DNC Buzzword: Infomercial

[Normally I don't comment much on politics save for in private, but 'tis the season...]

Starting last Friday, the word I've heard over and over used to describe the Democratic National Convention 2008 in Denver, Colorado (and the Republican National Convention 2008 in Minneapolis, Minnesota coming in a couple of weeks) is Infomercial... perhaps you've heard it too. It seems to be the buzzword and the sad thing is that it's accepted as being the way things just are - more akin the the ego stroke of the New Year's Day Tournament of Roses Parade than any serious political convention. What's the point? Perhaps in the election cycle of 2012 all the pretense can be shed. The DNC & RNC will fund their "conventions" with 100% corporate sponsorship and something useful can be done with the our tax money that is currently given in addition to corporate payola. Furthermore, instead of news channels pretending this is anything more than a celebrity red carpet event and that there's serious news to be covered, the DNC & RNC can just buy commercial airtime like any other infomercial and leave the news for actual news worthy items.

A More Poignant President...

These two fellers running for president are like damp moldy towels - which one smells worse is a matter of perspective... Think about it, can you back either of them 100%? 75%?... 50%? How low are you willing to stoop grasping at straws?

Woodlawn Cemetery - Santa Monica, CA

[Vance "See Ya" North & Lois "Go away I'm sleeping" North]

A couple of clever grave markers found at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica, CA. The cemetery holds some real gems in the way of upright headstones. Small enough to thoroughly explore in one day yet containing numerous examples of upright headstone types and styles from the turn of the 19th Century through early-mid 20th Century when uprights fell out of favour...

Twilight Zone Marathon...

The Twilight Zone marathon is a staple of holidays - mostly I remember it being a Thanksgiving Day tradition... But today it's a 4th of July run on the Sci-Fi channel... A Twilight Zone marathon while celebrating the birthday of our country is a rather poignant thing. Every episode a commentary on the 20th Century psyche of the United States - the hopes, contradictions, musings, daydreams, wickedness, despair, paranoia, kindness... the list can go on and on. It's all there in a nutshell, under thirty minutes per episode.

The Twilight Zone is also a collective experience. Discussion of favourite episodes is always an entertaining way to whittle away some time - and usually leads to discussion of other worthwhile subjects. Most - other than the old - first experienced The Twilight Zone as kids in the form of daytime TV reruns, probably after getting home from school - in the block of time when there used to be no daytime "talk shows" or other crap programing produced as cheaply as possible on every channel. That's how I experienced it and that's how almost everyone I know did - in different cities and at different times...

The details of my initial viewings of The Twilight Zone are probably a little different than most. As a latch-key kid I would get "home" from school - I loosely call it "home" because it was a rented garage... I would warm up some prepackaged thing in the toaster oven and turn on the TV. Not speaking a word of English, most TV shows would not hold my attention except for The Twilight Zone. Thinking back, I don't remember the episodes with sound - the narration and dialogue probably sounded like a bunch of gibberish, but that didn't matter - I didn't have to know what was being said to understand the meaning. The images are so well thought out that I could follow the story just by watching - just like reading a well put together comic book in a foreign language - if it's done well, you don't have to read the words to understand 75% of the story. Some stories were creepy some were fascinating, but always they were absorbing.

At some point I began to understand English - I'm not sure if it's the pictures that taught me what the words meant or if it was necessity, since no one I associated with, except for my parents, spoke my native tongue... it was probably a combination of both. As I started to understand the words, a whole other level of subtelty to the stories was unlocked - which I still enjoy every time I watch.

Whenever the Twilight Zone marathon is on, there's something compelling to leave it on - even if only in the background. A quick glance at the screen and most of the episodes are instantly identifiable, bringing memories of the story line - compelling one to sit down and watch. It's somehow comforting to know that every year for a major holiday, when TV people aren't around to mind the station, some channel will run a marathon because it's easy and cheap. When this Twilight Zone holiday marathon tradition ceases a remnant piece of the 20th Century will also cease.

The Twilight Zone Museum
The Twilight Zone on Sci-Fi Channel

Dog PEZ?

It doesn't happen in Los Angeles.

There's the myth that in Los Angeles one bumps into movie stars at every Trader Joe's or walking to the ATM one bumps into Sid Caesar. Perhaps the dreamers who don't live here imagine themselves driving through a parking lot in the San FernandoValley and seeing the members of Love & Rockets standing around after exiting a Red Lobster. I'm saying, this doesn't happen! Stop dreaming! Don't believe the hype! One can't just look out the window of their office and see filming in process going on... One of the most absurd musings would be to imagine that one would almost run over Kevin Bacon standing in the street "scouting" a location when driving one's hearse to work in the morning...

[If you want to see some photos of the real Los Angeles, go visit The Jimson Weed Gazette.]

LAFitness

LACMA 2007.12.28

[SoCal: Southern California Art of the 1960s and 70s from LACMA's Collection]

The Beast

The Beast is hungry - a villager offers a child in hope of not having their hovel burnt, food stocks pillaged and livestock raped.

When the Best hungers - the Beast is unstoppable.

I took this photo quickly and sprinted off - not wanting to attract the Beast's attention. It's is said that men have turned to stone under the disapproving gaze of the Beast.

eDoodling (?) - Doodling In the Post-Electronic Age

A friend has discovered the joys of the cell phone and sending pictures with it - I guess I'm the lucky recipient on an almost daily basis. These three showed up yesterday. I have no idea where they're from, but I suspect they had something to do with what he was doing in the morning. I thought about putting them here as just an image - but in reading a blog post, Requiem for a doodle, they sparked a thought.

Perhaps the multimedia message through the cell phone is the new doodle - I wouldn't know if the kids are doing it because I don't really know any (kids, that is) - but perhaps they are. It's not quite the same as sitting in a classroom - eyes about to glaze over - and with pen in hand, doodling whatever comes out of the subconscious - yet, in some ways it can be. The images snapped are not random and something has compelled the individual to take them and send them off to friends or family or perhaps upload them to a website, instantaneously. Doodled thoughts that used to end up in a drawer somewhere, maybe now are posted for all to see - those that would take an interest to anyhow - on the web.

In school the only thing that would keep my eyes from glazing over during a lecture delivered in a monotone voice was to doodle - I must have pages and pages somewhere. I still doodle in work meetings - it actually helps me concentrate on what is being said. I also carry a cellphone with a camera - one of the features that sold me on the particular model is that I can use it with one hand and it doesn't look like it's in use. I take snapshots of things that catch my eye whenever possible. The two (doodling and the e-snapshot) are not the same, but they are perhaps linked in that the mind is trying to capture, express and preserve a thought. Maybe.

Sunbathing in a Parking Lot

As I traversed the parking lot across the street I noticed these two people - apparently sunbathing - against the south east corner of the CitiBank at Fairfax & 3rd. There was no homeless gear to be seen stashed anywhere. One of them looked like they were trying to nap and the other was either lighting a cigarette or a crack pipe. Curious. At least they weren't naked.

Oscar's Red Carpet or The Day After

There ain't much on the TV on a Sunday afternoon - since I'm home doing a bit of relaxing and have the TV on there are a couple of choices at 15:00. Watching the red carpet pre-show of the Oscars or watching The Day After on Sci-Fi channel.

I was in elementary school when The Day After came out (1983) and I didn't watch it, but I remember kids the next day talking about it and being really freaked out about the possibility of nuclear war. By that time I think most Americans had come to their senses and realized that all out nuclear war was not survivable for anyone living anywhere but in the most remote of locales - and certainly, a city like Los Angeles - which still had a considerable manufacturing base for the defense industry - was right at the top of the targeting list...

I remember doing emergency drills, but not anything specific for a nuclear attack. The air-raid sirens (which can still be seen around Los Angeles, but are not disconnected) did go off a few times for tests, if my memory serves me right.

Though the rhetoric that had everyone on edge during the Reagan Era is not present anymore - the count of nuclear warheads stockpiled is still just as lethal - and in this case, out of sight out of mind is not a good thing. No nukes is good nukes...

Vehicle Under Duress

[vehicle was located on Hauser Blvd. just north of Wilshire Blvd. next to Ralphs]

The facts of the vehicle in question are self evident - what I wonder is whether the vehicle was abandoned, spray painted and then booted or was it booted first and an angry owner decided to spray paint and abandon it?...

Oh yeah... WGA Strike is over.

Indeed, the WGA strike is over.

Here's one of the nicest guys you could meet on a picket line - Lieutenant Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon). Thomas Lennon and his writing partner, Robert Ben Grant (Deputy Travis Junior) were the only two "famous" people I was impressed meeting during the strike.

Back & Forth

Amazed by Stuffed French Toast

Kevin is so amazed by his first encounter with Swinger's Stuffed French Toast (stuffed with cream cheese & topped with fruit) that he feels the need to document the plate for posterity.

Kevin - Thinking Hard

The thought of having to do jury duty coupled with the pressures of a strike may just be enough to push him over the edge... Will it?

In the van...

...down by the river.

Would you send your child off in a van advertising "The Man Plan" on it's back door?
Just saying - something don't seem right about it.

He Made Me America!

I decided to drop by Stephen Colbert's I Am America (And So Can You) website... and as the URL promises, he made me America (after registering of course...)!

It's a very clever website with plenty of opportunities for YOU to interact.

• Submit a video of you reading of a portion of the book!
• Submit photos of your sightings of the book!
• Sign the petition to get Stephen Colbert on Oprah's book club list!

It's your duty as a patriotic American to help Stephen Colbert out! What are you waiting for? GO NOW!

[Don't forget to buy his book!]

The World Is Safe...