Hell-A

It is so damn hot here. I mean, it's not Mississippi, we don't have the humidity, but we also don't have air conditioning in our apartment, so even without the humidity, it is absolutely miserable. It's like Elaine told Puddy, when he told her she was going to Hell.

I'm going to Hell! The worst place imaginable. With the ragged clothing, and the heat, my God the heat!

I've been sleeping on the couch some nights, and one night last week I had to resort to drastic measures. I went downstairs and grabbed an ice cold can of Pabst out of the fridge just to hold in my hand while I tried to fall asleep. It worked, for a little while, and I fell asleep feeling a little cooler, but then I woke up again about 30 minutes later drenched in sweat, and holding a warm beer. A friend suggested I place an entire cooler next to the bed, so that when one beer warms up, I can switch it out for a cold one. Doesn't sound like a bad idea.

It is actually cooler outside our apartment than inside. We've been trying to adjust by doing things outdoors. Last night we went to see a movie. In a cemetary. It was as weird as it sounds. They do movie screenings at the Hollywood Forever cemetary (which is the creepiest name for a cemetary I can think of) during the summer, and last night they showed Woody Allen's "Manhattan." First time I've seen it, and it was awesome. As if seeing a movie in a cemetary wasn't weird enough, they had a DJ spinning tunes before and after the movie, and everyone sits there and has picnic dinners before the show starts. Nothing like bringing a bunch beer and wine to the graveyard. Just a normal Saturday evening in Hollywood, I guess.

The Water Cooler

ATTENTION!!!

There's a brand new pop-culture blog out there that I feel the need to call your attention to for many reasons, not the least of which is that I am one of the two (currently) contributors to it.

The Water Cooler

I would urge you all (some more than others, but hey, we're all family here, right?) to head over there and check it out, b/c in my humble opinion, it's damn good. We've got a bunch of stuff going on over there, might be a little ambitious, and who knows how long it will last, but we think we need to at least put in as much time updating the blog as we did designing it, so that gives us a minimum of 2 weeks. I would imagine it'll go much longer. Most of what we do over there is going to be pop-culture related, reviews of movies, music, etc. Two things to look out for are our fake reviews of books we have never read (our "Judge a Book By Its Cover" series), and my "30 Years of Rock" series in which I will be reviewing the top 10 albums of each year of my life, each year on a new day leading up to my 30th birthday next month.

One thing I want to point out, though, is that for some reason, the template we used looks like complete crap on Internet Explorer. This would be a great time for you to download and use Mozilla Firefox as your web browser, if you don't already. With tabbed browsing, you can have multiple sites open at once in the same window (without crowding your computer with so many browser windows open at one time), and it has much MUCH better pop-up blockers and security features than IE does. Best of all, it's free!! Get it here.

There's a lot going on out here in the City of Angels, so don't think that I'm abandoning Manifest Destiny in favor of The Water Cooler. I don't like one more than the other, I just like them in different ways. It's like the way my parents feel about my sisters. They don't love one more than the other, they just love them differently. They do, of course, love me more. That's a joke. They love me much less.

So, check out The Water Cooler, bookmark it, read it early, read it often, and keep coming back here as well, b/c I'm going to be posting different stuff in both places. And thanks for reading. You stay classy, San Diego.

PS - My buddy Micah's latest Chicago Sports Review column got picked up by the up-and-coming (at a very fast pace) sports blog Deadspin. Check it out here, it's quality stuff.

I Don't Roll on Shabbas

But I will roll the day after Shabbas.

Saturday we spent the day at the beach in Malibu with a bunch of friends. It was great, the waves were huge, and we were like 7-year olds jumping around in them. We packed lunches and a cooler full of water (and beer), and some of us forgot to put sunscreen on various parts of our bodies. I got a weird burn on a small strip of the back of one of my arms. I was one of the lucky ones. Frisbees and footballs are much more fun on the beach than they are in real life, I learned.

That night Amanda and I went to the MOCA for some sort of "Night Vision" event. It was pretty cool, they had a cash bar and a DJ spinning tracks in the museum courtyard, and the exhibit was open, so we went inside and checked out the art. Maybe I was just exhausted from the Sun, but I wasn't too impressed, despite the fact that the artist had attended the University of Texas for a brief period.

Yesterday we went out to the Valley (where it really is 10-15 degrees hotter than the city) for my roommate Josh's surprise bowling birthday party. (He's a good bowler but his younger brother bowled two games over 200.) Then we went over to his parents' house to hang out in the pool and have a cookout. It was a really fun day, but I think I spent too much time in the Sun this weekend, b/c I'm completely drained. I did manage to put up my unofficial (b/c I can't remember my previous record) high score yesterday, though, of a 146. I took a picture so the next time I break it, it won't be unofficial anymore.

If I Ever Lose My Faith In You

I read an article today that renewed my faith in science. And progress. (Thanks, Sting.) It seems that, with all of the disease, chemical and biological weaponry, stem cell research, and technological issues facing the world today, scientists haven't lost sight of the big picture.

They've come up with a heat-resistant version of chocolate that won't melt.

Here's a quote from the end of the article.

"The researchers hope their new confection will 'allow the wide distribution, display and consumption of chocolate in the tropics, especially Nigeria.'"

Well, this is just what Nigeria needs. Chocolate that won't melt. This is certainly a bigger problem than having the third highest percentage of HIV/AIDS patients in the world. Also, given the fact that the residents of Nigeria have an average purchasing power of $692 (which, admittedly, is fairly in line with my own purchasing power), how much of this chocolate is really going to be sold there??

News of this new heat-resistant chocolate should come as no greater relief to anyone than it should to my own mother, who despite living in Houston, Texas, which is the second hottest place in the world (but closing in quickly on Nigeria's lead), still insists on mailing chocolate items in packages to me that, by the time they arrive, resemble nothing close to their original shape and look more like Indian artifacts found on a dig in New Mexico. But I always (I repeat, always) appreciate the gesture. I think she's satisfectellent. I don't really know what it means, but there are billboard all over LA.

Multimedia message

Derek "Night Train" Lowe gave up 4 in the first but seems to have rebounded. Wehave sweet seats behind home plate. Bonds isn't playing. What a douchebag.

Why the World Needs Dule Hill

Well, kids, Amanda's out of town for the weekend, so we all know what that means ... it's time for another TV roundup issue.

I just watched what might be the best new show that comes out all year, and the biggest surprise is that it's on the USA Network. Yes, I'm talking about Psych. Hilarious. The premise is this: a slacker with a knack for detail (James Roday) gets into some trouble with the law and lies to the cops about being a psychic. For some reason, he convinces his straight-laced friend (Dule Hill from The West Wing) to go in on the ruse with him. Hilarity ensues. I'll be back next week. If you happen to catch the pilot episode, by the way, make sure you stick around for the credits. Let's just say that Dule Hill does a mean Michael Jackson impression during some outtakes of one of the scenes. Good stuff.

Speaking of Michael Jackson, my buddy Jeremy just texted me to say that he's at Michael Jackson's father's birthday party in Las Vegas right now. We have yet to find out if he was serious, and if so, how in the hell that is possible.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really way too excited about the new season of Rockstar. My loyal longtime readers (hi mom!) might remember my obsession with last year's installment of Rockstar: INXS. Well, that had a lot to do with the fact that I used to be a huge INXS fan (15 years ago), but it was also a really good show. Anyway, the new season of Rockstar: Supernova kicked off on Wednesday, and I'm not sure what I was doing at the time, but I managed to TiVo it, so I'm watching it right now. Brooke Burke looks as hot as ever, and Dave Navarro looks just as creepy as I remember him. The band this year is a "supergroup" (in the absolute loosest sense of the word) made up of Tommy Lee, Jason Newstead (formerly of Metallica) and Gilby Clarke (formerly of Guns 'n' Roses). They're a bunch of scrubs, to be sure (with the possible exception of Tommy Lee), but I'm excited for some good, old fashioned, hard rocking as the season progresses. Also, I'm pretty excited to see that it looks like Gilby Clarke borrowed Kirk Pengilly's wispy mustache from last season. Somebody's got to keep that thing on TV.

HOLY CRAP! I'm watching the first episode right now, and one of the contestants is Patrice Pike, who is from Austin and used to front the band Little Sister, who we used to see all the time in college. I think they might have played one of my fraternity parties. Maybe not, but I seem to remember that. Anyway, this chick rocks, and she nailed her performance. The band dug her. I hope she does well. So far, some of the performances have been rather mediocre, but I'm certainly not going to stop watching.

Another reason I'm excited about this show is that I scored two tickets for Amanda and me to go to a taping this Sunday!! I'll have to find out which night that show is going to air (Wednesday or Thursday of this week, I'm guessing), and I'll post the details. Look for us. We'll be on CBS with our Eye on America.

I'm heading to the Dodger game tomorrow with some friends. Can't pass up the chance to boo Barry Bonds in person. Here's what I think about him. Here's what MC Hammer thinks about him. You can decide for yourself which of us you agree with.

With a Poster of Rasputin ...

... And a beard down to his knees. We went to see the Indigo Girls last night for free on the Santa Monica Pier. Decent show - they sounded great but they sure played a whole bunch of crap I didn't know.

29 Days 'Till Ricky Bobby

Some public service announcements from your favorite NASCAR driver and mine, Ricky Bobby.

We Want the World and We Want It...

In honor of today being the 35th anniversary of the legendary Jim Morrison's death, I'm going all Doors, all day. Don't you wish you were sitting in my cubicle today?

I Am Not Overly Concerned

Radiohead played last night at the Greek Theater in LA. I'm sure they were awesome, but Amanda, Bailey and I went to the Counting Crows concert down in beautiful Irvine, CA. It was nice, actually, great weather and a good show. I think the highlight for me was tailgating in the parking lot with Pabst Blue Ribbon, veggie dumplings, asian salad, and edamame. Only in LA.

The Goo Goo Dolls were the opening band (well, not the first opening band, but I'm not sure they even had a name), and they were actually not bad. I mean, I'm not rushing out to their next concert or joining their fan club, but at least it wasn't Train.

The Crows took the stage a little late, and Bailey was audibly shocked at Adam Duritz's appearance. We all were, actually. He doesn't look like this anymore. He looks like this now. It was a good show, though, despite the fact that they absolutely BUTCHERED Rain King and Raining in Baltimore. They did a really kick-ass version of Murder of One, though, that completely redeemed themselves. Problem is, though, Duritz is so out of shape that he has to give these mini-speeches between songs to give himself time to catch his breath so he can sing again (ironically, one of these speeches last night was about not lifting weights), and they ran over on time and had to cut their show and do a quick one-song encore. Good show, too short.

I got a little lazy and didn't feel like typing out their setlist, so I just took a picture of where I wrote it down. Enjoy.