At Last, My List

BEST FILMS OF 2005

1. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg), U.S./Canada
2. The Beat That My Heart Skipped (Jacques Audiard), France
(tie) Kings and Queen (Arnaud Desplechin), France
(tie) Look at Me (Agnes Jaoui), France
5 King Kong (Peter Jackson), New Zealand/U.S.
6. Me and You and Everyone We Know (Miranda July), U.S.
7. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee) U.S./Taiwan
8. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (Judd Apatow), U.S.
9. Match Point (Woody Allen), U.S.
(tie) Melinda and Melinda (Woody Allen), U.S.
11. Capote (Bennett Miller), U.S.
12. Yes (Sally Potter), U.K.

runners-up: 2046, Munich, Junebug, Crash, Murderball, The Constant Gardener, Grizzly Man, Walk the Line, and so much more. It was a good year for film.

Good Buy Indie Stores

I feel guilty about the recent closing of two local indie record stores (Aron's on Highland and Santa Monica, and Rhino Records on Westwood Blvd.) Both stores were total landmarks for collectors of rare, hard-to-find music and lovers of indie rock and electronica. Apparently, they had been losing business over the years to stores such as Best Buy, Circuit City, Virgin Mega Store and most recently to the independent, but gigantic Ameoba Records. I remember that before any of the above-mentioned culprid stores started selling music or were in business, I used to go to Aron's and Rhino to find the stuff I liked that no one else carried. Aron's and Rhino Records and apparently other such stores around the country have also fallen victim to the downloading of music on the internet. People can now buy songs on I-Tunes for 99 cents, not bothering to buy a whole album! Will albums, a collection of songs put together by an artist, someday become obsolete? I am a proud collector of music! Records. Compact discs. Even tapes. I am planning on getting an I-Pod soon (everybody has one!) to be able to put my collection in it and take my music with me wherever I go. However, I will never let it replace the pleasure I get from collecting music and from playing a record or disc.

Myspace vs. Friendster

For the last month or so I have become somewhat addicted with Myspace.com. I've been a member of this site since it came out during the era when Friendster was really hot, back in 2003. However, I never really bothered to visit the site that regularly. I was and still am a Friendster loyalist, but I find that not many of my friends go on it too often anymore. Or at all. And if you have a cheap-ass, slow computer like what I use at home, you will see that Myspace loads up a lot quicker than Friendster. My one complaint with Myspace is that it appeals to really young people. There's a lot of teenagers on it! I tried looking up a friend, whom I was sure was on the site and instead found a 13 year-old with the same first and last names!
Anyhow, I won't leave Friendster, but if you want to check out my profile on Myspace, my screenname is RV3. What else?!?

Who Goes Out on a Tuesday Night?

My dear old friend Walter is in town for a few days from the east coast and I got a chance to see him last Tuesday night. He came by after 10 p.m., which was already past my schoolnight bedtime. Since I don't get to see him much, I decided I could sacrifice some sleeping time. First we went to the Edendale Grill, where we both had a cocktail in the restaurant's patio, under a heat lamp, surrounded by a more sophisticated, subdued crowd. We found a chance to chat and catch up on things we've both been up to. After some 30 minutes, we decide we wanted a second drink, but chose to go somewhere different, and somewhere more... hmm...gay! Instead of the usual Akbar, where we always end up, I suggested MJ's on Hyperion Avenue, next to the Trader Joe's. Walter, a native Angeleno who's lived in the east coast for almost 10 years, had never heard of it. I told him, "It's where Woody's used to be." When we walked in there, we were shocked to find a huge crowd, a $6 cover at the door, and a dozen almost-naked go-go boys gyrating everywhere in the bar. The d.j. was playing everything from Madonna to Kanye West to The Pussy Cat Girls. The men were hot, everywhere you looked. It was fun, but it was almost too much. Walter and I laughed the whole time. This whole scene felt more like West Hollywood on a Friday night, or some tacky bar in Chelsea or something...
After 30 minutes, we decided we had had our fun, and had had enough. Walter was sweet enough to remind me that I needed to get up early the next morning. We both reminisced about earlier times in our younger years when we were able to party and go out nightly. Get drunk. Dance all night. Hook up. Go to work or school the next morning. "Not anymore!" we both agreed.

The Party Girl in All of Us

I hope everyone was able to have an enjoyable 3-day weekend (thank you MLK). Even though I just returned to work last week after the long winter break, I was happy to have an extra day off to decompress and relax before truly getting back in the swing of things at work and with other projects... Watch out 2006!

This weekend's activities included: celebrating Jack's birthday on Friday with friends from work by "Happy Hour" hopping; going to the flower mart with Joanne and running into Kathy, Serene and Anna at The Brite Spot; and getting together with Wendy for cocktails on Sunday night. However, I must say that the highlight of the weekend for me was having my friends Oscar and Jerry over for a game of Scrabble and Gin Rummy and ending up watching one of my favorite movies ever, "Party Girl," on DVD.

I own "Party Girl" on DVD and VHS and along with "Grease" I think I have watched this film at least 3 dozen times. Daisy Von Scherler Mayer's "Party Girl" came out in 1995 and stablished its star, Parker Posey, as the "It Girl" and poster child of indie film at the time. The film follows Mary, a downtown Manhattanite torn by her life as a fashion obsessed nightclubber and her budding career as a library clerk. By the end of the film Mary becomes a responsible adult without having to compromise her true self. I guess this film spoke to me at the time and still speaks to me.
Old friends can attest to the many times I watched this film with them. Sometimes, we'd put it on as we sipped Gin or Vodka Tonics and got ready to go out and party, just like Mary.
It was hilarious to see how familiar Oscar and Jerry were with the film as well. They knew the perfect time when their favorite lines were about to come. "I"m tired of your reverse snobbery..."
"They watch movies, they watch television, they watch movies ON the television..." This film is a classic for certain members of our generation, I guess. And I can't wait to see it again!

Mi Casa

It is official! I have now been living at my house on North Alvarado Street for 10 years. I remember moving in here in mid-January of 1996 with 4 other friends and thinking, "I'll probably be here for a couple of years..." Though at times I have thought about moving elsewhere, and even came close to finding other possibly good places, I feel that this house is too much of a good deal to pass on. We have four bedrooms, 2 living rooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, the roof area and the backyard... And then there is our magnificent view, always radiant at dusk.
Though I have had the same two roommates for the last six or seven years, in the past ten this house has sheltered: 11 tenants/roommates, 2 dogs, 6 cats, and many many visitors. Visitors that stayed for long weekends, invited and uninvited guests (ferral cats, racoons, birds, drag queens, passed-out partyers, lovers, etc.) This house, I feel, has always provided me with a strong sense of stability. I have a good rapport with my landlord, whom I know appreciates me as a tenant. Like most adults, I eventually would love to buy a house, but as long as I am a renter I feel comfortable in my place.