I stumbled off last night to one of my favorite haunts, the Cat & Fiddle, to actually meet Hilary and Señor Pauly D, along with a bunch of other people, in realtime last night and ended up spending a majority of the night bonding with Justin and his girlfriend (whose blog I can’t seem to find, argh) over timeless ‘80s classics like Teen Wolf and Electric Dreams, in which Meaghan also participated. Good times, noodle salad.
On my way there, though, I passed a guy standing on the sidewalk on La Brea, holding a cardboard sign that said something to the effect of “ATTENTION: Government and the Jewish conspiracy killed my wife” and had not only his wife’s name and date of death, but also his own name. Yeah, it disturbed me a bit since this whole “Jewish conspiracy” thing still makes my hackles go up that people think that Jews are going to rise up and take over the world or something when in fact there’s no real reason to hate us. (Well, you can hate Courtney Love. But according to Adam Sandler, she’s only half-Jewish.) Honestly, the real Jewish conspiracy has been thousands of years of people trying to get rid of the Jews. But what really caught my attention was the fact that this guy was waving his sign around in a heavily Jewish area—I had flashbacks to the opening part of Die Hard 3. I can only wonder how long it took someone to notice what he was doing… and what they did about it.
On a happier note, it’s Thursday, and it’s one day closer to payday and the weekend. With that in mind, move your feet and feel united to this. But don’t be a dick, right-click.
DJ John - “It Takes Two 2 Kiss” (Rob Base vs. Prince vs. some other stuff)
Okay, so I might’ve overreacted a wee bit.
So the shuttle thing that apparently woke up everyone in my office (but not Pisser or Hilary) and left me with only four hours of sleep to go on was a Bad Thing. And then finding a fly in my bowl of cereal this morning wasn’t the Most Wondrous Event in the World™ either. And then there was that huge fire over near Laurel Canyon tonight, which didn’t really affect me but I think we can all agree that it’s not exactly helpful to some people.
I am okay with all of those ominous and dire events. But when I punch up iTunes and find that the No. 8 Most Downloaded Song of the Day is fucking Journey‘s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” that’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back, causing me to officially pack a survival kit and head for the hills, confident in the knowledge that the Apocalypse is nigh.
I’m trying to decide if I should be annoyed or awed that NASA woke me up this frickin’ early in the morning.
Discovery‘s re-entry approach path to Edwards Air Force Base puts it directly over Los Angeles, so when a certain L.A. resident randomly wakes up early in the morning and is just about to fall back asleep, he might be woken back up with a start when his building rattles with the twin sonic booms as the shuttle returns from space. It took me a minute to actually figure out what it was, since I hadn’t heard that Discovery was coming to California, and there was that initial reaction of “earthquake?” before my brain processed the possibilities. I just kind of wish I’d been outside so I could’ve seen the shuttle myself.
So I finally snapped some pics of the little bastard who keeps trying to break into my apartment. And it’s totally not gay of me to say that he is way cute, even if his name is Chico.
And what photo spread would be complete with a sonic offering? Don’t be a dick, right-click.
From: Me
To: You
RE: Notes
1. To the guy who stood behind me in line during my semi-drunken trip to Tito’s Tacos on Friday night: Look, pal, Tito’s is kind of an L.A. institution. It’s going to be crowded no matter what time you go. Complaining about it loudly over and over is only going to make you look like a spoiled brat, and it probably didn’t impress your girlfriend.
2. A question for all of you following a discussion with a friend—and no, this is in no way indicative of any of my weekend activities (although I kind of wish it did): How come when you make out with someone and she (or he, as the case may be) ends up spending the night at your place, why do they ask for a new toothbrush in the morning? You’ve obviously already swapped spit, and your tongues probably touched and stuff too. So why the need for a brand new, untainted toothbrush since you’ve already explored each other’s tonsils?
Two obsessions Southern Californians have that I really don’t understand:
1. Vanity plates. I have no idea why people feel the need to advertise who they are or what they do or what kind of car they drive—the latter being the most asinine. I’m looking at the mini-SUV thing and seeing the license plate that says “BMW X5.” Well, duh. And do I really need to know that the person in front of me in traffic is a “TAX LWYR”? Does that really make my life any more enriched? What I’d really love to see is some guy cruising around in a giant Escalade all tricked out with the license plate “SML PNIS”.
2. Ranch dressing. Ranch dressing goes on salad, that’s all. Ranch dressing does not go with buffalo wings, blue cheese dressing does. Ranch dressing does not go with French fries—oops, I’m sorry, freedom fries—ketchup or barbeque sauce does. Ranch dressing does not go with bedroom antics, pudding does.
Whlie out for a walk last night (as I usually do—I have a 5-mile loop around my neighborhood that I cover 4-5 times a week), I saw:
- A couple having a screaming loud fight, which I actually heard strains of over my iPod. It was kind of sad, watching people go at it like that, and I felt a little voyeuristic. But something like that always intrigues me—I guess it’s the psychology student inside who is interested in the complex game that are human emotions and interaction. Either that, or I’m just a busybody. But seriously, how many times have you seen something like that—people having a fight in their living room, but the windows and curtains are wide open—and you stop to watch them? (I didn’t stop.)
- Another person taking pictures of the house where O.J. killed his wife, which is conveniently located three blocks from my place. People, it’s been 11 years. Let it go. It’s just a sad commentary on the state of America that after all this time, people are still obsessed with it and can still recall every little detail of what reportedly happened that night. And it’s sad that a murder site has become a tourist attraction.
- Someone walking their pet pig. Yes, a pig on a leash, wearing a harness. In the middle of a city.
A little something to offer you for your Thursday. Don’t be a dick, right-click.
The waiting really is the hardest part. That’s what’s driving me nuts right now. Aaugh.
In other news, it’s so wonderful to see our president is still making sure to take all the facts at hand and make an educated, nonbiased judgment based on information that is scientifically valid. In amongst all of his other wonderful pronouncements yesterday supporting “intelligent design” (whatever the hell that is) and Karl Rove (ooh, I mentioned his name—did anyone else hear the coyote howl?), check out this little bit that ran in yesterday’s Washington Post following that interview:
“Rafael Palmeiro is a friend,” Mr. Bush said in an interview with the Knight Ridder news service. “He’s the kind of person that’s going to stand up in front of the klieg lights and say he didn’t use steroids, and I believe him. Still do.”
Yeah. And Big Al said dogs can’t look up. You believe everything you hear, Bushie?
Carb Supporters Rejoice as Atkins Goes Belly Up
I can kind of understand why. There’s only so much you can take of doing the no-carb thing before your cravings start to become a little too overpowering. As one of the people in the article says, “I got tired of saying no.” My two big issues with trying to eat well over the last couple of years has been that (1) I got sick of having salad all the time and (2) I missed chocolate a little too much.
In other news, now that I know that the guys who wrote and directed Super Troopers directed and helped write the script for The Dukes of Hazzard movie, I may actually go see it.
And finally, life is made a little sunnier with the news that Griffin Technologies is coming out with the iFM, an add-on that allows people to listen to FM radio on their iPods. This makes me happy.