Sherman Way

"Shitty" movie marketing begets "shitty movie" marketing

2006-02-13T18:20:00.000-08:00

Eagle-eyed Angelenos who were assaulted by the marketing campaign for Underworld: Evolution last month likely noticed the eerie resemblance between the Underworld one-sheets and the billboard for Tommy Wiseau's craptacular cult film The Room, which has graced La Brea Avenue for at least two years. The Room, which has been a regular presence at the Laemmle Sunset 5 midnight movie series, defies description...and convention...and simple logic. It must be seen to be believed.

I'm almost impressed that Screen Gems marketing (unintentonally?) gave a shout out to a film that, according to that avatar of pop culture Joel Stein, the New York Film Academy instructs its students to see--as an example of how not to make a movie.

Hack movie marketers: ironically delicious.

An early Valentine

2006-02-09T14:31:00.000-08:00

A big sloppy kiss for those of you who enjoy homebrew videos that namedrop Walter Benjamin and Balki Bartokomous: a forlorn cat puts its plea for love on the Internet.

(via Screenhead)

More guitars!

2006-02-08T15:24:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post about this, but Broken Social Scene on Conan O'Brien last week was one of the greatest television music performances I've ever seen. Do yourself a favor and click the play button below.

I haven't seen such anarchic joy since these kids danced and shimmied their way into the hearts of America:

Whither "lesbian sushi"?

2006-01-24T11:53:00.001-08:00

Driving home along Santa Monica Boulevard last night, I noticed that the neon green sign for Murakami, the famed sushi bar known around these parts as "lesbian sushi" for the loyalty of its Sapphic clientele, had a new name and a new white neon sign. In an intensive investigation (I looked up Murakami's Citysearch profile), I found this melancholy review:

As of late November, 2005, Murakami has been sold to a new chef/owner. A recent visit demonstrated that all is not well at our favorite Japanese sushi shop. The old Murakami ambience is completely gone. The entire wait staff is new, and very shaky. The service has now slowed down by a factor of two. It may be my imagination, but the fish itself--possibly the single aspect the chef/owner is most responsible for, on his daily buying trips--is of lower quality. The lovely flower arrangements the previous owner's wife did are gone--replaced by a cold, barren wall.

At a minimum, I would wait until things settle down before trying Murakami again, but I also think there's a reasonable chance that it will turn into just another random sushi place, hardly worth the trip.

Overall user rating: Below Average

It's a shame that "lesbian sushi" had to go out like that, but even more of a shame that I won't be able to say that I'm going to "lesbian sushi" anymore. Best of luck to the previous owner, and may "lesbian sushi" rise again.

Go see Cal

2006-01-18T19:05:00.000-08:00

Losanjealous has a great post today about the legendary Los Angeles plumber Jack Stephan, whose ubiquitous "Stephan! Jack Stephan!" is embedded in the minds of any Angeleno who watched television from 1975 to 1995. It got me thinking about those other craptastic local commercials that only viewers in the greater Los Angeles DMA would recognize. While New Yorkers had Crazy Eddie, we had Cal Worthington, whose commercials are enshrined in the appropriately titled My Dog Spot, and the Mervyn's ads which ended with the shopaholic saying with bated breath "Open! Open! Open!".

Any fond memories of commercials you reference that only garner blank stares from your friends that grew up back east?

We Are Scientists is not your shrink

2006-01-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

We Are Scientists is a trio out of Brooklyn via the Claremont Colleges that is poised to grab you by the scruff of your neck and not let go. Their excellent debut album, "With Love and Squalor", one of my picks for the best of 2005, hit stateside stores this past Tuesday. With a price of $9.99 at Tower Records, what's not to love? Hell, I almost coughed up £10.99 for the album whilst in the United Kingdom (the album was released there in October.) Add it up, kids.

As if you needed further convincing, check out the video above for "The Great Escape", directed by Akiva Schaffer of the SNL-saving troupe The Lonely Island.

The union of these two talented trios is better than a trip to the land of chocolate.

Do Do Do Do

2006-01-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

In this week's L.A./Valley CityBeat, Natalie Nichols writes a great article on the complex history behind the classic "Bahna Bahna" earworm. Recently featured in an ad for Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, it is familiar to most from The Muppet Show, where a hipster Muppet sang the shit out of it. Little did we know that it originally was featured in an 1960s Italian porn film. Thanks Natalie!

And now, for your viewing and listening pleasure, the Muppet Show skit that started the craze:

...but where's Kathy Kronenberger?

2006-01-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

For you lucky folks whose high schools whored themselves out for free A/V equipment, you may have fond memories of Channel One, the controversial 12-minute news show that beamed a jarring mix of hard hitting news, Skittles commercials, and Army recruiting spots to captive students nationwide. While Channel One is still going strong, I watched back when a brown-haired Anderson Cooper filed reports in a puffy orange vest from Bosnia and Lisa Ling was interviewing members of Toni! Tony! Tone!. It's fun to see the likes of Cooper, Ling, as well as Maria Menounos, Kris Osborn and Serena Altschul, move on to bigger and better things. Anderson as the 21st century Walter Cronkite....who would've thunk?

For those of you in my demo who are curious to see whatever became of the other less successful anchors, look no further than Al Gore's nascent Gen-Y news station Current TV, which itself is a weird hybrid of Channel One and video podcasts, complete with a progress bar for viewers with even shorter attention spans than I have. Old-school Channel One anchors Justin Gunn, Rawley Valverde, and Gotham Chopra are hosts, and they even gave a job to Lisa Ling's sister!

Watching Current TV, I can almost taste the rainbow once more.

Not the best way to start the year

2006-01-05T16:09:00.000-08:00

First the Rose Bowl, now this:

la.foodblogging reports that Krispy Kreme has terminated its agreement with its Southern California franchisee. It just seems like yesterday that Angelenos were driving out to the far reaches of the county to savor the crack-laced goodness of the hot Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts, but if an agreement isn't reached in 30 days, local stores will be forced to remove all Krispy Kreme signage, and, I fear, the famed doughnut theaters (pictured above). While losangelous notes that it's practically an LA tradition just to recyle old signange or replace one letter in the store name when things like this occur (see: Mashti Malone's, Vons/Jons/Rons...yes Rons! I actually saw one once), let's hope it doesn't come to that.

In other news, the DWP pays to drink bottled water. Oof.

UPDATE (1/6/06): Southern Californians dodged a bullet. L.A. Observed reports that a deal has been struck between Krispy Kreme Korporate and the local licensee. The crazy doughnut runs would've been more than the city could bear.

Hot new jam of 2006

2006-01-01T16:58:00.000-08:00

Happy new year from your friends at Sherman Way.

Clap Your Hands Say 2005

2005-12-31T09:22:00.000-08:00

The bestest albums to come out of a fantastic year in music. In short, hand-clapping is the new cowbell.

Click on each album for audio clips, courtesy MySpace Music.

Honorable mention:
Stephen Malkmus - Face the Truth
Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
Kanye West - Late Registration
Feist - Let It Die*
Arcade Fire - Funeral*

*These two albums technically came out in 2004, but carried their power over to '05.

We Will Rock You In Da Club

2005-11-29T23:51:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, mashups are so 2002. But ever since I heard "The Best Bootlegs in the World Ever", which featured The Freelance Hellraiser's masterful blending of Christina Aguilera and the Strokes in "A Stroke of Genius", I couldn't get enough.

The latest to tickle my ear comes via the great Stereogum: "Q-Unit", an unholy music alliance between 50 Cent and Queen.

"Bohemian Wanksta"?! Sold!

For an exhaustive aural history of mashups, listen to "Raiding the 20th Century", a 70mb MP3 by DJ Food that seamlessly cobbles together the best tracks to come out of the mashup phenomenon. Keep an ear out for "A Stroke of Genius" in part 5.

Other notable mashups:

Kelis vs. C&C Music Factory - "Gonna Make You Sweat to Milkshake" (sample)

Gwen Stefani vs. The Clash - "Radio Hollaback"

Carly Simon vs. Everything But the Girl - "You're So Missing" by DJ Reset

The best non-feud of 2005

2005-11-28T18:30:00.000-08:00

You may have heard about hostilities between Borat Sagdiyev and his native country of Kazakhstan that flared up following Borat's memorable gig hosting the 2005 MTV European Music Awards in Lisbon last month.

Borat has issued a response to Kazakh Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev's scathing rebuke following the awards, disavowing himself from Sacha Baron Cohen and fully supporting Kazakhstan's desire to "sue [that] Jew". Meanwhile, the Kazakh tourism board has shelled out for a 4-page ad in the New York Times proclaiming the virtues of "Kazakhstan in the 21st Century".

Can't wait to see who fires next.

Hear IS wat Thay Say [via Screenhead]
Take That, Borat [via Editor and Publisher]

Wednesday: Y2Khai Live?

2005-11-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

John Patrick Foshe, the young white man who may or may not be SFV Asian Internet gangster rapper Y2Khai, will play a show in Pasadena, Wed. 11/16/05 . Don't forget to hit Arby's for a Big Montana before the show!

Link

Online L.A. Traffic System Report

2005-11-12T19:04:00.000-08:00

The Center for Land Use Interpretation in Culver City has a fantastic online exhibition exploring the traffic control system in L.A. Among other things, it discusses the 50,000 "inductive loops" embedded in the streets that use the changes in magnetic fields caused by the presence of vehicles to manage traffic flow.

Link: Loop Feedback Loop

Saturday: Fun with Scientology

2005-11-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

Curious about the Church of Scientology? The International Association of Scientologists is celebrating its anniversary! Sherman Way went to the blowout anniversary party last week. It was about three (3) hours of relentless attacks on psychiatry and "rundowns" on the Church's gains in the past year. Many new churches built, millions of books sold, case gains made, etc. Awards were given for Scientologists who brought democracy to Ukraine and peace to Venezuela. Each award winner, in addition to a fancy medallion, was given the chance to shake hands with Tom Cruise. Cruise's squeeze Katie Holmes is seen looking dazed and amazed, steadfast next to the man. They are flanked by luminaries like Anne Archer, Isaac Hayes, and the Travoltas. The program started off with a 45 minute marching bagpipe show. It is being replayed tonight. All are welcome:

Saturday, Nov. 12, 2005
6:30 PM
Scientology HQ
6331 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 960-3550

Welcome to Sherman Way

2005-11-12T15:49:00.000-08:00

We hope be a destination for all things Valley; a San Fernando Valley version of the Wall Street Journal, so to speak, shining a bright beacon from Ventura Boulevard to the Ronald Reagan Freeway. There is a wealth of untapped culture and folkways that the blogosphere has not touched upon until now; Sherman Way will change that.

Being that there is no real newspaper that serves our beloved home (you heard that right, Daily News), we will provide our fellow citizens with hard hitting investigative journalism, cultural tips and tricks, and general Valley goodness.

Watch this space in the next few weeks and months, and say hello to your new daily destination.