The Holidays Are Most Certainly Upon Us

I am so over this semester. I have two weeks left and quite a bit of work left to do, but I have no desire to do anything film related. I'm directing a scene from The Graduate and I'm not into it at all which is completely irresponsible of me but vacation's already started as far as I'm concerned. I burned out three weeks ago and Thanksgiving only made it worse. Instead of getting rejuvenated, I got lazy as hell. Just gotta push through...right.

Anybody read Armond White's piece in the NYPress today? Awesome film criticism. If you don't know his work, "do yourself a favor" (favorite line of my cinematography instructor) and go to the nypress link. Big, black, gay, right-of-center, Christian film critic...he's a champ.

Has anyone seen my balls? Anyone?

It's 0 degrees outside and 10 degrees inside. Sometimes, when I'm editing on my computer, I like to stick my hand down my pants. I did that like 5 minutes ago and noticed that my balls are missing. Where'd you go dear friends? I hope it's just b/c it's very very cold tonight in LA. If not, then I'm thinking it might be a symptom of my not having made out with a beautiful girl in a long time.

So, for those coming to the big celebration on Saturday, dress warmly!

Love
Alex

Adios trabajo: Soy en fuego (apologies for my spanish, now and forever)

I lost my job. On Saturday night, I got home and there was a message on the answering machine from the Head of HR at the company I work(ed) for. Nervously, she wished me a happy Thanksgiving, then said I should call her on Monday (today) and that I don't need to come into work. Before I called her this morning, I knew what was coming. The last month of work has been difficult. I was working long hours, on top of which my boss was not happy with how things were going. Even though I worked late (without overtime) and would come in 2 hours early to try to be on top of things; the job got increasingly more difficult. Last Monday, my boss was out sick and called in. An uncomfortable conversation ensued where she pointed out that I hadn't finished a project exactly as she wanted it. She sounded frustated, and I was equally frustated 'cause I thought I'd been doing a really good job of things lately, including the project, which I'd finished as best I could by coming in for 11 hours on a Saturday. Apparently not good enough. After the phone call last Monday, I immediately sent the now ex-boss an e-mail saying I would like to talk about what I wasn't doing correctly and that would like to try to work things out. It wasn't to be. Anyway, it's 4:45pm right now as I write this blog post in a notebook as I sit in my car before I head to the office to clean out my desk. My work e-mail account is closed so after my desk is emptied of my stuff, I'll just be a memory to my cubicle friends. I've got mixed emotions about this. I really like the company I was working for, but lately the job had been stressful, demanding, and ridiculously time consuming. It's for the best, even though I forsee acquiring lotsa debt when I purchase holiday gifts for all the children I've fathered since moving to California. This is the first time in my life I've been fired and feeling unwanted is always a lousy feeling even if (as it feels) that this might allow me to find a job I enjoy more. This week I want to figure out what kind of job I should look for next: an undemanding job that gives me time to work on my creative projects, or another industry job where I work long hours and learn skills that will be helpful in figuring out a film career. It's 5pm and I'm still writing. The sun is setting into the pacific and I'm meeting the HR woman at 5:30 to clean out my desk (I got here early because a) I'm nearly always early and b) I'm eager to get this over and done with). .... Just got back to the car. Got my last paycheck and a pamphlet on unemployment. The super nice guy who sits next to me at work said, "Good for you" when I told him I was moving on. It took about 15 minutes to leave an office that I'd spent 2 months at. Goodbyes are strange, especially when someone has to watch you clean your belongings out of your desk. Anyway, it felt like a long day and I'm doing alright. Despite some weirdness to all of this (seeing that a job posting went online Sunday 11/21 advertising my job as an open position; not getting to say goodbye, etc.), I'm feeling pretty relaxed. I might even get unemployment, it looks like, which would be a good thing until I find employment again. Thanks for reading, Eric

Thanksgiving, a first-person account re: the awesomness of being home for the holidays...

long post. i realize there are some boring parts. here's a quickly written summary of what I did last week. here goes:

Last Monday
I get on a plane at 9:30pm PST. Little do I know that I will get no sleep on this plane. The crying babies I understand. Babies cry. As for things I don’t understand: Exhibit A: The girl in the seat in front of me (I can hear the electronica blasting from her headphones), who kept the overhead light on and dancing around in her seat to whatever she was listening to (I mean, maybe it’d be understandable if she was a hipster listening to the Arcade Fire); sweat pouring down her head; Did she get on the wrong plane? We’re not flying to Ibiza, Ms. Sweaty. Is the red eye flight to New York the right time to take drugs and have a personal rave? Seems that way... Exhibit 2: The woman next to me had some sort of gastric distress/digestive malfunction so had to climb over me (I had the aisle seat) repeatedly to get to the bathroom. I offered to switch seats to make it easier but she said she didn’t want to me too much of a pain. Ms. Stomachache, thanks. I really enjoyed that knee to the crotch when you were heading to the toilet for the umpteenth time... But don’t worry. I’m glad I didn’t sleep or else I would have missed the awesomeness of the cheeseball/mizootch/scumbag across the row from me. This guy is in his mid 30’s and he’s trying to impress the teenage girl sitting next to him by telling her about the period in his life when he dated Jenna Jameson.
Him: I dated Jenna Jameson for awhile. Do you know who that is?
Her: No. I don’t.
(Note: I could see this wasn’t going to go well)
Him: Jenna Jameson is the biggest porn star in the world.

I’m sorta tired at this point so don’t recall specifics but Scumbag goes into what a great person Jenna Jameson is, how she really loves her family and is such a good person. 18yearoldgirl doesn’t look to impressed, but Scumbag kept talking. He then says, “Her movies don’t do it for me. I mean, I dated her.” Getting off the plane, Scumbag tells 18yearoldgirl that he can give her a ride into the city so she doesn’t have to “waste” money on a cab. Grossed out by Scumbag, I’m happy to get off the plane...

Tuesday
5:28am - The airplane lands at JFK Airport. I haven’t slept because of all the theatrics. Am I upset? No fuckin’ way! I’m back on the East Coast! I go to baggage claim and get my suitcase. I head to the AirTrain which links to the A Train. The Airtrain is nice and carpeted; filled with lots of sleepy folk. On the A Train, I looked up and saw a Dr. Zizmor ad. Good to see you Dr. Z. I get off the West 4th Street stop and head up Waverly Place to the old apartment.
7am- I buzz up and Martha lets me in. Paul is still sleeping. I kick open his door and wake him up gently by yelling some acapella “Welcome to the Jungle”. He tells me I woke him up. This makes me laugh, as I’m well aware that I woke him up.
8:30am - Paul, Martha, Jake and I all sit down at Balthazar for breakfast. (Steak Frites is not on the breakfast menu) The omelette is good although devoid of the herbs referred to in the menu. It’s great to see all of them.
10:00am - Virgin Megastore. Looking for a good soul compilation with “Soul Finger” on it proves difficult. I buy the Death Cab for Cutie album with the crow and red string on the cover. Listened to it later that day. Opinion: The lyrics are really good in parts, ‘though a little too proud of being insightful... Um, I don’t know what that means... The album’s okay.
11am - Hang with Andrew at his office. Have an amazing time. He definitely inspires me to keep aspiring towards my goals (writing and directing a movie, being picked 1st in the NBA draft, etc.)
Noon - I go back to my old office and have lunch at PJ Clarke’s with Elizabeth and Kevin. It’s great to see everyone I used to work with. Really nice crew. Really enjoyed getting to catch up with Scott, my old supervisor. The chicken pot pie at PJ Clarke’s is enormous and it’s probably one of the best ways in the world to burn the inside of your mouth.
2-5pm- I hang out at Paul’s office with all his friends (Molly, Allison, etc.) They rock. Feel like I’m being a goofball and am stopping people from getting work done. Hang out with PK a little, but the real PK awesomeness comes in on Wednesday. Bored at one point, I wrote MC Nuggets lyrics on post-it notes and hid them around Paul’s workspace.
7pm - Bonnie and I go out for Sangria at Symposium on 113th.
7:30pm - Meet up with my parents on 114th and get a ride home to Connecticut. At this point, I haven't slept since Sunday night. I've been acting silly all day but nobody seems to mind.

Wednesday:
Morning: I sleep in. Head into Westport and have Fortuna’s for lunch. Chicken Parm for President! I’m glad I don’t eat crap like this in L.A. In any case, it’s delicious.
Afternoon: I jump on a train into the city.
5:30pm - See my cousin’s new baby at a baby naming ceremony. Sit down and talk to my dad’s mother for awhile. Try to explain what L.A. is like. I lie and tell her that I have a girlfriend in L.A. just to escape.her asking me if I’m not gay (readers: I’m not gay, just girlfriendless).
7pm - Izzy and I meet up on the Upper West Side. We meet up with PK, Paul, Wicker and C. They’re ahead of us in the drinks department, but Izzy and I do what we can to catch up. We walk over to see the balloons. C tries to take a photo of us with her PalmPilot and drops the stylus/pointer. Looking for the stylus on the ground amongst fallen leaves was very amusing (probably because I had a few drinks in me). PK spun around and said his catchphrase of the night to some kid walking by: “Highfive for Super Grover”. Paul and PK chant for Barney the Dinosaur. Then of course, there was my embarrassing faux pas of the evening. We’re walking east on the south side of the Museum of Natural History, looking at the balloons. I see a balloon coming up with a brown head (it’s a figure lying down and I can’t see the face). Maybe it was the booze; Maybe it was just me trying too early to guess which balloon it was; In any case, I pegged the balloon (out loud) as “Curious George”. As we approached the balloon, Izzy pointed out for me that the brown faced balloon had no tail, and was in fact, Little Bill, an animated african american character from a cartoon on Nickelodeon. In any case, nothing like accidentally being offensive when drunk. We walk up to the Fox News fan and "thank" them for 4 more years of Bush. They seem frightened by us. Which is good. Thanks a lot Fox News. The person who should've won couldn't have lost without your help.
10pm-Balloon Crew and I head to Racoon Lodge, as promised. It’s unfortunately not karaoke night like last year (when Paul and I saw characters out of a David Lynch film sing scary karaoke). The place is packed. There is beer and other drinks. I take a shot with some girl I don’t know. It’s the night before Thanksgiving. Nobody has work the next day. So the bars are packed. The jukebox has Midnite Vultures on it. Do Paul and I belt out “Debra” at the top of our lungs? Do we ever. As expected, every woman in the bar is suddenly in love with me and Paul. Um. Or maybe they’re just happy that Paul and I are no longer attacking their eardrums with our shrill cracked falsetto..
11:30 - Izzy and I sit down for a slice of Pizza at a Ray’s on the upper west side. I jump in a cab and head to Grand Central.
12:20: I’m on the train to Connecticut.
1:45: I take a cab home.

Thanksgiving Thursday:
10am - I wake up and get get ready.
Noon - We meet up with my mom’s siblings and their kids at a diner for lunch.
Afternoon - I hang out with my grandmother (mom’s mother) and my sisters.
5pm - The meal. Everyone wants to hear about California. Makes me realize how much I’m enjoying myself on the west coast. It was really great to see everyone and I just begin to realize how good it is to be home.

Friday
On Friday night, I met up with Adam. He’s been living in Cincinatti since high school, and I don’t get to see him that often. (He put me and Alex up in his giant loft when we were doing our cross-country move). In any case, he had friends all over Connecticut having parties. So we jumped in the car and headed to our first stop, an Irish bar in Stamford. I don’t like Stamford for a number of reasons, the largest being that I went to middle school there and always feel like I’m gonna turn around and the kid who bullied me in sixth grade is going to show up and try to pick a fight. In any case, there are no fights with ex-bullies. There are however two girls talking to me and Adam. The one talking to me says, “What’s your name? Just so one day if you’re famous, I can say I met you?” I’ve heard this a few times in my life, and each time it makes me question whether I’ll ever be successful in the film industry... I dunno... I’m neurotic. The girls were very nice(the one talking to me was really into Lars Von Trier; Luckily I didn’t start talking about Bresson)... It was getting late. Adam tells an embarrassing story about what something I did in high school. The girls are surpisingly amused by the tale of my drunken debauchery circa Winter '96. Adam and I bolt to a bar in Westport called Dunville’s (it’s off Exit 17 on I-95). The only great thing about this place is that there’s an electric train going around the place. That’s it. It’s like a frat party but with people in their 30’s and 40’s. A bunch of Weston high school kids are hanging out there. I’m feeling like the only designated driver in the place. Drunks abound. A girl I went to high school with is helped out the door.
2am - Adam and I go to the Athena Diner. Some girl walks over to the guy seated behind us and goes: “How was your Thanksgiving? Did you have turkey?” Adam doesn’t know these people but answers out loud, “Of course he had turkey. It’s Thanksgiving. Why do people ask questions like that.” Either they don’t hear us or ignore us. The waitress approaches. She has quite a few band-aids on her fingers. Maybe she mistook a cheese grater for bongos... Anyway,I order an omelette. Adam goes for stuffed grape leaves, corned beef hash, and an egg cream. When he complains afterwards about a stomachache, I tell him that it’s his own fault. It was great to see him and hopefully I’ll see him when I’m home right before Christmas.

Saturday
I get sad on Saturday morning ‘cause I know I’m leaving and I already miss my family before I go. I drive to the post office and send some boxes of stuff to my house in L.A. My dad and sisters drive me to the airport, which is really nice of them.

It’s Saturday Night. i’m on the airplane heading back to Los Angeles. Sort of paranoid about people reading this over my shoulder as I write this. It’s not like anything super-confessional. Watching VH1 Classic (I’m on Jet Blue) and George Michael’s Freedom ‘90 is playing. One of my favorite videos. I mean, aside from the models singing a super catchy song, it’s got George Michael’s leather jacket going up in flames just from the awesomeness from the song. I say awesome way too much these days, but really... awesome video. I also saw the Wham “Wake me up before you Go Go” video on the flight to the east coast. That video isn’t as awesome, unless you like George Michael in short shorts and a video that feels like it was shot at Club Med. (I love Club Med. Anyone wanna go sometime this winter? Hands up?) A guitar explodes in the Freedom video, but that’s not too amazing, ‘cause sometimes guitars just explode.
1:00am - I’m back in my house in L.A. What a great Thanksgiving. Thankful, Eric

Firth or Law? Streep?

So, K (there's your shoutout sister!) and cousin C and I caught the new Bridget Jones movie tonight. Pretty terrible (never seen a female character get shit on so much), but it did lead to a fun argument about who's the better actor Jude Law or Colin Firth. My cousin holds that Firth is the more talented and complex actor whereas I maintain that Jude Law is. Colin Firth seems to play the same sort of steely, stuckup aristocrat in every film I've seen him in, whereas Jude Law has shown how amazing his range is in films as diverse as A.I., Talented Mr. Ripley, and most recently I Heart Huckabees. He doesn't get the respect he deserves probably because of his looks and overexposure. Then we started talking about Meryl Streep. Sure she's a fantastic actor, but thinking about her career, it seems to me that she's made a lot of safe, very middlebrow choices. Not to take away from her considerable skills, but other than Susan Orlean in Adaptation, what other truly interesting character has she played in the past twenty years? Can't think of one. Maybe her character in Bridges of Madison County (one of Clint's best), but just maybe.

Earlier, I took cousin C to Beverly Hills to check out a store her firm redesigned. Couldn't tell the difference. We then looked at some scarves at Barneys. The one she picked out for me was pretty cool---what's with like superlong men's scarves?---, but then we looked at the pricetag. Damn the weak dollar! I guess I'll just have to do without one while I'm up in SF for Thanksgiving.

Quickie on the Mets: they better get Sammy Sosa. He had a bad year, but he's still good for at least 3 more productive seasons. Trade Piazza away if they need to free up some cash: he's done.

L.A. isn't just one-night stands and drag racing on coke...

I think the A-Ross Experience sang it best: "Let the wheels turn; Let your love burn..."
Everyone's talking about Thanksgiving at work today. I'm so excited that I'm not even having the pre-going-on-an-airplane fears, you know, the i-hate-going-on-planes-cause-it-feels-like-the-floor-is-going-to-rip-away-for-the-first-few-minutes-after-liftoff feeling.
I've got a few hours of work (hopefully few) ahead of me, but also an awesome weekend ahead of me. I might join E-Mags or A-Jo or K-don'tknowyourlastnameyet for something fun tonight... Plans are vague but that's okay 'cause the company is stellar. Just hoping that BCD Tofu House is somehow involved.
Then at some point tonight I'll go to sleep without setting the alarm clock. I'll wake up and get together with DM (short for Dungeon Master; AD&D usage, not S&M usage) for some writing/brainstorming on our tv show idea: Milwaukee Vice. Don't steal it or else we'll just have to come up with something even more bombastically tremendous. No thoughts on tomorrow night yet. Definitely have telephone calls to return this weekend. Sunday I head to the airport where B-Tambourine has a 6 hour layover. I'll pick her up and we'll go for a nice meal somewhere and catch up. Excited to see her. She's a good friend. Plus not only is she a Philosophy PHD Candidate at 116thville, she also plays moonlights as a tambourine player in a country band that plays giant Honkey Tonks in Texas. These are both very cool attributes.
Then Sunday night, Scars and I are doing dinner and a movie. Is Enduring Love getting good reviews? Looks like that trailer and the trailer for Danny Deckchair could be edited together into an amazing trailer. Mean Creek is playing at the New Beverly so maybe that...
No other thoughts. It's 4:20 and somewhere in California, someone who was bummed out months ago about the Phish breakup isn't so bummed right now. Me, I've got miles of documents to plow through before I break free for the weekend. Ready or not paperwork, here I come! -Eric

DONE!

Screened my last project yesterday and I am essentially finished w/ my 1st semester! I've got some little things to do, but most importantly, I don't have to kill myself trying to make another one-man-show short. From here on in, no more flying solo!
I paid dearly for this one though: I didn't sleep the night before and all day yesterday I had the wicked shivers, the greasy mop of hair that was admittedly pretty attractive but smelled not unlike old sweat, and a mind that couldn't focus even on the simplest tasks, like targeting the heart of the head in the Zemeckis john. Then at the end of the day, I got the nosleep headache. Driving home, I really wanted a woman with soft hands to massage my noodle and coo something delicate into my ear, but I had to settle for advil and a shower and Eric coming home and blowing warm air softly across the nape of my neck. Thanks roommie!

I write the rhymes that make the whole world cringe...

It's 8:20pm as I start writing this. I'm at my desk. A lot to take care of before I can go home. Figured since I'm gonna be here for awhile, I might as well take a break for lemon-lime gatorade and posting on the blog. This day is a long one. Tomorrow is Friday. I earned it. It's been a long week. Anyone know anyone in L.A. who can help me record M.C. Nuggets songs? I just want to record 47 tracks, release the triple album, and make 500 dollars which I'll then bet on the 3 horses with the silliest names to win the trifecta in the kentucky derby (order of finish for the 3 to be the reverse of the order of the silliness of their names). I simply can't lose. My plan is solid. Really, I've written some funny stuff since getting out here and it'd be nice to record it before I'm too old.
Today, I showed a co-worker my short film (the one with me as a ninja). She laughed hard when I ripped my shirt off in the movie. I was tempted to rip off my shirt in real life but assumed it would just kill the laughter.
I can't tell if Bill Clinton looked good or bad today. It just makes me happy to see him. I think Bill Clinton is an awesome dude. He can't help it, either.
Awesome. The 2nd to last person to leave the office didn't know I was here and just left and turned out the lights. It's dark in cubicle row, but at least I have my computer and desklamp. Hopefully I'll make it out of here via navigating by the screensavers on various monitors about the office.
Tomorrow night I'm breaking free and escaping early. Gonna go home and watch TGIF and see all my favs; you know, Family Matters, Step by Step, Full House, etc. Alex and I don't actually have tv so maybe I can get to the Netflix movies I've had for a month. I'm nearly halfway through one of them.
A little hungry right now. Could a delivery guy find his way through the darkness and bring me a pizza? I doubt it. Woe is me. Feeling like Eeyore. If Eeyore sat in a cubicle and updated legal reports and spreadsheets.
But I'll tell you what. Life is good. Saturday morning is gonna be awesome. I'm sleeping in. And when I wake up, the sun will actually already have risen. And on Monday Night, I'm jumping on a plane to New York. Next week is so close. Who's having turducken? Who's having fried turkey? Can't wait for Wednesday Night (going with Paul to see the balloons get blown up for the Macy's Day Parade. Hopefully afterwards, there'll be a cast of ridiculous yahoos at the Raccoon Lodge doing bodyshots off of each other.) Me, I've been homesick lately. And in less then a week, I'll be cured. Rock! -Eric

First, Jil Sander left the Prada Group...again. Sort of surprising. People thought she was back for good, but I guess working for a huge corporation really does suck, even in fashion.

Second, apparently Condi Rice prefers Brahms over Liszt and the Russian Romantics. I wish she'd put out a solo Christmas record. I'd love to get a feel for her as a concert pianist.

Last night, I made minor strides in editing my film, but tonight's the night before it's due so I figure tomorrow morning I'll actually see Eric leave for work! (which, if you didn't already know, is absurdly early)

And Une Annee Sans Lumiere moves me the way Rufus Wainwright's Dinner At Eight has the past year. Very similar songs and both beautifully sung.

Love
Alex
P.S. Brevity of post due to massive amounts of work.

Quickly!

Howling fantods, Batman!
This is strange: DFW rated by his students?
In any case, are any of these real? I dunno.
My gang of four (elf, ranger, dude with a sword, and dwarf) were in the Mines of Moria until late so I'm tired at work... Dietcoking myself to get through the pile of paperwork...
Last night I went to a taco stand on Vine and had a couple chicken tacos. The yellow sauce didn't look spicy to my eyes. And it didn't hit me that it was spicy until I got into my car and my tongue lit up like Fallujah. Sweat started pouring down my forehead. I pulled my car over into a parking lot and drank water. After the first bottle of water, I had another bottle of water. Unbuttoned my shirt so I could breathe and then headed home. So if I have a stomachache today, I know it's not an ulcer but just me being stupid with hot sauce.
I keep trying to listen to the Elliot Smith posthumous album and I can't. I wish I could say it's cause it's incredibly sad to know this is his final album (unless he becomes the Tupac of melancholy folkpop). But it's not. No, the album has all this buzzing and discord before and between songs, which my ears don't particularly enjoy. I don't need 30 seconds of feedback before the melody kicks in, just like I don't need Clarence Clemmons doing a sax solo/interruption on nearly every great Springsteen song that's not on Nebraska. In any case, we can discuss Clemmons on another day. Will try the Elliot Smith album again, but just don't have a lot of patience for the music I listen to while commuting. Maybe I should just put it on the headphones and listen to it at home straight-through. 'Cause every other Elliot Smith album I own, I really love ("Rose Parade" is one of the best songs. Ever. If you disagree, you're wrong.)
Just got an eyelash out of my eye and made a wish. Um. If it came true, hot sauce can't hurt me. Blazing hip hop and r&b, Eric

P.S. Why do people at culinary establishments sometimes cut open with English muffins with a knife and not pry them open with a fork? This ruins everything great about English muffins.

P.P.S. Apparently George Saunders is a pretty awesome prof. who happens to also be an awesome writer.

Quickie Procrastination Notice

Some have wanted to write comments but have been unable to.
Not anymore!! (I think I did it right)
So comment your hearts out!
Love
Alex and Eric

The Arcade Fire Le Deuxieme

So good friend Innes hooked me up w/ a copy of "Funeral" outside Norris Theater after a wonderful lecture given by Gary Rydstrom, 7-time Academy Award winning sound designer of films like T2, Saving Private Ryan, Titanic, etc. Put it in on the way to set. Big guitars. Really love "Une Annee Sans Lumiere". (The Arcade Fire: French Canadian? Oui? Non?) Will let it marinate for a few days before deciding whether or not to check them out, though several reputable music buffs including lil' Chung went to see them over the weekend and enjoyed it a lot. Maybe I should just go: it's been like forever since I last played grabass with randoms. I think the last time I molested someone was during the 1st intermission of "A View From the Bridge" at the Met. She was cute. She was nice. She was 70.

Got a long night ahead of me: got to edit the footage I shot last week. I cut some of it yesterday, but it's rough. Speaking of rough, I've been wearing sandals nearly every day since moving out here and LA being so damn dry the heels of my feet are brittle as all fuck! I should lube them when I get out of the shower. I should start wearing sneakers/shoes again but I hate how wet my lil' piggies get, especially without any socks on.

Love
Alex

Lagerfeld at H&M?

So in Saturday's Business Section of the Times, I read a pretty fun article on the new Karl Lagerfeld/H&M collaboration. I'm sure some of you did as well. I don't get it. Lagerfeld talks about how the fashionable sorts mix the high-end w/ the low, but the notion of mass produced cheap Lagerfeld dresses made w/ 2nd rate materials (I know cut is everything, but if the fabric sucks, then it sucks to wear it) doesn't gel w/ what he's talking about. Apparently, all his stuff sold out in hours. Go figure. Don't want to say that the death knell has been tolled, but don't be surprised if douchebags like Proenza Schouler start kicking it w/ H&M: now that would be cause for worry for those who actually think fashion is interesting, which I, as a proud member of the heteroclub, do.

Related to this admittedly fruity subject is I'm pretty upset that California doesn't have a Fall season. Lots of guys go for the way girls look during the summertime (I do too but only for a little while (bare bellies get old quick)), but I love how women look during the cool autumn months. They're just dressed better and ooze somekindawonderful in their knee length wool skirts (or pants, if you must), cashmere turtlenecks and scarfs and wildly patterned waist high coats. There's so little of that here. Oh, I pray that December is the new October!

Love
Eric (just kidding dude)
Love
Alex

Videogame Joy!

Friday night I got to Los Feliz in time to join Alex and his houseguest (clue: sounds like Hattrick) for dinner at a Chinese Restaurant which was very bueno (I mean, no 28 Mott - PDH);always nice to sit down with chopsticks and eat crispy fried meat and sauce. Afterwards, we went to see the new Godard film at AFM (the boredom from the film on top of being tired from a long week of work meant I fell asleep 20 minutes in and woke up at one point and my eyes stung so I went back to sleep). Woke up during the credits and my breath was superbad. Alex's classmates were sorta negative about the film and when I didn't give my opinion they thought it was because I liked the film. I didn't want to explain that I was asleep for most of it, and even had I been awake, I haven't understood most of Godard's work. Or maybe I just don't enjoy it. In any case, I ran downstairs to the Arclight gift shop and quickly bought a 4 dollar pack of mints. Rode shotgun with E-Mags to the Roost, which is a bar where the night before (Thursday) Alex, Hattrick and Neighbor! had run into a blast from the past, the girl I co-wrote the Varsity Show with. Awkwardness on Thursday when Neighbor! tried to be funny and joked that "Oh, you're the girl that Eric hates". Alex had to jump in and explain that Matt was joking and had no idea that I've intermittently whined about my co-writing experience with this girl for the last 4 and a half years. In any case, she lives in the neighborhood and I assume I'm gonna run into her sooner or later so maybe I should strategize how to be cordial... Varsity Show my year was sorta like a Behind the Music episode on Van Halen (David Lee Roth leaves and then Sammy Hagar's the captain of the ship, it's just not the Van Halen it could have been; Don't get me wrong, the video for "Right now" played my heartstrings nicely...)
The Roost is a good bar. Nice mix of hipsters with the wonderful L.A. barfolk who could be set dressing in a filmic adaptation of something by Bukowski... I got to hear every song I paid for on the jukebox. Neighbor!'s friend was disappointed that I didn't play "Mr. Brownstone" but had I plugged in another dollar, it would have been my next song.
At home I fell asleep for ten hours, woke up, called my friend, and we got together and worked on our tv show idea. That night I joined Alex and Hattrick
to see "Infernal Affairs 3" at AFIFEST (Thanks Ms. Awesome for getting us into the AFI Fest! 'Twas Awesome). Alex/Hattrick had seen Parts 1 & 2. I walked in not knowing a thing so didn't have a clue what was going on for a lot of the movie. People called each other on cellphones all the time in the movie. It was like a big cellphone ad (with lots of people getting scammed or shot).
Yesterday, I bought five Nintendo Gamecube games (3 have to do with Lord of the Rings). My eyes are beyond bloodshot. I played video games for 4 wasted hours yesterday. It was so relaxing for me. However, things aren't so relaxed for my band of hobbits, elves and rangers. But such are the hardships of Middle Earth. Can't wait to get home. If I don't destroy that ring, it's bad news for everyone back at The Shire.
Today is Monday. Work is work. Only 45 minutes until lunch. Goodbye cubicle, hello sandwich! I bought a Smiths CD. It's totally awesome to get a greatest hits CD where you only know 2 songs and all the songs are new discoveries that add to your enjoyment of life. Just got my paycheck. Now I can pay rent for next month. Yee-hah!
Anyone see the new issue of Car & Driver? They think the new Corvette is better than the new 911. Anyone else displeased by this?
Gotta finish the post. The microwave is by my desk and someone heated up something that could very well be last week's bouillabaisse. Smells something awful to me.
Gonna use this as a time to escape Cubicle Row and go do work in my boss's office.
Rock paper scissors, Eric

P.S. I did this PSA for a friend that he entered in an ACLU contest and won. If you find it, I watch tv in it. convincingly. http://aclu.org/collegetour/

The Arcade Fire

So, last night I spoke to my brother for a little while and I asked him about this band that several friends of mine have told me is really hot and the NYTimes spoke highly of: The Arcade Fire. (I love how the Times has tried to become a cool music resource of late especially w/ the screeds of Kelefa Sanneh whom I respect, but find sort of ridiculous though I have to agree, The Chocolate Factory was by far the best record of last year) Who are these guys and what makes them so good? Anyway, in high school, I took great pride in keepin up with the ins and outs of the independent rock and roll music scene, but the past year or so, not only have I stopped going to rock shows---so freaking boring unless you've got friends performing on stage---but also stopped buying new rock records. I think it was a Shins show that did it in. It was a homogenous sea of young men and women bopping around to what I thought was some pretty weaktea hoo-ha and for some reason, I just got fed up with it all. So, I've lost touch with all the new rock that's come out of late but I'm really intrigued by all the buzz that The Arcade Fire has received.

Anybody want to send Eric and I a copy of the record? I will, in return, burn you Ghostface's Supreme Clientele.

One last day of shooting and then the weekend begins!

Love
Alex

Apple Juice and A.O.C.

Had a fairly successful first night of shooting...shot a scene involving a father and son getting loaded on Jim Beam...of course, being a responsible human being qua filmmaker, we used apple juice in whisky's stead. (Getting the wine headache right about...now) Anyway, the actors had to drink literally 2 liters of room temp apple juice. In general, apple juice sorta sucks and smells a whole lot like way out of control baby shit. The very melodramatic scenes were interrupted by lots of robust, almost brobdingnagian belching. Oh well. I shot it all handheld and wanted the scenes to be very cutty...am slightly afraid that it'll cut a little too cutty and really disorient my classmates (thanks robyn and jordan!) which, in the end, is fine by me (b/c God only knows how wiped I am).

After the shoot, a dago wop friend visiting from out of town and I went to A.O.C. for some fine wine and chow. Highly recommended. Had some Russian pinot which was nice but the capper was the syrah...Maybe this is a natural progression of my extreme snobbery and, let's face it, spectacular taste in clothes, art, and friends (collective awwws fellow CUers, HMers, and SCers), but I'm sorta getting into wine a bit. Does that mean I'm getting old at the oh so tender age of 25? There's something neat and silly and a little sexy about sticking your schnoz in a glass of wine and thinking you're smelling cherries and asparagus and a hint of oak. Let's get real here: wine smells and tastes like grapes gone bad, straight up. And it gives you a headache which is really sucky.

It's 12:19AM and ERIC LANE IS STILL AT WORK WHOSE ONLY COMPANY ARE THE MEXICAN JANITORS.
And, dago wop friend is watching TOP GUN AGAIN!

Love
Alex

Have The Shins Changed Your Life?

All,
Alex is winning in the post wars. I haven't posted for years. Literally.
Why? I dunno. My work hours have been superlong lately. I wake up between
5:15 and 5:45 and am at work by 7. I leave the office around 7:30 or 8. I've had the same 3 Netflix movies for 3 weeks. (Duel in the Sun, Wings of Desire, Sugarland Express). I usually get home, eat dinner and fall asleep. I don't know how long I can keep this schedule up. Feeling pretty exhausted. Also, I think I might check in with a doctor. I get stomachpain at work. What does an ulcer feel like? Will have to google.com(verb, not noun) some info during lunch. I like looking up my name on google and seeing that the other Eric Lanes of the world (prison inmate looking for a penpal, rally truck race driver, football player, actor, gay playwright) are all doing okay. But maybe I really just do it so that I know when
I'm up there for all of the internet to see should they search my name on google. Alex had a super nice friend crash at Hotel Los Feliz 2 weeks ago who was really into video games. All his talk about Halo 2 has me really wanting to buy an XBox. Then again, I'm so busy with work, when would I play? Maybe there's someone who has a social life on weekends and for he/she weekdays are preferable video game time. Am I a dork if I have video game console joint custody with some other dork? Please don't answer. Had Thai Food takeout last night. I blame MSG in the Thai Food for my crazy dreams (you know, the usual: enormous seahorses washed up on the beach, me yelling for help with the seahorses and finding that I couldn't make any noise, then me walking back to the hotel which had a lobby full of rows and rows of hammocks, all filled with J. Crew wearing good looking dudes, the J. Crew dudes all noisy for no reason)
I've been waking up in the middle of the night to some noise at 3am. What noise happens at 3am? Is that when the newspaper gets delivered? Had trouble falling back asleep this morning after being roused by the 3am noiso misterioso, so I went out on my deck, and just sort of stood there in the superearly morning cold, looking at the wall of bamboo and tried to think of something to do, but 48 degrees fahrenheit had me and my boxer shorts shivering, so I went back inside, put Neutral Milk Hotel into my discman, and listened to "King of Carrot Flowers" over and over again. Hopefully there'll be an ipod in my future. 'Cause with an ipod, I think I'd have complete fulfillment in life. ipod owners seem so happy with their ipods. Am I missing something that makes it more than an mp3 player? 'Cause to me it's a useful gadget, as you can have all your music with you and you can listen to it wherever whenever. But come on, it's no "dashboard hula jesus" <- my invention, so if you steal it, at least send some profits my way via paypal. I'm just writing aimlessly. i will one day have an ipod. or a silver flask at my hip with headphones plugged into it.
I need to get the 15,000 mile service on my car. The dealership is near work so I'm going to just drop the car off and then walk to the office. Anyway, hopefully they throw in a free wash, 'cause mom's former station wagon is looking pretty dirty. 8:43am. Boss just called in. Work for Wendesday, Nov. 10 has officially begun.
Be well. Stay warm. If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with. Etc. - Eric

P.S. Ikebana is a lie. I touch no flowers.
P.P.S. Nuggets told me: "Shout out to all the ladies. Thumbs down to the dudes."

Headache and Sushi Sasabune

So, Monday I missed my first class of the semester: was feeling like I was coming down with something not nice. One classmate's stricken with newmonia, another somehow got IBS (irritable bowel syndrome: definitely not nice) from eating the newest fad: chicken sashimi (I mean, that's just plain STUPID), and a slew of others are getting shot down with end-of-semester colds. I think I'm getting one. After class and a successful rehearsal w/ the two actors for my film, I felt the onset of a piercing headache. Minutes later, it set, I guess. Not a good sign at all. Especially considering the fact that I've got to pretty much shoot three evenings straight.

Highlight though: picked up my college buddy at the airport and went to SUSHI SASABUNE. It's one of the best places for soosh in LA: there's no menu. They just give you what the chef wants to give you which is an excellent way to get fed and drop a lot of dough. Well worth it though.

Now, I'm working on my film as my friend watches TOP GUN. Shit's so gay, but still so AWESOME. (In particular the shirtless beach volleyball scene)

-Alex
P.S. Eric has not posted because he's decided to leave America for the week. He's taken up Ikebana.
(I will soon learn how to hyperlink? texts to webpages so my posts are more bloglike.)

Jamesons and Ultimate

Friday night started off pretty all right but after a few rounds of Jamesons...yikes!
Eric and I went to a friend's birthday party out in Santa Monica which for all you New Yorkers is sorta like the nicer but not necessarily tonier parts of Long Island. We, especially Eric, were pretty tired when we rolled in around 11pm. We were gonna have a couple of drinks, say hi to some friends, and go home and thrown in some slow ass German flick into the ol' DVD player and fall asleep in each other's arms which at first was awkward but lately have grown accustomed to doing at Hotel Los Feliz. (Insert non sequitur: of late, been flippin' on the heat at night... trying to figure what's worse: scrotal icicles or drowning in a pool of one's own ureic back sweat)
Had some whisky. Then had some more. Then started purchasing whisky for others. Soon enough, I was walking around with a ladyfriend's pink (paisley, I think) scarf tied ascot-like around my neck pointing my finger in the most fey way imaginable, as if the tendons in my wrist had magically lost all elasticity. I was wearing my winter coat which as some of you might recall, is this pretty sharp dark blue velvet double-breasted "piece" from Jil Sander, pre-Jil Sander's comeback. Shit's hot (though I'm pretty upset to learn that velvet is in this season). But in any case, yeah, with that get-up, I pulled my best KOREAN Mick Jagger circa Between the Buttons look, but it probably came off as being really really gay. Whatever, it's LA. (At least I don't wear floral print full cut dress shirts with the tails hanging out like some kinda skeezy biatch.)
Back to story (blogging is a new thing to me and is still very weird): so, I'm pretty soused and will do just about anything to get a laugh except take a dump in front of others, which is old hat given that some poor chick already done did that (in white pants no less!). So, the next best thing I thought would be to jump in the lap of two of my classmates who were seated comfortably on a couch, enjoying each other's company, potentially talking about some seriously deep shit. Sure, that too is old hat, but the creative juices were certainly congealed do to the bracing cold that night. (if I could do DFWesque footnotes, I would) Anyway, I'm like I'm awfully bored, so with Jamesons in hand, I sorta trip over my knees and all 160 lbs of me lands on top of B and R, two pretty great and fun and lovely lady classmates of mine. Right when my belly touches B's knees, I hear a bassy THUD! I look up and see that B & R are clearly not amused and in not-so-funny-nor-cute pain. R's hand reaches up to her left brow and B's to the back of her head: the looks on their faces turned my stomach. I set off a completely unintentional domino effect where my velvet clad hunk of self thrusted B's torso and noggin several feet back into R's torso and noggin, their melons colliding in the most terrible and unfunny way. I hadn't seen such clenched misery since the morning after I had Ethiopian "food" for dinner two years ago (w/ Eric as well). I apologized profusely and became a bit bitter at myself (if that's even a possible emotional response)...I hurt two friends of mine and though it was an accident, I felt pretty crappy about it. I offered them free punches to anywhere on my bods, but they being better than that, declined. I did get R a plastic cup full of ice which I hope helped. I should've stopped drinking then and gone home, but I continued. Sooo stupid. Anyway, after a most weird wrap-up at a dinner w/ the others, Eric and I ended up coming home around 4:30 which sucked for Eric b/c he was up for 23 hours and sucked for me b/c well it just sucked.

Then yesterday, I get a call from R. I ask her how she's doing and she tells me she got a black eye!!! I apologized again and again. An effing black eye! On a friend! On a female friend! Then when I got home from auditions, I got an email from B w/ the subject heading, "Mt. St. Helens sort of..." She had a headache all day Saturday! I'm such an ass. So, I came to the decision that I'm not gonna drink more than one drink next time I'm out with my SC friends...for some reason, when I hang out with them, I turn into some sorta asshole daemon but when I'm out with college or high school friends, I'm fairly respectable.

So that was the dramatic part of the weekend. Today, Andy and I played Ultimate in the Hollywood Hills literally below the Hollywood sign. I hadn't played since July. It was tremendous fun. Such a great game.

-Alex

Hotel Los Feliz

Ian Schrager and Andre Balasz eat your hearts out because there's a new hotel in town and all are welcome as long as you chip in to the "Coca-Cola slush fund." We've had many a pleasured guest! But LA is testicle-numbingly cold at night and in the morning so be warned: it's not all denim coochie-cutters and neon bikini tops.

In other news,
I'm casting and shooting my 4th project hopefully this weekend. It's a story about a father and son based on an unbelievable historical precedent. I'm excited to get back to narrative after making a personal essay doc: this is my last solo project and I sorta want to hit a homer with it so I'm actually planning things out and putting in more effort than I have all semester. A lot of classmates are killing themselves over school and I definitely did not want to do that. We're shooting on video! Video!!! This Fall has been more about adjusting to LA life and discovering what this sprawling mess of a city has to offer, which as it turns out, is a lot more than a jaded New Yorker would ever suspect.


-Alex

Caught...

I was staying late at work to catch up on some stuff...
Anyway, I've got Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta" blasting from
my little computer speakers; I'm working and sort of nodding
my head to the song, and my boss walks up on me out of nowhere, and I try to explain that I don't like the song and that it was forced upon me by itunes shuffling, but she sees through my lie... Even still, I want to show her the rest of my playlist to show there's stuff that isn't mainstream... Why am I trying to earn indie cred from my boss? She can see I'm no hipster. I dunno...

Why am I sharing this? I don't know what I'm supposed to speak about on the blog.
I'm incredibly excited about going home to Connecticut for Thanksgiving. Thinking to Thanksgiving gets me through the superlong workdays. Red Vines may taste good. In-n-Out Burgers taste even better. The Pacific Ocean has the Long Island Sound (and the Hudson) beat. But home is home. Can't wait.

Got a lot of work to do in my cubicle. It's time for some coffee. And maybe another round of "Flagpole Sitta"...

Pounds all around, Eric

What a long day... It's hard to lose...

Still sort of in disbelief that Bush won...
Am angry, confused, tired and sad about the election...
Hope everyone reading this voted...

Takeover of our government by evildoers aside,
Life is good... A few really good friends are in town for
the American Film Market, so I have a long night in Santa
Monica ahead of me... Eating at a place called Father's Office...

The heating in the house is overkill. It turns my room into a sauna, so I open my bedroom door and let the heat rise up to the Alex wing of our palatial
crib. Maybe our landlord can bring over his toolbox and fix it...

For no reason at all, thinking of my high school band.
We played mostly Black Sabbath Covers.
We were: Tito, Seesaw and the Executioner.
Anyone ready for a tenth year reunion?
World Tour '07 consisting of 3 dates in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Alright, it's 7:45 and I'm still at my desk at work.
Be good. Be well. -Eric

P.S. Nugslang 101: I know Piso Mojado means "wet floor", but I mean "Piece of Cake" or "Peace out" when I say it.