The torch may have been extinguished, but before the post-Olympic hangover really kicks in, I’d like to share a few of my favorite memories from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. You won’t find anything on this list about NBC’s atrocious coverage (though NPR has a great article). Al Michaels’s daytime drinking might have been a fun diversion, but Costas’s constant head movement and witticisms grew old very quickly. You also won’t find anything here about choke artist John Shuster and his despicable performance for USA Curling. And I certainly have nothing good to say about Ice Dancing. No activity that involves twizzles should be an Olympic sport. While there might have been those few lows, overall the games were incredibly enjoyable – and successful for Team USA. Here are the moments I will remember most:

Hannah Kearney Gets Team USA Going
The first gold medal for the USA came in the Women’s Freestyle Moguls on the first full day of competition. Canada’s Jennifer Heil had laid down a killer run and everyone was thinking Canada might break their home gold drought on day one. But along came Hannah Kearney who threw down an absolutely perfect run and took the gold away with ease. Canada only had to wait one day for Alex Bioldeau to win the men’s turn down the bumps. They went on to win 14 golds on their home soil, topping the gold chart with 4 more than their closest competitor.

Sven “Drama” Kramer
Say it so it rhymes. I was truly touched when Dutch speed skating star Sven Kramer jumped into the crowd after winning the 5000m and hugged his family. Then a few days later, Kramer made headlines again when he asked NBC’s Andrea Kremer if she was stupid for not knowing who he was (video here). But the icing on the cake was in the 10,000m (Kramer’s best event). While setting a time that would assure him the gold, Kramer made an illegal lane change on the insistence of his coach and was DQ’ed! The worst part is that Kramer knew it was wrong but made the move anyway. Kramer came back and won a Bronze with Holland in the Team Pursuit a few days later.

The Glory of Curling
Anyone who has watched much of the games with me knows how bitten by the curling bug I have become (especially when it comes to Brit-Skip Eve Muirhead). I had heard it was a great game but really had no idea just how complex and exciting it is. It is often dubbed “chess on ice” because of all the strategy that goes into planning your shots out many throws in advance. But the huge element necessary in curling but not in chess is execution. After you figure out what you want to do, you still gotta be able to do it. I had a whole lot of fun watching and am hoping it starts to get some more non-Olympic TV coverage… especially the women’s UK team.

Canada Has Trouble Making Ice
One of the funniest moments came a few days in when speed skating was delayed because of problems with the surface of the ice. Three ice surfacing machines (notably not name brand Zambonis) malfunctioned at the Richmond Oval and it took “chief ice maker” Mark Messer over an hour to get it right. And here I thought it was Canada that invented ice.

Shaun White Simply Dominates
Love him or hate him, the guy is truly amazing. The first run White threw down was good enough to win him the gold (hell his prelim run was probably good enough) – but he still came back and laid down the sickest half pipe run ever seen in competition. There really isn’t anyone who can even get close to what he is doing.

Cross Country Wipeout Medalist
During a prelim run in the women’s Individual Sprint race, Slovenian cross-country skier Petra Majdic took a really nasty tumble into a gully. During the coverage, the NBC team showed the crash over and over again, deriding the fact that she was given a delayed start time. She went on to complete all three 1.4km heats and win the bronze medal. After the race, it was revealed she had broken four ribs and suffered a collapsed lung. Just imagine breaking four ribs and suffering a collapsed lung and then running 3 miles at medal pace!

Big Face and Funny Hat
Sticking with cross country, a quick word has to be said for NBC’s wonderful Nordic commentary team of Big Face and his pal Funny Hat (aka Al Trautwig and Chad Samelka). Al has an incredible voice which you can hear in the video above (you also might remember him as NBC’s gymnastics announcer) and Chad is surely quite knowledgeable – but more importantly… look at those guys! Al’s face in enormous! Just compare him to Chad. And those mitts! He looks like he is going to strangle that poor microphone. And come on Chad… just what is the deal with that hat?

Kim Yu-Na!
Incredible. While her free skate was glorious, it was Kim Yu-Na’s short program that won her both the gold medal and the hearts of millions around the world. Women’s figure skating is always one of the main things to be remembered from the winter games and Kim Yu-Na’s performance was simply one of the best ever.

USA’s Hockey Run
The only undefeated team coming into the final, Team USA hadn’t even trailed by a point in the tournament. As we all know, that ended 12 minutes into the final versus Canada (after defeating them in prelims). But for USA fans, it is hard to say there was any moment in the Olympics more exciting than when Zach Parise buried a goal with 24 seconds remaining in regulation to even the score at 2-2 and force Canada to a sudden death overtime. It may have ended up being Canada’s night, but really who can complain about that performance? It is almost worth it to lose and not have to feel bad about how devastated Canada would have been. Almost.

37!
What an Olympics! The USA jumped out to an early lead in the medal count on day one and never relinquished that lead. That is an incredible achievement and the first time since 1932 we have won the overall count. We also set a record for most medals ever won by anyone! Congratulations Team USA. What a fantastic showing!

One of my faves from this year’s Sundance was the street art docu Exit Through the Gift Shop. I pondered in my Twitch review the validity of some of the factual aspects of the film. The film’s premier this week at the Berlin Film Fest finds both IndieWire’s Eugene Hernandez and the NY Times’ Manohla Dargis also pondering the same thing. While I think Dargis is off the mark in suggesting that Banksy and Thierry Guetta (aka Mr. Brainwash) might be one and the same – there is no doubt that some elements comprise more than meets the narrative eye.

…Or maybe not. Maybe every piece of the story is exactly how it is portrayed in the doc. Is it really so hard to believe that Banksy took over the editing duties from the schizotron Guetta and was able to put together this fascinating piece of documentation? Maybe it is simply hard for us to believe that someone as subversive as Banksy would do anything that straight forward. How can we trust a man who won’t even show his face?

Regardless, the real story here is how successful the film is at documenting the movement. Just imagine if cameras were rolling when Cézanne and Pissarro were first experimenting together with impressionist landscapes – or when Duchamp and Man Ray were questioning art’s very definitions. Exit Through the Gift Shop gives us exactly this look at the rise of street art – even if Guetta’s/Banksy’s lens is a bit greased up.

No Huffington Post contributor Steven Nereo didn’t write it for this blog, but he pretty much nailed the assignment anyway.

My Los Angeles has nothing to do with the botox playground of shallow bluetooth-headset-clad knobs. Of course it is sometimes fun to joke about this element, but a weird aside is all that is in my Los Angeles. What people often fail to realize is that Los Angeles isn’t in your face like tighter cities so everything is an effort. If you don’t like the Beverly Center, skip it… forever. Don’t make the effort. You won’t miss it and it definitely won’t miss you.

The right choices include great friends and great people. Oceans to surf in and mountains to bike. It’s drunken taco trucks adventures at 2 a.m. and hungover ones at 2 p.m. The city that everyone loves to hate also happens to also be a city that loves to be loved, and loves you back like a three movie cuddle-fest with a rad person.

Amen brother!

Link

Thx Greg.

Musician John Boswell has come up with an incredible project he calls The Symphony of Science. He remixes and auto-tunes scientific greats rapping about the universe and what results is truly as fantastic as the subjects they discuss. The songs are so great the Jack White has even released the single on 7 inch. Both the track above and the second track are available to download from the SoS site. Can’t wait for more.

Thx Derbs for the knowledge.

I’m happy to present a continuation of the MyLA series with this guest post by SoCal native George Velasco. George has since moved on to the cloudier confines of the east coast (currently DC) but has been kind enough to give us his take on the city of angels.

My LA is omelets after midnight at Mel’s diner after a show at The Palace. My LA is fried chicken and waffles at 3am at Roscoe’s. My LA is meeting friends for a Lakers game at Staples Center, sitting in the last row loving every minute of it. My LA is wearing Jordan Farmar’s Laker jersey and not getting made fun of. My LA is ice cream and cookies at Diddy Reese. My LA is drinking Tecate on a friend’s balcony in Los Feliz. My LA is a late night kiss on the Santa Monica Pier . My LA is Saturdays at the Rose Bowl. My LA is UCLA basketball. My LA is short skirts. My LA is smoking cigars while watching the sunset on Venice Beach. My LA is seeing punk rock shows at the Roxy. My LA is the Town House bar in the 90291. My LA is tattoos on Ocean Front Walk. My LA is the guy holding the 99 cent pizza sign on the Venice boardwalk. My LA is the paintings of Brian Mylius. My LA is a can of Colt 45 at Stinkers and a tumbler of Basil Hayden’s at 4100. My LA is a mexican restaurant in Silver Lake. My LA is a rendezvous at the poolside bar at the Roosevelt Hotel. My LA is free parking in Beverly Hills. My LA is shy models at The Coffee Bean. My LA is Dodgerdogs at Dodger Stadium. My LA is t-bone steaks at Norm’s at any hour of the day. My LA is Cabernet Sauvignon with an intriguing stranger. My LA is wearing sunglasses inside a restaurant. My LA is wearing your sweatshirt hood up. My LA is driving a 1980′s convertible down Sunset Blvd while listening to The Doors. My LA is the view from the Getty Center. My LA is USC sorority girls with a sense of humor. My LA is presetting your car stereo to KROQ, KXLU, KLAC, and KCRW. My LA is Henry Waxman. My LA is Larry Flynt. My LA is art. My LA is love. My LA is family. My LA is home. My LA is better looking than Boston.

Feed yer brain. Henry Jenkins is the co-dir of MIT’s Comparative Media Studies program and leader in field of Transmedia Stroytelling. There is some overlap here with some of the subjects touched on by Clay Shirky in his book Here Comes Everybody. I find myself fascinated by books and media that explore this forefront of the changing media and information landscape. Let me know if you have read/seen/x-casted anything lately that addresses this sort of thing.

Good find Seth.

Check out this interesting CNN Article regarding the role Michelle Obama plays for women around the world.

“She could be a new face for India,” says Ferreira, program officer for an HIV-prevention program run by World Vision, an international humanitarian group. “She shows women that it’s OK to have dark skin and to not have a son. She’s quite real to us.”

Link

MyLA is purple and gold. It’s the city that outsiders love to hate and the city I love to love. MyLA is energy and sunshine. MyLA is only swimming east of the pier. MyLA is equal love for the north, south, east and west. MyLA is KCRW on the road. It’s stopping in at the Stussy Store, visiting my brother on the west side and refreshing my soul on the east side. MyLA is caring about the city. MyLa is my friends and family. MyLA is waking up on Saturday mornings and playing soccer. MyLA is my photography students at North Hollywood High School. MyLA is thrift stores and sushi. MyLA is caring about the Kings, Dodgers, Lakers, Galaxy and Sol. It’s going to the Melrose Trading Post and sharing wine with my parents at Oliva. MyLA is the VALLEY. My La is making sure that transplants spend time everywhere. MyLA is getting off the 10 fwy at Vermont and driving north to remember the LA everyone seems to forget. MyLA is Northridge. My La is the Irish spot. MyLA is urban hiking through downtown’s art’s district. MyLA is working random jobs, meeting random people and saying hello and thank you. MyLA is highschool. MyLA is eating at shady restaurants and loving them. MyLA is transit. My La is going public whenever it makes sense. MyLA is black gold from GroundWorks. MyLA is 15 people deep on a balcony, drinking, eating and chilling. MyLA is bbq’s in the ridge to the north. MyLA is the summer. My La is born. MyLA is raised.

MyLA is a feature I’d like to start for the people who call LA home to say a few things about what this town means to them. This can be whatever makes sense to you. What makes it your LA? Please let me know if you’d like contribute your piece to the MyLA project.

My LA is my morning cup of Zen Blend from Nature Mart on my balcony. My LA is a pen, a notepad, and a large drip coffee at Silverlake Coffee or Psychobabble or maybe Sabor y Cultura. My LA is Griffith Park – from hiking up into the hills to shagging balls at the driving range with a tall can to shooting on a goal made from a trash bin and a tree. MyLA is eating on Hillhurst. Brunch at Mustard Seed, lunch at Alcove, dinner at Green Leaves. My LA is flicks at the Vista, Los Feliz 3, or Arclight. My LA is frozen veggies, tandoori naan and 2 buck chuck from the Trader Joe’s around the corner. My LA is Sapphire & tonic at 4100, Tecate at Cha Cha or $1 tequila shots at The Gold Room if I’m really looking to tie one on. My LA is racing to Mt. High for 5pm-10pm night boarding (only $30). MyLA is a fun-filled afternoon at the track, seriously one of the most enjoyable (and surprisingly inexpensive) ways to spend a day …especially a work day. My LA is watching soccer on Saturdays and Sundays and probably Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (but only sometimes Mondays and Fridays). My LA is shows at Spaceland, The Echo(+plex), and The Greek. My LA is shopping at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market and then cooking a fresh Sunday dinner with my LA fam. But more than anything else, my LA is the view from my balcony as the sun sets over the city I call home.

Yeah that link doesn’t work. I just saved you the pain of sitting through the “preview” for the new MTV “reality” series “The City” which I had the fortune of taking a peek at today. Go ahead, watch it here. A few questions:
- When did MTV Reality become like WWF in the 80s where they relied on fooling the audience into thinking what they were watching was real?

- How much do people get paid to be actors/reality stars on this show?

- What in the world is going on at MTV?

Now that the election is over (congrats, congrats, yes), we can finally get a break from all the emails from MoveOn and the DNC and the Obama campaign asking us for money… right? no? Well at least they have some cool stuff to offer.

MoveOn is offering the above Shepard Fairey print commemorating both the election and the incredibly successful image – for a $20 donation.

Even cooler, they are giving a sticker of the same print away for free!

And the Obama campaign is giving away the Obama Biden T-shirt for $30, though I’m afraid the design seems a little crowded and uninspired. I wonder if the campaign will continue to colelct money into the beginning of the presidency. Obama 2012!!

BTW – I ordered a poster.

The Shepard Fairey designed Obama is quickly becoming the iconic image of this election (posted here back in Feb). It is definitely all over LA and I am guessing most of Obama country. A local hair salon was rocking an image along these lines and I had to do my best to reproduce it. Add mine to the growing collection of rips/mods (let’s just call it a mash up for buzz sake).

This great video on Obama’s true love – Basketball – is also available on HBO OnDemand (if you have such thing and prefer to watch on yer tube).

All this weekend from noon to 11pm there is a big anti-war festival happening at The Firehouse (map ) downtown.

LA vs WAR highlights the travesty of a senseless war now going into its 6th year, giving LA artists a platform to exercise their freedom of speech. Hundreds of artists representing our diverse communities unite in delivering a universal message of peace and understanding, and offering resistance and opposition to the US government’s war policies.

With print and graffiti exhibitions, live djs, film events, and plenty of anti-war info – this should be a pretty positive and interesting event.

Link

Hillary4U&Me

There is a horrible new trend happening all around us of amateur videographers making grotesque campaign videos to show their support for their candidates. I can’t imagine these are sanctioned by the candidates… unless they are really struggling in the press oversight department. Hillary’s is especially horrendous and absolutely serious.

There are a ton out there for Obama as well – this one is particularly bad. Man I hate iPhoto-esque slideshows set to music. How many transitions can you come up with?

Continue to more bad videos

There is a pretty hilarious front page piece in this week’s The Onion entitled, “Black Guy Asks Nation For Change.”

According to witnesses, a loud black man approached a crowd of some 4,000 strangers in downtown Chicago Tuesday and made repeated demands for change.

It is estimated that, to date, the black man has asked every single person in the United States for change.

“I’ve already seen this guy four times today,” Chicago-area ad salesman Blake Gordon said. “Every time, it’s the same exact spiel. ‘I need change.’ ‘I want change.’ Why’s he so eager for all this change? What’s he going to do with it, anyway?”

Those who encountered the black man Tuesday said he engaged in erratic behavior, including pointing at random people in the crowd and desperately saying he needs their help, going up to complete strangers and hugging them, and angrily claiming that he is not looking for just a little bit of change, but rather a great deal of change, and that he wants it “right now.”

Is anyone offended by this? Of course it is satire – but even so is anyone out there a bit offended by the racial issues?

…I’m not. But why would I be? The real humor is that I actually do get an email prety much every day from the Obama campaign asking for money.

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In other Obama news, Barack has announced that he will have an intimate dinner with 4 lucky donors selected at random from people who donate between now and Mar 31. Interesting idea – win a dinner with Obama. It does not seem to be evident where the dinner will take place and I can only assume winner will be responsible for getting to the location (odds on it is Pennsylvania). Anyone think he might see some backlash for this kind of move?

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Finally – both Arianna Huffington and Bob Scheer had some really great things to say on last week’s episode of Left, Right and Center (radio) about Obama taking the higher ground and winning! This is in response to last week’s amazing “A More Perfect Union” speech addressing race (which everyone has already watched, right?). This week’s episode has a lot of the guest host annoyingly arguing with Tony, but to hear the two progressive voices very very happy with Obama and the nation’s reaction is quite heartening. Time to build some MOMENTUM!!

I’ve been spreadin the love over SNL since they came back from the strike a few weeks back. I’m happy to say that after an off week last week with Amy Adams (maybe not her fault) they were back with guns firing this week with Jonah Hill. I’m definitely not saying that every sketch is a hit – but this is the zeit poppin off and there are some definite winners. Above is the clip from this week’s Weekend Update where Tracy Morgan takes a shot at Tina Fey’s pro Clinton mono from a few weeks back. Booosh.

Here are a few links to this week’s SNL. Check out the DigiShort and my other fave this week, the Country Music Commercial – Rocket Ships, Model-T Cars, Toddlers, and Jars of Beer.

…Notice that last one wasn’t a link. That is because NBC has been on the DMCA takedown warpath – pulling all their clips from YouTube. WTF!? Sure they might be losing some ad dollars from their nbc.com site – but they don’t seem to be getting the fact that it is allowing people like me to email these clips around that gets twice as many people to tune in NEXT WEEK. The buzz around SNL 3 weeks ago (after Huckabee) was nutty – the next week they KILLED it with Clinton. But not allowing their clips online and not putting all the clips on their site is just backwards backwater bullshit thinking. Booooo.