Can you tell the difference between the two printouts? Maybe not (especially onscreen) but that little thingy below can. The first printout comes after cleaning the printer heads and nozzles. The second one fine-tunes the colors. Or something like that.
Below, more test printouts. At the bottom, you can see how clogged up the light magenta was... We hardly use the printer in between magazine deadlines.
The printer is now ready to rock. Now we just need to finish the last articles, write the rest of the reviews, finalize some layout, color balance all the images...
This morning, I went to the doctor for my first physical exam in years. I thought it was interesting how getting an eye exam and even going to the dentist has become way more tech since I was a kid, but getting a physical is exactly the same. Take deep breaths. Drop your shorts. Look to the side and cough. Bend over. (That part was a new to me, and I still feel kind of weird about it.) Later on, blood was taken.
I seem to be healthy--which is great--but shouldn't there be some sort of tricorder by now? Pretty much everything that isn't supposed to be touched, was touched. The whole experience seemed straight out of the 1800s. Maybe Obama's health plan will kick us into the 21st century.
Manchester-based designer Peter Saville is giving a rare Q&A at The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills on the evening of Wednesday, April 1. Yes, he is responsible for the cover of Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures in addition to iconic work for New Order, Pulp, Roxy Music, and the list goes on. I RSVPed and suggest that you do the same.
Giant Robot homie Dustin Nguyen (left) is the focus of a spotlight and Q&A at the Vietnamese International Film Festival on Saturday, April 11 at UC Irvine. They're screening his movie with Cate Blanchett, Little Fish, but he's totally cool with talking about 21 Jump Street, VIP, and The Rebel, as well as his latest projects out of Vietnam! This is your chance to meet a really, really nice guy who could kick your ass if he wanted to.
With a couple deadlines hitting at the same time, home renovation reaching an end, a move coming, and a little girl in progress, it's difficult to meet up with friends these days. Going to shows and meeting for dinner is rare. But if you come over, you're totally welcome to come along on a walk around the neighborhood.
That's what GR mag contributor and softball team outfielder Brian did the other weekend. These are some pictures he took with his split-frame camera.
A lot of you out there have kids or know people with kids. Here's a chance to score some miniature-sized clothing from my sister's Kumquat baby clothing company for 35 percent off. She's moving to a new spot and needs to clear out inventory! Just type "SPRING" at the checkout for the hookup. (Yes, Eloise is all over the online catalog. The life of a super model...)
I try to spend quality time with Wendy and Eloise every day, but am really working on it during this particular deadline. So after spending a couple hours at the office on Saturday, I headed home in time for a family outing to Chinatown. Funny thing is I got to see a ton of other people as well.
The primary goal was for Wendy to see her friend's art opening, but we knew that her parents would be down for Chinese food--even though I'm sure my father-in-law wanted to watch the Laker game pretty badly.
Eloise started to get restless during dinner, so I took her out for a walk with the plan of reuniting with Wendy and my in-laws by the art galleries. On the way there, Eloise and I ran into my good friend and GR contributor Ken with his lady, Jenny.
Over at Chung King Project, I introduced Eloise to my friend Gina, whose Shooting Blanks show is on the walls. It was nice to finally see more of her photography in person.
I was hoping to run into Poonam and Ali, and did. They live right down the alley from the galleries, and have a killer pad that they designed and orchestrated themselves. (They also created a three-month-old little girl!)
Finally, we tracked down the man of the hour, Andy, at China Art Objects. Too bad you can't see the detail of his piece in the background. (I think his friend's name is Addy, but I could be wrong.)
On the way out, we saw ex-Emily's Sassy Lime member and old-school GR friend Wendy, who currently runs Ooga Booga, which is right across the street. I haven't seen her in years. She said she was ADD because she had a DJ set coming up, but I remember her always being like that! (On the left, her buddy Wilson.)
The landscaping is almost done, and it's super green/eco-friendly. Here's the view if you're walking on the sidewalk from the reservoir or new library. The plants are drought resistant and mostly watered from below. The mulch on the left is weed resistant. The pebbles on the right are gravel. The fence will be plastered and painted.
Looking across the new driveway, you can see the raised and level rhombus shape under one half of the tree. In front of the porch, there's a pile of leftover wood from the house demo/construction that is going to be crafted into a bench. Don't know how often we'll actually sit there, but its presence will make the bifurcated tree look less odd. Cacti in the background have been trimmed and replanted, as have the succulents that line the front.
The backyard as seen from beyond where the fence will go (hence, the post). Simple teak furniture will sit on the decomposed granite to the left. The landscaper is adjusting the irrigation control panel, which takes in satellite reports, a moisture sensor, etc. There are a few drains, which make sure water goes downward into a filtered pit instead of out onto the street. See the large area of gravel in the foreground? That's where the storage unit (a.k.a. my "man cave") will go. That should be a pretty interesting blog after it gets dropped in...
A couple days ago, it was announced that President Obama would be traveling to Southern California and appearing in two Town Hall meetings. My friend Cate (right, who did serious volunteering and traveling for his campaign) acquired some tickets for the Costa Mesa stop, and invited me along with Anderson (and fellow hardcore Obama supporter and family friend) to the event.
Tickets were free but very hard to come by. When we got to the Orange County Fairground around 12:30, there was a sizable line and more than a few entrepreneurs selling T-shirts, water, and other goods. I thought the home of Wally George might have yielded some protesters, but none showed up. We waited in the main line until Cate received a call from a friend inside who directed us to another gate.
From the alternative gate, we blended in with a group of volunteers and reached the entrance. Everyone was subject to metal detectors, and no one was allowed to bring in anything larger than a clutch purse. We scored some unobstructed front-row seats off to the podium's left with an awesome view (but were kind of hot from the spotlights). The event was scheduled to begin at 4:00, and was preceded by the Pledge of Allegiance by a Marine, a prayer by a Rabbi, "God Bless America" by a local church member, and an introduction by a nearby construction company owner.
Even in the heavily Republican Orange County, Obama emerged to a huge ovation. The audience spilled into the aisle to take pictures, girls screamed at the top of their lungs, and an "O-BAM-A" chant began. POTUS handled it pretty coolly--not encouraging it, but accepting it with humility and good humor. I'm guessing tomorrow's talk in L.A. will have harder core security. I can't see them allowing people to run up and take pictures... I can't imagine regular folks like us will be in the first rows, either. They'll probably be filled with with celebs, donors, etc.
This is pretty much the view we had for the event. Obama gave a short and spirited speech touching on the economy, health care, and energy. During one of the many breaks for applause, he flashed a shaka to Cate and Anderson. I'd like to think I got some second-hand Aloha from the Leader of the Free World by sitting next to them.
The Q&A was incredible to witness. Everyone knows that the 44th President is an excellent orator, but seeing him answer totally random questions so effectively and matter-of-factly on the fly was amazing, inspiring, and hopeful. He is a very smart man with a serious plan, but he was able to mix in some chit-chat and humor with the greatest of ease. Check out the transcript and video here. (Look for the shaka around 15:20.)
When I studied civics in high school--not too far away from Costa Mesa during the tail end of the Reagan years--government seemed very distant. To ever be 30 feet away from the Commander-in-Chief was improbable. To be sitting with friends who know the man was unthinkable. To have a leader like Obama, who has the potential to undo the economic meltdown, social division, and political bitterness that started in the trickle-down era, is exciting as hell.
Went to the Hammer Museum in Westwood over the weekend to check out the symposium on the recently published book, Asian American Art: A History 1850-1970. Wendy and I took turns in the auditorium while the other watched Eloise in the lobby. It was nice to see JANM's Karin Higa in academic mode. Her presentation was relatively personal, talking about firsthand brushes with art by Asian Americans in Little Tokyo. The history was surprisingly Pan-Asian, with lots of crossover between Issei, Nissei, and ABCs.
I liked editor Gordon Chang's part, too, because it included talk about The Movement, not examining the works in an aesthetic vacuum but putting them in political context. Many of the pieces were very modern looking--not stereotypically Chinky and not what you'd expect at all.
It was nice to hear the talks without worrying about being tested or looking for magazine article ideas; I RSVPed simply to learn about a topic that interests me. A great way to spend a Saturday morning. Not sure what Eloise's take on the visit was, but I'm pretty sure she dug the pink dots. She reached her limit by intermission, and we split before the panel concerning the modern Asian American art scene began... If you find Cheerios between the cushions, please pull them out for us. Thanks.
This isn't super new, but it's definitely worth a listen. A phone interview with GR contributor extraordinaire Thao Nguyen, including some of her songs and then some, posted for your pleasure.
I'm always dragging my friend and GR photographer Ben Clark around town to see bands. And inevitably--when we're not talking about our baby girls, since we're both fairly new, first-time parents--he breaks out whatever music he's currently into. As a result, not only do I appreciate his artistic talent and animalistic work ethic, but I really appreciate his musical taste and suggestions. So I had to check out his friends in Death Sentence: Panda! when they came to town. Ben has been talking them up since forever, and it figures that on their latest visit to L.A. he'd be on the road, shooting No Age and the Altamont skate team on the way to SXSW.
So I went solo, and was not disappointed. Death Sentence: Panda! has a really unique lineup with Kim (Crack: We Are Rock!) on flute and vocals, Chris (Murder Murder) on drums, and Paul (Total Shutdown) on clarinet. Onstage, the Bay Area group resembles band-camp rejects--and maybe they are--but the sound is a vicious mix of dubby arrangements peppered with hardcore riffs. Super nice folks and a great live band; I can't wait to give their last album another listen.
Headlining the Sunday-night show at The Echo, which falls under the umbrella of the excellent Part Time Punks radio show on KXLU, was These Are Powers. The bass player used to be in Liars, and the Brooklyn/Chicago trio has a somewhat similar dark, murky, and art-damaged sound. It was past my bedtime, so I made sure to stay for couple songs but had to miss the awkward, contorted dancing that was sure to come.
On my way back to my car, I spotted of the city's best graphics: This way to Chavez Ravine. A nice reminder that I not only live near The Echo, The Silverlake Lounge, and Spaceland, but also Dodger Stadium. Can't wait for Russell, Andre, and the rest of the Blue Crew (Manny!) to come back from Arizona and get the season going...
I forgot my camera, so you'll have to deal with this cell phone photo. (He actually looks a lot better than this wack image...) It wasn't bad not being able to take pics. I could kick back and just soak in the show instead of stress over getting a good angle, decent pose, etc.
This show was actually a big deal for me. Unlike a lot of other, um, "classic" punkers coming through town, Ben Weasel isn't someone that I saw back in the day and am seeing on a nostalgic reunion tour. He never played L.A. with Screeching Weasel or The Riverdales, and this was my first chance to see him live. Most of my music is in storage--and hardly any of it is converted to MP3s--but I totally got the chills when I heard "Peter Brady"...
What guy can't relate to that? No "I Wanna Be a Homosexual" or "Totally" in the set (which was just like last night's show) but he did sing "Every Night" which made everything good.
"Tonight and every night/I will analyze everything/And make myself count the ways/I fucked up today..." No fucking up tonight--a great show by a punk rock god.
This morning I was stressing about new mag articles and the ongoing book project, but when Cate tipped me off that our mutual friend Dustin Nguyen just arrived at gr/eats I bust out of the office to say catch up with him, finally meet his buddy Vincent, and grab a bowl of minestrone soup. Ah, much better...
I asked them about last night's Fast & Furious premiere that I missed, and they said it was cool: tons of bass at the Universal Amphitheater screening, the longest red carpet ever, and an outdoor after-party where a lot of people were cold. (No, no import car models.) I hooked up the guys with the new GR on the condition that Dustin write another article in the near future. He and Vincent have been working like mofos on movies in Vietnam, and more people need to know about them.
I was just notified that the official rock song of Oklahoma has been selected, and the winner is "Do You Realize" by The Flaming Lips. Impressive, and it makes me wonder what the song for California should be. "California Dreaming" is too obvious. "California Girls" is not PC. Not that song by the Chili Peppers (maybe a TV show theme song? I don't have cable) or the Phantom Planet song from The OC (definitely a TV theme song)... "Party at Ground Zero" by Fishbone might be good. "California Über Alles" by the Dead Kennedys? Something by the Westside Connection?
My friend Louie Cordero just sent me some pics from the February 27 opening of the Some Rooms group show in Hong Kong. The images are courtesy of the Osage Gallery. It looks like he's really getting into sculpture, and I'm starting to recognize some repeating themes and forms as well.
The schoolboys with the Johnny Ramone haircuts and peeled-back skin on the lower half of their faces, for example. It's only a matter of time before you start seeing these in night markets across Asia. (That's Louie on the right. See any similarity?)
But Louie certainly hasn't lost his touch when it comes to painting. (When he showed at GR2, all of the work was ink or paint on paper.) His rock 'n' roll imagery seems to have slightly more pre-Columbian Central American feel these days--as if its from an old culture that's advanced but still cannibalistic. Or is it new?
Not bad for a guy who started off making comics about shit! The show runs through May 27, so it's not too late to check it out.
The landscaping crew has been working like a mofo. When I arrived at the site this morning they were stripping the surface of the new driveway. It's going to have a slightly textured feel to prevent slipping. You might recall that the gaps will be filled with gravel.
Take a good look at this: the side of the house that no one will see. The fence will run along the house's side, just a couple of feet away.
In the backyard, a cement curb was built to prevent erosion and provide a base for the rear fence. Sections have been marked to show where the islands of decomposed gravel (far) and grass (near) will be located, separated and surrounded by gravel. A floating concrete step will be placed in front of each rear entrance.
They are digging up drainage. All water will be absorbed by a lined gravel pit with compost at the bottom so no runoff will hit the streets. More tomorrow...
Last night I made an excursion to the Silverlake Lounge to give Mayuko and Tsuzumi copies of the latest Giant Robot, which features an article on them. (They want to send some home to their mom!) I've seen their band, The Binges, a lot over the last month or so, and this was the best venue by far. You can't beat a cramped dive bar that has no stage but a kick-ass PA for straight-up sweaty rock 'n' roll--especially when it's only about a mile away from home. Looks like their next show is in Bakersfield next month. Road trip, anyone?
Mail-opening time. First, a mysterious package from the Valley. Kimchi from Granny Choe! We feature the grandmother-daughter-granddaughter business in the new GR, and I guess they like how the article turned out. Perfect, because we love fresh kimchi.
Also got some new music from Daly City, but it isn't the turntablistic variety... Sergio hooked me up with the new CD from his band, From Monument To Masses. It comes out today! Punk rock meets post rock meets politics for the people. Check out their new tracks and see them on the road with DREDG and Torche.
I have a feeling that I'm going to be listening to this all day. I wonder if I'll smell like kimchi all day, too?
Or is it? Eric and I had lunch with a friend who works in advertising, and the topic of blogs came up. Our friend said that he liked how we actually respond to comments, and that he has worked with more than a few athlete/clients who don't even really write their own blogs. They might dictate it or provide a general idea, but then a team will put it together for them. Bummer. I don't read celebrity blogs religiously, but there have been at least three athletes whose online writing I have enjoyed:
1. Agent Zero's blog was legendary, and I'd be bummed if they were actually ghost written. (Same for his amazing forward for the excellent Freedarko book.)
2. Cap's blog was impressive for their breadth in subject matter and deliberate thought process, and made me proud to be a Bruin. I'm pretty sure the author, athlete, actor, and coach wrote the entries himself--especially since his blogging run began on the L.A. Times site.
3. Most recently, I've been following Dining with Andre, in which the young Dodger outfielder shares his takes on food and baseball. There are just enough errors, weird facts, and personal intonations to make me think it's really him... His last post was in January, but hopefully he'll blog more regularly now that it's Spring Training.
A lot of you must be getting really sick of these posts. Hang in there--just a couple weeks until it's done. With the house practically completed, the landscaping is in full effect. It costs a load to pour a new concrete driveway, so we broke it up into large, geometric slabs that will be linked by rebar and couched in gravel.
The idea is that not only will the configuration be cheaper, but it will look cooler and be more effective in facilitating drainage. The slabs--which will resemble stacked parallelograms or rhombuses and are marked by pink string--are arranged around the existing carport columns. I love it when a design works with existing challenges and structures rather than tears everything up and starts over.
In the foreground, my neighbor confers with John Hartel of Naturecare Landscaping and John Chan of Formation Association about the side and rear fence that border her property. I'm lucky to have a cool neighbor, excellent landscaper, and amazing designer... Not to mention stellar contractor in CalAsia. If any one of them was even a little bit lame, Wendy and I would be hurting for certain.
When the project began, we were inundated with warnings and horror stories, but everything has been awesome. Not cheap, but awesome. Just one detail left on my checklist: I've been paying for this outhouse and want to use it at least once before it gets trucked away. I'm serious, and I don't mean just taking a leak.
Interesting. I just received an email criticizing some of the things I wrote in GR58. The sender took issue with certain phrases, suggesting that they have racist or divisive overtones. Then, after responding to his points, I noticed that the person posted the text on the GR discussion boards as well! After the initial surprise, I actually think it's poetic since I aired my letter of complaint to Protection One just a few days ago.
No need to share the details of my response since that's between the reader and me, but I don't consider any of the comments in question to be overly derogatory or hurtful. Perhaps unmeasured, but not racist. Yet who am I to judge... myself? In the end, I'm just happy that the person reads the mag, pays attention to what we write, and cares enough to write.
Mayuko (left) called me to today to say that the hard-rocking, ass-kicking Binges have two shows coming up in L.A. On Thursday, March 5, the band seen in GR58 play an opening slot at the Key Club. That venue is overly slick for my tastes, but I hope some Bigelf fans get turned onto them. I'm more likely to hit their headlining show at the Silverlake Lounge on Monday, March 9 since the club is tiny, cheap, and close. Either way, you can't lose.
The back fence was torn down this morning, affording for the first time (on my camera, anyway) a view of the entire rear of the house. The empty area in the foreground will be filled with gravel, an island of decomposed granite with some teak benches, a storage unit for all my crap, and a patch of grass.
I like how you can see through the front door from the rear sliding doors--and vice versa. It's not quite transparent, but it's very open.
After the roofing and electrical details are finished, a final inspection by the city will take place this week. The landscaping and fencing should progress rather quickly once certain details are finalized.
The stars aligned--Wendy and Eloise were napping at the same time--so I went running for the first time in about six months. It felt great to (1) break a sweat (for reasons other than spicy food), (2) listen to music somewhere besides in the car (the Lance Hahn mix from GR51), and (3) recall how great my newest Pumas feel (so tech, but ridiculously functional).
Afterward, I felt great until I looked up the distance. Not even three miles in 30 minutes? Damn.. I gotta work harder. Maybe next month.
