Octopus Hat

New and Improved.

2007-02-28T17:02:00.000-08:00

I wonder if anyone is still checking this site in futile hope that I'll update again.

Well, you win.

Come on over and check out the new incarnation of Octopus Hat: Octopushat 2.o.

Tell your friends.

2007-01-15T16:50:00.000-08:00

Something’s Got To Give

Saturday, January 13th marked the 4th anniversary of this blog. I’ve come a long way in four years, and this blog has been a great place to share the highs, work though the lows, get stuff off my chest, and (hopefully) entertain some people and keep those close (but not close enough) in the loop. But my once fertile field here in cyberspace has lain fallow for too long… I think it is better to pull the plug as a decision than let the blog languish in some limbo.

But I can’t just cut it loose and walk away. I need to keep the outlet. So much has changed in 4 years. I’m made over 700 posts and generated a whopping $4.14 in ad revenue. It is just too valuable to give up on completely. OH will be back, I’m just not quite sure what form it is going to take.

Octopushat is dead. Long live Octopushat.

-jmv 1/15/2007

2006-11-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

Back in the Saddle

The as-of-yet-still-unnamed Scion is out of the body shop, no worse for the wear after our little fended-bender a couple of weeks ago. All things considered, the whole thing was pretty painless and I highly recommend Matrix Collision in Los Angeles for any bodywork. They were very helpful and very quick. I can't believe we've had the car for two months; it, at he same time, seems like we just got it and that I've had it forever. The car is really a great fit for both of us, and I love driving it. After two months, here are some random thoughts:

-The car feels a tiny bit underpowered. It isn't sluggish or slow by any means, and it fact if feel quite sprightly, but I would like a tiny bit more power. Especially in the low-end, but I’ve got some ideas on how to remedy that…

-Gas mileage isn't (yet) what I was hoping for; at least during the driving I've done so far. I average about 23MPG on a tank, however, I think my commute is mostly to blame for this as it is 7 hard miles across town. The commute takes me between 25-45 minutes and my average speed doesn't climb above 14mph. Lots of stoplights and sitting still really bone my fuel economy (but it is still doing better than either of the Accents were.) We'll see how she does out on the highway this weekend when we head to Phoenix.

-Tiny cars ROCK. I love driving something so small. Not only can I park it anywhere, but I feel more nimble than everything on the road. We didn't buy one of the least expensive cars available because of the price, we really bought on size, features, and value. Inside, the car feels roomy and well-appointed.

-It really handles well. Even on the fully stock suspension (which rides almost comically high) I feel very confident taking corners, and I can't wait to get a chance to take it out on the canyon roads.

-The car is FUN to drive. I feel like I have great control over the power-output thanks to the 5-speed tranny and the steering is responsive and quick. Even on the congested LA streets during rush-hour I can find some enjoyable stretches of road, and on those rare occasions that all the lights I hit are green, I'm having a blast.

-Little things on the inside make a big difference. Steering-wheel audio controls are, perhaps, my favorite feature. I've got control over the tunes w/o reaching for the stereo. And speaking of the stereo, the iPod integration is fantastic. Having X-gigs of music at my fingertips, while on the road, is a real treat. I thought that I’ll never (or at least very rarely) have to deal with switching CDs while driving again makes me smile. There is a large storage area under the front seats, “grocery bag hooks” in a couple of places, and a fair amount of cubbies and hidden storage. I was initially worried about cargo space, but our most-common hauling task is are once-every-three-weeks food run to Trader Joes, and it turns out that out shopping trips average 5 (well packed) bags, and 5 TJs bags fit PERFECTLY in the rear hatch.

-Two interior convince items that I purchased have turned out to be fantastic additions. The inexpensive Garmin GPS unit (Streetpilot i3 for those keeping score) is particularly handy, and the Scan Gauge is an extremely geeky device that hooks-up to the car’s ECU to provide a gaggle of digital gauges (water temp, real-time MPG, ignition timing advance and lode to name just a few) as well as a trip-computer that will calculate average speed, peak RPMs and MPH, fuel efficiency etc. So I’ve got a wealth of data available to me as I drive…

-I am very happy with our purchase and as silly as it sounds, while I’m not exactly looking forward to going to work when I wake up, I’m least not dreading my drive to work (ok. Ok. I look forward to it. But just a little bit.)

Julie, have anything to add?

2006-11-08T15:52:00.000-08:00

I Once Was Lost…

I have been horribly unproductive at work today. I blame Carl, as he sent me a ling to The Lostpedia: a Wiki about the TV show Lost. I’m utterly dumfounded by the amount of information on this site. It has really stoked my fanboy fires, and just in time for the big episode on tonight! This will be the 6th episode of season three, and the last new episode for 13 weeks. The producers have made some comments about just how stunning the cliffhanger ending is going to be, and I don’t doubt it. I’m excited!

Also, I feel odd about the Election Day results. Part of it is that it has been so long since my voice was part of the majority, and part of it is suspicion. I mean, we have been screwed by the powers-that-be so many times in the past, even now, when we are winning, my asshole is puckered up in anticipation of the shaft. And while I’d like to take to the streets in celebration of Rummy’s resignation I cannot help but see it as a deliberate diversionary tactic by the Whitehouse. It’s as if they are waving their left hands and shouting “look over here!” while robbing us blind with their right… I fully expect some below-board activity in any recounts that happen. Who was it that said People shouldn’t fear their government, Government should fear the people? Does the same hold-true for mistrust?

I’m not even that bothered by Arnie’s reelection… The Democrats never had a chance. Who’s fucking idea was it to put that wanker up against the friggin Austrian beast? It’s as if the GOP is sending Tyson and Holyfield-like brawlers to the political arena to face the likes of those handle-bar mustached genteel prizefighters of the 1920s who dance around while twirling their knuckles-sandwiches. What the hell do they expect to happen? The Dems really need to learn the lesson of putting their meanest, strongest, most dirty-fighting candidate in the ring above whoever has the best ideas. If W’s presidency has taught us anything it is that the office can get just about anything done with enough strong and smart people in the background. Of course in Ws case it is strong, smart, and ferociously greedy and possibly evil.

I think what the American people really need is a new point-of-entry to politics. Jon Stewart has done a great job getting young American’s interested in politics (I wish he could parlay that into young Americans PARTICIPATING in politics, but one step at a time I guess) and nothing bad can come of more of America genuinely caring about their government. I suggest political tie-ins to fastfood chains. Or, perhaps American Idol-styled vote-by-txt. Do they make baseball card style trading cards for politicians? If they did, I would happy trade away all my rare Diane Feinsteins and misprinted “Frist Lady W. Clinton” for your mint Jerry Brown. I’d have a whole page of him. Cali Governor, Presidential Candidate, Oakland Mayor, and now California Attorney General! GO Moonbeam!

2006-09-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

TiVo Armed and Ready

Greg requested I post my “picks” for the Fall 06 TV season, and who am I to say no? We are in a very interesting period of television history, one that I have heard several people refer to “The New Golden Age of TV,” and I agree with that statement. Sure, there is still a lot of trash and unredeemable shit on these days, but I don’t think there has EVER been so much quality programming vying for viewers. While the Movie industry sees profits and audiences shrink as the budges of feature films bloat and the quality shrinks, the Television industry is in the midst of a renaissance. Julie and I have been discussing this a lot lately, and we have come up with a few theories. I feel that it started with HBO leading a movement towards truly exceptional original programming (basically started by the Sopranos.) Combine this with a long-overdue reality TV backlash, and a new generation on creative that were (quite literally) raised by TV (especially syndicated reruns of 70s classics) and add the TV-on-DVD phenomenon and Tivo andVideo-on-Demand and suddenly it is easier than ever before to consume a serialized narrative w/o fear (or at least with less fear) of missing an episode and getting lost. Anyway, I digress. There is a media-theory thesis topic in here, but I’m not ready by a long-shot to touch that. Suffice to say that turn of the century America was a “perfect storm” of technology, socio-political climate, and a “new wave” of creators getting a chance to make waves. So, what will I be watching this season?

First I’ll start off with the sitcoms, both of which are returning. A perennial favorite SCRUBS is back for a season that promises to be the most off-the-wall yet as Series creator Bill Laurence was pretty much given carte-blanch by Buena Vista. It will also prove to be the final season w/ Zach Braff’s J.D, who is of course the narrator and his departure from the show after 2007 might prove too much for the network to bear and so this might be the final season of the show. Look for several J.D.-less episodes (like last seasons “His Story III”) where the writers will try to convince the network that the show is viable w/o Braff’s inner monologues. Of course SCRUBS won’t actually premiere until January but it does begin national syndication next week! So set your TiVos as SCRUBS is a wonderfully rewatchable show. The second sitcom on my slate is “How I Met Your Mother.” This was a sleeper from last season that I didn’t get around to watching until it was in reruns, but damn is it funny! It takes the formula for (dare I say it?) Friends and tweaks it enough to be familiar without seeming rehashed. The writing for the show is very smart and very funny, and the cast (anchored by Allison Hanagen on one end and Neil Patrick Harris in a career reviving role on the other) has awesome chemistry and great comedic sensibilities. The show uses a soapy season (series?) long arc wherein the main character (voiced by Bob Saget) is telling stories to his kids about “How [he] met [their] mother.” The show then takes place entirely in flashback. A cool twist that does not come off gimmicky at all. This show has shot to the top of the Season Pass list.

I’m not sure about new sitcoms the only thing that I am even remotely interested in is “30 Rock” and that is just because of The Baldwin’s (meaning Alec) involvement. There is also the John Lithgow/Jeffory Tambor show, but I give it 2 episodes before a time-slot change and then another episode before the plug gets pulled on that. I’ll try and tackle the Dramas (both new and returning) that have made the list tomorrow…

What should we name her?

2006-09-08T17:10:00.000-07:00

What should we name her?
Originally uploaded by OctopusHat.

Somehow I forgot to post the news on my blog… I imagine most of you have already heard via AttackfotheZ, but for those who haven’t, I said good by the the workhorse no-frills ’99 Hyundai Accent that I bought in 2003 and purchased my first new car: a 2006 Scion xA. I had also been looking at the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, and Nissan Versa, and I probably would have bought the Versa had I been able to find a 6-speed model, but none of those cars even came close to the personality of the xA. Unfortunately the xAs are getting hard to come by, especially in the Flint Mica (dark matalic grey w/ a rainbow glitter effect that isn’t in the least bit queer) and a 5-speed manual transmission. I was quoted between a 4 and 15 week wait time for one. However a very cool salesman at Marina del Rey Scion, Brett, said he could get me one in ten days. So after a weekend of car shopping I hunkered down for a 2 week wait. Then on Tuesday I get a call from Brett who says, “I’ve got your car.” Amazingly he found the perfect model for me, and since Scion uses the “pure price” model there was no haggling or hassle. We were in and out of the dealership in an hour with my kick-ass new car! I have all sorts of customizations planned for it, and my factory options get installed on Monday (iPod stereo upgrade, fog lights, and blue LED interior accent lighting.) Now I just need to come up with a good name!

2006-08-24T17:18:00.000-07:00

”I’ll Fight Anybody who says Pluto is not a planet”
Who the fuck decided to revoke the planetary status of our most diminutive and godforsaken planet? I want to know so I can punch them right in the balls. I was all excited that they were going to be awarding planetary status to all manner of weird bodies floating around out there, barely tethered to our sun, but the fucks decided to go the other way and suddenly we have only 8 bodies we can call planets. 8! That is crap. I hate it when my early education is arbitrarily invalidated by passionless nerds.

Smokin' to the NUB.

2006-08-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

Smokin' to the NUB.
Originally uploaded by OctopusHat.

Birthday Cigar Review
(originally posted 8/2/06 at www.cigarpass.com)

I said good-bye to my mid-twenties yesterday. They treated me well, but it was just time to move on. To commemorate my 28th birthday I decided to smoke a God of Fire robusto that I had found at the B&M last weekend.

I generally harbor a distasted for the ultra-premium and rare cigars. I hate to spend more that 8 or 9 bucks on a smoke, but something overcame me when gazing upon the GoF and I paid the $26 asking price. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

I used to smoke a lot of Artuo Fuente cigars. 8-5-8s, Chateaux, and Cuban Coronas were in the daily rotation. I enjoyed an occasional stick from the Hemingway or Don Carlos line. I have the utmost respect and admiration for the blenders and rollers of all the vitolas under the AF umbrella, but their marketing bothers me. It bothers me that Fuente is trying to make cigars collectable. And all the ultra-super-double premium special package holo-foil limited edition lines get on my nerves. I don’t want to pay 15-30 for a cigar, and I don't want the indusrty to move any further towards a rare-varient collectable limited edition model.

So why did I plunk-down my debit card for a God of Fire? Besides my aforementioned respect for Don Carlos, and the faint murmurs of the line being exceptional and worth the price, I fell in love with the band.

Yup. This cigars presentation overwhelmed my good sense. Lets ignore the cool coffin-box that the cigars gets all to its self, it was the image of Prometheus getting attacked by the eagle that sold me. I’m a sucker for that story. Prometheus created man, and he stole fire from the gods to keep man warm and to light their way in the cold and the darkness. Zeus punished Prometheus for enlightening man by chaining him to a rock and having a magical (and evil) eagle eat Prometheus’ liver each day. Each night his liver would grow back only to be eaten again, and all the while Prometheus had to watch mankind flounder and suffer under their own flawed humanity.

No good deed goes unpunished eh?

But anyway, back to the smoking.

The GoF Robusto was literally slick with oils when I slipped it from the cello, and it had a pungent fragrance of leather, citrus, and ceder. The wrapper was an intriguing gold-color and it was stretched tight around a dense bundle of filler. I could not wait to sink my teeth into it and rushed through the pre-light checklist and I had that puppy blazing in no time.

The first few draws were slightly tight and very mild. Woody and creamy it tasted just like I’ve come to expect a Fuente cigar to taste. By the time I was ½ inch in the stick started to blossom. Well, really it started to blow-up. There was a cascade of flavors in quick succession. Oak. Butter. Cinnamon. Coco. I was starting to get a little overwhelmed when things mellowed out a bit and I really settled into the cigar. Through the middle ½ of the smoke I was treated to each individual flavor that had bombarded me en masse previously. I had to consciously slow my puffing to keep from overheating the stick. I just wanted to gulp it down. Into the final third things livened up again and pepper and spice (cinnamon and clove) came to the fore. I borrowed a hair-pin from a friend so I could smoked down to the very nub. When I burned my lip for the 2nd time I reluctantly gave up on it.

The burn and draw was perfect from the beginning and by that final inch I was really wishing I had sprung for the Double Robusto.

I don’t like to spend $25 on a cigar, but if I’m ever in the mood to do so I would pick up another God of Fire in a heartbeat.

2006-08-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

2eight
Had myself a happy birthday yesterday. Went to work, had cake, loafed around, then met up with friends at the Cat and Fiddle, my traditional birthday spot. I smoked an amazing cigar and had a few gin and tonics. It was nice and mellow. Saturday is the less-mellow party where we’ll be striking out into the wilds of Hollywood to raise toasts at Bordners bar. So if you are in LA and want to celebrate with us, come on by after 10, but before I get kicked out (like I did last year.)

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes!

2006-07-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

Like the Weather
I really dislike smalltalk. It is so awkward and pointless, and talk about the weather is really the worst offender. But the current situation in Los Angeles makes weather-related discussion more akin to current events than small talk. I’m not sure about where you’re at but in the LA basin it is hotter than fuck. In fact it is hotter than it has ever been (at least when you use “Highest official temperature ever recorded in Los Angeles
County” as the caveat) as it hit 119 in Hell’s waiting room (also known as the Valley.) Hollywood was a bit better off as it only hit 102 at our apartment. So yeah, the talk of the town is the weather and whether or not we’ll survive.

I have a fist-full of links that I’m going to TRY and post, but please excuse the brevity of my annotations. I expect Blogger to mangle these links like is has been doing and don’t want to expend too much effort in posting them.

First is a story about fires on Catalina island. The fires were caused by lightning strikes during thunderstroms over the weekend and are notable for two reasons: my father was out there this weekend and since firefighters couldn't fly heliocpters due to the lightning the Marines were called in and used their San Diego based hovercrafts to help fight the blazes. Motherfucking hovercraft. That kicks ass.

Next up is a post on the LAPD blog about an innercity "candy store" that sold all manner of stolen goods and other contraband.

And finally, from the Non sequitur department we have Michael Stipe and William Gibson together at last.

2006-07-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

Quickies

IF you need a gift idea for my upcoming birthday, might I suggest some Sweet Meets?

Maybe they A=are listening: HBO just announced a new Cingular-exclusive mini-series based on Entourage’s Johnny Drama. 4 4-minute episodes will be made available to subscribers to watch on their cell-phones. Brilliant!

Thom York’s Solo Album, The Eraser (just out,) is really good. I’m still digesting, but it certainly didn’t disappoint. Catch him on the Henry Rollins show this Saturday on IFC.

2006-07-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

If I Was In Charge…

…Things would be better. I’m actually thinking about making this a feature. We’ll see if I follow through on it though. The first (only?) installment will be about saving the beloved HBO show “Entourage.” Entourage is an excellent show, and the first two seasons featured some of the best TV writing in recent memory. For those unfamiliar with the show, it centers on a young actors rise to fame and fortune while he is surrounded by his best-friends from back home. The early episodes had a very distinct fairy-tale feel where everything would go sideways during the 30-minute episodes, but by the end the boys would come out on-top. The later 2nd season episodes carried more strife and drama but were still very encapsulated while still allowing the characters to have satisfying arcs. However, we are now 5 episodes into the 3rd seasons, and the show is on shaky ground. A 2-episode arc the featured a thug from back home crashing with the boys just ended (and none-too-soon) and those episodes really fell flat with a lot of people I’ve talked to. It feels like the writers are “fishing” for a new direction to take the show now that Vinnie has conquered everything that has been thrown at him. If I were in charge these are the things I would do to save the show:

1) Don’t be afraid of writing for Drama. Johnny Drama. Vinnie’s brother is hands down the funniest thing about the show, and the episodes that feature him are fan favorites. However, in recent episodes, the writers seem to only be throwing Johnny the occasional one-liner and he is beginning to stagnate. Never did anyone say Vinnie Chase had to be the #1 star of the show. Shine that spotlight on Johnny Drama! Give him another star-turn episode (like season 2’s Comicon ep.) and follow that up with an increased focus on Drama in the B-plots. Let Johnny grow as a character, and let him taste some success.

2) Put the breaks on the roller coaster. Recent episodes have had a very pronounced build-them-up then knock-them-down formula, and while this is ok in small doses it is starting to get old. Decide on where the hell this season is going and keep building towards it. Remember, the scariest part of the roller coaster is going up that hill.

3) Show-off your Gold. Ari Gold is the other side of the Johnny Drama coin. Together they get the lions share of the show’s laughs, and the writers need to be careful how the mine those laughs. Ari is funny because he is the best at what he does and so he can be a tremendous asshole while doing it (while Drama is so cluelessly terrible.) Keep showing us Ari working his magic, and don’t go too crazy with Ari at home and Ari mowing the lawn etc. This weeks episode where Ari bumps into Penny Marshal and exploits the opportunity to rid himself of a problem in his personal life is a perfect example of what the writers need to do MORE of.

4) Play with classic sitcom formula. This one is tough because it can really backfire, much like it just did when they tried the “introduce a new character into the cast” gimmick with Dom. But I maintain that the #1 reason this attempt failed was because the arc was spread over 2 episodes (and 60 minutes of runtime, almost 3 typical network sitcom episodes.) When you reach into you bag-of-sitcom-tricks you’ve got to remember to keep it simple and keep it moving. Try the classic “take two mismatched characters and lock them in a room” (Llyod and Drama stuck together for brunch at Toast or Eric and Ari’s wife waiting for Ari at LAX’s Encounter or Turtle and Shauna stuck in traffic on the 405.) There are dozens of episodes b-plots just waiting to be hashed out of these classic sitcom formulas.

5) Find tension in new places. This one is tough, but something as good as Entourage is worth fighting for. The show shouldn’t always be about Vinnie becoming successful. That should just be the FRAME for the stories being told about what happens when you become so successful. Season 2’s “money troubles” arc was brilliant. It showed our super-star heroes in a very universally relatable situation and allowed for a wonderfully over-the-top solution (Vinnie’s Japanese commercial.) Find “problems” for our heroes in other places besides the career. We saw the writers try this with the Mandy More love interest in Season 2, but that didn’t go over well with many of the fans I’ve talked to. It went against Vinnie’s persona too much and viewers had a hard time buying him that head-over-heels in love. (Mandy More’s flat-as-a-pancake acting certainly didn’t help things.) Keep things light and always have the boys come out on top. On top of the world. Keep letting our heroes win, and find the drama of the show in the little speed-bumps that they have to get over. The important thing to remember is there have been a 100 different movies and shows about Hollywood chewing people up and spitting them out. Entourage should be about the fairytale of becoming the biggest movie star in the world and how that trickles down to all your friends. This isn’t a True Hollywood Story.

2006-07-10T15:40:00.000-07:00

Pirates and Dick

Phillip K. Dick that is… Julie and managed to see both “A Scanner Darkly” and Pirates II this weekend and I was impressed by both. First up A Scanner Darkly is Richard Linklater’s adaptation of the PK Dick novella and it was produced using the rotoscope animation that Linklater pioneered with his “Waking Life.” This film centers around Bob Arctor, an undercover narcotics officer in Anaheim (played by Keanu Reeves) who is slipping into a pit of addiction and paranoia as the lines between his self and his alter-ego blur. Verive family favorite Robert Downey Jr. continues his professional renaissance with a great performance as Keanu’s roommate and rival. (Check out “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” for more great RDJ action!) Winnoa Rider and Woody Harrelson round out the cast (can you even imagine how much pot was smoked on the set?) and provide the love interest and comic relief (both of which are dearly needed to lighten the film’s very dark tone.) Linklater has managed to take the rotoscope animation to a new level of transparency, and it doesn’t feel gimmicky at all but rather adds to the atmosphere of the film’s near-future distopian Orange County. I had very high hopes for this film, and I had been impatiently awaiting its often delayed release and it lived up to my hopes. It wasn’t the blow-your-mind amazement of that first viewing of the Matrix, but all the impact is there, it is just much more subtle.

The newest BIGGEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest, has none of that pesky subtlety. It is all about bombast, and cutlasses, and pirates and rum. And it rocks. Perhaps not QUITE as much as the first Pirates film, but certainly more then enough to keep you entertained for the very brisk 150 minutes. Gore Verbinski has the Pirate formula DOWN and has crafted another swashbuckling classic. I can’t wait for the third installment.

2006-06-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

Like Spinning Plates…

tran·scen·dent (tr?n-s?n'd?nt)
adj.
1. Surpassing others; preeminent or supreme.
2. Lying beyond the ordinary range of perception: “fails to achieve a transcendent significance in suffering and squalor” (National Review).
3. Philosophy.
a. Transcending the Aristotelian categories.
b. In Kant's theory of knowledge, being beyond the limits of experience and hence unknowable.
4. Being above and independent of the material universe. Used of the Deity.

2006-06-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

Everything In Its Right Place

About 7 hours left until the show, and I still can’t believe I’m going. It isn’t everyday you get to see you #1 favorite band, in a venue smaller than they would normally play, play new material that you’ve never heard before. It should be quite a show.

2006-06-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

John Saw that Number

Friday: Neko Case @ the Henry Fonda “Music Box:”
A great show in a really cool venue. The Music Box is just up on Hollywood blvd, and this was our first time at a show there. They have a roof-top bar/lounge where we got a couple of rounds and waited out the opening act before heading down to elbow our way to the stage. Funny thing was we didn’t even have to do much elbowing and were able to weave our way though the thick crowd and get a spot a couple of “rows” back from stage-right, just in front of her ass-kicking pedal-guitar/banjo player. The set was great and Neko really blew me away with her performance and affable stage-presence. It was nice to see a show in such a tiny venue after our last few outings at the bigger spots around town. And she closed with one of my favorite songs which is always a nice little bonus. Some additional highlights: just after the first song, during which some duche-bag in the front row was talking, she threatened to “come down their and fucking kick the fucking shit out of [him.]” which really won the (hipster-heavy) crowd over. Then there was her about Los Angeles culture and “dogs in the office” being her favorite part of LA, (I guess my company isn’t alone in having dogs in the office.) Also, she played some great covers (Dylan and Randy Newman) and blew the fucking lid off of “Hold On” (the lead single off the new Album.) A+ show

Saturday: Fiona Apple @ the Greek:
When we first saw Fiona at Largo (capacity of 100) last year we were (obviously) blown away. Then we saw her at the Wiltern (capacity of 2400) and I was concerned about her ability to carry such a large room. And we were even more blow away. Then she played the Greek (capacity of around 8000) and I was again concerned about the size of the venue and again my concerned proved to be unfounded. She was even more enrapturing in the large amphitheatre than she had been at the Wiltern. The set-list was pretty close to what she played when we last saw her, but the emotion and power that she poured out for her hometown crowd made it a memorable evening.

Oh. And Julie just miraculously procured Radiohead tickets at the Greek Theater for Thursday as an early Birthday Present. That’s right. My wife kicks ass.

Also, see: I CAN make it a month w/o posting. Don't make me do it again.

2006-05-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

A Futile Attempt at Catch-up

Did you see Lost last night? Man, I love this show. So many great little details that combine to form the big picture. There may have been some low-points during season 2, but last nights finale made up for it. Enough clues, hints, and details were revealed last night to keep me theorizing all summer long…

Maybe by then I will have forgotten how crappy the Da Vinci Code movie was. But probably not because it was REALLY bad. And not bad in a “poor adaptation of a book” or “watered down Hollywood blockbuster” way but bad in a, “it makes me depressed about the state of American Cinema” way. I can’t even delve into the films inadequacies, I’ve tried for two days to write a blog-post about it and keep giving up in frustration.

I read the book just before seeing the fim, and thought it was OK. A perfect book for a plane-flight or a day at the beach, or a lazy Sunday. I’m note really sure why it became such a huge phenomenon, but Brown’s style is certainly very approachable even though the subject matter tries to be very cerebral. The Da Vinci Code, like lost, is all about the details and the connections made between seemingly disparate elements. And this is the great shortcoming of the film (well that and the horribly stilted and bland direction,) as most of the interesting details and “oh cool!” connections were stripped out leaving only a shaky framework of exposition.

MI:III was a far better summer blockbuster, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I guess that makes me a JJ Abrams fanboy. Regardless there are some fantastic action set-pieces in the film, and the script is smart and takes some risks that really pay-off.

Musically there have been a steady-stream of releases from the long awaited 4th Tool album to the Ditty Bops’ Sophomore record. Tool was… Interesting. I’m not sure how to take the album, which is both more structurally straightforward and ideologically less approachable than their last album. For an iconic band know for their dishonesty and penchant for jokes, gags, and ruses it is difficult to take the album seriously, and it feels very much like Maynard’s attempt at creating a Swan Song record.

The aforementioned Ditty Bops’ disk is, as expected, and though I was familier with most of the songs on the disc from their live-shows I’d like to give it a few more spins before I write about it. The Raconteurs’ “Broken Boy Soldiers” is a tasty summer-treat that features a few stand-out awesome songs. Hearing Jack White color out-side the self-imposed musical lines of the White Stripes is a blast, and this album is going to get a lot of play from me before I forget about it in the fall. Neko Case’s “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” is alt-country at it whiskey-soaked finest, and I highly recommend it to anyone that needs a little more twang in their musical diet. It really deserves more than a one-line write-up from me, but maybe Julie will pick up the slack on this one and write a record review…

More to come…

2006-05-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

You’re Fucking my Shit-up Right Now!

Julie’s high-concept birthday party was this weekend, and it was a smashing success. We stole the idea wholesale from an episode of Gilmore Girls (shutup) and made the party a Quentin Tarantino themed costume party. We played music from all his soundtracks and had a selection of scenes playing on the TV (which while cool ended up being a little too distracting for a party-setting.) We had excellent attendance, breaking a long-standing Verive’s Hollywood capacity record (I think we had around 20 people in the apartment) and fully 85% came in Costume! All in all it was a great time. Check-out the my flickr for some pics.

2006-05-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Booze + Science = Sciooze?
We all now, and most of us love, the Jell-o Shot. It is like food that gets you drunk. In my collegiate days I experimented with many different recopies and techniques for creating the perfect jelled alcohol intake medium. (does anyone remember the ectoplasm shots from New Years eve 2001?) However, I never once got a Jell-o shot to Burn.

2006-04-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

Wes Anderson’s AMEX
As previously stated here, I love Wes Anderson’s films. And evidently I also love his commercials. Check out his “My Life, My Card” American Express spot on You-Tube (featuring Jason Schwartzman!) It is like 60-second Wes Anderson movie w/o all the emotional impact.

2006-04-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

Fine. Have it your way.
I’m back on the wagon of blogging now. You’ll just have to deal with my drivel.
The weekend was packed full, as Julie and I attended a memorial for Greg’s mom in Carlsbad Saturday morning and then changed gears and went to Todd’s Birthday party in whateverthefuckSDsuburb they live in (Carmel Valley?) It was really great to the Greg and Christine (and Colin!) though of course the circumstances were not so great. Colin has grown immensely since we saw him in September, and he is now running around quite well. To my amateur eyes he seems to be a well behaved and pretty chill kid. Todd’s party was cool, and it was good to see him and everybody else as it had been a while. I think birthday season has officially started now, and won’t let-up until sometime in July (Mary’s birthday being “preseason” and my birthday being the championships…)

I also finally went to the dentist today after MANY years of frankly being to afraid to. Just xrays and a consultation today, but by the end of May I’ll have all kinds of unpleasant-sounding work done to reverse some gum-disease and crown a really old filling. My wallet will hurt MUCH more than any of the procedures though.

2006-04-21T17:04:00.000-07:00

I have nothing to say.

About 2 weeks ago I started to wonder how long I could leave OH furloughed, and after a month passed I decided to open up word and write a post to break the silence. But I had nothing to say… Sure, I’d seen a few movies (Fun with Dick and Jane was passably watchable, but contained a scene so hilarious funny that I had to literally hide from the TV, Inside Man was a pretty great Heist film,) I had finished a 2700 page three-book series (the first 3 books of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series which we long, and wordy, and ultimately incredibly satisfying and extremely impressive.) and I had a few album reviews that needed writing (the new Yeah Yeah Yeah’s album is a pleasing romp though retro-post-punk and NY art-rock and the Wren’s Meadowlands is playful toe-tapping finger-drumming rock and roll that I can’t stop spinning.) but I just couldn’t seem to collect my thoughts enough to write about them. Or perhaps I just couldn’t convince myself that anyone could actually care enough about my opinions to make it worthwhile.

I could linkmine and post pithy commentary on things of interest I ran-across, but nothing seemed interesting/cool/weird enough to break the silence.

The very act of blogging seemed so futile and narcissistic that I couldn’t bare to commit my thoughts to 1s and 0s. But my malaise went (goes?) deeper. My journal, which in the past I have recorded minute details of any randomness going on around me, now lies untouched. No notes from my last movie. No brainstorms for new projects. No deep and impressive thoughts on the world around me. It wasn’t that I was depressed, or overwhelmed, or lazy, just disinterested in sharing the monotony of mediocrity.

I read, watched, and heard all manner of things. I’ve played and gone on roadtrips, and eaten a dozen of awesome meals. Been to a wedding, seen my dear friends suffer grievous losses, and seen other friends accomplish major goals. All of which I would have (should have?) blogged readily in the past. What changed?

I think I need to redefine my motivations for blogging, as well as what I hope to accomplish by blogging. Perhaps I should start by asking why you come to Octopushat, and what you hope to find when you get here.

2006-03-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

Logic Will Break Your Heart.
I’m sure you have heard me bitch about my longer commute, and I tell you it would be much worse with-out my trusty 2nd Gen iPod. At only 10GB it pales in storage capacity to the newest beasts, but 10 gigs of music is still A LOT. Too much in fact to just fill-up, hit shuffle, and hope for a pleasing mix. Luckily iTunes has an under utilized feature called, “Smart Playlists” that allow you to hit your iPod’s library with the big hammer of logic. I use a smart playlist, (well, actually 9 playlists) to create “--> Drivetime:” a smart playlist that hovers around 500 choice tunes and never fails to deliver a great selection of songs for my drive. Here are the details on how it works.

First there is the “master” playlist; the one that I actually “play,” (on shuffle of course,) during my drive. I created a “smart playlist” (by hold “shift” or “option” and pressing the NEW PLAYLIST button in iTunes) that will play songs that are on the “drivetimeis” playlist but not on the “drivetime –remove” playlist which I named “--> Drivetime.” The dash-dash-bracket is important because this pushes my playlist to the top of the list on my iPod removing the need to scroll through my long list of playlists The “drivetime -remove" list is a standard playlist where I can put songs/artists/albums that I for one reason or another DO NOT want to hear in my car. For example, while I at times enjoy the ambient textures of M83, I don’t really lie to DRIVE to them. I put the M83 songs on this list and the are magically removed from my drivetime playlist. . The “Drivetimeis” list is a smart playlist that brings together songs on 6 other playlists that hold the bits of logic that do all the heavy lifting. These are:

-New gig: [“not podcast” limited to 1GB by “most recently added.]
This captures the newest stuff that I have added to the playlist, and represents about 50% of the total songs contained in the master playlist.

-Oft’ Play’d: [playcount is < 10 limited to 100 songs most often played]
This represents my “top-40 hits” and contains songs that I’ve listened to multiple times, but not so many (10+) that I’ve grown tired of them. Though I’m toying with the idea of moving the “<10” operator into the master playlist as there are songs with much higher play-counts that are getting through on the other lists.

-Shorty Podcasts: [podcast is true, time < 8:00, playcount is 0]
this was meant to grab any Podcast that I hadn’t listened to that was short enough to “fit” in-between songs. Really the only podcasts it catches are Merlin Mann’s 43folders podcast. Everything else is too long or has been deleted because it sucked (NPR “Story of the Day” I’m looking at you…)

-4Star: [rating is > 2star]
I tend to only rate songs I REALLY like, and then I usually only give them 4 or 5 star ratings. (Currently I rate 150 songs 4-stars or above.) But this playlist ensures my FAVORITE songs get put into rotation.

-50mix [playlist is not “newgig,” “oft’ Play’d,” or “4star” limit to 50 songs by random]
This is the newest addition and it is there to keep enough suprises in the master-list to keep it “fresh.” The “playlist is not…” operator ensures none of the songs picked by this list show up on any of the OTHER lists.

-Drivetime +add
This is a standard playlist where I can drop songs/albums/artists that I want in the mix. I usually have between 100-200 songs from my “standard” albums/ This allows me at least SOME control for my general “mood” from day-to-day…

That’s it. All the thinking is handled by the iPod, and I can concentrate on driving (or singing along.)

2006-03-13T12:51:00.000-08:00

I Woke Up This Morning…
Thankfully Comcast hasn’t yet pulled the plug on our HBO for 5 bucks deal, and last night we certainly got our moneys worth with long awaited the season premiere of the Sopranos. I must say, after last season’s spotty episodes I wasn’t actually very excited about the show’s return. But the opening sequence in last night’s episode hooked me all over again. I was pretty damn impressed with what they pulled together and I only hope that the whole of the season will follow suit and keep us off balance and interested.

2006-03-10T17:18:00.000-08:00

The Battle is Joined
I decided to treat myself to lunch out of the office today after two weeks of brown-bagging it. My destination, the LA institution Tito’s Tacos in adjacent Culver City. Tito’s is famous for their sparse, In-and-Out like menu and monumental lines at night. Luckily the lunch-rush was over by the time we made it, and we stepped right up to the counter to order our tacos: shredded beef and lettuce with cheese in a crispy shell. Simple and delicious. I had to get an enchilada too, since they are my great weakness, and while it was pretty good the key is clearly Tito’s tacos.

2006-03-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

An Epic Battle
Over the weekend I expressed, to Julie, my unearthly cravings for Mexican food and when she suggested that we scrap our plans to hit up our fav little coffee-shop for dinner and get some Mexican instead I told her that I would rather, “draw out the satiation of my craving” by eating smaller Mexican “snacks” of a few days and “culminating in a battle of epic proportions with a Mexican feast the likes of which haven’t been seen on these shore in years.” Julie was more than a little taken aback by this. The concept of a “meal as battle” did sit with her as something one would look forward to. Am I alone in this? Is my desire to eat until I can no longer function foreign to you? I once heard a morbidly overweight comedian explain how he would get SAD when he finished a meal. That his heart would sink with the last bite of a pie or the last spoon of ice cream. I knew that feeling. I have often felt sad when I finish a treat. I very clearly remember the sadness when I would finish the last fork-full of noodles from my instant lunch in elementary school. Is this normal? Does your heart sink when you eat the final French fries from your combo-meal? Do you know the sadness that lies at the bottom of a pint of ice cream? Or am I alone in that too?

I’m still biding my time before the epic battle… A taco here. A taco there. All the while I steel myself and wait. I know that soon the din of flatware on china will ring in my ears and legions of enchiladas and tamales will fall before me like sheaves of wheat fall before the reaper.

2006-03-06T16:42:00.000-08:00

It Worked for Me
Here is an interesting article in the Herald Sun regarding Soda and its effects on obesity. Take from it what you will, but there are some good points in there, and Julie and I frequently credit quitting soda for our weight loss of the past year… Regardless I’m sure Americans would be a lot better off if the de facto beverage from childhood wasn’t Coke or Pepsi.

I realized yesterday that I had completely neglected to offer any commentary, let alone predictions, on the Academy Awards. This wasn’t by design, but I think that it says a lot in its own right. I wasn’t at all surprised by Crash’s win over Brokeback Mountain. The Oscars are nothing if not political, and Hollywood is in no position to risk the further wrath of those audiences who would be appalled by the “gay cowboys” getting the top-nod. So instead they took the “safe” way out and recognized a stellar film about racism, corruption, and hate. Anyway… back to the grind.

2006-03-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

What Once Was Lost

I was just about to give up on the meandering clusterfuck that Lost had become over the past couple of months and subjected Julie to a RANT as the “Previously on Lost” bit aired at the head of last night’s episode. Much to my surprise the writers seemed to turn things around and delivered a top-notch episode. An episode that actually LED places and that matched the “WHAT THE FUCK!” quality of some of the choice 1st season episodes. There were some BIG reveals this week (I don’t think I’ll give anything away when I say “theatrical glue!? OMG!!”) and some more big questions poked at. Lets hope the rest of the season will build off this model and deliver 10 more nail biters.

In more TV related content, Julie and I just worked our way through the two seasons of HBO’s Entourage and I have to say it really surprised me. It surpassed all expectations I had for it, and well deserves all its praise. I might go so far as to say it is the tightest 30-minute show on TV. Great writing, and great acting (especially by Jeremy Piven.)

It hasn’t all been roses though. The first disk-and-a-half of “House” has left us kinda unimpressed. Does it pick up anytime soon, or does the remainder of the 1st season follow pretty much the same formula? I’m a little warmer towards “Veronica Mars,” but still on the fence. The show is clever enough, and I enjoy the mix of single-episode cases and the slow unraveling of the over-arching “who killed my best friend” case, but it feels like is lacking something.

I mourn the loss of Arrested Development, though rumors are still murmured about Showtime picking it up.

2006-02-15T17:23:00.000-08:00

Wonder Bread Product
It is like a bagel. But Square.

2006-02-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

Spam-Slam
Some fantastic Spam-poetry found its way into my inbox this morning. The subject was “Your Order” and I have no idea what it is trying to sell me. Enjoy.

Brave men are all vertebrates they have their softness on the surface
and their toughness in the middle.
It is easy when we are in prosperity to give advice to the afflicted.
A hero is someone we can admire without apology.
To be adult is to be alone.Courage is acting in spite of fear.
The mind that is anxious about the future is miserable.
A well begun is half ended.
It is odd but agitation or contest of any kind gives a rebound
to my spirits and sets me up for a time.

2006-02-10T15:37:00.000-08:00

Swan Song
A reminder: The final four episode of Arrested Development air on FOX tonight at 8pm. All bets are off as the cast and crew have nothing to loose, and I predict that wackiness will ensue.

Three Generations of Verive Men!

2006-02-08T17:33:00.000-08:00

Three Generations of Verive Men!
Originally uploaded by julieverive.

3 Generations
Can you tell that we are related?

Same Ol' Shit

2006-02-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

SOS
Back in LA after a quick trip north to visit Julie’s Parents. I say “quick trip” but the actual travel-part was anything but quick as on our drive north we got stuck in a snarl of traffic due to an overturned truck carrying toxic chemicals. And by “snarl” I mean a 10-mile detour off I5 that took us 4 hours to traverse. It was grueling. Road-madness set in at about hour-two (we had already been on the road for nearly four hours when wee hit the jam) and it got pretty hairy.

Now it is back to work and the Same Old Shit… It also feels like my commute is growing longer (closer now to 40 minutes that the 30 it was at 6 weeks ago.) Somebody in my office suggested listening to Podcasts as a good way to pass the drive-time and I had to rehash my whole, “what the hell is the point” argument again. These things are getting more and more mainstream (well, if not mainstream at least more accessible) and I still have a hard time seeing their value. It seems like the most covered subject within podcasting is podcasting, and I simply don’t care! The few show’s I’ve listened to have been too amateurish, much too long, and really pretty uninteresting. You’ve heard the phrase a “face for radio” and many of these podcasters have a “voice for newspaper;” which maybe a harsh criticism, but still…

Anyway, it seems like Podcasting is really a solution in search of a problem. Or, at least, a medium that has yet to find its real purpose. Merlin Mann has some thoughts along these lines over at 43folders which echo my thoughts. Is it really necessary to do a weekly podcast about Boardgames that runs nearly 90 minuets? I’m sure there are many fine programs out there for those who want to do the leg-work to discover them, and I welcome suggestions and recommendations of what to listen to. Maybe I’ll change my tune on the whole issue, but for now I think I’ll stick to tunes.

That's TWO more!

2006-02-01T16:25:00.000-08:00

And Then God Said…

“Let my sons shave their whiskers with not 4, but FIVE blades!”
Up. Gillete has one-upped their competitors “Quattro” with the razor-to-end-all-razors: theFUSION. This monster has 5 blades on the front and a sixthblade on the reverse to trim sideburns and ‘staches. I think it is time I loose the beard, for now I may shave as the gods shave… With FIVE BLADES!

Oh, the FUSION also uses a motherfucking battery and what they are calling a lubrastrip. How the fuck have I lived for near 28 years and have yet to rake a lubrastrip across my face?

Some Random Thoughts

2006-01-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

Expert from the “John is Fucking Crazy” File #31

American consumer culture depresses me to no-end. I know I’m a helpless participant, and even though I strive to be more rational with any purchases I’m dreadfully caught up in buying things… Most of the time I’m OK with that. I figure that as long as I’m AWARE that what I’m doing is destructive and possibly killing child-laborers in Honduras then I’m better-off than most people. But there are some places where the crushing quilt or fear or anxiety is really just too much for me. One of the biggest offenders isn’t the Mall as one would expect, but rather the toilet paper aisle of Target. My mind recoils in Lovecraftian horror every time I venture there, it just cannot comprehend the towering piles of packages adorned with babies and cartoon ladies and soft baby chickens. How can there be SO many different brands? How can it be so expensive? There was a package of TP that worked out to over $2 per roll! Do you realize what you are going to DO with that? YOU ARE GOING TO WIPE YOUR ASS WITH IT, and then flush it out to sea. Sometimes I wish that these products were just issues to us by the state. That way I wouldn’t have to waste 5 minutes of my life trying to decide what brand of paper I’m going to wipe my ass with. The tooth-care aisle gives me similar feelings. There must be no less than 10 or 20 BILLION permutations of toothbrushes available to purchase in every conceivable color, bristle configuration, handle shape, and magical plaque-busting enchantments. HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE A GOD DAMNED TOOTH BRUSH? It really freaks me out.

Octys! IV

2006-01-23T12:51:00.000-08:00

The Final Countdown
The Octy! for Music is always the toughest for me to award. Between there being SO much music that I have liked, so much that I know I would like but didn’t get around to actually listening to, and my personal biases it is a pretty anguishing decision. 2005 was a banner year of sorts for music. I counted over 27 2005 releases added to my iTunes library: 20 of which I’ve listened to enough to feel that I can pas some-sort of judgment. I never gave the critically acclaimed Sufjan Stevens album, or the new Kanye West disk that was produced by Jon Brion much of a listen. The “Inkys” of the bunch are pretty easy to pick-out. The Madonna dance album was only passably interesting and suffered from some painfully bad lyrics and one song that I would rather pour hot-wax in my ears that have to listen to again. Mike Doughty, the front-man of the defunct Soul Coughing, saw an official solo-album not only released by a LABEL but produced by Dave Matthews. And I was so disappointed. Matthews suck all the edge and bite out of Doughty’s sound and replaced it with insipid frat-rock licks and shiny production. The Sheryl Crow album was so generic that I can’t recall a single thing about it. Another example of edge being dulled.

It was all for naught though. There were many bright lights. From Beck’s return to his more funky and electronic roots with Guero to the crisp and earnest sound of Bloc Party I can count 7 albums that I considered for the top-prize. Franz Ferdinand’s sophomore LP just missed the spot. Tori Amos’ “The Bea-e Keeper” is dense and marvelously produced and the we finally got to see her play live in support of it, but it lacked something. It suffers for getting compared to 2002’s “Scarlet’s Walk” which is in my top-5 all-time favorite albums. I’d love to give the Octy to “Get Behind Me Satan” by my beloved White Stripes, and their show at the Greek theater was better than I even hoped it could be, but I can at-best mention it honorably for taking the Stripes’ tried-and-true drums-guitar-vocal formula and filling it out with piano, marimba, and mandolin. Jack just keeps writing awesome fucking songs, and the man can melt-your-fucking-face with his playing.

Just in writing this post I’ve gone back-and-forth on which of my two favorites would get the prize, and I’ve decided to just award an Octy! to both. It is, after all, my party. Anyway, the first Octy! to an album 5-years in the making. An album that was leaked on the internet months before its release in an unfinished form and was adored by fans even in that imperfect version. Fiona Apple’s “Extraordinary Machine,” when it was finally released in October, surpassed all expectations. It took everything that made the early Jon Brion sessions so great and turned up the volume. It had all the emotion and pain of Tidal, all the exuberance of “When the Pawn…” but was more refined; more adult. They way she moves from victim to villain, from wistful to brash, and then back on the album is inspired. If you dismissed Fiona after her debut as another singer-songwriter of the Lilith Fair generation I urge to get “Extraordinary Machine” a listen, and I think you’ll discover that she is so much more than that.

The second Octy! recipient for 2005 makes history as the first cartoon band to win the award. At first I was weary of the Gorillaz “Demon Days,” since they had lost many of the original collaborators including Dan the Automator and Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz. But the sophomore album cemented the concept of the virtual-band as a revolving-door of personalities behind the group, and addition of Dangermouse as producer to Fill Del the Funky Homosapien’s shows was brilliant. The www.allmusic.com review makes a comparison to Frankenstein at one point, and I think this is a particularly adroit observation. As any crazy doctor with a hacksaw, a suture kit, and the head for grave digging could sew-together a hodgepodge of parts, it took a genius and a bit of magic to create life from dead parts. “Demon Days” is that one in a million 2nd lighting strike. The Gorillaz’ first album dropped in April of 2001 and was a sort-of soundtrack to that summer. It meshed perfectly with the kind of heady optimism that prevailed during the Californian summer. 5 months later everything had changed, and the world was a much darker place. “Demon Days” echoes how I feel about living in world torn by strife, war, and sickness, it doesn’t shy away from the darkness but neither does it dwell in it. It takes a step into the shadows, but only so that it might dispel the fear of what lurks there. It is the quintessential optimist album; it’s all about finding the happiness even when it seems there is no point in being happy. It also sounds fucking AWESOME. Pop-y and electronic at times, rock-y at other. Folk, hip-hop, and garage tossed with mash-ups and killer hooks that burrow deep into your sub-brain and sit there humming. and it features a spoken-word story/poem/song performed by Dennis Hopper that doesn’t come off cheesy or silly. It is a breathtaking album by a cadre of brilliant musical minds and colossal personalities.

So there you go. Sorry it was so long in the making.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Movies

2006-01-19T17:06:00.000-08:00

Magic
Last night my awesome co-worked Adam helped me score a pair of tickets for the AFI @ the Arclight series, “100 Years, 100 Quotes” screening of one of my all-time favorite films (and I mean Top-3. My very favorite comedy of all time): Dr Strangelove! I had seen the film projected from a Laser Disc way back in film school, but Julie and I missed our last chance to see a film print on the big screen (back during the very dawn or our relationship when we only made it 6-hours in during the nickelodeon 24-hour movie marathon.) I was extremely excited to finally see a celluloid projection of one of the most biting and hysterical films ever made (a film that hasn’t lost an ounce of relevance I might add. Just substitute all instances of “commie” with “Muslim.”)

If you now me even a little you know that I love technology, but nothing out there can yet come close to the experience of seeing a film print project on a big screen with an audience. And the Strangelove print they screened last night was literally pristine. It had come out of the archives at sony and had NEVER BEEN SCREENED BEFORE. It was a glory to behold. There is something magical about seeing such a classic film in the way it was meant to be seen. It was funny too because there was a server-glitch that resulted in all the reserved seating information for the show (have I mentioned that the Arclight is the best theater ever) being lost, and they had to run the screening first-come-first-served. “Just like the old days!” someone in the crowed shouted when the AFI Programming director apologized for the third time. But it really did feel like an event. I don’t think I’ll ever get to the point where my home-viewing experience can equal the joy of going out to the movies!

The screening was wonderful, and I was even able to catch some details that I have missed before. Plus all the performances seemed more vibrant and nuanced. Stuff really does get lost in translation when you watch these classics on DVD.

Octys! III

2006-01-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

Onward With the Octys!
I’m going to squeeze two in today, and I’m going to be quick about it again.
First up: Videogames. I’m not even sure if I should be awarding the category anymore as I played so few videogames in 2005… And my favorite was an update to last year’s Octy winner Burn Out 3. In the interest of keeping things fresh I’ll give Burn Out Revenge only the runner-up prize, even though it is better than BO3 in nearly everyway it didn’t consume our lives in quite the same way.
And thinking of consuming our lives, the Octy! In videogames goes to: We Love Katamari or whatever the official name is for the sequel to Katamri Damancy. I enjoyed the first game like a meth-addict enjoys disassembling bicycles. Which is to say I felt an irresistible urge to play it compulsively and it tended to infect all of my thoughts for days-on-end. It also often left me with a headache and the feeling that if only I could look past the pretty colors, acid-trip “story,” and utterly bizarre and wholly Japanese concept I would be shown the unspeakable secrets to the universe, but instead I just felt kina empty. This year’s sequel takes that and makes it into a more-fun game complete with goals, and missions, and giraffe hats! Julie has been doing ALL of the actual playing, but I’ve had more fun WATCHING her roll-up stuff while commenting on all the random Gomi that she picks up. For those who don’t know Katamari and are utterly confused as to what I’m talking about, sorry but I cannot offer an explanation. Google it and try to wrap your feeble American heads around what I am too lazy to get into.

As far as Tech and Gadgets, I don’t have much this year… 2005 really seemed to be the year that Web 2.0 has started to emerge and cross over the average user threshold. So yeah, lets give the runner up to Flickr, Del.icio.us, and all the other emergent Web 2.0 apps that are doing cool things. But the Octy! for 2006 goes to Google. They get more useful (nay, more CRUCIAL) every year, and with Google Maps, Google Local, Google Earth, Movie-times, Weather and all the other additions to the suite of services offered by Serge’s band of web-warriors I find it harder-and-harder to imagine life without Google at my side. And although Google doesn’t make us Omniscient (yet) it DOES give us access to almost-everything that we need to know on a day-to-day basis.
NASA and the folks at JPL and Kennedy get an Honorable Mention for keeping the dreams of space alive though a lot of difficulties and strife. For me Space and the blackness symbolize hope and limitless potential and every time we spend millions of dollars to shoot an insanely complex piece of machinery into the nothing/something of space it makes me happy.

Octys! II

2006-01-11T17:39:00.000-08:00

Drama
Lots of drama going on right now… SO I figured I’d try to sneak-in the Movies Octy! While I had a free moment. Forgive my brevity.
The runner-up for this year is undoubtedly Serenity, which was not only an awesome Sci-Fi flick, a great gift to fans of Firefly, and a really fun ride, it was also broke some Cinematic ground.
The Octy! Goes, predictably to King Kong.
And, an honorable mention to Batman, as Christopher Nolan achieved what I thought was impossible and re-adapted the Batman myth for the screen and equaled the greatness of the original Burton film.

Octys! I

2006-01-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

Behold The 3rd Annual Octy Awards!
Here is a quick refresher on how this works: Over the next week(s) I’ll be awarding the prestigious “Octy!” to stuff in different catagoris. In past years these have been movies, music, TV, and videogames, though this year I might mix things up a bit. In each category I not only award an Octy! But also a “runner-up” award for whatever just-missed the #1 spot, as well as an “Honorable Mention” for something that I think deserves recognition. Lets get this show on the road!

The 2006 Octy! For Best in Television!
This is the easiest Octy decision I’ve ever made. The Runner-up goes to the 4th season of 24. 24 is an amazing and ground-breaking show that was awarded the very first Octy! For TV, and the 4th season changed things. No other show on TV gets me on the edge of the couch like 24, and there were a couple of episodes in this season where I actually jumped OFF the couch and cheered. Season 5 starts in a week, even if you’ve never watched an episode you need to tune-in this season. Trust me, and trust Jack.

This years Octy! Goes to the single best show that Television has seen in a decade. A show that breaks all the rules, that is so smart, and funny, and aware that it was doomed to fail. It has been cut-down just as it has peaked, and like Janis Joplin or Jimi Hendrix the passing is sad, but only momentarily, as the works left behind are so incredible you feel lucky that they were ever created in the first place. I’m talking of course about Arrested Development. I’m not sure what else I can say that I haven’t previously, or even what I need to say. Arrested Development does everything right, except, of course, find an audience. But I’m over bitching about its demise, and bitching about FOX’s handling of the show because the show is just that good. I’m thankful we got the episodes that we did, and I know that in its death, AD will live-on as the talent behind the show move on to new projects.

UPDATE:
I forgot to honorably mention Lost. We missed it when it first aired, but watched the season one DVDs a couple of months ago, and I have to say it really surpassed my expectations. Individual episodes are hit-and-miss, some revealing major plot points and featuring top-notch character development, while other episodes have neither. But there are certainly more good episodes that ho-hum ones, and there are enough F’ing awesome episodes to really get behind. The show is over-all well acted, and I haven’t had this much fun theorizing and trying to figure out all the clues since the heyday of the X-Files.

2006-01-04T17:55:00.000-08:00

Hard (octo)Hat
The week between xmas and New Years was spent moving my companies Office from Hollywood to JAG* LA, and since the building we moved INTO was (and still is) very-much under construction we haven't had Internet until this afternoon. I've also been moving heavy things, building my very own warehouse and shipping/receiving facility and other labor-intensive organizational tasks. As a result I've been too beat to blog when I get home after my three-times-longer commute. The 3rd Annual Octys! Are on-their way though, so don't loose interest in me just yet...

*Just-Above Ghetto

Santa Drives a Ford

2005-12-23T16:18:00.000-08:00

Santa Drives a Ford
Originally uploaded by OctopusHat.

Seriously. I saw him at the FedEx depo in Hollywood. He had green pants and red pointy shoes, and drove a Ford F150 with the license plate "SANTA:hearts:U" and a bumper sticker that said "my other car is a reindeer."

I officially have xmas spirt now!

Merry Christmas everybody, be safe and have a drink for me!

2005-12-20T09:05:00.000-08:00

They Make Drugs Out of It…

This was posted yesterday, though I was too zoned-out to notice I posed it to the WRONG blog... So enjoy, and I'm feeling much better.
…And I can see why. I took Sudafed this morning to help with the head-pressure, and ever since I’ve been a zombie. I can barely function, which is weird because I used to take Sudafed all the time and it never laid me out quite like it is doing today… I think the cure is worse than the cold in this case. I actually felt pretty good on Saturday, but evidently over-exerted myself by, gasp, shopping because on Sunday I was back in the weeds. I don’t think I got off the couch for like 10 hours. I actually watched Rushmore on DVD TWICE because I didn’t have the energy to find another DVD to watch. By the time Sunday night rolled around and I was a total bitch because I hadn’t DONE anything but lay around, I didn’t actually FEEL any better, and was pissed about having to go to work in the morning. (I’ll also blame the damned Sudafed for this as it evidently causes irritability and restlessness.) And of course Jules had to bear the brunt of Fussy-John, and I’m so sorry that she had to deal w/ me. She is the most important person I my life, and she deserves some kind of award for being so fucking awesome. Something with Chocolate-sauce…

This fucking cold/flu has also killed nearly all of my Christmas spirit. I’m bummed that we only get to see a fraction of our families. I feel totally trapped in my job, which gets more frustrating by the day and doesn’t actually provide the freedom, financially, that I would have expected 18 months ago when I started. I seriously need a Tiny-Tim moment, a fucking gingerbread man ,or something because right now I feeling pretty Grinch.

Bitch, Bitch, Bitch… Sorry. I did enjoy my double feature of Rushmore and Rushmore yesterday, though the commentary-track with Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwarztman was pretty under whelming and it didn’t offer a whole lot of insight into the story or production. But I love the film, and the performances and script are so perfect that I could probably watch it every day and still see new details. Wes Anderson’s films are both utterly heart-breaking and at the same time wonderfully uplifting, and he is a gifted filmmaker who I am fiercely jealous of.

2005-12-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

The Bird-Flu Will Destroy Los Angeles
Hollywood has fallen victim to one of the horsemen of the apocalypse. Everyone I know is either sick, or valiantly combating sickness. My office has been at ½ strength for a week as the bug whips through the company like a SoCal brushfire through scrub-bush. I was home from work yesterday, and slept nearly 16-hours and still don’t fell 100%. Still made it out to the opening of King Kong last night, and it didn’t loose any impact on the second viewing. I’ll try to write-up a “proper” review today or tomorrow, but I’ll probably flake on that…

Musicology

2005-12-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

Memories
My co-worker Carl just posed the question of what was the first album that you remember listening to. He had memories of his dad listening to the Magical Mystery Tour, and I had to think about mine for a while before coming up with two possibilities. Men at Work’s “Business as Usual” and Don Henley’s first solo album “I Can’t Stand Still” were both released on 1982 putting me between 3&4 years old. I LOVED the singe from the Don Henley, “Dirty Laundry” and even had a little dance I would do along-with it. I think this is very odd, because Don Henley was the poster-boy for wuss-rock and as a teen I developed a seething hatred for the Eagles, and yet I love New Wave and the Nuevo Wave of recent years. Why would these two albums, so central in the formation of musical tastes, now have diverged so much? I’m always intrigued at how I got to my current sensibilities. Could I, looking back over my personal history, pull-out moments or incidents that directly correlate to what I like today?

How much did my parents influence my taste? IN my early youth, my father was always an old-school Rock-and-Roll guy, mixed with blues and 60s-psychedellia while my mom was all-over the map, including country (back in the day before country meant jack-asses in $6,000 hats) and Rock and Roll (Springstein and the Eagles) and whatever sub-genre Fleatwood Mac created (not to mention more easy-listening staples like Enya and –gasp- Yani.) I’ve hung-onto the blues-rock and psychedelia from my dad and some of the more synth-driven instrumentation of my mom’s eclectic tape-collection. I also have a soft-spot for Roots and traditional early-American instrumentation. Maybe that is a legacy of my inutero Country and Honky-tonk listening?

The very first Band that I claimed as “My Own,” the first fan-club I belonged to and the first act I felt any connection to was, of course, They Might Be Giants. I had seen the video for either “Hotel Detective” or “Don’t Lets Start” on the Saturday-morning music-video program on Nickelodeon, “Nick Rocks!” This initial influx of non-parental music happened sometime between 1986 and 1989 with the purchase of the “Don’t Lets Start” EP (on cassette of course.) I believe that this laid a foundation for my love of “alt-rock” post-punk, and art-rock that continues to this day.

After the discovery of TMBG there was a top-40 radio driven foray into bubble-gum “hip-hop” (C&C Music Factory, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, etc etc.) While this phase was, for the most part, regrettable it did lay the ground-work for my later appreciation of Hip-Hop on a deeper level in college. This puts me into the 90s and in Jr. High where my next major aesthetic shift happened. It is a constant in my life that when new people are introduced into my life my musical tastes are forever changed and the onset of the tumultuous time of middle-school was the first time I really experienced this.

2005-12-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

At Least the Aren’t Kidding Themselves
Found at Ateaseweb.com (A Radiohead news site):

Here's a little bit from this months Q magazine. An interview with Coldplay's Chris Martin & Ricky Gervais:
How will Coldplay develop? You've mentioned you'd like to work with Timbaland.
RG: What, the boots people?
CM: Yeah, the people who make boots.
RG: Bruce Foxton's got a brand new pair of Timberlands.
CM: Yeah, I thought what we need to do next is a CD that comes in a pair of durable walking boots, so you can listen to it when you're hiking.
RG: You're going for the working class vote now aren't you? [Thinks] Who are your fans?
CM: Ah, man, it's tricky. I don't think we'd be anywhere is Radiohead didn't exist. I think we're like why Diet Coke was big. Because some people couldn't handle Coke. That's how i see Coldplay.
RG: That's very humbling.

Julie and I were talking about Coldplay the other day, and we decided that my unfounded hatred for them probably isn’t fair. But alas, what can I do? They maybe decent song-writers and musicians but something about their aesthetic makes me angry. I’ll even admit that “Clocks” is kinda catchy, but it still smells funny to me. Like it was mathematically designed to be catchy and anthemic. Plus I think that Chris Martin is a Douche.

As proof of Ducheocity, I just found this tidbit on the Wikipedia entry for that band:
"...at one point Martin had considered forming a *NSYNC inspired boy band called Pectoralz."

2005-12-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

Kong
Thanks to Justin, Julie and I were able to get into a press-screening of King Kong last night. I realize I have a bit of a reputation for hyperbole after seeing these big movies, and I want to try and reign myself in while describing Kong. But it is hard because this movie is big. Looking back to December of 2003 after seeing Return of the King I had this to say:

Against all odds Peter Jackson has gone from making tiny shlock-horror cult movies to one of the biggest trilogies in the history of Hollywood, and it is only fitting that his next project will be to tackle the very heavy cinematic burden of remaking King Kong. I think everyone would agree that there is no need to remake King Kong (again.) The 1933 original is one of the most iconic movies ever made and was to Hollywood in the Thirties what Lord of the Rings is to the Hollywood of today: an impossible achievement. But Jackson has done the impossible more than once, so I'm all for him giving Kong a shot, if anyone can make the big ape as awe inspiring and relevant as he was in the Thirties it's Jackson.

Even before the buzz on production began I had high-hopes for the film, and those expectations had ballooned in the days and weeks leading up to the opening of the film so naturally I jumped at the chance to see it over a week early. The film exceeded every expectation I had. The film exceeded what I thought was possible within the medium of cinema. (Damn-it! There I go with the hyperbole again.) The film is a monumental achievement in Cinema. I could go on, but I’m going to hold-off until after the premiere so I can hopefully have some more insightful comments.

The bottom line is King Kong is movie magic and should not be missed. Don’t wait-around for DVD, this film is meant to be seen in the theaters.

Why Didn't I think of That

2005-12-01T11:56:00.000-08:00

I think I missed My Calling...
Chess+Boxing. Who knew?

Turkey

2005-11-28T13:00:00.000-08:00

Jive Turkey
Thursday’s feats was very-nearly hitchless, my only hiccup was trying, as I do every year, to remove the turkey too early. I’m paranoid about drying-out the breast-meat and always seem to under-cook the dark. This coupled with an acute fear of FBI makes the turkey-removal and carving process the most stressful part of the day. But I found a novel solution this year: I removed the wings and both breasts and the flipped the bird and tossed it back in the oven while we ate. The 15-pound Federico was stuffed with citrus and fennal, the Italian Sausage and Wild-rice dressing that I invented last year was refined (or perfected if you ask my Mom) and served with Julie’s Roasted Garlic Mashed potatoes (a full 5 pounds of them) and my bastardization of a Verive-family classic Haricot-Vert recipe (I use wine and shallots.) My gravy actually WORKED for the first-time ever, even without being able to fully-deglaze the roasting pan, though next year I think I’ll omit the oranges from the roasting pan as then tend to lend too much bitterness to the drippings. The whole meal was topped off with Julie’s Pumpkin Pie with Bourbon whipped-cream. And it was, without a doubt, the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever had, and ranks in the all-time top-5 pies. And I’ve eaten my fair-share of pies. Over-all a fantastic thanksgiving that is still yielding sandwiches…

2005-11-23T11:35:00.000-08:00

As Promised
-What is your favorite and least favorite Boardgame?
-What are your Turkey-day plans?
-Your favorite dish of turkey-day meal?
-Did you have a new years resolution? Were you successful?
-What do you generally do post-tday-meal while in the turkey induced stupor?
-What is the strangest thing in your wallet?

Turky

2005-11-21T11:57:00.000-08:00

Federico’s in the Fridge…
Yes. I named my turkey after a character on Six Feet Under. I’m not really sure why, it just seemed to fit. I’m sure you all know Thanksgiving is my most favorite of Holidays, and we are going to cook enough food to keep us in leftover though till 2006. Which is a frightening thought because 2006 is close enough to, well to taste. And that means it is very nearly time for the 3rd annual OCTYs! I’ve got some idea of this years contenders, and I’m excited for the final month of Movie releases. The “Music OCTY” tends to give me the most trouble since I only get exposed to such a tiny slice of everything out there, and I need your help! What albums have you fallen in love with this year? Anything that I simply –must- listen to before making my decision? I’m contemplating a format-change this year since things kinda got de-railed last year and I didn’t even finish posting them until February…

Also, the OH Quiz makes a triumphant return this week! Stay tuned for details!

2005-11-16T16:05:00.000-08:00

Catching Up Some More
Where was I? I covered Walking tall (stunk,) Jarhead (good/not-great,) and Crash (better than I expected and recommended,) which leaves the Burton Remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (hereafter: CCF.) From the opening (CG long-take) shot this movie screamed, “DON’T FORGET TIM BURTON DIRECTED THIS!!” Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as he was starting to get away from his hallmark visual cues. Johnny Depp was unsurprisingly excellent and the rest of the cast was un-noteworthy. The highlight of the whole production was, without a doubt, the musical numbers. Surreal and utterly frightening, the Oompa Loompa songs showcased Danny Elfman’s pop sensibilities in a way we haven’t seen since Oingo-Boingo. The film also featured a constant barrage of pop-culture references, and I’m not quite sure I fully grasped their meaning. Any insight into why Burton touches on everything from vintage TV ads to Kubrick’s 2001?

Did I ever talk about the new(ish) Franz Ferdinand album? If I did, ignore my ravings here. It is really, really good. On par with the new Fiona Apple album, (we are seeing her play in a week!) which is also really good. We just got the new Madonna album and though I haven’t really had a chance to listen to it yet I will say it sounds exactly like dance-remixes of Madonna songs that I’ve never heard.

Finally, I never posted a post-mortem of my Attack of the 50-Foot Reels film. The screening went really, really well! My piece came out better than I was expecting and I’m quite happy with the results. I should get my copy in a week or two, and maybe I’ll actually get to posting it on the web this year. Russell’s film, which I photographed, also came out great! There was a brief, (though at the screening it felt anything but brief) segment that was severely under-exposed and had a weird strobing-flash on the right of frame. But I guess that is what you get when you are shooting a “dead” format on 30+- year-old cameras. At any rate I was really happy with my camera-work and can’t wait to shoot something else. Now, if I only had the time and energy to WRITE…

2005-11-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

The Final Countdown
This morning our weekly staff meeting was held at the new building our company is moving into on the first of the year. Our current space is in Hollywood less than two miles from my apartment and it takes me all of 8 minutes to get here in the morning. Our new building is 8 miles away on the boarder of Culver City and it took me over 45 minutes to commute this morning. I can’t help but be a little unhappy with the change.

The weekend was nice, Pretty low-key and relaxing. We caught an early show of “Jarhead” on Sunday, which was good but not great. The film had a dream-team of filmmakers behind it, and a very talented cast but it wasn’t quite able to live up to my, admittedly high, expectations. It felt like an update of “Full Metal Jacket” and I’m not sure that that film needed any updating. Not to say it isn’t worth seeing, as the performances alone are worth the price of admission.

And finally there are a lot of rumors flying around about the fate of Arrested Development. News broke on Friday that FOX had cut the episode-order for 22 down to a measly 13 and was pulling the show from the line-up for the rest of November. Then there was a short-lived rumor that it hadn’t actually been canceled and would get a reprieve, but now it looks like the axe has, in deed, fallen (though I have also heard that Showtime may or may not be in talks to pick up the show.) The single best show on TV has been killed, not by FOX, but by the American public who would rather watch some jackass eat llama balls. The show was just too smart for its own good, and I’m holding each-and-every one of your who did not heed my pleas to watch the show responsible. Arrested Development was a perfect-storm of talent, writing, technology and zeitgeist and it was struck-down just as it began to realize its potential. But I guess Network Television just isn’t the place for original, smart, and daring programming. I am saddened by the loss.

UPDATE: Russell just sent me a great article from SFGate about the show's situation.

2005-11-10T11:00:00.000-08:00

Not Quite as Good…
Last night we watched “Walking Tall” starring the Rock. We were hopefully since his previous action-blockbuster, “the Rundown” was actually really good. We started to worry during the opening-credits where no less than 5 writers were given credit. This is never a good sign since it means the script has gone though multiple re-writes. I haven’t seen the original film on which it was based, but the Rock version of Walking Tall was a muddled mish-mash that never even came close to gelling. The film was directed by a TV and Music video director and you could tell by the occasional cool shot mixed with is text-book scene set-ups. The film is hardly worth talking about.

Unlike these 50 films which were picked by Empire Online as the 50-Greatest “Indie” films of all time. I don’t agree with nearly all of their selections (how an Cube be on the list, but not Pi?!) but the list is a great jumping-off point for a REALLY geeky discussion. I’ve actually only seen 32/50 as I’m actually pretty thin in the low-budg Horror department, which I’m sure will offend Chuck.

There is a game that I’m told is played by the literary set where one sits around in a leather appointed room with cognacs and each player in turn admits to a canonical text that they haven’t read. Each successive admission should be more horrifying to your peers that the last. For example, to Whitworth’s admission of skipping “Great Expectations” Charles responds, “Well old chap, I must admit I have never read the Aeneid.” To which Whitworth shoots scotch from his nose and everyone has a great time berating the brutish sensibilities of Charles. Anyway, if we were to play THAT game with THIS is I would have to admit to never having seen “Two Lane Black Top.” Then I would suggest that we try a game (not just restricted to the 50 films of the list) in the comments of this post. But I am regularly appalled by people’s lack of basis in the classic films.

2005-11-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

Cue The Eurythmics
It is raining in LA again. Not the torrential down-pour of last season, but a sad misty dribble. I, for the most part, love the rain, but that is tempered by the horrors of trying to drive across town when the legions of jack-asses are sliding around in their fucking H2s while yapping on their cell phones. My paranoia wasn’t helped by watching “Crash” on DVD lastnight.(the 2004 Paul Haggis film not the earlier Cronenberg film.) The film was very good, exceeding my expectations with an intricate plot and an all-star cast. I have no idea how Haggis was able to attach so many veteran Character Actors to the film. The script was excellent; the story centers around a group of Angelinos brought together by the one element that all Angelinos share: the streets. Car jackings, accidents, road-rage, and traffic are the catalysts for confrontation between the characters and their ideals. Haggis plays a tricky shell-game with each character and racial identities, alternately showing us their stereotypical behaviors and the underlying humanity of each character. It turns out to be pretty powerful and I recommend the film, especially to my fellow Los Angeles residents as it tackles issues that we all neglect to deal with in our everyday life.

2005-11-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

I Bathe In There!
I hate taking sick days. I would rather suffer through 9 hours of work with a cold than blow precious PTO hours. So it pained me greatly when I had to take a personal-day from work because the people that manage our apartment are fucking idiots.

On Saturday I was cleaning the bathroom, and not just the cursory wipe-down but the on-my-knees with comet and a scotch-brite pad deep moetherfucking SCRUB, when I noticed the tub wouldn’t drain. In fact there was cold water actually coming UP from the drain. Over the nest several hours the water level in the tub would rise and fall by a few inches and many calls to the apartment management went unanswered. We “sandbagged” the bathroom with old towels and left for San Diego.

Upon our return on Sunday evening we found the tub full of shit. Or at least fetid waste-water, and it would not drain at all. More calls, more messages. At about 8 there was some gurgling in the pipes and water rose at an alarming rate from the tub AND the kitchen sink. Stinking, murky water. We finally found the on-site manager who checked it out, went up and talked to our (trouble-making) upstairs neighbors, and told us there would be a plumber out first thing in the morning. SO I stayed home from work to await a drainage professional. Of course, “first thing” turned into 10am and by that time the tub had re-filled to the point of flooding. Water was pouring out of the tub and into the apartment. I ran into the kitchen to try and get ANYONE on the phone, where I slipped and ended up breaking the glass-door of the oven.

Long story short, I spent all day deal with the flooding, the incompetent maintenance and management staff, carpet cleaners, etc etc. Everything is more-or-less back to normal now, though the carpet won’t be done until tomorrow afternoon, and the neighbors upstairs are still sketchy and causing problems. It really pisses me off that if the fucking management had dealt with the problem when we first tried to tell them about it (on Saturday around noon) then they would have saved a lot of $$$ and I wouldn’t be out 8 hours of personal time, a pile of towels, and a small sliver of my sanity. Penny-wise Pound-foolish gets you every fucking time.

Kareem Abdual-Mary, Phil(matt), Juliette, Chris, and Andy Warhol.

2005-10-31T12:16:00.000-08:00

The party crew
Originally uploaded by julieverive.

Weeny
Another successful double-hitter Halloween celebration! I had some serious shoes to fill as last-years Phil Colins mask was such a huge successes. As luck would have it way-back in January I found the perfect follow-up: Christopher Walken! He had a creepy portrait in Variety’s annual celeb photo-issue and I was able to construct a paper-mask that we even creepier than last years! It was a HUGE success! Julie’s costume as a vampiric saloon girl was equally awesome and we had a great time out-and-about. Mary was a 70’s basketball all-star, Matthew was Phil, and Beau’s last-minute Andy Warhol came-off great! We saw many other great costumes at the Del and Phil’s house-party (Pictures taken by Matt here,) drank some kick-ass punch, then proceeded to Justin’s birthday celebration at Bar Sinister. The rest of the night is a bit of a blur, and I haven’t yet looked over the 150+ pictures we took, but when I do I’ll of course Flickr them for your perusal. Tonight I think we’ll just watch something scary and eat all the candy we bought for the trick-or-treaters that don’t actually come to our building…

Not Dead Yet

2005-10-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

Gort
Originally uploaded by OctopusHat.

Not Dead Yet
I actually got off my ass and scanned in the 35mm shots I took on vacation (again, since the first time I had the scanner set-up improperly.) I’ve posted my favorites to flickr this morning, so go check them out. I’m pissed that the Gort picture has so much CRAP on it, I’ll have to clean off the neg and glass and scan it a THIRD time as it is one of my favorite shots.

In other news, I will again have a short-film in “The Attack of the Fifty Foot Reels” screening to be held on November 3rd at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. I decided to try something a little more experimental this year and ended up with a short (~2-minute) time-lapse piece. We’ll see if what I tried worked…

2005-10-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

A Heaping Plate of My Thoughts
I’m so far behind in my banal descriptions of media that I’ve recently consumed. So to catch up over the next couple of days I will just fling a whole fist-full of opinions, spaghetti-like, at you and see what sticks.

First up, “Serenity” the long awaited theatrical adaptation of the beloved Joss Whedon Sci-Fi show killed in its infancy by FOX. I’m sure you are aware I was a fan of the show and have turned quite a few people onto it since it debuted on DVD. SO the Movie finally came out and it was pretty great. For a fan of the show it was like an early Christmas present what with all the great character development and resolving of long-standing plot-lines (and some pretty shocking surprises too.) It also represents a very cool achievement in filmmaking as it is a glossy sci-fi space-opera that looks like a hundred million bucks but really only cost 40 million. It was even produced in Hollywood as opposed to Canada or over-seas! Unfortunately the box-office numbers haven’t been very good…

2005-10-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

Wrapping Things Up
About a year ago I stumbled upon a photo-set at flickr of “Latte art” pouring in a coffee shop in Seattle called Victrola and since then I’ve wanted to pay them a visit. The café turned out to be cooler than I could have imagined. We walked in and one of my favorite CDs was playing (Portishead’s P:NYC) and I was in love. As Julie and I stood in line we saw the barista pour a Café Americano for someone and we both our jaws dropped and we just looked at each others, silently communicating that it was indeed the best-looking americano either of us had ever seen. I suddenly felt like a very small child in a very larg candy-store. I ordered a latte, which I don’t usually even like, and Julie ordered a double-shot. We stood back and watched the barista at work (I really wish that I had gotten her name) and I was amazed by her focus and attention to the shots she was pulling. We were a long ways away from the actress-slash working the bar at Starbucks between auditions. The barista was literally crafting our drinks. Not just serving coffee or making lattes, but creating an experience. It was a joy to see the pride that she had in the drinks she was making. Long-story-short we get our drinks, and drink them. Oh yeah, the latte was the best cup-of-coffee I have ever had. Ever. Victorla does more than brew and serve the coffee, they also ROAST and blend their beans, which makes all the difference. I went back in and bought a pound of Bolivian coffee and a shirt, and I really wish that I could go back for my afternoon cup.

After coffee we headed back to John and Greg’s place for more games and booze! The next morning we rose early and headed to the airport to return the rental car. A mere 6 hours in the airport before we boarded out flight back to the southland! It was really a wonderful trip and it was great to see so many great friends! We really fell in-love w/ Seattle and I can’t wait to go back!

The Pesto Of Cities

2005-10-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

Seattle, the Pesto of Cities
I’m getting tired of penning this travelogue and I can only imagine how tired of reading it you must be, and I really had planned on wrapping things up with this post. But I don’t think it is going to happen, so stick with me for a couple more days…

We spent the evening at our host’s apartment drinkin’ beers, playing games, and getting caught-up. The next morning it was our “tourist day” and we got an early start and were soon at the waterfront and Pike’s Market. We got a cup of seriously potent coffee at a “Tullys” which had a very cool, if somewhat Starbuckian, vibe; as well as coffee that could strip the paint off a battleship. (which is a good thing.) I’m used to Hollywood coffee, which is brewed strong as this whole town runs on it in a way that is lampooned often but in reality is a very serious. I once saw a craft-service PA get fed to a lion because of sub-par coffee. Ok that isn’t true but you get the idea. Anyway, the Tullys coffee was stiff even by my standards. We proceeded into the market which was similar to LA’s “Farmers Market” except more cramped, more tourists, and multi-leveled. We saw the infamous fish-throwers (who were waiting for the crowds to thicken before they actually began chucking things) then tried to find a donut shop that several people had told us about. It wasn’t long before we came across a purveyor of fried dough and figured the “Texas Twist” was what we were told to get. After all it was $4 worth of donut. It was 12” long and must have weighted 10 pounds. It was so large in fact that I named it Bill. Bill the giant Donut. Julie and I did our best to polish Bill off but only got about ½ through it before stuffing him back in the bag and pressing on. We rounded the next corner of the market and saw a small stand with archaic looking machines spitting tiny dough-balls into hot oil. These were the donuts we were told to find! But we were full-up on Bill and they only sold the tiny, fresh, “anti-bills” by the dozen and so we grumpily left declaring Pikes Market a Tourist Trap and heading to our next stop, a hidden Jem of Jet Cit, The Space Needle complex.

The weather was perfect site-seeing in Seattle weather: overcast and gloomy, threatening to rain but never actually getting wetter than a mist. We parked, loaded up on photographic gear and hit the “Seattle Center.” Julie was a bit sketched out about the Space Needle so we opted for the Museum of Science Fiction first. It turned out to be a pretty cool museum that collected a TON of memorabilia, a lot of literary works, and packaged it all together with the sort of in-depth and interactive supplementary material. Some highlights were the complete, hand-written manuscript for Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle, the Actual “load-lifter” and Alien Queen from the film Aliens, and a video-exhibit focusing on city-scrapes in science fiction works. After wondering around the museum we took on the towering monument to 50s idealism (never mind that it was build in 62, the 50s didn’t end until JFK got offed.) What to say about the space-needle? It was tall. The view was cool. Julie was terrified.

From there we decided that since the Sci-Fi museum was so cool we should go back and hit the EMP or “Experience the Music Project,” which shared the Frank Gehry designed building w/ the Sci-Fi Museum. EMP was equally cool, and absolutely filled to the brim with kick-ass relics of rock and roll. There was a whole wing for Jimmy Hendrix that contained dozens of outfits, smashed-guitars, original lyrics scrawled on hotel stationary etc etc. There was a long-hall dedicated to the music of the Pacific Northwest that really showed that the “Seattle Scene” went a lot deeper than Grunge. There were a lot (and I mean guitar-center quantities) of instruments, and while it was a lot of things you could see at the Hard Rock Café in Des Moines the problem with the Hard Rock is all the relics of musical history are just slapped onto the wall. There is no gravity. Only a minimum of respect is paid to the spirit of the piece. At EMP everything is being glass, lit with spotlights and labeled as if it were a Renoir. And this attention to the WEIGHT of what your looking at makes all the difference. But of course the Museum is much more than rock-and-roll memorabilia. There is a whole interactive audio-tour (which we didn’t have time to do,) a DIY song-creation setup where you can play a variety of instruments and actually produce a CD of your one-man-band performance, an exhibit dedicated to the ethereal art of songwriting, listening stations, workshops. A performance space, café and bar, giant robotic sculpture, and even a temporary exhibit dedicated to the saccharine pop of TRL. We were really impressed with Both EMP and the Sci-fi museum, but it was getting late and I had one last stop planned for the day.

Day 6. (or is it 7...)

2005-10-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

Plumb the Depths
Where are we? What day is it? Why am I sticky? These were the thoughts occupying our minds as we rolled into Longview WA (except for the sticky part. I made that up.) As we had made the drive from Portland into Washington after nightfall we missed the road-side scenery and as a result felt oddly disconnected from the landscape as we motored into the Ramada Inn’s lot. It was just another place that wasn’t the car. However, compared to the Motel 6 in Weed, CA the Ramada might as well have been the Ritz. “Look! A fridge!” I exclaimed. “Oh my god, there is a coffee machine and a Microwave.” Feeling pampered by the indulgences of a bed we slept like Bedouins. The next morning we hit-up the free breakfast but were repulsed by the “coffee” (or at least the tan liquid that spurted out of the thermal-pump-thingy) and decided to flee figuring we were in Washington and finding a Starbucks should be much easier that NOT finding one. It actually took us nearly 10 minuets before we found a drive-though espresso shack where 4 shots of espresso were expertly pulled by the teen-aged barista. It was that moment that I began falling in love with Washington. A tiny shack alongside the main-drag of the small-town of Longview (which I actually quite-liked) provided us with one of the best coffees we’d had on the trip (the Iced Americano I had on Alameda still reigned.) Our drug-cache newly restocked we hit the interstate and plotted a course to the very heart of an active volcano.

The weather threatened to turn ugly as we parked at the “Ape Cave” trail-head (so-called because the caves were discovered by a local Boy Scout troupe named the Apes.) We donned our “caving” gear and added some scarves and the descended into the 2000 year-old Lava tubes. The cave/tube was awesome. Usually 30+ feet from wall-to-wall with towering ceilings it wasn’t the claustrophobic cavern I had imagined. At one point when we were walking back towards the entrance to the cave a church-group of 20-30 elementary school aged kids was walking the other direction and of course we could hear them long before we could see them. I couldn’t help but feel that they were a slavering hoard of goblins (a la Moria) as the light of their lanterns rounded a bend. We finished the mile-and-a-half hike and decided to take the long-way around the mountain so that we could see the devastation wrought by mother nature some 25 years ago. Unfortunately as we neared the choice viewing areas the weather took the previously threatened turn towards ugly and visibility was reduced to about 20 feet. Julie was disappointed that I wouldn’t get to see the mountain’s scar, but the fog and rain would make any further progress towards Spirit Lake pointless. Instead re-joined I-5, determined to make Seattle before nightfall.

We hit the city right as the rush-hour traffic began to congeal on the interstate and as the rain began. We were happy to be at our final destination city and soon enough we would be at John and Gress’ place and hopefully soon after that a Pizza joint.

Tomorrow: Jet City tourists strike at the heart.

2005-10-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

This Just In
I just discovered that the newest “State Quarter” is for Oregon and the design features Crater Lake. This excites me because I’ve been there! That and it is late-afternoon on Friday and I get excited about little things (like quarters) when I’m this close to the weekend.

Weed/Cheese/Beer

2005-10-06T15:57:00.000-07:00

Weed, Cheese, and Beer
After a night in the Weed Motel 6 we had a very important decision to make. DO we cruise the street of the California Mountain town looking for palatable coffee (only through travel did we discover the true levels of our caffeine addictions,) or push forward uncaffinated. We chose the later and marked Ashland, Oregon as our first stop of the day. The terrain was growing in beauty as we made our way across state-lines and we were soon in the small college town of Ashland and the parking lot of one of the nicer Starbucks that I’ve been in. After much needed fuel we set our sites on the first our our sites to see: Crater Lake. A few hours later, over hill and through glade, we arrived at the visitors center and drank in the splendor of the water-filled calderas, I was skeptical at first but it turns out that Crater lake is pretty damn cool. We took a bunch of pictures, bought some postcards, lost a pair of (6$ sunglasses) and were on our way. Next stop Portland!
It was dark by the time we rolled into Stump-town so we didn’t get much of a visual impression of the area, but it certainly seemed like ever road we drove on since crossing into Oregon was under construction. We found the Case Flores and got to visit with Christine and Colin (who is very big and surprisingly mobile!) before Greg got home from work. We stayed up entirely too late (sorry Greg) catching up and Julie and I planned to hit the Tillimook Cheese factory the next morning. Tillamook, OR is about 90 minutes west of the Portland area and the drive was lots of farmland and lots of forest (and of course lots of construction.) But we found the factory and got to see them making Cheese and had some free samples and then went back for more free samples. Then we hit the gift-cum-cheese shop where we bought like 2 pounds of cheese which we proceeded to lunch-on in picnic area outside; then we went back in for some soon-to-be-famous Tillamook ice cream. (What is vacation w/o some excess?) Then it was back into Portland where we got to explore the city a bit before picking Greg up from work and getting a late dinner then some more beer at one of Portland’s Many pubs (though I can’t remember which one.) The next day Greg was off so Julie and I had a guide, and our first order of business was the Rogue Brewery where we got to take a tour of their distillery operation. We talked with the master distiller who gave us the run-down on how they make their rum. Fascinating stuff (and the Irish Ale I had was quite tasty, why really wish I had bought a bottle…) More touring the city, some shopping, and more eating followed and then Julie and I headed north so we could get an early start on Mount St. Helens, stopping for the night in Longview, WA.

3years

2005-10-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

Three Years In The Life
Today marks Julie and my THREE YEAR anniversary!
I’m really having trouble finding words to express how this makes me feel. I’m happier now that I have ever been before, and I owe it all to Julie! SO thanks for everything Jules! You are the best there it!

Gold Rush Country.

2005-10-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

San Jose and Beyond
We arrive at The Carle’s house in Los-Gatos-with-a-San-Jose-address and proceeded to catch-up and geek-out a bit. Then we decided to enjoy their spacious back-yard by trying out a game invented by Jodi’s Moms, for the time being called Huevos Horseshoes (or testicle tennis.) It involves two goal-structures made from PVC pipe, each with 3 horizontal rungs. The teams then take turns throwing/flinging/pitching (or “thwing”) a “Huevos Horseshoe” (two golf balls connected by 18” of cord) at the goal, scoring points if it wraps around the rung. It sounds goofy, and by all means it is. Our utter ineptitude at the game led to our stomachs winning as we decided to eat instead of play to the requisite 21 points (I think the final score was something in the neighborhood of Carles: 9 Verives: 7) After dinner at the unfortunately named Double D’s (they did make a damn-fine cheese burger though) we returned to Casa Carle where Julie and I were finally able to grasp the play of the most Midwestern of card-games: Euchre.
More games and more wine followed, back up by more wine and some seizure-inducing videogames before my brain started to melt and we turned it. The next morning we hit breakfast and then the road. It was so great to get to spend some quality time w/ Andrew and Jodi, but we began to realize that on this trip there would be many friends and reunions, but not near enough time to spend with each of them. It would be like a tasting menu of friends. Torn between happy to have seen them, but sad to leave, we struck out on the wonderfully straight-forward silicon valley/bay area freeway system, and were soon on the tiny island of Alameda.
We spent the afternoon catching up, eating some of the hottest Mexican food I’d ever seen (like hot with FIRE. The enchiladas were literally BOILING when brought to the table,) walking around the island, and taking ZERO pictures. It was great to finally see the Holohans after a couple of false-starts, but the road called and cut our visit short. A quick fill-up and 11 freeway interchanges later and we were flying down the I-5 once again. We needed to make to Oregon Boarder by Monday in the early AM and we regrettably had to blow straight through Northern California; missing Jason and Monica, as well as some Aunts and Uncles, in Sac-town, and Anne in Reading. Curses! By 9pm we had the white-line-fever and needed a fill-up as we wound up the mountains past Mt Shasta. We decided to spend the night in oh-so-(not really)-lovely Weed, CA and push into Oregon in the morning.

Leg One

2005-10-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

Leg One
On Friday morning we rose exceptionally early and set out to pick-up our rental car. We were unfortunately unable to get a PT Cruiser and had to settle on a Pontiac Grand Prix (it was that or a Trail-Blazer.) And by 11:45 we were loaded-up and ready to hit the road. 5 hours and 345 miles later we arrived at Julie’s Childhood home and hung-out with the family before heading off to dinner at a pub in Palo Alto (or was it Mountain View?) The next morning we were treated to a stately breakfast that included a pile of waffles the likes of which I had never seen before. It was truly a wonder-inducing stack of breakfast-breads. We were on the road again by 11:30 and after coffee in “downtown” Los Altos we headed over-the-hill to see how Santa Cruz has faired in the two years since our departure.

We parked downtown and remarked that though some store-fronts had changed, and corporate America was gaining ground bit-by-bit into the fiercely independent heart of Santa Cruz. Look! An Urban Outfitters! Look! Quiznos and Baja Fresh! Etc etc. We then stopped in at my favorite taco-joint on the planet where I had my favorite tacos in the world. Then it was off to San Jose to Visit with Andrew and Jodi (who we hadn’t seen since their wedding!)

2005-10-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

Weary Travelers
So as I’m sure you have surmised, we survived our odyssey on the road and have been dragged, with much kicking and screaming, back into the harsh light of 40+ hour work-weeks, bedtimes, and all associated horrors. The trip was fantastic, a real departure from any kind of vacation I’ve had before. I’ve posed the first round of pics on the ol’ flickr account, so check them out. I’ll be taking the next couple of days to write about our different stops and some highlights of the trip as I get some free moments. Maybe I’ll be able to take enough time to actually form attractive sentences and string those into pleasing paragraphs.

2005-09-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

Tick...Tock…
75 minutes until my first real vacation in 3 years, and my first stint of time-off longer than a 4-day weekend since I started at the DR Group (16 months ago.) Tonight I make vital preparations (burn CDs for the 1400 miles of road that lay before us) and finish up the packing. Tomorrow we pick up the rental car (fingers crossed for a PT Cruiser) and then load it up and hit the road blasting up the 5 until we hit the Silicon Valley and dinner w/ the in-laws. Saturday in San Jose/Los Gatos, Sunday night somewhere between Alameda and Portland, and then we’ll roll into P-town (can I call it “P-town?”) Monday evening. We hol’ up in Portland for a few night and then kick north into Seattle until Saturday when we board an Airbus A30 bound for Burbank. 60 Minutes between me and the first of many beers.

2005-09-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

Jitters
We are getting so very close to our departure. On Friday morning Julie and I set out on a 1400+ mile roadtrip up the coast. We’ll be stopping in the silicon Valley/Bay Area, somewhere in northern CA near the boarder, Portland, and Seattle. I would love to hear suggestions of things to do/see/eat in any of those cities, so speak up! We also need a hotel for one night in Seattle and would love a recommendation for a hip/swanky/funky place to stay. I’m getting very nervous/freaked out about the trip! But a wise woman once told me, “Don’t confuse anxiety with excitement,” so I’m trying to re-wire my brain to think “EXCITEMENT!” and not “HOLYSHITWEARELEAVINGINTHREEDAYSANDI’MFREAKINGOUT!”

Arrested Developemnt

2005-09-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

Public Service…
Tonight on FOX at 8pm is the season Premiere of the single greatest show currently on TV, one of the best TV comedies of all time, and a show that is in constant danger of being cancelled: Arrested Development. Believe the hype, this show is comic genius and features one of the most talented ensemble casts ever created. As you all know I tend towards hyperbole and I am quick to evangelize the things that I like. But I ask you, have I ever steered you wrong? This show exists in the strange purgatory of being a critical darling and yet in a perpetual ratings slump; to paraphrase my late idol, “Too weird to live, and too rare to die.” If you miss this show you are missing cultural history being made. Unfortunatly the shows genius often lies in its continuity. So play catch-up with this Wikipedia article before tuning in tonight!

Summer of Sin

2005-09-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

Of Thai and Tori
Just after Friday’s post where I bemoaned the lack of “Spicy Thai” flavored Kettle Chips, my lovely wife brought me a bag she discovered on her way home from work! Shortly after that, Catherine pointed out another spot to obtain these delicious snack-foods! These are some potato-chips to write home about! Slightly sweet at first there is a substantial afterburn factor, though sadly they aren’t quite as spicy as the Kettle Jalapeno with Tequila and Lime flavor. But they do have an unmistakable Thai “essence.” Like good Thai food they blend sweetness, saltyness, and sour with a substantial kick. I HIGHLY recommend picking them up if you dig potato chips and Thai food. Two great tastes…

The was Friday. On Saturday Jules and I went to see Tori Amos play the Greek Theater on her “Summer of Sin” tour. It was the final show of the tour and opening-act was LA locals, and favorites of ours, the Ditty Bops who were VERY excited to be back home. There set was a scant 30 minutes and features only ONE track from their album but the set was choc-full of toe-tapping fun! After an extended set-break Tori took the stage at about 9 and opened with “Original Sinsuality” (Set list for those who care about such things.) She spent the night moving between grand piano, organs, and a keyboard, often straddling the bench and playing both the piano and an organ at once. Her two hour set was filled with improves, a flub-or-two, new arraignments of old favorites, and even a rousing and emotional cover of Peal Jam’s “Black” during her “Piano Bar” segment. She left the stage to a standing ovation with a promise to return in 2007; which frankly can’t come quickly enough.

2005-09-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

Lost to the Shuffle
I dunno what happened to my answers to those questions. I wrote them up, but evidently never published them to Blogger… Oh well, here we go again:
Chun: Why don’t they have “Spicy Thai” flavored Kettle Chips in California?
Anne: The DR Group sells/rents/services high-end Final Cut Pro editing systems and provides consultation and full-service facility integration for the motion picture and television (and porn) industry.
Russell: I thought the movie was pretty interesting, though I lost interest when if changed focus from Quantum Physics to Neurochemistry, and the “story” started to take up more time. It really felt like the film makers had a tight hour-long episode of Nova that they needed to add 40 minutes of “story” to get theatrical distribution. Plus Marlee Matlin was distracting, and all the acting was bad. I would have preferred just talking-head interviews with all the scientists.
Amanda: Everything. Seeing all the people who we haven’t seen in so long. Getting out of LA for over a week. Even the driving.
Greg: I’ve put banjo on hold until I can get a better grasp on basic music theory, which I still need to get a keyboard for…
Meli: I don’t think we’ll be staying with you guys, though we would still LOVE to see you and hang out for a bit! I’ll go over detail with your husband this weekend.

2005-09-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

There is a Saddle?
Work is still rocking-and-rolling, it had been so slow throughout august I was mentally unprepared for the onslaught of sales, deals, and installations that we are confronted with moving into the fall. But I think I’ve got me sea-legs on now, and just in time to ride-out the last week before taking off on my first vacation in quite some time! I mean I had that week-off last may, but that was during my bout with the Chicken-pox so it hardly counts.
Uh…. I have very little else to say… Does anybody want to ask me a question?

2005-09-09T17:04:00.000-07:00

Weekend
I’m been neglecting the blog. This months is insanely busy at work, and by the time I get home I really just want to veg-out. Nothing particularly exciting has been going on anyway. Julie and I are getting ready for our road-trip at the end of the month and I can’t WAIT to get the hell out of town for a while! I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Last Words

2005-09-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

Gonzo

"No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun -- for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax -- This won't hurt."

Possibly the final written words of Hunter Thompson.

Labor Day Thoughts

2005-09-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

Laborious Day
Three-day weekends are very important to the American way of life. Without them all of the middle-class office drones would no-doubt rise up in revolt against the tyranny of the Plutocracy. This vital pacification of the work-force is achieved by copious quantities of grilled meat and alcohol, all of which is purchased throughout the 3-day long celebration-by-slothfulness. And it is the true back-bone of the American Way, the retail and food-service employee, that has to deal with the hoards of middle managers and technicians and marketers and accountants that line-up with drugs and best and booze and fuel in-hand. These grunts on the front-lines of American consumer-culture are the true champions of Labor Day. While the rest of us are swilling beer and watching pointless marathons of rerun TV shows these unsung heroes are manning the registers, and stocking the shelves. Our Grandfathers fought the tide of communism in decades past so that we could spend our disposable income on a copy of “The Complete Marx Reader” from a super-chain bookstore on 11pm on a Friday night, and it is the Retail Warrior that is there to sell you that book or tchotcky or mocha-chino-latte w/ extra (but dry) foam and splenda. America celebrates is Veterans, and those who gave their life in the service of the country. We celebrate the founding fathers and their achievements is some steamy hall in Philly, and we acknowledge the contributions of people from many disparate professions. Why not a Retail Worker Appreciation day? It is a thankless job, but we can change that! Tip big, smile-bigger, and strive to let those who help you spend your money know that w/o them our country would grind to a screeching halt.

Disaster

2005-09-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

Reactions to Anarchy
I’m increasingly bothered by the stories and images coming out of New Orleans. The situation is just too horrible to fully grasp, and it just keeps getting WORSE. I’m very glad that I don’t live in Hurricane Territory.
But I DO live in Earthquake territory. So this weekend, while out and about, I’m buying 10 gallons of water and a weeks supply of food. Maybe a first-aid kit if I get very ambitious. Call it pragmatic paranoia.

Questions, Answered.

2005-09-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

Answers, Among Other Things
Mom: Favorite Roadtrip snake is probably redbull. Or Poptarts. Jerky is good too. It used to be cigarettes…

Chun: Because your Bloat deck is WEAK! OR maybe your conscious got the better of you and you couldn’t bare to bring the full-brunt of the Bloat on the unsuspecting New Englanders.

Andrew: Because I had no idea that existed. I’m down! Also I can’t wait to discuss my new obsession with boardgames w/ you.

Anne: Uh… At somepoint In the future. I would say once we own a home, but that’ll never happen in this city in this market, so…

John: Who cares, either way there’d be good eatin’ afterwards!

Gress: I have a lot of sympathy for the residents of NOLA who didn’t flee as many (most?) of them are DIRT-poor and really had no where to go. It is much more difficult to find sympathy for the TOURISTS who stayed to weather the storm and are now fucked.

Greg: A) It used to be I would say Jack-in-the-Box w/o hesitation as the variety of food offered by them is so great, but now… I may have to go with Carl’s.
B) The saga of Paul’s Blog is still developing I’m sure… Though I hope he DOES see some cash out of it…

Now I ask you a question: What form of entertainment do you spend the most $$$ on?

Questions?

2005-09-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

Ask John
Whoops. Yesterday was inventory and I didn’t get a chance to post the “ask john.”
So now is your chance, ask away!

2005-08-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

Dry Well
Well, I obviously didn’t post a “From the Archives” picture today. I didn’t have anything sitting on my work computer that I wanted to upload…
Work is also very busy.
I kinda just want to sleep for a week. Or get roaring drunk

Quiz isn't dead

2005-08-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

Quiz FIx
Jonesing? Julie has take up the quizmaster torch over on her blog, so if you wanna answer questions, pop over there and have at it!
In the meantime I'll throw out one question for old times sake. What was one highlight of your weekend (or for the retail monkeys outthere your Saturday-Sunday.)

Ans Wer

2005-08-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

Answer Time
Morgan: I want people to ask me questions that they actually want to hear the answer to. And then I’ll answer them. And then people will send me $$$. That is how I want it to work.

Jason: I’m not sure that we will be able to continue thinking of intellectual property in the same way a physical property for much longer. It seems to me that IP is too much of a blanket. An oil-painting, a short-story, a symphony, a new invention, a new chemical formula, and a new piece of software should not be treated the same in the eyes of the law. But honestly, I know very little about IP law…

Greg: the best sporting event that I’ve ever been to would probably be on of the Angels games I saw in highschool. Nothing beats yelling at and harassing the 3rd baseman or bass-runner!

Chun: I think he will be grievously damaged during the second act, but then re-apear for the climactic battle and he’ll be stronger-than-ever.

Anne: My favorite food is either A) pizza, and there is just something about a coke with pizza. Or B) Mexican food then it is Margarita or Pacifco all the way.

Mom: I’ve often tried to think of what my first memory is, and I honestly have NO idea. I have a lot of memories from Kindergarten, but everything before that (at least without some kind of catalyst to jog my memory) is pretty foggy.

JoFo: My favorite episode of friends is the Thanksgiving episode when Joey makes Monica bake him a turkey and he swears he will eat the whole thing. I can’t imagine all of everything exists as a random collision of particles in the vacuum of space, but “a god” might be too pedantic of a concept. Suffice to say there is some thing or some force that ties everything together. In Highschool I fancied myself a “deist” though much living and many experiences later and my feelings towards the universe tend towards a hippie-metaphysical-taoist thing. Currently I try not to get wrapped-up in divinity or the cosmos; I just know that love is the only thing that really matters. I generally don’t eat pancakes, though I’ll make ‘em from scratch as I don’t keep mix around the house. But if I’m going to the trouble I’ll make Crepes instead.

Ask jmv

2005-08-24T14:52:00.000-07:00

Ask and ye shall receive
Greg requested another "ask John" day, so how could I say no? How do you want this to work? Just ask me anything, or shall I provide a "theme"?

From the Archive 5

2005-08-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

From the Archive 5
Originally uploaded by OctopusHat.

Taken way back in Febuary of 2002 moments before Todd's wedding. Of the 8 men in this picture, 4 are now married.

40 Year Virgin

2005-08-19T16:17:00.000-07:00

Alternate Future
Last night we got to check-out an advance screening of Steve Carell’s new film, “40 Year-old Virgin” and it was a hoot! I expected a formulaic sex-farce with lots of visual gags and some really funny moments. But the film actually turned out to be much more than that. Helmed by Judd Apatow (of cult-classic “Freaks and Geeks” and slightly less-so “Undeclared” fame) the film not only had real heart, but also turned out to be a pointed critique of misogyny and geek-culture. Steve was MUCH more than just a lovable geek, and he convincingly played a guy who has no idea why, but suddenly finds his world unraveling around him. Oh, and the movie is DAMN funny. I heartily recommend it if you want a good belly-laugh this weekend! And remember there was no fake-hair in the (soon to be classic) chest-waxing scene; that was real pain on Steve’s face.

It Takes 2

2005-08-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

It Takes Two
I’m a little ashamed to admit, but I came to the table pretty late. The first time I ever heard the White Stripes was when they played “Fell In Love With A Girl” to a throng of matching fans at the MTV VMAs in 2002. I clearly remember thinking “who are these people, and why does everyone else seem to know who they are?” I wasn’t an instant fan, but once I had listened to White Blood Cells a few times I was hooked. Last night I finally was able to see them live at the famous Greek Theater.

The show was simply awesome. They kick-ed off with a double-time version of “Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground” and then slid smoothly into a 10-15 minute medley of several songs including a very different version of “Blue Orchid.” I was unprepared for the power of their opening volley, which was 100minutes+ of peaking crescendo w/o all that messy foreplay: A live-music quickie, an appetizer before the banquet. After this medley Jack and Meg left the stage and when they returning a few minutes later jack explained, “I wanted to make you think we were playing an encore, so maybe you would make some noise for the first time tonight.” And with that they launched into their full-set. As this was their 3rd of four nights playing the Greek, they seemed to stray-off the beaten path and play a lot of b-sides and album tracks while glossing over nearly all of their big singles. I have to say I’m the tiniest bit disappointed that they didn’t play more of my favorites. No “Ball and Biscuit” or “Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine,” or “Jolene,” or “I’m Bound to Pack it Up,” or perhaps most missed “Red Rain.” But they did play a blistering version of my #1 favorite song, “Death Letter” (which I hadn’t let myself hope they would play) that had the most incredibly intense and face-melting slide-guitar solo, so that just about made up for it.

They stretched their wings a bid and branched out from drum-and-guitar-blues-rock with Jack playing (his newly acquired) Stienway on several songs. Jack also took-up the Mandolin for a the jangly “Little Ghost,” Meg played tympanis (and a triangle) for the brief “Passive Manipulation,” and during “Ugly as I Seem” Jack quietly played a worn acoustic while Meg sat next to him on the stage and played a bongo. However, the giant marimba that dominated center-stage was left untouched (which I didn’t terribly mind as the songs that feature it are not among my favorites.) Jack was energetic and convulsive on-stage and he flailed-and-wailed his way through the 90-minute set. Meg infused her drumming with a sultry swagger that I found tough to look-away from. She has to be the hottest woman in rock, and had we been closer to the stage I would have been tempted to do whatever the male equivalent of throwing panties onto the stage.

One of the biggest highlights of the night came when they remounted the stage for the encore, this time joined by a third. Jack sidled up to the mic and mumbled, “Mr Beck Hanson.” That’s right “Silverlake’s Own” (as Jack would later remark) Beck and Jack shared a mic as they played Beck’s"Cold Brains". He then took-up the bass for a swinging version of “Denial Twist” that really brought the house down (my voice is still jacked from all the “woo”ing.) Beck slipped backstage again and the twosome finished off the night with their live staple “Bol Weevil.” I had very high expectations for the show, and even though their set-list and my wish-list didn’t overlap as much as I would have liked, The White Stripes surpassed them all. I only wish I had tickets for tonight’s show…

UPDATE: I found a complete set-list of the show here.

From the Archives

2005-08-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

From the Archives
Originally uploaded by OctopusHat.

From the Archives 4
Taken at the final party in Santa Cruz in August 2003. Chun was operating the video camera and we caught Mary in a "crossfire." If I was on-top of things I would post the clip from the videocamera so we could get both angles. Alas, that seems like way too much work...

Fiona Apple @ Largo

2005-08-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

Not-So-Secret Show
Late Friday I began read/heard a rumor that Fiona Apple would be playing a set at Largo on Saturday night. Julie and I are both big fans of Fiona Apple and were very excited by the prospect of seeing her in such an intimate local. So I did some investigating and pretty much confirmed the rumors and booked a table are Largo for the night. It was billed as a “book signing” for Zach Galifianakis with special guests and a performance by Jon Brion. Julie has a good account of the night up on her site, so I’ll just add that even though she only played 4 songs I thought is was a great performance. She sounded very good, her voice was strong, and I really liked the two new songs she did (very folk-y/southern-spiritual.) It is going to be tough to see her in a large venue when she tours in support of the new album, which she confirmed would be out “in about a month.” This story on Pitchfork mentioned that Jon Brion is NOT the producer on the re-worked “Extraordinary Machine,” and that the new versions sounds “radically different” which I have mixed feelings about because I really LOVE the arraignments and instrumentation of the leaked Extraordinary Machine (which was produced by Jon Brion.) I guess we’ll see!

Caption this!

2005-08-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

Caption this:
Originally uploaded by OctopusHat.

You Asked...

2005-08-11T15:59:00.000-07:00

Answers
From Amanda: “What is your favorite Christmas memory”
Hmm Favorite is either getting Ginger (my puppy) or the first year that I came home from Clairo’s (the Italian market where we would buy all the cold cuts for our traditional Christmas eve meal) during the day on Christmas eve and joined my father and uncle in the traditional pre-pre-eve cold cut sandwich as we put away all the meats and cheeses. I felt that moment was the most salient “coming of age” in my life as I was fully aware of the transition in focus from presents to celebrating with family.

From Russell: “What's it like being a no-quiz-posting douchebag?
Similar in most ways to being a douchebag that stopped answering the quiz weeks ago.

From Chun: “Who's going to win the NBA finals this year?”
I had no ideas that Lawyers had a winner. But I’m going to support Matt Holohan in this one…

From Anne: “Do you really think the Honda Element looks good?”
It is just different enough to titillate. I also like the two-tone design and the “squatness,” I think it strikes a good balance between too boxy (the Scion xB) and too Lozenge-y (The Marango.) But the best part is the interior, which is really super-cool!

From Matt H(olohan): “What time is it?”
4:30! Its not late, it is early EARLY!
(or alternately Happy Hour, Miller Time, time to get a watch, or 12:14pm)

The Quiz Is Dead

2005-08-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

The Quiz is Dead. Long Live the Quiz
I’ve grown bored of the weekly-Wednesday postings, and I feel like if I’m resorting to gimmicks, I should at least keep them fresh. SO today I’ll try out “Ask John.” Use the comments to ask me anything and I’ll post my answers tomorrow…

From the Archives 3

2005-08-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

Desert Apple
Originally uploaded by OctopusHat.

From the Archives 3
This shot of NY-NY hotel/casino was taken during the fall 2001 Vegas trip, and I belive the morning after I proposed to Julie.

OctopusHat Caption:

2005-08-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

OctopusHat Caption:
Originally uploaded by OctopusHat.

Post your coments below.

Quiz

2005-08-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Again?
1) Pancakes or French-toast?
2) What song would you like to hear covered, and by whom?
3) Do you share more qualities with your mother or your father?
4) What is your favorite ride at Disneyland?
5) What do you typically do on a weekday evening?
6) When did you realize that you were an “adult?”

From the Archives 2

2005-08-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

From the Archives 2
Originally uploaded by OctopusHat.

This shot is from spring-time of 1996 during my senior-year photo class and depicts my Uncle Tony relaxing on the patio of my old home in Irvine. While I like the tones in the picture as well as the afternoon’s lengthening shadows, I’m not too thrilled with the framing and composition. I re-cropped the picture to improve it a bit, but the merge of the poll sprouting from Tony’s head bugs me.

Birthdaystravaganza!

2005-08-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

Birthday Weekend
Since Monday birthdays are stupid, Julie and I celebrated over the preceding weekend, and it went down something like this: After work on Friday I sped home and changed and then we headed downtown to check into the Standard Hotel where Julie had booked a swanky room for the night as my birthday present. Even though it was all of 7 miles away from our Hollywood home, it felt like we were on vacation (and we even got to test-out the new luggage that we bought for our upcoming Fall road trip.) After some brief relaxing in the room we decided to hit the Daily Grill for dinner since it was literally across the street (our room actually overlooked it.) Dinner was tasty and I had a damn fine Manhattan to start off the evening. Unfortunately we were unable to save stomach real-estate for the hot-fudge cheesecake, so we just had some espresso and then headed top the kick-ass rooftop bar for drinks. The DJ was kinda sucky, and all the make-out “pods” were occupied, but we snagged a couch and settled in for a while.

Saturday the plan was to hit the Olivera Street market, but first we needed coffee so we walked down a black to starbucks and on the way back to the hotel decide to explore the Central Library which was very, very big and very cool. So after taking some pictures of the grounds and getting new library cards we retrieved the car and headed to the oldest street in LA. Olivera Street was cool, if a little “touristy” and I had the best churro EVER. We finished up a lot sooner that we had planed on so ended up driving around the fashion/jewelry/toy districs for a bit before eating lunch at Philipes for the OG French dips then headed back to Hollywood for a nap. My mom came up that evening and we headed to El Cholo, one of LA’s oldest Mexican restaurants (open since the 20s!) where I attempted to consume the “Taste of History” (Enchilada + Tamale + rolled taco + chile relleno + rice and beans.) I think I started to hallucinate about 2/3 of the way through it, but it was DAMN good.

Sunday was very low-key: sleep late, get coffee, drive to Burbank and try to find new shoes (I failed, but I did get a kick ass shirt that I’m looking forward to wearing tonight.) And speaking of tonight, I’ll be gathering a posse to go to an as of yet undecided restaurant for food and libations!

Changes...

2005-07-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

Do Not Adjust Your Sets
Anything look different?
I’ve actually updated my blogger template and now everybody’s blogs should be linked-to over on the right (if I missed somebody please let me know.) I’ve also added a few links to other sites and enabled a few RSS feeds (also on the sidebar under “Me, Elsewhere.”) This feed is a straight-up ATOM feed of the blog. However, This one is the exciting feed as I’ve used Feedburner to combine the blog, flickr, and even select links from my Del.icio.us account into one handy feed! So if you are into the whole RSS thing I recommend subscribing to that one.

2005-07-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

Rebirth of a Quiz
1) Does your birthday excite or depress you?
2) DO you have a favorite pair of jeans? What makes them your favorite?
3) What is your favorite ethnic cuisine?
4) How expensive is too expensive for pants? Shoes? A shirt/blouse/top?
5) At a live-music performance do you “rock out” or listen quietly?
6) Do you have a “signature” drink? What does that drink say about you, and how id it become “your drink?”

From The Archives 1

2005-07-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

From The Archives 1
Originally uploaded by OctopusHat.

From the Archives 1
Each Tuesday I'll be posting a newly-scanned image from "the archives"

This week is a rare picture of my Grandfather, Lou Verive, at the reception held after my graduation from High school in June of 1996. The figure in the background is his son, my uncle, Tony Verive.

To this day both of Lou's sons have very full and thick heads of hair. However, both of my Grandfathers were/are bald. Should I be worried?