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Feeding the Need to Read: The Studio by John Gregory Dunne

In this new column, Feeding the Need to Read, I will give a brief review on books that I have read shortly after finishing them. I will give them a rating from 1 to 5 based on the the "Feed Need" scale. I used to keep a log of such on every book I read but I have not been doing that for some time so as a way to do it again, I will post the finished books here. There is no particular reason to start with John Gregory Dunne's The Studio, it is just time.

John Gregory Dunne is an author I have been interested in ever since I heard great things about his book True Confessions, which is based loosely on the Black Dahlia case, a subject I have been interested in since reading James Ellroy's brilliant book The Black Dahlia in 8th grade (Which off the subject was a horrible fucking travesty of a movie which was not only convoluted as all hell, but poorly acted, and just plain awful. A huge disappointment as I was looking forward to that adaptation ever since David Fincher was attached to write and direct it. The Black Dahlia was to be his follow up to Fight Club (which would have been a hell of a lot more exciting than Panic Room - ick). Fincher's adaptation was a planned 3 hour film that would have been shot entirely in black and white, he was never able to get the script below a 250 page draft so he dropped the project and explored the exact same themes in Zodiac which I thought was a nice All the President's Men type movie and explored obsession at least 1000 times better than De Palma's follow up to Mission to Mars and Femme Fatale (shaking head)) True Confessions was also made into a film with Robert Duvall and Robert DeNiro which I will see once I end up reading that book.

The Studio is a rare, in depth, if not mild, look at the inner workings of the Daryl Zanuck run 20th Century Fox during the late 60s. The book highlights many aspects of what it takes to make a big Hollywood blockbuster, during an era in which the big budget studio pictures were heading out and the introspective era of the maverick directors was on its way in. The main focus of the book is on the conception and premiere of Dr. Dolittle, as well as the productions of Planet of the Apes, Star!, The Boston Strangler, and various Fox television pilots and shows.

As someone who is interested in the subverting the current studio system, the book was not only helpful in understanding what it takes to work within a studio, but I found it humbling as well. What the book lacks is anything interesting outside the operatic workings of the system. Dunne shows the industry in the way that US Weekly readers don't see it, work - monotonous, laborious, grueling work. More of a piece of reportage than an expose, the book, although as far as I know was and is the only time someone has been given the free reign and liberties that Dunne was given, if feel like Dunne does as much as he can with material he had to work with. The book just ends up being just as mild and operatic as the work that goes into the films. The most juicy tidbit in the whole thing was how a girl stole a plate from a restaurant and then... it was put on the tab... ahhhh! Those crazy Hollywood types.

One thing I found very interesting, that the book only briefly mentioned is how heavily the studio campaigned for Dr. Dolittle for the Academy Awards with champagne and lavish food buffets. Despite being a box office and critical failure the film was nominated for 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture, must have been a lovely buffet. This sheds some light on why so many average films get nominated, or even win, crash, cough.

Although well written and breeze to read Dunne sums it up best in his forward to the book in which he states that "The Studio is not half bad." Not the most exciting of reviews was it?

3 out of 5 Feed Needs

Single Dragon

There was a man I was kicking in the photo, but he disintegrated from the impact of the crippling karate kick.

Bowling Vernacular

I will humbly introduce this long over due post as a nostalgic reflection of a by gone era, one that can be represented and modernized to encompass both bowling’s glory days and it’s future. An example of this here in Los Angeles is Lucky Strike in Hollywood. Yet for the majority of the bowling alleys across the country their fate is being turned into dated the moment they are remodeled multi-colored monstrosities as opposed to the classic forms of Mid-Century architecture that many represent.

The popularity of bowling became a great anomaly to me when I realized its scope. On a trip to West Texas, the one thing that struck me above anything is that, no matter how small the town was - 2,000 or 10,000 - every town had a bowling alley. The towns I was in in West Texas, Snyder, Graham, among many all had a bowling alleys. Snyder, Texas; a town of about 10,000 people was located in a dry country, which means that you can not buy booze at any store within the county line (we would have to drive about 20 or so miles out of town to Colorado City to buy beer in bulk) so in a town without much else to do, bowling was an obvious outlet, especially, I imagine, when the alley first came to the town.

I thought this was an American small town thing though. Obviously being part of cities too but for the most part cities have everything so I made a distinction until I went to Sweden and found out it was not just an American small town thing. My Father moved to Sweden years ago and on my third visit he had moved into a town (that when I tell people from Sweden I have been there they always reply, “Why?”) called Karlstad. Karlstad is the last “city” that is as far north before you get into the crazy gnome people villages of the “sticks“. Karlstad although it was a city, was a small town in comparison to other metropolitan areas in Sweden, mainly because of it’s location, and guess what they had, a bowling alley!

Interesting side note, people in Sweden don’t bowl the same way as we Americans do. For example, my friend Tommy and I along with my Dad would cheer for one another, get into the experience. Our Swedish neighbors would bowl down the lanes as if they were all just lobotomized, neither cheering or showing any form joy (that is because of the lack of competition Sweden’s socialist government promotes but that is another story.)

The long winded point I am attempting to make here is that small town and or big city, bowling has somehow woven itself into the fabric of our culture. An institution of recreation when there is nothing else to do. Some claim that bowling originated in primitive cultures that date back to the Egyptians which may mean bowling is part of our instinct… or something.

Although bowling appeared in many forms throughout the ages, in a America it’s popularity hit its peak in the Mid-Century period between the 40s and 60s. Many of the alleys built during this “golden age of bowling” are some of the best representations of modernism, many of which are classic in their form. I tend to find, especially here in Southern California, many buildings in which the exterior and signs are intact but the interiors are all this strange horrible mix of random bright colors. I know that taste change with time but I look at this era not only with romanticism but with Mid-Century modernism now being included along with styles like Victorian, Craftsman, Art Deco, to name a few, as classic forms of architectural styles, it is important to preserve what we have left and to at least appreciate the most representative forms of this style that are meant for public consumption. I took these pictures not only to document, but in some cases to encompass the artistry of some of these designs, sometimes, sadly, in their decay. Some may seem dated but it is important to realize that hip places like The Standard for example riff on the designs of this period and serve it on a plate as new, and if these establishments were handled with care and restored to their original greatness, we would be able to truly see the beauty they may hold as opposed to imagining them as they were.

I can answer any questions about the locations of the alleys, all of which I think are located here in Los Angeles County.

P.S. Corbin Bowl, in Tarzana, has the most amazing unironic Karaoke night of all time. I have only been there twice but each time was literally mind blowing and even the best writing could not even begin to touch on how unbelievable it truly was. Dig if you must.

DOUBLE DRAGON

Speaks for itself. Bad ass ninjaing.

MY NEW FAVORITE WEBSITE: ILOVEALPACAS.COM

Last night, while out eating Japanese food with a friend, CNN played in the background on the flat screen TV. I wasn't really paying attention until in the corner of my eye a commercial came on that was about as funny as it gets. It was for ilovealpacas.com. The subject matter alone made me think it was a joke commercial. So I went home and found out that 'Alpacas have been called "the world's finest livestock investment."' Really?

I have a soft spot for alpacas but for very different reasons. Once in high school, at a homecoming party, the cops came full force to break up the party, most every one there was about 16 and drunk so they were running like hell and jumping walls (I tried to make my escape only to find that my escape path was a trampoline built into the ground that had a huge hole in it in which I sunk to the ground). Everyone who jumped the fence was unwittingly attacked by a swarm of alpacas on the other side. That's funny.

Learn about alpacas and information of the alpaca farm near you at ILOVEALPACAS.COM

TIME TRAVEL IS REAL

Many question the validity of time travel. Recently some revelations have come to fruition about the feasibility of time travel. Well, I wanted to reveal to world, here on The Itinerant, that I, Phil Donohue, have discovered that time travel, is in fact, REAL.

I today, received three e-mails from the future. Monday January 18th, 2038 to be exact. These three e-mails were from PYRAMID, JESUS, and COYOTE. What cool names they have in the future! Their cryptic message was something about how if I am dissatisfied with with my pharmacy, I can go to this "online" "pharmacy" where "medication that you need here and get them shipped worldwide instantly". The link that JESUS gave my took me to a website that sells a product called Viagra as well as something called Cialis and Meridia. Further inquiries brought it to my attention that these pills are meant for erectile dysfunction. Whoa! They have erection problems in the future, and are warning us!

At least that is what I am gleaning so far. PYRAMID, JESUS, and COYOTE may be trying to warn us about what things will be like in the year 2038 if we aren't careful... with our penises... or something..

Geology Smallogy. Bush Knows the Secret: Noah Carved the Grand Canyon.

The issues with the Bush administration are so surmounting it is almost at the point of parody. I can’t even for a moment imagine how one could claim to like him or defend him at this point unless you truly don’t pay attention to anything and vote based on the fact that your family is Republican. I want to preface by saying there is no better between Democrats and Republicans but when it comes to Bush, it’s amazing we don’t make a bigger deal out of him and his administration than we do.

Let’s begin with the obvious stuff:
- Iraq. It is heavily documented that they used 9/11 as a way to push through Cheney and Rumsfeld’s predetermined agenda to go to war with Iraq. They purposefully used intelligence they knew was false because of what they believed. WMDs?
- Afghanistan. In turn all their efforts in Afghanistan to find Bin Ladin were diverted. (The CIA Special Ops, who were the only ones there, had him cornered and requested back up from the military that was refused, and well, he got away).
- No Child Left Behind was a failure.
- Guantanamo Bay breaks international law, ignores the right of habeas corpus, and has changed our standing in the world.
- Attempting to falsely create a panic in regards to Social Security (that he claimed would occur in 2047 wtf?) in order to privatize it.
- The Patriot Act.
- The firing of Federal judges based solely on political differences.
- Katrina.
- The fact that the number of family’s that make under 10,000 a year has risen 36%.
- Leaking confidential CIA operatives to the press in retribution for exposing their false intelligence used in reports and making “Scooter” Libby the scapegoat for Rove and Cheney.
-Walter Reed

All this and the simple fact that he can’t speak and has, an as he put it, an “epileptic” reading list.

The only thing I have ever actually agreed with him on was repealing the Supreme Court’s decision to expand the rights of Eminent Domain to corporations to build Wal Marts, but he just talked about it, so far nothing has been changed. So with all this stuff that is so obvious it’s the little things that slip under the radar that are really unnerving and staggeringly idiotic. Bush caters to religious fundamentalist in our country while decrying others abroad. I just read this small blurb today and I would like to share its insanity with you:

From a press release issued by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility in December 2006: “Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geological age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah’s flood rather than by geologic forces, more that three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park, according to documents released today. ‘In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “It is disconcerting that the official position of a national park as to the geologic age of the Grand Canyon is ‘no comment.’”

This is part of the Bush administrations attack on science which is reinforced by their commitment for FAITH BASED PARKS!?:

“Bush political appointees are taking our national parks in a new, dangerous direction... In a series of recent decisions, the National Park Service has approved the display of religious symbols and Bible verses, as well as the sale of creationist books giving a biblical explanation for the Grand Canyon and other natural wonders. These moves all emanate from top Park Service political appointees over the objections of park superintendents, agency lawyers, and scientists. A number of fundamentalist Christian and socially conservative groups are claiming credit for these actions and touting their new direct and personal access to Bush Administration officials.”

It is getting harder and harder for me to calmly reason with people about this nonsense. This is not only dumb it is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. What is the benefit of repressing and hiding information that is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be true, to protect your belief? If you don’t like science then give back every single modern convenience and commodity you have ever owned. This is not only an attack on information it is an attack on rationality. In my opinion everyone has the right to believe what they want to, but it doesn’t mean you aren’t being stupid or stubborn when ignoring the facts. The Earth is NOT 6,000 years old. We have carbon dating! There are all kinds of animals down the street in the La Brea Tar Pits that are 40,000 years old! This information based on peer reviewed fact and research. It is not a science to date the earth based on the births of apostles. Evolution and Natural Selection are facts. The most ignorant argument I have ever heard is the Evolution is just a theory… so if fucking gravity!

If you believe in Noah’s Arc then you aren’t using you head. The wealth of information that disproves it is astounding. The fact that well, dinosaurs weren’t part of this story (that’s because they didn’t know they existed yet so how could they write about them) or the fact that climate and food sources are determinate in the survival of all species. Now since it was flooding I guess he just dumped the giant squids and blue whales out but um, were they in an aquarium on the boat before this - they must have been frozen in carbonate to survive for so long if there weren’t aquariums on the ship? Or maybe just fish evolved and land animals were created, so why are blue whales and dolphins mammals? This is so confusing! And lets for a moment consider the size of a ship that would carry two of every species of animal (blue whales, elephants, rhinos, kitty cats, and tree frogs), that then would place each one of them in their natural habitat in every corner of the world, some in remote land locked areas. Judging by an animal’s natural instinct they must have been heavily sedated on the Ark. I also wonder how the blind mole rat or the polar bear survived this ordeal? Where were they all made?

Phil, you aren’t supposed to take the story so literally, it’s faith, it is what people believe. Okay then, so if that’s the case don’t try to use logic and reason to explain something that is magical and unbelievable. Creationist believe that dinos and humans were hanging out together (this is of course an ex post facto realization) - that humans were riding on their backs. FUCK YOU. You have to be kind of retarded to even consider that.

This is what our President believes, the President of the United States of America! How does one expect to get logic through to this man, to help change his policies? It’s obvious if you can’t convince someone the Grand Canyon wasn’t carved out by Noah’s sick wakes then you get anything through. So...

… Take Some Fucking Action. It’s the least you can do.

Side Story: The King's Inn - Sun City, AZ

On the post just below this one there is a link to an image of a postcard showing the sign of the San Gorgonio Inn in its prime. While I was perusing through the other postcards I saw one that was oddly familiar and I quickly figured out why.

My Grandfather, my Mom's Dad, used to take my Mom and I to all of these old places for lunch, many of which had lost their luster. To give a brief summary of the man he was once a millionaire oil and cattle man that gambled away all his money and long after this and some failed business attempts he would go business to business selling photos of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig (his father was friend's with them, these were candid pictures of the legends on my Great Grandfather's ranch in Sioux City, Iowa). My mother and I would have to drive him, after he no longer had a car, so he could continue selling these photos. He would always take us to old coffee shops in fairly squalid areas (He once took us to Brookshire's, and old coffee shop that is now closed and operating as a Mexican restaurant located east of The Phoenix Art Museum, when we groaned he said, "This is the best food in town, at night it's filled with nothing but hookers and pimps, but during the day it's the best place to get a bite to eat in town.") and every once in awhile great old standards like The Stockyards (strike that he took me to the barbershop there once, which i remember having Playboy's in the waiting area). Now in retrospect a lot of these places were neglected Mid-Centuries that if i were to see a photograph of them in their prime, I would probably fawn over today.

Once I saw this photo I was reminded of a journey we made all the way to Sun City to what I think was the King's Inn. A place which, supposedly, had the best chicken and dumplings in town (yeah?). The place, which looked like a Medieval Dungeon, was very quiet when we entered, almost seemed to be closed. We were brought to our table by a very morose hostess who was also our waitress. Throughout the duration of our meal, the staff began going behind curtains and emerging with tears in the eyes. We were the only ones in the restaurant which heightened our awareness to this as well as the uncomfortability (sic?). It wasn't long before we learned that the owner had died that day and in the middle of our meal our waitress left and went home.

This moment of my life was echoed in Luis Bunuel's Oscar winning The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, in which a group of people attempting to dine in a restaurant only to have the staff crying and constantly going behind curtains. In Bunuel's film the diners themselves look behind the curtain only to see an open casket funeral procession in progress.

I cannot kind any information on the King's Inn itself.

Fox Theater and the San Gorgonio Inn - Banning, CA

Banning, California is not the most exciting of towns. Located off the 10 near Palm Springs, it doesn't have much of a draw in itself, but every time I have made the drive on the 10 my curiosity grew for what looked to be a well preserved Fox Theater and a nice roadside sign for a restaurant called the, San Gorgonio Inn. My curiosity was confirmed and despite the town's lack of draw, yet it is great to see, whether it is circumstantial or not, a town having a sense of history. Although obviously not as extensive of a renovation as Tucson's Fox Theater it is still standing and showing films, unlike many Fox Theaters that where torn down here in Los Angeles as well as The Fox Phoenix, a Art Deco palace built by famed architect S. Charles Lee, which shared the fate of other doomed Phoenix classics like the Cine Capri and The Kachina (check out those pictures! A Conversation Lounge?! Rad!).

You can learn more about Banning's Fox Theater here at Cinema Treasures.

As for the San Gorgonio Inn, it has it's own Wikipedia entry. I also read an article that it is part of a redevelopment process, hopefully one with preservation in mind.

I also found a scan of an old postcard showing the same sign of the San Gorgonio Inn

Lankershim Theater and The Ritz Motel

When you live somewhere, it's very easy to neglect the things around you on your day to day life. I lived in Scottsdale, AZ until I was 19 but it wasn't until I came back to visit that I ever went to Taliesin West (let alone knew it existed) and to this day I have never been to the Grand Canyon, and I got around too. So now in my life I do a lot of exploring in the areas in which I live. That being said, North Hollywood (and not the new trendy NoHo Arts District) is an area that lacks, what I would say, appeal. It is next door to the suburb I live in, Valley Village (which is basically a 6 square block radius separating Studio City from scary North Hollywood(f.y.i. it is also where Sarah Silverman lives on her new TV show, Oooo)), but it is an area saturated with crime, car theft, and gang violence. Vanowen Street Loco's anyone?

I want to digress to share an embarrassing fact about myself; sometimes, at night, before I go to sleep and am flipping through channels, I watch the crime watch channel, showing all the scary dealings in the area. I sometimes get chills under my warm Ralph Lauren comforter at some of the police sketches, it's not a healthy activity but I frequently do this.

So when I heard there was an old theater down on Lankershim I became very curious. On my travel I ran into the Ritz Motel, which if maintained would have great character and it actually looks fairly neat at night. As for The Lankershim, which is now a church (a fate common in most old theaters), I wonder if the area was always run down as it is now, but in my readings it seems as though that is the case. It was hard to get a picture of it but the naked lady fighting a shrimp adds a nice touch I think.

You can can get some information and another picture at Cinema Tresures. Which is an amazing site that literally has information on every single movie theater ever built in the country. They also have a book out, aptly titled Cinema Treasures which you can get here.

Aztec Hotel - Monrovia, CA

This Roadside Hotel is located on the famous Route 66 in Monrovia (home of Trader Joe's) was built in 1925. You can find more information about the hotel and the restoration at the website below.

Aztec Hotel

Explosions in the Sky "All the Sudden, I Miss Everyone" and Updates about Updates

Nowadays, I am rarely excited about any new records. I have become extremely jaded after a string of profound disappointments (i.e. Flamings Lips "At War With the Mystics", everything by Mount Eerie, etc.) and found myself dreading the possibility that bands i love will soon be jumping the shark as opposed to creating their next best record. The last record I loved, and I mean unequivocally, was Broken Social Scene's S/T release. Although on immediate listen I was thrown into sense of confusion and uncertainty - I was able to acclimate to the muddles of sound and find the most consistent and innovative record I had heard in a long time. The album came out less than 2 years ago but since it came out, almost every album following in its wake has attempted to reinvent the production style to mixed results. There have been some other great albums of late, but they are few and far between; Final Fantasy's He Poos Clouds, Animal Collective's Feels, and Fennesz's Venice to name a few.

Explosions in the Sky's new record "All the Sudden, I Miss Everyone", was for me, at least something to look forward to, albeit, with a bit of trepidation. The "Post-Rock" movement is flat and mostly dead to me. Mogwai is boring sans a few songs - Godspeed, although the reining master of genre, hasn't put out an album since 2002 and that album was mediocre at best (that's being kind)- and I can't even hear Tortoise anymore because it sounds like being in an elevator. But Explosions in the Sky is an anomaly to me because they embody almost all of the negative and redundant traits of the genre while super ceding them with a sense of evocative and visceral power that is almost unique to them in their earnestness, but they also embody the teeth gritting power of the "rock moment". Suffice to say, I freely admit that their albums and songs are, too a degree, fairly interchangeable and although I see this as a fair criticism, I see their albums more as classical movements then as song based albums in which you skip around. But how many records can one hear before the soft/loud, build to the climax sincerity overstays its welcome?

The new album, more or less, is a subtle but definitive move in a new direction, without losing their "sound" or making any dramatic changes that would alienate their base. I must say that although I am not disappointed by any means, I am hardly blown away either. Where on the other albums I would listen through from beginning to end and then endlessly repeat for months on end - the album hardly ever leaving the player. The new record, despite the fact that it comes across more like one long song - tracks blending into one another - it also lacks a certain punch. This is because they are no longer interested in building to a moment (some might argue the whole album builds to the subtle climax at the end but in my humble opinion, eh) as much as they are beginning with a climatic moment, dropping it, coming back to new sound and moving on. Although the album is more interesting in concept, even implementing piano to an almost superfluous result, and is more dynamically produced, it is also missing some of that earnestness that made them so compelling in the first place. If anything, it's the most "post-rock" record they have recorded, seemingly less reliant on climax, you can now see the song writing as opposed to feeling it.

Yet this isn't a negative review by any means, it's one of the better records I have heard in awhile, but as I said above, that's not necessarily a bold achievement given the circumstances.

To digress, starting Monday I will be shooting a film for 5 days straight, working 12-16 hours days so I won't be able to post that week and I have some upcoming plans that make the next couple of weeks look grim for those of you who casually and silently read this here blog thing. That being said, this weekend, I am going to bombard the site with post so that there is enough material to last you a couple a weeks, this includes, but is not limited to the long awaited Bowling Vernacular post, Frank Lloyd Wright in AZ, and a string of pictures representing different neighborhoods and areas of Southern California and beyond. I hope you enjoy.

Mr. Lucky's - Phoenix, AZ

I found this rather amazing roadside sign off of Grant and 37th Ave. by accident in the Phoenix area. Although it is one of the better signs I have seen, I don't necessarily recommend going down there to visit it. As I drove near it a couple of maniac gentlemen with stolen goods and frightening dispositions where attempting to hitch-hike right next to the place, so I took these pictures from the car. Attempting the find some information I found a "review" of the place, which is really a summary of what it was like being "one of [the] 25 cocktail waitresses to open [in] 1966". I will copy her experience here:

"I worked at Mr. Lucky's for over a year. This place was the most exciting night club that I had ever worked and I have worked a few. I was a customer on many occasions. We had country music upstairs, and rock downstairs with the best entertainment. I remember serving entertainers such as Waylon Jennings, Charlie Pride, Glen Campbell, Ray Price and many others. Our club had the best entertainers in town as far as I was concerned. I worked upstairs all of the time. I loved the country entertainment and enjoyed watching the guests having such a wonderful time, dancing or sitting at their table. Many were cowboys with their western hats jeans and boots. I loved to watch them dance. I worked the cocktail hrs. from about 4 til 6. At that time we had the GO GO dancers and theirs feathers and bikinis and pastees, (nudity was OUT then) We had a dancer, named, Halley. People came from all over to see her dance. In the afternoon, many times a group of young cowboys would come in with their big hats, dirty old jeans, (even their guns, checked in @ door), just off the range, to watch the entertainment. They would leave and come back later, in their best western and hats and dance the night away. I think that I am lucky to have those good memories of Mr. Lucky's and the people who worked there. I am sure that there have been many changes since I left, and I am sure for the best. Mr. Lucky's was The place to go for entertainment. I haven't been to Mr Lucky's for many years but if I ever get back to Phoenix, this is the first place I would like to visit."

Poor lady, I imagine the changes theret are fairly dramatic in comparison to when the likes of Glen Campbell used to play there.

Drive-In's

I am learning that I am a very nostalgic person. I am also a very realistic person so sometimes despite my earnest feelings towards things, I understand why they are the way they are. Case in point, Drive-In Movie Theaters. The past 100 years have been nothing but unrelenting progress. Progress has brought us every convenience we have today and with convenience and progress comes the fall of the things that preceded it. Early on movie theaters were built like grand opera houses. The Broadway Corridor in Downtown LA was the film equivalent to the playhouses of New York's famed Broadway. Now LA's Broadway is a blighted hell hole, the facades of the theatres remain fairly intact while churches or junk merchants now occupy where these great theatres used to operate. How does this happen? Progress. During this period of the great movie palaces the theatres were owned by the studios that distributed them, so Warner Bros. films were shown at Warner Bros. Theaters. These monopolies where eventually broken up and theatres were run independently of studios. As time went on the advent of the single run theater become obsolete as the multiplexes took over. People moved from the cites in droves to the suburbs eventually taking the business for the single run theaters in the Downtown area with them, many of which became adult theaters.

Drive-In's became popular as the car became an affordable, accessible commodity, and people wanted to do everything in their car. This included seeing movies, yet as cars became a part of everyday life, the Drive-In's became more obsolete, reverting to Grindhouse and B movies until many closed. I grew up in Scottsdale, AZ and had quite a few experiences at the Drive-In (which is still operating as far as I know), none of which I remember concentrating on the movie very much, and not for the reasons you would think. These are mainly childhood memories, I think I found it distracting, we were eating food, there are 6 other screens some playing R-rated movies I was trying to sneak a peak at - more interested in although I vaguely remember watching Fletch Lives. The last Drive-In experience I had was driving out of Vanilla Sky after about 30 minutes of that abortive remake of the vastly superior Open Your Eyes.

Yet when I see the signs like these I become nostalgic for that culture, which is not very distant from today yet mostly forgotten. We move on much too soon to the next thing before we truly absorb what is there now. Without much thought or care people move on to the next thing. I think what has happened in the Broadway Corridor in Downtown LA is a tragedy despite the circumstances and a revitalization is a huge necessary step. On the other hand I think what has happened to Drive-In's is an inevitability of progress and well, land usage. That being said I think the main draw to something like a Drive-In theater, nostalgia, is being ignored by the ones that are still operating today and if they did revivals (why are old car shows at a McDonald's parking lots as opposed to a Drive-In's playing American Graffiti?) Either way as a Drive-In goes under it's easy to develop the land as it is nothing but an empty plot and some screens, hence they are generally torn down without much of after thought. The ones that are here in LA County now operate as swap meets but still have the classic signage that represent what was then progress but what is now history.

I must say it is very unfortunate that I missed out on the Pyromania Tribute (giggle) to Def Leppard, I could only imagine the crowd at that thing.

Listen: Do Make Say Think "The Universe" MP3

Do Make Say Think has always been just okay to me. But each record they have made has one or two stand out tracks that I wish they would try to capitalize more on over the course of an album. That being said (my new phrase of choice) this new songs is a welcome and exciting new direction (maybe because it sounds a lot closer to my love band Broken Social Scene which two of DMST members are a part of), and although I am guessing this is one of those great stand outs and maybe the rest isn't all that exciting, it wets my appetite until it is confirmed or denied, or until a new Broken Social Scene record comes out.

The Universe

Complaints and Reasons

I got two complaints, which are enough for me to address the tardiness of my latest post. I have just been fucking busy as all hell, and between finishing my script (yeah i do that stuff) and over saturating myself with things and information, I very easily loose track of expounding to others on adventures or information. It was sort of a resolution, if you will, that I would post more than I did before, broader with more detail and information, but I have neglected the site mainly because of my hectic schedule, but more because of when I have free time I am trying to fit in all kinds of things that I am no longer able to enjoy leisurely. Like books... right now I am reading 4 fucking books. Why four?

Reason #1. Don't start Proust's In Search of Lost Time.
I am currently 160 pages into a Swann's Way. One fact I omitted there was that I am also 3 months into the book. It's not that it's bad, or even hard to read, I would say the book is written rather beautifully, and although I should be used to an excessive use of commas and tangents, stringing various moments together, forgetting the point altogether, you find yourself 20 pages later brought back to an original thought, as in A Fan's Note, my all time favorite book ever, did. But so far all I have read about is Combray and some good night kisses and it's hard to get excited over. Yet it is supposed to be the one of the single greatest achievements in literature, I do recognize it's lyrical qualities but that doesn't mean it's an exciting book, at least not as of yet. The advent of reading six more of these books (I plan on reading one a year) is daunting to say the least.

Reason # 2 I keep leaving books in cabs.
Roughly a year ago, in the middle of reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, I left it in a cab after some sort of trip I took. I left Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates in Tucson when I was visiting Kate. Recently over the Holiday's I left The Studio by John Gregory Dunne, a book that I started reading during my period of malaise over A Swann's Way, which is about Paramount Studios in the late 1960's.

Reason #3 Try reading 775 pages of short stories.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, has to be one of my favorite writers, and I say this based on only two books that I have read by him. The obvious The Great Gatsby, which is truly deserving of it's reputation, and the stunning, nearly experimental Tender is the Night, which is such a strangely poignant book. I decided to pick up The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald and I am attempting to read a short story a day, which cuts into a lot of other reading I should be doing. I am reading short stories, namely his as he is probably in the most technical sense one of the more perfect writers to have lived, for adaptive reasons. See, short stories are great material. If juggling around 6 or so feature ideas and being nowhere near done with my second draft wasn't enough for me, I am looking for short stories to adapt, great Phil, keep your eye on the fucking ball for Christ sake. I also have a prejudice against short stories, finding them never as strong as their feature counter part (this goes for film too). Yet once I notice a bias, I then must explore if I have actual solid facts to back them up and this quote from the story "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" alone proves to me that I was wrong and that everything is worth exploring "At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are caves in which we hide." I have actually done more highlighting in this short story book than I have done in any of my prior reading combined, so.

Reason # 4. Interesting Books without a narrative are easy to put down.
By far one of the most fascinating and interesting books I have read in awhile is An Underground Education by Richard Zacks. A book which explores the realities of many myths we are sold in our history books it is fascinating to no end. But there in no thread so I lose nothing by putting it down and coming back to later. Also each pages or so is a complete set of new information. If I take in so much at once, I am consuming without retaining which defeats the purpose for me.

Why the fuck am I bringing this up? Is this an excuse or reason? do I need to explain this to the two people who bother to ask where I have been? Maybe I didn't post out of a sick need to know that people cared enough to read what was on here, which might be subconsciously true, but truth be told, it was lack of time that was the factor. This doesn't mean there has been a lack of adventures, shucks no. Among them my constant carless struggles, my mini greyhound (oh i mean Crucero) bus ride to palm springs to meet my lady, The Parker, The Bear Pit BBQ (de lish us), Santa Anita Horse Track (best place ever by the way), First Friday's at The Natural History Museum (where you basically walk around drinking booze while looking at dinosaur bones and really dated aquatic dioramas), Bahooka Rib's and Grog (CRAZY Tiki "Family" Restaurant with about 200 aquariums and was a location for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), etc. etc. etc.

So I do have some post, I keep bringing up this 'Bowling Vernacular' post I have all the pics - I guess my issue is trying find to words to fit how I feel about it other than just save history as it runs a bit deeper and I am struggling to find a context to really get my point across so keep waiting for that. I also visited (drove by and took a picture of) every Frank Lloyd Wright house in Phoenix so I will post that a little later as I already have a lot of FLW stuff on here, let's see, I got tons of signs and architecture stuff still so that will never run out really. I also mentioned that I have some short stories which I am getting the balls to put on here soon enough, okay, I hope that clears some stuff up.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Sturges House - Brentwood, CA

This is the only house Wright built in Southern California that is part of the Usonian design. Almost all the homes in LA County, apart from the Pearce House in Duarte and Oboler House in Malibu, are built in the textile block style of The Biltmore in Arizona. The house was built in 1939. It is also featured on the cover of Frank Lloyd Wright The Houses which I own and is a lovely book. There is a bad dog on the roof of this house who barks at you while you take pictures.

441 Skyewiay Road, Los Angeles, CA 90049

My Poor Car

I was recently hired by these girls to shoot some internet specs they are doing. To be honest I don’t quite know what it is. I actually got this gig responding to a Craig’s List post of all things, Popped my Craig’s List cherry but that whole situation is a story in itself. They live down the street from me on Laurel Canyon and they told me to be at their place by 4:30, but rescheduled about 3 other times until 5:30 was the time to be there.

At 5:30 I parked my car on Laurel Canyon. Got buzzed in and was walking up the stairs when I heard - BAM - CRASH - SKID - BAM! - It sounded horrible. I turned and saw a woman behind me run towards the gate I just walked through, I briskly followed her, my sick fuck impulse kicked in wondering what kind of horrible accident I was going to see. As I exited the gate I observed a Mercedes, about 10 feet from where I parked (I parked 10 feet from a fire hydrant), that had skipped over the curb and hit the hydrant to the point where it was nearly touching the ground. I then looked over my car which looked silent and peaceful but then immediate worry came over me as I said out loud to myself, “I hope to god she didn’t hit my car.” During this entire time the front right tire that had smashed in the hydrant was spinning like a tire stuck in the mud. When I reached my car the reality became clear. The back wheel of the car was bent into the car - scraped - the wheel itself and the side of the car, dented and bent - tire flat. As I was looking at this the woman approached.

She was elderly, spoke broken English. As I was thinking of what to say to her she said:

“I need you help me leave”
“What?!”
“Can you help me… get out?”
“Wait. No, no. You hit my car. Do you see what you did here?”
“That? Oh no. Not me”
“Are you kidding. I just parked here literally 2 minutes ago. Are you going to try to tell me you didn’t do this.”
“That. I don’t know that. I didn’t do that. I got hit over here. I need to leave.”
“No. You aren’t leaving. I need your information.”
“I will give you my information if you help me leave”

At this point I show her over to her car and explain to her that it is not moving. I called the girls to tell them what happened. They rushed down with camera in hand and started to film the whole thing. I kept trying to exchange information with her but she was fairly senile and/or was unable to understand me. She kept telling me her daughter was coming. She claims three different cars driving by are her daughter. One of the cars parks, a woman gets out with a child and walks toward us, the woman says, “This is my daughter.” Then the woman passes us by. Her inability to see or know who her daughter is reflects her ability to see parked cars and fire hydrants. During this waiting period one of the girls called the cops because she said she knew someone that worked at the Studio City Police Dept. He wasn’t on duty that evening. The police said if it wasn’t blocking a major intersection they weren’t coming. She then told them that a fire hydrant had been knocked over. Eh. Glad our taxes dollars are at work, this woman should be paying for this but now we will.

Finally the real daughter comes and we clear it up. Except for two things which is the moral of the story. I am going to attack two things here. Family and Elderly driving. One of the girls explains to the daughter about how she thought 3 other people were her, even when they were right in front of her, and as a concerned citizen she might want to consider her ability to drive. The daughter replied that no she is a good driver, she has been driving for 45 years. I guess that’s why she was in the situation she was in. After what happened at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market when an old man, after feeling the scene of a minor accident mistook his accelerator for a brake and killed over 10 people having a nice day getting some fruit. I believe strongly that the drivers test needs to be reinstated at a certain age and that people need to take more of a responsibility to ensure that people passed their prime are not behind a wheel. She couldn’t see if someone with a child was you or not but her vision is good enough to drive?

Then as I was showing the daughter the damage I took her aside to explain to her that she was trying leave. Oh no she wasn’t doing that. I tried to explain again but she wouldn’t even hear it. I think the idea of family being close should not be about denying and in the face of logic. I would be behind anyone in my family but not to the point where I am defending for the sake of blood. One should look at the situation at hand and judge by that. Sure she doesn’t know me but is it impossible to admit that she probably isn’t in the best state of her life to be driving a car? It is irresponsible for her to defend her when she is putting people in danger.

I recently got a bike for $50. Guess I will be bike boy for a little while. Lucky me. Now I am going to get hit by some old lady on my bike.

Stomp the Yard #1. Three Horsemen Mount.

Let's just say for the sake of argument that I am a total film snob. That I have no understanding of what appeals to certain demographics, and that I am completely out of touch with the youth of today. Let's also make the argument that film can and should be entertainment - that all types of films need to exist so one has the ability to make comparative analysis. It's why Democrats need Republicans' and vice versa. Without a balance we would not have the ability to cultivate taste or interest. Use information to judge right from wrong.

This is all fine and dandy. But Stomp the Yard being NUMBER FUCKING 1! I get it, people don't care if something is good, they want simple entertainment. I am guessing it was all teenage kids. Okay. But 22 fucking million dollars for You Got Served (also #1 when it came out but at least it was for 9.8 million) at a Truth (eyes rolling into the back of my head) University for dance battles?! There are reasons why this is so amazing and it comes down where we are at in our society. It is harder to claim naivety in our age of information, yet even when we are presented with information we are also in a time "rich with knowledge yet weak in action".

Yet, studios still pander. They were scared shitless of releasing Borat. Unsure that the cheap and mostly Internet motivated promotional campaign wouldn't reach the lowest common denominator they scaled back the amount of theatres they were planning on releasing Borat in, having no faith in what was easily one of the best movies of the year which ended up also being one of the biggest hits of the year.

On the opposite end of this spectrum Mike Judge's (Beavis and Butthead, Office Space) Idiocracy was literally given no advertising campaign (have you even heard of it?) and dumped off with no knowledge in a few select cites and ended up making about $436,000. Most critics found this a bit perplexing as the film was considered not only very funny, but at least better than most films that get released. If it were given a proper release people might have seen it. You might say to yourself, but Office Space was such a huge hit, everyone has seen that, why would they shit-can his new movie? Was it a hit? You probably saw it on DVD or TV because Office Space took in $10.8 million dollars on its entire theatrical run. Stomp the Yard made 2 times that it's first weekend? How does this happen? I'm not sure. I made a little list for comparative analysis to give you an idea of why it is so striking that this film made the money that it did. These are not opening weekend numbers but the money these films made in their entire theatrical run.

Fight Club - $37,023,395 (cost $64 million)
Shawshank Redemption - $28,341,469
Usual Suspects - $23,272,306
Adaptation - $22,245,861
Punch Drunk Love - $17,791,031
I Heart Huckabees - $12,784,713
Office Space - $10,824,921
American History X - $6,712,241
Swingers - $4,505,922
Requiem For a Dream - $3,609,278
Donnie Darko - $727,883

I am picking these films, with the possible exception of I Heart Huckabees (that poor overlooked gem), because these films have huge followings. People love these films and talk about them all the time, but judging by these numbers no one saw them. Why is this? I can say I went and saw a good portion of these in the theater except for Swingers, Office Space, and Darko. I saw some of them multiple times in the theater. Maybe you did too? That's why we are horrible, annoying snobs. Whether that is the case the bottom 4 listed above combined don't even add up to the weekend box office of Stomp the Yard. REALLY? How can this be?

It is because studios rely on your ignorance and want you to see what they push on you. Sometimes films are so bad even the dimwitted people they are targeting don't go, but they essentially choose what you see and it is no longer an excuse. The reason why all those films above have been seen by so many and are now huge hits is because of DVD. That is when it becomes your choice, it is no longer about what is being marketed to you, it now comes down to what you might think is good. The few people that saw the movie in the theater tell everyone for months how good a movie is and it just spreads. It doesn't do this in the theater, except in freak instances like the Blair Witch Project or Little Miss Sunshine, because generally there isn't enough time to create that momentum. It must be generated prior to the release and once it's out it better do good fast or have some insane word of mouth or it's going to get killed.

So why am I equating the success of Stomp the Yard to the Apocalypse? First it's the firey image of orange clouds engulfing Truth University in the poster above. Which is probably heat generated from the "hot" dance moves. Secondly, and more importantly, it is because we have choice now. The act of downloading music has made MTV so obsolete that they no longer even play videos, yet, the shows they play (Next, Laguana Beach, the new show with the lie detector, even The Real World is now about party happy morons who hop on the drunk fuck truck the moment they meet (remember when it was an issue show?)) are about as base as it gets and cater to the feebleminded. People, like myself, or others, who view these shows because we feel superior to them, can't blame anyone but ourselves for watching them. The most obvious point is ignoring the loss of our basic rights as Americans and the blatant fiasco that has emerged in Iraq, yet people read about Beyonce brushing her teeth or Orlando Bloom walking his dog. I understand diversion, most people work hard and have very tough lives, they want nothing more to escape, but to the extent that we give Nicole Richie a platform while a huge portion of the country struggles to get by?


Read the paper, or online, see what is coming out that you might like, trust yourself, and be mad that they don't believe that you will "get" something. Studios, PR people, the Media are constantly undermining our ability to be intelligent discerning individuals when the market is dictated by our choices. If it bothers you that the movies above get killed, don't kill them. They end up making money on DVD, but you don't think Stomp the Yard will take in double what it made in the theater? It will. It is money that you are spending, you are giving consent to say, "Yes I want to see more of this kind of film, you can do market research and predict exactly what you think I am going to see and you will probably be right." Or you can help create a market, which exists here on the Internet, in which everything is on an even playing field and is chosen based on what you are interested in.

Olive Manor Motel - Burbank, CA

New does not mean better. It does when the improvements are obvious or structural. Style takes time to recognize. Classics are defined by age, style is judged by being a passing fad or lasting impression. I am writing and posting these pictures of the Olive Manor Motel in Burbank right now, mainly because of what happened recently with Johnie's Broiler. The Olive Manor, and it's connecting restaurant Frank's, apart from the sign, is one of the best preserved buildings of it's types. Seemingly untouched, even having the old American Express signs on the outside (seen above), the hotel has such charm and character. Well had. It seems as though this is another victim of remodeling. I don't have any pictures (remember my camera broke) and I don't know what they are doing to it, but it seems as though they are removing all the signature details from the building including the orange folded plate awnings. There are run of the mill hotels and motels everywhere, why is it that the only one with character feels the need to fit in with the boring crowd.

Now I doubt the place was doing very well but that had more to do with general up keep and I think they are taking steps in the wrong direction. The Motel would be more successful if it utilized it's design (a boutique motel?) and used the modernism to attract a clientele interested in design and it would set itself apart from the rest of the blah motels in the area or even outside the area.

If they are doing positive rennovations that I just can't see now then I apologize but when I drove by I could hardly look at it and it seems to be far from the case. I keep getting broken hearted by these kinds of things, which means I need to get more involved, but I am doing something now by at least writing about it but we should all try to take the next step.

Johnie's Broiler - A Sad Update

A little while back I made a small post (mainly because my picture wasn't all that good) of Johnie's Broiler in Downey, CA. The building was one of the last surviving, if not the last surviving, examples of old Drive-In Restaurants in Southern California. But as reported by Curbed LA and Roadside Peek (pictures of the demolition and history can be seen here), the building was being demolished at 3:30 in the morning without permits and the owner claims to have no knowledge of the demolition. I was out there only about a few months back on the way to a job in Orange County and it was a bustling car dealership so it's impossible to remove all the cars in the lot and then feign ignorance. It's sad to see it go but they stopped them before the sign was bulldozed which is better than nothing.

New Arcade Fire Song "Black Mirror"

The website is a little confusing. Once you click the link below go to Win which should be on the left hand side. You will see something that looks like an egg drop. Click it. It's a marshmallow. Give it to the chicken man and he will roast it. Now that I have wasted your time click where it says "Win's Scrapbook" and click Black Mirror at the next page. My feeling is eh. Great production, great sound, average song. Sounds like a bigger version of the more average songs of Funeral or the S/T E.P. But you can judge yerself.

Black Mirror by The Arcade Fire

Delays, Apologies, and Musings

It's been awhile since I have put anything up and it is because the reason you may or may not have presumed; The Holidays. Yes. Now that the holidays are over I hope to return to The Itinerant with a new veracity that may not have been found before. Now the site has had (at date of print) roughly 561 visitors. 100 of those probably being me, viewing the blog after I make a post, checking on comments, or just being a loser. That being said some of you are reading this thing, well maybe, but you are reading it like phantoms. Maybe you just go to look at the pictures, maybe you actually read the content. To be honest I don't really know what you are doing. If you don't comment I don't really know how anything is being taken, is it even interesting or engaging you? I can only draw the conclusion that the post aren't all that interesting (I am working on that) or you just want to passively look. I thank all of you who show enough interest to visit, now I am inviting you to take the next step.

Some upcoming post will be a nice diversion from the typical fare. There will be two short stories written by yours truly that I will debut (yeah okay) here. I have a large "Bowling Vernacular" post that will be typical of the content but should be fairly fun. I did however break my baby (camera). I don't know how. It seems to function in every way but take photos. All of the photos on the site that I have taken have been taken by a small camera that my friend's mom gave to him in New York, he wasn't paying attention to when she gave it to him and it ended up in my suitcase back in LA. A year later while in the car with him and another friend he picked up the camera and said "What's this piece of crap." I laughed inside my head. The camera uses advantix film and is about as simple as it comes but it takes photos in 4 x 7 which gives it a sort of widescreen quality.

Okay. Boring information. I will be posting soon, probably tonight and I hope you have been enjoying The Itinerant.