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2007-10-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-10T23:53:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-10T23:47:00.000-07:00

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

Bowling Vernacular

2007-03-28T03:52:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-22T05:21:00.000-07:00

Speaks for itself. Bad ass ninjaing.

MY NEW FAVORITE WEBSITE: ILOVEALPACAS.COM

2007-03-19T14:07:00.001-07:00

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

2007-03-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-03-16T15:01:00.000-07:00

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

2007-02-26T00:40:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-25T23:48:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-23T22:53:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-23T22:36:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-08T02:47:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-08T02:38:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-08T01:14:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-17T17:04:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-16T23:29:00.000-08:00

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.

2007-01-14T18:28:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-09T22:04:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

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"

2007-01-06T20:12:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

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.

Mormons - La Jolla, CA

2006-12-14T15:59:00.000-08:00

Caltrans District 7 Headquarters - Downtown Los Angeles

2006-12-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

Morphosis' Caltrans District 7 Headquarters in Downtown LA is one of the most unreal buildings I have seen in a while. Like most architecturally significant buildings of our times, i.e. the Walt Disney Concert Hall, you might notice it from a car commercial or two.

My favorite features of this building is the way the address of the building is displayed and the function of the screen wall on the building. Which can all be seen here.When I first saw the building I thought the design of randomly open aluminum panels was a bit superfluous until I read an article in Architectural Record about it. Basically the screen panels "open and close mechanically in a continually moving pattern, providing surface variety on the facade, shielding the interior from the sun and giving office workers changing views to the outside." Not only this but it helps release heat that would otherwise be trapped between the shade and the offices.

Frank Lloyd Wright - Anderton Court Shops - Beverly Hills, CA

2006-12-14T15:06:00.000-08:00

Built in 1952 the Anderton Court Shops, located on Beverly Hills famed Rodeo Drive, is one of the only commericial properties built by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Academy Theater and 5th Ave. - Inglewood, CA

2006-12-11T02:52:00.000-08:00

Both of these theaters are located a couple of blocks from each other on Manchester Blvd. (3141 and 2541 respectively) in Inglewood, the "City of Champions". The Academy Theater, designed by renowned architect S. Charles Lee, was built to to host the Academy Awards although it was never held here and is now a church who keep the theater well preserved. The 5th Ave. on the other hand is sadly neglected but right next door to Permanent Hair Replacement and Lookin' Sharp!

New Explosions in the Sky song "Welcome, Ghost" MP3

2006-12-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

This is, what I read from P-Fork, the shortest song in their whole catalogue and is off the forthcoming LP All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone. I actually saw them perform this at their recent and amazing show at the El Rey. That being said it was a little meaner and guitar heavy at the show. Warning: This song is a speaker destroyer as I have never heard a song so bass drum heavy, I couldn't imagine listening to it loud in your apartment without upsetting everyone around you. It's a strong song but to me their music is more contextual to the album itself so although it's far from a disappointment I am still waiting to hear it in context.

The album will be released on February 20th and will also come in a limited edition double disc which includes a remix cd that with the likes of Four Tet and Eluvium. You can hear the song in full below.

Welcome, Ghost

My New Favorite Website: HornyManatee.com

2006-12-07T02:05:00.000-08:00

www.hornymanatee.com

There is a great story behind this but I want you to go to the site first, have a laugh, and then I will tell you about it.

Done? Checked it out? Okay.

I rarely watch TV. These days I never find time for it, the only show I watch with any form of consistency is Real Time with Bill Maher (even that is only on On Demand which I watch at my convenience). That being said, I was up last night on the computer and decided to have The Late Show with Conan O'Brien, a show I love but have not watched for ages, on in the background. I love the show but again, the act of watching TV is one that I avoid. He began to talk about how he had a sketch on about new rejected mascots, a staple of the show, and how the night before he made a joke about how you can see him at www.hornymanatee.com. What he didn't know is that if he says a website on the air, even as a joke, and it doesn't exist, NBC is required by some sort of law to purchase that domain name.

Conan decided since they had to buy it that they should not let it go to waste so they made the page itself. I was really in stitches about this, yes I just said that, and I thought it was so funny that I would share it with you. So enjoy the hot Manatee action.

The Fountain - An Abomination

2006-12-03T01:13:00.000-08:00

I can’t write a review quite as scathingly good as the one here at the LA Weekly, which i advise you read as everything it says is true. Darren Aronofsky’s new film, The Fountain was an abomination to the likes of which I haven‘t seen in awhile. I knew within the first minutes of the film that it was bad and I was ready to walk out at least 15 times but I decided to stick through it as I never walk out of films. The review I linked covers a lot of what I feel about the film but there are a couple of things I would like to mention.

There is a scene in which Hugh Jackman’s shadow is practicing karate in front of the stars in space... yeah that good. Also I have never felt more claustrophobic watching a film. Every shot seemed to be some insanely close close-up of Hugh Jackman or whoever was in the frame. Near the end of the film there is this ridiculous scene in which Hugh Jackman turns into the tree of life… yeah, you read that right, and someone out loud in the theater said “ I didn’t know this was a comedy” And it’s far from it. Among many of the film's glaringly obvious problems, the biggest one is how earnestly serious the film takes itself, never taking a step back to realize how god awful it is.

I really have trouble understanding how someone can go from amazing to atrocious so quickly. Pi is fine, the acting wasn’t much to write home about but it was interesting and done extremely well especially with the budget in mind. Requiem for a Dream though was brilliant. Not only was it extremely technically innovative, being composed with over 2000 cuts, using various technical gimmicks and succeeding, it was one of the most harrowing film experiences I had ever had (although a few years later Irreversible definitely beat it out as I had trouble looking at the screen half the time). After my friend Gady and I saw the film we were so depressed and we tried to go out and have a good time but it was impossible. I thought I would never be able to watch it again but I have seen it at least 5 times since and everytime the ending grabs you by the balls (or vagina) and never lets go. And then The Fountain... Brad Pitt made the best decision of his life backing out of this film. This is not a film that is some sort of misunderstood movie that will become a cult classic, because it's just flat out bad. I wonder if Southland Tales is this bad?

Donahoo's Fried Chicken - Pomona, CA

2006-12-03T00:48:00.000-08:00

This one cracks me up. I stole this photo from a blog that looks suspisously like mine, Studio 67 which has some good pictures. I just visted that Rod's place which is shown on that site and took a photo. Actually Rod's is in the middle of a pretty contentious preservation battle as they are trying to tear it down, you can read more about that here although I might end up doing a little write up on it. I have not been to this establishment although I do want to get to Pomona still so now I have to make the trip, for obvious reasons (if it's not obvious my last name is Donohue, although establishment is closer to the Phil Donahue, of the Phil Donahue show, spelling.)

FUCK YOU

2006-12-02T21:16:00.000-08:00

Is nothing sacred? After my little write up about my two free and lovely dinners to Trader Vic's at the Beverly Hills Hilton I came across this upsetting piece of news in the L.A. Busines Journal:

"Trader Vic's Threatened
We've been hearing rumours and bits and pieces of this news for a couple years - It's now become official. A local developer is planning to demolish Trader Vic's, along with the Beverly Hills Hilton's executive conference center, Oasis Court, and the 514-space parking garage. The recently remodeled landmark 1950s hotel would remain.

The owner of the Beverly Hilton is planning to bulldoze parts the famed hotel to make way for luxury residences, according to a report obtained by the Business Journal.

Packard Bell co-founder Beny Alagem, who paid $130 million for the 569-room hotel two years ago from entertainment mogul Merv Griffin, wants to knock-down Trader Vic’s Restaurant and Bar, the executive conference center, the Oasis Court and the hotel’s 514-space parking garage.

On those sites Alagem would build two 13-story buildings containing 96 condominiums, a 104-unit, 15-story condo hotel and 96 hotel rooms in two 3-story structures. The hotel’s parking would be put underground and increased to 1,422 spaces, to meet Beverly Hills’ codes.

Though the main 353-room, 8-story tower designed by noted architect Welton Beckett would remain, the plans would result in a net reduction of 96 hotel rooms."

Vic's has been at that location for 51 years! This is another example of people having no sense of history. I am for progress but not when it ignores the past and tears down landmark institutions that become part of the fabric of a city. Tearing Vic's down just to build condos? It's really sad. The only good news is that the locals are not very happy with this decision so hopefully something can happen there. I am going to do everything I can. In the mean time, Packard Bell computers sucked and so does this plan. Fuck you Beny Alagem.

First Christian Church - Phoenix, AZ

2006-12-02T20:50:00.000-08:00

This Frank Lloyd Wright church was built in 1973, about 14 years after his death. It can be located at 6750 N 7th Ave Phoenix, AZ. So if you are in the area or live there, might as well check it out. The cones and signs don't really compliment the architecture.

Never Get a Lawyer - Adventure at The Beverly Hills Hilton

2006-12-01T01:32:00.000-08:00

My friend, we will call him B.A. (some may come to the conclusion that it stands for bad ass and in this circumstance it may well apply), was recently comped at The Beverly Hills Hilton for a weekend and asked for the company of The Itinerant to join him in enjoying the amenities of the establishment. I decided that, after a long deliberation, that I would accept his offer as I have been there only once before and it was to Trader Vic's not the hotel.

We first went to the bar at Circa 55 (first picture, what's with that guys shirt?), a psuedo-mid-century modern restaurant that is pool side at the hotel. We were greeted with complimentary (as if that mattered) "Circa-tinis" and continued to have various libations as well as delicious Ahi Tuna Sliders. Yum-yum. My favorite part was acting like a couple of hot shots when we were ordering and then giggling like school children when our servers would leave.

4 drinks into the evening we decided to crash an event being held at the hotel for an organization called Human Rights Watch. We entered the ballroom greeted with open arms. Open arms that were handing us books, tote bags, pens, cds, and other miscellaneous human rights paraphernalia. To put the icing on the cake we were given personal invites to a screening of the new poorly accented Leonardo Dicaprio film "The Blood Diamond" in which the Leo himself, Jennifer Connely, and the head of the WB will in attendance (I made my RSVP and the lady called me back to confirm that I will be attending Dec. 7th). After we grew bored with our gifts and human rights we headed over to our next free expensive endeavor.

Trader Vic's is the best. As shown in the pictures above B.A. got disappointed with me when I began to drink two delicious Vic's Cocktails at the same time. He accosted me and I could only find solace in delicious Polynesian libations. I would like to mention two things about the beverages there. First thing is they are all really fucking good but made with nothing but pure booze and may be poisonous. Secondly, I have a new goal which is to try every drink in the place. I think altogether I have tried about 10 different ones so far. My only disappointment is that some don't come in fun glasses. THEY SHOULD ALL COME IN FUN GLASSES! Makes no sense to have fun without a fun glass.

This is a place, although neither of us paid for it so I can't say it without a little smirk on my face, that is worth the ridiculous prices allotted to the menu items. We went again just this past Monday and enjoyed yet another ridiculously good meal. I think the BBQ Unagi and Avocado Roll might have been the most blissful sushi experience I have had since Irhoa's Spicy Yellowtail Roll. HOLY FUCKING SHIT! Is tastetastic a word? No? Fuck you! Then the Almond Duck in Plum Sauce was RIDICULOUS. It was like a crispy, then moist and tender duck... brownie... it basically was perfect.

There is a moral to this story. Don't get a lawyer ever. This is what is on your tab. My delicious meals. But if you do, I will thank you in advance.

Not Doing So Hot

2006-11-28T23:52:00.000-08:00

I just want to relay this tid bit of information, and I quote:

"The Natural Resource Defense Council notes that the Model T (pictured above) got about 25 miles to the gallon when it started out [in 1908!]; in 2002, the fleet of American-made cars averaged 24.6 miles to the gallon"

Holy shit. That's the progress we have made ay? It's been about 100 years and it's still at the status quo. This is only one of the many annoying factors about car companies in the US. Electric Cars have existed since 1897 when the Pope Manufacturing Company made the Columbia Electric Phaeton, Mark III. In the 90s California forced car manufacturers to make electric cars. When car manufacturers were able to get around this they effectively took back all the Electric Cars they made and destroyed them. And don't get me started on the Pacific Electric Railway which was electric powered trolleys in the greater Los Angeles area that went from Downtown to Newport to Riverside to San Bernadino to Mount Wilson to Pacific Palisades and everything in between. GM along with the tire and oil companies created a front company that bought and subsequently dismantled the line. This was kind of what Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is based on, which is sort of the Chinatown of live action, cartoon, film noir, kids movies..

I mention this because we are either ignoring our history and our abilities to reap from past information or stifling progress. Almost every country in the world has higher MPG standards than ours, but we are supposed to be the best! That means that all the companies that make cars have the ability to raise the gas mileage, they just don't want to. That coupled with the fact that we are lagging scientifically, mainly because we have a President who isn't all that interested in science, and as a nation there is a distrust to science in the face of "magic" (religion).

The other viable option they are touting is Hydrogen, which anyone who knows anything about the technology knows that it is at least 15 years down the road as well as being more expensive and not very probable solution. It should be developed but it is being used as a distraction to things like electric cars or at least meeting the MPG standards of China or other developing nations and not be 100 years in the past might help me feel a little bit better about what is going on.

Wigwam Motel - Rialto, CA

2006-11-28T20:35:00.000-08:00

Located in Rialto, CA off of the famous Route 66, this motel is one of three Tee-Pee motels that is operating today. One is in Holbrook, Arizona near the Petrified Forest and the other in Cave City, Kentucky (woo wee). I got these pics on the way to AZ but I really want to stay here for a night even though it isn't the most exciting of areas and isn't that far from home. That being said I wish they still had this lovely catch phrase on their sign, "Do it in a Tee-Pee." YES! Okay. You can still do it but they just don't encourage it anymore.

There is also an amazing Bowling sign next door which I am saving for my huge "Blowing Vernacular" post. The doors are slightly suggestive in my opinion which is maybe why they took down the old sign because maybe people where actually doing it with the Tee-Pee as oppossed to in.

Wigwam Motel Website - all kinds of info on the history and rates and reservations.

Top 40 Albums of the 90s (and the Top 11(?) EPs)

2006-11-28T20:28:00.000-08:00

Every time a list for the best albums of a certain decade or an end of the year “best of” list, I am always up in arms over the results. There is generally always something I agree with but the rest of the time I am picking things apart and thinking about how many other records, films, or sandwiches would be better on the list than the ones picked. I seem to think I have such discerning and discretionary taste that I could make a list that is Holier than Thou. That being said there is one thing I noticed is that it isn’t as broad as I thought it would be. The 90s, unlike other periods of music was dominated strongly by what was then called “Alternative” music. Under this banner bands like Collective Soul, Ween, Nirvana, and Better than Ezra are considered part of a singular movement in a general sense. Although I grew up and my interest in music was formed during this period , as well as the fact many of my favorite albums ever come from this time, I realized my list does lack, to a certain degree, a broad sense of diversity and may be fairly redundant in some of the choices. Is it perfect? Well, no. For me this is the best I could do as I learned that list are almost impossible for me to make as I feel such a wide range of things for so many different records.

One thing this list is not is unbiased. These are the albums I feel are the best to my listening ear over that 10 year period. Are these the most defining records? Some unequivocally are that. Pavement’s Slanted and Enchanted, My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, and Slint’s Spiderland each single handedly brought to fruition entire movements of music; Lo-Fi 4 track recordings, Shoegaze, and Post-Rock, respectively. Are these all the defining albums according to a broad spectrum of music? Absolutely not. Nirvana’s Nevermind, Radiohead’s OK Computer, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet among others are examples of albums that define this period but do I listen to them? Eh.

The 90s was the decade of Alternative Rock, and it’s respective genres, and Rap and its. It’s easy to tell what camp I am in but my bias comes from a stronger interest in music in it’s production as opposed to lyric based songwriting. There is an interesting drop of point in 97-98 most of the great bands of the time had died out, sans the ones that were just getting their bearings, and a new form musical abomination was taking over the airwaves and dumbing down an entire generation of youths. Rap-rock and Boy-Band style pop music became the dominant sound and with it came a new generation of a music that was a reaction to what was the dark ages of music. This list I hope is something that you can at least understand, I am sad about the collateral damage that occured in the act of making a list like this (Bjork, Aerial M, Beastie Boys, Beck, For Carnation, Sam Prekop, Weezer Blue Album, Giant Sand, Heavy Vegetable and Thingy, David Grubbs, Lovechild, Mogwai, Boards of Canada, John Zorn, Pixies, Talk Talk, Notwist, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Ween, Fly Ashtray, Don Caballero, etc) but it came down to what I really listen to and respond to as a whole album. Most of these choices are deeply personal, some in ways, especially with Gastr Del Sol and Tortoise, are where they are at because of new sense of enlightenment they brought me to musically. Some of these like Polvo’s Today’s Active Lifestyles or Jim O’Rourke’s solo work, are criminally overlooked and I feel as though time will finally catch up with these albums if it hasn’t already. Hopefully…

That being said I will be making other list for the 80s, 70s, 60s, and from 2000-06 as I get to them. For now I give you my Top 40 Albums of the 90s and as well as the Top 11(?) EPs of the 90s. Enjoy.

1. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
2. Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die
3. Boredoms - Super Are
4. Flaming Lips - Zaireeka
5. Gastr Del Sol - Upgrade & Afterlife
6. DJ Shadow - …Entroducing
7. Guided by Voices - Bee Thousand
8. Polvo - Today’s Active Lifestyles
9. Slint - Spiderland
10. Modest Mouse - This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About
11. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
12. Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun
13. Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
14. Built to Spill - Ultimate Alternative Wavers
15. Jim O’Rourke - Bad Timing
16. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
17. Godspeed You Black Emperor! - F# A# Infinity
18. Sun City Girls - Torch of the Mystics
19. The KLF - Chill Out
20. Sonic Youth - Goo
21. Squarepusher - Music is Rotted One Note
22. Grifters - Crappin’ You Negative
23. Neutral Milk Hotel - In an Aeroplane Over the Sea
24. Tortoise - TNT
25. Pavement - Wowee Zowee
26. Gastr Del Sol - Camofleur
27. Faust - You Know Faust
28. Archers of Loaf - Icky Mettle
29. Chavez - Ride the Fader
30. Bugskull - Phantasies and Sensations
31. Mercury Rev - Yerself is Steam
32. Guided by Voices - Alien Lanes
33. Unrest - Imperial F.F.R.R.
34. Halo Benders - God Don’t Make No Junk
35. Silver Jews - American Water
36. Storm & Stress - S/T
37. Modest Mouse - Lonesome Crowded West
38. Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On
39. Brainiac - Hissing Prigs in Static Couture
40. Barry Black - Tragic Animal Kingdom

EPs:

1. Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada
2. Gastr Del Sol - Mirror Repair
3. Jim O’Rourke - Halfway to a Threeway
4. Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 - Admonishing the Bishops
5. Polvo - Celebrate the New Dark Age
6. Brainiac - Electro-Shock for President
7. The Sweet Things - Deliver
8. Pavement - Watery, Domestic
9. Helium - Pirate Prude
10. Slint - S/T
11. Modest Mouse - The Fruit That Ate Itself

Watts Tower

2006-11-20T01:47:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles is home to an innumerable amount of monuments. Although not neglected this is probably the most rarely visited because of it's location, Watts home of the 1965's Watts Riots. Built by Simon Rodia, working solo, this Gaudi like piece of folk art was constructed with nothing but found objects. It is truly stunning in person even though it was fenced off (only open on the weekend, who knew).

Watts Tower is located on 1765 East 107th St. Los Angeles, CA

More info can be found here.

Phoenix Trotting Park: A Photo Essay

2006-11-17T13:20:00.000-08:00

Since leaving Arizona in July of 2003 I have made the trek back and forth for holidays and various reasons. Every time I have made the drive I also notice, off the I-10 near Goodyear an amazing horse track about 20 miles on the outskirts of Phoenix. It's the first building other than Snyder's Pretzel's that tells me I am almost done with the drive. Last time I took the drive, after three years of driving by the thing, I finally decided to pull over and see it for myself. I always thought it was interesting as a piece of abandoned architecture but over the years as my palate for architecture has developed I realized what a stunning piece of Mid-Century Modernism it really was.

I pulled up on a No Tresspassing dirt road and hopped the fence. The first structure I came across was the building with the folded plate roof. It overlooked where the track must have been but now a grouping of abandoned trailers. My thoery was this was for the press or for private members. The track itself, which I was later to learn as called Phoenix Trotting Park, was a wonder in poured concrete and space age design. I entered the building and began walking up a long flight of stairs, I think I went up about six stories before I got too freaked out for my safety being alone as I was. With all the really tough Cypress Hill graffiti I didn't want to encounter some gang initiation or a scene out of The Birds. Many of the structual elements remain intact but almost everything apart from that is either destroyed or covered in bird shit.

I did some research and this is a compilation of the the information (word) I have found:

"The Phoenix Trotting Park, a horse racing track, was originally built in 1964 in Goodyear, Arizona. It opened in 1965 and was run for about two and a half seasons. The large, futuristically designed structure gave an optimistic look for the 1960s. It was originally supposed to be built for $3 million, but after Italian architects and contractors were brought in it wound up closer to $10 million, essentially bankrupting its builder, James Dunnigan, who had operated Buffalo Raceway. It was built of reinforced concrete, and could have withstood a direct hit by a hydrogen bomb... It is still standing, and some future travelers from space probably will regard it in the same way Stonehenge in Britain is regarded today... a monument built in the desert by sun worshipers. Sad story from start to finish." -Stan Bergstein

In 1998, movie crews chose the site to film an explosion for the movie "No Code of Conduct." No Code of Conduct is an action film involving cops and drug dealers. American Humane Association had been informed by production that there were no animals being used in the filming. Therefore, AHA was not on set and was not involved in the monitoring of any animals involved in the production.

The script called for the explosion of a drug warehouse at the end of the film and production chose to use an abandoned building at Phoenix Trotting Park in Goodyear, AZ. During the filming of the special effects explosion, hundreds of birds that were indigenous to the location were injured and killed. Although AHA was told by a production spokesperson that the company had attempted to clear the area and the building of the birds, there were several hundred birds still in the building at the time the explosives were detonated. According to a media source at the time of the incident, a representative from Arizona Department of Fish and Game approved the explosion. -ahafilm.info

Burbank Through a Hole in the Poll

2006-11-16T03:23:00.000-08:00

Took this while hiking through Griffith Park

John Stossel's Freeloaders: Creating a Dependency System 20/20

2006-11-16T02:40:00.000-08:00

Save your change. There will always be exceptions to the rule, as is shown by the guy who shows up for work, but this is the reality of it. Living in Los Angeles, it's easy to see how the dependency system helps enable an area like the Skid Row to thrive in the most negative ways possible.

John Stossel's Stupid in America for 20/20

2006-11-16T02:34:00.000-08:00

Those of you who are not familiar with John Stossel's reporting need to get with it.

I am the most manly man ever. Tough. Total MAN.

2006-11-16T02:06:00.000-08:00

People who know me or meet me are always like, How are you so manly? First of all it's testosterone, judging by the amount of body hair I have, I got a lot of it. Secondly, it's my ability to kick serious ass. I never back down, I don''t let foolish things like reason or communication get in the way of looking way tough to people by beating them up because that solves problems. Physical Violence works and when you are a super tough man you look cool and hot to ladies that have very sordid past.

When you see me walking down the street, you will say to yourself "Don't fuck with that guy, he looks like a killer." When I look in the mirror that's what I say. I put on my Chuck Norris action jeans (shown above) and shave "Watch out" into my chest and repeat my mantra "Man equals You." That being said I have to admit something to you. I wasn't born this manly, I learned from the master of intelligent fighting techniques, Bas Rutten. You have to have a hero and an idol, and although I promise to limit showing things you can find on other web sites like silly... I mean tough bad ass videos like this one, I want to reveal myself to you as I know you are wondering, how did Phil get so f'ing tough. Here is your answer - Okay i'm sorry bang bang no I'm not.

BAS RUTTEN IS DANGEROUS

Johnnie's Broiler

2006-11-15T18:43:00.000-08:00

This is the site of Johnnie's Broiler located in Downey, CA. This icon of the 50's Drive in's, as well as a location in numerous films (scroll down) , is now a lovely car dealership. At least they have kept the signs and structure. More info and pictures of it in it's heyday can be found here.

The Getty Villa

2006-11-15T17:12:00.000-08:00

After months of the free advance timed tickets being sold out, I was finally able to go to The Getty Villa. It's been closed for years and I am not completely keen on how much was improved upon with the renovation, but as you could see it is rather stunning. I must admit a bias though as I am not really blown away by Roman era scupltures and what have you but the presentation and the lay out of the place was really amazing.

I did learn something extremely interesting though. In Roman times they had plays called Phlyax Plays, "...These plays were popular in the 300s and 200s B.C. in the Greek colonies in Italy. The term phlyax probably derives from the Greek verb "to swell" and finds its meaning in the actor's costume of a mask, tights, a padded tunic, and a large artificial phallus." Yes you are reading that right, part of their costume in these plays was having a gigatic penis, that's funny.

They Getty Villa was beautiful though, and the food was pleasantly suprising in how good it was, I recommend the pizza if you go. They have amazing views and even an herb garden. Ooo. Michael Simpson (star of Behind Enemy Lines 2 and The OC who will soon be starring in Phil Donohue's stunning feature film Venice) and his father accompanied me to the villa.

His father relayed maybe one the funniest thing I have ever heard. Talking about vaginas for some reason... he mentioned that a shaved vagina has "Lips that hang down like a blacksmith's apron". See a blacksmith works on steal. heating it and bending it, and at the end of the day, his work apron gets really heavy. Oh lord that's funny.

Later in the evening we sat on the boardwalk in Venice where our ears here talked off by the screenwriter of Hackers who wants to put Michael's dad in his new film. Then we went to Houston's in Santa Monica. I would be hard pressed to find a better restaurant than Houston's. Even the fact that it is a huge chain does not diminsh the quality of the food in the slightest. Is there anything better than the Spinach and Artichoke dip or the Prime Rib French Dip (contender for best sandwich of all time (fuck you Michael!))? I think not. That being said it was a lovely day. Check out The Villa, you finally can now.

More information of the The Getty Villa and the Getty Center in Brentwood can be found at www.getty.edu

Phoenix from the Air

2006-11-15T17:08:00.000-08:00

Surprised these even came out, you can see your house from here.

The Roadside Signs of Tucson

2006-11-14T14:48:00.000-08:00

As you may or not know, there isn't a hell of a lot to do it Tucson. Go to 4th ave. Check. Foothills, sleepy. Check. Um, the mall. Check. Apart from the fact that Tucson has probably the best Mexican food on earth, namely El Charro, Mi Nidtio (without any doubt the best margarita in existence and Bill Clinton ate there!), and Cafe Poca Cosa (menu changes twice a day!) it is pretty spare on things to do. Luckily I have been down there with my woman as well as being there during the TV on the Radio concert, the AIA Architecture Home Tour, Asobi Seksu concert (Jared Bell's fantastic band Lymbyc System opened up for them. Check 'em out.) Apart from that, we couldn't find much else to do and we really did try. I think we have been over every inch of the city, going insofar as to drive to Bisbee (which is truly one the most interesting places to visit in AZ but that is for some other time.) Not to mention that while being in Tucson I witnessed my first person who had been shot, laying on the ground in front of a liquor store, which was not a very pleasant experience to put it lightly.

That being said there is one thing Tucson does have and that is potential. There are not many places left that have these relics of America's roadside culture. The signs above were meant to lure travelers in from the road trips which accelerated after 1956's National System of Interstate and Defense Highways Act was passed and people all over the country were hitting the road. This also took away business from places that were no longer visible from the new highways. The signs represent a bygone era but are also made with great care and art, something lacking from almost all signs today. For example my favorite photo above is the Tucson Inn, which is not only bold but fun to look at and shows that flare and design are missing in the signs o' the times (like Prince).

When I was taking the photo of the Arizonan sign an old man was sitting on his porch. I got out to take the photo and he yelled at me, “ What are you doing there?” I replied that I was just taking a picture of the sign. “What for?” Again me being horrible at small talk I said something to the affect of, Oh just for fun. “Fun? Doesn’t sound like fun to me.”

Most of these are found around Stone, Main, or Oracle which used to be some of the main roads coming into Tucson even before the highways were built. I would hope that the artistic or architectural community in Tucson would pay more attention to what is around them. The big danger to Tucson is the Rio Nuevo. Although there have been great preservations like the Fox and Hotel Congress downtown, the Rio Nuevo is an attempt to make Tucson another gentrified Scottsdale or any other place in this country. The focus should be on what is already there and how to make that better, I am not against the development but there is so much classic and under appreciated architecture and signage in Tucson that it would be a shame just to build without incorporating it into the landscape. Each generation should be preserved for what it represents, we are a nation of false progress and in an era of hit and run developments we should collectively realize that the United States is one of those rare places that does not care about its History and we have to fight to preserve important history in the face of developers and businesses with Government subsides.

There are a lot a nice things around if you took the time to look.

R.I.P Tower of Wooden Pallets

2006-11-14T00:32:00.000-08:00

About 5 months ago I was looking up historic sites in the area when I came across something called The Tower of Wooden Pallets, which was just down the street from me in Van Nuys on Sepulveda and Magnolia. I didn’t have any information on it, other than the fact that it was a LA Cultural Heritage Monument (No. 184) and it was down the street so I decided to take a look. I didn't even know what to look for, I pulled onto Magnolia and saw nothing but a fenced off lot near the 405, guessing that might be it I got out to take a photo but all I could see was what looked like a stack of wood and some old dilapidated homes in this lot. But the lot was HUGE and I couldn’t see shit through the amount of over grown weeds and various wooden pallets blocking my view. I noticed a huge wire-cut hole in the fence but I also noticed some tire tracks, a path, and some orange cones among other things that led me to believe someone might be back there and I might be shot if I were to trespass. I will tell you something if you don’t make fun of me. Thanks. I waited around for about 15 minutes trying to get the balls to get in there but once I convinced myself there wasn’t anybody working back there I become paranoid about an imagined delusional squatter-schizophrenic-junky that lived back there and would stab me with his hypodermic needles when I invaded his “home”. I said don’t make fun!

Frightened for my life I left and came back about 3 weeks later no longer scared of the imagined maniac (there are a lot of crazy maniacs in this city though) and decided to check it out, two cameras in hand. When I got there the hole in the fence had been conspicuously closed up. I found another smaller hole further down and entered the property. Truly an amazing site, right in the city was what looked like an abandoned estate in rural Oklahoma. Two homes caved in on themselves, one of which was two stories but it was not structurally sound enough to go to the second floor, 3 to 4 sheds filled with books and cans of food literally from the 1950s. There was a bus and about 5 cars on the lot. I spent hours taking photos here but the center piece (although not the most interesting thing there) was The Tower of Wooden Pallets. Shown above it was made of pallets from Schlitz Brewing and was around 20 feet tall. I got an amazing roll of about 25 pictures from the site but I don’t have them loaded onto the computer yet I will post them when I do. I took some old film strips, a Christmas card, some photo negatives, magazines, and books from the property as mementos. In one of the sheds, the floor was about a foot high in old records, books, and magazines.

Unbeknownst to me, this site was in the planning phase of being torn down for an apartment building, and although it’s status as a historic cultural landmark was questionable at best, as it was basically a heap of shit, as I took the photos I knew I had no reason to ever come back, but just to document the existence of something that you “Don‘t see everyday“. Within the past couple of months I heard it was torn down and it made me a wee bit sad, only because I experienced it in it‘s lonely neglected state but I did capture its last moments. A time warp, a representation of the existence of an obvious eccentric, but it was it’s time. R.I.P.

More information about The Tower of Wooden Pallets.

The Unknown Artist

2006-11-12T14:06:00.000-08:00

I used to stop by a news stand on the corner of Moorpark and Laurel Canyon. The one next to a this Neutra that is for sale. From the street as I would park I would always notice these drawings plastered all over the walls. One day decided to take a look at them. The works consist of various crudely drawn portraits on line paper that are plaster all over the walls in the surrounding area. It's either the work of a crazy madman person, which judging by the line paper and the "venue" in which they are displayed, I am guessing that it is probably the case, or some sort of real "artist" who is displaying his work in a public form, the act being the art. Either way they constantly get torn down and then new ones are put back up again, giving the work a quality unto itself. For me the art of it is people's reaction. Most people pay no mind to the fact that there are these creepy portraits slapped all over the walls and those that do just want to tear them down, which lends a very mysterious quality to the intentions of the individual but also, in my opinion, makes the individual and the act of taking it down part of it's mystique. I don't know who he is or whether he was caught but there has not been any new portraits of late.

LA in Black and White

2006-11-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

Me Vs. The Media: The Oscars and its Press

2006-11-12T04:25:00.000-08:00

I can go on forever about numerous issues I have with the Academy in general but I want to start my attack on the news media themselves. I was at the Barnes and Noble, sifting through the lukewarm publications of Entertainment Weekly and Premiere magazine when I noticed that both magazines made similar statements in terms of their Oscar nomination predictions. There are all kinds of issues, the main one being it was a pretty lackluster year for film, so far I have what is called a top 4...

1. Little Miss Sunshine (which wins by default)
2. The Departed
3. Babel
4. Borat. (It was funny)

Yup. Wow. That's it. There have been some good Docs but they are generally consistent by nature. There are also some coming up. Hoping big for Inland Empire.

This isn't the issue I want to discuss though. The magazines picks for Best Supporting Actor are my target. It's a pretty non-controversial category but it's the principle of the thing and it's specific to one film, The Departed. Both publications state that Jack Nicholson is the front runner for the nomination in this Category. Let me state first that I thought he was great in the film, there is no doubt about that. But this is the third time that one of the performances of the year is going to be ignored by one of this generations greatest talents, Mark Wahlberg. Can someone give me a fucking break here. I would like to note that his performance in Boogie Nights is unparalleled, and his performance in I Heart Huckabees was criminally overlooked. Now here it will probably happen again. Let me also say that Alec Baldwin deserves the nomination over Nicholson. Nicholson is great because he is doing the Jack Nicholson shtick, and doing it well, but you shouldn’t award consistency of persona over fantastic performances.

I will say this again as to not seem like I am bashing him, he was great, but this was an ensemble cast, and everyone was great, including that girl no one knows. That being said I am going to be a lone ranger campaigning for Wahlberg. The fact that he wasn't nominated for I Heart Huckabees, or Ziyi Zhang for 2046 shows that these nominations aren't based on performance, but some other mitigating factors. Of course, we all know that Julia Roberts did not give a better performance than Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream, that's an insult to anyone’s intelligence. I know it's a lost cause as this is the body that gave last years Best Picture to Crash, a conveniently plotted superficial film.

The other obvious thing to mention is poor Scorsese. Is The Departed the film he should win for Best Director? No. But it's a hell of a lot better than the last two he was supposed to win for. But Taxi Driver? Raging Bull? Goodfellas? The vastly underrated Casino? It's really a joke, and that's why he'd be better off without it. The man lost to KEVIN COSTNER. If he lost again he would join the ranks of people who represent how off base the Academy is when determining what is the best. He should join the ranks of Hitchcock, Altman, Welles, Lumet, Fellini ,and Kubrick. Not to claim there is a conspiracy or anything but there seems to be a disproportionate amount of actors who have won for Best Director . Redford, Beatty, Howard, Gibson, and Eastwood. Hmm. The greatest directors of all time loosing to some of acting’s heavyweights. Perplexing.

Crying on the inside.

2006-11-12T03:01:00.000-08:00

Would I kill a man to live here? Already did. Despite it's fairly super boring location, I killed a man just in hopes that I could live here. Wrong guy. Such is life. Look at that built in toaster!

The Boardwalk

2006-11-12T02:15:00.000-08:00

Kate is shown here modeling her fucking ass off at Al Beadle's The Boardwalk in Phoenix. When two hot items like the combo above combine, a rift in the universe may occur and open a portal to ... uh ... It's just dangerous!

It's here, on Earth.

2006-11-12T02:13:00.000-08:00

Black and White

2006-11-12T02:06:00.001-08:00

there is a double meaning to this one ...

People take things Seriously.

2006-11-12T00:05:00.000-08:00

I know I am late on this one, as Halloween is long since over, but for those who haven't seen or heard of this, a gentleman in the San Fernando Valley, thought up this lovely decorative idea for the Halloween. I stopped by this while I was in the area for the LA Conservancy's Spectacular Vernacular which was a Mid-Century Modern home tour in the Valley (some homes on the tour: Adams House, Jonn Coolidge Residence, Edward Fickett, FAIA). As I was taking these photos, a man pulled up in his car with his wife and kid. He got out with his camera in hand and I, horrible at small talk, said something to the affect of "Don't see this everyday". He replied, "My friend in Tennesse says we are crazy over here, now I think he might be right."

What is "The Itinerant"?

2006-11-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

In attempting to come up with a name, all I had to do was look in front of me.

When I was living in Scottsdale, Az I stopped at a garage sale off of Shea Blvd. This was a sort of life changing event, albeit only in a small way. One tends to realize as they go through life, that many little events make up a great part of you, which as I write this I can't help to think of the Chicago song "If You Leave Me Now" ...you'll take away the biggest part of me, ooohh wooo ooo... (cough). Moving on. For about 3 dollars I got a mother load of items. I got these signs, which I based a character around for a short film I did when I was 18 titled "Yo Como Mis Primos". The person who had the garage sale must have been something of a salesman, one of those intense ones who wear short sleeve dress shirts with a square tie, and a buzz cut. The signs, I imagine where made to put in your cubicle or work station, were positive affirmations such as, "Fatigue Makes Cowards of Us All" and "Control the Ball".

I also bought Ecstasy II: A Board Game for Lovers. Which is self-explanatory, and I only attempted to play it once (this was recently as I purchased the game roughly 5 years ago) and it only lasted a few roles of the die before we decided to bypass the activities and create our own "ecstasy". That hot item only cost me 25 cents.

But what you are dying to know is, what is The Itinerant? I’m getting there. I also purchased a "trophy" that fine day, seems like a trophy although I am not really sure what it is to be perfectly honest. The "trophy", or plaque, is a 8 x 6 piece of wood that has what looks like an I with a basketball looking globe shooting through the middle of it, below that it says Amsterdam 86. Hmm Okay. This is a silver design that is encased in a plastic square which is similar to the plastic protective cases in which you put your valuable baseball cards (right?). Below this, on a thin strip of metal it says, "International Conference For Itinerant Evangelists July 12-21" Best item ever! An Evangelists ... Thing. I thought it was the funniest and has hung on various walls at various apartments ever since.

I did try to look up this conference, this is all I came up with in terms of useful info: http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/560.htm#3 , maybe someone knows more? Being staunchly against the principles of the Evangelical movement, the irony of having the plaque commemorating my participation in this event, 3 years after my birth, is something I cherish deeply.

But why The Itinerant?

Like I said, in trying to think up a name, and all these damn things do need a name, all I did was look up from my computer to the plaque on the wall. I looked up the word to see what it means and it fit, to a degree, the purpose of this "blog" (side note: worst name for anything ever, how do these things catch on? Academics or individuals who lend credence to movements by giving them horrible names such as blog should really be ashamed of themselves, shame on you!) from the stand point of who I am. I will now supply you the definition that applies:

I-tin-er-ant - noun. a person who alternates between working and wandering.

That would be me. The working part is considerably spare in comparison to the wandering which will be the focus of the blog. The act of discovering and uncovering. Whether it is Film, Music, Architecture, Food, Art, Events, Photography, Books, Sexy things, Found Art (which is different from art) anything that is worth finding will be found and discussed at a moderate length. I will also include pictures of various things discovered while wandering. Think of this web site like an umbrella policy with your insurance company. Covers everything it can, but this isn’t a waste of your money as it is free, the information is free.

Welcome fellow Itinerants.