let's just say, we placed an honest FOURTH at geekswhodrink

thanks to JaHa and MaMcWa for being such great teammates. and, AlSto too. ♥ he even won a prize (again, thanks to JaHa!)! the final scores were as follows:

Killer B Minuses                 76
Reverse Zombies              
  (WON AT ARMWRESTLING!)       75
Penis Penis Penis Penis Penis  
  (LOST THEIR ”DIGNITY”)       75
The Pumphouse                    70
Dungeons & Drag Queens           65
Rocket                           65
Say No to Babies                 62
Sentient Toasters                62
5 ft, horse teeth,
     drag queen Gremlins       55
Grundlechode – Grenade           52
Singles Awareness                46
Halvo*  White Devil              36
Disney Boobies                   33
Jelly Belly                      30
Landgull                         27
Oman                             12

wanna join us next time?  please do.  see geekswhodrink.com!

groove armada DJ set at supperclub los angeles

i was bummed that we got there in time to catch JASON BENTLEY for only ten minutes... ten minutes of which it took me to adjust to the spectacle that is the Supperclub. Dirty Vegas was meh, even though i really like their hits and i'm quite excited about their new record. oh, and did anyone warn Andy and Tom that a girl drops down out of the ceiling every few minutes during the DJ's sets to twirl around on a harness-hammock? no one warned me!

GROOVE ARMADA play a great DJ set. they really do...even when they're playing in a space where the volume of patrons' talking is louder than the volume of the music...AND, the number of people standing and talking exceeds the number of people dancing.

and, if the greatness of a nightclub or concert venue is measured by the total number of people pushing past you hard enough to knock your shoulder backward (hard enough to have a foul called on you in the NBA or to have started a fight if you were still in jr. high) with nary an 'excuse me' or any type of acknowledgment, the Supperclub_LA is the mother of all clubs.

not only that, but at this one-of-many-former-L.A. movie theatres-turned-semblance-of-an-Ibiza or Las Vegas-hotspot, you may also experience the level of difficulty, hassle and/or confusion involved for a person to simply find the outdoor smoking area [photo on left] is a 9+, while the level of difficulty, hassle etc. involved to find a decent parking space (on a Saturday night in Hollywood!!?) close to the venue is only an 8.

outside, i met a very easy-to-engage guy with glasses who taught me that carbon dioxide being nozzled into an enclosed space requires humidity in order for CO₂ to 'cryo' properly.

aside from the uneasy feeling i got from seeing hordes of people in the vip areas, standing with their shoes on on white suede-like bed /couch things [see photo below right], i was fascinated by yet another phenomenon: bottle service.

the areas around the club's perimeter are strictly reserved for the bottle serviced. i wondered whether vip access would or could be granted to, say, 50 people or 'new friends' i somehow convinced to chip in at $2 each to buy one fifth of liquor. speaking of which, i peeked over the shoulder of one of the waitress girls as she frantically typed in one of the vip tables' order...and i swear i saw the price for one bottle of their grey goose vodka cost more than i paid for two nights at a bed and breakfast. (and i'm still convinced that the bottles are diluted in the back with water to make the vodka go further...especially since it appears the waiters bring the bottle up to you and 'open it for you' without demonstrating an unbroken seal...but unfortunately, i have no proof of that. ;-| )

incredibly, the doormen/door guys and bouncers at Supperclub_LA are extremely nice, smiley AND helpful...they really are. so, be sure to thank them, and smile back. because otherwise, you'll never find the smoking area.

BTW, just follow the right side of the dancefloor to the very front. follow the velvet rope, but take care to stay on the left side of it. otherwise, you'll get pushed and sneered at by the vip's and/or the vip's server. keep going and make a right. i swear the smoking area is out there, just past yet another friendly, smiley doorman.

2011 jeopardy online test questions to get on show

video capture of west coast adult contestant jeopardy test questions 2011 -
here* is what AlSto and i did at 8pm this evening:


simultaneously elsewhere, my friend FraKa drove to wait in line overnight in one of three zip codes (90803 at fingerprintz, 90036 rumoured to be at the El Rey Theatre, 90026 at origami origami) for the 12 noon Friday ticket onsale to the 'secret' Los Angeles/Hollywood Arcade Fire show that was announced on the Twitt'r and kayrock radio station; whilst my friend BriKa watched the lakers come back from behind against the celtics in Boston; and [what did you do?].

btw please forgive the borders of the screen capture - 'twas my fault. oh, and huge thanks to Kaze and his awesome find: the almighty powerful open source streaming video capture software CamStudio !

*please note: this was NOT AlSto's nor my test. or was it?

Zombie Tabernacle Choir and more interesting stuff...

today's piece of awesomeness is an interactive zombie choir! the animator's website itself is pretty cool. at least he makes the load time interesting and bearable! (below is not the zombies, but taken from Schnall's site.)
i can always count on Ji Lee to show me something i've never seen before. you must find him on the Twitt'r...he'll rock your world!

aaron sorkin: on writing while bartending, sarah palin and more - cbs sunday morning

take a lesson from Terry Gross, Leslie Stahl.

i watched Stahl’s AARON SORKIN interview segment on CBS Sunday Morning News today; it was hardly a more appropriate place to have seen her poor skills as a journalist, than say, 60 MINUTES. it’s just a drag that most people aren’t up at 7am on a Sunday to watch (or know to TiVO) the segment. and, CBS Sunday Morning IS a pretty great show.

god you are one of the worst interviewers ever and you just repeat what your interviewee says in reply to your question…but with so little emotion, the technique essentially stops the flow of the interview in its tracks. watch Huell Howser to see how you can inject some charm and genuineness into your work. and WHY would Sorkin mention the Zuck’s gf even if he knew about her? the film, Leslie, “is NOT a biopic.”

as a Sorkin fan, i liked the backstory about his ‘survival jobs’ before he experienced success with his A FEW GOOD MEN script…but the segment wasted time with footage of him folding a Cats tshirt. i can’t believe Stahl chose to mention SPORTSNIGHT, then chose not to not mention THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION, and then chose to bring up Sorkin’s crack use.

i liked hearing what he believes about who should run the country…although, anyone who enjoyed the WEST WING may be aware of and even have very similar opinions:

“i have a big problem with people who glamourise dumbness and demonise education and intellect. and i’m giving a pretty good description of Sarah Palin right now.

“S.P., she needs a therapist, ok, we need the smartest guys, the best PhDs around to be solving these problems. i don’t have patience for the glamourisation of dumbness.”

Sorkin does have patience for some things, especially when it comes to mediocre news correspondents. Stahl needs to stop trying to get validation from her subjects.

Stahl’s auto-strokefest begins in the broadcast after Sorkin has the honesty to admit:

Sorkin: “…the first time i ever saw (Zuckerberg) on television was being interviewed by you two years ago.”

Stahl: “Did that influence you, that interview?”

um, yeah, it did.

and then, in reference to the ‘Is that a question?’ line from the SOCIAL NETWORK film, she asks:

Stahl: “i wondered if you got that little moment from us, did you?”

Sorkin: “i did”

Stahl: [satisfied smile]

i don’t even know whether the FB movie deserves an Oscar, since i watch so few movies, but yes, it was indeed a good movie. but, you’re right, Leslie Stahl, you do have what it takes to write dialogue for Academy Award –nominated films. are you an entertainment host , screenwriter wannabe, or a freaking tv journalist??!!

Sitting harnessed... (or our Joe Frank / Facebook adventure)

he following was taken verbatim from JOE FRANK's FB wall. the entry was first posted at 15.11 on Saturday 29 January 2011.

JoFra: Sitting harnessed to a high chair, the bitter odor of coffee, the sweet odor of cigars smoke, gazing at the traffic passing on the street before me. People talking and laughing, someone lifts a spoon of custard to his mouth, a valet rushes into the street clutching luggage, hailing a taxi and hit by a colorful double decker bus. (Continues below in comments)
==
JoFra: Commotion, sirens, flashing lights, police talking on radios, man removes sports jacket and covers valet knee deep in water screams What's the matter with you, you whore. Crowd parts for stretcher carried into ambulance, doors close, helico...pter overhead while sitting in high chair small tables around dance floor where man wearing bandanna sits at white piano accompanying couple dancing the tango and waiter carrying silver doomed tray to table, steps back to reveal cheese souffle.(photo from steamykitchen.com)

Large broad boulevards, statue of Evita, held in arms of huge crowd that gathers in plaza before 2nd story balcony where a big, fat man with a mustache, wearing a general’s uniform with a plumed helmet and an oversized gold-plated side-arm using a European baby on all fours as a foot stool, a sword hanging from his belt wearing riding boots receives adulation, What's the matter with you, you whore, and marbled buildings, echoing hallways, hushed meeting rooms, green velvet lampshades overlooking boulevard with island planted with shrubbery and flowering trees and outdoor cafes where people sit and talk and a baby in a high chair stares at shiny automobiles visible in a showroom floor
...

MiBe [JF fan also posting in comments]: It's getting dark now. Across the street a band is playing The Internationale while old men in ancient uniforms watch over the boiling street scene. The flashing lights on the ambulance light the brass section to flash like gold. The neon... lights from the local sustantivo reflect as jewels in the gleaming instruments. The General, oblivious to the fate of his dying valet, stares down with an expression of rage and hate. Momentarily, he considers retiring inside for a nap, but instead, he dials his phone, ordering an attack on the crowd below.
...

VeKiSto: ...and squints as the fat man laughs out loud, his footstool squealing out of pain but partly out of boredom, and the stomach of a dog the size of a large supreme burrito grumbles loudly What's the matter with you, you whore as it nestled ...uncomfourtably beside a designer wallet, probably a knockoff, a leash designated as humane by the ASPCA, three or four slightly used lipsticks, hand sanitizer, some keys, a folded up to-go menu, loose change, bits of glass, a nearly empty prescription bottle, a pen with no cap, crumpled kleenex, a cellular phone, blinking and buzzing, an iPod, a sports bra, old sticks of gum and one piece of chewed gum, the dog sometimes able to breathe inside the enormous, impossibly heavy imported leather handbag carried by an impeccably dressed, slightly insecure, youthful-looking, college-educated woman in a hurry, with nails manicured, breasts believably enhanced and beginning to sweat ever so slightly because the last time she ate was the last time she
...

LaHa: [another JF fan post]
It was becoming more difficult for him to fit into the highchair, it teetered, threatened to topple, with his every move. Sometimes the ashes from his cigar dropped into the hair on his chest, that odor was not quite so sweet.
It didn't seem... to matter how chaotic the social order became, revolution, flood, plague. As long as he continued with the charade, agreed upon in a long forgotten past, life continued.
The tap dancers were coming on next, then the tigers, that was his favorite part.

KCET is no longer channel 28, at least on Time-Warner cable

late last night, i was confused when i saw a black, empty screen on channel 28, which, since childhood (at least in Orange County), was usually the former Los Angeles PBS station KCET. i thought it was a TiVO mixup, but today, even worse fears were confirmed, as stated in this press release (or programming alert?) issued by Time Warner cable:

"Beginning on or about January 17, 2011, KCET, which is currently made available to customers in an analog (or both analog and digital) format will be made available in a digital format only. KCET will remain on the Broadcast service level. Viewing on certain television sets may require additional equipment that can be provided by Time Warner Cable or that may be available for purchase from retail stores in certain locations. "

as we all know, KCET no longer carried PBS as of the first of the 2011 year. i was surprised to see just one other analogue cable 'dinosaur' on a local Los Angeles Yahoo! forum was noticing, let alone complaining, this recent development, that 'TWC drops analog KCET (ch.6)'.

what's worse is, even if we HAD digital KCET in Orange County, we would be forced to accept KCET's 24/7 Kids and Family channel, rather than their so-called "new" independent programming...which i was kinda digging, what with all the cool cooking shows (YOUR JAPANESE KITCHEN, RICK BAYLESS, ERIC RIPERT etc.), plus H.R. PUFNSTUF and LIDSVILLE!!?!

CES, Polaroid and tardiness

via SUBTRACTIVE:

"...Lady Gaga, the official creative director for Polaroid. Gaga arrived about 40 minutes fashionably late to her event at the camera company's booth. The pop star demonstrated a portable photo printer she said she designed herself, which she carries in her purse, and a pair of sunglasses with a camera built in to it."

PLEASE put this on your status...

PLEASE put this on your status if you know someone or are related to someone who has been eaten by DRAGONS. Dragons are nearly unstoppable, and in case you didn't know, THEY CAN BREATHE FIRE. 93% of people won't copy and paste this, because they have already been eaten by dragons. 6% of people are sitting in the shower, armed with fire extinguishers. The remaining 1% are awesome, and will re-post this. Will you?

[THX to ErRo for this!!!]

milhaus.

from ETSY.

many thanks to Little Mountain (MiTau) for this! :))