Mandel Goes to White Castle

Whilst having a bite to eat Jon, Jeff, Tony, and Tim at The Abbey before the Scissor Sisters show Tuesday, I was regaled with the information that a White Castle stand was open on Sunset to promote the new movie "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle."

I first saw a trailer for this movie when I saw "Anchorman." The most notable thing I noticed about the preview is that it advertised the movie as starring (notice the quotes now) "that Asian guy from American Pie" and "that Indian guy from Van Wilder." Well, ladies and gentleman, here is a fast-food adventure featuring "that Filipino guy who was a contestant on Match Game."

I took the long way home (insert Supertramp) here from work today and made a detour through West Hollywood via Sunset to see if this White Castle stand was indeed there. Right before I hit the intersection of Sunset and Sweetzer I looked to my left and there it was: a White Castle stand right across The Standard.



Lo and behold...a White Castle castle. We didn't even have these in Florida!. Previously, my exposure to White Castle burgers had been the frozen section versions of this mini-meat-sammich delights. And just when I thought it couldn't get better...there were signs saying "FREE BURGERS!!!!" They were handing out these delightful delicacies for nothing! God bless you Harold and Kumar!!!!



Quite a nifty way to a promote a movie. Granted these were heated up servings of the grocery freezer version of the burger. But hey...it was free and it was White Castle...so I wasn't complaining! And they were served in the nifty White Castle box. YAY!

Speaking of delectable delights...here are a couple of pics that I took after it dawned on me that I had a picture phone with me at the Scissor Sisters concert on Tuesday night.



The first pic was taken during the pre-encore closer "Return to Oz"...hence the emerald green lighting. I forget when I took that second pic.

Anyhoo...just less than 48 hours 'til the double feature of "The Apple" and "Can't Stop the Music." EEEEE!

Music is the victim

...of this particular blog. Been on a big music kick this past month...So I figure, in this much delayed blog, I'll present what's been music to my ears as of late...

Just got back from seeing another Scissor Sisters concert at The Troubadour. Brought along a few Scissor newbies with me this go-round. Another GREAT performance. They're my favorite new band...period. They're so damn fun...It's the wonderful combination of a band with awesome music, good chops, and a fun personality. My only complaint was that the party was over all too soon...

And their debut album is superb...HIGHLY recommend it especially if you're a fan of good, pop/classic rock in the old school-"Elton John circa Goodbye Yellow Brick Road/Caribou"-meets-David Bowie-meets-Bee Gees-meets-George Michael vein. It's the best debut album I've heard in a long while. It tops Maroon 5 and the New Radicals' debuts and I REALLY liked those albums. The last time I listened to a band's debut album this much was Ben Folds Five. They're THAT good.

This was the first time I had gone to the legendary Troubadour. I was surprised at how small the venue was. While it wasn't as small as Spaceland (where I first saw Scissor Sisters perform), it was smaller than most of the venues I've gone to. To think...this was the place where Elton John made his US debut. SOOOOO cool and soooo packed and hot. The place was filled tonight...

And speaking of which...It was like a Friendster site come to life. While at the concert, friends and I bumped into a number of other friends we knew. Quite a small world we live in...

The other band I won't shut up about is The Hill Valley Preservation Society. This is a band in Georgia that does something that I always wanted to do as part of the one-man show I did in college...They perform covers of 80s TV themes and video game music. Their versions of the "3-2-1 Contact," "Diff'rent Strokes," and "The Price is Right" themes rock. They also pull out some obscure themes too...On top of that, they're performing for a good cause, the Michael J. Fox foundation.

Last Friday, Doug and I checked out a performance by Matthew Jordan. Matthew had dropped me a line via MySpace.com mentioning his show. It's funny...going back to the whole "it's a small world" thing...he and I actually crossed paths a couple of years ago at a Ben Folds concert at the Avalon. Anyhoo, he performed at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood and put out a really strong set. Very impressive songs...had subtle hints of Billy Joel, Steely Dan, Gavin DeGraw, and Ben Jelen. I would not be surprised if he makes it big in the next few years. I believe you can listen to some of his songs on his website...highly recommended.

Some other things that have made their way into the iPod recently are the new Mello Cads album ("Sin City" is my favorite track on that one), Papas Fritas "best of" CD, and bits and pieces of the "Ring Ring" and "Waterloo" albums by ABBA.

Ahh...but now to get to bed...and rest my weary feet from hopping around at the Troubadour.

Number 5

This week marks my five-year anniversary out here in Los Angeles. Time flies by so quickly and so much as happened in that short time. Los Angeles is now second amongst places I've lived in in regards to the time I've lived there.

And as I've said here on my occasions...Los Angeles has truly become home for me. I've made a great set of friends out here. I've got a nice roof over my head. And work's been beyond my expectations...

To think, that when I moved out here five years ago, I thought that the first gig I'd get would be a production assistant gig on a sitcom and that I'd work my way up from there. Never did it cross my mind that I'd actually get to work in the field of entertainment I loved watching while growing up!

To all of you who've helped in making the past five years out here in L.A. such happy ones, I thank you. Here's to another five!

And in other things....

Just got back from watching "Spider-Man 2." I really, really liked it. It's probably the most complete super hero movie I've seen. Highly recommend it even if you're not big into action flicks.

Here's a link a friend showed me for that serves as a warning to any budding metrosexuals out there. WARNING: It is NOT for the faint of heart or the easily offended. While first reading this, I was repulsed, yet highly amused by it. Maybe I'm just a sicko...

Two more things to be happy about... "ALF" and "Golden Girls" on DVD!!!! YAYYYYY! "ALF" comes out in August and "Golden Girls" comes out in November! 'Tis a good year for DVDs..."SCTV," "Mork and Mindy," "Soap." Still yearn to see "Greatest American Hero," "Fridays," and "Police Squad!"

Oh, and it looks like the Scissor Sisters are coming back to L.A. on July 27th at The Troubadour! Anybody up for coming along?