Monday, April 26, 2010

Everybody's working for the weekend.

Whoo!! What a weekend. Let me tell ya! This is why I moved to L.A.

Recently, if you can believe I have felt super claustrophobic. Yes, mock me, living in one of the largest, and most famous cities in America, I complain about feeling boxed in. But, I have. I spend way to much time in the library.

This is not false humility. (That does not suit me, I think I'm great)

"No, no, it was my pleasure to give that Hobo $100!"

"I am not that smart, is a 2400 on the SAT really that good?"

But, I default to the library. When I think about where I should go to complete homework or study, I just end up at the library. It's like the auto-pilot turns on and without thinking, that's where I go. There are plenty of cool, hip coffee shops or Java Huts (as they call them here in LA), but I just go to the library like a huge loser.

Anyway, this weekend I had a much deserved blast in this town.

Friday, April 23 2010
Here in LA, the birthplace of Cinema, Turner Classic Movies held the 1st anual Classic Movie Festival. I had the pleasure of seeing Casablanca (one of my favorites of all time) in the famous Grauman's Egyptian Theatre. It was an original recording on loan from Warner brothers. This was an exceptional experience that you kind of expect to happen at some point while living here. At least I did. But, what was a little less likely, like seeing a shooting star, I was hit on. BY A GIRL!! I know, bizarre. This happens so infrequently, that you could set a broken watch by it. Buick was a sponsor of the festival, and while sitting in the drivers seat of the new Lacrosse one of the associates, while asking me car related questions asked what I drove,
I responded. "A Ford Explorer"
she then said, "Ooh, I would like to ride in that with you"
Awkwardly, not knowing what to do with my hands, "Um...can I get my free tote bag now please?"

Saturday, April 24 2010

Here in LA they have the Festival of Books. Which is just a bunch of publishers come and talk about books. Authors come and speak about their books. And you, the patron can spend money on books. I did not do much other than walk around, wishing I had more time to read books on Cooking, Knitting and Aliens: Fact or Fiction.

Sunday, April 25 2010

Sunday began like any other sunday. The alarm went off around 8:45 for church at 9:30. I was immediately annoyed that I needed to get up, but more annoyed that I have to pee. And by pee I mean, if I hold it any longer I'm going to pull a muscle. After church Sam and I ate some indian food.
Typical Sunday, nothing special.
Here's where it gets good. We stepped on the metro around 4:30 to head downtown to go to the Gibson Amphitheater. The Gibson holds about 6,000 people and has held the Grammy's, MTV Movie Awards and Possibly Purina's Dog Show (Don't quote me on the last one).

However, we went and saw CONAN O'BRIAN!! I could not have been more pumped, excited, ecstatic...I can't think of another word to express my emotional state. Let's suffice to say that I was beside myself. (Look at that, I came up with another one.)

Conan was great, hilarious as always. He had plenty of guests as well. Jim Carrey, Aziz Ansari, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Jonah Hill to name a few.

A much needed weekend in the midst of a busy quarter filled with unfunny things like, systematic theology, the book of Genesis and ethnography's of clowns. (Oh wait...that last one is funny, my bad)

By the way, no one calls coffee shops, Java Huts, I just wanted to mess with you and see if I could get you to say it. But then I regretted it. Because how embarrassing would that if you came out here and said, "Hey, let's go to a Java Hut and chill" Everyone would point and laugh and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Not even Hitler, history already has a skewed view of that guy.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Mixtape

Here's the problem with Grad school.

It is seriously getting in the way of my TV watching. I mean between the 300 pages of reading I have from week to week, when do these professors think I have time to watch such gems as; Glee, Friday Night Lights, How I met your Mother, Chuck, 30 Rock, Community, Lost to name a few.

So annoying.

Life here on the West Coast has entered a monotonous place. School, school, school. I have found a way to break the monotony. At least for me anyway. I have discovered a website that may or may not have been created for me. www.8tracks.com

It is a place where people can make playlists out of their own library and post them for others to listen to. Its a great place to discover new music and share music. There is something hippy and bohemian about it. Don't get me wrong, I hate hippies. Like HATE! But, I like that they share.

But, this website I think is a genius idea. I have always loved making playlists. Anytime there is an opportunity, I sit at the computer and think through the songs. It is not an easy task. You don't just randomly pick songs place them in a devil may care manner. Songs need to have a flow. One needs to bleed into another. I needs to be a natural progression. You can't play Damian Rice and the next song be Rage Against the Machine. It doesn't work and throws off the party. You also have to take into account the guests. The "DJ", if you will, cannot play a lot of songs the audience does not know, the music should accent the group. Accent the conversation but not overpower. The DJ cannot be self indulgent enough to only play what he wants to hear, the DJ needs to throw in some Beyonce', Sting and a few obscurities here and there to encourage a broader listening palette.

Well, that gives you an insight into the weird, bizarre mind of Matt Johnson and the things I deem important. One of those things is a solid playlist.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Spring Cleaning

I called my mom the other day and she was out of breath. This is a odd occurrence for my mother because she rarely does any serious physical activity. Yes, she goes on walks but rarely is she at the point that it hurts to breath. You can imagine my concern when she picked up the phone and it took her 4 breaths to get out the word "Hello". I asked her what was going on, why she was so out of breath and she responded with, "I'm cleaning, Spring Cleaning".

Immediately terror shot through my veins. I was instantly taken to my childhood memories of being forced to participate in, SPRING CLEANING!! Other families look forward to spring. They go on walks, go to the beach, go on a family fun run, have a picnic, family cartwheels through the field. My family boxes up winter clothing, rakes the yard, real lame stuff that seriously gets in the way of watching TV on the couch.

This got me thinking. Maybe its time to "spring clean" WestCoastMatt. So, as you can see, I changed some things up. If you are expecting incredible insight into world events, I still cannot and will not offer those. (Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?) But if you are looking for a witty anecdote and bad grammar then please come back.

It's funny how after you do some cleaning and rearranging, everything seems to make more sense. You look out over your new living room and you think to yourself, "Of course, why wouldn't I have put the TV there and the couch there! It is so much more comfortable and there is no more glare on the TV" That's how we feel here at WestCoastMatt. We try and keep things fresh and light (as well as in the third person) for our readers.

I have a twitter now. I am marginally disappointed with myself. I was hesitant to do it, but once I did I can't imagine ever turning back. Anything that allows me to simultaneously follow Michael Jordan and Reese Witherspoon is an invention that I can get on board with.

If you are interested in following me: johnsonspeaks




Tuesday, April 6, 2010

E-Day Brunch

I'm beginning to notice theme in these blogs. Maybe you have already seen it. Adulthood. You, the viewer or "Peeping Tom" have been watching me closely and noticed this growth. This is what bothers me...you haven't said anything! I've been walking around, casually, becoming an adult. I new something was weird when my voice dropped and I was no longer confused for my mother on the phone. I should have seen it coming.

I wish we'd all been ready! (Any contemporary christian music fans out there?)

Easter sunday I had brunch. I know, Brunch! That is what adults do. It's a bizarre concept. Its not breakfast, because mimosas are involved. It's not lunch because of the presence of eggs.

It is the purgatory of meals. It exists in the gray area and no one really knows what to do when you are there to get out.

I was concerned when the the plans were made. What was I going to do? How was I going to contribute?

Cook? No. I'm lucky to affectively boil noodles.

Host? Maybe, I am quite funny but that is a lot of pressure. I mean, Jesus rose from the dead, how do you top that?

I decided to lead an Easter Egg hunt. Great idea right? It would have been if the state of California did not sell out of those hollow, plastic eggs three days before E-Day (Easter Sunday). Who thought I had to be responsible enough to buy those eggs 4 days in advance?

So what did I do next? I put together one of the sweetest playlists that has ever been assembled. It was 4 sweet hours of Ray Charles, Righteous Brothers, John Legend and Carol King to name a few.

Let's just say that if E-day was a movie, you would all be asking questions about the soundtrack.

I hope you all had a great Easter Sunday, I leave you with an article that I found interesting and awesome.

Friday, April 2, 2010

We're Brothers...


My brother is here.

Andrew is in my top 5 funniest people. He says and does things completely different from any other person I have ever met. His hand motions and insights into the world make me laugh.

When I asked my brother what it was he wanted to do before he came out he answered simply, "Chinese theatre and the Hollywood sign". These, in theory, are easy to accomplish. The theatre is the easiest. We drive to Hollywood BLVD, park, mission accomplished. The second is a little more difficult. Yes, of course, you can see it from many different places in LA. But, you can't really see it. I don't mean this in an existential way where sight is subject to the viewer and the object is up for debate. I mean that It is hard to get a picture of the thing. It is so far away!

Here's the problem.

You see it in the movies. Steven Spielberg zooms in on it and there it is. Done. The sign. Right there. You could almost touch it if you wanted to. Well, move here and try and touch it.

You can't, it is high up on a mountain with fences around it. Its like someone out there is pointing and laughing at your weak and feeble attempts.



Well, we did not let this "sign" get the best of us. We got it. Well...by "got it" I mean, we took a decent picture while standing at the observatory. The observatory is famous because of such films as Rebel without a cause and Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle.

In other news. I bought a new pair of shoes.

Star Wars Edition At-At. google it. You won't be sorry.