Shot of the day 358: The (Xmas) Ball...is BACK.

Shot with iphone (w/Wide Angle Lens), click to enlarge.

It's been 8 years in California during Xmas time (well 6 if you count us going back home to NY to celebrate with family) and I still don't get fully immersed into the "Christmas Spirit" walking around in 75 degree weather on a sunny day. To me, it aint christmas unless there is a frigid wind cracking your lips, grey snow collecting on the sidewalk and the hope that it COULD be a white christmas when you wake up on that all-important morning. Feels like a cheat, or waiting for the other shoe to drop on what many consider their optimal Holiday conditions out here. It wasn't really until we put up our own tree in the house, small as it was in our compact space, that things felt a little more CHEER-ful 'round there parts. All it takes is some pine-sweet smelling foliage, some multi-colored lights and a few reflecting PHANTASM-esque balls hanging from said tree like earrings to do the trick. Seems like we're gonna lay low tonight (after Luke came by to exchange gifts; got me a sweet Robert Altman audio book and a wide-angle lens for the iphone, as you can see above), but I'm finally excited to get this show on the road and watch Remy tear into some wrapping paper.

Merry Christmas Eve!



Joe

Shot of the day 357: Corporate Trimmings & Looking Up

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

Back at work, back in the office. As I race to make the mailroom deadline with some bills and holiday cards, I pass the 15 ft. tall Christmas Tree in the main lobby of the CEG building (Comcast Entertainment Group for the uninitiated) and find myself just...looking up. Im sure people passing me thought funny of the sight, but my feet were planted by the root of the Vertical Yule log and it reminded me of my very early childhood days (which for some reason are always narrated by Richard Dreyfuss. Strange), standing at the Lynch family tree in our living room in Port Jeff Station, action figures in hand. Every year, it was like a new Nakatomi Plaza had been erected and I had to navigate my Duke or Luke Skywalker through the many green floors, dodging bullets and lightbulbs. My imagination ran wild every year, my one eye closed as my other played "the camera", squinting to get lens flare from the lights and moving with Raimi-like ferocity as Snake Eyes or Han held on for dear life, dangling from a holiday ball. The various action set-pieces were like a McTirenan meets Michael Bay summer blockbuster sequence, usually lasting around an hour (the time between when homework was done and the 8pm shows were on TV) and always captivating.

So there I am, looking up at this huge honkin' christmas tree, the corporate symbol of the holiday solidarity amidst a year of takedowns, cutbacks, firings and mergings, thinking how I seemed to have been ducking, diving and clutching on many branches myself, just like those action figures...yet seem to have hang ups on "Oh man, I haven't made a feature this year" (even though I have two Im working on currently) which seems to be the only thing to give you any legitimacy in this town....
Music videos? Who cares.
Commercials? Nope.
Viral videos? Whatevs.
Online franchises? Pfftt.
Shorts? Get real.
Acting? Loser.
Overseeing coverage of major geek events? Come again?
New Script? Puhleeze.
Year long photo projects? No weight at all.

...But between that and all the HUGE life changes in my life (which, if you've been a "constant reader" will know ALL about), all of them branches in the year of my life, and I feel like I'm JUST hanging on, trying to make it to the star on top...or at least maintain some stable ground. It sucks that there is such a "race" mentality out here, but also, this year made me realize that the race is sometimes self-inflicted, that it's my own checkered flag I'm chasing, and that if I don't slow down, Ill miss every small victory I get every day, each branch acquiring a new ornament to gaze upon or cherish.

Yes, Im rambling a bit with my metaphor, but all these emotions and thoughts flooded through me as I stood here, under the loomingly large & trimmed tree, pontificating for a moment-before having one of those "breakthrough" ideas that just smack you in the ass like your first time in WeHo on a Saturday night-and then swinging off again onto another branch in my busy day.

Last days at the job before the holidays always seem to do this with me.

Joe

Shot of the day 356: Homeopathic Humbug

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

Last night was a rough one, coughed up something so foul I wouldnt even shoot it for SOTD in fear you'd never come back (all 3 of you). It was that disgusting, even for me. Been feeling shitty for days but yesterday it really caught up with me, so much so that my boss sent me home early (thanks Rob, much appreciated) but this morning I felt like melted death, so i stayed home, watching the Columbian thriller DOG EAT DOG & then a few episodes of DEXTER to finally catch up. Been loading up on Homeopathic Cold & Flu pills the entire day, adhering to a strict regiment of dissolving 3 small white orbs every 15 minutes for 2 hours at a time. Being sick days before Christmas?

Not fun. Not fun at ALL.

Joe

Shot of the day 355: The Wall on Wilshire

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

A crisp, chilly day and Im standing outside, on the verge of being sick, waiting for another new Gourmet lunch truck to arrive on Wilshire. This time it's the Grill Em All Truck, specializing in Heavy metal burgers while playing the best in the metallic genre. While waiting, I notice behind me a slab of heavily decorated concrete, standing upright in front of a building, and discover that it's actual pieces of the Berlin Wall.

Wow.

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

Touching it with my hand, feeling the coarse, cold cement on my hand, and instantly I was transported back to my Junior High class when we watched on TV when the wall was torn down, a significant moment on many fronts for many, many people. Now it stands, a symbol of freedom, overcoming adversary....only to be an art installation in front of one of the major buildings in Los Angeles that represent commerce (I believe its the Variety building).

What's crazy (in my own geek head) is that 20 years ago the film MIRACLE MILE was released in limited theaters, depicting a final solution scenario where the cold war DIDN'T end, the Berlin Wall still intact, and Anthony Edwards is racing to get to THIS VERY BUILDING for refuge as the bombs from Russia begin to drop. 20 years has passed...and a symbol to the cold war is placed in front of the symbol I always had for safety from the "enemy". Times they have changed.



By the way, the Waste Em All Burger was fantastic, and the Pomme Frittes with Aoli sauce get two Devil's Horns up. God Bless America.

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

Joe

Shot of the day 354: "Bringing up these damn lights!"

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

Trimming the tree with Remy & the fam. Fun Sunday indeed. Our 10th together, 8th with Banz and 1st with Remy, if you statistic hounds are keeping up...and many more to come.

Joe

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

Shot of the day 353: KISSmas Cheer N Fear

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

A bittersweet time at the annual Mendez Xmas party which usually takes place the weekend before Christmas day. We've been invited many times over the years and it's always a great gathering of friends all squished in with Mike's wide array of toys and action figures and Rock Band. This year was Dickensian; It was the first year Remy got to tag along and he seemed to be warmly welcomed by the crew, many of whom haven't had the pleasure of meeting the lil Plissken; it was also a slightly sad affair since many of our friends were missing for one personal reason or another. But, when we all thought the Holiday soiree staple wasn't going to happen, Mike came through at the last moment and there we were, rocking out with Remy on Drums with some Black Sabbath, exchanging Secret Santa gifts (I had Green and got him his FAVORITE MOVIE) and keeping Remmers away from the walls of toys that were just begging to go in him maw, like this set of KISS figures next to a scale little boy ghost from Mike's fantastic THE GRAVEDANCERS (lower left side of frame). Every time I see that little smiling fucker it gives me chills.

Despite the lack of vegan goodies (oh well) it was a great time like always and glad Remy was warmy greeted by the Fright Clubbers. Can't wait for next year's.

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

Joe

Shot of the day 352: Game Day

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

So....today is the day. A day I've been waiting 4,379 days for (since the moment TITANIC rolled credits in front of me on opening day). James Cameron, a filmmaker I've been feverishly following since I saw Ahnuld pop an eyeball out of his head and into the sink in 1984, has finally released his new film, the ambitious 3-D Sci-Fi epic AVATAR. I've been hearing so much about the film for years, especially from a friend who is in the film (feels like FOREVER since we talked about it in Austin at FantasticFest in 07), so since the release date was announced almost years ago, my geek clock has been ticking down the moments before I put the glasses on to be whisked away to Pandora.

Since it was such a geek-tastic day, I convinced my supervisors to let us take the rest of the website crew to go see it as a Thank You for all the hard work they put in this year, one of our best years for the site ever, so it was a nice, richly deserved gift back. 40 tickets for AVATAR, please. Last time we all went out it was STAR TREK (and before it, HOT FUZZ) so our track record for "field trips" was 2 for 2. Plus, at the Cinerama Dome?

For weeks in the office there was much skepticism about the film, but I held tight with my faith in Cameron, believing he can bring the thunder, and was met with many naysayers giving me a scoopful of shit for being Pro-Avatar, even to the point where a verbal challenge was laid out on THE MMO REPORT where if the host does like the show, he will eat my shoe. Well, only one way to find out...

I woke up this morning feeling like there were Christmas presents already under the tree. Counting down the minutes till 3:15. I had even gotten there early to get my Arclight card re-upped...but then tragedy struck. I get to the concession stand at the Dome, and its like people trying to board the train to freedom; crowds upon crowds of people all trying to get their popcorn and Sausage baguettes. Damn....and there's nothing I hate worse than missing the opening of a movie. I HATE it. I'd rather get another ticket. But today, I didn't have that option. So I silently sucked it up, waiting for the molasses line to move....as the previews played....as the 20th Century Fox logo music played....NOW I was freaking out. Finally, I get to the front, throw 10 bucks at the guy and shout my order, grab my foodies and race in....and of course the film had started. Everyone else, even the naysayers, were all snug in their seats, taking in the magic unfolding before them in Stereoscopic 3-D...and Im balancing popcorn and soda, trying to find my fucking seat. After a few frustrating minutes, I just sit in any old seat (which wasn't bad actually) and throw on the glasses. If I missed 2 minutes or 20...it only took 30 seconds to fall right into the film, and 2 1/2 hours later, I emerged with a huge smile on my face.

Sure, I was kind of in the minority amongst the masses pouring out into the cool night, but where everyone seemed pissy about the story (or lack of an original one) my argument was this: It's not about the story for this type of film...it's the StoryTELLING. Sure, its a well-worn tale, one we've heard about for ages (most notibly in the Costner "classic" DANCES WITH WOLVES) but if one tries to "change the game" with new technology to tell the story, its always best to tell one that the audiences can at least side with simplicity in the story, and a complex, character-layered tapestry might fall on blind eyes.To me, seeing Cameron shoot this new world the only way he knows how (BIG, BURLY & BALSY), and that's what I wanted, and damn did i get it in spades.

I could go on for hours on this, but let's say this: I was fucking ENTERTAINED. That's all I asked for, and frankly, I know Ill be seeing the film many MANY times in the future. This is Remy's STAR WARS for sure, and while he might not see it on such a historic occasion like today was, Im sure we will both fall in love with Pandora and it's inhabitants for years to come. Was the game changed? Nah....but I do need to change my shorts.

Good show, Mr. Cameron....now the clock has been reset till BATTLE ANGEL. Tick tock....

Joe