Sunday, Oct 16/05
Fairly uneventful. Our plane was half an hour late due to high winds. Instead of paying $17 a piece to take the shuttle to our hotel, we opted to take advantage of the Metro L.A. transit system. A move I blame entirely on BJ. Especially since he was the one looking at me with terror in his eyes as the bus dumped us in the lower east side of downtown L.A., 6 blocks from our hotel. Even the weirdos taking the bus with us were surprised we were getting off there and seemed to want to take care of us since we obviously had no idea what we were doing. Had a totally bland meal at the hotel restaurant, which was made manageable by our waitress, this totally adorable middle-aged Latino women who kinda reminds you of that aunt who owns a restaurant. BJ finally made peace with the fact that a) he has foodie tendencies, and b) Vancouver has some of the best dining in the world. Meaning that no matter what kind of food you'’re into and how much you want to spend, you can find an awesome meal almost anywhere. Rain & thunder showers all night long.
Monday, Oct 17/05
Since our only plans were in the evening we decided to take it easy and just take the subway into Hollywood to poke around. Found the IHOP down the block the night before & I made the mistake of having the biscuit & gravy breakfast. It continued to rain off and on all day, with a nasty downpour in the afternoon that soaked my jeans up to the backs of my knees and forced us into a record shop where BJ found the "“Dr. Detroit"” soundtrack (by DEVO) & a Joy Division pin. Most of our time was spent at Amoeba records, a gigantic independent record, CD & DVD paradise. BJ was able to limit himself to a Neil Hamburger LP, the Jonathan Glazer work of director DVD, "Oldboy" (sans dual language packaging), "“School of the Holy Beast" & the "“Out of Sight"” soundtrack on CD. I, on the other hand, picked up the "Spaced" DVD set (Region 2, guess we have to get a new DVD player), a new "New Order" DVD set (collected videos & "The New Order Story", the Joy Division Preston picture disc & another Joy Division EP that I'’d never seen before & a Woody Allen comedy CD. After all that, we popped over to the Arclight where the Film Threat genre fest was supposed to happen. We were going to see "“Curse of the Wererabbit"” in the Cinerama Dome, but because of their strict no late-comers policy we were not allowed to buy tickets a mere ½ hour before the show. So, we poked around their gift shop where BJ found a great (new) Taschen book on Paul Verhoeven & then ate at the bar/lounge, where I had yet another super bland meal. After that we decided to look around Hollywood & Vine a little more (which is where we got caught in the nasty downpour), but we did also find an awesome little vintage clothing store called Iguana. Ok, little is the wrong word; itÂ’s probably the largest vintage clothing store in North America & the quality & prices were reasonable. I was able to pick-up another Hawaiian dress to add to my collection & Beej got some much needed shirts, as well as a new skinny tie & a black & red stripped tie that I wore that night to go see the Director'’s Cut of Land of the Dead in Alhambra. Got back to the hotel & finally got a hold of Eric Campos who was muchly impressed with our transit adventures. We made tentative plans to hook up Friday during the movie since neither of us were that interested in seeing it. It took us about 45 min to get out to Alhambra on the bus & I at least was happy when we got there because a) there are street lights in Alhambra, b) I found all the Asians & c) we got to eat at a place called “Panda Express". Unfortunately, "Land of the Dead" in the theatre wasn'’t exactly the horror fan explosion I was expecting. There were less than 50 people in the theatre (I counted) & it was a DVD projection, not a 35 mm print like I'd expected. As for the film, I enjoyed the story, and watching Denis Hopper give a performance somewhere in between James Caan phoning it in and super method (be sure to check out the part where he picks his nose, and I mean "picks his nose"), but it's easily my least favourite of the Romero zombie films. However, the tone & style of "Land of the Dead" is so different than the others that it's almost impossible to compare them. I'd describe it more as a fun adventure movie with zombies in it, rather than as a "Dead" movie.
Tuesday, Oct 18/05
Got up to a much later start than I'd expected, due in part to the fact that yet again my body woke me up at 6am for no good reason. This also meant that we were late getting me food & caffeine, which meant that I was sniping at BJ most of the way to Universal Studios. Finally got to Universal around 12pm & spent about an hour tooling around the City Walk. Spent far more time & money at Hot Topic than I'’d care to admit. BJ got a cute boys holding hands t-shirt. I got a Batman T & a Friday the 13th T & a cute blouse. And I went back later and got a jacket. By the time we actually got into the park, I really needed to eat again, but there was nearby was burgers and pizza. I opted for a cheese pizza, but only ate ¾ of it and felt pretty ill. Oh, and it was cold & cloudy & threatening to rain again. First thing we did was the "Van Helsing Dracula's Castle" walk through maze which incorporated actual set pieces, which was kind of cool. However, we were also able to establish that I am still petrified of the dark, especially when I'm expecting people in scary costumes to jump out at me, which they did. Meaning, our planned excursion to Knotts Scary Farm would have to be scrapped, since the stupid Dracula thing had me shaking for about ½ an hour afterwards. I'm a pussy. Other than that, things were pretty underwhelming & it actually got really cold. Mummy ride was pretty cool, if really short, but I think that was just because I haven't been on a rollercoaster in a long time & I really like roller coasters.
Also went on the Jurassic Park ride, and despite my stating before we got on that we weren't going to sit in the front, I ended up right in the front on the right hand side, where most of the water comes down. This led to some amusing incidents wherein an elderly woman grabbed me to show her traveling companions how wet I was, and a different elderly lady was treated to me bending over with my ass in the air underneath a hand dryer in an attempt to unsoggefy my undies and make my ass less clammy. But I did get a cute Spiderman T-shirt & a black stuffed kitty I call Darby. We decided to eat on the City Walk since we'd bought tickets to "Wolf Creek" which was playing as part of Screamfest at the City Walk theatre. Ended up at a seafood place which turned out to be our best idea all day. My body was ecstatic at being able to actually absorb nutrients. Also decided to buy some new socks at the sock hut. They're fuzzy, black & orange and go right over my knees. Again, another brilliant idea. When we got to the theatre, rather predictably they were running about 20 min behind, which was okay because I got to chat up one of the festival volunteers & I managed to spot David E. Allen (producer of "“Dog Soldiers") who I'd met at Cinemuerte a couple of years ago. I passed him my card & he promised to send us a copy of his latest movie, called "“Boo" which had screened on Monday. As for "Wolf Creek", I'm hesitant to hype it up too much because unlike some other recent foreign horror films ("Haute Tension" I'm looking at you), this one may just live up to it. It's beautifully shot (no, really), with characters you can actually care about & excellent pacing. Also, it's scary as hell. Well, more acurately it's as stressful as hell. My hands actually cramped up from clutching my fists so tight. All in all, a very impressive feature debut. Despite not having really planned on attending more Screamfest screenings, I think we'’ll try to make the Canadian zombie movie on Thursday & the Friday the 13th Anniversary screening on Friday.
Wednesday, Oct 19/05
Having actually gotten some vitamins the night before, I felt much better, despite my sore throat having developed into a snotty nose & a bit of a cough. The only thing on the itinerary was the Dearly Departed Tour which was worth every penny. Even chatted up the owner/driver guy Scott afterwards & complemented his "Freaks" pinhead tattoo. Also got to tool around Hollywood Blvd for a bit & check out the local wildlife. Then we had to get back downtown to pick up our rental car & hightale it to Anaheim. Got crappy Chinese takeout at the motel, drove to Buena Park to buy BJ new skateshoes, then went to the Krikorian Metroplex where there wasn't a single thing we wanted to see playing in any of the 18 theatres. Realized I was crazy tired, went back to the motel & decided to crash since we were doing Disneyland the next day!!!
Tursday, Oct 20/05
Got up nice & early having actually gotten some sleep the night before & got out to Disneyland pretty much at opening time. Since the weather was really nice (hottest day we had the whole time we were down there), it was pretty busy, but we were able to plan our riding times well enough that we didn'’t have to wait that long for most things. Probably the longest waits were for "Space Mountain", which we got out of the way as soon as we got there (not quite as cool as I remember it since it was my first rollercoaster back in the day) & "Splash Mountain" which was really fun. Totally lucked out with that one since some chick ran up to us when we entered the line & gave us their Fast Track tickets for the ride, but the window had ended an hour earlier, so we just assumed they were expired and stayed in the line. After half an hour in the line we got to a Disney employee who informed us that we could in fact still use the Fast Track passes, so we jumped the queue & still had to wait a good 20 -– 30 min, but it was still way better than if we'd stayed in the other line. Overheard one of the Asian kids ahead of us say something about "only Canadians say that," to which I had to interject that we were Canadian & it turns out they were Canadian as well, and so was the family behind them. In fact the Asian kids were from Vancouver & had decided to use the teacher'’s strike as an excuse to go to Disneyland. Also spent a good deal of time taking pictures of the "“Nightmare Before Christmas"” themed Haunted Mansion. Tried to take the "dirty" picture of Walt & Mickey that'd we'd both heard about, but I don't really think it turned out:
Managed to stay until closing, which meant that we missed the Canadian zombie movie at "Screamfest"”, then decided to eat yet another whatever meal in Downtown Disney before getting back to our car to drive back to L.A. Managed to find a free parking spot right across from our hotel, (well, free until 8am) and crashed like we'’ve never crashed before.
Friday, Oct 21/05
Realizing that our burning it at both ends was starting to take its toll, we decided to sleep in & just spend some time bumming around Hollywood & Highland. Got a tattoo on the back of my neck @ California Tattoo by a guy named 7.
Went to the Erotic Museum, which was actually pretty cool, although much smaller than I expected. Confused the girl at the door with our Canadian IDs & managed to get the student discount. Also got to the Hollywood Museum in the Max Factor building which had tons of really cool old costumes & set pieces, including Roddy McdowallÂ’s bathroom, an entire cellblock from "“Red Dragon", a huge homage to Greta Garbo & the bike from "“Pee Wee'’s Big Adventure" (sadly it is kept under glass & we were not able to ride it around the museum). After that, we skidaddled back to the Arclight to buy tickets for "Goodnight & Goodluck". On our way to the theatre, BJ turned to me and said "Am I being racist, or is that Paul Mooney?" gesturing to the two African-American men chatting on the corner. And turned to look, and sure enough, there was Paul Mooney, which was nice since it was our only celebrity spotting & it was someone we kind of cared about. Apparently Beej had originally spotted him due to his "celebrity red" shoes. We then killed some more time in Amoeba & ate some descent sushi. Watched "Goodnight" in our reserved seats (the Arclight is so cool!) which I really enjoyed, especially since I am a fan of George Clooney as a director. It was beautifully shot, featured great performances (David Strathairn is predictably awesome) and still managed to tell the story in such a way that even though the events exist in the historical record, it was compelling, human & inspiring. Did not make it to "Friday the 13th". After the show we finally caught up with Eric Campos, which was really cool. He's a great guy & seemed quite relieved that Beej & I weren't total freaks. Got drinks at Beauty Bar, which is this cool little bar done up like a beauty salon that plays 80's music where you can get martinis & manicures on Thursdays for $10. Once it got too crowded there, we were going to go to The Burgundy Room across the street, but they were even more crowded, so we ended up at this sketchy little, near deserted gay bar where they had to get someone to unlock the lady's bathroom every time I had to use it. Finally had to leave when Eric got cornered in the men's room by some crazy man who kept going on about "“the new world order". Cabbed it back to the hotel & crashed again like people have not crashed before.Saturday, Oct 22/05
Another late start. Took the subway to Hollywood & Highland to buy a frame for BJ's dad & Penny as a thank you gift & decided that a photo with the old man dressed as Gandalf the Grey would be our least sketchy option for Grauman's freaks photos (naked Spiderman in his pyjamas is still giving me nightmares). Took a bus up to Melrose so that I could do some clothes shopping & we could check out the comic shop that David Allen had recommended. Managed to find some really pretty clothes & was amazed at how reasonable the prices were. Finally made it to Golden Apple where I picked up a couple things (History of Violence & a book on Japanese cult films) & vol 3 of the Manga for the new show I just got offered. Had a good laugh when we spotted the "Dog Soldiers" & "Boo” posters at the back of the store. Got out just in time to find somewhere to eat (descent Italian, although what is it with putting cheese on fucking everything down here?!) before we had to bus back up to the Arclight to catch "X,Y". BJ was totally prepared to hate the movie, but his interest & appreciation grew as the film grew in sadistic strangeness. It's kind of hard movie to describe, but if you appreciate a good head fuck, & can get passed non-existent budgets, I totally recommend it. Since Campos had already taken off by the time the film was finished, we decided to just grab some water & take the subway back to the hotel.
Sunday, Oct 23/05
Our last full day in L.A. Went down to Sunset to paruse yet another comic book store, but Lord, was it worth the trip. If you are ever in L.A. and like comic books, or toys, or even Asian DVDs; go to Meltdown Comics. The place is like Nerd Mecca. Picked up Queen Bee (new Chynna Clugston for Scholastic of all people), issue #1 of Shadowplay (horror comic with a story by Amber Benson), Sea of Red & Vol. 2 of the Manga for my new show. Meltdown is also now the permanent home of Drunken Master DVDs which some of you may know from the convention circuit, so we bit the bullet & snagged the Battle Royale Region 0 boxset. After that we trundled down to The Grove/Farmer's Market to see "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang". Wandered around a bit before the film and managed 4 "celebrity" sightings in 10 mins. Started off unremarkably enough with Guillermo Diaz hanging with a couple of friends outside of the theatre. Then, as we were leaving after purchasing our tickets I spotted Danny Strong (Jonathan from "Buffy"), who is an adorable little tiny man who was very cute in his itty-bitty tiny blue track pants (it's not often that I get the urge to pick-up a guy & squeeze him to death like the adorable little doll-man he is). Then, spotted Danny Masterson, but that wasn't a surprise since Defamer makes it sound like he lives there. However, the highlight of the day didn't happen until I wandered in to Anthropologie, despite knowing I wouldn't be able to afford anything there (not entirely true, I found a shirt on sale & a hairband). As I brought my meagre purchases up to the till I was able to spot Kirstie freakin' Alley looking very cranky on a couch while a girl I have to assume was her assistant waited at the till with about a billion packages. Obviously they'd been there a long time & I don't blame her for looking pissed off since the sales girl seemed to have run off again. Other than cranky, she looked really good. Nicely made-up with great hair. After that we had to rush back to the theatre for our movie which I really enjoyed. I mean, I'd only recently discovered Shane Black, but I have developed a taste for his work & I appreciated the tempering effect time has had on his rougher misogynistic tendancies. Very funny, Robert Downie Jr. was great & seeing it in L.A. was a special treat (basically, what you need to know is it's a buddy action movie set in L.A. @ Christmas). After that we had to rush back to the Arclight to catch up with Eric Campos & watch the shorts program he put together. After the shorts we returned to that weird little gay bar for our final drinks in Hollywood, which led to a hilarious story involving the only time BJ has had to introduce himself as Brian for his own safety. Shuffled off sometime around 1am & insisted that Campos come visit us whenever he's in Vancouver. Managed to barf in the 7/11 parking lot after 1 & 1/4 beers, got back to the hotel & slept it off.
Monday, Oct 24/05
Had to get up early-ish so that we could take the subway to the airport (slightly less sketchy than the bus, but also faster). Froze to death in the terminal while we waited for our plane which was, of course, 2 hours late. Slept most of the way back to Vancouver, got home & gave the cats a good squeeze like the nerds we are.
Hope I didn't bore y'all too much. Leave me questions & comments if you made it this far & stay tuned for Week 2: Cinemuerte which I'm hoping will be up by tomorrow.
~meeko
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