Last year I went to see M. Ward play at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles. The show was really good and to my surprise he brought out actress Zooey Deschanel (Elf) to sing. I was surprised to hear how good Deschanel was and had to be reminded of the fact that she did sing in the movie Elf. After the show my friend and I both comment on how Deschanel should put out an album.
I can proudly say that I have now lived through three generations of “mixed tapes,” cassettes, CD's, and now the Muxtape.
Continue reading "Making a Mixtape (...make that Muxtape)" »
Like any good woman, I am a huge fan of that fabulous show called Sex and the City. How about you?
The show premiered in June 1998, and made television history with its relatable topics and witty writing. It was somewhere between the episodes where Samantha said, “Men cheat for the same reason dogs lick their balls…because they can,” and the one where Miranda says, “I was once with a guy the size of one of those little miniature golf pencils. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to fuck me or erase me,” that I knew I had found a show that I could completely relate to.
I interviewed Skip E. Lowe for Scene the other day. I'd never met him, but I'd watched him on cable access for 20 odd years. He's always struck me as someone on the periphery of show business -- somebody who was fun to watch because he was so freaky, until I saw him attract some major stars to his show, and numerous times. He interviewed Shelley Winters several times, and was able to attract none other than the great Orson Wells. So when the theme of Digging Deep In L.A. was suggested as a theme for this semester's edition, I went onto Skip E. Lowe's website and shot him an email asking for an interview. And he promptly called back, so I set out to interview him in West Hollywood just a little east of Boys' Town. And let me tell you, Skip's been around the block...several times. He was candid, forthright and charming and I felt an empathy for the man right away. I don't think there's a disingenuous bone in his body....he held nothing back and was completely honest about his life-long struggle to "make it" in Hollywood.
Mr. Lowe described his earliest memories of getting into show biz when, at nine years old, he did imitations of Carmen Miranda for his mother, who encouraged him to pursue a show business career. He took me through show biz junkets throughout Europe, Asia and the U.S.A., even entertaining the troops in Vietnam, something that he confessed had nothing to do with altruism. He quickly dispelled any notion that may have entered my head about his motives saying that he was only in Vietnam because it paid well. "Puhleeze," he said, "I'm not patriotic."
Anyway, check him out. He's a priceless piece of Hollywood hidden just under the surface. He's enriched my life -- maybe he'll do the same for you.
“Penelope” is definitely a refreshing outlook in a world where superficial appearances consume the average persons mind. The twisted fairy tale transcends above pop culture’s definition of beauty—or at least it tries to. Unfortunately, the day Christina Ricci is considered to be an ugly girl—pig snout and all—is the day most of the rest of us are doomed to eternal failure in regards to beauty.
The tale is by no means realistic; from the beginning score to the final credits we are made to believe little Penelope (play by Ricci) is the unlucky girl affected by a curse that has been set upon her family generations before. She is born with a pigs snout and ears and according to the curse, the only way to remove the spell is too make “one of her own kind” love her ‘til death do them part.
Continue reading ""Penelope" -- good message, iffy direction" »
