07/21/2007: "The Week That Was"

music: freedom within freedom without

TIDBITS:

This past Monday I went to my first ever baseball game. Yes - First. Ever. The reasons for never attending a game before Monday are still unbeknownst to me, but I had a fun time with my friends M, T, and R (who provided the hook-up on awesome seats and the preferred parking pass! you are the best!). Luckily the Dodgers won that night - 10 to 3 against the Phillies. I use the word "luckily" because the next day they lost 15-3 against the Philies. Well, at least Monday's ticket stub got us 10 free hot wings at Hooters, which M, T and I cashed in on Tuesday. I keep forgetting that the food is actually decent at Hooters.

After the game on Monday, I hung out with the Winch and Pulley crew at Cha Cha Lounge for what I would call hipster karaoke. Members of our group belted thru such hits as "Parents Just Don't Understand," CCR's "Lookin' Out My Back Door," "Hand in My Pocket," Patsy Cline's "Crazy" and "A Day in the Life." I eventually worked up enough courage to do the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" My performance was abit off. I think it was because I was sober.

Oddly, the week fizzled socially as work and other commitments took over. In the end, despite the pleadings of Sir Bob Geldoff, Mondays aren't sooo bad.

Sadly, this week saw the death of Sherman Torgan, owner of the New Beverly Cinema, one of my favorite places in all of L.A. I've had the opportunity to see some great classics here, including The Conformist, Army of Shadows, Walkabout, The Last Wave, L'Enfant, and a handful of Fellini and Godard films. A few months ago, my friends and I caught some pretty fucking crazy grindhouse film courtesy of Quentin Tarantino.

The theater is temporarily closed and my hope is that Sherman's family takes all the time they need to sort what they need to sort out. I'm crossing my fingers that the theater re-opens sooner than later as it is a staple of my (and other's) L.A. life.

In other tragic news, LAIST.com reported on the July 10th suicide of writer and filmmaker Theresa Duncan, who ran the Los Angeles blog The Wit of the Staircase. In their article, they also report that her husband, artist/painter Jeremy Blake has gone missing and is presumed dead. Various sources report that Blake was missing off New York's Rockaway Beach on July 20, 2007 a week after Theresa committed suicide.

To refresh everyone's memory, Blake's paintings were featured in Paul Thomas Anderson's underrated Punch Drunk Love and he also designed the cover for my favorite Beck album Sea Change.

Respect to all. You will be missed.

Jeremy Blake's video for Beck's "Round the Bend"