so excited ...

... for this and this.

Quote of the day

“All Black,” which strains in vain for anthemhood (“Take a look at my life, all black/Take a look at my clothes, all black”), may single-handedly convince the nation’s goths to embrace pastels.
-- a New York Times review of Good Charlotte's new CD

Weekend Update

So I had a relatively eventful weekend ... Friday night Rebecca and I went to watch my friend Ken DJ at Mandrake Bar, where he spun mostly indie rock and electronica, and threw in a couple Lily Allen tracks for me. Thanks, K.

Saturday, we checked out the new exhibit showing at MOCA's Geffen Contemporary, titled WACK: Art and the Feminist Revolution. I know, admittedly, very little about art, and sometimes have a hard time appreciating modern art, but there were definitely a few pieces that I really enjoyed, most notably one made almost entirely of panty hose. The context of the exhibit was definitely something I could relate to, not just because I happen to be a woman, but because I follow the media quite closely, and it's still frighteningly easy to see how women are villified every day (try catching a flattering clip of Hillary Clinton on Fox News). Rebecca also pointed out that she's happy these women, mostly in the 70s, were willing to take crazy naked pictures of themselves and do weird performance pieces involving their vaginas so that people like us, 35 years later, could think unhesitatingly about grad school and lives without kids.

After the museum, we crossed the street into the Japanese Village in Little Tokyo, where I had an awesome cream puff for 75 cents at a Japanese bakery. We then realized that the tournament game was on, and found a tiny Cuban restaurant with a TV, where I had an awesome cafe con leche while I indulged Rebecca's allegiance to UCLA.

When that was over with, we went to my personal favorite sushi place, Hamakawa, an authentic, no-frills Little Tokyo staple that has the thickest, freshest fish I've ever had.

On Sunday, I finally made the trek to the Santa Monica stairs, which I've driven by several times and never had the guts to try, although I did a lot of stair workouts at USC. It's basically a steep wooden staircase that extends up a cliff overlooking the beach, although that's hardly what you focus on while navigating them. I did eight reps of the staircase, and needless to say, it's pretty difficult to walk around today.


*Image courtesy of latimes.com

Ze plane! Ze plane!

There are a few perks that come with working next door to LAX -- mostly free airport parking and a free shuttle. But today was especially cool, as I did not have to join the masses at 5 a.m. crowding for a spot to see the first landing of the Airbus A380, the world's biggest passenger plane. Instead, we watched it glide past our office windows and onto a northern runway.

It really was enormous. It's a double-decker plane that carries 550 people and has a wingspan longer than a football field. In true L.A. fashion, LAX employees rolled out a red carpet for the plane's passengers, and the pilots were greeted with a handshake from my main man Tony.


*Image from latimes.com

Very refreshing

There is an excellent op-ed piece in the Washington Post today, by a former Republican senator and Army vet, responding to Gen. Peter Pace's recent comments about how homosexuality is "immoral" and therefore "don't ask, don't tell" should stay in place. Mostly it's just refreshing to hear this kind of common sense talk come from people actually within the Republican party:

According to the Government Accountability Office, more than 300 language experts have been fired under "don't ask, don't tell," including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. This when even Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently acknowledged the nation's "foreign language deficit" and how much our government needs Farsi and Arabic speakers. Is there a "straight" way to translate Arabic? Is there a "gay" Farsi? My God, we'd better start talking sense before it is too late ...

Gen. Pace is entitled, like anyone, to his personal opinion, even if it is completely out of the mainstream of American thinking. But he should know better than to assert this opinion as the basis for policy of a military that represents and serves an entire nation.

Recently enjoyed

I am bored. So here are some books, DVDs, movies and CDs I recently consumed and enjoyed.

On the nightstand:
"The Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama: I saved this book from a lifetime sitting in a corner at the Sage when someone, for some reason, gave it to my ultra-conservative dad as a gift. Ths book sure makes it easy to jump on the Obama bandwagon. It gives great insight on how to fix "a political process that is broken" and includes vivid firsthand accounts of Obama's frustrations with political fundraising and partisan divisiveness.

On the turntable:
"Alright, Still" by Lily Allen: Lily Allen is somehow able to mix rap, pop, reggae and, yes, polka, while telling street stories with an infectious wit and cynicism. She's hilarious and unapologetic, and the music is so damn catchy.

On the screen:
"Black Snake Moan": Though I loooooved "Hustle & Flow," I was pretty skeptical of this movie, even if it DOES feature Justin Timblerlake. In the end, it's nowhere near as good as "Hustle & Flow," but it wasn't terrible, either. Sorry, I can't muster more analysis for some reason. Probably still thinking about Justin Timberlake.

On the DVD player:
"Sherrybaby": Maggie Gyllenhaal is awesome as a recovering addict who is a good example of what happens when want isn't balanced with self-control. Gyllenhaal is great at making you care about a pretty undesirable character.

"Talk to Her": A great film about human empathy, but creepy enough to give me some really weird dreams.

"Friends With Money": A good take on the lives of four West L.A. women. And one scene is shot inside Fred 62, my favorite place in Los Angeles.

Quote of the day

A letter to the editor in the LA Times about my recent op-ed piece:
"Sara Libby claims that students wearing T-shirts reading "At USC, we're not snobs … we're just better than you" are narcissistic. She completely misses the point. The T-shirt represents a simple statement of fact. We are better."

I mean, he makes a good point. Fight on!

Shameless self promotion

I post links all the time to columns by other people that I think are great -- so why not my own, which I think are especially great (read the article, and you'll see that I'm not alone in loving myself). Here IT is.

ALSO, it's mentioned breifly in the Washington Post.