diary

Short Ends: A Very Brief Open Letter To Network Schedulers

mark · 01/18/05 07:41PM

· An anonymous source talks to MSNBC's Jeanette Walls about a hacker that's been reading Paris Hilton's e-mail.“She was pretty upset about it. It’s one thing to have people looking at your sex tapes, but having people reading your personal e-mails is a real invasion of privacy.” The whole doggystyling-in-nightvision thing obviously can't hold a candle to what she's been sharing over her Sidekick.
· Of all the fat, naked, gay, millionaires sitting in trees on highly-rated reality TV shows, the IRS chooses to pick on Richard Hatch. It's a conspiracy, I tells ya!
· From the acclaimed author of I Fucked Alec Baldwin in the Ass comes the potboiler sequel, Colin Farrell: A Dark, Twisted Puppy. Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times sez "Get yours now before the restaining order kicks in!"
· A Very Brief Open Letter To The Network Schedulers Who Insist On Fucking Up My TiVo'd Recordings By Adding A Minute To The Beginning Or End Of The Program: Fuck all of you, I will never buy any product advertised on your networks, whether or not I blast through the commercials during playback. You made me miss the last scene of Lost last week, and I'm not going to forget about it.

To Do: Pirates, Sloth, And Carrie Fisher

mark · 01/18/05 06:47PM

· Colin Meloy of The Decemberists performs at the intimate Hotel Café. An affection for songs about pirates is required for entry.
· Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein discusses the 10 Commandments of Slothdom as part of the ALOUD at Central Library program. We're pretty sure that at least one of those commandments mentions something about blogging. And if it doesn't, well, it should. Have you ever met one of those people?
· Carrie Fisher has left her Jedi slave bikini far behind. She reads from The Best Awful, her sequel to Postcards From the Edge, tonight at Dutton's Beverly Hills.

Short Ends: More Owen Wilson, Aniston Blog

mark · 01/14/05 08:31PM

·Natchiliagniaqtuguk Aapagalu and other movies from Sundance you're never going to pronounce correctly.
· Can't get enough of Owen Wilson Life Aquatic dick talk? Then the Datalounge has just the discussion thread for you.
· Even the make-up artist that J. Lo canned for leaking gossip cares about tsunami disaster relief.
· The Jennifer Aniston MySpace blog responds to our earlier link by pulling down "Jennifer Aniston's" statement about the break-up. That kind of authentic hissyfit totally makes us think the blog is real!

To Do: Your Weekend Pasttimes

mark · 01/14/05 06:56PM

Friday
· The Starbucks Hear Music Store at the Santa Monica Promenade hosts the CD release party for KCRW’s third Sounds Eclectic album. DJs Nic Harcourt, Gary Calamar, Tom Schnabel, Raul Campos, Anne Litt, Garth Trinidad and others will be there to prove that they are real people, not just tiny little people living in your car stereo.
· The LA Social Club is throwing a party for "LA's sexy professionals" at the Wyndham Bel Age. While that certainly disqualifies us from attending, we know that nearly every single one of our readers is a sexy, sexy bitch (sexy-bitchitude knows no gender). You sexy bitches you.
Saturday
· Love football, but not enough to watch it without making new contacts? Then the NFL Divisional Playoffs Party & Industry Mixer at Brasserie Les Voyous is for you.
· Arcade Fire start their first of 3 shows over 2 days, all of which are sold out, at the Troubadour. Good luck trying to find tickets. Surely some hipster is going to need rent money and will have to sacrifice seeing the AF's much-hyped live show.
Sunday
· It's your last chance to check out the LA Auto Show and get a sneak peek at the cars you'll one day be trapped in gridlock with.
· Oh, are the Golden Globes on? It totally slipped our mind. Maybe we'll be liveblogging them, maybe we won't. But one thing is certain: We will be as drunk as the crowd at the awards.

Advertiser Love Is Forever

mark · 01/14/05 04:41PM

Thanks to this week's advertisers, who never split up and destroy our faith in the sacrament of marriage. If you'd like to join the sexy cult of of Defamer advertisers, see our ad info page.

Heavy Petting With Our Advertisers

Jessica · 01/14/05 11:42AM

Thanks to this week's advertisers, without whom we'd be cold and lonely...oh, wait. Well, we're still thanking them! Interested in joining the sponsorship party? More info here.

To Do: Books, Books, And More Kaizer Chiefs

mark · 01/12/05 06:07PM

· "Stimulating and iconoclastic" cinema egghead David Thompson will speak about his new book The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood with Steve Wasserman, editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review at the LA Public Library on 5th Street.
· Two book events? Has our notoriously reading-averse municipality gone crazy? Paul Jasmin signs Lost Angeles at Book Soup.
· You'd think we're on the Kaiser Chiefs' payroll, but now we love them because a reader told us that they're named after a South African football (the soccer kind) squad. They're playing at Spaceland (and sponsored by KROQ, who are doing their darnedest to put the final nail in indie rocks' coffin.)

Short Ends: The People Vs. George Lucas

mark · 01/11/05 07:41PM

· People's Choice Awards attendee or Star Wars character?
· Enjoy this highly fictionalized, but still highly entertaining, account of a party at Asia Argento's old place in Venice. We always suspected she played the theremin.
· We know that brother blog Gizmodo only jokingly refers to these pics of the brand-spanking-new Mac mini and iPod Shuffle as "porn," but we still can't shake the feeling people are touching themselves while browsing through them.
· Federline...a new scent by Britney Spears.
· Looking to pick up a nightclub on the way home from work? If you've got a million bucks in your Escalade, you can (probably) have Ivar.

To Do: Kaiser Chiefs, Magical Strippers, DIY Film School

mark · 01/11/05 07:37PM

· Kaiser Chiefs perform their first stateside show at Cinespace tonight, for those who one day want to tell their kids that they were there, man.
· There magic shows, and then there are magic shows performed at legendary, seedy Hollywood strip clubs like Jumbo’s Clown Room. Let lesser sleight-of-hand artists have their Magic Castle.
· Who needs to waste money at USC when you’ve got events like these around town: Producer/director/screenwriter Paul Weitz discusses In Good Company: The Shooting Script at the Borders in Westwood, while editor Walter Murch and author Charles Koppelman discuss Koppelman’s book Behind the Seen: How Walter Murch Edited Cold Mountain
Using Apple’s Final Cut Pro and What This Means for Cinema
at Book Soup. [second and third listings]

To Do: Pumpkin, Apple, Galifianakis

mark · 01/10/05 06:49PM

· Hyped (not totally unearned, either) band The Futureheads will do a free in-store show at at Amoeba Records. As always, arrive early if you want to watch the band from the coveted vinyl section. The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, featuring the ex-Smashing Pumpkins drummer (arguably only the second- or third-most dysfunctional member of that band, despite the heroin habit), does their thing at the Knitting Factory.
· For Golden Apple lovers: Gerard Jones presents and signs Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book at Book Soup. For those who'd drink a can of Castroil before giving up their hybrid: Actor/environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. lectures the green about “Living Simply So That Others May Simply Live,” at the Studio City Branch Library.
· The last time we saw Zach Galifianakis, he was wearing a Lil' Orphan Annie outfit at M bar, but tonight he performs at Largo. (You can only cross your fingers for the Annie get-up.) He's so funny that we very nearly forgive him for his stint on Tru Calling.

Short Ends: The Adidas Zissou, White Whale Of Footwear

mark · 01/07/05 07:01PM

· Defamer's white whale, the semifictional Adidas Zissou sneaker from The Life Aquatic, is still not for sale. We will have them! [via witz.org]
· Even Palestinians who've never heard of Richard Gere wish he'd shut the f up.
· It's a miracle that it's taken this long for a viewer to sue Fear Factor. Apparently, rats in a blender is the official threshold for litigation.
· Colin Farrell: Sex with hookers is like ordering a pizza. We don't even want to know what he's into, but the phrase "extra anchovies" is suddenly chilling.

To Do: Your Soggy Weekend

mark · 01/07/05 05:57PM

Friday
· They say time travel doesn't exist, but if not, explain this: Sir Mix-A-Lot with Young MC at Vault 350 in Long Beach. Bust a move, yo.
· LA Remixed is a video remix of the Natural History Museum’s LA: Light/Motion/Dreams exhibit, featuring DJ David J (Love and Rockets, Bauhaus), Languis and others. Moves may also be busted here.
Saturday
· Shaun of the Dead stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost will be at the Borders in Westwood to sign copies of their modern classic of undead cinema. Zombies: still hot in 2005.
· From BA to LA at the Track 16 Gallery features displays from Argentine artists, including one with a portrait of Britney Spears composed of supermarket price tags. That's exactly the kind of art we can get behind.
Sunday
· Mink Stole interviews actress Linda Blair (you all remember the spinning head in The Exorcist) about her career at Inside the Akbar Studio. The obligatory audience Q & A to follow.

Advertiser Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'

mark · 01/07/05 02:30PM

We pause for a moment to contemplate the contributions of this week's sponsors, who would certainly arrange a telethon for us should these torrential rains wash away our home. If you'd like to advertise on Defamer and be a part of the blogging "revolution," see our ad info page.

Bill Gates Thinks Blogging Is 'Super-Important'

Jessica · 01/07/05 01:17PM

How our nerdy brother over at Gizmodo ever managed to score a sit-down with Microsoft BeastLord Bill Gates is beyond us, but we sure are damn proud of him. We wish we could do that sort of thing, but we're too busy sneaking out of class, smoking pot by the train tracks, and watching reruns of Dawson's Creek. Anyhow, Gizmodo even asked REAL questions and WROTE DOWN what Gates said in response! Totally professional reportage. We're beaming.
G-Money And Me: Bill Gates Interview [Gizmodo]

Advertiser High Five

Jessica · 01/07/05 12:40PM

Special thanks to this week's advertisers, whose support helped us pay for our New Year's eve Pimps-n-Hos party. Interested in our sponsorship sorority? More info here.