Born Ruffians at TBWA Media Arts Lab
Another gig at work today, this time we got a visit from canadians Born Ruffians. Before this, I didn’t know much aboot (hehe) them, I had only heard one song which I kinda liked, but i forgot about it pretty quickly. But the show today was very intruiging, and I definately need to listen to them more. It was sort of a mix between Vampire Weekend and Band of Horses, with a wink towards Elvis, and it felt very contemporary. Food and beer was served as well, and I’ve got a nice afternoon buzz going on. Today is a good day.
The Human Party Revisited
Sergio sent me this video earlier today, a guy called Michael Marantz apparently shot this on The Human Party (i.e. the party we got chased off the Hollywood Hills by helicopters). It’s a beautiful timelapse piece, where he really managed to capture the spirit of The Human Party. Enjoy.
Dinner at Sergio’s
Yesterday afternoon me and Sean were invited to dinner at Sergio’s Mom’s house, up in Santa Clarita Valley. It’s a 45 minute drive from Downtown L.A. through a very scenic landscape of rolling green hills and desert rocks. The kind of landscape that makes you think, how it must have looked 200 years ago, when settlers crossed it by horse and wagon, to find a place to start a new life. Nothing short of mesmerizing.
Luckily enough, someone has since then been kind enough to build a freeway which allowed our steel horse to cross the plains in a fraction of the time it took the settlers, allowing us to arrive safely in Valencia, where Sergio and his mom resides.
We watched the Lakers game, had a wonderful dinner, and shared lots of laughs around the firepit afterwards. I can’t even begin to describe how good it felt to get a sense of family communion, after feeling as rootless as I have since I left home and everyone I love. Something as simple as a family dinner can really do wonders.
Shout Out Louds at Del Rey
We of course took the given opportunity to go see Shout Out Louds for free at Del Rey Theatre. The place is an old deco style movie theatre, with a slightly descending floor, golden chandeliers and red velvet covering both the floor and walls. A setting as good as any to enjoy one of my favorite swedish bands.
For the song Very Loud, they even had a guest appearance by James Fearnley from The Pogues. I was unable to capture the first part of the song due to awesomeness shock, but I got the most part of it on video, which turned out pretty good.
I was really hoping that they would play Streams of Whiskey (yes, Essex Green, not The Pogues, I know), it would have been so great with the accordion, but I guess you can’t have everything. It was a great night nevertheless.
Shout Out Louds at TBWA Media Arts Lab
Earlier this week I got the most exciting work email ever. For some reason, Shout Out Louds were booked to play in our backyard! Apparently there will be a lot of bands coming here to play during the summer. Too awesome!!!
The concert was set in a small intimate backyard with only a hundred people or so attending. They played a short set with a few old hits, and a few new songs. “Walls” was especially great.
After the show we found the band outside and had a little chat with them. It felt great to be able to talk swedish for a little bit, and their organist Bebban was even nice enough to put me and Sean on the guestlist for their “real” show at El Rey later that night. I also got a complimentary CD from their bass player, whose name escapes me, from his other band Nervous Nellie. Being swedish rules!
Long Beach is the spot where I…
… well, went earlier today. We had nothing better to do, so we just got in the car and drove south.
Good Year-blimp! Yes, I’m easily impressed at times.
Green house effect brought to you by…
We ended up in Long Beach, which housed the second largest port in the USA. We had no idea, so we were really shocked when we got there and saw nothing but container ships and enormous cranes as far as the eye could see. It was equally breathtaking and disturbing. The amount of pollution a harbor of that size emits is just ungraspable. No wonder the environment is going down the drain…
Something a little more cheerful caught my eye after we found our way away from the piers, I saw a giant old ship, that judging by its size must have been a transatlantic liner a long time ago. Somewhere in the back of my head I knew this ship from somewhere, and my immediate instinct was to disregard everything else and drive there. So we did.
The ship turned out to be the Queen Mary, a ship that in the thirties was a part of the White Star Line (Titanic, Olympic, Britannic). The reason I recognized it is because I had read about it while researching for a project only a few months earlier, because of it’s beautiful Deco interior which I had first noticed in a scene in Pearl Harbor years ago. So the chain of events that brought me to the ship was pretty far-fetched.
The ship has been docked for over 40 years and is now turned into a hotel. We never entered it, but as soon as my girlfriend arrives, we’re checking in!
As we are in the land of Bigs and Bizarres, having a giant ship isn’t enough. No hotel is complete without a russian submarine on the doorstep!
“Communism sank, but look what surfaced”. I’m speechless…
Bitchin’ Camaro
Me and Sean have finally been able to get rid of the rental car that we’ve been forced to use these last couple of weeks ever since we started working at Chiat\Day. Having to use a rental car to get to work has really drained my bank account, I’m broke as a joke, but we had no other choice for the time being. Anyways, we’ve been searching around for cheap cars and came across this place on Venice called Culver City Automotive, where we were actually ably to rent a car instead of buying it. We are now paying only a fifth of what we paid for the other rental, and we don’t need to go through the hassle of getting a CA driver’s license, insurance, etc.
We were expecting to get an old Toyota Corolla or equivalent, imagine how surprised we got when we came to the shop and told us this is what we are getting! A 2002 35th Anniversary Camaro Z28, CONVERTIBLE! The convertible top doesn’t work though, which was a bummer, but it’s still a Bitchin’ Camaro!
Tricked out with 17″ Standard Rims! Would have loved to be able to say that I was rolling on dubs but…
Elysian Park
Yesterday me and Sean went exploring. This time we went looking for Echo Park, but ended up in what later turned out to be Elysian Park, a huge park just 5 minutes drive from Downtown. As always in Los Angeles, you find the most unexpected things just around the corner. We were able to drive up a rather large hill, to catch a very nice view of Downtown, as seen in the background of the picture.
Cinco de Drinko at TBWA Chiat Day
Since it’s been a while since my last post, I should probably first of all announce that I’ve moved on to another job here in Los Angeles. I now work at TBWA\Chiat\Day. While you may or may not have heard of TBWA, you probably know their work. Among other things they are responsible for all Apple and all Absolut commercials. And with 12.000 employees in 258 TBWA offices worldwide, Chiat\Day is the biggest one. Needless to say I am very excited to start working for a company of this magnitude. And so far, it is really enjoyable.
God is in the details, like the saying goes. Details like having a Cinco de Mayo celebration with tequila and beer on a wednesday afternoon, and announcing it with Sombrero wearing chiuahuas declaring the day “Cinco de Drinko”. Stuff likes that really makes work endurable, you know!
Oh yeah, Sean dislocated his shoulder monday night by the way. That’s a tale for another time though, but the moral of that story is: Do not get sick in the US… Healthcare here is a joke.
The Human Party
On April 24 2010, my good friends in Los Angeles threw one of the most, in the true sense of the word, epic parties ever seen.
At The Couch.
Set on top of a mountain in the Hollywood Hills, this noble undertaking was nothing less than a farewell to the last public land in Los Angeles.
It was supposed to be a sleepover, but a police helicopter came and broke the party up. The helicopter came around a few times, with threats of sending police officers up the mountain to arrest us. Some brave souls called their bluff, and stayed until the helicopter ran out of fuel and had to pull out, but sadly most of us had already made our way down by then, and the party was over. Nevertheless, we had many hours of fun, and it will be something that won’t soon be forgotten.
Huge thanks to Max, Sarah and Sergio, and everyone else who made the party happen.
Click image for full size.