Liz Phair is playing Exile in Guyville in its entirety two nights in a row at the Troubadour. I'm definitely going Sunday October 5th, but should I also go Monday the 6th?

Pro:
- One of my favorite albums. Ever. We're talking Desert Island Top Five.
- I love this venue. One of my favorite in LA. Small and homey, less bullshit than others.
- Liz Phair live is amazing but since I can't stand anything after WhiteChocolateSpaceEgg I thought I'd never get to see her in concert again. These may be my last chances.

Con:
- I'm going the night before. Do I need to see this two nights in a row? Won't I get bored?

It's Exile in Guyville. Um, no. No, I won't.

Now, should I buy two tickets for each night and see if anyone wants to go with me Monday night as well?

Miss Cherry Josefa Corazon, Cherry Bomb to her friends.



Ain't she pretty? Who's a good car? Who's a good car? She is! Yes, she is! Good car! Goooooood car!

I love this car. What?

Saturday morning bright and early I went to Target and got a new Thomas guide, jumper cables, a flashlight, a first aid kit, a SF Valley map, and a tire repair kit. Then I went and sold my old car for $50. In with the new, out with the old.

I saw it! The new Doctor Who Christmas special!

And the 10 & 5 meet scene! Which is awesome! And totally makes me want to watch old Doctor Who! Must see more Peter Davison! That celery thing! It must be explained!

avarill! She is the best!

No! I can't stop using exclamation marks!

Yes! I totally brought the DVD to work with me to watch again when it gets slow this afternoon!
LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!

Much like the wonderful Philosophy Gingerbread Man shower gel playmayt got me for Christmas, I need to always have a supply of these around.



Seriously. Necessary to life.

This thing! At the Paley! I'm going!



A rave hit with critics, AMC's Mad Men is—per Vanity Fair's James Wolcott—a "rat-packish safari" through the urban jungle of New York advertising in the 1960s, as drawn by former Sopranos scribe Matthew Weiner. Join the cast and creative team for a screening and discussion of—among other things—just who is Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and why is everyone saying such nice things about him?

In Person:
Matthew Weiner, Series Creator
Jon Hamm, "Don Draper"
Elisabeth Moss, "Peggy"
Vincent Kartheiser, "Pete"
January Jones, "Betty"
John Slattery, "Roger"
Christina Hendricks, "Joan"

I am so excited I cannot even tell you. Have I mentioned this show and how excellent it is? Cause you really should be watching it. All of you. AMC-- it's not just for Saturday afternoon "The Great Escape" marathons with convenient commercial bathroom & sandwich breaks anymore.

Dude.

That should be their new slogan. On a T-shirt or something.

S2 opener of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is available here.

Go watch it.

I just finished it and I think I'm about to watch it again.

Oh, this show.

Have we talked about the amazing height of my concert-going life last Wednesday night when I saw Dave Brubeck at the Hollywood Bowl? It's sad, really. To peak at 28.


"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"


"Take Five"

Watching him play the whole night was beautiful, cause he was really playing. With the piano, with the other musicians, with just the sheer joy he felt. He was like a kid on Christmas morning, a boy with a slingshot. Dave Brubeck had more fun and artistry and talent and speed in those fingers than some pianists I could name in their 20s. Not that I'm rude enough to name names...

It was pretty cool how he worked "Take Five" in, really. He was in the middle of another song, then all of a sudden he started that distinctive piano opening and you shoulda seen that Bowl blow up. Was like he lit a fire under everyone there. Except that little girl in front of me who was hating the whole thing. I get that it's amazing and the clueless woman with her said "You'll remember this when you're older," but no, she won't. She hated it, she was bored the entire time, and kept getting up to complain to her mother. Even the best pieces of the night did not keep her interest or please her, cause she just wasn't into it. I get that it was probably a once in a lifetime chance for her cause let's face it, Mr. Brubeck ain't getting any younger, but really, if your kid's not going to enjoy it, please them and the people sitting near you and just leave them at home.

/soapbox

He walked from downtown to the water along Wilshire. The music's kinda cool, too. Peeps in Texas, the last three minutes of the vid is my old neighborhood. Sometimes I miss living on the westside. Then I remember that Target is less than fifteen minutes away at all times now. It all evens out.

1. I had just decided this morning to skip both Cat Club tonight and the Swedish triplets tomorrow night in Malibu to stay home and work because I really need to both get the finished piece sent off to FD and Act I done by Sunday, but then tickets were won to see The Tennessee Three at Safari Sam's tonight and free Johnny Cash's band I just can't pass up! And since I'll already be out, the Cat is a must. D'oh!

2. Though I will of course not see the triplets in Malibu tomorrow night or the Barbara Stanwyck brouhaha at the Hammer the night after that in Westwood (YET ANOTHER COOL THING HAPPENING SATURDAY NIGHT.) I will stay home and type type type. And not watch Heroes on nbc.com. Or rewatch FNL. Really. I won't.

3. I did manage to stop myself from really really really wanting to do this this weekend, cause I think I already have enough going on. Though it could be fun. Another weekend. Or y'know, LIFE.

4. So I found and printed out Alan Richman's list of "The 20 Burgers You Must Eat Before You Die." I've already had #15. A couple times! And I look forward to ticking the others off the list. (beatnikside, if you end up coming down next weekend, would you mind bringing along a #17 for me? Please? Or a Coconut Bunny or MoFro from Cupcake Royale? Sometimes reading food blogs is pure torture. :)

5. Yes, my parents sent the weekend guide section of the Houston Chron that had a Rhett Miller puff piece in it (calling 'Satellite Rides' the Old 97s' best record. WHAT CRACK ARE YOU SMOKING PEOPLE AT THE CHRON?) and I taped the cover with a big ole picture of all four boys up over my desk. It's kinda perfect. Rhett's all pouty and Murry's peering out like the people on the other side of the glass are crazy.

6. I finally got my voicemail at work reset and retrieved all the messages, changed the greetings, and memorized my password, so now when you call me it'll be me, not the dude who retired nine months ago and took off for Seattle. Go me in my slackerdom! Now, if I can just get his dust-covered papers and piles of crap off every available surface, it might look like I live here.

7. It really can't be good for me to be this excited about everything all the time. I told a friend of mine the other day, and it occurs to me again, that I feel like that old joke about a golden retriever: "Yay, dinner, my favorite! Yay, a walk, my favorite! Yay, outside, my favorite!" Though I do have my calm moments. And really, I'm much calmer in person than I am online.

I am, too.

Woo-hoo! I should get motivated like this more often.

I wrote eight pages last night, then wandered around the internet for a while, watched a couple more episode of Friday Night Lights. Up bright and early at 8am today (what is wrong with me?) and at the coffee shop a few minutes before the 9am Script Frenzy Write-In. No one's there... No one's there at 9... No one's there at 9.10... No one's there at 9.15. The coffee shop isn't even open. I took off, a bit miffed (later finding out that next week starts at 9, today was 11. D'oh!), and ended up at a Peet's down the street. One blueberry scone, pot of earl grey, and hour later, I was on page twelve with a word count of 2,818! For some weird reason the challenge is going by word count instead of page count, which is not how screenplays are measured at all, but I think it's being run by NaNoWriMo people, so that would explain it. Heh.

I went grocery shopping, came home, made the world's best pasta salad for the cook-out tonight (seriously, I have no idea how it happened and I doubt I can ever duplicate it. There's not even any meat. It may have something to do with the large shallot and nine cloves of garlic I sweated in three tablespoons of butter for a long time. Yum.) I boiled way too much pasta, so I made the leftovers into a week's worth of dinners with beef, onions, garlic, black olives, peas, and lots of sauce and tomato paste. I'm baking some in a 9x9 dish right now covered in cheese (oh the crusties!) and keep dipping into what didn't fit in that with a spoon. You ever have one of those days where you just know you're going to be alright? Because you can do this? Those days when you just love you? Good day. I love today.

Sometimes I cannot deal with how much I love where I work. Today, for example.

Pandora just started one of my favorite songs, Hymn for the Cigarettes by Hefner. And I haven't even mentioned Hefner to it (you tell it bands and songs you like and it finds similar stuff.) They just knew. And they played it. And then I got all giddy. And had to repeat that I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW COOL THIS FREE INTERNET RADIO IS.

If this radio station was a person I would never want to stop talking to them. They would perhaps be the coolest person in the world.