Category: Uncategorized

in a testament to going all out on a holiday weekend, and of course my love for america, the past four days were a mostly beer-soaked affair with the added bonus of having left physical marks on my body. let them be a reminder that perhaps climbing on and/or jumping off of things that are twice your height might not be the best idea after hours of beer, beer pong, delicious beer-boiled bratwurst, and the resulting beer wooziness from a barbeque done right. today, it hurts to sit down because of the large bruise on my now red-white-and-blue upper thigh.

also, next time we want to set off explosives, our own apartment complex roof may not be the best place to do it. at least if we’d rather not be visited twice by the cops and have a police chopper do a few loops overhead. must remember that some neighbors just don’t love america as passionately as we do.

it was kind of nuts coming home from seeing war of the worlds last night and looking out my window to see what is normally a clear view of the downtown LA skyline replaced with a dark cloudy fog. that’ll make you do a double take alright.

the movie itself i can’t go on at length about, because although in terms of craftsmanship regarding directing, acting, effects, and so on it was great, i still found myself largely indiferent toward it as a whole. afterward i decided as we discussed some of spielbergs decisions (specifically regarding the end of this one), that his overall motive for making movies has been to illustrate how the power of love always wins. disagree if you like, i stick by this one.

more exciting to me, and further illustrating how cool i am (disagree if you like), i snagged the second volume of batman cartoons on dvd, which has me all aflutter. more so because joe scored it for me at a sweet insider warner brothers studio discount before his most recent film job ended. i am totally watching hours of caped crusader over this long weekend when i’m not drinking beer and/or enjoying the sun.

a weekend that promised to be good ended up being full of surprise bonuses that made each good day great. how can you beat that?

friday i made it out to the fearless freaks screening, which was set up in the courtyard in front of the laemmle sunset 5. a bunch of folding chairs with target-sponsored souveneir seat cushions and free ice cream. sadly i couldn’t find anyone to go with me, so i had to skip the ice cream to save my seat. however, who among us can say they won a free copy of the movie before they even screened it for knowing the excellent piece of flaming lips trivia, “which popular 90’s show did the flaming lips appear on, and what venue did they play?” well, that would be me, whose hand bolted up (after the words “90’s show…”, i’m so good) and answering the correct “90210, at the peach pit”. i am such a big winner. incidentally, check out the film if you like the band at all, they’re an interesting group of weirdos and it’s worth it just to hear wayne coyne talk about pretty much anything, really. coolest guy from oklahoma ever.

saturday i knew the mountain goats show would be good, and boy was it. then holy crap the crowd was so full of love they clapped and clapped through the turning on of the house lights and the rising of the house music for a supremely rare second encore at the troubadour, defeating the man with our darnielle affections and urging a huge performance of ‘no children’ — halfway through which his guitar went out somehow and transformed it into a massive sing-a-long that was easily one of my top five LA concert moments to date. and all that sandwiched between a beautiful afternoon of beach volleyball and a cool ass post-concert trip to jen’s party down the road. now that’s a full day.

sunday’s arcade fire show at the hollywood bowl was strange because i don’t normally see bands i like from more than a hundred yards away and several stories up on a hillside, but then again i also don’t usually have a wine-drenched picnic beforehand either, so all in all it was lovely. more like relaxing with some good tunes than a real concert as i like them, but still great. plus through either fate, luck, or a certain someone’s subtle planning, i ended up sitting next to exactly who i hoped i would in our group of 12, which was a nice bonus. AND david byrne wrapped up his set with an insane marching-band-backed cover of beyonce’s ‘crazy in love’, so tell me that wasn’t just about the perfect night either.

plus cubs take the sox two out of three? please, how much more good news can you fit into three days?

on the way to work today, sitting in my car at one of the stoplights, i swear to god the older asian woman in a car right in front of me was cutting her own hair. i mean, self-styled hair is sketchy on its own; but while driving a vehicle? this lady i as d.i.y. as they come. she doesn’t give a shit about what anybody says.

also, i switched desks today. i moved two spots over and now i face west instead of east. the aisle is on my right instead of left. and i arranged my stuff to be basically the mirror image of what it was before. this could either result in an exciting change in my right/left brain dynamics, or it could cause some sort of fun seizure/breakdown kind of thing in the next week as i go haywire. either way, should be fun, right?

right now i just feel weird though.

however, it is friday, and the flaming lips documentary fearless freaks is playing for free tonight for the LA film fest, and i think our team agreed to all cut out early today in a unified gesture of summerness, and the ever-amazing mountain goats are playing tomorrow, followed by the arcade fire sunday, so hell, man, what am i doing hanging out on blogger?

great weekend. party over here, party over there, fathers’ day barbeque with the peerless spencer and family. kinda rough staying up til almost 5am two nights in a row though… how do i do it? yet here i am fresh as a daisy monday morning.

and it isn’t like almost everyone i know hasn’t already seen it, but if you’ll just allow me to rave for a minute, please:

batman begins – 5 stars

continuing the too-good-to-be-true streak of 2005 blockbusters that could have been catastrophic letdowns but were actually better than i thought they could be, batman begins managed to succeed specifically in all the areas that i doubted it would. being a bat-nut, i knew i’d be forgiving either way and still enjoy it, but it surpassed my expectations and even, i think, almost all the other comic book movies i’ve seen.

see, i was afraid that a film so heavy on the backstory was going to end up dull. but bale’s acting and the attention to believability and character development pulled me right in; as a matter of fact one of my only complaints was that the first 15 minutes or so felt rushed, if anything, and i could have watched them flesh it out more if they had the time (i can’t really fault them, however, for wanting to get to the batty goodness sooner than later).

my other big concern was the scarecrow as a villain, who in cartoon incarnations was great because of his otherworldiness and use of hallucinations — could they really pull that off live actions without going into cheesy CGI? and i have to say this ended up being one of my favorite parts of this movie, they pulled it off so surprisingly well. the first time he uses his fear gas, i jumped in my seat, and every time after i was appropriately scared and simultaneously delighted at how little they were holding back on showing some real terror. spider-man 2 this ain’t, folks. the first time dr. crane (played SO well by cillian murphy) doses the crime boss (played equally well by tom wilkinson — seriously, what a cast!), did they ever let loose on the screaming. and it was perfect. as was every time after that, which i’ll spare for the few who haven’t seen for themselves.

otherwise, the batmobile was cooler than i thought it’d be; way cooler than driving into a fake dead end street, huh? and alfred was great, lucius was great, and the action was completely dead-on to the combination intimidation and quick dispatch method of how batman works. okay, the evil scheme was a little over the top and katie holmes might have been a tad unnecessary, but this was a comic book movie after all so that’s all easily brushed aside, because it didn’t distract from what was good.

overall, probably the most satisfying adventure movie i’ve seen in a long time, and i’m still debating whether this is my new favorite superhero movie or not. the spider-man and X-men sequels were both pretty strong, but i don’t know, this is the dark knight we’re talking about…

it’s friday, it’s been a good week, and i’ve got some fun lined up for the weekend (laundry! drinking! — no, not together). it may not be as full of dance parties and tree climbing as last weekend (see racoon-esque photo below), but it will be good. someone come with me to markie d’s, i’m dying for a cheesesteak!

also, enjoy a nice pay day song from death from above 1979, who i’ve been cranking in my car all week.

it’s batman night it’s batman night it’s batman night!

i am not a loser. but i am more excited about this than i was for star wars, if i’m going to be absolutely honest. i mean, with star wars i knew i was going to get some stuff i loved in a movie that had many flaws. this at least has the chance of being all-out terrific. and even if it’s not, i bet the caped crusader effect will still make for a good old time. i bought tickets online, i recruited a crew of fellow dorks. i am shaking in anticipation.

yesterday i had to actually speak as part of a presentation for Important Marketing Executives, now that i’m more of a big bad important dude, post-promotion. it was only 4 sentences or something and i think my voice cracked somewhere in the middle, but i’m sure it was a professional and intelligent-sounding faulter, no doubt. first time jitters. repeat: i am not a loser.

so there’s been an odd, sort of backwards dilemma i’ve been thinking about lately, and especially this week. it’s bred in part by this kick my roommate and i have been on recently, with all the going out and fun excursions, of a very self-aware ‘how great are our lives right now?’ mentality. which i can’t argue with at all — we’re 24 year old guys, living successful and comfortable and entertaining lives in beautiful and exciting los angeles. our apartment is a constrant stream of activity, we’re constantly on the go, we’ve got lots of great friends all around us, and our share of luck with women… basically everything a person could want, and we know it.

but that’s where the dilemma kicks in, surprisingly, in that i’m internally battling this feeling of constant satisfaction. how dumb is that? everything’s finally going my way and now i feel the need to complain about it? but there’s a valid idea in there somewhere, i swear. i miss the feeling like i’m fighting for something. sure, there’s still some of that in my job, in that i’ve just taken on some new roles and i want to show my stuff. but i did already get the job, so that fight’s essentially won, i’m just trying to gain favor now. and romantically, it’s maybe worse. i remember hoping and wishing for months in high school or college for the loves of my life to materialize; from crumbling at the thought of any chance i didn’t think i even had, to that gradual and painfully touchy ‘did i say the right thing’ process of forging a connection, to the eventual triumphant climax. will i ever have a first kiss like that again? or a personal or professional victory on that level? i don’t think it’s possible without the thing that i’m lacking right now, which is an enduring sense of longing, for anything. that’s what i miss right now. i want to want something badly.

nevermind if this may or may not have been induced by recent viewings of closer and the o.c.: season one. this could certainly not just be a juvenile need to have some heartbreak to whine about. not from a sophisticated gentleman like myself.

good weekend i’d say, with a little non-party fun breaking up the routine we’ve fallen into lately. saturday night i went to see some friends’ entry into the mayday film competition, which i think is one of the best ideas ever for quick-and-dirty creativity for the masses. all the teams entering get a single title at the same time, 11am on saturday (this year it was “hope decoyed”), and they get 24 hours to write, shoot, edit, and finish their movies, to be shown and voted on by the audience at the screening, which was this weekend. really fun idea, lots of great (and a few not-so-great) short films. definitely recommend checking into it.

then sunday we went hiking on mount pinos — you tell me how that should be pronounced. but regardless of the name, it was good to get out in the air and move around. we even climbed a tree, which had to be the first time i’ve done that in, oh, 15 years. jesus, i can hardly believe i’m able to say that about anything.

would have been a totally positive day if they hadn’t just wrapped up a manhunt right as we were arriving, with less-than-positive results. very surreal. we were just looking at a map of trails and a ranger comes over to tell us, “guys, do you mind clearing off this area… we’re gonna bring this lady over here to sit down. we just located her husband.” then see us shuffling hurriedly toward our car and away from the weeping old woman. damn. but hey, the trail mix sure was good! mmm, cashews!

saw the movie crash last night after much urging from some coworkers and friends, and oh boy is that one a head full. great film. i wouldn’t say i loved it but i would say you shouldn’t miss it. i won’t go off on much of a review mostly for the exact reason i liked it: it’s a great discussion piece. hence, me writing my thoughts in a vacuum would sort of defeat the purpose without a dialogue. i’d love to talk about it though once you all go out and see it. very good. and bravo to ludacris for showing some heart, huh?

tonight i have my sights on somehow sneaking in to the sold out bloc party show at the el rey. i figure since i tried to buy a real ticket, and the venue’s only a few blocks from my apartment, there are really no moral or logistical barriers to at least giving it a try. maybe i can make friends with a big burly filipino guy in the process. i just don’t want to miss them again because you know those british bands, sometimes it’s a while before they swing back through the states. and i was really looking forward to hearing them tear through a couple of their more rocking songs on stage, too. [pay day was monday but whatever, you know?]

so if that doesn’t happen who knows, maybe i’ll catch up on some tivo. i do have that they might be giants documentary to watch, and there’s not much cooler than that to be doing on a friday night, for sure.