Hey everyone. Big thanks to Sean and Jason for letting me onboard.

Quick introduction: I’ve been an LA native, born and raised in South Central before moving to the San Fernando Valley. I went to UC Santa Barbara, majoring in Film Studies, and it was there that I was introduced to the Internet in January 1991. I got my first dot-com job in 1995, working out of a house just off Cahuenga and the 101 Freeway, and have worked at several other dot-com jobs ever since. I’ve been a contributing writer in the past to TrekToday and the Bloggie-nominated Whedonesque, and one aspect that I will focus on here are autograph signings and conventions, since, well, I’m a fanboy.

So… speaking of fanboys, this weekend is Wizard World at the Long Beach Convention Center. Think of it as a larger version of the monthly L.A. Comic Book and Sci-Fi Convention at the Shrine Auditorium, yet smaller than the annual San Diego Comic-Con. As for celebrities in attendence, they include Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Guillermo Del Toro, Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, James Marsden, David Carradine, and Stan Lee, as well as WWE’s Rob Van Dam (who lives in San Pedro and owns a comic book store in Lakewood called 5 Star Comics). And as for the obligatory “hotties”, they include Aria Giovanni, Devin Devasquez, Linda Tran, and Lizzy Strain (Julie Strain’s younger sister). One day passes are $20.00 and weekend passes are $35.00.

And… speaking of “hotties,” tonight there’s something called Asianmodelpalooza IV (link NSFW) at The Score in Downtown LA. General admission is a whopping $40.00 ($30.00 and two mandatory drink tickets). Looking at the lineup, I can’t say I’ve even heard of the majority of these women, but I suppose it could be fun. :)

As you can see from the nav on the left we’ve got a crapload of new authors on the site now. Many of them you’ll already know from their own sites, the comments here, our sister site – and others will be brand new. They should all be posting shortly so say hi and look out for a lot more going on around here shortly.

And… Jason says the combines site RSS feed is almost ready to go, we’ll be sure to make a big deal about that when it’s live too.

From the fabulous E-Online…

“FO’SHIZZLE: Snoop Dogg will be named Coach of the Year Saturday in Los Angeles for his work as head coach of the little league football team the Snoop Dogg All Stars.”

If you went to this, please let us know how it went. As of right now there are 30 minutes left if you can make it…

97.1 FM is having a Howard Stern Rally today from 6-10 am this morning…

“Stand Up for Stern!
Hey So Cal… it’s time to stand up for Stern!

Who: Howard Stern Fans!

What: Stand Up for Stern Rally. Support freedom of speech on the
radio. It is important that everyone who participates understands
that they must obey all laws. You cannot impede traffic. You must
stay on the sidewalk. Do not jaywalk. Cross the streets at the
appropriate intersections with traffic signals. Park legally to avoid
parking tickets.

Where: On the sidewalk in front of the Federal Building West Los
Angeles West Los Angeles Federal Building 11000 Wilshire Blvd.
West Los Angeles, CA 90024
(Cross streets Wilshire and Veterans)

Why: To protect freedom of speech on radio. “

Liking a lot of girl bands (no doubt no. pretenders yes), I check out the japanese girls samurai tour usa 2004 – playing at the silverlake lounge.

Tsushimamire – Going into this gig, I thought they would be the least interesting as they were billed as the girlie rock trio. Ho hum, but I guess they didn’t get the memo about rock being dead cuz they rocked hard with a western surf undertone. Remember the 5 6 7 8′s from kill bill. They sounded like them but much better. However, someone needs to tell them its not necessary to wear those cheap 5.99 geisha robes on stage over their clothes. It looks weird but I bought their cd.

Noodles – The crowd seem to dig this japanese indie band, which sounded strong during the sound check but lost me during their actual session. The music was well crafted but as rap master mc hammer says, “its in the hook” and unfortunately, I couldn’t find it. This 4 piece band (3 guitarist and a drummer) seem to pass their indie 101 class very well though. Ok, the lead singer will be cute and wear tight jeans, a tee shirt that has a vague word written on it (lesson 1) and some vans. Meanwhile the other girls will be metrosexual in that androgynous or tom boy look. All will be super skinny. Done!

Petty Booka – Apparently someone dropped me off in a david lynch film but neglected to tell me. On the wall was the lit sigh “salvation” and standing below were two japanese women dressed up like dale evans in white and red chaps, cowboy hats and bootsplaying their ukelale’s! Huh? But than they start harmonizing and singing patsy kline and other country songs – and i realize why cowboys like this s.hit. This band was the bomb (do people still use this word?) But I just kept wondering what the chances that two japanese women dressed like cowboys and playing the ukelele would bump into each other were. Astronomical i would think.

People of note at the show:
Sensitive asian artist guy – brings his sketch book to draw people in the crowd. Yea, I know, creative types bring their book everwhere for practice or when the inspiration hits them, they start drawing. Even at a concert. But damn, you don’t see the ihop cook bring his spatula with them do you?
Too cool asian guy – stands in the very front with his trucker cap that has beer caps instead of buttons sewn on in the side. Just stood their looking stoic while the band played. At least tap your feet, it’s not against the law you know.
Too crazy white guy – conversely, you have this guy dancing like a dervish in the front as if trying to subconsciously consciously tell the band, “Look at me dance, I’m your biggest fan, please date me”. Guess what fella, it ain’t happening.
George lucas – george lucas? that can’t be george lucas. What the hell would george lucas be doing in this dive club in silverlake. I don’t think that was george lucas – I hope not, I would have kicked his ass for f.ucking up the star war series.

In case anyone has been wondering what’s up with the remodeling going on at the Sav-on in Silver Lake, turns out in addition to the new lanes and registers and whatever else they are cranking up their sex supplies. Theres a big display of lubes next to the pharmacy now, and not just the usual grocery store K-Y stuff either, Astroglide and full on “this is for getting busy” stuff. And then just now I stumbled on their huge “personal massager” section, including a bunch of no-name knock offs of really famous vibrators but in family safe packaging. Attachments and everything. Let the good times roll.

What the fog is going on right now? Caryn just pointed out that it looks like there was a massive blackout in hollywood because it’s pitch black outside of our living room window. This is unusual because we live on a hill in silverlake and can normally see down into hollywood for miles but there’s some crazy ass fog kickin it right now and we can barely see across the street. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life, anyone know what the hell is going on?

OH! And by the way, we’re finishing up getting the new writers hooked up so expect to see some new names around here shortly.

Ok, one more quickie then it’s back to the grind. This was in the Lorikeet Forest. Do not enter unless you want to be pissed on, shat on and basically eaten alive by these piranhas of the air…

No time for a full bore post but went to Long Beach last weekend and went whale watching again and then to the aquarium. If you get the time go do it!

Contrary to what my last name (Fogarty) may hint, my heritage is only composed of a pinch of Irish in the overall mix. I guess it makes sense when one considers that “Fogarty,” depending on the source, means either “The Banished One” OR “Son Of The Exiled Man.”

In either case, it doesn’t reflect well on my ancestors. They’ve been on this side of the Atlantic for many, many generations. Straight Outta Eire Circa 19th Century, yo. Some of ‘em, anyway. The rest came from Scotland, England, Germany, France, Prussia, and maybe Atlantis and R’lyeh, for all I know.

It doesn’t really matter, though. It’s not a case of where my blood’s been, but what I tend to appreciate. St. Patrick’s Day is, alongside Halloween and New Year’s Eve, one of my favorite holidays. Or at least it was when I lived back near Chicago where people seem to go absolutely hog wild (I’m from the Midwest. I can say things like “hog wild”) over said holiday. They dye the Chicago River green, pee in the streets, and cause more mayhem than a post-Lakers championship riot. It’s the festive spirit of the occasion that moves me, not the minimal ethnic ties I have to the tradition.

That being said, I can’t say I’ve ever had a truly great St. Patrick’s Day here in Los Angeles, and it’s not for lack of trying. In a city that generally offers something for everyone, you’d think there would be St. Patrick’s Day festivities aplenty, yeah? Perusal of the latest L.A. Weekly leaves me wondering if anything’s going on at all. I would love to start a monthly Celtic and Celtic-punk club/gathering where one could enjoy the sounds of The Pogues, The Tossers, Flogging Molly, The Clancy Brothers, etc., but I wonder if the interest would even be enough to fill a small club on an even infrequent basis out here in Los Angeles.

But, hey, I remember a monthly club where they played nothing but Smiths and Morrissey songs all night — and people (including me) went. Maybe trying something different might be worth a try. But to be honest, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

Oh! And if you do know of anything going on tomorrow that I’ve overlooked, please let me (and the rest of us) in on the secret!

This is just too funny!

“ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – City officials were so concerned about the potentially dangerous properties of dihydrogen monoxide that they considered banning foam cups after they learned the chemical was used in their production.

“It’s embarrassing,” said City Manager David J. Norman. “We had a paralegal who did bad research.”

A paralegal who did bad research my ass. I don’t care who was the first mental giant to bring this up, this proposal went through a lot of hands and got signed off on by a lot of people before it was pointed out. But way to pass the buck there Norman. Didn’t anyone down there ever take a high school science class?

Just a little fond farewell wish to blogging.la writer and friend Morgen as he heads off on Monday to the cruel harsh city that is Chicago. OK, it’s not THAT bad…they have pretty good bars and restaurants but fuck is it cold there. Anyway, since he won’t be in this fantabulous city any more, we’re kicking his ass off the site (take that you moving mother fucker). But seriously, drive safe, don’t talk to strangers, and whatever you do, don’t take any of that mid-western crap!

-Caryn and Sean

I find it very appropriate that I had to type in “costly” as word verification while ordering tickets (for Siouxsie Sioux) from Ticketmaster today.

$8.35 “convenience” charge per ticket? Yes, I’m sure it was very convenient for them to charge me that amount. $2 building facility charge? What in hellfire and damnation does that mean? These people are worse than the cursed phone company when it comes to making up obscure fees.

I think I’m going to start sending bills to companies that insist on inventing countless bogus ways to rob us just to show them that I can play their game, too.

Mailbox facility charge: $2
National spam defense tax: $3
Me not coming to your corporate office with a machete charge: $6.66

Me, Caryn, and some friends from out of town are going to M Bar tonight. So, yeah, that’s my plan. There’s free beer from 10-midnight if that’s something you care about.

Don’t forget:

101.1 K-Earth – They play “Brown Eyed Girl” fifty times a day, but also a lot of the Supremes, James Brown, and the Beatles. I enjoy screeching along with the Turtles’ “Happy Together” while driving because I can’t sing. I heart the oldies!

88.1 – It’s a jazz station. I always get fuzzy reception, but it beats listening to Linkin Park and Evanescence.

98.7 – “Hey! Isn’t that Star! What the fuck is up your earhole?” Well, when they do 80′s flash backs, how can you resist? Fool, you cannot deny Bananarama.