Sunday, August 31, 2008
Fred Astaire Dancing on the Ceiling and Why I Love Old Movies
From Stanley Donan's Royal Wedding
This scene was created to reflect the euphoric feeling of love. It was an excellent idea executed with such ease without the power of computers. Well, Donan confesses that the set was built within a gigantic ROLLING cylinder. The camera man was tied to a table that was secured to the cylinder to control the photography. Amazing.
John Williams and a Celebration of Hollywood
What better way to show my parents Hollywood than an enchanting evening at the Hollywood Bowl with John Williams? Close to none. My parents, Jason and I once again trekked to the Bowl for a night of classical movie themes. And as every year prior, it was still very exciting. Like the years before, devoted Star Wars fans proudly lit their lightsabers as the Star Wars theme was played by the LA Philharmonic. Jason's eyes grew with fulfillment as he very loudly requested the "Imperial March" and was granted his wish. I hurriedly grabbed my Reeces Pieces as the ET theme played. My mother, the most outgoing of us, yelled "SUPERMAN!" at the top of her lungs as that theme began.
Williams had a special guest, Stanley Donan, who had directed musicals (i.e Singing in the Rain) and worked with Williams well before he had begun his career with the Spielberg/Lucas vehicle. His stories were so amazing and were so romantic. It was amazing to see what old Hollywood had accomplished before computers and before big budget politics. We watched Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire perform in such magical performances that really made me fall in love with moviemaking all over again. It's easy to forget that there is a unique beauty beneath much of the commercial filth that storms out of Hollywood these days.
Katsuya - Hollywood
My father, who loves TMZ, requested that he see some real papparazzi during his visit to Hollywood. I decided to bring him to Katsuya, a frequent stop for the paps.
Katsuya is entired designed by Philippe Stark, most known for his modern furniture designs including the Ghost Louis chairs. You enter a modern Japanese themed restaurant that could easily be imagined as the set of an action movie. The bar consists of many pedestals topped with knifes floating in plexiglass cubes, or the bigger than life geisha lips that plaster the walls. Candlelight and gothic mirrors then add a sense of warmth.
OK, so beyond the overwhelmingly stylish fascade, the food was excellent. We had several orders of the Katsuya roll and the sashimi samplers which had perfect textures and flavors that had us all grabbing them quickly off the plates, which were beautiful as expected.
A little pricey as sushi tends to be, but really as a taste of Hollywood it really encapsulates the love for themed spaces that characterizes Los Angeles and is spot on.
Katsuya
6300 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
323 871 8777
Friday, August 29, 2008
A video of persistence
After arguing it was time to sleep, I found this video in the morning. There really is no sleep for the strong.
FromThe Great Consolidation
Hear more of Gavin Castleton's music here: Gavin's music
FromThe Great Consolidation
Hear more of Gavin Castleton's music here: Gavin's music
Thursday, August 28, 2008
FIRE on SET and our hero, Intern Luis
We were all going about our usual duties on set: shooting for the Urgency, watching YouTube vids, eating snacks. Rihanna and Chris Brown were socializing. Everything seemed to be going well...
Little did we know that disaster struck in the courtyard where lunch had been! As Luis, our intern, was hauling the trash when his can became a ball of fire! (The caterer forgot that lit candles do not go into the trash. He apologized later.) Over the walkie talkie, he Urgently called for help, but they were to no avail! He wrestled the flames alone in the midst of terror! He bravely found the fire extinguisher and calmed the blaze.
Our new intern/firefighter/hero, Luis. Without him, this video would've never been made...
New Comic Book by Michel Gondry
I love Michel Gondry's work. From his music videos to his movies like Eternal Sunshine to even his virals online, he's oodles of fun. So now, he's back to 2d work with his upcoming comic book, We Lost the War but Not the Battle
Check it out for some far out Euro flare.
Pimp That Snack!
There is a cyberspace heaven called PIMP THAT SNACK where your beloved snacks are super sized to the 1000th degree! It's a 10000% unhealthier, but 10000% more delight!
Visit them here: Pimp That Snack!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
From the brilliant mind of Tim Kendall: I.C.E.
The next shorty from the same guys who brought you JediGym
So how was Radiohead?
During my normal unemployed routine, I was making little boxes (to check off when the task was done) next to my list of things to do for the day. To my surprise, Mike had called to let me know that he had an extra ticket to go see Radiohead @ the Hollywood Bowl. Box: prepare picnic for RADIOHEAD SHOW! I was so excited! The Hollywood Bowl is my favorite thing about Hollywood. It's such a great place to see music and bring your favorite bottle of wine. So I packed the sandwiches and trekked on up. Walking there was shoulder to shoulder, in my case, shoulder to waist. It was a sold out show. The Bowl has a max capacity of 17,376.
Radiohead played an amazing 2 hour set with most of my favorites and some familiar good feeling covers. The lighting was more than amazing and complimentary. Fans listened attentively and Thom Yorke's wild sincere rock out moves made me smile. Quite probably the best show I've seen in a long time. (Cornelius @ Bimbo's SF still being the best)
One truth I'd realized is that only Radiohead can turn the most flamboyant feminine gay man into a raving meat head. Sky punches! Fuck yeahs! Rhythmic claps! Who knew?
Monday, August 25, 2008
What are you doing on August 21, 2017?
Nathan and Cher were in a car together. Nathan turns down the radio, obviously because he has something important to say.
Nathan: OK...so what are you doing on August 21, 2017?
Cher: (caught off guard, now sarcastic) Um, well I don't know. I'll have to check my calendar.
Nathan: (a beat) Road trip! Kansas City!
Nathan is planning a group road trip to Kansas City to experience the total solar eclipse that will black out the sun for a complete 2 minutes. An intriguing and awfully romantic idea! I hope I remember this in 2017. Nothing planned as of yet.
Don't believe Nathan? Then maybe you'll believe the internet: Total Eclipse 2017
Sunset Junction 2008 and Sunday with The Scrips
The junction was beaming with Silverlake's finest this year. Blocks and blocks of hipsters, hippies and norms dressed to the 9's to prove their utmost knowledge and awareness of trends and appropriate causes. We were there celebrating difference and the one thing we Angeleno's can all enjoy: afternoon drinking in the middle of a street.
A portion of Sunset Blvd was closed off for stages and various vendors. There were carnival rides and games to enjoy. I personally enjoyed the funnel cake and the giant slide the best. We watched a few sets: Broken Social Scene, Cold War Kids, !!! and The Black Keys.
At Newton and Alxis' BBQ, we all discussed how ludicrous it was to pay $40 to go to a street fair. Over chips, meat and Tecate, we schemed ways to get to Junction without having to shell out more dough. The Scrips, Newton's band, were setting up their gear for a days worth of loud guitar for the people. Amazing. With the brilliant minds of Alxis and Newton at their nearby secret hideaway, we created 2 bracelets (pictured above) and squeezed through a fence. Genius. (We still spent money there, so we didn't feel it was too deviant on our part.) We ended the Junction experience at El Cid, where we had cocktails while watching a Flamenco show. Full and slightly tipsy, back on the train where I'd misguided a lost hippy name Fred, to whom I'm deeply apologetic.
Fred, thank you for the friendship bracelet. I thought it was funny that you fell asleep mid-sentence while talking about gourds. I hope you made it to downtown safely. Sorry about telling you to get on the wrong train.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
To the 7'8" guy who deliberately stands in front of me at Sunset Junction...
QUIT IT!
I can't see! I'm short!
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