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Showing posts from March, 2005

Lebowski Fest West - LA - missed it

How did I not hear about the Lebowski Fest - West ??? This was held last weekend and looks like it would've be hella fun. Held anually in Louisville, KY (July 22nd-24th, 2005) but one offs in Los Angeles and Vegas. From their site: Lebowski Fest is a bowling event celebrating all things relating to the Coen Brothers 1998 film, The Big Lebowski. It can be likened to a Star Trek convention in a loose sense. The event takes place at a bowling alley and includes unlimited bowling, costume , trivia, farthest traveled, and bowling contests, prizes, and what-have-you. Jeff Bridges even showed up this year! (more pics here ) Lebowski Fest West

Butterflies and Beck

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Maybe you saw them on the news if not in person, but Saturday was filled with Monarch butterflies making they're way up to Canada. Crazy amounts of them crossing the 15 near the 60/15 interchange and later as I was kite flying at the park. I thought it was really cool. Enough of my crap. Here's something cool if you like Beck: Go over and check out Stereogum 's post for a flash video for "Gameboy/Homeboy Que Onda Guero remix". Animation done by AudioDregs - I think this might be link to their site , but maybe not. For you LBC folks, Midway is playing at Taco Beach tonight or come on out to Kiss or Kill at the Echo. Lineup: New Fidelity, Chromosome Tea, Bobot Adrenaline, the return of Bang Sugar Bang, and the Dollyrots finishing it off. All good stuff. tag: beck

Underneath Dinner

[needs serious rewriting/editing..my ideas are better than the end result] Vanessa continued her thoughts on how much Steve was an asshole to Ann and Jeff as her foot rub up my leg. I was a little surprise that Vanessa was paying any attention to me today and worried she was just slumming it for her own amusement. "...Steve still manages to surpass his last level of fucky-ness. I’m constantly surprised by this." "Oh yeah, did you see that fat, dirty whore that came looking for him after work?” Ann questioned Vanessa and Jeff sitting on the opposite side of the table. "That girl with the big blue eyes?" I asked. Ann wasn't going along with my thought already, "Odd choice of clothes, yes, but a lot of the guys didn't have a problem with her looks." She was now fish-tailing in her stool, "Oh so you would do her then?" I gave her that "ha-ha funny look" to her teasing, "I'm sorry, but Ugg boots will always be a deal br

Asobi Seksu + Tito Tacos = Yum

I'm working backwards Asobi Seksu I wasn't really ready for what happened. I've read or heard them speak of how much more rock their live performances were, but rock isn't right. Every song played with a total immersion of sound with loud, fast strumming instead of the long feedback of the album. Awed as I was by their force, I could only imagine the audience members who thought it was to be mellower, cleaner, and maybe even poppier. We were all pleasantly unprepared. I loved what they did to "Sooner", they played "untitled" and then the unreleased song I have generically titled "demo ep 03 (tiny little voices)" in my iTunes and started off with "Walk on the Moon". The singer seem so tiny walking around the venue earlier (the band seemed a little antsy), but once she got on stage with that amazing voice and the large sound coming from behind, it was easy to forget one's perspective. Don't miss them at Spaceland April 2nd.

Margo Lee and the Kung Fu Hustle

Last minute plans to see Margo Lee (= Jessica Dobson = Deep Sea Diver )at the Key Club worked out to my favor: It gave me enough time to drive home (1.5 hrs), do laundry, take a power nap (2 hrs) get ready and make it out to her 11.30 set time. Brief detour looking for an open coffee shop at 10.45 pm to keep Cortney awake. We settled for some from the Jack in the Box across the street from Amoeba Records and were entertained/freaked out by a crazed/drug-tripping lady splashing a whole cup of water on her face while bitching on a cell phone. Ah Hollywood. Margo Lee was playing an after party for the Fall Out Boy (part of the Fueled by Ramen and Friends tour) show at the House of Blues that night. I've never heard of any of these bands (Q: have you?) and wasn't blown over by what I've heard online either. So out of touch with MTV, oh well. When we got there, I think the Juliana Theory (I've heard of them) were finishing up on the main stage while we made our way into

Sheepish smiles

Gardena to Glendale, normally 35-45 minutes at 4.30pm, but with rain just a tad under 1.5 hrs. Grr. Dinner at Foxy's in Glendale which had a nice atmosphere . My club sandwich could've used more turkey, esp. non- dried out turkey, but the other sandwich components were excellent. Just a bad turkey day I guess. The great debate Headed over to the Galleria for some Apple loving and debated if it was worth spending 50 bucks more for the 20bg vs. a green 6b iPod mini. I'm all for the 20 (heck I need a 60bg) and Cort thinks of it as wasted space/wasted money. Its not like it's the difference between a 32" and a 35" television, I tried to reason. She claimed she doesn't have that much music, I counter with a "yet". But what it comes down to is that she wants a green one (she loves lime green; her VW Beetle, clothes, everything) and 6 gbs is plenty, simple as that. The more space the better for me since I add 5-10 songs at least to my iTunes each wee

Asobi Seksu @ the Echo 3.24.05

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Looking forward to seeing Asobi Seksu out of NYC. When I first discovered them via jenyk/dot/com over a year (2 years?) ago, I emailed them asking about any possible west coast dates. I did the same when they later signed with a label and each time I received a short, but nice, response of " that would be cool, but we have no idea when" or something along those lines. Now with shows at the Detroit Bar tonight, The Echo tomorrow and a Spaceland show booked for April 2nd, I'm excited. From their site: " What was once called shoegazer rock — blaring, shimmering, multilayered guitars enfolding confessions of longing and ambiguity — is back in Asobi Seksu, a New York band that wraps its guitars and keyboard around well-made pop melodies and the girlish ache of Yuki's voices." -Jon Pareles, New York Times, March 5, 2004 Stream their video for "Walk on the Moon" and listen to some mp3s here and check out more of the amazing art design by Sean McCab

Sunset Beach - I think lost $ 25,ooo dollars.

Felt lazy until Saturday night when Corey reminded me that Midway was playing out in Sunset Beach at King Neptunes , a cool laid back locals kind of bar with the one or two drunk beach riff raff as one person described it to me. The band New Fidelity who invited Midway to play, were cool and will be playing Kiss or Kill on 3/29. I over heard a few people giving Midway props during their set. Coming home I got stuck on the east 10 with a major sig-alert ; 7 cars all lanes, closed, so I quickly pushed my through stupid people, did La Brea south with a bypass on Jefferson. Nice little 45 minute delay that got me home at 3.15 AM Random: A girl that night was looking for a piece of paper to write on so I gave her the "Do our survey, win $" slip that I got from eating at Chili's earlier. She came back to point this out in case I wanted it back and I told her that maybe it was her lucky day and wished her luck. She'll probably win. Super Random: Found out that Theresa fro

Burning Annie

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Burning Annie, a movie coming out one day This week has been a blur with a trip all around LA county this past week. St. Patrick's Day was spent at the Pacific Design Center for the upcoming independant film " "Burning Annie" . Basically about one college student's life influenced by Woody Allen's movie; a blessing and a curse. Tried to explain to my friend that when I was 10 or 12 watching Annie Hall made a mark on me. She didn't believe me and was more keen on stealing a couple really cool martini glasses from the open bar (and did). So I only had one martini and just wasn't feeling up to boozing and driving that night so we cruised down to Astro Burger to eat french fries and onion rings. Tried to determine where Hilary Swank chowed down after her Oscar win until I was too grumpy and rounded them up to go. "We can finish talking about that in the car" and the got up with keys in hand. Like I said, grumpy. tags: burning annie astro burg

Near Misses (yikes), Ryan Adams (hate), Midway (love)

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I was driving alongside this red Blazer Sunday night when the driver jerks over into my lane oblivious and without reason. I might have shouted "Fuck!" and definitely yelled “Son of a Bitch!!” as I swerved my front end too quickly to the left to avoid the A-Hole and I over compensate. Now my car starts to slightly fish tail and I can see the concrete median with the reflective flaps out of the corner of my eye. I noticed the double yellow lines of the carpool lane move under my hood and I smell burning rubber as the back tires start to skid. I thought, "Whoa, I should probably start to control this" as I tried to straighten out and quickly realizing that I had just turned the steering wheel in the wrong direction. I change course and correctly turned into the skid, slowly pressing on the brakes. I was seriously freaked out by those 20 seconds, the other cars were freaked out, and that A-Hole was smoking and didn't dare look over to me as I drove past him. I made

Windy Southern California

Welcome to news reports of 18-wheelers being blown over in the Inland Empire, clear views across the Los Angeles basin and the return of my allergies. Thanks wind. Where was the wind now gusting through Southern California when I decided to fly a kite on Sunday? But then again, how could I resist when you can buy them at Target from 2.99 and up. I picked a cool turtle kite with featured a five foot long tail made up of smaller turtles for only six bucks and 3-D kites going for about ten dollars. We all need to get our practice in since April is National Kite Month . You can also check out the American Kite Flying Association and locally the Up and Away Kite Club of Seal Beach Did the Egyptians used kites to lift a 6,900-pound obelisk ? tags: kites windy

It was Hot!

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Nascar Madagascar from Ze Auto Parts joined Bobot Adrenaline for a cover "Ace of Spades" at this week's Kiss or Kill. I didn't know what song it was 'cause I'm lame like that, but it was listed on the Bobot Adrenaline site thankfully. A nice little surprise for the night that I found just so f**king cool. (Thanks Corey for the picture) You missed it. It was hot! tags: kiss or kill , bobot adrenaline , ze auto parts nascar madagascar

The Pastry Gods have spoken

For some reason there were three boxes of pastries at Kiss or Kill last night. The hand written sign on the table read: "EAT ME! I'm free to take". Not sure who brought them, but I thought it was nice idea. I was standing there chatting with Corey when this blond girl came up so excited to see the three pink pastry boxes, she looked up and proclaimed "The Pastry Gods have blessed us with treats" or something like that. Amusing. The singer from the Atomic Missiles handed out some rough demos and since I enjoyed their last show I was pleased with the offering. They are very much Clash inspired and I thought it was more of the Mick Jones side originally (vs. Joe Strummer), but after listening to the cd, I'm not so sure anymore. Tonight 3/9 at Mr. T's Bowl : Great show with The Underwater City People , and Ragsy. 21+ Free. kiss or kill atomic missles pastry

So Many Things

SXSW 2005 Music Festival Download the full schedule from their site AND the full SXSW 2005 Showcasing Artist mp3 library (750 songs) to your iPod® (BitTorrent files @ 2.5 gbs) Click Here Totally legal. (thanks to some depression ) Baby Got Back I'm sorry. I mean Baby Got Book , as in The Book. Imagine what a christian rap artist/church founder/preacher would do with Sir Mix A Lot's "Baby Got Back" and you might think it would have to be just horrible. Well this music video by Southpaw remains faithful to Sir Mix A Lot's rhyme structure and the video is well done quality-wise, so check it out if you dare. (thanks to Andy K's blog) Bored? Go see a show March is turning out to be a busy time for shows. Just a few: 3/9 Jessie Deluxe @ the Joint 3/9 Mellowdrone, Eskimohunter @ King King (Eskimohunter every Wed. in March) 3/11 Margo Lee this Friday @ Fullerton (bummed, not my free weekend and close to my house) 3/13 Midway @ House of Blues - Sunse

The Randies, Los Abandoned, Go Betty Go

Great show tonight at 14 Below and worth the 10 bucks they’re charging. I hope to bribe my way inside, but more than willing to pay mind you. The Randies Signed to Elicit Records I really like this band. Los Abandoned Recently signed to Neil Young’s label Vapor Records . (site under major construction) Go Betty Go This will be my first time seeing them, so I'll keep an open mind. ~~~~ Oh don’t get caught selling "genital stimulating devices" in Alabama. Nor Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee and the other usual suspected states. Fortunately, it’s still okay to own such things, but I would guess the second-hand market on EBay has been instantly killed off in those states. Ah ultra conservatives. gotta love them. not. Mark Morford of SF Gate has written about this in his opinion column . ~~ Also tonight: Midway at Mr T's Bowl (21+) in Highland Park, and playing at the alternit lounge/Knitting Factory --Saturday--on last, all ages. Both shows FREE. the

New Order

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So I'm listening to the new album as I write and seriously loving what I've heard so far. This new album is very solid and much better than the last album which was a bit uneven. I did like the songs Billy Crogan played a part of though. They play Coachella this year, but I might just have to take to trip up to my mom's for their April 29th show at Henry J Kaiser in Oakland. I hate that venue but really can't afford Coachella. You can watch the video for the first single "Krafty" here Comes out March 28..oh wait April 12th. One of those dates. Currently listening: Waiting for the Sirens Call By New Order Release date: 28 March, 2005 new order

Weezer Video

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Some cellphone pics from the video shoot here: weezer sweden site Corey is the one with the yellow wrist band  weezer , beverly hills , corey

The Snack Fairy

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Colin Mochrie is one of funniest people I've ever seen on television. If you have ever watched "Who's Line Is It Anyway" , the original British or the Drew Carey versions, you would think the same. During the Oscars they introduced him as the Snack Fairy . Since these are just sneaks of the ad campaign, they're not that funny...but I will bet the future commercials will be amusing. At least Colin will be. tags: colin mochrie , snack fairy

I'm lazy nor cool enough to think up my own stuff

Del Taco (This is from the cool police have got me on my knees blog.) She is trying to get her friends to attempt a repeat of The 1st Annual Ultimate Del Taco Adventure! . Good luck to that! The A Team Now hiring new members. (This is from witz.org via waxy.org ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last night end up spending more time outside the Silverlake Lounge than in it. Midway gave a great, but admittedly sloppy performance and at one point I jokingly asked if this was a rehearsal or a gig. The great thing about the band is that they have fun even messing up a song or two. Thought Porterville was the next band but instead it was ??? . I have no idea who they were, but they sounded good actually. Decided to leave early and get some real sleep and met up with Kevin by our car. An hour later we parted ways and felt bad for keeping him from seeing Porterville. Oh had a yummy pastry from the danish pastry shop in Atwater Village while walking Cortney's dog. While walking to the shop we were