NYC eat your heart out

Rockefeller smockerfeller! Downtown Los Angeles On Ice! Through Jan. 16th, our friends at the Parks & Recreation Dept. have set up a ice skating rink in Pershing Square (between 5th and 6th St. in the heart of downtown). Skates costs $6 to rent. Enjoy. (p.s. don't mind the homeless, the've got no place else to go these days--literally, due to new city ordinance, so the LAPD in the mid-city/central city east spend half their shifts harassing the homeless. high five).

Worst of 2006...

Drum roll please...this thing, this abomination called the "Mash-up". For those unfamiliar, the "Mash-up", is a relatively new phrase in the ridiculously vast lexicon of music (in particular dance music) terminology, coined & operated by our melanin-deficient friends, who as usually seem to be a bit late getting to the party. You see, a "mash-up" is simply taking two songs and "mashing" them together. For example, you can take a Karen Carpenter tune and "mash" it together with Stevie B. Sounds pretty straight forward right? Only problem is, we've had a name for this for over 20 years, it's called a god-dammed REMIX! YES, A REMIX! A MIX EVEN! DJ'S HAVE BEEN MIXING TWO SONGS (ON TWO TURNTABLES) FOR YEARS! THIS IS NOT NEW. SADLY, WE HAVE "MASH-UP" CLUBS HERE IN LOS ANGELES TODAY! ENTIRE RADIO SHOWS OF "MASH-UPS". Someone please make it stop. God is great.

My second favorite songs of the year...

Perhaps I've just spent too much time stamping books to pay attention, but I am convinced it's been a pretty dismal year for new music. Sad, I can actually count the number of gigs I've been to this year on one hand. In any case, here are my favorite songs of 2006:

Asobi Seksu - "Thursday"


NYC group whose lead singer sings in both Japanesia + Ingles. Plus, she's got the sexiest nostrils in the biz.

Miranda Lee Richards - "Early November"
I just love this girl. Miranda's myspace.

Pet Shop Boys - "Psychological"
You know how I know you're gay?

Too $hort - "Blow the whistle"
Album number 16 baby. Still representin' East Oakland.

E-40 - "White Gurl"
Vallejo in the house. God bless the memory of Mac D-R-E.

Lily Allen - "Smile"
I like this girl...even if she is British...our friends at MTV are pumping her hard (!) Now if we can just find a way to make that Lady Sovereign to go away...

The Organ - "Steven Smith" & "Brother"
Don't tell anyone but these songs were from their only album, released in 2004, but you've probably never heard them anyway. They've been on constant repeat in my car stereo all year. Take cover.

Ivory towers

Port Tower Complex
Karachi, Pakistan (1476ft - 450M)
(Project Approved)

What's a developing country, awash with billions in international aid/grants to do these days? Invest in education? Health care? Infrastructure? Sustainability? Alternative energy? Um, not quite, try...Spending billions to project a false sense of affluence...high five. The Port Tower Complex would be 2nd tallest building in the world, after the "Burj Dubai". The irony of course is that it won't be built by a Pakistani developer...nor will many citizens of the country be allowed inside, nonetheless Pakistanis will be proud.

More here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kpt_tower

Soy is so gay...

Published by WorldNetDaily today, written by James Rutz of Megashift Ministries:

"There's a slow poison out there that's severely damaging our children and threatening to tear apart our culture...The dangerous food I'm speaking of is soy. Soybean products are feminizing, and they're all over the place. You can hardly escape them anymore.

Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products. (Most babies are bottle-fed during some part of their infancy, and one-fourth of them are getting soy milk!) Homosexuals often argue that their homosexuality is inborn because "I can't remember a time when I wasn't homosexual." No, homosexuality is always deviant. But now many of them can truthfully say that they can't remember a time when excess estrogen wasn't influencing them." Full article below:

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53327

If I had known this earlier I would have never gone the tofu festival earlier this year in Little Tokyo...oooh...i'm gonna slip some soy into my friend kevyn's morning cereal...pure evil.

Web theft...

This is brutal...

Wreakin' Havoc...gabacha style.

"Too much is never enough"

So I just finished watching this Anne Hathaway/Bijou Phillips (oh and "Reese" from Terminator is in it too) film...why on earth anyone would sign up for such a film is beyond me. Not much of a stretch for Bijou to play trash, but Anne, why? I thought you were a princess...

Here's a summary...a couple of screwed up gabachas from the Pacific Palisades get mixed up with the "16th Street" gangbangers (supposed to be East L.A., but actually mid-city Alvarado/Pico Union area aka 'Korea Town'). The homeboys end up runnin' a train on Emily (Bijou, who else), after a night of tequila binging with the vatos at a seedy motel. You see the girls wanted to join the "16th Street" crew, so they had to roll the dice, and whatever number they got...well, you get the idea. Then they get lawyers...typical gabacha. Movie ends with Allison (Anne) saying something or other into a camera...I don't know. Oh, almost forgot to mention...the local crew at Palisades High is the PLC--group of Eminemesque wanna-be gangstas 'keepin' it real', who apparently have had SWAT team training--as evident in the bizarre ambiguous "climax" sequence where the boyz raid the seedy Alvarado motel in order to defend gabacha honor (guns blazing), only to find a couple of homegirls there, holding their baby's of course. Dismayed/shocked/saddened, they leave. Stop at red light. See some homeboys, then the scene goes dark, we can now only hear the action now...a shot is fired, by whom, or at whom we don't know. But as the tagline goes, 'Some lines weren't' meant to be crossed', yea, like giving the green light for the script.

My favorite lines from Havoc:

"There is a monetary zone of geography we do not cross"

"Hey, what's your name...you wanna smoke crack?"

"Hey essay, that's my homegirl"

"Bitch got parents?!"

"You got bounced out the PLC!"

All in all, we do get to see Anne Hathaway and Bijou (of course) in various outfits/acts, so, I shouldn't complain too much. Plus, hearing Anne singing Tupac's 'How do you want it' is priceless...high five.

On mental midgetry and rank assholery...

I like that title. Doesn't have anything to do with this post, but I feel so clever. So, Fridays at the library is like working at a video store. I don't think I checked out a single book for two hours today...opening those god (small "g") forsaken security cases make one think of doing bad things...

Ever wondered why there are so many librarians are women...

Jonesing for Japanese

So, I'm in the westside with some friends, jonesing for sushi tonight, luckily stumbled upon a new place on the corner of Santa Monica & Yale called Kaido (in the strip mall, there are actually two Japanese joints there, in between is a convenient store called "Convenient Market", such a clever name). The place is newish, pleasantly decorated, with a clean design. Two sushi chefs (one old, one young), and a couple waitresses. Sushi menu was fairly priced, but there was something called the Santa Monica Roll which we ordered along with our entrees...everything was excellent, from the salad to the basic spicy tuna rolls--decent sized portions and best of all, the entire meal took no more than 30 minutes from the time we got in there to getting the check. Earl, once again paid. Thanks Earl. Oh, the Santa Monica rolls (don't ask me what was in them, seemed like everything--even chili peppers), were delightfully special...(meaning they were good...geez.)

My lady friend thinks my blog is boring...

So, no one reads my blog. I can live with that. But when your own girlfriend begins a conversation with, "your boring library blog...you had like 10 posts about that Bradbury guy...", something's gotta give. So, starting now, I will attempt to "spice" up the blog with...I don't know...more bizarro tales of library patrons I guess. Maybe stories of freak library clerks, staff shortages...oh, what does she know anyway, she works in Hollywood...

Secret world of market research scammers

In the world of market research scammers, one can be a dentist, a disabled veteran, a bi-polar manic depressive, an accountant, financial manager, a student, an immigrant who sends money back to the old country, have heart disease, etc....you get the idea. There are people (petty scammers), who make a living participating in market research/focus groups a few times a week. The way it works is simple. Find market research company, register with them, or check craigslist for upcoming groups--email them with your info. A rep from the company will call you back and ask you a couple questions. Simply tell them what you think they want to hear and if you qualify (meaning if you are a good enough liar), they will sign you up for the next open group. You show up, register at the front desk (look around at all the other unemployed freaks) and 1-2hrs later after giving your opinions (again tell them what they want to hear), they will give you cash in an envelope (typically up to $75/hr, higher for "professionals"). Many of these firms today are aware of the serial scammers, but really can't do much to counter it, although many have in the past couple years lowered the hourly rate to $50-75.

I have heard stories of some of these freaks going back to the same agency the next day with baseball cap on...referring themselves (using a nickname) and getting a finders fee...(to be cont.)

More later..time for bed.

Final thoughts on Bradbury...

Ray Bradbury, 86 years young, was incredibly gracious and dare I say charming tonight, armed with amusing anecdotes about his life and career. I sat in the back with 3 rows of empty chairs in front of me next to the window where I could look outside at the parking lot hiding my laptop behind the chair in front trying not to be disrespectful I guess. I really couldn't see the man, lest I turned my head hard to the left, but I could hear him clearly.

For those unfamiliar with his work, can check out his official site (raybradbury.com) or wikipedia's bio/works page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury.

Bradbury spoke for over an hour (with a short q&a at the end), spoke mostly about his love for cinema--his long history with in the film industry (writing screenplays, etc.), his love for theater...his love for the library--how he never couldn't' go to college, instead spent a couple days a week reading at Central Library downtown and at his local branch library. Spoke about how all the women in his life were either librarians, school teachers (English of course), or book sellers. He spoke of being broke, with his first wife and writing his first novel, which was a collection of his short stories about Martians (compiled as The Martian Chronicles) after getting a break from some publisher or something...I began staring outside at a woman driving backwards with her lights off for some reason...I wondered why...

The night ended in conversation about humans colonizing space, with someone in the crowd asking him if he had heard about the discovery of water on Mars today (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061207/ap_on_sc/mars_water), which seemed to excite Mr. Bradbury (he is after all, a sci-fi geek at heart), he spoke of setting up a permanent base on the Moon, leaving the earth and its problems behind to colonize space, a new world free of conflict and confusion...when someone challenged him on how he was certain that man would not make the same mistakes in space that he makes on earth, Bradbury replied, "I guarantee it!"

All in all, I'm glad I stayed behind after work (the event took place after closing the branch for the day), it was definitely worth seeing/hearing a legendary figure like Ray Bradbury...this was the sixth time he has spoken at our branch (first time for me).

Ray's new book, entitled--Farewell Summer published on October 17, 2006. It is a sequel to his 1957 novel Dandelion Wine.

Now if we can just get Gore Vidal to show up, I' d be willing to pick him up...he lives nearby I've heard ;)

Blogging with Bradbury Update...

Ray Bradbury has just begun speaking in the main adult reading room of the branch. Unfortunately, the event tonight was not promoted the way it usually is (this is the 6th time he has spoken at the branch), and it is obvious that Mr. Bradbury is not too happy with the low turnout (there are about 35-40 people here). Typically, it is standing room only.

He is incredibly gracious nonetheless. He just told us that he is responsible for putting the Governator in office, that 30 years ago while he was at a Hollywood studio that had been playing an old exercise video while meeting with studio execs, and when they were about to turn it off, he told them to leave it on...also that he is responsible for Sylvestor Stallone's career (that the ending for Rocky was his idea, after advising Stallone on how to end the film).

He is speaking of his love for and long-time relationship with cinema...writing several screen plays like for Moby Dick with John Houston which influenced his new book to be released July 2007 called Leviathan 99, which is supposed to be a modern day Moby Dick in outer space...interesting.

Blogging with Bradbury Update...

What rank assholery looks like: I'm sitting behind Mr. Bradbury, who is currently signing books for his fans at this time. I haven't even gone up to say hello yet. I feel like a jerk...well, not really. But there's a guy where with no shoes on, the security is kicking him out now...Ray will be speaking soon.

Blogging with Bradbury...

I'll be blogging while hearing Ray Bradbury speak tonight here at the branch. Exciting stuff I know. As I write there is line of Bradbury fans lining up outside the library. Oooh...look, literary types....will keep you posted.