In The Merry Month Of May

I know I should update my calendar on the right side there. May has been an amazingly fun and busy, sleepless month though, so I sort of hate to remove things. I'm working on a post that should go up this weekend and perhaps I will update by then. June looks so sad with only one event. I know there are other things I haven't added yet and some that will added along the way.

May The (G) Force Be With You

So, Disney is promoting the hell out of G-Force, which if you ever open your eyes when you venture outdoors-especially in L.A.-you know.

Gadgets. Gizmos. Guinea Pigs. In 3-D.

A collage of some of the ads I've snapped photos of around L.A.

I just had to ask myself a few questions.

Will it be stupid? Probably.

Will Tracy Morgan annoy the bejeezus out of me: Most likely.

Am I afraid kids will do really stupid, dangerous things with their guinea pigs after seeing it? Unfortunately, yes.

Will I bother seeing it? HELLS YEAH!

They had me at Guinea Pigs. 3-D is a nice, nice bonus.

A Bolt To The System

It's hard having old pets. I know some of you who stop by here from time to time understand that from experience. You either have or have had senior animals. Just like with people, diseases and infirmities come with old age. Since most of our critters have relatively short life spans, it can seem to hit all of a sudden. Granted, an old dog (or whatever) with a few issues, but good quality of life, certainly beats the inevitable alternative.

Almost four years ago, Cosette, now 16, had major surgery for breast cancer. She came through brilliantly and is aging graefully. Sure, she's deaf as can be, sleeps quite a bit, and has some creaky joints, but when she's awake, she's pretty perky. Especially if you have food that she wants. And there there is Little Guy. There was an update recently about some of what he is going through. It seems to be hitting him hard and quick.

When the movie Bolt first came onto my radar, I got really excited. I saw the trailer in front of Wall-E initially. O.M.G. Not only was a movie coming out with an adorable doggie as the star, but one of his sidekicks was…a HAMSTER. O.M.G. In the time between seeing that and the movie opening, I had a lot of inquiries about how excited I must be to see a movie with a HAMSTER!!! O.M.G…a HAMSTER!!!

[insert sound of loud, cartoony brakes here]

Um, yeah. I had intended this to be more of a review of Bolt. I really loved the movie. Yes, Rhino, the hamster was cute and very funny, but it was Bolt who got to me. He reminds me of my Little Guy and watching the cute cartoon canine leap and run around on the screen made me a little sad. I'm sure I'm one of the only people who shed several tears during the film. Not only is Little Guy small, nearly white, and snouty with pointy ears like Bolt, but he's spunky and incredibly loyal too. Every morning when I get out of the shower, Guy is lying right outside of the bedroom door waiting for me. We have a special bond, just like Bolt and his girl Penny.

I'm doing what I can to help Little Guy, and all my pets, live good lives. For now I'll even refrain from shaving a little lightening bolt into Guy's side.

The only Bolt merchandise we found at Disneyland. When I took this photo, I didn't even realize my own Little "Bolt" Guy snuck into it!

What Has Been And What Can Never Be

I saw the world premiere of the documentary Largo this past Sunday night at the L.A. Film Festival. It was really enjoyable for me, as one of the people who loved the club's original incarnation on Fairfax. Also, I'm a fan of many of the musicians and comedians who performed there. The film is black and white and performance based. There is no narrative and minimal subtitling. Featured performers include Grant-Lee Phillips, Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, Andrew Bird, Colin Hay, Jon Brion, Davíd Garza, Tom Brousseau, Sarah Silverman, Greg Proops, Zach Galifinakis, Louis CK, John C. Reilly, Bic Runga, Flight of the Conchords (how did I miss that?!?), Nickel Creek, Jackson Brown and a couple of others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

It actually made me quite sad knowing I can't ever go back there for such an intimate show. I haven't been to Largo 2.0 at the Coronet Theatre yet, but hope to check it out soon. Have you?

Hello, Hello...Hola! Hola!

Do you know the best time to go to Universal CityWalk? Well, I found out and will let you in on the secret. When it's pouring rain, that's when. Easy to park and NO PEOPLE...how awesome is that? I'm not a fan of their multiplex, but it has one of the two IMAX screens in L.A. showing U2 3D in limited release. I can see Universal City from my back yard and I certainly didn't want to drive all the way to The Bridge in the downpour. As a bonus, we had AMC passes and a gift card that we used for tickets and concessions. We paid only $5 for parking, movie, and snacks.

So, U2 3D. It's pretty fanfreakintastic. E saw some footage a couple months ago and prepared me somewhat for how incredible the film would be. It was truly something to experience, especially if you are a U2 fan and/or you appreciate 3D. You've never been immersed in a movie like this before and you've never seen a concert film of this nature. Also, there is no seat in an arena during a live show that can give you the perspectives offered up on the ginormous screen.

Prior to tonight, I've seen U2 twice in concert. The first time was in the fall of 1987 on the Joshua Tree tour and the next was fall of 2006 on the Vertigo tour. I now feel like I can say I've seen them live three times (but I won't!). I got teary-eyed at least three, maybe four, times, like I often do at a show that moves me. I think my favorite thing was seeing The Edge and his quiet intensity so up close. Bono is a spaz and we alway see him everywhere, so it was fun to have some focus on the other guys as well. Great band, terrific music, and amazing 3D footage.

U2 3D will open in some non-IMAX theaters on February 15th.

I Saw It! It's Alive! It's Huge!

We finally saw Cloverfield today. I enjoyed it, but must admit that I did get a little nauseated. It's pretty intense, but definitely an experience for the big screen. I wasn't even as scared as I thought I'd be. At least not enough to pee in my pants, which was my real fear. We'll see if I have bad dreams.

On another note, if you are looking for me on Facebook, you won't find me. We broke up. It was him, not me. I just couldn't take all of the invites and requests to download various apps, take a bazillion quizzes, etc. I think I'll still be able to keep in touch with friends without feeling guilty that I haven't had time to compare driving styles or shoe size. So, I squashed my account just like I was a big monster destroying New York City.

What's What

Now watching: Shaun of the Dead. I've had an unhealthy obsession lately of all things Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Nick Frost related. I blame it on going to a few screenings during The Wright Stuff Festival last month. I was already a fan, but I seem to be even more infatuated with the boys now. It's like when I go to a concert and after listen to that artist repeatedly.

Now listening: The Bluetones, a British indie band that was introduced to me (and the rest of the Bugsy Malone audience) by Edgar Wright. See?

Now playing: Animal Crossing: Wild World on my Ninendo DS Lite. My sister has been raving about the game and has been playing it since last Spring, which says more about it that you can imagine. We'll even get to play together, even though she lives across the country. Once I can get the WiFi working on my system. That may have to wait until E is back in town.

Now cleaning: My covered patio. During the recent rains, my dogs abused it a bit and it really needs a good scrubbing. But wait. How can I be mopping and blogging at the same time? My robot, Scooba, is cleaning the patio thankyouverymuch. Now where are robots to do my laundry, wash the dishes, pick up the clutter, and clean the bathroom?

Now walking: Some friends went out of town, so I've been walking their dog Daizy. She big and energetic and honestly, practically takes me for a walk! It's good exercise though, which I'll be getting momentarily.

Time, Time, Time, See What's Become Of Me

It's a good feeling to get an email from a friend that says, "What's up with you? Haven't heard from you in a while, hope you're not working too hard." Especially when that "a while" is truthfully only a couple of days. Life seems to be in high gear right now, partially due to the holidays as that has added a few items to the social calendar.

I have piles of laundry, both clean and dirty, a sink full of dishes, and way too much other clutter to list. I haven't updated my blogs, read yours or hers or his, or taken many photos lately. Twitter informed me that I haven't updated in over 24 hours and I didn't watch 30 Rock yet. I have some things I really need to get out into the mail also.

It's not that I'm just napping and eating bon bons. I've only done some of that in past few days. This week I did see American Werewolf in London in a theater, hosted by Edgar Wright and with a John Landis Q&A. I also saw Ben Lee in concert and went to a Scrubs panel at the Paley Center for Media. I also took Little Guy to the vet and bathed Rusty for some volunteer work we are doing today and tomorrow. Oh, and I worked 40 hours.

I guess my point is that I look around the pig sty where I reside and glance down my To Do list and feel lazy and unaccomplished. I sure that I'm not alone in feeling this, especially at this time of year when time demands and pressures seem to multiply. I could probably go on about this, but Rusty and I have a very important date.

A BALD Monkey?

We went to a 25th anniversary screening of E.T. tonight by 'The Academy'. The only big screen I'd ever seen it on was one at a drive-in back in '83 with my sister and grandmother. It holds up pretty well and the new print we watched looked great. I'd wager that 99% of the audience at least got a little misty by the end of the film, aside from those who were sniffling quite loudly. A Q&A followed and included several crew members as well as Dee Wallace and Henry Thomas, little Elliot all grown up.

I was a bit astonished that someone coming to the gorgeous theater we were in, complete with giant Oscar® statues at the front of the room, would bring a baby with them. A noisy baby. Security eventually kicked them out, thank goodness. Oh, and there of course was the couple of cell phones that went off during the movie. I guess it's now just part of the moving-going experience. Ugh.

Sniffly

No, I don't have a cold. Just a little weepy. I'm okay though. I just saw a fantastic film, that I knew I wanted to see immediately upon seeing the trailer a few weeks ago. LACMA did a preview screening tonight.

Seeing as I just got home and I need to eat, do laundry, take out the garbage, watch Heroes, and post this by midnight, I'll share more later.

P.S. RIP Peanut.

The Weekend Of The Big 4-0 Is Upon Us

We are celebrating the 40th anniversary of E's birth this weekend. Well, I'm forcing him to celebrate and he's going along with it, sort of groaning all the while. Yeah, getting old sucks, but it certainly beats the alternative. Last night, we saw Blade Runner: The Final Cut. We could be more like the Replicants and only have a four-year life span, you know?

Tonight, we'll be freezing our asses off on enjoying a three-hour open top double decker bus neon tour of Los Angeles. Yes, we sort of did this before, but it was for a private party and therefore, abbreviated. We've been wanting to experience the whole thing. I just have to dig out my hat and gloves. While the days are still quite pleasant and warm, the nights are getting to be a little chilly. I'm still sleeping with a fan though. Go figure.

E's actual birth date is tomorrow, Veteran's Day. Weather permitting, we plan to go to the Rose Bowl Flea Market early in the day. Later, we have a group joining us for dinner and magical good times at the "world famous" Magic Castle. My goal is to prove to E that you can be as old as dirt, but still get out on the town and have a great time. Ha!

Can't Think Of A Witty And/Or Clever Title

My photos from dog camp are finally uploaded. Yep, lots of dogs, trees, lakes, more dogs. Boring as hell for some of you. So don't look. Rusty and I have spent a lot of time together the past couple of weekends, doing some fun things. Hopefully, he'll write about it on his blog, which has been neglected for quite some time now.

Suddenly, we are going to lots of free movie screenings again. Last week we saw 3:10 To Yuma, which I thought was FANTASTIC. It was followed by a Q&A with the director, producer, editor, costume designer, and a few others. We also took in a new adaptation on Sleuth, which screened at the Pacific Design Center. That in itself was pretty cool. Even cooler though was the Q&A after the film with director Kenneth Branagh! I didn't hate the movie, but I think I enjoyed the conversation following more. Coming up this week is Eastern Promises. Viggo is not scheduled to be there, but David Cronenberg is. Skipping book club for that one. Oh yeah.

I mentioned before that October is incredibly busy and it is. This week alone we have at least one film, a concert, two theater events, and a museum exhibit.* We are also trying to get the house in order for an impending family visit. With so much going on, I don't even have time to tell you about who I met at an art event yesterday. I will say that she is on Flight of the Conchords and has an adorably bizarre internet series that I love. Now, I just need to meet Bret and "Murray."

We discovered our favorite pumpkin patch is open again this year (it was closed in '06), so we are going to try to squeeze that in sometime this month too. Bring on the candy corn! I need energy!

*The movie is free, one of the theater events is half-price, and the concert tickets were bought with some rewards points and were very inexpensive. Lest you think we are suddenly well off.

Eastern Promises

I'm typically not a fan of violence, but...Viggo...naked!...tattoos!!...blood...I may have to peek through my fingers, but I am so there.

10 Days In The Life...

In the past 10 days, I have attended:

21 and ½ short films

8 documentaries

7 narrative features

1 super kawaii Japanese animated feature

1 panel with effects guru Dennis Murin

and

1 robot laden Michael Bay explode-a-ganza.

3 of these films were followed by free parties.

In addition, I squeezed in:

2 live shows by The Police

2 shows at The Hollywood Bowl (one of which featured a movie!)

I also:

Took hundreds of photos, some of which I may upload someday.

Keep in mind that I was working full-time all along as well. I will start crying if I list all of the things I needed to get done, but either didn’t or have not even started. I'll think about that after The Hollywood Bowl tonight.

Kabluey

Kabluey

*Update 06/26/07: I saw the film Kabluey last night. It was wonderful.

De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da

Unfortunately, I'm too beat right now to write about how much I enjoyed the first Police show and the Don Cheadle movie Talk To Me that opened the L.A. Film Fest. I'm only awake because I'm doing a quick load of laundry.

Full Plate

I'm going to attempt to throw together a few coherent thoughts here, which may not work as I'm getting by on little sleep (and a little caffeine). I think it will be more of a glimpse at some of the things that have been going on and are upcoming in Jodiland.

Last week we attended a Scion event. I have yet to post any photos I took of the modded* cars, which were pretty cool. Eric did a presentation on "Why I Love My Scion." Sadly, I'd left mine at home. Oh well, it's not like I've done anything to mine and it's pretty dirty right now. We raced out to get to a free screening of a film called Mojave Phone Booth. I think it's going to air on Showtime later this year. Check it out. I dare you to not be impressed that it was made for $40,000. It's a great example of quality, low-budget indie filmmaking.

You may have already read about the tote bag. Why I chose to devote an entire entry to that is a little beyond me, but hey. Often, I just have to be a dork. There were far more interesting things that happened that day, such as our quest to eat at El Compadre. E had eaten at the one in Echo Park recently and liked the food, so he suggested it for the Mexican food craving I was having. We decided to go to the one in Hollywood, since it's a little closer to home. After pushing our way through the very crowded bar, we learned there was an hour-and-twenty-minute wait. Um, no. So, we drove east on Sunset Boulevard to the other location. After driving around a bit to find parking, we were seated immediately. It became a really interesting "Tale of Two Los Angeleses" experiences. While the Hollywood location was chock full of hipsters and "beautiful people" in their party clothes sipping margaritas and martinis, the Echo Branch turned into a raucous post-Dodgers game party, complete with beer-swilling fans singing along to the live Mariachi music. I can't say I "fit in" with either crowd, but it was fun. Oh, and the chicken in molé sauce was really good.

Saturday was a work day for me. Bleh. We did make it out for Thai food with friends later that night. It was a good time that devolved into giggling and arguing over what is cooler...light sabers or tote bags. Yep, dorky again. It happens just about every day, folks.

I got up very early on Sunday for the Special Olympics in Long Beach. My dog, Rusty, and I volunteered at a booth our Therapy Dog group had there. It was a fun time, but pretty exhausting. I took a much needed nap afterwards. We had errands to run after that and it was impressive how long Sunday turned out to be. I'm feeling it today. Somewhere in the weekend, I also did some writing, but not enough and not very good.

Tonight we're seeing Emo Philips with some friends from Indiana who are in L.A. for the summer. The week will continue to be crazy with TWO Police shows(!!!), and the start of the L.A. Film Festival. So, my updates here, comments on your blogs, and photo uploads may be limited. I'm sure I'll resort to a lot of mobile blogging. There's always Twitter that will have the best chance of being the most current over the next 10 days or so. That is if you care. And if you don't, I'm too tired to care about that.

*I was gonna say "tricked out," but then you'd know how uncool I truly am.

**I am working full-time and doing a few other things during all of this too. That may partially explain why the dishes, laundry, dog hair, and hamster poo are piling up! And if you saw E's schedule...it's pretty jam-packed too.

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

I've been intending to do some sort of week-in-review post for oh, a week or so now. It's been a busy one and an overall good one. I'll just touch on some of the highlights, thus far.

Last Saturday, after our lovely walk among the coyotes, we decided to take in dinner and a movie. E still had a couple of tokens for the Holly Trolley, which is to help people bar-hop and avoid the parking hassles in Hollywood on Thursday through Saturday nights.

• The Good: We parked at Hollywood & Highland and sat at the counter at California Pizza Kitchen. We were served and ate in near record time. Also, we really enjoyed Hot Fuzz. In spite of nearly being late, I was able to get some popcorn too.
  

• The Bad: After dinner we missed the Holly Trolley. So, we walked quite quickly to try to catch it at the next stop. We ended up walking to the Arclight, which isn't that big of a deal, but we had full bellies and had already gone on a good walk. As we were cutting it close on time, we had to walk really fast. I hate getting sweaty when I'm not intending to, so I was kind of annoyed. After the movie, we had trouble catching the trolley to go back, as it did not follow the route that is listed online. We walked back about halfway and caught it, but they would not take the tokens. The Holly Trolley sucks.

• The Ugly: Drunk people in Hollywood on a Saturday night are awful. Especially the ones that scream right in your ear as you are innocently descending to the depths of the parking garage.
  

Having gone to a late movie on Saturday night, we overslept on Sunday.

• The Good: We ended up having an early dinner at Birds and catching the free Asssscat show at the UCB Theater. Mo Collins was the guest monologist and she was pretty funny. She's also really, really skinny. I wanted to buy her a sandwich.
  

• The Bad: We missed out on the L.A. Times Festival of Books. Maybe next year. I say that every year. I've never been to it.
  

• The Ugly: We did go to the once-a-month L.A. Comic Con, which is pretty lame. The ugliest part of this is that I'm only now finding out that an artist I really like (David Petersen) had been there.

I'll group various things from last week here:

• The Good: Awesome episode of Heroes this past Monday! I'm sort of bummed that the season is winding down.
  
  On Tuesday, I saw Tim Finn play at Largo. I'd never seen him perform and it was a treat. He was mesmerizing and I could have listened to him for hours. It never hurts to see someone good in such an intimate setting where they are only 20 feet away.
  
  Thursday night was opening night of the Silver Lake Film Festival. I chatted with some nice guys about The Office while waiting for the theater to open and I met a really cute dog.
  
  We got to see Circle Jerks perform for free.They sounded great.
  
  On Friday night, we saw a block of short films that, in general, did not suck. That was followed by some pumpkin pie.
  
  I had a bit of a day of beauty on Saturday, starting with getting my hair trimmed, getting my annual pedicure, and updating my highlights. I also managed to stop in a couple of comic shops for Free Comic Book Day and picked up several issues. We saw a great documentary called King of Kong. It's an excellent companion piece to a film we saw at Sundance called Chasing Ghosts, which features many of the same people.

• The Bad: Overall, the film festival organization has left much to be desired. The opening night screening started really late. On top of that, I didn't even enjoy the film Fay Grim. There was a lot of confusion, delays, and general clusterfuckery the following night for the shorts program as well. I'm glad my pass is free.
  

• The Ugly: Shopping for a baby shower gift at Babies 'R Us. Now I know why people hate that place. I felt so tired Thursday night that I left the Circle Jerks show after a few songs. My house remains a disaster. Little Guy is limping again. My feet before the pedicure.
  

Today, I'm helping some friends with their table at the Santa Fe Art Colony Open Studios, possibly having coffee with a friend (too overextended), and volunteering at the Kids In The Hall show at the Steve Allen Theater. I'm confident that those will all be good things.

Feeling Random (And Tired)

Read about George, a Jack Russell Terrier from New Zealand. He's truly a hero. SPOILER ALERT: Things don't end well for George.

You must read the Evil Hamsters poem if you missed it. While I disagree with the sentiment, I admire the author's talent.

I finally got a photo of one of the two R2-D2 mailboxes that I've seen in Burbank, which are both near studios. This is the one by Warner Brothers, in front of the Taco Bell on Olive. In the background, you can see the WB water tower, where the Animaniacs live.

The Silver Lake Film Festival opens tonight. It will be consuming a lot of my time over the next ten days. One of E's short films is in the fest, so I have a free pass. It looks like it's going to be a great festival this year, with a lot of film and music events. I guess I'll be seeing the Circle Jerks later. Cool. I'm already behind on updating here. I've uploaded photos that have yet to be labeled, etc. Someday. Someday.

It's Rex Manning Day!

Stolen from Nicole.

The Movie Meme

1. Name a movie you have seen more than 10 times.
Ghostbusters. It was one of the ones my younger brothers watched over and over and over. Luckily, it's good and funny.

2. Name a movie you've seen multiple times in the theater.
Lord of the Rings: all three of them.

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.
Viggo Mortensen

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.
Will Ferrell

5. Name a movie than you can and do quote from.
Empire Records, Shaun of the Dead, and Babe
(sorry, I just couldn't keep that to one)

6. Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.
The Sound of Music

7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.
The Sound of Music, Grease, Rent

8. Name a movie you would recommend everyone see.
I don't really do this. People have very different tastes and I respect that. Since I've been going to the Sundance Film Festival for the past few years, I do get asked for suggestions from what I see. My recommendation from this year's fest for most folks to see is Rocket Science. It will have a limited release in the U.S. this coming August.

9. Name a movie that you own.
Well, there are hundreds, but I'll go with Sing Blue Silver, the 1984 Duran Duran tour documentary.

10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.
David Bowie. Okay, not really surprising, but I like him as an actor too.

11. Have you ever seen a movie at a drive-in? If so, what?
Yes. The first movie I saw at a drive-in was E.T. More recently, I've seen Over The Hedge, Mission Impossible III, Forbidden Planet, and The Tingler from my car. Actually, I saw an indie film called Kill House at Eric's mobile drive-in last Friday.

12. Ever made out in a movie?
No, I can't say that I have.

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven't gotten around to it yet.
Monsoon Wedding

14. Ever walked out on a movie?
Yes, in high school I walked out of Ice Pirates. There are so many more I wish I had.

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.
Geez, what movie doesn't make me cry? Grace Is Gone, the John Cusack film I saw at Sundance this year. It was a great film, I'd recommend it, but yeah, I cried through nearly the entire damn thing. Before that, I think it was The Fountain.

16. What was the last movie you saw in the theater.
The Last Mimzy. It was okay.

17. What is your favorite/preferred genre of movie.
It really depends on my mood. I love a good comedy, but probably prefer dramatic as a genre. Followed closely by documentary.

18. What is the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
I remember seeing The Sound of Music, but I'm not sure if that's true so I'm calling my Mom to check my facts. (Confirmed!)

19. What movie do you wish you'd never seen?
Highlander III. I really should have been smart like Sarah, saved my money, and stayed home.

20. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?
Kung Fu Hustle

21. What is the scariest movie you have seen?
The Ring. Hated it.

22. What is the funniest movie you have seen?
Borat

Oh, and not that it was asked, but my favorite movie snack is popcorn (no butter) and a Diet Coke. And I like to sit in the middle of the theater, or Middle-Middle as I like to order my seats at the Arclight, my favorite theater.