WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2006

Jamie Morris : Dodgers vs. Reds : Niki, Jamie, Sada, and Matt wearing Dodger Blue
Niki, Jamie, Sada, and Matt wearing Dodger Blue
Dodgers vs. Reds

I went to the Dodgers game tonight thanks to some free tickets from Paramount. The seats were great... loge seats near first base. It turned out to be a really good game. I can't remember the last time I went to a Dodgers game and actually saw them win. Gred Maddux pitched for the Dodgers which was kinda funny because the only other baseball game I went to this year was a Cubs/White Sox game in Chicago where Maddux was pitching for the Cubs. This was Maddux's 330th win which moved him into 10th place for all-time wins above Steve Carlton. He also got a hit which drove in the Dodgers first run of the game. The Dodgers ended up winning 7-3 thanks to the Dodgers three homeruns in the eighth inning.

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2006

World Music Shows

I saw two world music concerts this past week. The first was a free concert on the Santa Monica Pier featuring Kiran Ahluwalia. Kiran is a folk singer from India who now resides in Canada. She writes and sings a style of Indian folk music that originated in the 10th century and also does traditional Punjabi folk songs. Pretty interesting stuff.

On Sunday night I went to the KCRW World Music Series show at the Hollywood Bowl featuring Gotan Project, Zero 7 featuring Jose Gonzalez and Sia, and Herbert. The show was very sold out. I had to buy tickets from someone on craigslist. I had never heard The Gotan Project before I saw this show. They were really good. They mix Argentinean tango music with European electronica. Go to their website and listen.

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MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 2006

The Electric Car (and Superman)

I haven't done anything too exciting this past week. This weekend was the opening weekend for English Premier League soccer so I spent a lot of time watching the games. Manchester United beat Fulham 5-1 in their opener. I did see a couple of movies this past week. The first was Superman Returns which I enjoyed very much (but not as much as the originals). There were a few parts in the movie that didn't make a lot of sense, but it was good enough to keep me entertained for two and half hours. I'm looking forward to the Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut DVD that comes out in November.

The other film I saw was Who Killed The Electric Car?. First of all, let's answer that question. According to the movie, there are several parties responsible: the oil companies, the automobile companies, the government, the california air resource board, the hydrogen fuel cell, and the consumer. I don't completely agree with this. I think the answer is the automobile companies. There was demand for the cars, and they chose not to produce them. It's as simple as that in my opinion. The movie itself was interesting. I learned a few things. But it's one of those movies that just make you angry at the end... much like An Inconvenient Truth or a Michael Moore film. I personally don't subscribe to the fact that electric cars are the solution to our transportation problems. I have two issues with them. First, here in Los Angeles this summer we saw what happens when a few people turn on their air conditioners - we get blackouts, transformers blowing up, and the increasing cost of electricity. What's going to happen if all the millions of people here in southern California plug in their electric cars? I don't think our electric system can handle it. Second, most of our electricity is produced by coal - a resource that is limited and pollutes the air - just like oil. The film's website sorta addresses these issues but I'm not convinced. While I think that electric and hybrid cars are MUCH, MUCH, MUCH BETTER than gas cars and I think anyone who buys a gas car these days SHOULD BE SHOT, I really think the best thing that we can do to solve the many problems caused by cars is to invest in better public transportation systems in the major cities of this country. If you could get a significant amount of people in the big cities to use public transportation, it would cut down the pollution and lower the cost of gas for people who live in areas that don't have public transportation systems. Some of the filmakers were at the screening which was cool. Check out PlugInAmerica.com to learn more about electric cars and how to take action. If you're thinking about buying a new car, DON'T. Instead, call Toyota and tell them you won't buy a car until they come out with a plug-in hybrid which is basically a hybrid gas/electric car that you can plug-in and charge. So you use even less gas!

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 13, 2006

Jamie Morris : Wicked Good Theater and Wicked Bad Art : Which Witch is the Wickedest?
Which Witch is the Wickedest?
Wicked Good Theater and Wicked Bad Art

I had quite an artsy weekend. Tonight, I went to see the musical Wicked at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. It's a musical based on the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. It's basically a prequel to the Wizard Of Oz giving you a little background on the witches. It's a very good book and an even better musical. I highly recommend it and would probably go see it again.

Yesterday, I went to a wicked bad art museum here in Los Angeles called MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art). Normally I like at least some pieces that I see in art museums, but I could not find one thing in this one worth looking at. Put me in the city dump with a box of crayons for a couple of hours and I could have created anything found in this gallery. Maybe it's worth going if there's a good exhibition, but I feel like they should give me my $8 back for this one.

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2006

Jamie Morris : First Time Season Ticket Holder : Jamie Sitting on the Kings Bench
Jamie Sitting on the Kings Bench
First Time Season Ticket Holder

Tonight, Dave and I went over to the Staples Center for the LA Kings Select-A-Seat night. We got a pair of season tickets in Section 106 behind the goal, nine rows from the ice. They are pretty nice seats and are fairly reasonably priced... $53.50/ticket per game. Plus you get all sorts of other benefits including tickets to their two pre-season games in August. There are 43 regular season home games. Hopefully I'll be able to go to most of them. Tonight they also let us tour the Kings locker room, the Chairman's Room, and the Kings bench while letting us wander around the Staples Center trying out different seats.

Oh - and this morning I had a champagne brunch at Paramount with Brad Grey and Oliver Stone. They wanted to thank me for all my hard work on the World Trade Center movie. That was pretty nice of them.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 06, 2006

Jamie Morris : Barca Doubleheader : Chivas Fans Brought Flares
Chivas Fans Brought Flares
Barca Doubleheader

Today I joined 92,650 people at the LA Coliseum for a soccer doubleheader that set the record for the largest crowd at a club match in the United States. There were two matches: An MLS League match between Chivas USA and New England Revolution and an international friendly between Barcelona and Chivas de Guadalajara. Both matches ended in 1-1 ties. The highlight of the day came in the second half of the Barca match when Ronaldinho, a Brazilian who is considered the best player in the world, came out and played for 45 minutes. He was fun to watch and assisted on Eidur Gudjohnsen's goal. Although, both goals in the second game appeared to be offsides. Here are a few pics.

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 05, 2006

Jamie Morris : Pee-wee, Ricky Bobby, and Otis :
"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer!"
Pee-wee, Ricky Bobby, and Otis

I saw three movies this weekend. The first was Paramount's new animated film Barnyard. It was cute and funny, but I ended up walking out about halfway through. It didn't have the "adult" jokes that movies like Shrek and Cars had, and I lost interest. I'm sure the kids probably liked it though. So... I went to see Talladega Nights, Will Ferrell's new NASCAR movie. The theater was packed and it was really funny. There were some NASCAR folks in the movie... Dale Earnardt Jr, Jamie McMurray, Darrel Waltrip, and a few others. I wonder if they knew they were going to be in a movie making fun of NASCAR? hehehe. On Saturday night, I went to the cemetery and saw Pee-wee's Big Adventure which is such a great movie. Pee-wee himself (Paul Reubens) even showed up and brought with him practically the entire cast for a reunion. It was quite a funny sight.

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 02, 2006

Jamie Morris : The Dresden Dolls @ The Wiltern : Phonecam Pic of Dresden Dolls
Phonecam Pic of Dresden Dolls
The Dresden Dolls @ The Wiltern

I went over to the Wiltern tonight to see the Dresden Dolls who were opening for Panic At The Disco. One good thing about going to shows at the Wiltern is that there is always good korean food nearby. The first band was a group called The Hush Sound who weren't that bad. Panic At The Disco joined them for a couple songs, and for some reason Panic's security guard kept coming onstage and doing annoying things like taking their instruments. At one point he walked on stage, stood in front of each band member and took pictures of them, then stole the singer's mic and walked backstage and repeatedly said "Shut Up" on the mic. The Dresden Dolls were amazing. If you don't know them, they are often described as a punk-rock cabaret band. There are two band members - singer/pianist Amanda Palmer and drummer Brian Viglione. That's right... no guitars, no bass. Just piano and drums, but they rock. Since they were not the headliners, they only played about 8 songs tonight including three songs from their new album Yes, Virginia (Sex Changes, Backstabber, and Dirty Business), one song from their first album (Coin-Operated Boy), and three covers! The first cover was Britney Spears' Hit Me Baby One More Time featuring the singer from Panic At The Disco, then came Black Sabbath's War Pigs which totally rocked on piano, and David Bowie's Port Of Amsterdam.

Even though Panic! At The Disco looked like they were having fun when they joined both opening bands onstage, I decided to leave before they came on. The reason is that I thought their horrible, formulaic, painful, cookie-cutter, teenybopper emo-pop crap music might make me physically ill. I read the review in the LA Times that said they had a pretty good stage show, even though they suck as musicians. I think I made the right choice in leaving early.

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