The Sasquatch Journal

2009-02-11T01:19:00.000-08:00

The Mask of NormalcyCultural depictions of serial killers help us avoid confronting what we can't abide: that murderers might be as ordinary as the rest of us"You do realize that don't you? There aren't evil guys and innocent guys. It's just... It's just... It's just a bunch of guys." -- Ben Stiller as Steve Arlo in 'Zero Effect'The second that police arrested central Missouri radio-talk-show

2009-02-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

Interview With the Werewolf Kevin Grevioux has a lot to fit on his business card. The deep-voiced South Side native is a comic-book writer, screenwriter and actor – all of which comes in handy for his work on the “Underworld” franchise. Grevioux penned the screenplays for the vampire versus werewolf sci-fi epics and wrote himself a role as Raze, the right hand man for the Lycan leader Lucien. For

2008-11-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

Thoughts About Election Night in Chicago:Obama Nation or Abomination? Imagine the Chicago Cubs won the World Series and you were there. But also imagine that the Cubs had never won the World Series in 220 plus years, that a lot of the rest of the league had been biased against the Cubs in the past and had set the league up to make it harder for the Cubs to win. Also imagine that half the people

2008-10-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

The Anatomy of a Hipster Party and Redneck Wedding. Redneck? or Hipster?This summer I was a fly on the wall at two gatherings of two groups of people in Chicago that are arguably on the opposite ends of the white people cultural spectrum - hipsters

2008-10-15T10:16:00.001-07:00

Dr. Fantasy and Another Bout of Shameless Self-PromotionI made my debut as Dr. Fantasy, a fantasy sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune RedEye today. (And yes, I know the name makes me sound like a porn producer from the late 80's) You can view it by going to www.redeye.chicagotribune.com and clicking on the "Look at RedEye Print Edition in PDF form." It's the Oct. 15 edition (the one with the

2008-09-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

From the Bleachers Notes from the seats of the Cubs’ thrilling 5-4 win against the Brewers in Wrigley Tuesday - which was hands down the best baseball game I’ve ever seen in person. You had it all, a perfect night temperature-wise, a game in mid-September that helps decide a pennant race against a local rival, two All-Star pitchers on the mound, two good offenses, you had the big hitters getting

2008-09-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

More Onion/Daily Show-esque MaterialI performed some of this material Wednesday night at an open mic comedy night...But i rewrote it to work better for a print audience. Keep in mind, I'm aiming this at a certain audience...I'm in a land of about 2 percent conservatives. Gotta give the people want they want!"We're happy to report that the world did not end this week. Scientists in Switzerland

2008-09-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

Onion Story IdeasA couple months ago I applied to be a writer at The Onion, the famed fake news satire publication. I haven't heard from them, so I'm guessing I didn't get the gig, but it's a shame because I had plenty of ideas for stories. For the application I had to write several proposals for stories. Here's a list of the ones I wrote:Running Out of Licensed Characters to Market, Marvel OK's

2008-08-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Lollapaloozed.I could probably write a lot about my experience last weekend at Lollapalooza. I mean, 75,000 people, over 100 bands, 25+ hours all in Grant Park in Chicago? I could do 3,000 words, easily. But alas, it's been almost a week already and I'm running out of time, so I'll just make a few random observations....-The 90's still looms large. With MTV still locked into showing vapid blonde

2008-08-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

A Dream, FulfilledI've always wanted to have something I've written to be part of a blurb promoting a movie or video game. I wanted to scale the heights of a Roger Ebert or Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, or even the Ain't It Cool News guy.Now sure, my name isn't attached but still it's THE TOP QUOTE! I have truly arrived as a corporate shill and a human being.Oh yeah, the link is:http://

2008-07-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

CAR VS BIKEI can sympathize with car drivers, really.As a frequent cyclist in Chicago, I think much of the blame for the often adversarial relationship between urban bicyclists and drivers in Chicago lies with a small demographic of cyclists who ride recklessly and with a sense of entitlement - that they are somehow above the rules of the road because they're on two wheels. It's not just bike

2008-07-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Have you ever actually met a hardcore Aerosmith fan? I haven’t, which is sort of strange considering how many hits they’ve had over the last three decades. Most bands of their superstar caliber—Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, U2, Black Sabbath, hell, even Rush—maintain rabid followings amongst certain fans. But for

2008-07-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

Ninja Gaiden II review by Ryan Smith Some critics have pointed out the surprisingly complex and nuanced narratives of many top recent video games as signs that the medium is progressing as an art form and may soon be seen on par with movies and TV shows as far as storytelling goes. Grand Theft Auto IV, for instance, frequently asks tough

2008-07-17T11:07:00.000-07:00

Sasquatch Journal Interview: Alex Seropian, Founder of Wideload Games Alex Seropian In a gaming industry increasingly dominated by a handful of sprawling media giants, Alex Seropian is a bit of an iconoclast. Bungie, the development company he co-founded in college, became extremely successful

2008-07-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

The Sasquatch Journal Crime Files - The Talk Show Host MurdererSometimes I reminesce about the halcyon days of crime reporting. Bustin' the cop beat, yo. For the 14 months I covered the crime in Jefferson City in 2005 to early '06, there were 9 murders, which was astounding for a sleepy city of 40,000 in Central Missouri. It got to the point where people joked that I was some sort of city curse

2008-06-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

More Human Than Human? Reviews of "Wall-E" and "Wanted"I took in a double feature of the movies Wall-E and Wanted on Friday night which turned out to be interesting considering these two movies are almost diametrically opposed. It was almost jarring seeing them back to back. But the funny thing is, the animated sci-fi movie starring a robot had a tons of heart and the one starring flesh and blood

2008-06-23T20:08:00.001-07:00

Miss Bling and II was a call in guest tonight on the internet radio show of Miss Bling, a local artist/DJ who "blings" things like sunglasses and t-shirts for rappers. I did a feature story about her last week for the Redeye (I think what attracted them especially was that she made some snazzy glasses for Beyonce) and so she asked me to be on her radio show.Anyway, here's the link to the show.

2008-06-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

America's Top RoommateYes, this is my new roommate.As I sit here in my living room typing this, one of my new roommates is in the next room taking topless photos per a request by the assistant of a premier art photographer for potential work as a model.Now this, of course, is the point where you are supposed to interject with a good amount of incredulity about the truthfulness of the situation I

2008-05-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

My 10 Hour Grand Theft Auto IV SpreeLast night I embarked on a drug-induced crime spree throughout the city. Well, virtually, at least. The so-called "drug" was actually lots of caffeine and the crime took place in the world of the new Grand Theft Auto IV game on Xbox 360. With some critics already hyping it as the "Citizen Kane" of video games, I opted to purchase the game at a midnight sale at

2008-04-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

The Banality of Being Robin HoodIn the low-fi slacker opus Clerks, there's an infamous monologue by the character Randal that speculates about the independent contractors allegedly on the unfinished Death Star when Luke blew into space debris in Return of the Jedi.The unspoken question raised by Kevin Smith's video store clerk is this: Are the “little guys” working in a shady operation just as

2008-04-01T19:17:00.000-07:00

The Dream Girl is Just a Fantasy And Other Narcissistic MusingsWhen people talk about Hollywood films being fake and unrealistic, they're usually referring to action movies where Bruce Willis lands an F-16 perfectly on the back of a moving semi-truck or 1,000 enemy soldiers armed with automatic rifles can't seem to shoot a shirtless Slyvester Stallone. It also seems more than coincedence to us in

2008-02-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

The Real Surreal WorldSitting in the rigid seat of a witness stand in a Los Angeles courtroom, I probably should have been deadly serious about the testimony I was prepared to give. I ought to have been focused on swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth etc., etc., while the eyes of a collection of stern-looking officials, attorneys, and family members of the 15-year-old I had accused of

2008-01-08T12:30:00.000-08:00

Review of Beautiful Katamari In the nascent days before Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network, console games had virtually no “indie scene.” Because of a variety of obstacles to overcome—budgets, distribution, and marketing to name a few—the quirky, small budget games didn’t have a fighting chance to make a big splash in the console market. The closest thing the video game industry

2007-12-31T14:55:00.000-08:00

The Best And Worst of 2007Worst of 2007: Presidential Candidate OverkillDo you know who the people in the above picture are? If you don't, you must not be a sentient being or you should get the hell off MySpace for 5 seconds. Even though the 2008 elections were far, far away...we were treated to nonstop coverage of the potential candidates, what demographics they were trying to attract, what

2007-12-30T15:55:00.000-08:00

Just One of the SchmucksAs a child of the 80's, it'd been a long held dream of mine to eventually conduct some sort of grand experiment in undercover 'immersion journalism,' the kind seen in some of the classic films of the Reagan Years. When I say classics, of course, I'm referring to Fletch and well, Fletch Lives. Then there's Just One of the Guys, a teen sex comedy tour-de-force that took

2007-04-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love SoftballIt's not unreasonable to expect playing in and managing a C-minus level city league softball to be fairly stress-free. Especially in the chilled out, it's-So-Cal-baby beach vibe of Santa Monica, where stress is usually only served behind the wheel on Freeway 10. It's the Corona League, right? Jack N' Chug?Not Thursday night, for a

2007-03-16T14:52:00.000-07:00

A Strange Week of "Journalism"I spent a considerable amount of time last week thinking of a headline for a story I wrote about squirrels being put on birth control in Santa Monica. Now, look...I realize that this is sort of one of those ridiculous stories where people would roll their eyes and chortle and say "Slow news day, huh?" and then repeat "squirrels on birth control" under their breath to

2007-02-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

Wil Wheaton (probably) ripped off my arcades story!As informed reader Jon Heupel alerted me....Mr. Star Trek Next Generation child-star turned tech/geek writer wrote this story on Suicide Girls just a few days after my arcades story got syndicated and published at a few different websites. It's not like this was a very timely story, so I'm suspicious. Check out some of the similarities in the two

2007-02-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

Anatomy of a Super Bowl PartyIf this was a beer commercial, this would be the point where I'd say "Well, fellas, it don't get much better than this." This of course, was the first quarter still and I didn't care that the water was only 75 degrees. Doom was to come later. Much later.The hot tub the guys at Strand Street were able to drudge up for free from Craigslist the day before the party.

2007-01-26T15:34:00.000-08:00

Beverly Hills, Persian Style.Which one of these pictures more accurately portrays Beverly Hills?Wait a second, I thought as I found myself surrounded by hundreds of dark-haired, copper and brown-skinned people. Isn’t Beverly Hills full of blondes and fake breasts and movie stars?I strained my neck looking at everyone’s faces down the halls and ornate staircases of this upscale mansion-like home

2007-01-25T23:07:00.000-08:00

Reason #2,395 That Journalism In West L.A. Is Ridiculous...My editor recently received an email that had this Lindsay Lohan picture attached:>> Dear Editor,>>>> I am the co-owner of the clothing line LOLA. Lindsay Lohan wore one of>> out hats recently (on her way to rehab). We were wondering if you would>> be interested to writing an item about it. I included some information>> about us below.

2007-01-23T13:33:00.000-08:00

A Day of Chicago (and personal) TriumphThis is a sort of poetic justice, I mused while dancing on a stage and shouting the lyrics to the “Super Bowl Shuffle” in a small Chicago-loving bar in Santa Monica seconds after the Bears had just beat the heavily favored Saints to go to the Super Bowl. It was certainly a strange thought to have when you are wearing a #50 Mike Singletary jersey, a white

2007-01-15T23:30:00.000-08:00

Popmatters just published my feature on arcades here:http://www.popmatters.com/pm/features/article/8752/a-final-farewell-to-arcades/

2006-12-20T21:54:00.000-08:00

An Eventful Day...It's been a month since my last post, but today has been quite the interesting day. Wow, where to begin?For starters, I have a new job. Or at least I will have one soon. I accepted a position at a newspaper in Santa Monica (I've learned my lesson about posting too much information on a public blog so I won't name it specifically.) as a news reporter. It definately feels good to

2006-11-21T23:47:00.000-08:00

My newest multimedia review can be found here:http://www.popmatters.com/pm/multimedia/reviews/7976/marvel-ultimate-alliance/I experimented with it and made the review a humorous fake conversation between two unnamed video executives. Sort of like an old Mike Royko column or what Ralph Wiley used to do for ESPN. I think it works pretty well for what it is. I wonder if there will be people who

2006-11-18T13:37:00.000-08:00

A Farewell to ArcadesIt's difficult to write a eulogy for the arcade - that once ubiquitous quarter-eating staple of malls, bowling alleys and college campuses everywhere. Like Saturday morning cartoons or the NHL, it still exists, but has been slowly fading from the American consciousnesssince its 1980s heyday.Still, I felt compelled to write a lament of sorts

2006-11-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

Highlights from the Guitar Hero party...On Friday night, I organized a Guitar Hero party/rock-out. I could write thousands of words about this experience, but perhaps this time I should let the (ridiculous) pictures do the talking.

2006-11-10T18:04:00.000-08:00

'Pretty Woman' Internet StyleThe Best of Craiglist is often good entertainment. The following ad is hilarious because I'm 90 percent sure the girl who wrote it just got done watching "Pretty Woman" and figured she could meet a Richard Gere like playboy and undergo a magical transformation of sorts.---------------------------Would you like to take a young, innocent, naive newcomer and turn her

2006-11-07T23:14:00.001-08:00

A story.A few notes you should read before (or after) viewing this story:1. I wrestled with the idea of posting this story on my blog for a long time. I wrote it initially over a month ago as a sort of catharsis, as a means of exploring my thoughts and feelings and then coming to a meaningful conclusion. Therefore it's intensely personal. But really, the only other reason I could find for not

2006-11-06T00:31:00.000-08:00

Life as a beer commercial (Literally)There's strange, there's surreal and then there is being unable to park in front of my old apartment to watch football with friends and roommates because a Bud Light commercial is filming in front of the apartment building.Of course, we didn't realize this at first. Ryan Ferrell and I just drove up and noticed a film crew and two scantily clad tanned hot

2006-10-29T21:14:00.000-08:00

Halloween in L.A.For me it's harder to get into the Halloween spirit in L.A. because:1. I'm used to late October *feeling* like fall...brisk or cold out, leaves turning colors and falling to the ground. Here in 70 degree land it doesn't even feel like Halloween season.2. L.A. is sort of in a state of eternal Halloween. A few weeks ago I saw a mime in full makeup and beret driving a Volkswagen.

2006-10-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

Twenty Six Times Two: RevisitedThree years ago, I had this article published in Relevant Magazine about my 26th birthday:http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life_article.php?id=2435Since today I'm 29, I thought I'd do a little bit more self-conscious navel gazing. First off, I wish I could say I've done a lot more maturing and growing up since I wrote this, but the truth is...I haven't. I'm still in

2006-10-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

A Night of Bears and B-List CelebritiesThere is strange, there's surreal, and then there is being in a club on the Sunset Strip watching four spandex clad big haired rockers channeling Poison circa 1987 singing Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" with a headbanging Billy Ray Cyrus of one hit wonder "Achy Breaky Heart" fame and a highly intoxicated Ryan Cabrera. And that's not even mentioning

2006-10-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

The week of RyanI don''t know if it's coincedence or fate, but Popmatters published the third feature by me this week:http://www.popmatters.com/pm/features/article/6375/street-fighter-ii-the-world-warrior-here-comes-a-new-challenger/Too bad nothing else is going right for me this week. Woe is me at 11.

2006-10-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

My Own Private EnronThe article about my surreal job experience with Media Data Corporation AKA Veritasiti was published today on Popmatters.http://www.popmatters.com/pm/features/article/5694/my-own-private-enron1/Basically, I tried to give a first person account about the day myself and 50 or so of my fellow coworkers were laid off and described the circumstances behind it. I also tried to put

2006-10-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

Meeting People is EasyI've met two interesting women in the past week, and as I like to do, I will discuss them here:Actually this first part I wrote on a plane while sitting next to the sleeping girl (Yes, I have returned to L.A. by the way after seven weeks in New York).I'm currently amused with my current airplane girlfriend. In a previous post in this space, I defined exactly what that meant

2006-09-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

America's Top Moralist-There was a not-so heartwarming moment in a segment of America's Top Model (you may not believe that I was just flipping around looking for Sunday Night Baseball when I stumbled upon it, but hey, it's true) tonight. A skinny sandy blonde teen named Ginger from somewhere in Kansas was the only girl out of the 20 or so would be models who refused to pose naked in front of the

2006-09-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

Random Notes - Reading Time: Two Minutes...I haven’t written in my blog as much as I anticipated I would when I arrived here in the lonely corridors of an Albany hotel, but part of that is due to the fact that I’ve written several articles for Popmatters. When they get e-published, I’ll throw the links up. Secondly ,I’ve been doing some reading (especially the newest book of essays from Chuck

2006-09-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

The N.Y.C. ExperienceTalking about the differences between New York and Los Angeles is sort of cliche, just ask any bad standup comedian. New Yorkers are pissed. Angeleonos are chill but ridiculous, etc. etc. Still, going from one city to another in a short time is a jarring reminder of the contrast between the rainy, skyscraper, taxi and subway dominated, go-go city on the East Coast compared to

2006-08-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

The Hollywood Wheel of FortuneI accidentally sat in on a "business meeting" yesterday. Of course, when I say business meeting, I mean that a sharp-looking pair – a twentysomething man and woman I work with were eating together at an outdoor table and talking in expressive and excited tones about their own screenplays and their plan to start working together – though they never quite specified

2006-08-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Quasi -Adventures in Suburbia: New York Days 5 through 9-There's not much to recommend about being a pedestrian in Albany. This realization came to me too late as I strode nonchalantly along the shoulder of busy Washington Avenue Saturday afternoon towards Big Box Retailer Paradise. The various cars that honked at me as they zoomed was a constant reminder that I was not welcome on this road. But

2006-08-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

Stories and Highlights from Days 1 - 3 of New York:Whenever I shrug off the stereotypes of L.A. women as shallow, self-absorbed exhibitionists I meet someone like Mandy, a oversexed 28-year old single mother of three, who in a short 15 minute conversation while waiting to board our plane to Chicago on Monday, told me the following things without my prompting:1. Her boobs (carefully placed so they

2006-08-10T17:06:00.000-07:00

For those interested, my review of the new Grand Theft Auto for PS2 was published today at Popmatters.com. Here's a link:http://www.popmatters.com/pm/multimedia/reviews/grand-theft-auto-liberty-city-storiesGrand Theft Auto: Liberty City Storiesby Ryan SmithThe release of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories may come as a relief to those worried that Joseph Lieberman had secretly become the CEO

2006-08-03T23:50:00.000-07:00

A Series of Unfortunate Airplane Events I blame my lost opportunity with a potential Airplane Girlfriend for causing me to be stranded in El Paso, Texas for almost an entire night. Let me explain… I standing in the “B” line at the Southwest terminal waiting to fly back to Los Angeles from St. Louis with a connecting flight in Albequerque, New Mexico, when I noticed a dark haired attractive indie

2006-08-03T00:49:00.000-07:00

R.I.P Tyler DowneyIn a society where death and natural forces seem like stubborn obstacles in the way of modernity and technology, where we are pampered and protected from the elements in our high tech hospitals, air conditioned homes, dual airbagged cars…the question is..how do we, or should we respond to the death of a friend or loved one? This is something I’ve been considering and

2006-07-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

“Work is a necessary evil to be avoided.”-Mark TwainToday marked the symbolic dagger in the heart of my former employer and the embrace of a new one after an oh-so-short month of unemployment. It’s a bittersweet feeling for reasons I will explain. At this point I’m beginning to feel like a half-willing participant in a Barbara Ehrenreich-like journalism project. Ehrenreich, wrote Nickel and

2006-07-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

The Pirates of the Pacific: Treasure Hunt 2K6!The light of the torch cast an eerie light on the scaly form of the python as it crawled, tongue flickering, cold eyes unblinking, though the sand where we kneeled. Alas! We barely mustered a glance towards the serpent, for our complete attention was on the task at hand – finding the buried treasure. All on hands and knees, we frantically dug in the

2006-06-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

Things to Do When You're UnemployedWhen you're gainfully unemployed, you have the luxury of considering options you never dreamed of before. Like sleeping until 11 a.m.. Or watching the entire process of "Future Man", the baby Ball Python that resides in our crowded Santa Monica bungalow, strangle and consume, and digest a mouse whole. Or, watching the media continue to metaphorically pick clean

2006-06-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

Exclusive L.A. Photo ShootMost people that know me well, know that I usually avoid getting my picture taken, and until yesterday, I think I had my picture taken twice since I've lived in L.A. (beach football, which I was oblivious to) and the Oscar Party.But the last couple days, since David has been in town (and is Mr. Photo Boy Extrodinaire, 2500 pics taken in like a week), I thought I'd do an

2006-06-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

The Sasquatch Journal Book Club: Watchmen Regardless how you feel about the term “graphic novel” used to describe a collection of comic books, “The Watchmen” a 12-part series written by “V for Vendetta” creator Alan Moore, is a big part of comic books “growing up” and the reason the showing of X-Men 3 I saw a couple weeks ago to be filled not with nerdy, awkward, adolescents, but of young

2006-06-16T02:04:00.000-07:00

My So-Called Stand Up ComedyFriday night at Kairos in Hollywood, my roommates and I are performing for a "coffeehouse" benefit for the Solis Foundation:http://www.solisfoundation.org/Collin and Joel are performing a set of 80's love ballads and are calling themselves "80's for the Ladies." Also Eva Ellingsworth is gracing the stage with her presence.I am doing a shortish standup comedy routine.

2006-06-15T02:39:00.000-07:00

Hooray for pictures!FYI, I figured out my blogger picture problem and so I've gone back added a few pictures to my last few posts. Rejoice.

2006-06-15T02:02:00.000-07:00

My Life as an Authentic Extra In A City Of Fake Ones And Other AdventuresAccording to one information website, the following is the definition of a movie extra:"Extras are people in the scene of a movie or television show who are needed to create a background or simulated real environment. For example, if a scene were to take place on a commercial airliner, it would look rather silly to the

2006-06-12T01:36:00.000-07:00

Low Fidelity Remember “High Fidelity,” when John Cusack’s character contacts all his old girlfriends in a covert attempt to figure out where everything went wrong in his relationships? Well, that happened to me this weekend, except I only talked to two of them, neither were ever officially my girlfriend, and I wasn’t doing any soul-searching, it was more of a random coincidence than anything

2006-06-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

Street Fighter II: A Retrospective.Note: I'm writing a article for www.popmatters.com on Street Fighter II. Here's the rough draft. And yes, I'm a nerd.In high school, I repeatedly swore to my friends, with a straight face, that I would fall down on my knees and marry the girl that defeated me in Street Fighter II, no questions asked. In retrospect, it probably was a sad commentary about my

2006-06-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

The Saga Continues...http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/06/07/sec_says_adviser_ran_ponzi_scheme/

2006-06-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

Notes from Right FieldMy life is now complete. For I have witnessed something tonight unheard of in the history of mankind. And that something is...the first French-Canadian pitcher-catcher battery! That's right, when Dodgers closer Eric Gagne threw a pitch to fellow Canadian (and former high school classmate!) Russell Martin in the 9th inning in tonights Dodgers-Mets game, history was made.Can

2006-06-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

The Day of The DevilHuman beings are supposedly rational creatures. We have orderly daily routines, look a little strange at people who chase Sasquatches or UFO’s, and walk out of movies knowing that they are no more than fiction. Modern man and science and rationality have triumphed, right? Superstitions, and religious myths have no weight, right?And what about those of us who are Christians. We

2006-06-04T18:18:00.000-07:00

Fame is Fleeting, Friends are Forever: The Dream Job Becomes a Nightmare Part IISure, in often abstract ways, we are continuously making choices in our lives that reflect our values. A life of crime or an honest day’s work. Hoarding everything for ourselves or giving things away to the poor. These are usually moral processes that occur over time. But these choices are rarely as concrete and

2006-05-31T23:14:00.000-07:00

Down and Out In (Or Somewhat Near) Beverly Hills: The Dream Job Becomes a Nightmare.A homeless man approached me as I briskly walked down the boardwalk in Venice and asked me for a dollar. It was the wrong day to ask. “Look man, I just got laid off today,” I said wearily. “Not only that, but I haven’t gotten paid in two weeks. I got debts, dude. Big time. You? You’re at zero. How about you give

2006-05-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Gauntlet or the Grade? I'm writing a personal video game related story for MTV, and thought I'd share it here. Some of you have heard this before, some of you haven't, and if you're female, I advise you to stop reading here before you lose all respect for me...It was dreaded Finals Week my junior year of college and I was halfway home. Two down, two to go. Unfortunately, on this day I had an epic

2006-05-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

My Brother, the VillainFor years now, I have casually talked about writing a book about my brother, Keegan. Now, whenever my brother does something outrageous, my Dad even says something about "putting it in my book."I don't really think I could actually do it (even though I've written a semi-true short story about him) because I wouldn't want to inadvertantly glamorize a type of lifestyle James

2006-05-08T16:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome to L.A. Moment Part III: The Case of the More Than Slightly Inebriated 14-Year Old Beer Mugger on the Beach.The scene is Dockweiler Beach on a late Saturday night, which even at the time, didn’t seem like the greatest idea in the world. About a dozen of us new Angelinos drove there following a little birthday surprise for my roommate Scott. We threw some lawn chairs in the car, bought

2006-05-03T00:09:00.000-07:00

Oh the joys of beach football Look, I'm not going to say it's pretty, I'm not Reggie Bush, or even a slow white LenDale White, but damn if I can't ignore my painfully busted ankle and weak back once in awhile and break a few tackles for a big gain. Oh and beach football on a sunny Sunday afternoon is about the best thing in the world.

2006-04-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

Movies of the WeekThe variety of the types of movies and games I get to "audit" at work for sex, violence, and profanity content at work keeps it very interesting.This week for example, I've watched "The Thing Called Love," a little known 1993 coming of age country music movie set in Nashville but starring very un-Nashville actors (River Phoenix in one of his last roles before he died, Pre-Speed

2006-04-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome to L.A. Part II, The Great Baseball Adventure"You're in L.A. now, you don't mess around in this town," replied the young, headband-wearing Hispanic guy with a thin mustache that looked drawn on his face with a magic marker. Several of the other thuggish looking men in Dodgers jerseys nodded or spat in agreement. "You're lucky," he added with a smirk. Now seeing that at the time of the

2006-04-06T21:48:00.000-07:00

My Blue HeavenNot to go Mitch Albom on you guys but...So I've been a part of group studying the Book of Revelation and I've been thinking a lot about heaven lately.Heaven in John's vision is a terrible and incredible place that I can't begin to fathom and relate to, full of impressive angels with Bowls and Seals and Trumpets of Doom. It's interesting just because in popular culture, heaven is

2006-04-03T21:52:00.000-07:00

This Blog Entry is Rated "R" for Profanity...In many ways, it's your typical office meeting in a corporate Dilbert-esque setting. Two dozen or so white collars sitting around a large circular table in a cold, uncomfortable meeting room listening as department heads initiate a "Making sure we're on the same page" meeting.But then people start talking and the utter blandness of the situation has

2006-03-19T01:44:00.000-08:00

Peeking Under the Hood of Our Car-Culture in "Crash" "It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."--Opening line in Best Picture winner "Crash."Don Cheadle's

2006-03-14T19:16:00.000-08:00

PostscriptThe morning after I posted this line: "But for some reason seeing the picture of the detached head of the huge Paul Bunyan statue that always made me smile and point when I was a kid driving on Wabash eagerly looking for it and the big sunglass-wearing pink elephant with a martini in its trunk made my heart feel like a lump of 25-cent Laffy Taffy from Hucks." Ed sent me this picture...I

2006-03-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

Death, Destruction, and No Whammys I was casually lounging at my desk this morning checking CNN.com because the IT department had literally blocked out every other site, when I saw something about severe weather and tornados in the Midwest. I nonchalantly clicked the story and was surprised to see my hometown Springfield, Illinois in the dateline. I scanned the story... "...it was like Katrina,

2006-03-07T23:07:00.000-08:00

A Spider In The Snow "And as I would walk down K Street to some temping job As winter froze the life out of fall Yeah, I must've been having a ball"--The Dismemberment Plan I just moved around about $200 million dollars this morning but it felt more like I was programming an Apple IIE from 1984. (So not only was I feeling a little like Matthew Broderick in WarGames, I was sadly probably using his

2006-03-05T20:22:00.000-08:00

The Oscar PartyThe Oscars are actually still on right now, but since I can't stand Awards Shows (awards for science and academic achievement are cool since they recognize excellent in fields we pay little attention to, but Hollywood isn't exactly lacking in publicity) I'm back home from the Oscar Party I went to at Kairos.Here are a couple pics...

2006-03-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

"The Blind Date" - A John Hughes film.I felt like slapping myself in the face, because all of a sudden I seemed to be caught in some kind of male adolescent fantasy dreamworld. A split-second earlier, I had turned my head to see who was calling my name and subsequent would be picking me up on this chilly California night while I patiently waited at the intersections of Lincoln and Rose.Casually

2006-02-28T18:12:00.000-08:00

The Bizarre Culture of Elitism and Status Beverly Hills, that's where I want to be!For the first time in my many years of working retail, I was actually discouraged from providing good customer service.The owner of the ISoldIt On Ebay! store I work part-time at in Westwood was on the phone at the front counter and I was sitting in front of a computer when a twentysomething woman came into the

2006-02-24T23:18:00.000-08:00

......... Kneel Down to Lord Zod!Dr. Emperor Zod Zuzillion might be the most interesting huckster/street hustler/creator of a religion/ that I've ever met. It was Thursday night outside a quasi-upscale nautical themed restaurant on Main Street in Santa Monica called The Galley. Joel, Collin and myself were waiting on the sidewalk when we were approached by an aging white-haired black

2006-02-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

Sex, Drugs, and Rock N' Roll - A True Hollywood StoryI'm sure most of you have heard some of the sordid tales of Hollywood's Sunset Strip AKA "The Strip." It seems like the heyday of the Strip in my generation (In the infamous Summer of Love era, it was a haven for some of the legendary bands of the time....The Doors were orginally the house band at "The Whiskey.") was in the late 80's/ early 90'

2006-02-13T16:32:00.000-08:00

Of Street-Performers and Art (sort of)It's Sunday afternoon at the Santa Monica Third Street Promenade, and a suspiciously polite black guy asks some passerbys (including myself.) for some money. I'm sort of lost in thought and not paying attention to the request until he adds that he's willing to "rap for money." The aging hipster with the out-of-place earring says "No Thanks," but frankily,

2006-02-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

"Is This the City of Angels or Demons?"“I'm in Los Angeles today: It smells like an airport runway.Jet fuel stenches in the cabin and lights flickering at random.I'm in Los Angeles today:Garbage cans comprise the medians of freeways always creepingeven when the population's sleeping.And I can't see why you'd want to live here.”-“Why You’d Live Here”-Death Cab for Cutie“I’m shocked by anyone who

2006-02-09T16:49:00.001-08:00

“Hello me ... It's me againYou can subdue, but never tame me” – “Sweating Bullets” -Megadeth I chose the above quote for the following reasons:(A) This is my first real blog post in like 8 months.(B) I thought I’d imitate my blogging idol Murph13. (http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?user=Murph13&tab=weblogs&uid=439780456) Go, there,.it will change your life.)(C. I once bagged Dave Mustaine’s

2004-02-23T16:54:00.000-08:00

I really need to start writing again. It will happen, watch this space soon. Please.

2002-06-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

ATTENTION!! I am relaunching my old E-zine, the Sasquatch Journal in a blog format. What you see here is my first foray into blogging. I was a little intimidated about jumping right in, so I am starting off with a little old material. I wrote the following way back in 1998. Sadly, my material isnt timeless, (I'm still tweaking my Moby Dick sequel) but it shall suffice for my purposes... Anyway,