Our fearless leader Sean Bonner and asskicking yet graceful muse Tara (is it still Brown? or did you go full-on Bonner?) have officially produced yet another iteration of Awesomeness in this world, and one that will take their Awesome and craft it into an entirely unique and individuated brand of Awesome that will self-perpetuate for millenia to come.

Their baby, Ripley Ossm Bonner, entered the world tonight. Traditional data as to poundage, length and Twitter handle will, I’m sure, be passed on by the radiant @tara and unbelievably stoked @seanbonner when they’re ready to go public. This is not an official announcement–just an exultation on my part that the download is complete. I bet both parents are ready for a reboot about now.

Seriously guys, good luck with everything, and as I’ve learned having good luck often means having friends who show up, so let us all know if and when there’s any little thing we could to to help.

Pity the professional writers. They toil in relative obscurity, working long hours for low pay, pulling out hair by the fistful as they stare at blank computer screens as a creeping voice from their hindbrain tells them that even the most brilliant wordsmithing won’t bring them the fame and fortune they long for.

Well, most of us, anyway. Some writers have great jobs that pay well and make us all fall in love with them. Like, I’m pretty certain Damon Lindelof’s writing career is a lot more rewarding than mine. But then, I do occasionally get to write web copy for home foundation repair contractors. Take that, Lost-Boy!

So, yeah: Writers who produce television and movies are pretty cool. And if you’d like to hear a bunch of them chat about their trade in an intimate setting, the Writers’ Guild Foundation has you covered with their Anatomy of a Script series, which gives great TV and film writers the chance to talk about some of their most celebrated scripts. It begins tonight at 6 PM with Breaking Bad creator and X-Files scribe and producer Vince Gilligan. (OK, OK, technically it began last week with Matthew Weiner, but I didn’t get a chance to post. Please don’t be upset at me for forgetting to tell you about Matthew Weiner.)

Here’s the whole schedule:

March 3: Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad)

March 10: Callie Khouri (Thelma and Louise)

March 17: Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island)

March 24: Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (Zombieland)

March 31: Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give)

Visit the Writers’ Guild Foundation website for more information and to buy tickets.

Equal Heart...click to embiggen

Just a few blocks from the site where the Oscars will take place lies Manifest Equality.  An art exhibit with over 100 artists, among them Barry McGee, Robbie Conal, Roman Coppola, Swoon, Chris Johansen, Shepard Fairey, Clare Rojas, Harvey Pekar, Bask, and Ron English. Numerous media are represented all with the theme “Manifest Equality”.

Our own David Markland introduced me to Yosi Sergant who is the energy behind the Equality Task Force that produced this exhibit. Great guy, passionate about “now being the time to start the conversations regarding equality for everyone”. “Artists as activists bring forth their ideas and views in a non-threatening manner is how to introduce the idea to everyone and get a dialogue started”.  He stated that he never expected Prop 8 would have had a chance and devoted his energy to the Obama campaign, not realizing until two weeks before the election that it had an actual chance at passing.  He switched gears and after that result he was energized to use art to start the conversations outside the LGBT community on the importance of providing equality for all. Read the rest of this entry →

Photo courtesy of Uncensored Interview's Flickr feed

I’m a big fan of Caligula. He’s my favorite Roman emperor. By all accounts he was a short guy with tiny feet, yet still managed to inspire Bob Guccione to ask Peter O’Toole and Helen Mirren to get naked on camera thousands of years later. And because Bob Guccione often appears to me in dreams to offer career guidance and cooking tips, I have a special place in my heart for the syphilitic, sociopathic aristocrat he chose to immortalize in quasi-pornographic film.

Why am I telling you this? Mostly because I’m very lonely and desperate for someone to talk to. But more importantly because Caligula’s name means “Little Boots,” which is also the stage name of adorable British indie electronica maven Victoria Hesketh. And we’ve got two tickets to see her at the El Rey next Wednesday, March 10.

So here’s the deal: To win the tickets, tell me which Roman emperor would make the best modern rock star and why (Like, for instance: Hadrian had a wall, and so does Pink Floyd.) Leave your answer in the comments, and be sure to fill in the email field so we know where to send the congratulatory message when you’ve won. Good luck!

It was a couple weeks ago when I announced March 6 as the date for the next in my irregular series of long-ass walks — this one about 15 miles from USC to the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook State Park and back via Jefferson and Adams. Today I’m reading reports calling for a 70% chance of rain this Saturday.

I don’t put a whole lot of stock in immediate STORMWATCHES much less those that any horizon-sniffing MegaDoppler Bosstastic 12000XJ might be insisting are a few days away, so I’m not quite ready to reschedule the trek just yet. But even though I’m personally not against walking in the wet stuff, I like the idea of doing this with other people, so as we draw closer to the coming weekend if it looks like the prognosticationalizers are correct in their meteorologicalizing, then I’m going to bump the boogie to the last Saturday of the month, March 27.

If you’re planning on joining me, stay tuned for a WALKWATCH status dispatch … probably Thursday. Or hit me up on Twitter @wildbell for the latest.

Terry O'Quinn & Michael Emerson at the PaleyFest "Lost" panel on 2/27/10. Photo by Jodi

I’m a little late in getting this post up, considering the 27th Annual William S. Paley Television Festival (PaleyFest) has already started. You’ve only missed three events, Modern Family and Lost, which were both fantastic and NCIS, which I didn’t attend. There are 10 nights left highlighting such acclaimed shows as Breaking Bad and Dexter. The only one aside from Lost that is sold-out so far is Glee.

This is the 9th year I’ve attended PaleyFest, the ever-changing and growing celebration of television programming and its creation. It is hands-down one of my favorite annual L.A. events. For the past two years, it was held in the Cinerama Dome at the ArcLight Hollywood, a much bigger venue than the previous theater at the Directors Guild. As the festival continues to grow, it has once again moved and is being held at The Saban Theatre (formerly The Wilshire Theatre) in Beverly Hills, which can hold 1900 people.

The full programming schedule can be found here. Ticket prices are tiered based on seating section and Paley Center membership status. Seats are not assigned, just the section. Check for more information on ticket availability for the remaining shows on this site.

The Saban Theatre is located at 8440 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, 90211. The surrounding neighborhoods all have permit street parking, so be prepared to pay $10 to park in one of two designated lots.

Let us know if you plan to attend any of the events. I’ll report back on my experience at the end of the fest.

This is the second time in about as many weeks that I’ve been up-close and personal with a dead brown pelican along Ballona Creek. Maybe you’ve heard the big birds — recently de-listed from their endangered status — have been having a really rough time of it through the storms of these last couple months. Maybe you’ve heard the International Bird Rescue and Research Center (IBRRC) in San Pedro is doing all it can to save them, with some amazing results. They’ve admitted an unheard of 325 pelicans between January 1 and February 19. In turn they’ve been able to rehab and release 137 back into the wild, with more than 100 remaining at the center’s aviary. And it ain’t cheap keeping a recovering pelican in fish.

To that end this Friday the G2 Gallery in Venice (1503 Abbot Kinney Blvd, 90291) is hosting an urgent “Fill The Bill” reception to support IBRRC’s past, present and future pelican rescue efforts.  If you’re in the area think about showing them some love. Or if you’re not, consider making a donation via their website. But if money’s an understandable object, check out their wish list to see if you’ve got some of what they need.

Formerly every Saturday at Micheltorena Elementary School, the “Silver Lake Art, Craft & Vintage” flea market will now take place the last weekend of every month, both Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm.

While I don’t know the specific reasons for the change, I have visited this flea market on several occasions and always found it lacking in vendors. The space is large enough and the vendors that are there have a decent selection, but to draw a crowd, I think they simply need more. Perhaps moving the fair from every Saturday to just one weekend a month will encourage more vendors to participate. I also think it would be more appealing if they offered a broader selection of “arts” and “crafts” vendors, as it is mostly just vintage clothing. I love shopping for vintage clothing, but if you’re going to bill something as “Art, Craft & Vintage,” you might want to strive to carry an equal selection of those things.

For more information on the fair, visit their web site at silverlakeartcraftvintage.com.

Thanks to the great gang of folks who came out to Classic Eats Number 9! We started the adventure at Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles. We squeezed 13 of us around a table for 10 and proceeded to plow into some monochromatic waffly goodness. Mmmm, waffles and fried chicken!

Much fun and laughter was had by all and after we rolled ourselves down the street to our cars, most of us joined up again at Boardner’s to look at their appetizer menu and laugh.

Alas, I forgot to grab my good camera so I only have a few iphone snaps, but clicky on past the jump to see more. And if you were there and took a few pics, post a link in the comments if you can!

Thanks again for the great turn out. Soon it will be Classic Eats #10 — a milestone!

Read the rest of this entry →

This kids’ oral health care center — uh, excuse me, kids oral health kare center –is right down the street from my apartment, and it’s more awesome than Geddy Lee riding a tyrannosaur into battle. As you can see, it’s painted gaily, presumably to distract children from the fact that they’re visiting the dentist. Attached to it, and not pictured here, is a fenced-in playground, which may or may not include a ball pit. One can only imagine what’s inside. Clowns, maybe. Or Geddy Lee saddling up on his T-rex.

But the winner here is the “Shouldn’t You?” on the sign. I’m not quite sure what it refers to. The only potential verb in the mix is “kare,” so I assume it’s asking if maybe I shouldn’t kare more about kids’ dental health. But it’s really unklear. Someday I’m going to go in there and ask them to klarify.

The T-rex’s name is Brett Favre, by the way.

Indie rock slash synthetic pop, with electrically charged guitars and pianos, is all the rage (blame Hot Chip).  So is an inexplicably newfound turn-of-the-decade appreciation for Hall & Oates (blame our current fascination with the 1980s and/or Hugh Grant in Music & Lyrics).  Mash the two together and you get The Bird and the Bee paying tribute to Hall & Oates this Friday at the El Rey.  And guess who has tickets to give away?

For those unacquainted, the singing Bird is Inara George and the instrumentalist Bee is Greg Kurstin, and together they symbolize flowers and de-flowerings.  They’re also homegrown – both hail from our fair city of Los Angeles.  The pair have popped up on the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack (before you hold this against them, The Postal Service was that show’s poster child for quite some time); they’ve opened for Lily Allen; and, after two albums, they will release a tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates later this month.  The pre-release concert in support of the record is this Friday at the El Rey, and, as I mentioned, we have tickets to give away.  To win, all you have to do is post your favorite Hall & Oates song.  Include your email address, one that you check often, because that will make it easier to contact you if you win.

Full details of the show are here, but, as they say in the sweepstakes world (or, this is what I would say if I was in the sweepstakes world): enter first, buy later.  Good luck!