uninteresting :: rich

ah, the LA weather just makes me feel good.

maybe it’s also cuz i wake up at 11, hang out at starbucks, then go to the beach…

wow, ‘the pianist‘ was a great flick. i thought it was gonna be some sentimental artsy flick because of all the attention it got at the oscars…something like a pianist who was forced to play for the nazis while the horrors of the holocaust went on around him (a la ‘life is beautiful’). but that wasn’t it at all - it was really a smartly-done survival/action movie, following the main character around as he evaded the nazis when they occupied warsaw. even more amazing is that it was a true story. good job, mr. polanski. so, ya like young girls…at least you turn out good flicks. after watching ‘the making of’ part of the dvd, you realize how personal the movie was for roman polanski, himself a survivor of nazi occupied poland.

if you wanna see a REALLY depressing holocaust flick, rent ‘the grey zone‘. they went into painstaking detail to depict the concentration camps and gas chambers in great detail. not a date movie.

i gotta take a moment to give props to my man, Howard Stern.
i’ve been a listener since my teenage years in new york. i remember my mom being both amused and disgusted with the things he’d say when she’d drive me to school. she was the type of listener mentioned in his movie "Private Parts" - the ones who couldn’t stop listening because they wanted to see what raunchy thing he’d say next.

but there have been long stretches where i didn’t listen. he wasn’t on at all in uptight Atlanta during my college years. the stations there wouldn’t carry him. i rediscovered him in the SF bay area, where’s syndicated, and he’s made my commutes almost enjoyable over the years.

and now that i’m in LA, i’m listening more than ever. not that i’m even awake by the time he goes off the air at 10:30am…but i download the show in MP3 format from usenet newsgroups (alt.binaries.howard-stern) and put it on my ipod. it’s commercial-free, too! i don’t know who exactly is encoding & posting the show (it’s illegal, and definitely not endorsed by howard), but they do a great job. every morning’s show is available online by the early afternoon.

so why am i feelin especially appreciative of him lately? LA DRIVING. whether i’m doing the 40 min haul between san pedro/hollywood, or stuck in traffic, it’s all good. i’m behind the wheel, happy, mellow, laughing. =)

been a good boy this weekend - didn’t party at all. trying to transition from ‘party rich’ to ‘daytime rich’. yeah, i’m like the spice girls. actually made it out to breakfast at 10am today, which is pretty unheard of for me. izzy’s, a jewish deli in santa monica

went to a bbq @ huntington beach yesterday. it’s a pretty hardcore surfing/beach community. met some cool people…many of ‘em were goin to the ‘pornstar ball’ (afterhours party starting at 3am last night), but i declined. also declined okesmays. 10 days free so far. good boy.

i wanna rent a place by the beach (probably venice) for the next few months. workin on that.

switched web browsers from opera to mozilla firebird. i’m diggin it…small & compact, fast, well-thought out.

i’m a total starbucks whore. i swear, the past week i’ve spent an average of probably 3 hrs a day in this san pedro location near my dad’s place. and when i venture elsewhere (like to hermosa beach yesterday), i find a starbucks and park near it. it’s kinda sad to be such a slave to a corporate giant like this, but they’ve got me hooked with the wireless internet access thru tmobile.

i used to be more of a supporter of mom & pop cafes, but after spending all this time here, i have to give them credit. they really have created a community hub that didn’t exist before. the locals congregate here mornings and evenings, and it’s a very neighborly vibe.