leslie simon book signing book soup 00 Wish You Were Here Book Signing with Leslie Simon

Yesterday, BreeSays and I popped over to Book Soup on Sunset in West Hollywood for the book signing of our buddy Leslie Simon. Leslie read snippets from Wish You Were Here: An Essential Guide To Your Favorite Music Scenes—From Punk To Indie And Everything In Between while we snapped pictures and scurried to the back of the store to inhale cubes of cheese and sip on wine.

I took some video of Leslie gettin’ her read on. This first one is of her discussing the Los Angeles music scene, most specifically actors and actresses who suddenly fancy themselves musically-inclined. (You know who you are. *Ahem* Keanu Reeves.)

In the second clip, Leslie gushes about her love for the ridiculousness that is Jada Pinkett-Smith and her metal band Wicked Wisdom.

For those of you who were unable to make it and wish you would have been there (get it?), have no fear! You can still buy the book and check out these pictures of the event. I especially like the one of Leslie cooling off with her Hello Kitty personal fan.

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World’s Largest Cigar Store

cigar superstore north carolina 22 Worlds Largest Cigar Store

On our day to trip to Raleigh, North Carolina over the holidays, Keegan and I saw a sign for JR Cigar in Selma. Keegan saw the billboard for the warehouse on the side of the highway and excitedly informed me that he’d often ordered cigars online from there and couldn’t believe we’d stumbled upon it pretty much by accident.

Only after seeing the place myself do I believe just how huge this place is. They even had wedding dresses. It was nuts.

We wandered through the store that had everything. There were books, plastic flowers, clothes, hunting supplies and of course, cigars. The cigar lounge was the biggest we’d ever seen and we almost fell over from the smell when we first walked inside. Sitting in two leather lounge chairs, two chubby bubbas puffed on their stogies while chatting, an image that highly amused Keegan.

Probably our second favorite feature of the store was their extensive collection of “Idiot’s Guide” books. Who knew dummies craved so much knowledge?

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If She Can Write a Book…

p 00012 If She Can Write a Book...

…then I don’t see why I can’t string a few sentences together, print them up on paper, bind them and sell them.

Right?

Meanwhile, I love how supremely annoyed I look in this picture. It’s not all poor little Tila Tequila‘s fault. The sun was shining in my eyes.

So, in this video, Tila can barely finish a sentence without getting distracted by what are undoubtedly pictures of herself off-camera. If she’s not drunk or high in this video, then she needs to start taking her ADD medication. Because I can’t think of any other reasonable explanation for these pointless ramblings.

I feel like I’m watching the audition tape for the middle school short bus debate team.

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Choke

choke poster ChokeI went to go see Choke a while back on limited release at the Arclight in Hollywood and I liked it. I’ve already read the book a number of times, loved it and was curious to see the most recent Chuck Palahniuk adaptation on the big screen.

Naturally, comparisons will be made to David Fincher‘s iconic take on Palahniuk’s Fight Club, the novel that first put the author on the map. Whereas FC was glossy and full of fantasy sequences that blurred the line between reality and some alternative universe that existed solely in the mind of the main character, Choke is grounded in reality with an actual gritty look and feel to it—in contrast to the slick, CGI-filled rollercoaster ride of escapism that FC provided on the big screen.

I think it’s this realistic realism (the kind of realism that comes from showing what actual heroin addicts look like versus the “heroin chic” supermodels who peppered the ads of fashion magazines in the mid to late 90s) in which Choke finds its greatest strength.

The movie is an hour and 40 minutes and even though I felt that the pacing kept the movie from ever dragging, I actually think it could have been a little longer—allowing Victor to give a little more back story and do more strange introverted contemplation. I definitely would have loved to see a little more of Angelica Huston in flashback sequences, relishing her stylish 70s persona in an get-up that made her look like a dark Carmen Sandiego, complete with a dramatic fedora, eyeliner and fingerless leather gloves.

All in all, the script mostly stayed true to the original story, if I’m remembering it correctly, except for maybe the ending. I’m pretty sure the outcome of the film was softer and more optimistic than the one from the novel.

I really enjoyed the actors in the film and I think that because it was co-written, directed and also co-starred actor Clark Gregg, great detail was paid to the performances. Sam Rockwell embodied the role of Victor Mancini with the skill of a character actor who can by turns be ordinary, ugly, fascinating and inexplicably attractive. Rockwell made his eyes bulge and his veins throb each time Victor purposely jammed a hunk of food down his throat. His inglorious sex scenes with fellow sexual compulsive Nico made me feel as if I could smell the typical public bathroom odors that wafted past the couple copulating on the hard, unforgiving tile.

I was particularly curious to see how my favorite scene—the rape fantasy episode—would be treated. I laughed out loud when I got to see it played out on the big screen, which was a high point in the movie for me.

All in all, I definitely think it’s worth going to the movies to see. Throw your hard-earned dollars at Choke, if you’re lucky enough to be within range of its limited release.

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