Best Start to My Grandma Vacation

Well, I happened to find myself around a fast and friendly computer here in California so here's the first of what will probably be several slightly unexpected reports on my spring break Grandma-visiting adventure. So, yeah, Wednesday night after classes I hopped on a JetBlue and flew out to Long Beach. Good Ol' Broek picked me up at the airport--she had invites to this big Hollywood party with DJ Z-Trip hosted by Carmen Electra at the Avalon, but it was already at capacity by the time we rolled up, so we went and met up with some of Broek's jet-setting magazine friends at the Beauty Bar. The Beauty Bar is a Beauty-Shop themed, um, bar/club where they play cool music for cool kids (The Smiths, New Order, Joy Division, the Clash, etc. etc., you know, what the kids be dancin' to these days). As my internal clock was set to three hours later than everyone else, I started zoning out around one and had to call it a night. But not before getting a little (and by "a little" I mean "so much") Del Taco.

Broek shows how it is done at the Beauty Bar (note the hair-dryer seating). Here's something I learned: at bars, you can ask for a water, and they'll just give it to you like it's no big deal. I'll probably go to a lot more bars now that I know that.



Here's some more of the Beauty-Shop theme-action from the Beauty Bar.



And yes, I realize there's a Beauty Bar back home on 14th street. So that's kind of neat.



The front. Of the Beauty Bar.



I used to think DelTaco just paled in comparison to Taco Bell, but I've come to realize that in the realm of cheap, quick, slightly gross Mexican, there is none other. Three crunchy beef tacos combined with two chicken soft tacos from DelTaco have never failed to leave me satisfied beyond measure. (I'm sure glad I've discovered tacos, as I previously thought they were just something you wore.)



Thursday morning Grandma and Cousin Katharine (also in town on break) and I had lunch at Houston's, because Thursday is Tortilla Soup (not pictured) day.



A variety of things were different about the Pasadena Houston's. One: There was art on the walls. Two: There were cacti inside. Three: Sushi is now on the menu. Four: The bread was served warm and with olives. Five: They have these napkins with button holes on them, good thing I was wearing a fancy shirt to try it out.



Back in the 80's, Uncle Frank posed for a painting that was to be used at the Beverly Hills Ralph Lauren store. For a long time, Grandma had a sketch from Frank's sitting (but he was standing) in the den. While we all knew that it was true that Frank had posed for this painting, no one had ever seen it, so it sort of turned from a truth to a family urban legend. I finally went and saw the painting a year ago, and today I took Grandma and Katharine to go see this 20+ year old work of art. The big surprise is that the painting is HUGE (I'm guessing 8' by 10') and the centerpiece of the store's grand staircase. To their credit, the sales staff was very patient with our totally uncool gawking and photographing of the painting.





Out on Rodeo Drive I saw this beautiful Aston Martin Virage (in the late-80's/early-90's version of slightly-ugly beauty) old Aston Martin.



Perhaps you have been to the Prada "epicenter" store in SoHo, which is amazing. Well, Beverly Hills just got an epicenter store, too. And guess what? It makes the SoHo one look like a toolshed.



I'm not even going to go into too many details . . .



So as to not hurt New York's pride.



But at this point, we haven't even entered the store yet, and there's already subterranean mannequins going on.



After all this, we sat in traffic forever.

And yeah, I caught the Revenge of the Sith trailer tonight. I could write a post about that called "Best Best of the Best."

Best Trailer for an Old Movie

So, 15 minutes ago I was saying I probably wouldn't be posting. And here I am, posting. A few weeks ago I saw Godard's "Masculine Feminine" and was enthralled with it. I can't remember if I wrote about that or not. Anyway, Apple has the film's trailer up now, so here's a glance at what fascinated me. I guess it's going to have a wider release, or something. This movie was crazy good, if you like stylish French teens talking. And it's not on DVD, which is weird.

It's Always Better on Holiday, II

Once again, I'm leaving for a little vacation. Once again, I'm going to say that I won't be posting much . . . but whenever say this, it seems I follow myself with a torrent of content. So, it's anybody's guess what will be appearing here at Steady Mobbin' until NEXT next Monday (yeah, luck with the law school schedule = extra long stay with the Grandmas).

Anyway, just in case I'm short on stuff, may I recommend the following previous content that you may not have read before, or that you may enjoy reading again:

People seemed to really like my New York Etiquette Post. Click.

October was full of interesting things, including when Andrew came to visit and I threw my Dictatorial Costume Party and we went up to the top of the Marriott for dessert. It was all so big it took multiple posts to cover it. One. Two. Three. Four.

I've recommended the Smoker a thousand times, why not recommend it again? Here's where I first recommended it. Click.

And I've posted numerous celebrity sightings, but my night with Natalie Portman was probably the most epic. Click.

Or you could just go through all the archives. That's what I do, sometimes. Oh, and by the way, for vacation I'm spending some time in California with my Grandma Taylor and then some time in Utah with my Grandma Barnes. It's going to be awesome and we're going to go to restaurants.

Best Back to What Works

that is, if you think it works.

Yeah, here's my weekend. In photos. As usual.

Actually, first off: This week a friend of mine cornered me and was all "Dude, how do you have the time to do all that stuff and put it on your site?" I have all that time because I'm not documenting things like my Friday night when I lost track of time studying, started calling friends close to 10, no one was available, so I bought some Taco Bell, and studied some more.

So, yeah, down to the photo business.

File under "Crazy": my friend Myung has a ping pong table in his apartment.


Saturday was a really nice day (not as nice as today [Monday] was, today was just stupid-nice out). Look how nicely the curves of new glass tower at Astor Place blend in with the west side of the East Village.


Months ago I agreed to go see Clem Snide with a friend this weekend (does that make sense?) I had seen them in the summer, and it was a good time, I felt no strong compulsion to see them again, but there was so much enthusiasm from the other end that I couldn't say no. A small group of willing Clem Snide attendees formed around this bundle of excitement, but then, at the very last moment, she dropped out of the trip, leaving us to attend Clem Snide without an enthusiasm nucleus. We were as lost and confused as shoppers at a Walmart without a Greeter (hope you saw Simpsons Sunday) and wound up eating rather poorly served Mexican food on Rivington before heading to the show which started SO late that sticking around for the encore simply wasn't an option. Still, the boys of Clem Snide put on a good show and stunned the audience with their matching white tuxes. I can't believe that dude can sing just like on the albums.







After the show I walked and walked, trying to find an open F/V.



Definitely not open.



Along the way I saw all sorts of things.



Neck Face!!!



On Sunday church was just super great, for many reasons, one of which was another unexpected appearance by Ashlee Cook, in town once again. Before catching her flight back to DC (high roller) she came over and checked out her first appearance on Steady Mobbin' and we reminisced over Good Ol' Provo.



Sunday night I had 2000 people over to eat cheese and watch the two new episodes of Arrested Development that were played back to back. As mentioned yesterday, these episodes were on crack. I think the room was clearly divided between those who were not laughing at all because they hadn't ever seen Arrested Development before and those who couldn't stop laughing (very hard) because they were aficionados. Definitely two of the most series-dependent episodes I had ever seen. The two episodes fed off the same two concurrent storylines: 1) Maggie Lizer returns and is pregnant, Michael tries to find out if the child is his, Tobias must break into Maggie's house again (this time he brings Lindsay along) 2) Buster is about to head off to Iraq, but he goes swimming in the ocean . . . and a loose seal bites off his hand. Really. When this "happened" (it was quickly referenced in the "Next week on Arrested Development" portion of the first episode and in the second episode it was treated like something that had already happened) half the room screamed in shock, the other half just thought it was weird (I assume.) The Maggie Lizer plotline didn't interest me at all, Buster drugged up at hospital and at home with his hook, however, did interest me. I guess they've decided to go with "crazy" this season.

And, for the record, today [Monday] was so stupid-nice out that I had to go down for dumplings on Eldridge (that would be a street, not a person) between classes because I would've been an ingrate to have stayed inside all day. And then, just when the day couldn't get any better, we talked about "perils of the sea" in Admiralty. Awesome.

On my way to the dumplings I saw the new Mustang. Whenever I see Mustangs I think of the way the pronounce Mustang in Mexico, which is "Moose-taynge."



Oddly enough, George Sr. had choice words about the hood of the new Mustang on Arrested Development Sunday night. Words which I shall not repeat here. But they were choice.

Best Not a Weekend Wrap-Up

Photos with captions, photos with captions. I've gotten a little tired of them. How about words with links? (or just words)

The Service Industry just can't be stopped. Months ago when I saw the cell-phone charging station in Union Square I thought "Now there's a millionaire on her way to happening" (if she sets up a hundred other outposts, that is). Now some genius is running an iPod loading service? How crafty. I mean, who, in the middle of the drudgery of ripping all their favorite CDs for the first time hasn't asked themselves how much they'd be willing to pay someone else to do it? Well, dude charges $1.50 a CD and will pick up and drop off your CDs and MP3 player. Like I said, that's crafty.

Hollywood Should Be Stopped Shrek 4 has a writer. Yeah, Shrek 4, as in the Shrek that comes out after the Shrek that hasn't even come out yet. This is what the world gets after, for some reason, spending nearly a billion dollars on going to Shrek 2. What, were we all that desperate?

That Was a Good List on Pitchfork last week, the one about the "10 Best Doo-Wop Songs". Even though it was a little out of the ordindary, contentwise, I didn't think it needed the apologism/rationalization introduction. I won't pretend to know all of those songs, but I do have this to say: 1) My favorite Chantels songs is probably "I Love You So", mostly because of the really weird harmonies at the beginning and end. 2) When dude says that Andre Williams produced "September in the Rain" for the Royal Jokers, is he really talking about the Andre Williams I'm thinking of? I suppose dangerous old blues men need to have done something when they were dangerous and young. The only Royal Jokers songs I know are "You Tickle Me Baby" and "Love Game from A to Z" and they're good. I wonder if Mr. Williams had anything to do with them.

I've Been Thinking About It and last night's episodes of Arrested Development were on crack. Whether that's good or bad, I've yet to decide. I'll probably decide it's good. But I'm pretty sure I've decided that Maggie Lizer is boring. But I don't know why I didn't get the "Skip Church's Sunday Brunch" joke halfway into the first episode. Guess I was thinking about cheese.

Best Thursday Night Routine

Another Thursday, another meeting of the Emily Kunz Dinner Club. This time we ate at Jewel of India on West 44th. Quite different from the establishments you'll find on First Avenue.

There was quite the turn out.



Here's Rebekah. She shared a little bit of her Chicken Tikka Masala with me. It was excellent. I had the Vindaloo, it was perfectly hot and tasty.



Jewel of India was right by the headquarters of the New York Yacht Club. Look at this awesome place. There's no building I'd like to get inside of more than this one, especially after checking out their gallery of 360 degree photos.



Here's the Library, as seen from across Bryant Park.

Best Preview of a Preview

Here's an ad for next week's OC that contains a few seconds of the new Episode III trailer that will be premiering during the OC. It contains only 7 super brief snippets of scenes, but wow. Lovers and haters are in for something awesome this May. And if you watch it slowly, you'll see Anakin taking down key villains from the Phantom Menace.

Best Movie I Did Not Think Was Going to Be Good

Tuesday night I caught an early screening of the computer-animated film, Robots. Robots was made by BlueSky Studios, the folks who made Ice Age. I didn't really like Ice Age. I think I fell asleep watching it with my cousin. Because of this, I was very hesitant about Robots, but not very hesitant about attending a free screening at the Ziegfeld where they'd be giving out free drinks and popcorn.

Perhaps it was because I came in with such low hopes, perhaps it was because I was in a very easy to please mood, but I really, really liked Robots. In fact, I haven't really stopped thinking about it since Tuesday.

Robots is the tale of Robbie Copperbottom, a young inventor with big dreams who moves from his small hometown (Rivet Town, I think) to the big city (Robot City). Upon arriving in Robot City, he discovers that Big Weld industries (to whom it had been his dream to present his Wonderbot invention) has fallen into the hands of the dastardly Phineas Ratchet and that Mr. Big Weld, the "true" president of the company, has left to live a solitary Howard Hughes-like existence. Robbie falls in with a group of misfit robots lead by Robin Williams, who is almost not annoying as the robot Fender. Together they discover that Ratchet is just the puppet of his mother, Madame Gasket, who has an evil plan for Robot City. From what I could tell, her evil plan was to systematically kill all the other robots. Yes, Robots is 2005's first great child-oriented computer-animated film about genocide. Naturally, Robbie and his friends must work together to get Mr. Big Weld to care again and to stop Madame Gasket's plot to send all the robots into her furnaces. So that's the story.

Headed to Robots, I was afraid it was going to be an uninspired mess of pop culture references trying to pass as entertainment like Shark Tale or Shrek 2 (sorry, that's just how I feel). I was surprised to find it consistently clever and visually quite impressive. The characters and settings of the movie were quite innovative, unique, and (here's that word again) clever. In fact, all the different distinct robots with their different voices and actions reminded me of a Muppets movie. The movie was filled with action sequences, almost all of which were chase scenes, all sorts of innocent events after keep leading to intricate chases in this movie, it's very horizontal in that way, quite reminiscent of a side-scrolling 2D video game. But all in all, Robots is a very good movie to go see if you keep your hopes low. And the fact that the newest Episode III trailer is playing with it doesn't hurt, either (No, they didn't show us it.)

Miscellaneous Things I Liked from Robots: Robbie's first set of big boy parts. The Robot who dances like a robot to Chingy. Robot City public transportation. "I'm Piper, rhymes with viper." Dominoes. The little guard. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "That wasn't what I was thinking at all." Wonderbot scared. Wonderbot fighting. The design of Mr. Bigweld.

Miscellaneous Thing I Didn't Like: Some very rough and jarring edits. Some (most) of the Aunt Fannie jokes.

Best Monday Night Getting Posted About Wednesday Night

Monday evening I headed up for "Game Night" by Lincoln Center. It was the very definition of "Good, Clean Fun."

I played Connect Four against Elna. I totally won the first game. (And look how not afraid of looking like a total goober on my own website I am)



But not nearly as much as she totally won the second game. We left the third game unplayed so that we could always joke about needing to find out who was better at Connect Four.



The Youngs organized a fierce Hopscotch game and I realized I didn't even know the rules to hopscotch. It's cut throat. Kind of explains that movie Mean Girls.



And then, with the casualness usually reserved for stopping by a coffee shop, I decided to go see Guitar Wolf at CBGBs.



Which was a pretty good decision, as I had always wanted to see Guitar Wolf.



If you can't tell from the photos, Guitar Wolf is a band of three Japanese guys who apply the Japanese work ethic to American rock and roll. The result?



Relentless rock of unparalleled craziness and perfect rock star posturing.



As far as I could tell, the band only played one song that lasted the duration of their set, as at all times at least one member of the band was playing his instrument as hard and as fast as possible. . . or, say, standing on the crowd and playing their guitar.



How would I describe the exact quality of the music? Well, during one of the encores, or was it the grand finale of the main set, well, at some point they brought this girl on stage and handed her the lead guitar. She gestured that she couldn't play guitar, so one guy showed her one chord and instructed her to just keep strumming it (or, at times, he indicated at her that she should try a Keith Moon Pete Townshend-style windmill or make a rockstar jump) and this handing over of the guitar to a non-guitar player had pretty much no effect on the "quality" of the tremendous noise coming from the stage. I am so glad I had earplugs with me, I think my head would have otherwise caught on fire.



Mike dressed up totally rock n roll for the show. And we went there in his car and parked right in front of the club. New York, why are you so awesome?

Best We've Sure Had to Wait for This

It's been 10 years since "A Close Shave", the last Wallace and Gromit short and 5 years since "Chicken Run", but here's a link to the trailer for Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Hopes are high, chance of disappointment quite low.

Update Now available in much better quality Quicktime or whatever you want to call it. Click.

Best Last Visit to The Gates

Saturday night I went up to Central Park to see The Gates one last time before spending the rest of the night catching up on Mental Disability Law. (That's a class I'm taking, wiseguy.)



I was supposed to meet the Karisa, Josh, and Keri (visiting from DC for the weekend) but couldn't find them when I got there because it turned out we were waiting for each other on opposite sides of this statue. At one point I could even hear them yelling "Brigham? Brigham?" but couldn't see anyone anywhere. Because they were on the other side of the statue. As I said before.



I passed my waiting time taking pictures of things around Columbus Circle





But we finally found each other and entered the park. They had big lights set up so that you could see The Gates, because, you know, some people might not have noticed the 7000 giant orange gates throughout the park without a little illumination.



We went over to Tavern on the Green, which was all lit up and stuff.



"Okay Keri, this is how I want to pose for the next photo. . . ."



Hangin' Tough!



You'd be scared of a King Kong topiary too.



The Gates wasn't the only orange-themed art in the park that night. Some troublemaker had placed oranges on every statue along the Mall



The Indian Hunter was the best decorated



Maybe someday I'll start writing words on Steady Mobbin' again, but for the next while, it's going to be nothing but pictures, because photographable things keep happening.