Urban Geyser

Something I caught on the way to work today, approximately where University Avenue meets Dove Street in Mission Hills.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

In my last Entertainment Roundup, I neglected to mention one of my favorite "intelligent-humor" shows, Curb Your Enthusiasm. I say intelligent humor because I think it's one of those shows that stands above all the mediocre, dumbed down entertainment. It's good to finally see something for the rest of us. It's smart, it's edgy, and it's funny as hell. Those are the three ingredients of the best kind of humor. I'm quite positive that there are those who would sit there and be completely dumbfounded as to why it's funny, but trust me, it's genius.

Larry David plays himself in this comedy that airs weekly on HBO. Larry David was a stand up comic who went on to write for the Seinfeld show, every episode. George, played by Jason Alexander on Seinfeld, is actually loosely based on Larry David. It's easy when comparing CYE and Seinfeld where the similarities exist between them.

Right now the Season 1 is on DVD and Season 2 is coming out on June 15th. If you like Seinfeld or just plain funny humor, buy this DVD. Season 1 has ten episodes, all of them outrageously hilarious except for a couple episodes that just didn't hit, but that's expected with every comedy, even the best. Buy this DVD, you will love it.

Hollywood: Myth and Reality

This webpage, appropriately titled, Hollywood Boulevard: Myth and Reality has some interesting points about Hollywood Boulevard, but I would say that the general idea extends to pretty much all of Los Angeles, particularly the cult status of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. I remember the first time I went to Hollywood...it wasn't much like I had hoped. For all the "stuff" there is to do there, little exists outside of tourist hot-spots, famed movie shooting locations, and the stars' homes. I don't usually like tourist-y stuff, mostly because it's a pre-packaged experience that thousands of others have already seen before you (kind of like movies). Movie shooting locations bore me. The stars' homes...wow, it's a house that I'll never afford, and if I could, I wouldn't live there anyway. Somehow it seems that even if you had the money to live there and you actually wanted to, you just wouldn't feel a part of it, no matter what you do. If you aren't a part of the movie industry, you probably won't understand the allure of Hollywood.

Part of the problem is that I find most movies unrealistic and fake to begin with, so it's only natural that the actual Hollywood be the same way. But trust me, even the most hardened film enthusiast would probably see it in the same light.

The 4 main things I don't like about LA are:

1. Too many people.
2. Too much smog.
3. Too expensive.
4. Too much crime.

1+2+3+4 = a real shithole place to live.

Sounds almost like San Diego, but not quite that bad yet. San Diego is like a mini-LA, minus the Hollywood fame and our smog isn't that bad.

From that webpage:

Virtually everyone has heard of the legendary corner of Hollywood & Vine, and most of the 11 million tourists who visit Southern California each year eventually make the pilgrimage out to that fabled intersection.
Many expect to find a glamorous boulevard lined with beautiful shops and populated by movie stars.
They are inevitably disappointed.
...
But even so, all of us who live in Southern California (and most tourists) will probably make the pilgrimage to Hollywood Boulevard at least once in our lifetimes. We are driven both by curiosity and by our sense of history.

It's important to recognize that, in a broader sense, the true "Hollywood" exists in our imagination. This Hollywood is a glorious concoction of memories from a thousand enchanting musicals, a sparkling, romantic Xanadu that has little in common with the hectic streets of northwest Los Angeles.

That's it, in a nutshell.

From this webpage, entitled The Rebirth of Hollywood Boulevard, you can find out before you even arrive to expect the worst:

You could see it on their faces. When you looked at tourists arriving on Hollywood Boulevard for the first time, you could almost read their minds: "This is Hollywood?" Looking around, they were shocked and disappointed.

For decades, Hollywood was a major disappointment, a case study in urban decay and neglect - a seedy, run-down area populated by a virtual freak-show of young runaways, homeless transients, wannabe heavy-metal rockers, frenzied traffic, and harried crowds of bewildered tourists wandering the dirty sidewalks while trying to find some hint of former glamour left on the famous boulevard.

For the most part, the Boulevard contained one shabby storefront after another, some vacant, but most housing tacky shops offering t-shirts & cheap Tinseltown souvenirs, fast food, and the occasional x-rated movie. (And that's not to mention the giant, pink & grey Frederick's of Hollywood building.) This is definitely not what springs to mind when most tourists think of "Hollywood."

And that's just how it is, too.

But I digress.

Hollywood does hold some hope. As long as you are visiting and you have a little bit of money to spend, it's not that bad of an experience. I think it's kind of healthy to see the place, to really appreciate how duped the rest of America is in believing that it is honestly a place where the average blue-collar, middle-class American could enjoy their time wishing they could be a part of it all. It's all a dream...

At any rate, if you are travelling there, be sure to stop by Seeing Stars to find out all the things to do in Hollywood. While it's mainly centered around movie stars...well, that's just about what all of Hollywood is centered around anyway. You don't go to Hollywood to see a toy train museum.

Entertainment Roundup

This post is going to be a compilation about all the things I've been watching over the past couple months.

The two movies that I had very high hopes for were Donnie Darko and The Virgin Suicides. Needless to say, I was terribly, heartwrenchingly let down by both of these movies.

Donnie Darko was simply put, just some ideological self-serving crap. The premise of the movie is how if you could somehow see the future, or go back in time after coming to the future, what would you do? Shaky theories that don't matter anyway. Yeah, of course if I COULD go back in time to change a bad situation, I would. Duh. But the point is, no matter what happens, humans can't go back in time, nor can we see the future. Pointless, even in a literary sense, to ponder on these matters. And what is it with that fucking rabbit?

The Virgin Suicides...some people hailed it as genius. Hardly. I decided to see it because I liked Sophia Coppola's newest movie, Lost in Translation, and this was one she directed in the late 90's. First of all, the movie gives no backstory whatsoever to what is going on. You are thrown in to the story and within the first 20-30 minutes, some 13 year old girl kills herself, leaving 4 older sisters. The rest of the movie is how these 4 guys are trying to understand the other sisters, why the younger one killed herself. Then at the end, the other 4 sisters kill themselves together when the same guys are supposed to be coming over for a party, just like the 13 year old did in the beginning. What the hell is the deeper meaning of this? I usually like arthouse movies, but this was just a bomb.

200 Cigarettes: I'm in the middle on this one. It wasn't the best movie ever, but it had a few funny moments. The basic concept is some young punkish types are getting ready to go to a New Years Eve party in New York, circa 1980. I guess some of the characters are supposed to seem smart and clever, but for the most part, it was just tired meandering of lost loves and what-ifs. Starring Courtney Love, Dave Chappelle, the unbearable Ben Affleck, annoying Christina Ricci, Jeneane Garafalo (part of my reason to see it, but unfortunately she was hardly in the movie) and some other no-names. Possibly worth renting, but your best bet is to borrow it from a friend on a rainy day. Or, not watch it at all.

The Truman Show: Great movie, although it probably would have meant more if I had seen it when it came out. I'm already so familiar with the concepts presented, so I already got the message of that movie long ago. Still, a good movie to see for the average sleepwalking unaware human. Jim Carrey was great in this.

Eternal Sunlight of the Spotless Mind: This will probably be the greatest movie to come out this year. Definitely an Oscar contender. Jim Carrey was fucking awesome in this movie, as was the beautiful Kate Winslet. Kirsten Dunst finally won me over in a movie and proved that maybe, just maybe, she can act. For once I wasn't thoroughly annoyed at her smiling face. There is something about her that irks me, but I don't know what it is. Anyway, this was a great movie that I will definitely be buying as soon as it comes out. I knew that about 20 minutes into the movie. That's how good it was. And another hit for Focus Features Films.

21 Grams: Another great movie for Focus Films. Depressing, but a very good film. Loved it.

Lost in Translation: Out of all the movies I've seen, this is definitely in the top 10. There is something about this movie that I love. Maybe it's because I know what it's like to be in Hong Kong and not being able to communicate with ANYONE in a restaraunt, and most of the people on the street. It reminds me of when I was in Singapore in a hotel, talking to my girlfriend in the States on the phone, when the cleaning lady came for her daily rounds through my room. With my girlfriend on the phone, I asked the cleaning lady if she wanted me to get off the bed so she could clean it. She mumbled something foreign and went on about her business. But the movie goes far beyond that minute observation. The movie seemed to not only center on the lack of communication between Americans and foreigners, but also between people that love each other, and just people in general not being able to communicate with others. Bill Murray hit a nerve, and so did Scarlett Johansson. Some would say that the lack of plot does a disservice to the movie, but those are the people that have to have some finality behind everything. I related to most of the movie, so it wasn't a problem. Sometimes it's just refreshing to see a few days in the life of people, without having a punch-in-the-face, over-the-top ending. That type of ending rarely happens in real life anyway. I like the ending. There is still a debate on what he says to her in the end. Some say that after Bill Murray kisses Scarlett on the cheek, he tells her to go up and tell Giovanni Ribisi that she loves him. I think that if that is the case, it's a great ending. Either way, I loved the movie. The soundtrack is great, too.

I've heard a lot about Dave Chappelle, but since I don't get Comedy Central, I can't watch his weekly show on Wednesday nights. While searching on IMDB for something to go rent, I found out the first season of his show came out on DVD. So I promptly headed to Blockbuster, rented it, and came home and laughed my ass off for 3 hours. I watched the first 8 episodes in a straight run, but I had to pack it in because by that time it was 2 a.m. The next day I watched the remaining 4 episodes, but they weren't as good as the first 8. Overall, I'd have to say that his show ranks in the top 3 funniest shows I've ever seen, right alongside Seinfeld and Family Guy. He really toes the line on pretty much every skit that he does, poking fun at racial differences, and basically making a joke out of every racial stereotype humans have thought up. I read a pretty harsh review of his stuff on Amazon.com, accusing him of writing the show making fun of black people and written mainly for white people. Some people have called the show reverse racism, but what I've learned about anything having to do with race is this: the more culturally uptight everyone is about race, the worse off we are. The best thing to do is laugh at racial differences and get over all the sensitivity. The more people get flustered over racial jokes, the longer we're going to remain stagnant regarding the issue. Of course, there's always going to be someone that's going to get their feelings hurt when you do something controversial, but the best thing to do is RELAX and LAUGH. Get over yourself and realize that to another group of people, the things you do are absurdly funny and vice-versa.

Catch-22: Another movie that was once a great book. I've read a good part of the beginning of the book, but I couldn't get through 20 minutes of the movie. It was just unnerving and definitely a case of the book being extremely better than the movie. I think maybe part of it is that the book had a very anti-war stance. Not that I don't agree with it, but the book is so well-written that it's hard to swallow it because it is so true, considering my lot in life at present. It makes the business of war just a laughable idea.

That's about it for now. I know that I've seen more movies than this in the past couple months, but these are the highlights. If I remember more, I'll edit them in here.

Design Your Own Church Sign

Make your own Church signs here.

Seattle Sucks

Seattle Sucks

Unfortunately, this is not what I want to hear. I love Seattle, but a recent article from the San Diego Union Tribune has got me thinking differently, at least as far as a place to live. I'm sure that I can find work there, but it might take some calculated chicanery to accomplish it. It's a big gamble, and that's the problem with this situation. My other option is Portland. As of right now, I think I will most likely be moving there when the time comes.

Oops, I Forgot It Again

Good ol' Britney sans bra.

Website Roundup

I have a lot of new shit to be posting on here, mostly website links of some stuff that I found last weekend.

Something Awful: This website is great, especially Photoshop Phriday where every Friday they do spoof Photoshopped pictures, but these are actually funny, unlike most of the rubbish that ends up on the Internet. Try out Advertisements of the Christ or Medicinal Mayhem or my favorite one of all: American Social Hygiene Posters.

Dead End Days: I haven't really looked at this, but it goes a little something like this: Thanks for visiting Deadenddays.com, unarguably the worlds premiere socially relevant weekly zombie Internet comedy series type-thing. With the epic storyline of mankinds endless battle to... sell the undead... stuff... well underway joining in on the fun can seem a little daunting; Not to fear, we've made it easy for new viewers to jump right in in four easy steps!

Fetbytes - Alternative Personals: Another thing I haven't tried, obviously, but I found it and I'm just throwing it out there to those who might make use of it.
This one postulates:
Are you tired of sites that make you pay for everything and then don't give you anything of worth in return? Maybe it's time for something a bit different.
Gothic, Fetish, Bondage and Alternative Personals, something for everyone, and everything is FREE! Profiles, browsing, Chat, Events and more. You won't find a group of people looking for friends and lovers this diverse anywhere.
Finally, a site run by people in the community, for people in the community. Who understands you better than your friends?

Motel Fetish: This one is actually pretty decent. Classy, compared to most other Internet endeavors in this area.

These next few are just random finds. Some of it's funny, some of it isn't. Just something to look at.

Stupid Naked People: News on the Nude. Slightly leaning towards porn.

What the Fuck People: Today this guy links to a disturbing security video that ended up online of a guy committing suicide.

Double Your Dating: This one claims: “You’re About To Learn Secrets That Most Men Will Never Know About Women...” The only problem is that this is a pay site, but you get a 30 day free trial and if you cancel before then, the order never goes through. Supposedly.

Ebaum's World: Fun stuff.

Pointless Waste of Time: This site has some good articles on it.

Fark.com: Not sure how to describe this...just a basic website, with some good links.

Farm Sluts: This video is pretty funny, but it's about 18 minutes long.

Photo Post - Miscellaneous

These are just random photos culled from my archives.

Something weird happened one night when I was at Michael's house with the ash tray. Somehow the ashtray got too hot and cracked in half.

My Golden Age of Grotesque art show poster signed by Marilyn Manson...it says, "To Gary and Morgan":

Some spoof poster a friend made during the war taken from our Tomahawk shoot:

Iraqi dinar with Saddam Hussein on it:

Mazatlan, Mexico, November 2002:

My cousin. Yeah, we were drunk. So what?:

My only tattoo on my right shoulder that I got in Seattle Summer of 2002:

Tomahawk launch in the daytime:

Woods by my cousin's old house, in negative:

More woods, in sepia:

A wreck I caught sometime around Halloween 2002. One car ended up on top of the other, however that happens:

This is a photo of a car on fire that I caught on the highway: