Ordinary Extraordinary

Break the hate

One of The Mighty Jimbo's friends had his car destroyed by ignorant bigots. Go read the story; throw a few dollars towards the cause if you can.

Break the hate.

Happy Halloween!

Jason poses as the terrifying Captain Lobster Bib. Scaaary!

Overheard

Halloween is always a tricky time in Los Angeles; in some parts of town it's almost impossible to tell who's wearing a costume and who's just flaunting their bad fashion sense.

S.O.S.

I found this at the bottom of our daily Technical Report (usually a very dull document):

S.O.S.! We're out of 9V batteries! Please send help!

It's always dangerous when theatre technicians get bored.

Photo Friday: Still Life

Dead leaves on a fence, 2004.

Mosh

I have been fascinated by Eminem since he first broke into the music scene in 1999 (click here to read about how I applied Eminem to Freud's Structural Model of Personality). He is a compelling pop-culture figure who unifies seemingly incompatible groups under the banner of his powerful, in-your-face music. To quote Sacha Jenkins (Spin magazine), he who understands [Eminem] understands the fabric of American society—beautiful stitches, stains, rips, and all.

Eminem's latest song, Mosh, is an aggressive anti-Bush piece that urges his followers to take responsibility for the condition of our country and to change it by going to the polls on November 2nd and voting.

Someone's trying to tell us something, maybe this is God just saying
we're responsible for this monster, this coward, that we have empowered
This is Bin Laden, look at his head nodding,
How could we allow something like this, Without pumping our fist
Now this is our, final hour
Let me be the voice, and your strength, and your choice
Let me simplify the rhyme, just to amplify the noise
Try to amplify the times it, and multiply it by six
Teen million people are equal of this high pitch
Maybe we can reach Al Quaida through my speech
Let the President answer on high anarchy

(read the complete lyrics here)

From the Music for America website:

Eminem is making a play for the times, to be a cultural leader of a revolutionary generation. . . [Eminem] is a man with mass appeal. "Mosh" uses that appeal for unity, for a focus in the fighting spirit of the hip hop nation; focus to organize, gather, and achieve some great ends.

And from MTV.com:

"Mosh" portrays Eminem as a powerful rebellious figure who just by using his voice and music has the ability to mobilize people who are fed up with the president.

The video for Mosh, directed by Geurilla News Network's Ian Inaba, begins with the sound of children saying the Pledge of Allegiance and a shot of a jet flying low over a school before exploding offscreen. The imagery is powerful and disturbing: Lloyd Banks harrassed by police, a poverty-stricken woman evicted from her apartment while Bush announces tax cuts on television, an army private being re-assigned to Iraq on the day he returns home. As Eminem raps about disarming George W. Bush, his followers (identically clad in black hooded sweatshirts) storm the White House to register to vote.

Watch the video for Mosh here. I got chills the first time I saw it.

Though they've been slammed by critics, I don't think that that Eminem's Mosh and P. Diddy's Vote or Die campaign are too aggressive. People under the age of 30 in this country don't vote. The reasons for that are long and involved, but the point is that they're not voting and they should be. This is what it takes to get youth voters to the polls.

And as we proceed, to mosh through this desert storm, in these closing statements, if they should argue, let us beg to differ, as we set aside our differences, and assemble our own army, to disarm this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president, for the present, and mosh for the future of our next generation, to speak and be heard, Mr. President, Mr. Senator, (can you hear us?)

Too Many Cars

Sometimes even superheroes are overwhelmed by their blessings: "Rachel, there are too many cars to love."

Phone Envy

It is no secret that, in Los Angeles, phone envy is as common as breast envy or Gucci envy: it's all about what you're packing in your purse, pocket, or Louis Vuitton phone case.

There are those who believe that having a BlackBerry is the only way to go while others staunchly defend the hipper Sidekick (a small minority believe that a cell-phone-and-PDA combination is actually the wisest solution). Casual conversations about "hands free" devices quickly turn to heated debates as people draw sides on ear buds vs. boom mics and voice dialing vs. hot keys. The battles to personalize phones rage endlessly... wallpapers, pictures, faceplates covered in Swarovski crystal. Competition over who downloaded the cooler ringtone can get downright ugly.

Los Angelenos can be more vehement in their support of their wireless provider than they are in support of their preferred presidential candidate. It's a jungle out here and your machete had better look sleek, keep the power of the internet at your fingertips, and ring with polyphonic majesty.

For the past two years I have been staying out of the cell phone fray, quietly making calls and sending text messages on my comparatively low-tech Motorola t720. I downloaded a fun ringtone, laughed over the fact that I could play Tetris on my phone, and didn't think much more about it. I think it is safe to say that unless I had to call someone, my phone didn't cross my mind at all.

It didn't cross my mind, that is, until my phone started to fall apart a few months ago. First, the battery lost power and I had to charge it after even a 2 minute phone call. Then the headset jack broke and I couldn't use my coveted hands-free device. Finally, the microphone started to go and I had to whack the phone three quick times in succession before the person I'd called could hear me. It was time to join the melee and upgrade my phone.

Since Verizon Wireless has a great upgrade plan, all I had to do was walk into a store and pick a new phone. Foolish mortal: easier said than done.

The sales associate at the Verizon store helped walk me through the myriad of choices. BlackBerries, Treos, and LGs - oh my! When I mentioned that I didn't really need a phone with a camera or web browsing capabilites, she looked stricken "But, all the phones have this stuff these days! It's just, like, standard!"

I finally settled on an LG VX7000. It has a camera that shoots still images and video at night, in the sun, or under flourescent lights. I can browse the web, send text messages, and download my own photos to use as wallpaper (two different wallpapers - one for the main screen and one for the front screen thankyouverymuch). It has a calendar, message organizer, and a tip calculator. Plus, it has a GPS locater option that I can enable if I suddenly find myself lost in the wilderness with my phone.

Oh, and I can also call people!

This phone has so many bells and whistles that it came with a 40 page manual AND a reference CD; I admit that I've been having fun with all the new features. I downloaded the music from the Spiderman credits as my ringtone (geek!) and I've been amusing myself by playing with the camera. For the next three days (until a newer model comes out), I have the slickest phone in town, baby.

Except for one minor detail: the MULTI-COLORED FLASHING LIGHT that strobes through blue, pink, green, yellow and white every time the phone rings, or a text message comes through, or I make a call. It doesn't talk about this light anywhere in the manual nor is it mentioned in any of the product descriptions. It's like a little extra... surprise.

A little surprise that I can't figure out how to turn off.

Can I still be slick when my phone flashes like a 70's disco floor?

Almost Famous

A friend just pointed out that I am in yesterday's LA Blogs digest for this entry.

Neato!

11:57pm

It's 11:57pm and I'm sitting in a cold, dark theater watching puppets rehearse. They tilt at an odd angle... vacant eyes staring at me and arms dangling uselessly as their puppeteers surface to recieve notes. Suddenly the puppeteers have disappeared and the puppets are alive and animate again, dancing and laughing and singing like real boys and girls (and lemurs).

This scene replays itself ad infinitum. Puppets dance in and out of the light and the sounds and colors start to blend together as our minds go fuzzy from exhaustion and repetition; we (the production team) start to giggle from the surreality of it all.

Sometimes, my life seems like a bad acid trip (or at least what I imagine a bad trip would be like).