Ran Hit Remixed

Last week, my dad, brother, sister-in-law, cousin, brother-in-law, and I ran a 5-mile race in Downtown L.A. It was a lot of fun, with old-school rappers performing at intervals to break up the monotony (Young MC, Digital Underground, Coolio, and Vanilla Ice) and De La Soul playing a full concert at the finish line. I haven't been running much lately, but managed to cruise through at a sub-10-minute mile pace.

Like metal, I was never into running when I was a kid. Asthmatic, allergic, and uncoordinated--it just wasn't fun in any way. My dad was even into jogging way before it was ever cool, but I could never hang. For some reason when I was in college, I got an apartment across from a park and decided to start. I was broke, my roommates were away a lot, and I had time. I think it was during a particularly tough dead week, and I knew I had to do something to blow off some steam.

Starting with one lap around the park and eventually running around the entire UCLA campus (and then some), it's become a habit for me. When I moved to Silver Lake, the reservoir which a lot of people run around was a big factor. I enter organized runs with my dad and the others a few times a year.



Here we are at the end of the race. As a Bruin, I've always had an aversion to the Coliseum, but I have to admit it was pretty neat to emerge from the tunnel, enter the field, and see myself on the Jumbotrown. Hearing "Potholes on my Lawn" among the cleat marks was cool, too.

Postponed heshing

If you've been reading the last couple issues of GR as well as the blog, you've probably noticed that I've been writing a lot about underground metal. But honestly, my brother Greg and I skipped right past the genre when we were in junior high school. There was this kid Kevin McCurdy (who we will always be indebted and grateful to) wore thrift shop clothes and Specials buttons and smoked clove cigarettes. He was friendly when the white metalheads shunned us geeky Asian kids, and was a big influence on my brother and me.

So when our parents offered to buy us $100 worth of records upon promotion into high school, we went straight to The Jam, The Clash, and David Bowie. PiL, Black Flag, and the Butthole Surfers. So for me, metal isn't a prolonged adolescent thing; it's more like catching up for the embarrassing childhood I never had.

Greg and I flirted with metal when The Cult went from Native American icons of Love to the skulls and beercans on the Electric album, Guns 'n' Roses opened for Cheap Trick, and Danzig went solo. But really, the entire Scream scene was more classic rock than metal. I saw Metallica on the And Justice For All tour and Megadeth on the Peace Sells But Who's Buying tour, too, but I was more of a head-scratcher than a headbanger.

The turning point came when The Melvins opened for Nirvana. Whoa. Godheadsilo became Enemymine. Holy crap! And then there was the Fucking Champs. Brujeria? Si. Somehow, this all lead to Motorhead, Venom, High on Fire, Disfear, Vital Remains, and Slayer shows in the last couple years. Eric and I happen to be seeing Mastodon tonight.



Metal shows are awesome. They remind me of how punk shows used to be--when fans were actually scary and no one bought their gear at the mall. Metallers are actually kind of smart these days, too. Much more DIY spirit than major label suckage, and you're never going to hear a metal jingle for deodorant like you will a punk riff or hip hop beat. (Or will you?)

Metal maniacs aren't known for having an agenda, getting people to be politically active, being the voice of the streets, or starting movements. But they might be the purest form of protest and release. There are underground metal bands from South America to Southeast Asia. As Ali Azhari from the Persian death metal band Arthimoth says in the new issue of GR, "Metal seeks for and finds broken hearts."

Snow bunnies

Autumn means it's time for leaves to turn color and pucks to drop. For us Los Angeles Kings fans, that means looking forward to a decent start and an inevitable collapse--most likely after the holidays. But this season brings a new GM, coach, and players, and at the moment the L.A. team is tied for first with the heavily favored rivals, the (no longer Mighty but admittedly mighty) Ducks.



One of the more interesting players who's been in camp is Yutaka Fukufuji. Drafted in the eighth round in 2004, the goalie from Japan has been posting strong numbers in the ECHL and AHL. In Japan, he played for the national team as well as the Kokudo Bunnies! That has got to be one of the best sports mascots ever. I would do almost anything for a Bunnies jersey. Unfortunately, the team has merged with Seibu, and has become the Lions. Having Kimba as a mascot ain't bad, either.



It's pretty rare for a sports team to have not one but two cool mascots. I'm not talking about the "realistic" ones like Cardinals, Blackhawks, or Raiders, but cartoony ones. Yes, there are some decent college characters--the Jayhawks and Orangemen come to mind--but you have to admit that most of the pros are pretty lame. The Raptors are childish and the Cleveland Indians are just offensive. What's up with that?

But back to Fukufuji, we probably won't see him in the NHL for a while. The Kings has signed Cloutier from Vancouver, pushing the Japanese goaltender further down the depth chart.

Spot check fo graf heads yo

Often called the Ellis Island of the West Coast, Angel Island was designed to handle the overflow of unwanted Chinese after the Exclusion Act passed in 1882. Immigrants from China were detained and interrogated anywhere from two months to, in some cases, two years, before being processed or denied.




While people were stuck there, some detainees carved poetry into the walls. (Above, Chinese. Below, Punjuabi.) The San Francisco landmark also handled a good flow of Japanese picture brides, as well as Russia, Korea, the Philippines, and other countries off the Pacific Rim.



Angel Island is in midst of restoration, and is battling in an online contest to win a grant of $100,000 from the American Express/National Trust for Preservation online contest. You can help preserve this important piece of American history and artifact of Asian-American toiling by voting at the Partners in Preservation site...

TV eye

MTV-Chi is music television with a Chinese-American angle. A crew from the station was scheduled to visit Sawtelle and film segments on Giant Robot this afternoon, but it was pushed up and we did it yesterday. As a result, I was my usual ratty self in a GR softball shirt and shorts from the Army-Navy store, being interviewed about the mag, the shops, and our role in Asian-American culture and the future. Oh well, no Korean man makeup, Stüssy manbag, Burberry Nikes, or fauxhawk for me!



I was slightly intimidated because on the preview DVD I had seen everyone looked fabulous and wacky. But they turned out to be very normal and nice folks, and the interview was fun. I don't think it will be boring or dumb.

As for the clips that show between the segments, I don't know what they'll pick. What videos with Chinese people would I select? If I had my druthers, I'd pick J Church, ALIVE, Kid Koala, DJ Shadow's "Six Days," King Lychee, Brain Failure, Faye Wong, and maybe one of the LMF videos that Dan Wu directed... I'm probably forgetting someone big. If that's you, sorry. It would also be cool just to mix in stuff like Guitarwolf, Koushik, and Blonde Redhead since we're a Pan-Asian mag, as well as bands like Bad Brains, Black Flag, The Jam, and The Clash, just because they matter to us.

In the end, it doesn't matter because most of those bands won't register on the public's rader. And I don't even have cable, so I won't be able to see it anyway!

Hollywood bowling

I try to hit the Hollywood Bowl at least once every summer. Jimmy Cliff with Toots and the Maytalls, James Brown, The Who, Brian Wilson with the Polyphonic Spree--sometimes they book some pretty cool acts there, but a lot of it is just the ambience. Being under the stars with a Trader Joe's picnic in the Hollywood Hills is awesome, and you can imagine the Beatles or the Doors playing there.


Last night, we got hooked up with some killer seats courtesy of our friend Julia. She loves taking people to shows at the Bowl and packing killer bento boxes for them. We were lucky and grateful to be her guests. Gary Baseman came, too, and I busted him drawing pictures while everyone else was rocking out!



The opener was TV on the Radio, featuring Kyp Mallone (left, with afro) a.k.a. Miles Morgan from Scumrock. Apparently he should keep his day job, because his band is awesome. You don't know how hard they rock until you see them onstage.


Headlining the show was Massive Attack. You might remember the "I'm Cool" song in Wong Kar-Wai's Fallen Angels movie. You know, it's the heavy song that plays during Leon Lai's assassin scenes. Massive Attack's regular singer Daddy G didn't play due to paternity leave, but the band was smart. They had guest singers that practically made us totally forget his absense. Below is Horace Andy, rocksteady legend. Holy crap, I knew he sang for the band, but I didn't think he traveled with them!


And then there was Elizabeth Frazer from the Cocteau Twins. I've been a fan of hers since high school and never thought I'd see her in concert. She really does sing like an angel! There's another Wong Kar-Wai connection here: she and her Cocteau Twin partner Robin Guthrie have worked with Faye Wong, a star of Chungking Express. Weird, huh?


It was a great show, and I'll ever have such swanky seats (or yummy bento) again in my life. I swear, I don't usually play "6 Degrees of Separation from WKW" or yell Jon Moritsugu movie quotes at shows. I'm a fan of cinema, but I'm not that dorky. Please don't tell Julia about this; I don't want to think I'm going to embarrass her with a fanboy outburst if she takes me anywhere again...

Harder they come

When writing articles for GR, I don't always get to meet the subject. For example, I didn't get to visit or even do a phoner with one of my favorite bands, the Hard-Ons, because they’re from Australia. Everything was arranged and executed via email. It was a pain in the ass to coordinate, but totally worth it. I gave four pages and two sidebars (one with the band's old singer and another to Rollins, who sang for them on a 7" single) to a band that most people have never heard of!


So when I found out the band would be playing at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood last night, I was stoked. I haven't seen the band since '93 or so, the group has released a ton of great albums since then, and I could hand them a copy of the mag with the intervew. (I had it sent to their U.S. label, but who knows if it got forwarded.)


I fully expected the Hard-On's set to be awesome. They play an awesome mix of catchy punk and crunchy metal, both styles with an impeccable sense of melody. The sound is more complex and layered than it was 15 years ago--partially due to the departure of original singer/drummer Keish De Silva. Pete "Blackie" Black has taken over the vocals, and his delivery is smoother. Bassit Ray Ahn still lends the harsh metal vocals. The new drummer, Pete Kostic, is solid as shit. The last song was a full-on rock jam that went on forever, and I didn't want it to end. It was funny and epic at the same time.


What I didn’t know is if they liked how the interview turned out, even remember it, or, worst of all, be dicks about me bugging them after the Queers finished their set. (For the record Joe Queer and his new crew played a great set, with the band's own classics “Born To Do Dishes,” “Love Love Love,” “I Only Drink Bud,” and their version of the Beach Boys' "Don't Back Down," in addition to choice covers like the Ramones' “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker,” The Undertones' “Get Over You,” and the Mr. T Experience's “And I Will Be With You,” with another Ramones song, “Slug,” for good measure.) Unfortunately, I missed the openers, Toys That Kill...


When I handed Blackie the old GR with their interview, he was really cool. He remembered the interview and was stoked.


The guy he was talking to looked familiar to me, so I asked him if his name was Mark. Yes, it was. Holy crap! I told him I was a big fan of his old band, Big Drill Car. I used to see them all the time on bills with ALL and the Chemical People at the Anti-Club way back when. (I saw Jaime from the Chems/Punk Rock Vatos/45 Grave at the show, too.) Mark gave me the lowdown on the group, how he’s doing sound for the Lemonheads on their next tour and BDC's singer Frank now lives in Bloomington, Indiana. Apparently there are BDC songs on iTunes, so hopefully the generation of downloaders will discover songs like "16 Lines," "In Green Fields" and "Restless Habs."


But back to the Hard-Ons. Ray emerged from backstage, and he was really cool, too. He totally remembered the interview and said he got a copy of the mag when he was in the States. We talked about movies, music, and the tour. I got their emails and said we'd keep in touch. Hopefully, some smart U.S. record label (Sub Pop, Touch and Go, and Alternative Tentacles--are you paying attention?) will pick up the Hard-Ons so they can come back soon.

Double feature

Last night I went to a press screening of Jet Li's Fearless. I saw it on a Region 3 DVD months ago, and have been dying to see it on the big screen ever since. The movie marks a homecoming of sorts both for director Ronny Yu as well as the star. Yu made his big splash with The Bride with White Hair and The Phantom Lover, and hasn't helmed a movie in Hong Kong or China since. For Jet Li, the movie harkens back to his gweilo-smashing in Once Upon a Time in China. Yes, if you've seen your share of kung-fu movies, you know pretty much exactly what's going to happen. But it's done perfectly and with heart and power. I thought Hero was an amazing movie, but that was more about art than ass-whooping--or about the nature of ass-whooping, perhaps. Fearless is definitely worth your time and money, and Ronny Yu is a cool guy, too. (That's him and me after we interviewed him for GR42.)



The nightcap was Jon Moritsugu's Scumrock. I've been fiending to break out the DVD ever since TV on the Radio wheat pastes have been surfacing around town, promoting the new album and date at the Hollywood Bowl with Massive Attack. Filmed on VHS and edited with two VCRS, this movie is as low-budget as it gets, but the background hiss is matched by underground energy. TVOTR member Kyp Mallone plays a clueless indie filmmaker/neurotic record-collector nerd and Jon's filmmaking partner, bandmate, and wife Amy Davis plays the lead singer of a scumrock (not punk rock) band called the Puerto Ricans. Surrounded by amazing side characters, their paths criss-cross on their respective ways to disaster. The movie also features loads of good friends of GR: past intern Peter Lee, Emily's Sassy Lime member Emily Ryan, and J Church's Lance Hahn. TVOTR is getting a lot of play these days, and hopefully Jon's incredible work will get some run out of it, too.



Trailers usually get played at the beginning of movies, but I just received a link to this documentary teaser this morning. It's about Black Panther Party field marshall Richard Aoki, who we interviewed way back in GR10. The preview shows longtime GR supporter Harvey Dong from Eastwind Books up in Berkeley!

On the bus

Sometimes I take the bus to GRHQ. When I do, one of my favorite parts of the day is skateboarding to the stop. I cross Santa Monica Blvd. at La Peer and then go east for a couple blocks. The sidewalk there is so glassy and wide that one kick will take you far. It feels great to roll around planters and carve up and down driveways until I slide to a stop around San Vicente.



Almost a month of doing this passed when I realized that my bus stop is right in front of Rage, which was an infamous gay nightclub when I was a UCLA student in the later '80s. There weren't as many places like that back then--at least not many that everyone knew about--and it was the type of place that frat guys would joke about.

Now that's one of my favorite spots for cruising. Who knew?

Honkies

Walking down Stadium Way toward Sunset Boulevard, I saw people leaning out of their car windows screaming, drivers honking their horns, and Audiovox speakers blasting Technotronic's "Pump Up The Jam." No, the war is not over and the king is not dead. But in a crucial baseball game with playoff implications, the Dodgers rallied to beat the Padres 11-10 in the tenth inning.



The Blue Crew had been chasing the Pad Squad all night but could never get a lead. Then it happened. Down by four in the bottom of the ninth, Jeff "Pornstache" Kent, J.D. "Never Hits When It Counts" Drew, Russell "Wonder Boy" Martin, and Marlon "New Addition" Anderson knocked out consecutive solo home runs--something that has only happened three times in MLB history, the last time in 1964--only to see the San Diego club manufacture a go-ahead run in the top of the tenth. Nomar "Mr. Hamm" Garciaparra hit a two-run blast to end it.



Fans who stuck around to the end kept cheering well after Nomar rounded the bases, watching the highlights and refusing to leave. The celebration continued as the fans hopped in their cars and waited to exit the crowded parking lot.



In Chicago, Boston, New York, or even San Francisco, fans go straight to bars to bond and get loaded. Then they hop on a rail, train, or bus to crawl home. Not so in L.A., the town where Joan Didion cited freeway rush hour as our version of "secular communion." We celebrate in cars. It's weird, but it's cool, too.



I haven't seen a comeback or a celebration like this since the Stunner at Staples, when the L.A. Kings scored three goals in 6:07 of the third period and went on to beat the Red Wings in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The traffic jam on Figueroa went going buck-wild, and no one wanted the gridlock to end. Hopefully, the Dodgers will get some more of that in the postseason.

End of the century

Actually, the end of fresh peach donuts season at Donut Man. Upon the strong urging or Eric, I went on a quest to the spot on Rte. 66 in Glendora last night. The server said there was just one bucket of peaches left. By the end of today, it will be over.



Don't be sad. It'll come back again next summer.

Banksy does L.A.

If New York had its Fashion Week, this must have been L.A.'s art weekend with tons of openings. Shepard Fairey showed at Merry Karnowsky and Neck Face was at New Image, and I'll check those out when they're not so crowded. I did attend Ai's opening, though, beause Ai, Shingo, and Gabe are awesome and so is the art.

And then I made time to check out Banksy's show at a warehouse in Downtown L.A. If you were one or two people of the people here who didn't go (or maybe you were out of town), here's the scoop.



No, I didn't go on the all-star preview night on Thursday with celebrities and rock stars. A group of friends and I went on Saturday afternoon, just after the show opened. We parked a couple blocks away. It was like the show was a magnet pulling in art fans from around the city to this industrial neighborhood.



It got super crowded later on, but we just walked up the ramp and in. People with bags got searched for stickers and Sharpies.



The first thing you saw was a paddy wagon with the mysterious UK artist's trademark stencils. You know an artist has made it big when he can put stencils on items that refer back to his art. This police truck had Bobbies making out on the back panel.



There was a looped video which put the anonymous artist's work in context. It's one thing to show art in a warehouse to hipsters; another to shove it in the faces of people who need it. Clips showed Banksy putting up his art in museum settings and on the street, as well as placing his figures in Disneyland. Also documented was his purchasing, doctoring, and returning Paris Hilton CDs to shops. A sample booklet was placed under glass with live cockroaches.



Around the corner was a more traditional gallery space. There were large canvases juxtaposing classic art images with twists. For example, a wall-sized image of a picnicing family surrounded by starving Africans.



And then statues with modifications--busts with bulletholes in their foreheads, baseball caps and fundraising folders, etc.



From a loading dock, you could see a mangled phonebooth--something touched on in the film loop. He took ones off the street, cut and welded them, and then replaced them. A statement on an era gone by...



Around the corner, I could see the trailer that held the infamous elephant which had been featured in the day's Los Angeles Times. Its presence elicited complaints from animal rights activists regarding creature which was body-painted to blend with wallpaper. It was intended as a statement about obvious problems being ignored by society. Uncool to animals? Maybe. Unsafe? Probably. Effective? Definitely.



Back inside the main room was a corner fashioned to look like a fancy parlor with stuffed couches and modified thrift-shop paintings. Once again, he took a paintings theme and turned it upside-down--for example, portraits with gas masks or a lake scene tilted and draining off the frame. Each piece was seamlessly doctored.



This entire show seemed intent on proving that Banksy is much more than a stencil street artist, and that his artistic skills, social criticism, and sense of humor have many dimensions. I think it worked, and the sense sense of planning and craftsmanship was further illustrated in sketches and plans



And just like that--the three day show was over and gone. But look for Banksy stencils around town, because you know they're out there.

Alive not dead

"I used to sing about death before but I don't sing that song no more / There are some things in this life like seeing West Side Story / There are some things in this life like eating at Pancho Villa's." - Cringer

The last time I saw my friend Lance Hahn was in June when his band J Church was on tour. Maybe you read the blog entries. The group totally rocked and it was great to see a couple shows and grab some food with them at Happy Family before they drove on to Arizona. Unfortunately, the end of the tour was the beginning of his troubles.


If you've been keeping up with the band's myspace entries, you already know Lance has been going through a lot of shit. His heart has been threatening to cease beating for years, and now one of his kidney needs replacing, too. So he's been in and out of the hospital, getting shaved, probed, sewed, and who knows what else. It's also a financial black hole, too. Yes, being alive is what's important, but money problems are just as real as health ones in this world.


This really sucks. Lance has always been one of my heroes. The music he has written and performed with Cringer and J Church are the perfect mix of working-class revolution, art-school referencing, and awesome riffs--everything I love about the Clash times 1,000, plus DIY ethics. And technically, the songs are bulletproof, with powerful guitars, solid basslines, and melodies that you fall asleep thinking of and wake up with. Very smart, very catchy, and rocking like hell. But it's not tough guy music--it's funny.

Lance also happens to be one of my friends. He's as cordial and humble as he is talented, and as well-versed in Asian cinema and pandas as he is obscure peace punk bands and Situationist writers. I've been lucky enough to host him at my place when he's on vacation (and not on a touring schedule) and debate various Chingmy Yau movies, seek and destroy vegetarian Chinese food joints, or play Super Bomber Man until our eyes bleed.


A lot of bands from the Gilman scene (where the band is most associated with) got pretty big. J Church never did, but kept playing, touring, and releasing shockingly great records that could be appreciated by everyone from big stinky guys with patches on their hoodies or pigtailed girls with stickers on their lunchboxes. Naturally, they'd play huge festival in England and came back here to play backyard shows with 50 people.


I don't expect the group to tour any time soon, but I've told Wendy that if they ever play a gig in Austin, we are flying there. Then she said that we should fly there anyway just to visit. Good point. I'll trying shooting another email over there, but I don't really expect him to answer.

Pesonally, I think he should get one of those Genius Grants or be declared a national treasure or something. But that's unlikely, so friends and fans are taking action. Apparently, there's a tribute album coming up and multiple benefit shows in the works. Most of us aren't in bands and won't live near the shows, but do check out the songs on the group's site. (I suggest "Yellow, Blue, and Green.") If you like what you hear, buy a CD or two. Maybe it'll help shave .50 off his hospital bills.

Orange County shreds!

That's what Thurston Moore says on Sonic Youth's "Dirty Boots" EP, which features a couple live songs that were recorded at UC Irvine. I missed that particular show, but saw the band come through Socal a few times on that tour. I caught gigs at the Hollywood Palladium with Nirvana and the Whisky with Superchunk. Then I drove down to see them in Tijuana with Mudhoney. Wait, didn't Dinosaur Jr. open for them sometime, too?



At the time, the band was already well known for instilling punk with art, both in terms of musical arrangement and visual style. With a fat budget from Geffen, they started hooking up some of their favorite artists–Raymond Pettibon and Mike Kelley, for starters. Sonic Youth was responsible for making me a little more interested in art, and I think a lot of people my age feel the same way.



So it makes sense that in a few weekends, Sonic Youth will be playing the opening reception of the 2006 California Biennial at Newport Beach's Orange County Museum of Art. This museum, too, has been doing a lot to changing people's opinions on art. By booking shows with the likes of Yoshitomo Nara, John Waters, and Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as a stop by the Beautiful Losers touring exhibit, the museum has proven that all art isn't stuffy and dead. It can be relevant, exciting, and inspiring.


This morning I tried to buy into a $60 package including membership and two free passes to the Biennial's opening night with Sonic Youth, but was too late. That deal sold out. But buying $30 tickets to support the arts, see an important band, and check out new works by local, up-and-coming artists is not a bad deal at all. Maybe I'll see you there...

Super furry surprise

GR44 is at the printer, and we expect proofs on Friday or Monday. It's a little early to divuge all the contents quite yet, but here's a sneak preview of the cover because we're all friends here...




And now it's back to housekeeping. The office is a mess!

Touched, gone

I missed the Touch & Go 25th anniversary shows in Chicago, but Ben Clark, my good friend/awesome photographer/rad skater/Ray Barbee Band member did not. Here's the scoop, straight from his email:

Awe Man! This was by far the best festival concert I've ever seen. 4 songs from Big Black followed by the best Shellac set I've ever seen. Scratch Acid. GVSB, 3 mile pilot was awesome. The Monorchid are still one of the last great punk bands. HOly shit, Seam was great, they had the aMiniture dude playing 2nd guitar. Overall it was totally rad. I was wondering where
you two were. Hopefully they'll have a 50th anniversary and we can all rock out as old farts.

Talk to ya soon.

Ben

I'm glad he didn't let a little rain get him down. Now it's time for the Dodgers to hit the Windy City and do some rocking of their own...

Small or large?

We've been working on the new issue of Giant Robot all weekend, and I love it. It's like when the Seven Samurai assemble to accomplish to kick ass.


Pryor is been back in town and he's been ministering to the color. Guest stars Kim, Janet, and Joyce came in to help us find mistakes in the text. Doug made it in to shoot some pics on the fly. Eric, Kiyoshi, and Wendy make it eight, so perhaps a better comparison is Dick Van Patten not using birth control, packing house full of kids, and hijinks ensuing.


Wait, I forgot to count me. Whew! I guess we're something else.

With a little extra time due to our cancelled Chicago trip, Wendy and I were able to lounge around on Saturday morning. First, we dropped by Silver Lake Coffee to drop off some flyers for our friend Christy Cheng's band Chop Chop (playing a FREE show at The Echo in Silver Lake tonight, so don' t miss it) and redeem a stamped-up card for a free drink. When I placed our order, the person said, "Would you like small or large?" Huh? I'd like to meet the dumbass who asks for small when getting a free drink.


We took the drink to go and had lunch at our new favorite place to eat, The Trails, in Griffith Park. The outdoors setting would be a perfect antidote to being in the office all day, every day. They finally had the vegan pie, which I've been dying to try. It's kind of like a meat pie but with fake meat! The filling was tasty, but of course the flaky and yummy crust is the main attraction. (Note to vegan friends: the dipping sauce has dairy ingredients, but the non-animal filling's flavor stands on its own, too.)


After that, we had to get some fresh peach pie. Yes, we've been eating a lot of sweets lately, but peach season is going to end any day now. When we got our ample slice, the always-nice person who helps us said, "You got a Pac-Man!" Indeed, there Pac-Man was on the crust.


We ordered one to go (it had a ghost on it) and Wendy was compelled to get a Trails T-shirt (but that's another story).

Since then, it's been back to work. Today we go over our printed-out mockup one more time to make sure it's bulletproof... Want to come help? Tomorrow, it ships and I'll be back to a more regular blogging schedule after that!

Still in L.A.

Well, Wendy and I decided to blow off our trip to Chicago because there's too much stuff to do here at the mag...

I was pretty bummed out last night. I really really looked forward to seeing so many of my favorite bands: Pinback, Shellac, Black Heart Procession, Three-Mile Pilot, Peg Boy, Big Black, Ted Leo + Pharmacists, Seam.

But I think the mag will be better without us rushing there and back. Expect a lot of sarcastic captions in this issue, because I have all this excess energy and extra time.

Dengue Fever at JANM!

I can't go due to deadlines and softball, but maybe you can! One of our favorite bands, Dengue Fever, is playing a free show TONIGHT at one of our favorite places, the Japanese American National Museum in Downtown L.A. If you're out of the loop, the group plays Cambodian-style psychedelic rock with surfing, spying, and lounge overtones. Chomm Nimol's vocals will absolutely slay you, and so will the tack-sharp instrumental play. Show starts at 7:00.

Lockdown

We're deep into production for GR44, and it's not bad. While we are against it more than ever, we've been eating pretty well (Native Foods, Ramen-Ya, Chandni, and Donut Man in the last few days) and spirits are high. Maybe the two are related?

I've finally finished my last big article and am finally getting to my music reviews with the idea of finishing before the avalanche of stuff comes from Eric (his reviews, publication descriptions, product blurbs, and a few articles)... I feel like Indiana Jones staying one step ahead of the boulder.

Meanwhile, we've got friends coming in to help find errors, transcribe, scan, and do other stuff. Photos and articles are coming in by the hour. Yikes. I'll try to squeeze in another blog soon.


Our readers can beat up your readers.

And Fontana!

So the other day I was interviewing the BellRays. Lazy journalists usually describe them as Aretha Franklin singing for the MC5, but I think they're straight-up Led Zep minus the elves. You should check out their site sometime.

Anyway, we were talking about music, life, and other stuff when one of the guys mentioned his hometown was Fontana.

"Isn't there a Super Shop there?" I replied.



If you grew up in Southern California in the '80s, you probably listened to KMET or KLOS. Those were the hesher stations that played Ozzy, AC/DC, Rush, Billy Squier, Journey, and bands like that.

All the time, they'd play this commercial for Super Shop, which sold parts for metal dudes' Trans-Ams, Cameros, and other muscle cars. With a super manly voice, a narrator would reel off the cities where Super Shop had locations while a metal guitar riff zig-zagged in the background until the end when it faded and he said, "...and Fontana."

That radio spot is burned in my head, and I'm not alone. It's like a lithmus test for people over 30 who grew up in Socal. If you know it, it's impossible not to crack a smile.

So the question is: Do I keep that part of the interview in the article? It's such an inside joke that only a small percentage of readers will get it. Of course, I could expand on it in the question, but that might ruin everything.

What do you think?