A few quick things I'd like to put out there in the blogosphere ...
Firstly, a belated Chag Sameach and a Happy Purim to all my fellow Jews out there. For many non-Jews Purim is a bit of a mystery, but those of us who grew up Jewish likely have fond memories of Purim, as it is marked by dressing up in costumes, eating delicious humentashin, and spinning the noise-making gragers during each mention of the name of the villainous "Haman" as we read the miraculous story of Purim.
Unfortunately I can't say that I enjoy the convenience of being surrounded by a large, young Jewish community as I was while at BU. There, a quick walk down Com Ave and I was at Hillel, where dozens if not hundreds of Jews gathered to celebrate Shabbat dinner as well as holidays like Purim. Sure I had my issues with the BU Hillel over the years, but now that I am among so few practicing Jews on a regular basis, I really miss having that community there to turn to. Going to Friday night dinner, seeing old friends and new faces, groaning at the Rabbi's cheesy speeches, gathering in the dining hall - those were good times.
Now Passover is almost here again and still, I don't have somewhere here that I can rely on to go to for a Seder. Last year I had a nice but somewhat awkward time as a guest of a family referred to me by a CT connection, but I would have much rather been somewhere among familiar faces.
That's one thing that I don't think people who grew up non-religiously can fully understand - the importance and comfort of traditions.
Anyways ...
So get this:
Next to where I live in Burbank there's a very convenient shopping center with a Vons grocery store, dry-cleaner, Togos sandwiches, etc. But oddly, there is also this sketchy-looking bar / restaurant called Sardos, that happens to be a popular hangout for people of a certain unsavory industry. In fact, every Tuesday, Sardos actually hosts a special karaeoke night just for these, ahem, industry folk. So my friends and I always joke about Sardos - in fact we've been joking about its sketchiness basically since I first moved into my current apartment over a year ago - and yet none of us had ever actually been inside the place. So last night, after picking up my car from the car dealership, fellow curiosity-seeker Liz and I decided that hey, it's Tuesday, we're right here, let's actually go in to the fabled Sardos and see what the deal is ...
So we go in, and it's pretty empty. It's dark and pretty small and feels like some weird dive bar out of a film noir or something. We sit down and lo and behold, RIGHT NEXT TO US, poring over a karaokie playlist, is none other than ...
JOHN GOODMAN !!!!!!!
Yep, John Goodman - aka Rosanne's TV husband, aka the live-action Fred Flinstone, aka COMEDIC GOD due in large part to his legendary role as Walter Solchak in THE BIG LEBOWSKI. He's right there, and yes folks, he is WASTED.
So soon enough, the patrons begin to trickle in, and yes, many of them do seem like they may actually be of The Industry (including one soulful singer by the name of Larry Vegas). Now as the house begins to fill up, the kareoke kicks in and first up to the plate is none other than JOHN FRIGGIN' GOODMAN! He gets up to the stage and is just belting out the lyrics to some old song I didn't know in this crazed drunken slur. Amazing. Over the next hour or so, this SNL regular and Cohen Brothers favorite graced the dimly-lit bar stage of Sardos twice more, regaling us with soulful, wildly drunken renditions of You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (in a version that put Tom Cruise in Top Gu nto absolute shame), and then, the finale - a blistering, and yes, quiveringly drunken performance of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire! Oh. My. God. Definitely one of the most surreal things I have EVER seen, and a moment that could almost have been a deleted scene from King Ralph in its sheer outpouring of blue-collar, drunken pathos. Whether Mr. Goodman got up for even more songs after Liz and I left I do not know, but I do know that the man was so drunk that my attempts to pat him on the back and congratulate him on his epic performances were met with simple grunts. Ideally I would have liked to have mentioned to The Man himself that his performance in The Big Lebowski is one of my all time favorite comedic turns ever in cinema, but alas, the opportunity did not present itself, even though Liz and I were literally seated RIGHT next to John Goodman for a long while. Once again, THIS was a real, raw, Defamer-worthy Hollywood moment. Or maybe it's what you'd call a Valley moment. Whatever it was, it was most definitely a moment. Unreal.
TV STUFF:
- VERONICA MARS RETURNS - pretty good episode tonight, though the main plot was a bit convoluted and boring. The revelations pertaining to Terence Cook and the ongoing mystery of the bus crash though, on the other hand, were pretty riveting stuff. It was great to see this show back again, and here's hoping that the CW picks it up and gives it the marketing push it deserves. Simply put it's one of the smartest, most stylish shows on TV, and definitely one of a kind. My grade: B+
OTHER STUFF:
- St. Patty's Day Friday ... my opinion = meh. Never really got why I should care about an Irish holiday, and basically the people who get really excited about getting trashed on St. Patty's day are the same ones who are already getting trashed every weekend as is, St. Patty's day or not.
- WizardWorld LA on Saturday! I'm very excited, although I have to say that now that I'm so immersed in the working world it's hard to be up and energized for an all-day event like this. Ideally we'd get an early start to this sure-to-be-awesome day of geeked-out nirvana, but I guess we'll see what happens. Still, should be a great day, capped off by what is pretty much THE movie event of the first half of 2006 - V for Vendetta! I am primed and ready for this movie to kick my ass.
- I am definitely getting more and more addicted to MySpace, although that site continually finds new ways to make me fearful for all humanity. I just don't get people who carry out whole conversations about personal things via bulletins that anyone can read. Why not just email or IM the person rather than place your interpersonal business in the public forum? Between blogs that air one's every anxiety and personal detail into the open and those neverending surveys that are simply IDIOTIC, MySpace truly can be a scary place that may or may not signal the downfall of human civilization. And yet it's like a trainwreck that I can't look away from. No, I don't care if you've made out with anyone in the last seven days - why do people even fill out these surveys and post them in the first place? Have they no shame? Nope, everyone is an exhibitionist in the twisted, quasi-pornographic world of MySpace. And to think, this is probably how today's thirteen and fourteen year olds are now spending their afterschool hours - posting away on their pervy blogs and checking out each other's Maxim-style digital photos. Oh what a comforting thought. Parents, watch what your kids are doing online, for the love of God. And for all of you college grads who apend your hours filling out pointless surveys and self indulgent crap and posting it for all the world to see, get a life. At least try to write something insigtful or intelligent, not a questionaire concerning what you have or haven't done in the last three days.
Alright folks, I've had my say, and you can have yours too. It's information overload, baby. But remember, if you become rich and famous you too can go to shady dive bars and sing drunken kareoke on porn night. And now I think I've gone and gotten myself depressed ... Well, at least he'll always have the brilliant Big Lebowski to his credit. Because as a wiseman said: "Sometimes, you eat the bar, and sometimes, well, sometimes - sometimes the bar eats you."
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