Pirate House, Marina del Rey

If you can afford a place like this in a location like this, I guess you can have pirates if you want.

I wonder if the interior decoration is pirate-themed as well.

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 4 (Kings vs. Devils)

The fam and I nearly witnessed history Wednesday night when we attended Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals at Staples Center. We had great seats, but unfortunately the Kings didn't come through, keeping up an unfortunate trend for us this season. Seriously, I think we've attended seven home games now this season and we only have one win to show for it, and that was against the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets. On the other hand, asking a team to sweep (or be swept) in the Stanley Cup Finals is not terribly realistic. I'm not worried, the only way New Jersey can come back and win the Cup is for the Kings and ninja goalie Jonathan Quick to drop four games straight, and I just don't see that happening.

Got there early and got quite a few pics. There was quite the festival going on outside Staples and at L.A. Live.

Some banners and marquees:

Big ole trailer out in L.A. Live Courtyard:

Giant jersey:

Finally got to see the much-talked about "Sandley Cup" display:

Inside Staples Center:

Unfortunately, the Devils didn't repent and the series goes back to New Jersey with the Kings leading 3 games to 1.

Full set of pictures from Game 4 is here.

In case you ever wondered what they were singing about (Spoiler alert: It's cake!)

Not just any cake either, but PIECE OF LOVELY CAKE!

This is just brilliant.  O Fortuna Misheard Lyrics:

GOPHER TUNA!!!  Also, SALSA COOKIES!!!

Lots of troll faces in this baby...and they work!

Memorial Day 2012

Heartfelt thanks, gratitude and admiration for our armed forces, past and present. Thank you for all you do and God bless you and your families.

A musical post for your enjoyment:

"Sweet Home Alabama" as performed by Tesla Coils.  I'm not kidding.

You're welcome.

Hitler finds out Obama ate his dog

I'm with the guy who posted this on You Tube - this meme just never gets old. The funniest thing about this (to me, anyway) is that Hitler was a vegetarian.

There's also a creepy aspect to it. Later, in this movie (Downfall, great film BTW) they show Hitler using his own dog to test a poison pill as the allies approach.

My Festival of Books haul

Left: FOB program, Harbor Nocturne (autographed by author Joseph Wambaugh) from the Book Soup shop, copies of Mildred Pierce and Double Indemnity with cool film noir covers (also from Book Soup, total spent there about $60), Daily Trojan (free), Egyptian stamps I bought for The Brother, who is into these things.  Not sure what the vendor with Egyptian artifacts was doing at the Festival of Books, but he wasn't the only head scratcher (there was a booth manned by a State Farm agent as well).

Middle: Cookbook, FOB notebook and fridge magnet, another cookbook, FOB mug (I really loved the bookosaurus logo).

Right: Yet more cookbooks and some pamphlets/handouts.

I did all my shopping on Sunday and could not have carried one more thing.

Sometimes simple is best, even on the internets. Exhibit 2: Sad Luongo

First it was Zombo Com, now some genius on the internet brings this: Sad Luongo, a simple but awesome "tribute" to sad facey Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo.  Seriously, look at this miserable puss:

No Stanley Cup for you!!!

That is just pathetic.  Any hockey fan can tell you there's no crying in hockey, unless it's me out in front of Staples Center with 18,000 of my closest fellow Kings fans bawling in joy when the Kings win the Stanley Cup.

This website is also the only time I've been able to hear that God-awful Chelsea Dagger song without wanting to punch someone in their pouty little face, so extra interweb bonus points for that.

So tempting. So very, very tempting.

You can now buy your very own Living Doll for that adorable little girl in your life.  Or for yourself, whatever floats your boat.

"My name is Talky Tina, and I'm going to kill you."

There's a reason the drunk guy singing Bohemian Rhapsody in the police car is an internet hit

Because it's FREAKING AWESOME!!!

So much to love: The fact that he got through the whole song, his enthusiastic performance, the Gallileo vocals, the guy "singing" the instrumental parts, putting his glasses back on after finishing like nothing happened...oh, boy.

Hitler ruling his oppressive empire from Hollywood? You don't say.

Via LAhistory on Twitter comes this link to a fascinating story on the UK's Daily Mail Online: Heil Hollywood: The Los Angeles bunker from which Hitler planned to run Nazi empire after the war.

Despite my life-long interest in historic Hollywood and historic L.A., this is honestly the first time I've ever heard anything about this.  I have no idea where exactly in the hills it is or why it's taken so long for the story to be widely publicized.

In addition, while there have been no shortage of takes on what life might have been like when writers ask the magic "what if" question, "What if Germany had won World War II?" I am not aware that anyone ever thought to place the new German Socialist seat of power in La La Land.  In reality all that matters is that Hitler and the Nazis were defeated, but from a fictional standpoint, it really is a fascinating idea.

From the Daily Mail article linked above:

It sounds like the bizzare script of a Hollywood B-movie.

In a parallel universe the Nazis have won the war, Adolf Hitler moves to LA where he mingles with the stars of the silver screen while running his evil empire from a luxurious ranch deep in the LA hills.

But during the 1930s, American sympathisers were so confident this exact scenario was actually going happen they spent millions building a deluxe compound ready for their fuhrer's imminent arrival.

The graffit-plagued structures that are still standing will be bulldozed and the place turned into a picnic area.  Big improvement over the original plans, if you ask me.

Historian Randy Young told the Sunday Express: 'This was supposed to be the seat of American fascism from where Hitler would one day run the United States.

Amateur.  Everyone knows if you want to take over America and change it from a republic to an unrecognizable oppressive nanny state you run for president and bankrupt it.  Duh.

Still, amazing fodder for story ideas, no?

To me, the funny part is the idea that Hitler planned on hobnobbing with the Tinseltown elite.  Probably wouldn't have ended well for the numerous Jewish studio heads of the day, but I can totally see many of our modern day stars kowtowing to this sort of thing if it would keep them safe and at the top of the Hollywood heap.  Assuming this whole story is true at all.

Besides, I'd bet good money Marlene Dietrich would have kicked his ass if he'd tried to set up shop in her adopted country.  I'd totally take her over Hitler in a death match.

Listen up redux

About a year ago I blogged about a great, new website I'd found: You Are Listening to Los Angeles:

What do you get when you combine meditative, atmospheric music and the LAPD scanner?  Why you get You Are Listening to Los Angeles, of course!

At the time you could also listen to New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Montreal.

Today I noticed that they've expanded quite a bit since my original post.  You can now also listen to Boston, San Diego, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Minneapolis, Portland, Austin, Baltimore, Denver and Phoenix.