Crispen Rules!

When I moved to LA, I heard that Crispen Glover lived in the hills of Silver Lake. I've been a big Crispen fan. Always seeing any of his films i can (including the greatly under-rated Little Noises), owned his books, and gawked at his version of These Boots Were Made For Walkin. I hoped that at some point, I'd catch a glimpse at him hanging out somewhere, or bump into him at some party. But Crispen is a bit of a recluse. What did I expect. Low and behold, years later I saw him in the produce section at Mayfair. Looking sheepish, but pretty normal with a well groomed head of hair and muscular build. That was it, I could die a happy man now. I've since seen him yet again at the Mayfair (now Gelsons).

Anyway, LAist spotted Crispen in Chinatown recently and managed to write their own homage to Crispy, which includes a link to the one and only David Letterman interview.

Mighty Morning Update

This weeks LA Weekly has the scoop on Dickey Barrets demise from Indie 103. Again, this station has me on the foul end of the fence. The people running this station seem like assholes. And where are people like Henry Rollins sticking up for Dicky. Henry has a show on the station as well, and so far I haven't heard a peep from him. Back in the day, he'd be the first to start shouting about hypocrisy. I've snuck a listen over the last few mornings and the show is shit without Barret.

Oh, props to the LA Weekly's new website. A far improvement from their old one. I wish i could say the same for the "new" KCRW site (pew!).

Roscoe Reviewed

So I sauntered on over to the Vista last night, all by my lonesome, to check out the Rosco Arbuckle retrospective presented by the Silver Lake FF. Seemed like a no-miss for me.
My favorite Movie Theater playing films by a local figure that I’ve read and written plenty about, but to tell you the truth, have never seen any of his movies.

The crowd wasn’t large, by any means. But it was a fair showing, filling maybe 1/3 to ½ of the auditorium. Before the films, a historian took the mic to give us some background on Fatty. I have to say she was boring as sin, just not terribly good at public speech it seemed. The only thing I got out of it, was reassurance that Jerry Stahl’s part fiction/ part fact book of his life kept to the facts pretty well.

The films were viewed from a projected DVD player. A little disappointing to not see a true film print, but hey the even was free, what can you expect. The sound, for the first 5 minutes had an insufferable buzz and at times the DVD froze or skipped. Again, not terribly ideal. At one point, some jackass must have pushed the wrong button somewhere for the curtain closed on the screen. Argh!!!

Disregarding all the Snafu’s of the night, I have this to say about the films:

The Rounders: This was a one reeler featuring Fatty and Charlie Chaplin playing two well to do drunks who conspire to steal cash from their respective wives to continue their binge. If for no other reason, its fantastic to see both of these champions play off of each other in what seems like total comedic intuition. The end of the short finds the two drowning in what looks to be the Echo Park Lake.

The Waiters’ Ball / Fatty’s Tintype Tangle: These two reelers seem to define Roscoe and his gang’s standards in report and reoccurring gags. A flapjack flipping gag occurs in both. Also, in both films, Fatty licks his fingers in what seems to be his equivalent of Chaplains cane twirl. In Tintype Tangle, towards the end, Fatty does an insane stunt where he runs and bounces upon a power-line at least 40feet off the ground. This is when the films of this era really shine for me, unbelievable stunts that just couldn’t be faked. That, and when the site gags are perfectly choreographed. Much of what I saw this night had a rather chaotic feel to it, with glimpses of choreography.

All three of these films were made during Arbuckle’s stint at Keystone.

My Stars: This movie was created after Fatty’s black-listing in Hollywood. At this point he was forced to only produce/direct the films under a pseudonym and could not appear in person. I have to say, out of all the films, this is where Fatty really shines for me. This film has a rather lucid and structured story line with truly hilarious captions. The gags aren’t quite as chaotic and help the story along. This thing must have been the inspiration for Rocky and Bullwinkle. The wordplay and pacing couldn’t be closer. Too bad the image quality isn’t better or I could actually see myself watching this one repeatedly.

All in all, I’m not sure if I was convinced of Fatty being equal to the likes of Charlie or Buster, but the nights viewing have definitely prevoked me to want to see more.

After the show, a party was held at El Cid. It being a weeknight and I being rather tired, I nixed the party. A quick side note, El Cid (it was reiterated) is the last existing part of D.W. Griffiths studio during the shooting of Intolerance.

What the?

O.k., so it could have been a tainted bananna I ate this morning, but I could sware that I saw a CHIMP IN A TRACK JACKET on my way into work this morning. I kid you not people. I was turning onto Silver Lake Blvd. and next to the 7-11 is a store called Doggy Style. Next to Doggy Style, a figure in a red track jacket was sitting. The figure turned its head, and it was a fucking chimp. I was in the midst of traffic, so i couldn't stop and only saw the monkey for a few seconds tops. But it looked like there was a small production truck and some assistants around. How twisted is that? That's LA for you my friends. And why I feel at home here. I mean, that could have well have been a dream I had the night before, or maybe an illustration that I would have sketched. But no, Its reality. I passed a monkey in a track jacket (oh, no not an AA track jacket) this morning. How was your morning?

If anyone can vouch for my sighting, please comment. The people who own the dog store live down the street from me, so i'll verify it with them asap.

Silver Lake Film Fest Update

So, seemingly as to make it up to me personally, the Silver Lake Film Fest is sponsering a free viewing of three of Fatty Arbuckles movies. The viewings will be on Thursday at the Vista Theater, starting around 7:30. For more info, click here. I think I'm going to try and catch this one. Anybody up for going?

As well, tonight Jerry Stahl (author of IFatty) will be at the Skirball tonight.

Window Weirdness

In West Hollywood on Santa Monica Blvd there is a section of about two city blocks that I occasionally walk in the mornings. The mornings I wake up at Jenny's. I take Lu out for a walk, and sometimes walk to a coffee shop down the street on Santa Monica Blvd. Anyway, on the way there are a few shops that choose to battle it out to create some of the most bizarre window dressings I've ever seen. One shop is an upscale vintage store called Cherry. The other, a thrift store chain called Out Of The Closet. I'm telling you, walking by these shops both fascinate and creep me out. Traveling east on Santa Monica, these shops are somewhere between Sweetzer and Crescent Heights. If you find yourself in the area, have a burger at Irv's. Check out some of the latest window dressings here.

Mystery Hotel

This weekend I biked down to Griffith Park for an attempt to get some greatly needed excersize as well as to take some pictures of a sign that I've been fascinated by since I moved to this town. Just outside of Griffith Park, just near the Mullholand fountain, are two degrading metal signs that read CALIFORNIAN. If you look closely, behind the metal armiture, it says HOTEL. The Hotel Californian...I've googled it and can't find one bit of information about it. If anyone has some information about the building that used to wear these signs, please post a comment. Check out a few of the images from my shoot here. I have some plans for a few of them.

Spring Is Here, and It Smells Like Bannana's

Well, since last monday was officially the first day of spring, and on friday I smelled my first skunk stink of the season (as i mentioned previously), on saturday Lu and I hoofed it down to the corner 7-11 where I completed my welcoming of the season with a medium sized Bannana Slurpee. Sounds kinda nasty, but it was rather tasty. So welcome spring, may you now usher these clouds and cold out of Los Angeles for good so that we may enjoy the weather that we taunt the rest of the nation with.

"Silver Lake" Film Festival

So the other week I had mentioned that the Silver Lake Film Fest would be going on and that I would try and do some research to see if there were any viewings that I might endorse. Well, disregarding my lackluster research I have to say two things. The premotion for this thing has been horrible. I haven't seen a program anywhere and most of the blogs I read haven't mentioned it at all. Except today on LAist they brought up another interesting observation. Most of the viewings will be at the ArcLight theater, quite well outside of Silver Lake. Now, LAist at least gives props to the Arclight as a general venue, but I can't even go that far. I personally think the Arclight ruined the best theater in LA, the Cinerama Dome. Although the dome remains in tact, the fact that its surrounded by this over-priced multi-plex has really destroyed its personality. And am I to really believe that assigned seating and having some pimply-faced dork give me the cliff-notes rendition of last weeks LA Times review of the movie is really worth my 14, or 16, or 20bucks or whatever it is to see a fricken movie at this place.....but I digress. As far as I can tell, the Silver Lake Film Fest hasn't grabbed hold of Silver Lake. Or if it has, I slipped through its fingers. So I'm just going to watch last weeks Saprano's at my girlfriends (whoops fiance) and call it a weekend.

Op-Ed

If I were slightly more literate on the subject I might sum up things in the Middle East much like this Op-Ed piece by Mandeleine Albright.

Neighborhood Stink Patrol

1st skunk stink of spring was smelled last night around 8oclock driving down Silver Lake Blvd. towards Parkman.

Did the skunk see his shadow? Did he see it and become frightened and try and spray his own shadow? Silly Skunk. Probably not, probably just got hit by a car or confronted a feline in someones back yard. Cause ya see, its a skunk, not a ground hog. And I don't buy that whole groundhog thing anyway....but here in Silver Lake, we've got skunks...and I think they deserve some sort of mythology, some sort of purpose except to just stink. But maybe, for me, the first stink of spring will signal the green flag for another spring tradition of mine. The first, and many times the only, Slurpee purchase of the season (fast being replaced by the first Iced Coffee of the season).

So I bid you a Apew. Have a good weekend.

Mighty Morning Meltdown

Seems as though Dicky Barret's Mighty Morning show has been wiped from the airwaves. According to LAist, the show just disappeared the other day, with only vague reasons. Some say he was fired, some say he quit. Regardless, It was the only talk/music format morning show that I actually listened to.

I had sensed some tension between him and some of the other characters on the show, but had no idea it was at a level that something like this would happen. I mean, to be honest, if you're on the radio 9times out of 10 you're either an ass or a dork. Take KCRW's Nick Harcourt. Well, he's kind of an ass and a dork, plus just plane annoying and he's still on the air. Whatever the reasons, I find it hard to believe that some sort of agreement couldn't be reached. Indie was actually winning me over until now...

In my attempted search to figure out what was going on, I found a helpful history of the station on Wikipedia (mr. Wiki knows everything!).

In the Slaw

Amadou and Miriam are a husband and wife from Mali. Their latest release was produced by Manu Chao and It rocks. Just fantastic. I think i've only listened to it twice, but I have a feeling that its going to be one of those albums that I drive into the ground.

There is also a Best Of album of previous work that seems pretty damn good as well. I might even like it more then the new album. Check em out. I believe they will be playing Coachella, which will probably through the kids for a loop. Not your typical Indie techno redundency that seems to have infected the festival.

Echo Park Report

The Los Angeles City Council on March 1 approved declaring Echo Park Lake a city cultural historic monument. The EPHS submitted a landmark nomination in 2005 as part of a year-long celebration of Echo Park Lake's 110th anniversary of opening to the public.

It's about fricken time. For you out of towners, check out Chinatown for a good glimpse of the lake. Mi Vida Loca is another film that takes place in the area. There are many more, but those are two off the top of my head.

The Jensen Recreational Center that I wrote about a while ago has started to have concerts. I believe this may be through the echo, but i'm not sure. I haven't been able to find out much online.

Creepy Morgan

Another random panel (actually pair of panels) here from the classic mellow-drama comic Rex Morgan MD.
I think if my mother told me a hungry man was creeping around in the woods, i'd probably instantly pee in my pants.

Kiefer Sightings: Best Of Edition

Yes, what you see here is indeed Kiefer Sutherland with his drawers around his ankles. This photo was taken in 2004 I believe. By an undisclosed photographer, at an undisclosed karaoke bar in Burbank. The only thing disclosed in this situation is Kiefer. Oh, I’m sorry, that's right he's dis-clothed.

So I typically don't revel in someone's issues with the bottle. But Kiefer is like a local icon, constantly one upping himself. Should he probably get some help for his issues, yes. But, in a base sense you can't deny that this is funny.

Plus, this photo has already made the tabloids quite some time ago. It’s no new news…but again, still funny.

Leimert Park

A few weeks ago I visited a blues club called Babe and Ricky's in Crenshaw's Leimert Park. Curbed LA recently posted a highlite on the area due to an article in The Washington Post.

I'm definately going to have to check out the destrict during the day sometime soon to check out some of the shops and whatnot.

A side note, My friend Julie mentioned that her mother grew up around this area as a child when it was a much more culturaly mixed.

Disturbing Dyanetics

This was published in last weeks LA Weekly.

In combination with the recent South Park cencorship, there's been quite alot of hubub about Los Angeles' home-grown religion.

I'll just say this, I certainly respect peoples right to worship the way they see fit, but when it all begins to jeopordize peoples safety and censors peoples words....well it ceases to be about personal spiritual enlightenment and more about oppression which is what makes me tend toward Agnosticism in general. I mean, are the words of a Pulp Science Fiction author really worth all of this?

Japanese Poetics

My friend Sumi translated this card from the taitsukun series that i've been collecting as follows:
Take a risk and talk about your dreams.
I thought this was suitable due to my recent engagement.

One Ringy Dingy

Need I say more?

Glutton Update

Just got back from ABC Seafood in Chinatown. They serve up a mean Dim Sum there. Not nearly as crowded as Empress(at least not at 1:00 on a friday). And they serve up a fantastic dish that I've never tasted before. An Egg Roll filled with shrimp and bannana. Lord, a seemingly opposite yet fantastic combo hasn't crossed my palette since the new year when I first had dates wrapped in bacon.

Only a few of the service staff speak any english at all, so good luck ordering this fantastic dish, but you'll be happy when you do. The service was fast and the prices cheap. We got in and out of there in 45minutes and shelling out only 9bucks total for each of the 7 of us.

Blogger Frustration

Hey people, my apologies if you tried to access this page in the last 48hours and got denied. Blogger had some major technical problems and managed to give no information about it to those of us who post here. Finally this morning I randomly clicked a few burried links to find a small explination....thanks so much blogger. Instead of hilighting this problem, they instead, were hyping their presence at SXSW. Maybe all of their IT people were hammered in Texas jamming to the next Clap Your Hands Say Yeah instead of keeping their service up and running. I know this thing is free and I should be gratefull that they've given people like myself a public voice for nothin....but come on, they're owned by Google for god's sake.

On Their Dime

Today I stumbled upon two great resources to find free festivities around town.

MyOpenBar.com finds events around town serving free booze. If they only had this back when I was a poor lush.

Free Shows LA is a MySpace page devoted to advertising free concerts, art events and the like. Its brand new.

Arctic Monkeys

It’s too late on a weeknight for a witty title.

Just got back from the Arctic Monkey's show at the Music Box in Hollywood. Props to Wendy for scoring the tickets, and to Rob for snagging quality free parking and driving.

The crowd was an entertaining mix of kids with fathers in tow, aging hipsters (my group included), a strange sampling of the Pacific Palisades crowd, and C-list celebrities (including one guy that we couldn't remember the name of but Wendy described as the Poor Mans Paul Giomatti). K-ROQ hosted the evening, and the only cool thing about that is the Rodney Binginheimer was present.

The opening band, well they blew for all I'm concerned...and I don't really remember their name, so don't worry about it. On to the important part.

The Monkeys took the stage. The singer and rhythm guitarist looked like they had just taken a trip to an American Apparel shop, the singer wearing a white AA hoody with the hood over his head (I hate that look!). The band was good....as good as a bunch of kids who first picked up their instruments a little over two years ago can be. They could play, but don't yet command their instruments. They kept it loud, which managed to blur out any flaws in their playing. Although I haven't listened to the album that much, the songs sounded pretty true to the recordings, occasionally cut short and then picked back up like they had just been mixed by a Dance Hall DJ. I think this band has great potential. With some experience under their belt....and hopefully not completely selling out, I think the song writing and energy is not just a one-hit wonder type of thing. But who knows with the kids these days. They could certainly be destroyed by all the initial hype. Cause at this point, its all about potential. The show ended before midnight, and there was no encore. Possibly because they had simply ran out of songs, or possibly to let the kids get home before curfew.

We hung out outside for a while, talking about the show and other things, and then eventually left. Driving down Hollywood Blvd. we passed Rodney, alone, walking home.

What's Going On?

Wednesday:
Arctic Monkeys Tonight. I'll be there. I'll give you a heads up if I think the hype is warrented.

Friday:
St. Patty's day. Either stay home and avoid the insanity....or maybe check out the party at Ghetto Gloss. Green Beer and Blonde on Blonde playing.

Saturday:
LA Marathon = Clogged Roads. Again sleep in and wait to brave the roads till like 2.
The Orb and Dntel at the Disney Hall. Starts at 12midnight, goes to 6a.m. If i were still young and proned to chemical enduced alertness, I'd definately check this out. The Orb are the best thing to come out of the Rave movement, with a sense of Surrealness that is desperately lacking in most dance music.

The Silver Lake Film Festival starts on March 23rd. There has been limited hype for this, and their website kinda sucks, but that shouldn't keep you from checking out some stuff. I'll do my research and feature some stuff to check out soon.

March 29th:
Minimalist Jukebox: Glenn Branca Hallucination City: Symphony 13 for 100Guitars. Of those 100 guitars, Carey Fosse will play one and Mike Watt will playanother! There will probably be other people you know, too. Starts at 8. Bringyour earplugs kids, this is gonna be loud.

Tuesday April 4:
Professor Stephen Hawking will speak at Caltech at 8pm. No, they are not issuing advance tickets. If you want to attend the lecture you have to line up before 8am that morning. They will assign numbers to the people in line and then issue tickets beginning at 8am. You can have no more than two tickets.

There will be overflow seating in two other buildings with live video feed and they will project the video on a screen outside. Arrive early that evening for the overflow seating and whenever you like for the video projection on the lawn.

Get your geek on.

Monsters in Silver Lake!

Local Architectural Instillation misfits Materials and Applications are at it again. Their latest transformation will be called Here There Be Monsters. So far an armiture of a bridge made out of Bamboo has been created. I'm eagerly awaiting the final product. Opening reception for the new instillation will be on April 1st.

God Save Echo Park Pt. 2

Well before Aimee Semple McPherson laid down her own brand of Evangelical churchin in Echo Park, the Pentecostal Movement landed in the area, and from there became a nation wide and international religion.

Although the Pentecostal faith was founded in Topeka Kansas, it was a tiny house on Bonnie Brae St. that brought it to the masses.

"It was at the Bonnie Brae house, built in 1896, that believers set off a movement of exuberant worship that has grown from a scoffed-at sect to the world's fastest-growing branch of Christianity, with more than 500 million participants around the globe. And as Pentecostalism explodes in Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia, the fire hasn't gone out on Bonnie Brae Street."

It was an African American preacher named William Seymour who dropped the good book on babbling believers in Echo Park around 1906. Seriously, shortly after his arrival, churchgoers started speaking in tongues and a wave of gatherers began filling the tiny house. The local newspapers mocked them.

Now, creating such a hubbub about a previously ridiculed religion is one thing. But what impresses me is that William, a black man in the height of racism was able to bring together people across the color line into this small house.

The movement soon grew too large for the Bonnie Brae house and moved to Azusa Street in Little Tokyo and became better known as the Azusa Street movement.

"The Azusa Street movement seems to have been a merger of white American holiness religion with worship styles derived from the African-American Christian tradition which had developed since the days of chattel slavery in the South. The expressive worship and praise, which included shouting and dancing, had been common among Appalachian whites as well as Southern blacks. The admixture of tongues and other charisms with black music and worship styles created a new and indigenous form of Pentecostalism that was to prove extremely attractive to disinherited and deprived people, both in America and other nations of the world.

The interracial aspects of the movement in Los Angeles were a striking exception to the racism and segregation of the times. The phenomenon of blacks and whites worshipping together under a black pastor seemed incredible to many observers. The ethos of the meeting was captured by Frank Bartleman, a white Azusa participant, when he said of Azusa Street, "The color line was washed away in the blood." Indeed, people from all the ethnic minorities of Los Angeles, a city which Bartleman called "the American Jerusalem," were represented at Azusa Street"

"But the Azusa Street Mission is long gone; all a visitor will find in Little Tokyo is a street sign and two plaques. It is in Historic Filipinotown that pilgrims can step on the hardwood floors of history, play the old piano or find a quiet corner to pray in one of the many rooms kept bare of furniture to give guests space to kneel and seek the unseen.

The Bonnie Brae house is owned by the Church of God in Christ and cared for by Sol Calimpusan, known as Sister Sol. Born 54 years ago in the Philippines and raised as a Catholic, she is a 5-foot-1-inch whirlwind of prayer meetings and evangelistic endeavors who is quick to offer a "hallelujah."" The house is located at 216 N. Bonnie Brae St.

Read more about the Pentecostal religion here. More about the Bonnie Brae and Azusa houses here.

Sneaky Pete's Shoe Review

A few months ago, Stinks Good gave you the lowdown on some of our favorite shoes and shoe stores. On the top of the list for comfiest pair of kicks was a pair of JShoes loafers. Well, the other day on Needled I read about a limited edition line of the very same loafer with hand etched Tattoo designs on them. Pretty swank! And pretty pricey as well.

More on the bargain tip, a few weeks ago I scored a pair of Palladium sneakers at the Shoe Pavilion on Beverly Blvd. Palladium is an old school French sneaker company that have been making 'em since the 30's. When I was in Paris last year, Palladiums were the only shoe that I saw that I liked at all, but what with the currency exchange, they were crazy expensive. Shoe Pavilion has a select offering for more then half off the American price.

In The Slaw

The new Clientele album is quite infectious.

It's like alternative easy listening. Kind of the way Prefab Sprout or The Church was in the early 90's. Or AM radio when I was a kid, all those Simon and Garfunkle rip-offs. This may sound like a dis, but really I'm liken it. Its just got this uber-pleasentness to it. Quite suitable for a rainy day, or an early Spring sunday morning.

The album is called Strange Geometry.

On my record player, is Ike and Tina Turners Come Togethor. Man, this album rocks. Loaded with some great covers (including one of my favorite Beatles songs of all time) and some good original compositions as well. I found my copy at Rockaway Records on Glendale for 2.99. You just can't beat that.

Apartment 3G

Several years ago, I was browsing the comics section of the newspaper. Instead of just simply reading Doonesbury and The Far Side (yeah, I think it was that long ago) and ignoring the rest of the filler that I never paid attention to, I started focusing on the old school "Mellow-Drama" comics. Apartment 3G, Rex Morgan MD, and the like. I kinda found them amusing. In the same way that one could watch a Soap Opera maybe once every month or so, because the plot just moved at a hobbled pace, so did these three panel comics. And to make life move that slowly in a comic, some drastic measures took place. Measures that many times warped into surreal vignets. I started to look at each panel on their own...looking for unintended stories or moods in each panel. I found once in a while this would yield some truely bizarre events. The image posted here is one such panel. I mean, just imagine how this panel could have had anything to do with a year long story arc. It couldn't have, and since I only saved this panel...I have no idea if it did. Regardless, It prevoked me to want to make this a persuit of mine. Persuit of the hidden art in the Soap Opera comic. Well, as is the case with most of my brilliant ideas, I would forget about it for a while (not recieving the paper on a daily basis didn't help much either) and then occasionally return to the idea. I know I have a few more of these in my piles of papers...so as I find them I'll try and post them.

Do I Get Fries With That Car?

Bio-diesel is all the rage. Seriously, I haven't seen this many Californians excited about vegetable oil since the flesh singing tanning craze of the seventy's. But, why not. Being able to power a car from recycled fry grease? Sounds like a good idea to me.Now many people think that if we all drove these cars that the whole city would smell like MacDonald’s or something. But evidently it’s relatively clean burning and doesn't emit much smoke. Again, sounds good to me. Bio-Diesel also allows you to potentially not depend on corporations like Exxon and Texaco for your source. Sticking it to the man, once again sounds good.

American Apparel has set up a Biodeisel station that most of its corporate cars will be fueled from. As well, they are offering the service to employees.

LoveCraft BioFuels is a one-stop Bio-Diesel boutique of sorts. They'll convert your old-school diesel car to be Bio-Diesel compliant. They also provide filling stations. They've just opened a full service facility in the Sunset Junction and a fueling station in Echo Park.

To be honest, currently I'm part of the problem driving a gas guzzling truck. But I do try and walk or bike when I can. And in the future if this trend stays relevant I may be even more apt to go with a Bio-Diesel then a Hybrid, but I'll have to do my research on that one.

So what are the drawbacks? I'm not sure, do my homework for me, and give me the lowdown. But for the time being it seems pretty great.

LoveCraft is located at 4000 Sunset Blvd.

Something In The Rice Pt. 2

So I managed to borrow the little booklet that I mentioned in my last post. The one that comes in the bag of citrus candy. The one with odd pictures of cats in it. If i'm missing something I don't really care, I mean, why not. Its kinda like a box of Cracker Jacks, but better. So there are supposed to be several different collections of silly kitty pictures in different bags of the candy. If anyone ever sees this stuff, or the Taitsukun stuff, please hook me up. The bag is all in japanese, the only thing I can see is that its made by a company called Kabaya.

While I'm at it. A while ago I mentioned a japanese Mp3 player called AirPie. AirPie now comes with an available phalic speaker device called The Pump....someone at that company is quite the savy branding mastermind.

Maybe Its Something In The Rice.

I'm drawn to many things Japanese. Music, cinema, manga, food, toys, fashion...Not all of it mind you. Mostly things of a humorous almost surreal nature. I've spent time trying to define it, but I really can't in words.

Regardless, working near Little Tokyo allows me to discover little trinkets and things that secure the idea that some day I'll visit Japan and although I may not speak the language I'll understand it.

Mitsuwa Market Place is a Japanese mall off of Alameda that I've been shopping at for years. The office that I work in always has a steady supply of Pocky or Gummy Candies from here, and their pre-packaged sushi or the soup at their mini cafe is a good cheap way too spend lunch. Wash it all down with a can of green tea or milk coffee and its all good.

While shuffling through the always fun candy section, I took a stab in the dark and bought a package with a rather silly image on the front. The package is based on a comic series called Taitsukun. It entails two costumed fellows. Their sexuality seems rather ambiguous. They seem to find themselves in rather banal social and business situations, and sometimes awkward intimate situations. Its all in Japanese and my fellow Japanese work-mates have been able to give me only a small bit of information.

The style sort of reminds me of Red Red Meat, and even a little of Madman. Regardless, its priceless and I'm hooked. I feel the need to find out as much as possible about this novelty.

I'll try to start posting any products that I aquire from this silly series. As well, I'm trying to track down a candy that comes with some pretty rediculous little photos of cats in silly outfits. You know, cause how else would you market citrus candy?

What's Goin On?

Wednesday:
Tomorrow night, at El Cid, Club Screwball drops. Playing is Afrirampo from Japan. They just recently toured Europe with Sonic Youth and there is much hubub among the noise-rock set about them. They've colabbed with Acid Mothers Temple and recorded on John Zorn's lable. The group is a duo of two women who are said to put on a crazy show. Best of all, its only $5! If I happen to have a surge of uncommon weekday energy, I'll be checking it out. You should do the same. They also play at the Smell on Friday.

The Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares perform at female wailing of a different sort. This Bulgarian Choir first came to my attention in High School. Their chants are haunting and challenging. I bet they'll sound fantastic belting it out at the Disney Concert Hall. Someone go and bootleg it for me.

Saturday:
Join me and my friends I haven't offended at the Ritz Carlton in Pasadena to check out Micky Champion. That little momma of blues I've been hyping for a while. I hope she lives up to my imposed expectations. Micky goes on at 9. Its been suggested to show up around 8:30 to get a good seat.

Crazy Watch

Crazy Watch is another new segment of Stinks Good. Crazy Watch will be devoted to those eccentric (if not truly crazy) characters that define different neighborhoods. In LA, a place where I may rarely see any person more then once, the persistence of those who fill their day walking a defined neighborhood local end up being as much of a defining entity as any building or landmark. Plus, their just plane strange.

Cycle Glider is the first personality I present you, simply because I passed Cycle Glider on my way into work today. CG surfs the streets of downtown, usually during weekday mornings. CG rides a Mountain Bike, new looking. He wears a helmet, wrap around sunglasses, and sometimes a bandana around his mouth. This morning, Cycle Glider wore an emergency vest over his shirt. But its not CG's clothing that defines him. Cycle Glider has a dance, of sorts. At its base, is the hand glide. You remember when you were a kid and you stuck your hand outside a moving car window and let it dance through the air stream? Several years later, you may have used the same motion when attending a Dead show high on acid (I said, YOU may have, I sure didn't). Well, that’s the main focus of Cycle Gliders performance is that waving, dancing hand motion. One hand dancing, the other holding the handle bar. In addition to this, he usually sticks one leg out, extending it as far as possible without completely loosing balance. So, at this point, he's kind of in a Superman position....well at least half of him, the other half is kept on the bicycle....barely keeping it upright. Occasionally, he'll bob and weave his head, putting the whole body into a weaving motion. Now, mind you, he's doing all of this on some major streets of downtown LA....coasting into and out of traffic and during red lights he almost taunts the rest of the cars. If he comes across a pedestrian, he sometimes does his little hand dance over there heads. It seems to be a cross between some spiritual healing motion, and just general pestering.

I know all of this demands to be seen and not read, but at the moment I don't have a camera that caters to "from the hip" shooting that will ultimately yield the best example of this guy. I'll do my best to get an image of him. If anybody happens to snap one, please send it my way.

Scanlon Watch

Wonkette, today, had a few tid-bits about Sean Scanlons relationship with his manucurist. Even some primo insinuations of Scanlon's sexuality which would probably make his empty noggin implode.

2B or not 2B, possibly 4B.

Faber-Castell celebrated their 100th year of creating the all but forgotten hero of creativity, the pencil. Put down your laptop and mouse, go outside and sketch with a good old piece of paper and and a solid 2B.

stumbled upon this at design boom.

Babe and Ricky's

A few months ago I wrote about Mickey Champion and my seeing her ages ago at Babe and Ricky's.

B&R was one of these places that I loved and had the best intentions to visit on a regular basis....10 years go by and I'm finally making my second appearance to the place.

My recollections of the bar being located in a sketchy ghetto inside the Crenshaw neighborhood was either unfounded or 10 years has allowed what is now considered Leimert Park to shape itself into what now seems like a rather charming neighborhood dotted with art galleries and coffee houses.

Exiting Crenshaw from the 10 our mouths drooled driving passed a vast array of BBQ and Soul Food establishments. The club itself claimed to have Dinner available so we held out until we arrived. Babe and Ricky's resides in an island of business' between 43rd and Leimert.

Upon entering the club, we were greeted by Miss Laura Mae, the proprietor. Very friendly, she remembered Jenny's voice from when she phoned for information. She had reserved a table for us. The club was sparsely populated with what looked like a few regulars. We took the table and were provided with a small menu containing Wings, Cat Fish, and Hot Links. Despite my weak stomach that day, I ordered the wings. Jenny the Cat Fish.

Slowly, a few more people came by and the band started to take stage. The house band, the Mighty Balls of Fire, were a true cross-section of nationalities (sporting an Asian rhythm guitar player, Hispanic base player, and afro-American drummer) and provided a quality rhythm section to the two featured guitarists and Saxophonist.

Our food was served during the first guitarists set who managed to draw my eyes away from the monster chicken wings provided with some equally impressive playing. But let me re-iterate the size of these wings. These things were Gigantic, and fried and delicious. Accompanied by Hush-Puppies and Potato Salad. The greens had called my name....but again, I was keeping it safe. The chicken and cat-fish were top notch although pretty damn greasy.

After wolfing down the food, I managed to concentrate on the entertainment. The sax player at his best was pretty damn good but seemed to loose inspiration from time to time, possibly due to the ample show-boating of the second leads set.
The first lead seemed to integrate the rest of the band a bit better. He also jammed single-handedly from time to time and had an energy that was infectious. The second lead was technically better possibly. Although, that technical expertise may have hindered him from time to time. Regardless, the whole event was quality and did not disappoint in the least.

We managed to stay for two sets, and decided to head home around 11:00. There were inevitably more sets to come, and the crowd slowly grew but never to a point that we lost the intimate feeling of the club. We certainly weren't the only Caucasians in the mix, seems like it draws a decent USC crowd possibly.

Driving home, both Jenny and I agreed that this club was definitely a place we should frequent more often. Let's hope that doesn't mean another 10 years needs to pass before we're drawn back.

Entrance on Saturdays is 8bucks, plus a minimum of 2 drinks. On Mondays, a soul food dinner is wrapped into the cost of admission!

In The Slaw

"In the Slaw" will be Stinks Good's periodic update on what's in the mix on my turntable or computer/ipod:

Damian Jr. Gong Marley's Welcome to Jamrock is a great contemporary Reggae album. And I don't like much contemporary Reggea, I'm more of a Dub and Rocksteady man with some roots in for good measure. Dance Hall and Hip Hop Reggae don't do much for me usually. But this record is infectious. The title track (which entered the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart at Number 7, the biggest opening week ever for a reggae artist) is a great single that I can listen to over and over and hope i don't grow tired of before the sun really comes out for good. The track Move has a slamming base beat that demands to be blasted in your car as well as an effective sample of Damian's father. The rest of the album provides ample padding for these two stand out tracks. Cameo's by Nas, Bobby Brown, Buju Banton, Bounty Killer, and The Roots. A few of the tunes are ballads with some potentially cheezy lyrics, but sincerely I think I'd rather listen to this album then Kanye West if I want to feel like I'm down with the kids these days.

Green Backs Get Some Color

The National Treasury has finally taken an initial step into the era of color, adding tints of orange, red and yellow to the $10 bill. Its about time the worlds ugliest money gets a little warming up.

Whats Goin On?

This weekend? Well, two events strike my interest (and no, neither of them are the Oscars really).

Modernica: LA's original Design Not So Within Reach has its once yearly Wherehouse Sale. Just about everyone is keeping this under their hats and with good reason. Probably the only time you'll be able to even think about owning that swank piece of "case-study" furniture, if you're willing to brave the crowds and line. Last year Jenny and I snagged two Nelson Lamps for less then half the retail!

Lebowski Fest: Although I've never geeked out enough to attend one of these, The Big Labowski is right up there with Fletch and Spinal Tap for hilarious quotable lines. Unlike these other two though, people have decided to create a yearly festival of all things "The Dude". What with the likes of Jeff Dowd (the original dude) and Lu Elrod ( the Waitress) appearing...Strikes and Gutters indeed. Pre-Party at the Knitting Factory on the 3rd. Main event at Cal Bowl on the 4th. Check the site here.