22:43:33Z

This came my way thanks to blogging.la.

Here we have an NBC4 clip of a city council meeting in Carson, CA (near Los Angeles, south of LAX for you non-Southland peeps). After making a public comment, you see a woman walk away from the podium and lightly (and I say that lightly) smack another woman on the back of the head.

The "victim" then pauses, reaches for her eye, lets out a shriek, then carefully lays herself down on the floor screaming. Finally, we hear the mayor ask for an ambulance as the clip ends and for the offending woman to be arrested.

What makes me laugh at this is the long pause after the woman is hit. Is this for real? I'm amazed that adults act like this sometimes. :) Its as if the person is thinking slowly "hit... think... law... think... suit... think... fall down carefully... scream... wait..."

http://video.nbc4.tv/player/?id=61344

Why I love my country

2007-02-01T23:24:12Z

If circuit boards bearing the likeness of Ignignokt and Err from Aqua Teen Hunger Force can grab full attention of the Boston Police Department and its Bomb Squad and lead to 2 arrests, then I wonder what would happen if they were images of Meatwad or Frylock, would the country be under Martial Law?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_magnetic_light_scare

Now, I know our nation's police/security force is 100% prepared since the 9/11 attacks, so I'm taking this whole thing seriously. Next time I see a colorful band poster on a lightpole or a sticker in a urinal, I'm calling the FBI, CIA, CSI, FEMA and MI6 so I can meet James Bond.

My latest musical direction, and one of my last critiques

2007-01-29T20:36:49Z

In a nutshell, 2006 was the year I seriously started giving up on music. I stopped writing because anyone can be a critic now. New releases from bands I liked or even tried to like were either uninteresting or just appalling, bands coming through LA drew crowds that would make anyone suffocate in an environment of smug and rudeness and hope for new favorites turned out to be simply high-definition photocopies of something I've already enjoyed. Even a music list I've come to like over the years voted a pop star as musician of the year because he's bringing sexy back.

Maybe its the old-age settling in, maybe its the way the music business is going (RIAA lawsuits, fear of downloads and promotion of one-stop-shop acts like Pussycat Dolls and My Chemical Romance) or maybe its living in LA, but I'll admit that 2007 shows no sign of hope.

However, as my musical old tastes have become more refined to my usual faves like Tom Jones, Esquivel, Martin Dednny and the like. I wanted to introduce one band I've actually become quite fond of, and its not just because we're friends with the lead composer.

Our friend Bron has quite the musical resume. He used to be in a band called The Blue Hawaiians and played with Everlast for a tour that included a stop at Woodstock '99. His latest project is lead composer/conductor for Crooked Cowboy and The Freshwater Indians. Imagine spaghetti western music fused with some 'shroom psychedelic rock. You get some sweet instrumentals and a great vibe.

He recently had a stint at Mr T's Bowl in December and here's a clip of it for your enjoyment. He really wants to do a US tour this year, and I'll definitely let you know about it. Seeing them live gives me a big dose of hope that I'll like some new music this year, even if its just one band.