Category: Uncategorized

taking some spare minutes at work to catch up on california politics. i got some piece of mail yesterday and realized, ‘oh shit, the election is next week and i don’t know what i’m voting yet.’ well, problem solved, i think. looks like i’m going green on this particular ballot mostly because the other choices for major/serious candidates are a far-right republican, the second to the governor-to-be-booted, and kindergarten cop. plus i like the idea of someone who is for encouraging solar power, gay/lesbian rights and marriage, and decriminalizing marijuana on top of auditing the state economy.

it’s hard to take it too seriously though when my polling place is ‘precious hair & nails’ on wilshire. what the fuck is that, they didn’t have any schools or libraries we could use for this little democratic inconvenience?

[now hearing this: mars volta.]

contrast can really screw up your perceptions. six weeks ago i was sort of going crazy because i didn’t have enough work to do and for the first time, my work day was dragging and making me doubt myself. then it turned into september and i’ve been working 10-12 hour days consistently. last weekend i worked nine hours on sunday and then a full normal week, but we got everything done we needed to. now by comparison, just having a few moments to collect my thoughts feels like vacation in comparison. luckily, everybody likes vacations, right?

the weekend, being two days instead of one, felt equally luxurious, and i feel rejuvenated and relaxed and happy in its wake. it was somewhat uneventful as far as action-packed nights on the town, but still good. friday night i walked a mile down the street to a yuppie mall to use my apple store gift cards (ipod car charger for the matrix, extra firewire cable for the backpack in case of emergency downloads & uploads to my work computer). i figure, with free money i can buy things i would never pay real money for otherwise without guilt. similarly, i bought more comic books with an amazon gift certificate my boss got me for working so much overtime last week. i can’t wait to read watchmen after hearing everyone in the world pretty much nut over allan moore’s masterpiece.

saturday i was even up 3 bucks at nickel poker (i have learned to prefer texas hold’em over 5-card draw), which went directly toward some mozzarella sticks at the nearest IHOP at 3am. can you believe jack in the box had the nerve to take them off their menu? now i can only get them if i go to a sit-down restaurant! if anyone knows another fast-food chain or even short-order stand that has good cheese sticks, please please help ease my pain.

and to top it all off, with all this seemingly-vast-in-comparison amount of leisure time, i went to lunch and a movie with my dear friend emily, dinner with my dear friend jen freshly back from japan (she even bought me this totally sweet shirt that will be sure to impress the hipster chicks), re-entered my netflix habit, AND finished a book! for a weekend of lounging i really packed it in, n’est pas?

hence, expect reviews of lost in translation, wonder boys, and a wild sheep chase to follow tonight or tomorrow.

[now hearing this: braid – frame and canvas. and after years and years, i still can’t say i’ve heard many cd’s better than this one either.]

so damn busy. and exhausted. even having fun is tiring me out lately. i think i must needs spend a healthy amount of time this weekend doing very very little. by way of recuperation. and hopefully catch that lost in translation movie, cause bill murray is a genius and that young ms. scarlett is a fine young thing. talented, i mean. used sparingly in man who wasn’t there and still i somehow loved her in that part. that’s how you know.

oh, i have reviewed very few movies because i haven’t watched enough lately. i’m feeling the onset of what i knew would be inevitable: the netflix guilt. i pay by the month, what if i don’t watch enough this month! the incremental cost will go up to 3 or 4 or 5 instead of 2! holy fuck i better get working!

but here’s a half-assed review for you:

american splendor – 3 stars

i’ve been meaning to see this for weeks cause i have friends that said it was really good. guess what? it was really good. and i’ve been on a comic kick lately. the right ingredients made it enjoyable and if you feel any similar affinites i bet you’d like it too. toby is a riot though. i wish they had white castle here in california.

beforehand we saw a trailer for elephant. that kind of disgusted me. how hard is it to make a shocking and chilling tale of a high school shooting when it’s based on an actually true, very shocking and chilling reality? it seems like a cheap way to be poignant to me. perhaps i should see it and find out.

[now hearing this: cex – being ridden]

cool shit….

it’s wednesday and i am drunk. courtesy of wired magazine. let me tell you how this works, in case you don’t know:

1–advertising agencies buy ad space in magazines, also known as providing them their main source of income

2–to encourage advertising space buyers to pay for ad space in their publication instead of others, what we call ‘media reps’ treat advertising media buyers to fun, free, alcohol-included events

3–sometimes those benefits trickle down to others at the agency, i.e. me.

and so this is why i got to go on a crazy treasure hunt with GPS units and pocket PC’s and flashlights and what have you (similar to geocaching, only in a competitive way with a time limit in a small area, i.e. santa monica pier and promenade), then return to find we got second place good for a $25 gift certificate to the apple store — $50 if like me, your teammate doesn’t want hers… bonus! — and free dinner and several rounds of shots and heineken chasers, all thanks to wired magazine.

i quite enjoy working in advertising.

[now hearing this: dntel – ‘the dream of evan and chan’. i know i’ve used this before but instead of lying and being different i was being honest and just telling you what was actually playing on winamp shuffle right now.]

a few pretty interesting things happened to me this week, despite the first one, being that i worked until 9 or so almost every night this week. as a matter of fact, i’m at work right now. yes, it is 7:30 on sunday. the world’s just a crazy place sometimes. i think i’m going to take next friday off though with a blessing from my boss. that will be nice and make the week easier.

the first notable thing was that i did manage to get to golden apple on wednesday after work before they closed to grab endless nights, which they weren’t sold out of at all. excellent. but the fun part wasn’t just getting the comic book, it was seeing brian posehn there too! you may know him as the tall goofy looking guy with glasses from mr. show, or the tall goofy looking guy from just shoot me. and he wasn’t just picking something up, he was flat out hanging out in a comic book store. i figured a serious comic book store guy doesn’t deal well with being approached, although i sort of wish i had at least told him i thought he was hilarious, because i figure serious comic book store guys also could use some extra confidence. maybe next time.

thursday night was crazy too. LACMA was having a special end-of-summer all-night museum party, and admission was free and there were giveaways and music and stuff. i figured i’d get home, swing by there for a while and see some art for free, and head home satisfied without even having to stay late into the night. well, that didn’t happen because to my utter surprise, there was a line that stretched all the way around a city block just to get in. since it was already 11 when we even walked up and realized this, we settled for just walking along and seeing all the types of people waiting. it was probably one of the coolest gatherings i’ve ever seen in this city, and just the atmosphere was great walking along the sidewalk. there were older cultured types, young party kids, artsy hipsters, students, young professionals, all over the board. the vibe in the air was great. i wish walking down the street were like that every night.

i also played my first game of literati (i.e. online fake-scrabble) with a new friend in indiana, and won by a single letter, thus proving to myself that i am the smartest person alive.

the rest of the weekend was unremarkable but okay; i spent a lot of time with my friends which i love doing, and yet here i am still at work at almost 8 on a sunday which is keeping me from spending more time with them. sad, isn’t it?

additionally, i think this may be one of the most poorly written blog entries in a while for me, so i am sorry if you’d come to respect me or my writing. guess i fooled you, didn’t i?

[now hearing this: minus the bear – this is what i know about being gigantic]

so, being a registered california voter, i received a handy dandy guide to the upcoming recall elections (oct. 7th! mark your calendar!) in the mail this week. in it, the petitions and rebuttals that brought about this special election, then a list of the candidates, then statements from the candidates, then some explanation of some propositions being tacked onto the ballot.

the sad thing isn’t that i read through the booklet — i am making at least some attempt to be an informed voter for the first time in my life out of simple civic duty. the sad thing is that all the statements sounded surprisingly like elementary school essays handed in for the prompt, “why would you want to be governor some day?” They all either went through some lame laundry list of qualifications or took quick stances in the allotted space to appeal to those who hear a cause and latch onto it. and honestly it was hard to tell the serious candidates from the people who were just running for the hell of it. although i did find an early favorite: trek thunder kelly.

Dear Voters, Please vote for me, thus breaking the Seventh Seal and incurring Armageddon. I will legalize drugs, gambling, and prostitution so they may be taxed and regulated, the funds derived would subsidize the deficit, education, and the environment. I believe in peaceful resolutions backed by a strong military; I don’t care who you marry or have sex with.

and if the election isn’t enough of a joke to you already:

• you can read any of the other personal statements here, assuming they accepted the voluntary spending limit (schwarzenegger didn’t, sadly).
• the trek thunder kelly website
• there are ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE registered participants. gallagher, the ‘comedian’, is one of them.
• one is a porn star. one is larry flynt. (i actually thought for a second about voting for him, to be honest.)
• on this certified list, all their professed occupations are included. aside from your typical businesspeople/attorneys, we have a nice selection of backgrounds including some college students, a retired meatpacker, a railroad switchman, a custom denture manufacturer, a golf professional, a used car dealer, and — i shit you not — a “middleweight sumo wrestler”. i would never consider a middleweight for governor though. i mean come on.
• i think i’ll stick by the “marijuana legalization attorney”.

i’m so proud of my state. i foresee the declaration of marshall law in a manner of weeks.

[now hearing this: the new saves the day single has been in my head a lot lately. i need to get the mp3 on my work computer so i can fight fire with fire.]

speaking of comics, i nearly let the big day pass me by without remembering. new sandman is tomorrow! i have to really try not to go hyper-nerd on this one.

however, if i swing by golden apple comics after work tomorrow and they don’t have any copies left, i’m going to stab someone with my compass and strangle them with my rainbow suspenders.

understanding comics – scott mccloud – 5 stars

some people at work take smoke breaks. i take book review breaks. they have no idea the depths of nerdiness concealed beneath this stylish exterior.

and what’s more, it’s a book review on a comic book! a comic book about comics! yikes.

well here is the problem with this book then. it’s in comic book form, which is scary to non-comics readers — despite the fact that the book itself is an academic albeit creatively expressed explanation/validation of comics as a medium. so if you can bear to read this one comic, you might find yourself appreciating the potential of all the other comics out there, and be more open. if you can just clear that first hurdle.

because the book is definitely enjoyable, readable, engaging, and insightful, and deals with a visual medium you might not think about in a critical way. i thought this book was excellent and i’d recommend it to anyone, not just comics readers, who is at all interested in art or literature. yes, i still maintain that comics falls into those categories.

and if you already read comics, you have no excuse not to read this book. it’s fun, won’t take long to get through, and pretty enlightening. plus it might open your eyes to some nuances you hadn’t really thought to notice before, making comics even better.

either way, very worth the time and a great addition to my bookshelf. the person who gave me this book must be a very cool person indeed.

now to try to sort through

his other work and see if any

of the comics themselves hold up.

uh oh, it’s the pay day song! but let me be honest with you. i haven’t really been floored by anything the last couple weeks. i’m mostly looking forward to a new hey mercedes album, and half-heartedly listening to some hip hop stuff spencer told me to check out. it’s good, for sure, but i don’t think i’m in a hip hop phase this month, so it’s not really getting to me. i still might check out the prefuse show next month though just because it’d be a nice change of pace i imagine.

so since i’m being honest, i’ll tell you that i actually do like this song, even if it is about doing cough syrup. it’s a fun song. i like nintendo beats. and apparently this guy works for cartoon network, specifically adult swim? and he was featured in episodes of aqua teen hunger force and others, in which he rapped as a cartoon character? sounds good to me.

[now hearing this: selections from the d-plan remix album, which i suggest you give at least a trial listen (you can stream it from their site start to finish or at least download the superpowers remix that uses the guitar lick from that song ‘oh la la’ from rushmore, which made a nice end product, i’d say.]

what a great weekend! see, this is why i have no regret being done with college. i’m fairly certain that i’m having just as much, but probably actually more fun now than i ever have. all these people that are all afraid of graduating and leaving the safe haven of education and irresponsibility must just be doing it wrong.

friday night we went to a party for a girl twice removed from me and full of people i personally didn’t know at all. and i didn’t drive. so it was a ticket to act like a clown, which i did, but had a great time of it. i was talking all kinds of shit against these guys we beat in foosball twice in a row and i think they didn’t realize i was just being a jerk as a joke. i mean, who sincerely has foosball bravado? oh well. then later some girls we were talking to were complaining of some guy that kept bothering them, and when he came back and told us his name was hal i kept pretending i misheard him and calling him pal the whole rest of the night. i get so clever sometimes, i don’t know where it comes from. at least i didn’t make fun of the girl with one leg like my roommate did. or the french people at the party, like our driver/friend did. i stuck with harassing good old pal. (although saying, “well, at least the one she has is pretty nice” is about as funny as it is offensive).

last night at josh’s birthday was equally great. everyone seemed fun and friendly and for some reason girls were talking to me and putting their arms around me and i think that was the most action i’ve got in several months. i’m such a slut. i might have had a chance with one of them if she didn’t disappear hours before the party ended — i found out later from josh she had just passed out upstairs in one of the hostess’s beds. if only i were more thourough in my search and less thourough in my ethics. maybe next time.

tonight is the conan o’brien 10th anniversary sunday sunday sundae party here at our place. come enjoy the only bright light of late night during prime time, and bring a sundae topping. we’ll have heaps of vanilla ice cream and the rest is up to our bevy of guests. i hope someone brings brownie bits, that’d be fucking sweet.