Out of the Frying Fan??

Last night, went to see Cyndi Lauper and Meat Loaf perform at the Universal Ampitheater with TB, KL, and MH. Fun concert...Cyndi Lauper ROCKS! I forgot how many great songs she's recorded. Oh, how I was hoping that she'd do "The Goonies R Good Enough," but alas she didn't. At least she did a kickass version of "All Through the Night." And Meat Loaf was all right too. After last night's show, I think he should change his name to Ham Loaf, because he really hammed it up. He milked every song as much as he could. I swear "I Would Do Anything For Love" was stretched out to almost 20 minutes. A big plus was his performance of "Out of the Frying Pan (And Into the Fire)," one of my favorite obscure Jim Steinman songs. FIRE!! FIRE!! FIRE!! Though the marquees to the side of the stage said that the title of the song was "Out of the Frying FAN." The biggest entertainment of the night though was the drunk girl standing in the aisle next to us "woo"-ing constantly during the show even while the audience was silent listening to Meat's patter. The second biggest entertainment was the poor sad soul standing front and center at the ampitheater jumping and flailing as he rocked on to Meat's songs. Yes, rocking on isn't bad...unless you're the ONLY one doing it in the audience especially if you're the only person in the front row...in the center of the row...in front of the stage...for all to see!

Thursday night, DF and I saw Guster perform. Clem Snide opened up. Clem wasn't our cup of tea, but they did win me over with their rendition of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful." Guster was great. I was transfixed throughout the whole show watching their bongo player. He gave Ray Cooper (Elton John's old percussionist) a run for his money. My hands hurt just watching the guy. The coolest part was at the end when Guster did a truly unplugged number. It was soooo cool. The whole Henry Fonda theater audience was dead silent. Quite powerful stuff.

Random flashback moment today...I was in the Toys R Us in Burbank today and I literally stopped in my tracks when I heard a familiar song on the P.A. system. At first, I couldn't tell what the song was. The notes sounded familiar and the lyrics were vaguely sparking the memory zones in my brain. Then as the voice on the P.A. "Dancing....dancing...let's do the bug-a-boo...c'mon and shake a leg or two...from the big grasshopper..." IT WAS "BUG-A-BOO" FROM THE MOUSERCISE ALBUM!!!!!! I haven't heard that song in years! I quickly tried to find a spot on the store floor that was close to a P.A. speaker. I loved the Mousercise album growing up. It was part of that Disney trifecta of albums that I grew up listening to as a child. "Disco Mickey Mouse," "Splashdance," and "Mousercise." Now, I've been able to track down "Disco Mickey Mouse" and "Splashdance" on CD, but "Mousercise" has eluded me. I've found it a few times on Ebay, but the asking price has been INSANE. Apparently, I'm not the only one looking for it. But alas, at least I was able to hear just one track from it...for free...while standing next to a row of old N*Sync posters on clearance.

Fire up the randomizer!

Argh! I haven't posted here in a week and NV is getting on my case about not posting on here. Just kidding...actually, no...he needs his entertainment...sooooo....here's a quick blog of random thoughts...

I think the whole protest against "Banzai" is silly. It's a stupid, comedy show, people, c'mon! Lighten up! I am of Asian descent and I find the show to be quite funny. Hell, I'm thinking of starting an "Asians for Banzai" Coalition. Who's with me??

Speaking of which, the new shows I'm hooked on at the moment are "Banzai" and "Queer Eye for Straight Guy." I still think "Queer Eye" would work better as a half-hour show and the show is a little bit over the top in places, but I still like it. And I actually learned a couple of things from. Trying the "gel up from the back" maneuver that Kyan explained on one of last week's episodes. I'm curious to see how my "half-hour" theory holds when the cut-down version of it airs on NBC this week. It's pretty amazing to see how far TV has gone. The fact that a show titled "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" is actually airing on NBC primetime boggles my mind. I never thought something like this would happen so quickly. I can only wonder what might happen if "Boy Meets Boy" hits as big next week.

Back to "Banzai..." My roomies and a couple of friends of mine an I played along with "Banzai" using play money and it's strangely addicting. Granted, I suck donkeyballs at the game. I think I'm buy four people dinner next Sunday night. GRRRRRRRR! Damn you Todd Bridges, why didn't you grab the stick before the dog!???!!! Damn you money-eating woman...Why didn't you eat more dollar bills??

Listening to the new Ben Folds EP....Mmmmmm....And more Ben Folds coming in September...Mmmmmm....And Ben Folds and Tori Amos on August 1! YAY! Between Meat Loaf and a couple of other shows, this is going to be a concert packed next few weeks for me. I just wish I had some time to check out the shows at this years International Pop Overthrow.

And I need to start composing more again...Anybody wanna be my Bernie Taupin?? :-)

Was watching "Pepsi Smash" last night...I saw The Ataris covering "Boys of Summer" further cementing the fact that I'm getting old and that there will probably be a generation of kids who've never even heard of Don Henley. *shudder* I'm quite curious to hear how the rest of Gavin Degraw's album sounds.

I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 1000...First one to get it on the nose gets a special gift....

I need to get up early enough one day to have time to swing over to McDonald's and try a McGriddle....

Had some good long talks with my friends DF and NV about the nature of dating and relationships in general. Came to the conclusion that I shouldn't take this dating thing so seriously and just have fun with it. That's part of the reason why I'm so uptight and beat myself up sometimes about my lack of dating success. I treat finding a soulmate as being this "goal" which I need to acheive and in doing so, I've lost sight of just having fun and appreciating the present and not worrying so damn much about the future.

There, hope that provided you with something to keep you going until the next entry. ;-)

Banzai tree??

It's been over 24 hours since a bunch of us watched "Banzai," and I'm still in a daze about it. I know I'm definitely watching next week and I know I was glued to the set, but what in the hell was all of that?!? The funniest part was that immediately after "Banzai," we popped up in some "Pink Lady and Jeff" DVDs just to really make sure we got the politically incorrect Japanese TV experience. Then we capped it off with a little Chuck...Woolery, that is. I think the number of "people I know" sightings reached an all-time high...(heh...high...Naturally STONED...heh...) while watching last night's episode.

Saturday, TB and I went to the Disney company picnic. It was held at the Calamigos Ranch somewhere on the way to Malibu just a little past Calabasas on the 101 highway. Nothing like these big corporate social gatherings. It began as we drove through the mountains, in and out of a couple of tunnels, and before we knew it, I was driving off the road in into this wooded trail. I swear I thought I was in an episode of "Amazing Race." We went down the trail and into this makeshift parking lot in the middle of a grass field flanked by holding pens for horses and I kid you not...a CAMEL. The young (and probably underpaid) parking attendants guided us to our parking "spot." We got out in the blazing sun and headed over to the shuttle buses which transported us past the horses, strawberry fields (not really forever), ANOTHER camel, a bison that looked like it was suckling form the camel's teat, a couple of zebras, a donkey, and I think a raptor lurking in the bushes at some point. It was like a poor man's version of the Neverland Ranch. At last we arrived at the picnic grounds in the ranch where we were greeted by a sign featuring Mickey Mouse wearing an eye patch. Yes, it was a Sammy Davis Jr. themed picnic...no, no, no it was a "Pirates of the Calamigos" picnic. It quite a big setup. There were ferris wheels, lots of food and drink, screaming kids, a foam party area, screaming kids, a band, screaming kids, ice cream, screaming kids, a pony ride, screaming kids, Minnie Mouse in an unusually short skirt, screaming kids, a basketball court, and...yes...screaming kids. Ahhh....it's a little touch of Disneyland in the middle of valley. Actually, in spite of the screaming kids (which confirmed my feeling that I really could never raise children), it was quite fun. I wonder if the kids have any realization how cool that whole thing was. I mean, how many children get to go with their parents to a sunny Saturday afternoon on a ranch frolicking with Mickey Mouse? As I sat there eating a barbecue beef sandwich and picking away at some potato salad, I think to myself, "Gee, I'm on the inside...and gee, this is not your everyday event...and gee, there's a little girl running at me with a sword. AAAHHHH!" No, not really...but, it really was a neat way to spend an afternoon away from the house....

Oh...I almost forgot, on our way to the picnic, we passed by the McDonald's in North Hollywood. outside the McDonald's, there was a bride and groom in their wedding classes. Ah, nothing says matrimonial bliss that two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun...I wonder if the newlyweds then headed out to the In-n-Out just down the street for the honeymoon. Ba-dump-bump...

PLACE BETS NOW!!!

This traffic

So much has been said about traffic here in L.A. And I've said so much already about it in my blog. It's so erratic and so infuriating some times. There was one evening this week where it took me an hour and a half to get home. I've come up with many an idea in traffic though that I can't really get too upset about it. The traffic has been the birthplace of several Whammy cartoon concepts, questions I've suggested for run-throughs, and ideas for pricing games for "Price." Speaking of which, I pitched a pricing game for the first time to RD at "The Price is Right." Not sure how the pitch will go up the ranks over there, but it would be REALLY cool to get a pricing game of mine on "Price." It's stuff like this that I still can't get over. How in the hell did a dorky game show geek like me get "in the system."??? I've only been out here for four years and there I was last week walking over to the other side of our office to pitch a pricing game to one of the producers of my all-time favorite game show!! I love my job... :-D

Hung out with my friend NV last night. It was bit of a spur of the moment "hey, what are you doing tonight?" thing. We went to dinner at Uncle Chen's at Encino where we talked about work and guys and the evilness of people that we know. Nothing like bitching over men while splitting pan-fried dumplings. Tasty...It actually was a bit therapeutic (at least for me) to talk about all this as I often do with NV. Sometimes, I think I should be paying him to be my pseudotherapist. Speaking of people needing therapy, we went back home to his place and watched "Big Brother 4." Oh...what a segueway. I totally missed out on "Big Brother 3" last year, but I decided to give this season a shot. There's a point in the show where you just don't give a rat's ass what these people are saying or are so shocked at how ridiculous these people are that you tune out the words and stare at the pretty eye candy. And the episode was pretty much Chen-less...

Today should be fun...I'm going with my roomie to the Disney company picnic. Gee, I wonder if there will be any other young gay guys there. Hmmm.....At Disney? Nahhhhh...

Ups and downs

Ya know...I really haven't updated this thing, have I? I've honestly been bored with blogging lately. I've been keeping myself busy, but I just really don't have the enthusiasm as I used with putting up stuff on this website. On top of that, the last few weeks of posts have been so blah, so routine, so middle-of-the-road bland...One friend pointed that I used the term "needless to say" in almost EVERY post in a two-week period. Another friend likens this blog to sounding like an AP wire release and as a result, one doesn't really get a sense of what I'm feeling in my blog. So, taking all of this into consideration, I'm going to try to change things up a bit....How so, I'm not sure, but we'll see... :-)

The two words that probably describe my state of being at the moment are satisfaction and frustration. What? Is that somebody I hear saying, "Geez, that's the most stupid thing you've ever typed!"? But it's true. I am very satisfied with how things have been going with work. In fact, I've got my hands in several projects which have kept things interesting and busy for me lately. I love my living situation. I've got the best roommates and neighbor in the world. In fact, my roommates and I just renewed the lease on our place. I've got a great set of friends as evidenced by the couple of gatherings I went to over the Fourth of July. There was a fun pool party at KL's place and CN had a nice part on Saturday that was capped off by a viewing of "Pink Lady and Jeff." And on top of all that, I've made some pretty cool new friends over the past couple months.

Warning...the following contains a rambling rant on my lack of success in the dating arena....proceed with caution...

But ya know, there's been this underlying frustration to this. And what does this frustration center on? * drum roll * DATING * crash * Yeah, no big surprise there. It's the topic I won't stop bitching about. Ever since the little dark period I when through with DF when I finally professed my feelings to him and it fell on deaf ears, I've tried my best to move on and try dating. If you don't count the couple of months I was in a relationship with TT last fall/winter, I really had not dated in over a year. Around March, I started "getting out there" again. And since then, I've been on a handful of "first meetings" with people. See...I can't even bring myself to calling them "dates." I mean, what is the meaning of "dating?" This is a big argument NV, TB, LL, JA, and I last night. Is it the first initial meeting in person or does one get into "dating" once one starts seeing another person on a regular basis. And why do I neuroticize about such pointless terminology? And did I just make up a word by typing "neuroticize????"

Arrrgh...sorry...it's the frustration seeping through. And here's the pattern I've been noticing with these people I've met over the past few months. The ones I see whom I end up taking a liking to (following the pattern I've had over the past years) end up just wanting to be friends or tell me that they're "not ready for a relationship." And those that want to progress from "first meetings" to "dating" are either nutcases, dull as doornails, or live in a different county. (That's COUNTY, not country...but because of how spread out L.A. is, you might as well be living in a different country.)

And probably what's adding to the frustration is the fact that a good number of friends in recent months have been getting beyond that "first meeting" and going into "dating." I mean, hell...I haven't been able to get beyond a "second date/meeting" in months. Since moving out here four years ago, the longest relationship I've been in has lasted three months. And if I had a dime everybody told me, "oh, it will happen when it happens" or "you'll find him when you least expect it," I'd have a nice hunk of change. But it kinda loses its meaning when you've been through a lot of duds, be it somebody who's a freak or somebody who's for once normal, but has no interest beyond a friendship.

And in looking at it in retrospect, I think that what's contributing to the frustration is that nobody has really ignited that spark that I had and still have to some degree have with DF. I mean, I'm sure you've had that experience where you meet somebody for the first time and you're immediately on the same wavelength. There's none of that thinking ahead and manuevering to make sure you say the right thing or explaining yourself when you make some odd reference. I dunno, maybe I've just set some unnecessarily high standard of what I'm really looking for in a guy, but given that, I did almost find a perfect match...the problem was, I wasn't a match for him. Fortunately, even with everything out in the open, he and I are still good friends. But still, I just wonder if there's anybody else around my age with who can produce that same "zing."

Geez, in an effort to divulge more about own personal travails, I think I've just typed a rambling mess of whiny lovesick bullshit. But I won't hit the "re-edit" button That's how these damn things get sterilized before they're put online here.

I know, I've got a lot to be grateful for, and like I said, I am very satisfied. I've accomplished a lot and I'm at a point in my life which I never thought I'd be in. But conversely, there's still that one big missing piece in my life that I just wonder...if I am able to achieve what I have in such little time, then why in the hell can't am I such a screwup when it comes to dating?

Feel free to line-up outside my house to slap some sense into me if my ranting is needless...or you can simply sned your slap to me via E-mail. :-)