Their house is a mu-zee-um...


Last night was the Second Annual Standing 8s Halloween Show, and we have photos! click here to see the cast of characters, technical staff, set list, and photo album.

Right in time for the holiday

So a few minutes ago I was next door here at work and one of the service workers, David, asked for some help. He was showing me a freezer that needed to be removed from a storage room, and he was asking about how we could rewire the room or something. I don't really know what he said, honestly; this is not because I wasn't paying attention. It's just that, as he spoke, this huge rat scurried along the wall behind him.

This rat was in the "Japanese B-Movie, Civilization-Destroying, Mothra-Fighting" division. In short, he was enormous, with big, razor-sharp sweaty teeth and a tail that could knock holes in steel structures. And of course, it only takes a few seconds before you realize, Hey, he's probably not the only one. There's probably a whole Secret of Nimh thing going on down there, and they've probably developed a cold-fusion superconductor which they're planning to use to create a master rat race once they combine the technology with their obviously superior genetic manipulation program. And many of them probably wear fedoras.

About this point, David looked at me expectantly, as if he'd just asked me something. "Hmmm... sure, I can take care of that," I said. He said that we'd just meet tomorrow at 1:00 pm to do whatever it is I agreed to do. I'll be sure to wear closed-toe shoes.

Nero Fiddles

It's been quite a weekend out here in Los Angeles. First, the good stuff: While Casey and I had breakfast at the Farmer's Market Sunday morning, Ethan Andrew Ide was born (11:13 am). He weighed 8 lbs 11 ounces at birth, which puts him in the same weight class as his mother. Brian has promised to e-mail me some photos soon -- I visited the hospital yesterday afternoon and even got to hold the little fellow.

This event reminds me of how different areas have slight cultural differences. When I first arrived in Southern California, I had never heard of Lanzar el Niño, or "the baby toss," where a group of childless friends gather behind the mother and she tosses the baby over her head. Whoever catches the baby is the next to get pregnant! Ah, culture. Embrace it.

Maybe you've noticed on the news lately that a large portion of Southern California is on fire. It's amazing, really. Over 830 (I'm sure it's more by now) homes have been destroyed so far, and today it's just getting worse. The way the air currents flow, much of the smoke descends on the westside and pushes in with the marine layer at night. Skye and I went to the Home Depot in Marina del Rey the other night, and visibility was, at most, 15 feet. Smoke in the streets everywhere.

Whenever someone is far away (geographically) from here, this stuff comes on the news and it looks like we're all choking and burning and basically miserable. While it has been very bad in certain areas, those of us in town and west have only had this smoke to deal with. If it makes anyone feel better, here's how I personally dealt with this last night, with Casey's aid: a Thai food feast, some wine, some music. Everything will be fine. It always looks worse on TV; Rome isn't burning. Yet.

Devolver

Well, we're in the middle of a grocery worker strike and a transit strike, which greatly affects one particular friend of mine who often takes the bus to the grocery store. Now, she eats whatever the dog is having. I once saw her snap at him when he got too close to her bowl. It's so cute!

So instead of wasting time and money on food, many of my friends and I now have plenty of time for other pursuits, such as muting The History Channel and supplying our own narration. One night last week, the Muted History Channel had an episode wholly dedicated to monuments, government buildings, people, and other objects which were all urinated upon by Winston Churchill. History comes alive! "We will pee in the oceans, in the fields, into the air... we will pee in the hills, on the shorelines, in our cities..." Fascinating.

If we get to the point where there's a gas station strike, a garbage strike, the two current strikes, a Jewish deli strike, and a movie theater strike, then we're in real trouble. Before that point, maybe the big grocery stores will learn to fight the big health insurance companies rather than their lowest workers. Until then, long live Trader Joe's.

Dude, where's my car?

All it takes is one misread (or ignored) parking sign. Last night, I parked in a spot and ended up getting my car towed. The best part was this morning, as I tried to track down my car. This is from the e-mail I sent Casey as I was speaking to the various city officials / towing people. I remember it as if it were earlier today...

the cops were like, "we don't show that car being towed. maybe it was stolen?" then i talked to the parking people and they said they couldn't find it in their system either, so maybe it was stolen and not towed. but maybe, they said, i should call this other number which is for the towing company. so i called them and it was towed after all. fun!

My favorite part was how chipper and helpful each person sounded when they suggested that the car had been merely stolen. Like, "Hey, maybe you won't have to pay the towing fee after all! Maybe someone used your car to rob a monastery!"

Still, I had so much fun last night, and this stuff happens every once in a while, right? After you pay the exorbitant fee to get your car back, the guys stand around for a few minutes as extra punishment, I suppose, for your grave mistake. Then they take you to your car.

It's been a great week. More later...

-M

What the Hell happened here?

It turns out that this whole recall election thing wasn't just for entertainment purposes after all. Sadly, a proposition on the ballot which would have helped rebuild (and, in some cases, just build) the infrastructure here in California was soundly defeated, presumably by a dedicated block of voters who plan on going out and paving the roads themselves.

I hope the show is over. To the rest of the country, California can now say, "Move along, there's nothing to see here." Feel free once again to associate us with nice weather, surfing, vapid entertainment, lowbrow art, health fads, porn, crime, smog, the ninth circuit court of appeals, multiculturalism, the Sierra Club, smoothies, oxygen bars, Scientology, movie stars, homelessness, bad cops, Melrose Place, DisneyLand, wine country, Charles Bronson, racial tension, environmentalism, the tech industry, the Walk of Fame, traffic, exploding buses, earthquakes, dogwalkers, wheat grass, deregulated energy, medicinal marijuana, or whatever pre-existing generalization you had about our state prior to this affair. We'll still be here, and we'll see you next summer.