Comic-Con preview night

A couple years ago Comic-Con started having "preview night," where four-day members could check out the booths and shop a night early. I can't remember what it was like not having it and I can't imagine setting up a booth for a 10:00 a.m. opening. You'd have to start before dawn or do it the day before.


I didn't arrive until 1:00 in the afternoon, and Eric, Michelle, and Jenny (not pictured above) already had the tables arranged and boxes around. Later on, Diana and Rosanna showed up. There was no way we could set up in time for the doors opening at 6:00 but we did the best we could. We have to get in early tomorrow to shape it up.


I think it's cool that people dressed up even for three hours of browsing. Of course, the hardest core dressers are the cosplay kids. Both of these girls (above and below) attended Anime Expo, and they have different outfits for every day of Comic-Con. I asked them to say hi when they come back to the booth in case I don't recognize them.


Check out Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. I like homemade costumes the best.


Below, artist Matt Furie (right, remember him from the group show at GR2 with Albert Reyes?) and his pal. Shoot, can't remember his name.


And Mark Todd. He and his wife Esther Pearl Watson are at the Alvin Buenaventura booth, right by us. He told me that they didn't bring their daughter to San Diego, which makes me feel better about leaving Eloise at home with Wendy. I saw Jordan Crane at the booth, too. It's funny how we all live in L.A., but see practically only each other at the Con. (Also, Fantagraphics (Gary Panter, Los Bros Herndandez, Jason, etc.) and Top Shelf (Jeffrey Brown) in the background.)


Afterwards, we went to Convoy Street (the Pan-Asian neighborhood) for Vietnamese food. It was that or the 24-hour Super Sergio or Alberto's. Maybe I'll get some Mexican food tomorrow night!


Below, Jenny and Michelle ponder waking up early to do it all over again but four times as long.

With or without U2

Going to the GR restaurant is like going to the Cheers bar or something. Okay, maybe not everyone knows my name, but today my friend Doug and I bumped into the jet-setting Eugenia (Shanghai and HK) and ex-GR softball ringer Rodfather (Watsonville). Nice. In the middle is Eric's mom, Margie. (She, Nelson, and the crew don't even count as sightings anymore.)


Doug is moving to NYC in a couple weeks, so I wanted to catch up with him before he bails. I'll miss his photography gig stories--remember the Talladega photo essay or the piece on Chinese orphanages? Totally great. But honestly, I hardly see him anyway since he's always on the road. Recently, he was in Dublin. There's been a lot of talk about Dublin...

Sound and vision

Finished reviewing DVDs last night and am onto music. I selected about 20 prospective CDs (I don't do online streaming or downloads) from the slush pile, and figure that with the two or three pieces that I've bought from bands on tour there should be enough to fill the 13 slots that I'm responsible for. Maybe fancier headphone will help?

After this, it's not over. There are still comics to read and anime to watch. Pretty slim pickings in both departments as of now, but I figure that will be remedied at Comic-Con.

People think it's weird that 14 years after starting GR, Eric and I not only still write the vast majority of each issue's articles but also do most of the reviewing. Really, why would we give it up? It's one of the most fun parts.

Long-life noodles

Last night I went to Golden Dragon for my father-in-law's birthday. We had three tables in the triad room with gold wallpaper, the bar, and an altar. Badass! I think we got hooked up because Wendy's family has ties to the restaurant. In fact, when we first started dating, the family would go there for dim sum every weekend.


Here's Wendy, her brother, Eloise, and me (mirror) hanging out by the kids' table. Check out Chi and Jenny, who were dressed up because they came straight from a wedding. I was wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Oh well.


There were a ton of veggie dishes for me to eat, and they were all quite good. GD is kind of old school with its gold decorations, lazy susans, exposed fish tanks, and everything, but I like their food a lot. The dish that made the biggest impression on me was the sesame and coconut desserts... Why haven't I had that before?


Happy birthday, Baba! (Cool shirt, too.)

Smells like shoebox 3

More scraps of paper from the shoeboxes... This one didn't get left in pants and put in the wash. The Palladium was really that packed and sweaty during my first "real" concert--The Cure on The Top tour in 1984. Amazing. I was under the impression that the band didn't play much because Robert Smith was afraid to fly and would only cross the Atlantic by boat, but after this I'd saw the band play on The Head on the Door and Standing on the Beach. Those would be at big amphitheater-type places full of new wavers; this was a ballroom with goths, post-punks, and doom-and-gloomers.


Charged GBH is one of those bands that you see on a lot of patches and T-shirts, but is hardly ever heard. Well, I saw them back in the day and it was one of the scariest shows I ever attended. It was at this divey ballroom in Long Beach and everyone in line was a mohawk or a skin. Somehow, we survived.


This show at Cal State Northridge's cafeteria was on The Funky Rumpus Tour for The Uplift Mofo Party Plan. It was a show where the Chili Peppers indeed rocked out with their strategically placed socks out. I found a T-shirt in the pit and decided to split it with my friend Jeff who gave me a ride; we went halfers on a second T. I'm pretty sure the openers were Fishbone, who were always red hot.


This was on the Quickness tour. At the time, I thought Bad Brains were old. Now I realize they were still at their peak. The show was like two hours long and HR was like a god--pure energy doing backflips and more. It took place in another school cafeteria, and the openers were Killing Time and Royal Tea.


The Roxy isn't an especially cool place, but it's small and the sound is great. Perfect for seeing MBV on the Loveless tour. (You weren't there? Looks like someone bootlegged it!)


The moment when NOFX became a "real" band and Green Day was breaking. Damn. At this point, I think the guys in Green Day still remembered me from staying at my house and me getting a ticket while driving them back to UCLA to get paid/see a lunchtime show with Samiam.


One of my Gilman Street membership cards. A reminder that I don't buy a ticket for most of the really great shows--just a handstamp or generic stub...

Double-o soul

Like last Saturday, I had brunch with Martin C. We've been doing this when our wives and daughters are at their Mommy Talk class at the Pump Station, and it's been a nice tradition and good chance for some bro time. Too bad the courses end next week. Since I'll be in San Diego for the Comic-Con, this was our last Saturday hang out. We, along with Mart's cousin Mario, went to Winchell's.


You can tell the franchise is trying to keep up with the times because they've changed up the menu to include fruit smoothies, breakfast bagels, etc. I think it's funny because the clientele is old school all the way, with senior citizens and cops being the predominant customers. I got an iced coffee and mini apple fritter. The former was way too sweet and the latter was not bad, but both were cheap--about $2.75 total.


Good times, but you cannot compare Winchell's to Donut Man. This afternoon, Wendy and I visited her cousin who just had a baby two weeks a go. I looked up directions to the Covina address on Mapquest and recognized them as the route GR's favorite donut shop! Since it was less than 3.5 miles away, we decided to bring some fresh strawberry donuts to the new parents. We were shocked to see massive construction on one side Donut Man's lot. It's going to be more difficult for truck drivers to park their rigs without such ample space.


But that's not the real news. Check out the sign: This is the last week for fresh strawberry donuts! It's been a good season, though, so I can't complain. (Fresh peach donuts will begin in the middle of the week. Awesome.)


Here's Wendy's cousin Jeff, the new dad. With his shorn head, busted collar bone, wife beater, and stubble (hasn't been to work in two weeks), he looks totally gangster! But you can't look tough eating a donut, can you?


The new baby, Alyson. A cutie. I thought the new mom, Jannie, looked great, too, but she was not so confident so I'll post pics of her next time.


Hitting two donut shops in one day can really make your head spin. Good thing Jeff and Janny recently got this vibrating head massager from the mall!

Deadline thoughts

You probably can't even tell, but the mag has been getting just a little bit later with each of the last few issues. It wasn't even a big deal until they started adding up. Now we're trying to catch up.

So articles went in the works as soon as the last one finished and we're actually looking pretty good. I made a mock book map today, and 84 or 85 of the 88 pages are accounted for. (Hey Daniel, how many pages is your article going to be?) Eight articles have rough layouts waiting for doctoring and approval by Wendy.

The hardest part has been clocking in hours every night after Eloise and Wendy go to bed at 8 and 9 or 10, respectively. This particular work isn't difficult; watching and reviewing movies and DVDs is super fun. The hard part is forcing myself to sleep at 12 (usually more like 1) because I know I'll have to wake up at 6 or 6:30 to change Eloise's diapers. When your mind is spinning with words and ideas, it can be hard to relax--especially when you know you have to.

Between going to sleep late for work and waking up early for baby, something has to give. That's why there's coffee. But will even that remedy the added stuff competing for time such as art shows, concerts, and Comic-Con? We'll see, and you'll read about all of it in the next issue.

It's Koushik

There was a time when I could recall every interview and article in every issue of GR. That ended at least 7 or 8 years ago. So I can't tell you exactly when I interviewed Koushik--two, maybe three years ago?--but I do remember that him being a real mellow, cool guy. His music is like that, too, with shoegaze and pop thrown in. Gorgeous, dreamy stuff.

Check out a sneak preview of his upcoming album here. It comes out in August (digital) and September (tangible).

Melvins and dudes at Amoeba

After (1) the Internet went down and (2) my InDesign file crashed, I knew that the rock gods were telling me to restart the computers, lock up the office, and start driving across town to the Melvins tour kick-off show/release in-store for their 21st album at Amoeba in Hollywood.


I'm not an antisocial person, but I have no qualms going to shows by myself. I don't have to wait around for anyone and can get closer to the stage. I can hang out any time; at a concert I want to soak in the music. Tonight's show started right on time at 6:00, and lasted an impressive 45 minutes (for a free show). Heavy, grinding, pummeling, and relentless are some of the adjectives often employed to describe the band's sound--which ranges from proto-doom to precise, crazy-time signatures powered by the two drummers--but I think exuberant can be added to the list. Yes, they are dead serious, but some of the sped up songs actually touch on fun.


Eventually, the show will be posted here. As you might expect from a stoner rock band with sludge metal tendencies and punk work ethic, the show was a real sausage party. That and the fact that the group has been around for almost 25 year meant that I was likely to run into friends...


Above, a familiar face. Ken is an award-winning industrial designer and longtime friend and contributor to GR who works down the street from Amoeba. Good thing I sent him a text message to see if he was going to the show because I had misinformed him that the show was tomorrow!


Brian used to work at the record store around the corner from my house and now works at Amoeba. You know the show was loud because he's wearing earplugs way in front of the store. I don't see him often enough, but at least I get to see his wife and baby every now and then when I take Eloise around the Reservoir!


Here's Adam Bomb, legendary KXLU hardcore DJ and veteran of too many L.A. punk bands to count. I haven't seen him since the San Pedro premiere of the Minutemen documentary (which he was in). Perhaps Adam's most notorious group is Brujeria. You wouldn't know he's part of the allegedly Satan-worshipping drug-dealing Mexican death metal cartel, though, since he wears a bandana onstage and goes by the alias of Fantasma. He informed me the band is working on some new stuff, so lock up your children.