Wednesday, June 28, 2006

My good friend, Ji Lee, (and me, sort of) on ABC WORLD NEWS!

Ji Lee, my friend and frequent project partner, has been working for a long time now on his Bubble Project. He made over 30,000 stickers in the shape of empty speech bubbles. These are placed on outdoor advertising all around New York City. He then goes back and photographs what passersby fill inside them.

A collection of some of the best filled-in bubbles has just been published, called Talk Back - The Bubble Project. I've seen many of his empty bubbles around the city and have filled a few in myself. ABC WORLD NEWS just did a story on his book. Congrats Ji! They even drew special attention to one of the bubbles I penned. It's really a mind-fuck to hear words I wrote coming out of the mainstream mouthpiece of an ABC anchor, especially considering the message behind my little bubble. Take a look at the clip below.




For the answer as to which bubble in the above piece was my doing, turn your computer upside down:

Monday, June 26, 2006

Beware of vague claims.

A dermatologist once told me to never use soap on my face, but to use a "facial cleanser" instead. I've taken his advice, and both me and my face have been pretty happy with the results.

I usually just pick up whichever cleanser looks the "cleanest" at the drugstore. Recently, I grabbed one which happened to say "age diminishing" on the bottle. Thing is, it didn't say WHICH age it would be diminishing me to. Apparently, it's diminished me back to puberty, as I now have zits galore.

This one on my cheek is from when I was 15 I think.

And this little gem on the side of my forehead is from a weekend trip I took back when I was 17, if memory serves me.


My voice has also started to crack and I'm having uncontrollable erections. This soap, I mean facial cleanser, truly is
age diminishing! Pick some up for yourself and see.

HUGE mini NEWS

My improv group, Cargo Cult, has been invited by The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater to perform in their Mini-CageMatch at 8pm on JULY 3rd (my birthday)!

The CageMatch is where two teams of improvisors take the stage to prove who is the best of the best. The audience determines the winner each week via secret ballot, and the team with the most votes returns the following week to defend their title against a new challenger. In between improv sets, there's a REAL wrestling match featuring UCBW SuperStars.

This Mini-CageMatch is for indie, non-UCB teams, like ours. The winner of the tournament will get an automatic entry into the regular CageMatch in August at the UCB Theatre! Please come on down and help me celebrate my 36th year on this planet!
Win or loose, we can all go out and celebrate afterwards. Here's as link to reserve cheap tix (5 bucks).

Found Art.

Building wall I passed by in Chelsea.
(Must be an expensive piece, with the security-cam and all.)


Sunday, June 25, 2006

What to say when you're asked "what are you doing Sunday night?"

Look them dead in the eye and tell them "CAVALCADE."

Tonight marked my friend, Jeremy Levenbach's, debut of CAVALCADE, the Sunday night comedy show he's producing over Piano's in the Lower East Side.

Congrats Jeremy, and to all of tonight's perfomers, you guys put on a terrific show. The entire lineup was razor-sharp smart, and each brought something much better than funny jokes, they brought funny ideas. And, the show's FREE! Check it out Sundays at 8pm if you're in NYC.

Two of my favorites from tonight's show were John Mulaney, and Chelsea Peretti. Chelsea has a pretty cool blog where she sometimes posts short films she makes with a group called VARIETY SHAC. Her latest one is Road Trip. Take a look.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

I took this at a Texas WalMart. Truth in advertising, eh?



(I also dig the three almost-identical pick-up trucks in the parking lot.
All lined up like pigs at the trough.)

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Welcome to the Afterlife. Speak English or get out!

Every Ouija board I've seen has been in English. Never Russian, Japanese, Chinese or Greek. The next-world doesn't seem to recognize tildes and umlauts either. (Sorry my Spanish and Swedish seance goers.)

So if you're dead, and want to talk to the loved ones you've left behind, not only do you have to have friends and family who attempt to break through the physical universe to another dimension via some Parker Brothers piece of cardboard, you have to know English too? That's tough. I imagine the spirit world must be teaming with ESL schools.

English only huh? Well, I guess if it's good enough for the Hereafter, it's good enough for America's national anthem, and cheese steak places in Philly.

Funny though, you can find Monopoly customized to almost every country. I guess money is the real international, and inter-parallel-existence, language.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Pathetic. Inspiring.

Pathetic: how CNN's Soledad O'Brien tries to coax the sound bite she's looking for from the father of one Zarqawi's murder victims.

Inspiring: how this man was an example of grace under pressure with an ability to frame the situation as a moral dilemma which we must all rise to the challenge of overcoming.


Wednesday, June 14, 2006

The great outdoors. And the also-great indoors.


While in Seattle, I've been lucky enough to go hiking in some beautiful mountain terrain. This picture from a recent hike on Mt. Baker shows the mountain peaks reflected in a mountain-side lake. This was taken near the top of our trail. As you can see, we hiked right up into the snow-line.

As far as indoor entertainment, I saw two great concerts here. The Mountain Goats, and Built to Spill. (Check out the links to their latest albums which I've included here) Both groups have an extensive library of incredible, thought provoking music and put on mesmerizing live shows. Highly recommended.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Are we there yet?

Teen People.

What's next?

Fetal People? Where we're brought up to speed on all the prenatal gossip?

Paparazzi running around with sonogram machines?

After Brad and Angelina's pregnancy, I think we may be already there.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Chong Comes to SIFF

My Seattle freelance assignment's been extended until mid-June, so I'm still here exploring the city. One of the treats during this visit has been attending the screening of A.K.A. Tommy Chong, at the SIFF (Seattle Film Festival). A good friend of mine, Will Becton, produced and edited the film and came up from L.A. to Seattle for the screening. He handled the Q&A after the film much better than he did posing with me here for the paparazzi.

The film chronicles the government's obsession with taking down Tommy Chong, of Cheech & Chong fame. It's a story which deserves to be told, and it's told well. If you're in NYC, check it out when it premiers at the FILM FORUM, June 14th.