Category: Uncategorized

several post-lets to catch up since last i wrote:

saw the life aquatic last week. refuse to comment until more people see it and i can discuss it with them, because i don’t want to affect their opinion on it by influencing their expectations beforehand one way or the other. let me know what you think once you do catch it though, because it’s pretty obvious that every wes anderson fan will be going in the next few weeks, which i will at least say they should be doing.

also went and saw a city on film show at the knitting factory side lounge last week, which was an excellent time. the fact i knew the box office guy through a friend and got hooked up almost made up for the fact that a bunch of people were talking over the music — which is so rude and unforgiveable in such a small room — and then just ditched the last half of the set leaving the place almost empty. i would have felt bad for him if i wasn’t having such a good time myself just listening once it quited down.

caught the life and death of peter sellers on tivo with the lady friend over delicious wine and cheese she brilliantly picked up, which was a great thursday night. the movie was worth checking out for sure; probably close to top-ranking on the list of what i’ve seen in the narrow ‘bio-pic’ category. the bottle of wine she got also had a part of a story on the back about an alligator attack, to be continued on later bottles from the same winery. very cool.

then over the weekend it was road trip up to nor-cal to hang out with the guys, specifically josh who is newly returned from lithuania for the holidays. despite having to drive through the thickest fog i’ve ever seen and not rolling in until nearly 1am, we still managed to stay awake and party until around 6 in the morning. sure, the next day we were all a wreck and we stooped as low as going to see national treasure (awful. truly awful.), but it was so worth it.

lastly, i know i should have worked a little harder to find some indie rock christmas song for the final pay day song of the year, but the market’s flooded anyway. instead, how about a song from novi split, who opened for city on film, from their split EP which i picked up at the show. another solo project, another sad guy with a guitar, but i really felt for the scrawny little emo guy. the EP is solid too, specifically the last track, so check that out and get your own christmas music.

to all the jerks who may refuse to think of me as an adult with a bonafide and promising career in the business world just because i still act and dress like a rock-concert going college kid with skate shoes and a backpack, you’ll be happy to hear that i went on my first business trip yesterday. totally official and important, i’ll have you know.

the good thing about this was that it was an important and beneficial step in me becoming a better professional, and the experience was good, i’d say. face time with clients and all that. the bad part was that this was not of the glamorous visit to another city and stay in a nice hotel and have power lunches variety. this was of the wake up at 4:45am to get to the airport on time to fly to northern california for a few meetings, some of only marginal importance, and then fly right back by sundown variety. it was exhausting and somewhat of a pain. but i did get an awesome breakfast sandwich and some frequent flier points.

and for those jerks on the opposite side who think i’m all sold out and professional and grown-up, you can just shut up knowing that i still carried an eastpack backpack with a batman pin — briefcase? attache? what are those? — still wore vans, and even went to a rock concert the same night, which i got into for free because i knew the girlfriend of the dude working the ticket counter. so eat that.

long live treading the line between reality and indie idealism.

i’m sorry johnny walker, i am, but i hated you this morning. hated you passionately. sure, i loved you last night when the open bar gave me all the access to you i want, giving me the courage to dance in front of coworkers and not feel stupid wearing a jacket and tie (with shirt still defiantly untucked and unbuttoned at the top, thank you very much) and smile stupidly right at certain girls i would normally divert my stare from quickly when caught.

but today, when i woke up at 11 still wearing my clothes, jacket and tie at least shed on the floor nearby, still wearing my contacts, and awfully dehydrated, you were definitely not my friend. once i changed and went back to sleep, then woke up again at 3pm (yes, 3pm for god’s sake) with a horrible stomachache, only to watch you pour violently and repeatedly out of my body a few minutes later at the alter of the porcelain god, you were not the delicious and merry buddy on the rocks from the night prior. you were a stinging, hateful alcholic demon that had to be exorcised, and i had no love for you at all. it didn’t help that i was unable to even keep down toast, toast for the love of god, until almost FIVE, you son of a bitch. why did i deserve that?

i know, i don’t know when enough is enough. i was even disappointed at the last round when i couldn’t get more of you and had to settle for water (lame). so maybe the blame isn’t all mine; maybe i’ll even be able to forgive you someday (next weekend?). but today you kept me from being able to see the life aquatic, and made me lose most of my afternoon. consequently, i am no longer speaking to you (for now. see you soon! great party though!).

i love my ipod. sincerely, openly, and fully. i get in the car and shuffle the whole thing, and even though i have one of the older models that only holds 5GB, that’s still around 1100 songs to randomize for driving music. it’s wonderful.

however, and perhaps others have also noticed this, the bri-pod (as it is named) seems to have some ‘favorite’ songs that no matter how often i turn on shuffle, always seem to come on more than others for some reason. conversely, i am fairly confident there are some tracks in the thing i have never once heard come up on shuffle (where are you, texas is the reason song i first heard on a high school friend’s mix tape, called “if it’s here when we get back it’s ours?”).

anyway, i wonder what it says about me or my ipod that these seem to be its most preferred tracks:

— smoking popes – ‘do something’

(far and away favorite. i hear this like every three days, it’s creepy.)

— dismemberment plan – ‘do the standing still’

— promise ring – ‘a broken tenor’

(my favorite song of theirs, luckily.)

— modest mouse – ‘ohio’

(my least favorite song of theirs that made it on the ipod, which is unfair. i almost want to cut it just to break the curse.)

— jay-z – ‘encore’ remix from the grey album

— rancid – ‘radio’

(and i never skip this one, out of all these)

— neutral milk hotel – ‘king of carrot flowers pt 1’

(amazing song, and now i know all the words.)

— that song off the first streets album, where an intelligent pothead and stupid beer-drunk hooligan debate the merits of their respecitve drugs of choice

— the instrumental interlude tracks from minus the bear’s highly refined pirates album, much more than the actual songs

(which i only put on for the rare instances i want to listen to the whole cd at once. rip off.)

— bon jovi – ‘livin’ on a prayer’

(which, i swear, is on there for road trip purposes only — the sole acceptable situation in which it is okay to both blast and sing along to this track, aside from maybe a biker bar.)

now there’d be a weird mix cd, don’t you think?

but am i the only one who has noticed this phenomenon? i mean, if other people’s ipods have a top ten i’d like to know what they were — and make sure they weren’t cooler than mine.

so a month has passed since the Big Bad Election of 2004, and it’s far enough behind us to think about moving ahead on a personal level. luckily the world hasn’t ended just yet — although bush’s second term hasn’t actually started yet either. Give the man time and i’m sure he’ll find a way as we watch the war get worse not better and the value of the dollar dip instead of recover. we have to believe in him; he is the president after all.

but the thing that reassures me is that my interest in following democratic politics hasn’t waned much if at all. in fact i probably read as much news this week as i did in october, and if not riddled with a little case of “i live in a blazingly blue city in a big blue state, how can i really make a difference?”, would be otherwise ready to do some protesting or activism or whatever to fight the far-right monster should i get the opportunity to do something meaningful. i mean, if there’s one thing my life does not have right now, it’s fighting, so why not fight the biggest enemy of them all, ignorance? all in due time though i guess. for now i’m mostly just reading up and thinking, “go dean go.”

that’s weekday brian of course. weekend brian mostly drank with his cool lady friend at the viper room, then a lot more with his buddies while watching football (trojans #1 start to finish, bitches!) and playing video games (so far, i still think halo 1 is more fun to play linked up), then a lot less and just chilling instead with the same cool lady friend. twice in one weekend is a big deal, right? or at least it is if she lives in the valley (yuck).

life isn’t fair sometimes. like the fact that because i have to buy christmas presents, i was trying to save money by not going out to meet my roommate at one of our favorite local bars last night, which means that he got to see david cross hanging out there for over two hours, and i didn’t. they didn’t talk to him and i probably wouldn’t have either (usual policy of don’t bug celebrities unless you have a reason to start a conversation or opportunity to gracefully say, ‘i appreciate what you do’), but that would have been a great one to add to the sightings list. at least i know he has been to that place though; it sort of validates it as a destination.

in other news items, i happened upon this trailer for ong bak which looks HOT. give me the release date, stupid trailer! when can i check my local listings?

and also, i caught and episode of tom goes to the mayor last night after putting tivo on the case, thanks to a tip that the mr. show crew was involved. previously i thought it was just an ugly half-hearted attempt at animation. turns out it sort of is that, but it’s also a semi-animated comic strip written and voice acted by that crew (odenkirk produced), featuring the D in the ‘bear traps’ episode at least. i wouldn’t say it was great, but it was weird, different, way random, and funny. gino, however, was not down, so be warned it might be a let down if you’re not openminded and forgiving.

and lastly in further cartoon news, a new animation show is playing in LA in february 2005 at the nuart! i can’t wait, the first one was a joy. the dates aren’t listed on their site but sign up for their email list like i did and you might get the same insider updates. nothing like planning three months early to go to a movie.

it’s been a funny LA couple of nights. tuesday i went with joe and dan to a ‘master storytellers’ event at the arclight in hollywood… the empire strikes back on the big beautiful screen, with some Q and A with director irvin kershner. he had some funny stories about wrangling yoda and r2d2, and revealed what i didn’t even know (shame on me, i thought i was real fan) about the shooting. lucas wasn’t even there. kershner did it all then came back with a cut to show ol’ georgie. our immediate conclusion: no wonder the new ones suck. george doesn’t know shit about how to direct or instruct actors (right, we all could tell that, but this is the support!), just write fantasy epics and innovate technical stuff like sound design. damn, i hope that cool ass trailer (which they also showed) isn’t another prelude to a let down.

then last night i went out for a long overdue coffee and conversation with good old jen. we tried to roll up to insomnia, but literally every seat was taken, 90% of the people with laptops utilizing the free wifi. it was a creepy combination of a university library and a twilight zone episode, like we had stumbled into a place we were unwelcome — cut to a dozen faces eerily lit by the glow of their monitors snapping up to stare at us deciding not to order and just leaving. sorry for invading, weirdos. but it actually worked out because we went to starbucks where it was quiet and fine and a random girl stopped me to ask if my braid shirt was for “the band braid, like from chicago?” and i was really excited for her to be the first to ever ask me that question and respond positively. plus the cocoa is pretty good and jen is one person i never seem to run out of things to talk about with; we could go on forever and would have if the place didn’t close. i LOVE those kinds friends, they really are indispensable.

oh, and on the way to and from the car we walked past some salon party or something on beverly with a bunch of models crowding up the sidewalk being all blonde and shit and waiting for the valets to bring their cars around while on cell phones and wearing too much makeup. it was like wading through really hot underbrush to get back to where we parked, only without the machete, obviously.

the futureheads – [s/t] – 5 stars

futureheads live at the troubadour 11/20/2004 – 4 stars

thanks are due on this one, because i might not have given this band a shot if it weren’t for spencer, who told me months ago to check them out and made me listen to them. even if i didn’t take to them then, thinking them just a noisy mess in my half-hearted first listen, he planted the seed.

and thanks to josh, who had this cd playing in his car when we got burgers that day when i realized this cd wasn’t a loud jumble, i just wasn’t paying attention. it was actually a layered and intentionally thick mass of vocal and guitar hooks that built on eachother to deliver a harder punch. kinda like the clash meets a barbershop quartet at a hipster bar. interesting.

then thanks to joe, who gave me the heads up they were playing a month before the show where i probably wouldn’t have noticed or bothered otherwise, and prompted me to recall that day in the car, download a few sample tracks, and realize i was starting to get excited about seeing this band.

thanks especially to the futureheads, who stood on that stage and within 3 bars had me loving them. shooting high onto the list of bands who care so much less about looking like a rock band (using the stage as a display case) and so much more about playing enjoyable music for their fans, and visibly enjoying themselves (stage as a dance floor, trampoline, you name it…). the only problem being that since they’re a new band, they only have a small catalog to pull from, so they ended up playing some of the lesser tracks just to fill a set. another round of songs (new album in 2005? [fingers crossed]) and their setlist will be all-star quality, i can’t wait.

thanks, finally to my passenger seat, for being empty of anyone who might have to endure my singing loudly to this cd as its case sat on the cushion to and from work every day for a week, and i actually enjoyed this cd more every time instead of any kind of loss of novelty effect. the best songs are so full of harmony and bounce i just can’t stop, and i pick up more with each listen. three words for this album: pick it up.

and if you can’t be bothered, at least listen to the pay day song, meantime. doesn’t have the best examples of their cool multi-part backing vocals, but hot dog are those some great licks.

24 hours and i’ll be back in los angeles. i watched the USC football game on TV today and saw it was raining back home, but then the announcer talked about how the clouds broke up and there was a full moon, and i thought about moonlight over the city out my apartment window and got homesick. not for the parents’ house i was sitting in, but for the place i’ve made my home in the past five or so years. if the real test for deciding if you really do love something is how you feel when you’re separated from it, then i may soon have to admit the big L… for a place i used to say i couldn’t wait to leave, no less.

not to get mushy or anything. and definitely not to say i don’t enjoy getting to see the family — they get only love. but it’ll be good to get back in my element. hey, maybe one of these years i can convince them to come visit me? and ideally without even having to get married first.

flying out for thanksgiving and family and rest and all that in a few hours, which should be pretty great. can’t wait to see the family and eat dangerous amounts of pie.

before then though i have to offer up a contrarian movie review really quick just to get a little bit of opposition out there in the face of all the puzzlingly high praise for this one…

sideways – 1 star

why in the world does everyone love this movie? honestly, i am baffled. my only concession is that it may require i age 20 more years and experience failures and depression i cannot imagine at only a healthy 23 before i am able to relate to and therefore enjoy this movie, but even of that i am skeptical, and i will tell you why. the comedy didn’t make me laugh much. the drama didn’t make me care much. the characters didn’t make me route for them much. and the insight didn’t make me think much. let me ask you this: what reason do we have to believe that any woman would want paul giamatti’s character in this movie? he’s unattractive, bitter, and sad, and even at his best moments in the film he didn’t show any signs of being anything better than tolerable. so why should we care about this movie? and it’s no better for his friend, the pathologically womanizing friend, who seems like a bastard who is sad he’s a bastard only when he gets caught being a bastard and it threatens his future potential to be a bastard unscathed. again, why do i care? both characters could have failed or succeeded in the end and it still would have just been a sad and only marginally funny trip through a week with two somewhat pathetic aging men.

i will say this: i felt the exact same way about alexander payne’s last film, about schmidt — another case of just a bunch of sad characters i almost wanted to see end up miserable because i didn’t like them enough to want otherwise. so if in painting these character sketches the writer/director is looking to make films that are the most ‘real’ (i.e. as depressing and futile as life can seem), and has succeeded equally in both cases, i guess he deserves credit for accomplishing his goal and rubbing our faces in it. i read in one review complimenting his “illustrating the dilemma of modern mediocrity”, and i can’t disagree that sure, he did do that. but i’m sorry payne, it just makes a fucking terrible movie.

[side note: this film was boring and sad (not in a crying way, more in a ‘god that guy’s life sucks’ way) but giamatti is a great actor. can’t we ever see him in a role as a likeable character? i know i would get sick of being the really talented actor at making people believe how pathetic i was.]