R.I.P., Ted

Ted Kennedy

"The Lion of the Senate"

1932-2009

"The more our feelings diverge, the more deeply felt they are, the greater is our obligation to grant the sincerity and essential decency of our fellow citizens on the other side. . . .

...

In short, I hope for an America where neither "fundamentalist" nor "humanist" will be a dirty word, but a fair description of the different ways in which people of good will look at life and into their own souls.

...

I hope for an America where no president, no public official, no individual will ever be deemed a greater or lesser American because of religious doubt -- or religious belief.I hope for an America where the power of faith will always burn brightly, but where no modern inquisition of any kind will ever light the fires of fear, coercion, or angry division.

...

I hope for an America where we can all contend freely and vigorously, but where we will treasure and guard those standards of civility which alone make this nation safe for both democracy and diversity."

...

-TK, 1983

Coolest Thing Ever...? PERHAPS.

GOGOL BORDELLO - LIVE FROM AXIS MUNDI

Releases October 6

This is cool on a number of levels:

A) Because it's a concert DVD and I LOVE concert DVDs.

2) Because there are few live bands on the planet more thrilling than Gogol Bordello, and...

D) Because we were THERE.

-

Irving Plaza, July 2007. The Missus' and my first ever Gogol show. Captured for eternity. Feel like we should have a viewing party and give the home theater system a genuine workout. I apologize to our neighbors in advance...

Had Enough/Can't Get Enough - Revival Edition

This feature - originally designed to come in weekly installments - last appeared in September of '08 (and before that, April of '07). I am a complete and total slacker.

Here's a rundown of my hits and misses for this week...

HAD ENOUGH

• Humidity. - I KNOW it's been the mildest summer we've had in years, but that doesn't make my armpits any less sticky. L.A. spoiled me.
• Pandering to right-wingers in order to come up with a bi-partisan (" ") health care bill. It's never going to happen without the end result turning into some bullshit, milquetoasty, Frankenstein piece of legislation that doesn't address the people who are struggling under the current setup and ultimately fails because it tries to serve two masters. The American people voted definitively for CHANGE. The guy who wins the election gets to set the agenda. Time to stop giving lip service to the flat-earthers and GET THE FUCK ON WITH IT.
• Douchebags who think it's cool to bring an assault rifle to a political rally "because [they] can". Ahhhh, the Second Amendment. "Building Self-Esteem For Men With Small Pee-pees Since 1791."
• Nightmares. - Don't know what my subconscious has been trying to work out lately, but... damn.
• $2.25 a ride.
• Michael Vick signing with the Eagles. Fuck him, fuck them AND, in case you're sitting there thinking "Hey, listen, the guy made a mistake but he paid his debt to society blah-blah", then howsabout I come over to your house, hang, beat and electrocute one of your pets, and then see if you can muster that same response when I'm out of jail in 19 months. Oh, and by the way... Calling a wrong number or not putting a stamp on an envelope is a MISTAKE. Murdering a fucking DOG isn't. Idiot.

That said, I simply...

CAN'T GET ENOUGH

• Mad Men season premiere. - So cruel to make us wait a whole week for the next one.
• Thunder and lightning. - There are few things sexier than a crazy summer downpour.
• Pizza from Apicius.
• TimeOut New York. - LOVING getting caught up on the issues I missed while I was gone.
• U2360 video teasers.
• My wife. - She's awesome, right? I know.
• "Synecdoche, New York". - Pure genius. The Missus and I are still talking about this one.
  
• The new Jack Penate. - Album's available on eMusic, iTunes and at your local independent record store. Just go buy it. Have I ever steered you wrong before?
  
  
  

And this. I mean, it's a bird petting a cat. What's not to love?

Bird Pets Cat @ Yahoo! Video

R.I.P., Most Important Person in Rock'n'Roll History

Les Paul

1915-2009

L.A. Epilogue

Made it out of L.A. on the first flight Friday with no problems. Go figure.

Didn't book "House", which was no surprise given what they were ostensibly looking for. But, again. The call itself was the main win and as Yogalia pointed out, it takes some people a really long time to get an audition in L.A., let alone a network audition. So, I'll take the experience for what it was and hope it means there will be more calls down the road.

To those of you who I missed this round (Dup, Hil, Spacepants, etc.), I'm sorry we didn't get to connect. But if there's one thing I know for certain, I will be back in your neck of the woods for one reason or another some time soon.

I'm sure I will be digesting this trip for some time to come. As my NY life begins to officially take back the reins I'm sure I will be fighting to keep the experience from floating away, but for right now the sensory elements of it are still very fresh in my consciousness.

So there you have it. After almost 6 action-packed weeks, I am home.

What's next is anyone's guess.

Thanks for taking the ride with me.

-IMBA

L.A. Dispatch - Addendum

Um, yeah... So... I'm still here.

I'll give you the nut of it as succinctly as I can. Tried to leave on the first flight out of LAX on Monday. Got there at 4:30 am. Trying to use a Delta "buddy pass" which involves flying standby. Could. NOT. Get on. ANYTHING.

At 4:20 PEE EM, I'm about to finally make it onto a flight to Salt Lake when I get an e-mail from Actor's Access with an audition request from the CD's for "House". For the NEXT DAY. Much scrambling ensues. And of course my luggage had managed to make it out on the first flight of the day.

The audition went well, though I don't think I'm completely right for the part. And given that it was ONE LINE, they were probably looking more for type than chops anyway. (Conservative business executive? REALLY?) BUT... they CALLED ME IN. An unrepresented actor who'd only been in town for a month. (Cue the scene in Breakfast Club where Anthony Michael Hall gives himslef a congratulatory punch in the arm after writing the letter.)

So, here I am.In absolute limbo. Broke, exhausted and only recently reunited with my luggage. BIG thanks to M.J. and Tera for letting me extend my stay unexpectedly. Total saving angels. AND to Drew and Michelle for graciuosly lending me their rad Toyota Yaris for a few days.

So, um.... Yeah. Your guess is as good as mine as to what the hell's going on. Monday was a clear reminder of the old joke: The best way to make God laugh? Tell him your plans...

Can. Not. WAIT.

It Might Get Loud Trailer
by wallyz75

Final L.A. Dispatch - 8/2 - Last Thoughts

Seems hard to believe we've arrived at the final L.A. dispatch.  A full month. Might as well have been a week. Or an hour.  Again with the whole mutability of time thing.  

Given that it's 11:30pm and I have to get up at 3am to head to the airport, I don't have a full-blown post in me. Just a few final thoughts on my time here....

• My last day was spent returning my rental car and packing, followed by sushi dinner with M.J. and Tera in Marina del Rey. After, we grabbed some Cold Stone in Venice and took a sunset stroll along the pier. Perfect way to end the month. 

• To be honest, I'm having pretty mixed feelings about heading back to my NY life right now.  L.A.'s really been making a case for itself in the past few days.  I think I've just started adjusting to the SoCal lifestyle and am finding myself enjoying it in a way I hadn't expected. As M.J. put it, "It looks good on you."  I think a month away from my job, NYC summertime humidity, rain, noise, antagonism and crowds has had more of an effect on me than I've realized. 

• I've met some really cool people out here and have found myself much more at ease meeting new people than I usually am.  One of the cool people I met is a friend of Eion and Raf's named Dave. Dave is a photographer and music producer with a super sweet studio space on Hollywood and Cahuenga. (His website is pretty rad.) I mention him in particular because he produced an album by an artist named Kerli, a young, Estonian, Bjork-tinged,  emo/pop starlet whose music (for the most part) is totally not my cup of tea. However, I got COMPLETELY HOOKED a song of hers called "The Creationist" which has been stuck in my head for two weeks now and has become the defacto theme for my entire trip. Two versions of the song are below: the studio version and an adorable webcam video made in Dave's studio (and featuring Dave in the background) that Kerli made for a sick fan whose sister wrote her a letter.  There is NO LOGICAL REASON FOR ME TO LIKE THIS SONG. But for some reason, I DO.

• I have come to really enjoy the weather here. 

• I got a haircut from someone other than my NY stylist for the first time in about 12 years.

•  I did not get to explore L.A.'s donut culture in the way I had hoped. I'll put it on the list for next time. 

• I went to Amoeba Records twice.  I found three out-of-print albums that I'd been looking for for years.  In the USED section. For $5-$7 each.  If heaven has a record store, I can't imagine it being much better than Amoeba. 

• I am fairly dreading returning to my job at the American Express Company, BUT am VIGILANTLY attempting to reframe my approach to that situation and the feelings surrounding it to avoid falling right back into a Pavlovian pattern of knee-jerk despair. 
  

• I deeply value the chance I had to reconnect with my L.A. friends. I will miss them dearly.

• I very much look forward to reconnecting with my NY friends.  I have missed them dearly. 

• Beyond anything else, I need some face time with my wife. Right now, each of us is a table with a missing leg trying to hold a lot of heavy shit. 

In the end, I'll simply say THANK YOU, Los Angeles.  Your charms did not go unnoticed. Nor did your shortcomings.  But in the end, the person who leaves you is not the same person who landed 33 days ago. 

And that's a very good thing.

-IMBA