It's Always Sunny

ust a quick reminder…

The second season of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia debuts tomorrow evening on FX, and I feel I would be doing a disservice to all of you if I did not mention it. This show is absolutely hysterical, and I highly recommend you watch.

Seeing as how there is a shortage of good comedy on television, I feel it necessary to do whatever I can to support those that do exist, least they wind up cancelled (a la Arrested Development).

So, anyways, watch.

Otherwise, not much else to talk about here…teaching is in full swing…and let me tell you nothing says fun like driving over an hour to teach a three hour class in a classroom that has no air conditioning in the middle of the summer.

Ahh, the weekend…I miss you…please come soon.

Teaching The Tykes

well, my first day of class has come and passed, and needless to say i’m tired…my body is not a fan of waking up at 6 am and then driving an hour to and from work.

but, the teaching was fun, and the kids all seem to enjoy things so far.

I will say that 3 hours of class on writing in the summer maybe a bit more than necessary…so hopefully i manage to keep the kids from going crazy before the end of the session. Also, the fact that the classrooms have no air conditioning does not help in this department.

anyways…i realize this isn’t a very exciting post, but my brain is done working for the day…time to get some shut eye.

Quack

Things have been a little hectic over here the past few days. Since getting back into town, I’ve been juggling the continuing(and hopefully soon to be finished) process of unpacking and moving into my apartment (I know, I am really bad - slow - at getting settled), along with trying to take care of other move necessitated errands (i.e. going to dmv to get my license and registration changed) before I begin teaching again next Monday.

At which point it will be back to waking up at 6 am (ish) on a regular basis (or rather for a month and change until the class is over), obviously something I’m not looking forward to. Although, my bank account will, I’m sure, be appreciative.

Anyways, otherwise I’ve just been trying to do some more enjoying of my new surroundings, which over the last few days (and into last weekend) resulted in some rather “hollywood” like activities.

First, this past weekend I went with my brother to grab a bite to eat at The Pig N Whistle on Hollywood Blvd. Not the best of food (although the portions were quite large - for those who have an interest in such things), but the meal was decent enough, and it was, we figured, some place that we had to try out at least once (being a Hollywood landmark and all - at least, so says their menu).

So, while we were there, I see this guy walk out of the restuarant wearing a denim jean jacket and sporting a tooth pick in his mouth. And I’m looking at him, and I know I’ve seen him before, when suddenly it dawns on me…it’s the dude who played Lester Averman in The Mighty Ducks (parts I, II, and III). His name is Matt Doherty.

I thought this was pretty sweet, especially considering my Chris Kattan sighting a few days prior, and my subsequent reference to A Night At The Roxbury and their reference to Emilio Estevez as the Mighty Duckman. And eventhough I think that (at least) the first Mighty Ducks is a pretty kick ass movie from back in the day, I don’t think Matt qualifies for the Celebrity List, however, as is my want, I feel he deserves some mention here…especially considering how badass he looked in denim (he still has the same ‘fro and pretty much wears the same glasses).

Then on Monday evening I went with my brother to the Arclight for the LA premiere of a film called Hatchet, which my brother worked on last summer. It was a very enjoyable horror film, with a lot of gore and some gratuitous nudity, quite the crowd pleaser.

Obviously, there were a bunch of “celebs” at the screening - anyone who worked on the film (actors, the director, etc.), including Kane Hodder who some of you might know from his turn as Jason Voorhees in Friday The Thirteenth (parts VII, VIII, IX - technically called Jason Goes To Hell, and part X). Also in attendence was Richard Riehle, another cast member, who might be better known as the guy in Office Space who creates the Jump To Conclusion mat.

Anyways…as I stated, definitely an enjoyable flick, worth checking out if you like that sorta film, if/when it gets distrubition.

Alright kids, I’m off to watch a little more television before hitting the hay…I’m trying to ween myself back to a normal sleep schedule to try and ease the pain of next week. This morning I got up at 8:45, however, tomorrow I’m going to wake up real early at 6:30 and watch the USA vs Ghana World Cup game. Then the trick will be to stay awake for the rest of the day without napping too much, so that I can fall asleep early(ish) tomorrow night.

The Man Who Saw The Mighty Duckman

Well, I am back from my 5 year college reunion and visit to the East Coast. Suffice to say it was a very enjoyable trip, and as always it was good to see my friends, along with some people who I hadn’t seen in some time.

I will, in the next day or so, provide more details into the festivities that occurred, but for now I wanted to just let everyone know that I was back home safe and sound in LA.

And, you’ll notice that Chris Kattan has been added to the List Of Celebrities, as my brother and I came across him this afternoon while shopping for groceries in the Whole Foods on Fairfax and Santa Monica.

It was quite odd, actually, we were talking and then all of a sudden I looked up and there was Mr. Kattan making some selections from the salad bar.

And though I was tempted to quote some Night At The Roxbury and scream out Emilio, instead I just continued on to the prepared foods counter to pick up some fish.

Yesterday

Not only are there adjustments to be made living in a new apartment, but I’m also beginning to see that living in Hollywood is a lot different than living in Santa Monica.

I had this epiphany yesterday as I walked into the Washington Mutual on the corner of Sunset and Vine and passed through metal detectors that were enclosed by two different sets of bulletproof security glass (so that you couldn’t enter the bank until the metal detector cleared you and opened the doors electronically).

It wasn’t so much the metal detectors themselves that caused the realization, but rather this was the culmination of everything else that occurred throughout the day.

The day began with a trip to Supercuts. I parked my car and stepped out into the parking lot when I heard a voice from behind me speak, “Hey, do you like rap music?”

I turned around and came face to face with a black midget (okay, so not technically face to face). Now, normally I wouldn’t refer to a black midget as such (as I believe the preferred nomenclature is little person), however, I refer to him here as a black midget because this is how he identified himself. Since I was just standing there, slightly confused, and having not answered his question, he spoke again, “What? You never seen a black midget before?”

At which point I was able to recover long enough to reply, “Uh, no, I just wasn’t sure if you were talking to me.”

To which he then replied, “Whatever, so do you like rap music?”

Now again, normally, when faced with this question from people on the street I usually say no, as I assume that they are about to try and sell me a cd they made. However, in this case, still recovering from my initial confusion, I answered, “yes, I like rap music.”

At which point the black midget did, in fact, attempt to get me to buy a cd of his rap music. Which, I might add, I was more tempted to purchase then I’ve ever been before when approached by a random person on the street hawking cds of their music.

Nevertheless, I politely declined and proceeded on to get my haircut.

After my haircut I headed over to Ralph’s on the corner of Fountain and La Brea. Things went smoothly inside right up until the point that I got in line to check out. I was behind an elderly woman, who basically met every single stereotype conceivable when you think of getting stuck behind an elderly woman in the checkout line.

A sampling of her conversation (pretend it’s in an elderly woman’s voice).

Elderly Woman: How much did you say it was?
Cashier: $74.97
Elderly Woman: I’m going to write you a check? (searching her bag) Do you have a pen? I can’t find my pen? It was here this morning. I never leave without my pen. I like a pen handy in case I have to write something down. Where could it be?
Cashier (handing her a pen) Here you go.
Elderly Woman: Oh, thank you. I’m going to write you a check. How much did you say it was?
Cashier: $74.97
Elderly Woman: Did you include my coupons? I gave you my coupons didn’t I?
Cashier: No, you didn’t give me any coupons.
Elderly Woman: Really, well, I have coupons.

Things continued from there for another 2-3 minutes. Normally, I would have probably gotten impatient and switched lines, but I was really quite transfixed by it all. The most amazing thing is that after everything was done and she had paid, she ended up taking the pen and putting it in her purse. I didn’t see her do it, but we (myself and the cashier) realized it had occurred when I went to go sign my credit card receipt and his pen was no longer there.

Then after Ralph’s it was off to the bank where I was greeted by the metal detectors and hard-core security. Needless to say this was a shock, but also I realized perhaps a necessity given the clientele in this area as opposed to the soccer mom’s and retirees of Santa Monica.

As once inside the first thing I saw was a rather tall guy sporting a blue mohawk, tatoos, and peircings screaming obscenities at the customer service person. I made my way over to the line of people who were all looking on quietly, as the guy continued his tirade.

Fuck this, fuck that, fucking government, the revolution is coming, banks will fall, all you motherfuckers are gonna get lined up against the wall.

Stuff like that.

And as I stood there and watched, I realized I was sorta okay with the fact that my banking experiences from now on would include a trip through a metal detector….

On a side note, I’m off to the east coast for a week to attend my 5 year college reunion…so forgive my absence if I don’t do too much updating the blog between now and when I get back…however, i’m sure there will be some entertaining anecdotes to relay upon my return, which thereby will lead to your entertainment, so really you should be happy i’m going.

High Speed Pursuit

Just about all settled into the new apartment…and things so far are going quite well.

Obviously, there are a lot of adjustments to be made living in a new place. For example the dryer in this apartment is slightly less powerful then my old dryer. And by slightly less powerful I mean it took me close to 3 hours to get my clothes dry yesterday…but hey, as long as the floor stays dry and the ceiling in-tact then i won’t complain.

On the bright side of things, I can now see the 101 from my bedroom balcony and window. And this evening I witnessed my first (presumably there will be more) high speed police chase, complete with a helicopter shining a spotlight on the suspect’s vehicle.

I walked into my room, and noticed the helicopter and spotlight moving towards my apartment from the distance. At first I wasn’t really sure what it was doing, but then as I continued to watch I realized that it’s beam was tracking a car that was speeding towards my apartment (north) at speeds of what appeared to be nearing 100mph.

Soon the car (and helicopter) sped passed ending the excitement for about five seconds until a group of 8 police cars, sirens wailing, came flying by in hot pursuit.

I immediately put on the local news channels in hopes of seeing a live cut away to the action (hoping also for some explanation as to the origins of said chase — thereby allowing me to become more emotionally invested in its outcome).

But, alas, there was no chase coverage only the weather report.

For all those interested, it looks like tomorrow will be a bit cooler, sunny with highs around 85.