Author: brian

i’ve talked about this before, a sort of tension between having a comfortable routine that is pleasant in every way and keeps me content, but at the same time lacks a certain challenge or eventfulness. same old same old. not a bad thing, except when you’re looking for something to blog about worth reading.

of course, that general feeling then leads to things like last weekend, where a multi-person birthday party seemed like a great chance to have a bunch of drinks and do some silly things. but in my excitement, i pour a little too heavily and knock them back a little to quickly. not normally a problem except when you’ve barely eaten that day and end up incapacitated just as things are getting into full swing and going home pre-dance-party. even pre-birthday cake. the photos made it seem like i missed the better half of a fully great night. way to go, mr. greedy for novel experiences!

really the most interesting things lately have been related to the other site. we recorded a podcast, if you didn’t hear, which was lots of fun and i think falls safely into the ‘new challenges’ category. (for the parents: a podcast is like a digital radio show people download and listen to on their ipods — we’re even listed in the itunes store now!). setting it up, editing, recording, and distributing were their own obstacles, but actually having an hour-long insightful and entertaining conversation about pop culture is not easy. even though it’s me and spencer in a room with a computer, the thought that someone (well, one would hope) is going to listen still brings at least a little bit of that live radio nervousness. listening through while editing brings the verbal ticks and insecure stutters into sharp focus when it’s your own voice, and you can see your awkward pauses right there on the screen in waveform. i have to say though, it was a lot of fun and i almost immediately couldn’t wait to do another one. it’s good to have something you want to be better at.

so of course, in an effort to have fodder for the next one, i’ve been reading and listening to music and watching tv shows like crazy. also, i wrote another big piece on friday night lights if you’re at all interested. essentially, my interesting stories are mental exercises, not life experiences, because bodily i’m doing a lot of the same things but in the off hours in my apartment at least my brain can go new places.

speaking of which, i am nuts about this new japandroids cd that just came out. two dudes making a rock and roll ruckus, a little reminiscent of my old favorites braid but not exactly the same. not as intricate lyrically but still very energetic. heart sweats is a good example. man, those drums. it’s like, whoa.

we did it, we went to vegas for madilyne and kyle’s wedding and made it back in one exhausted, slightly bloated and less cash-rich piece.

the wedding part was lovely. saw some high school characters who are always a good time, the ceremony was small but cute and plenty of fun, and the only problem was us running out of energy before the agenda of good times was up. jessica turned in a bit early and i stayed but might as well have left, because after several hours of open bar, the after party for me was more the ‘can i hang in there until at least the bride and groom decide to go home’? well, i did, so at least that way i can say i was there to see them off.

the next day we lounged by the pool for a while and hit the tables without much success. this trip i really mixed it up: i lost money at roulette, black jack, poker AND craps. i think a trip or two in college during which i actually won permanently affected my sound judgment when it comes to games of chance, and the last several years have combined to try to teach me the reality. quite effectively, if i look at it rationally, but of course, gambling is exciting so i continue despite better judgment. i think the new motto should be, ‘you’ll only win if you get a really lucky streak,’ so next time the method is going to be to play a little bit at a lot of tables and if there’s no luck, just move the hell on. even the couple times i did get up significantly, i thought maybe i could just keep going and ended up losing my winnings and then some. pooooooor game plan, friends. but hey, at least the flights were free and the hotel was discounted, so what can you do. still love ya, vegas.

coming soon: a big birthday party this weekend and the following weekend, the annual beer pong tournament! crap, that’s getting close, i’d better get that invite out soon or no one’s going to show up.

i really do wish i had more to post about on this, the blog about me, instead of always writing about video games and movies over on another site. you’ll always be my first and greatest love, good old blog.

unfortunately, my life just hasn’t been that interesting lately, or if it has, it’s been in ways that don’t require writing about here because interesting work projects are not really the domain of this site or probably interesting to anyone who isn’t in advertising. maybe i’ll do something wacky this weekend just so i have a good story to write up here. like read a book or play some burnout paradise! wait, that’s what i’ve been doing instead of living a story-worthy spring.

since i’m not really that cool in this post, how about a funny and bizarre video gabe found a long time ago when he typed ‘brian gets cool’ into google for some reason. man, now this brian, HE probably has lots of great stuff to blog about.

so this weekend, there is a beer festival here in LA. it’s called the LA beer festival. for a pre-determined fee you get a souveneir sample-size stein and all the beer you want in the three hour span. there are a slew of small breweries present to sample, and if there’s one thing i love to put in my mouth, it’s craft brews. it’s as if someone organized the perfect way to spend a saturday and invited me to come. how could you not want to go to this?

and yet after putting the word out to all my friends, i have almost no takers. not because it’s not a cool idea, but because either a)they have other obligations at that time, or b)other food-and-drink based plans over the rest of the weekend, making another epicurean event possibly too much.

i can understand, a friend of ours had already planned a hot-wings crawl, and that does sound great. another is having a barbeque all sunday afternoon. but this is a BEER FESTIVAL. a glorious celebration of my favorite bevarage, and in abundance. when did my social circle become so structured and aware of quote-unquote ‘proper life balance’ that almost no one is interested in a MASSIVE BEER PARTY?

i can’t say i’m not a little disappointed here, team. only one ‘yes’ so far, but a beer festival is not something you go on a man-date for. you need a team of revelers here, people.

maybe as a protest to draw attention to peoples’ skewed priorities, i will attend solo, on both saturday and sunday, shirking all other social obligations in a sort of beer-in, civil inebriation sort of way. that’ll teach ’em.

the working out program is working out well. i think i’m getting over my semi-phobia about going to our small apartment gym when other people are already in there. turns out, they don’t seem to care that much because we’re all just sweating it out in our own little worlds.

or maybe i’m totally wrong and every time i’m on a treadmill next to an obviously more fitness-conscious girl, she is laughing on the inside at my sad attempt at rigorous exercise. oh yeah? well, um, i bet she doesn’t have two blogs and as many books on her shelf as me! or action figures on display in her living room… hmm. i guess i’m sort of laughing at myself too so i can’t really hold it against anyone else.

this afternoon we are going to get dumplings at mei long village, which will be heavenly, and surely negate any burned calories, and i am totally fine with that because my priorities are properly aligned. fuck you, salad!

been pretty occupied lately. last weekend i took friday off after seeing midnight watchmen on thursday (review over here), and filled the rest of the weekend with heavy doses of social outings like father’s office, poker, and an M83 concert that was fairly disappointing.

when you see something billed as ‘M83 with the LA philharmonic’, you might think they’ll be playing a whole set together, not taking turns and doing a few songs together at the end. guess what, you’re wrong!

yesterday i did a thing i said i never would — and frankly thought i couldn’t — and got up early to go to the gym before work. it was weird but kinda nice, thinking all day that i’d got it out of the way and could just go home and relax at the end of the day. well, i ended up at work until 9:30 or so, which sort of spoiled that dream. plus since it was so late i ended up at burger king drive thru on the way home. apparently, the world prefers me with a slight gut, as it seems to be conspiring to keep me that way.

OR, this is just the beginning of a new trend where i get huge beefy arms and start wearing tanktops in public (which would require buying tanktops, i suppose. do they sell those the same places they sell regular shirts? i wouldn’t even know. if i had a membership to a regular gym, i could ask someone, but i don’t know any beefcakes). it could be a slippery slope to backwards hats and expensive sunglasses. male jewelry. soul patches. chest waxing. GASP!

kidding, of course. if i can even get to the point where i eat french fries fewer times a week than i lift weights, and can decrease the angle of an imaginary line drawn from my sternum to belly button (currently less than 25 degrees probably, but 0 is ideal), i will consider that the proper amount of life balance.

otherwise i think i’ll probably spend a decent amount of time at home this weekend, because i have the best excuse ever: need wedding money! i’m pretty sure my funching can’t be questioned, especially in borderline cases. i mean sure, it won’t be sweeping shut-in level, but let’s be honest. about every other invite you get to go out for some reason, you’d kind of rather just stay home and watch the colbert report. or top chef. but you’re guilted into it. now i can blame my everlasting love and the american wedding culture. ‘sorry,’ i’ll say, ‘i’d love to join you for margarita mondays at the pinata pit, but saving for that darn wedding.’ in fact, i think i’ll employ that very excuse tonight and skip the art walk downtown, which i’ve been meaning to go to for years. you know, in the name of love though.

wait, did i just fool myself into not doing something i actually wanted to do? man, love can be confusing.

seems like my concert-going has fallen off distinctly in the last year or so. i’m just getting pickier i suppose, and more able to tell which new bands i’m really not going to listen to much after the initial infatuation wears off.

the opposite is true of ac newman and/or the new pornographers. i’m still on the upward trajectory of liking these albums, getting more into them and thinking i should probably go pick up the older albums i don’t have yet. we went to his show thursday night at the troubadour and had a lot of fun. it wasn’t too crowded so jessica and i even got right up to the foot of the stage, which was great for her since she usually has a tough time seeing over other people’s heads and shoulders. of course, we also discovered that the speakers are right above you and facing out, so the sound is less than ideal. (sorry violinist at stage right, we might have missed out on some of your playing.)

this guy just writes a ton of really catchy, smart pop songs though. it’s bizarre honestly how high his percentage of winners is compared to other bands. part of me suspects some sort of black magic may be involved — he is a red head after all, and they’re witches, right?

anyway, please enjoy this little sample, ‘like a hitman, like a dancer‘, which was one of my favorites from the show.

we’re also going to ra ra riot tonight thanks to jessica’s quick call-in skills and kcrw membership. lucky me, huh? their album was very pleasant, i imagine that show will be fun too, especially since several friends are going to this one too. also, they have a really cute cello player, which doesn’t hurt either.

oh shit, before i forget, for the local folks, we also hit up 8oz burger bar before the show on thursday. one of those gourmet burgers where you can choose from a big selection of fancy toppings. the place was spacious, well-decorated, friendly, affordable and all that jazz. but the burgers, holy crap. i think i may have chosen some only-okay toppings (the smoked tomato sauce was uninspiring), but the actual beef patty was spectacular all on its own. seriously, if you like burgers you owe this place a visit. i’m super excited it’s so great and so close, since going to the west side to eat at the counter isn’t always worth the trip.

oh boy, let’s go to boston!

have a work meeting out there monday, so i’m taking the opportunity to fly out a day and a half early to hang with gabe and alexis. apparently there’s a rumor that matt’s coming up from NY too. as you can see from the birthday pictures still hanging out a few posts below, these are people i usually have a good time with. what good luck that my job is sending me out to get to see them again already. i’ve only been to boston once, for a few days back in college, so it’ll be interesting to compare impressions.

speaking of work, it’s been really busy and sorta stressful, but really interesting to be doing so much every day. the only real problem is later nights and less time for after-work exercise. it’s tough to go to the gym when you don’t get home until 7 or 8 and it’s dinner time already, and no one wants to hop on a treadmill after dinner.

i have squeezed in the time to do some writing in the past month that i’m pretty proud of though, so if you’re interested there are thoughts on fallout 3, animal collective, and chuck klosterman’s latest book over at under culture. a video game, an album, and a book. need a movie review to complete the round robin.

oh that’s right, we’re only two weeks from WATCHMEN. expect at least one article on that to come. otherwise i could write a whole love letter to all the special features on the Wall E disc, which blew me away. last weekend i spent a whole night drinking beers and watching all three hours or so of that shit, and it was great. you can’t beat a nice nerd-buzz combo.

love me a good presidents’ day weekend. and valentines to boot? what’s not to love.

friday night was my birthday gift, tickets to the demetri martin show, which i was really excited about. as i told a few people already, his new show on comedy central which started this week was good. not quite as pure gold as his hour special from a while back, but definitely worth watching. the live show was really good. hardly any old material, and a lot of winners. i told jessica afterward, there were so many great jokes i couldn’t possibly remember any to try to repeat back to others. the guy is just really laid back and comfortable on stage and painfully witty. great time, even though they had set up chairs in the fonda which meant by the time we got there it was full and i had to sit in the balcony for the first time ever in that venue.

the only weird part was that he took ‘requests’ at the end, which is one thing for songs, but kinda bizarre for jokes. especially when the crowd cheers really loudly after the punchline. we didn’t really understand the crowd’s thought process at that moment. ‘hey, that’s that joke i know from before! WOOOOOOOOO!’ yeah, strange, but at least peppered with new jokes as well so it wasn’t just a weird close to an otherwise excellent show.

valentines day was just plain enjoyable, with an afternoon wine tasting at vino 100. if it weren’t in the hollywood/highland mall, it would be a cute little neighborhood shop, so don’t let that bias you against it. we had a yummy little cheese and chocolate and nut platter and a round of wines, throwing in an extra glass at the end and picking one to take home at the end. then we watched wall-E and got all cuted up watching robots fall in love before going to dinner around the block at campanile. it’s funny that a nice restaurant you could probably hit with a slingshot from our apartment we’d still never been to. overall i’d say it was a solid B+, a little packed in for it to be too romantic, and some of the dishes in our 5 course menu were a little plain, but others were totally delicious and of course, the company was fantastic. we talked a little about how different valentines is now that we’re fully committed versus the earlier years when we were still wooing eachother, and decided it’s a lot easier to just have a good time now that the pressure’s off. plus it’s fun to chuckle at the other couples around us who are obviously still in the awkward early days instead of best buddies for life like we are. instead we can just drink a lot and enjoy the food and go home and pass out googly-eyed and happy.

then the rest of the weekend we did almost nothing and it was fantastic. i’ve been killing a ton of zombies in left 4 dead which is possibly the most fun game since playing halo with the guys in college, doing plenty of reading, and staying indoors mostly from the february chill and rain. now i hope this week i get enough spare time to do all my work and still get some writing done for under culture, which i have slacked off on for a week much to my embarrassment. fingers crossed.

this stimulus stuff is just getting nuts, people. seriously, mccain?

Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, said the numbers being talked about show that each of the 3 million to 4 million jobs President Obama has said he wanted to create would cost more than $900,000 each. “The American people are figuring it out,” Mr. McCain said. “This is not a stimulus bill; it is a spending bill.”

that’s some dumb, dumb math. yes, this package will go exclusively to 3 million americans at roughly a million dollars apiece, and the rest of us will sit back and watch those people save our country. and yes, let’s strip out all the pieces that might improve quality of life in the long term like parks projects and health care initiatives. who needs that when we can subsidize pollution spewing factories. jesus. who are these people?

as a side note, how embarrassing is it that half of the democratic cabinet nominees had to drop out for not paying their taxes? the whole idea was that we were more upstanding than the crooks that came before. turns out we’re just less imaginative in our wrongdoing and give up more easily when confronted. nice work team.

[sigh]… luckily tonight is coraline in 3D where i can be whisked away to a magical and spooky dream world. i have a feeling fantasy movies are going to make shitloads of money this year considering how depressing the real world is.