August and Everything After

Been a busy couple of weeks. JM was in Seattle on business and Jona's busy back at school enjoying the new academic year. We saw "Funny People" last week (very good, a drama about stand-up comedians) and "(500) Days of Summer" on Friday. The latter has some beautiful shots of Downtown Los Angeles, especially of our neighborhood, which appears in many films and most commercials nowadays. The area that it focuses on is different from other films though, so it was a nice, surreal surprise. The local video shop (Old Bank DVD) is featured and the Bradbury Building (of "Blade Runner" fame) has a beautiful cameo at the very end. Very sweet film and one which will always remind us of this area and the years we have spent here. We've signed a new lease, so we're here in the same apartment for another year. While the building needs some TLC, the views of the Hollywood Hills, Griffith Observatory, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall are priceless, so we're happy to call it home for a little while longer. The beach and the sea are starting to look tempting though...

Tune in Tokyo

Well, we're back. The migration process from our web host has been pretty painful and slow (pretty much like their service in recent years, so avoid Apollo Hosting like the plague), but we are now back online.

We are planning to re-do the site, since we're going through this transition anyway. We're actually going to switch to UltraverseProductions.com, although you shouldn't notice as UltraverseMusic.com will point to the same place. What does the change mean? Well, since 2003, we've focused more on a number of types of media and design elements, rather than just music, so a change is long overdue. When we launched this site in 2003, JM was DJing and putting out a lot of music. While that's still a focus, he's also deep into photography and design. With a little luck, there will be some t-shirts up for sale on this site in the next two months, and a slimmed down photo section that will serve as JM's portfolio.

In the meantime, only the News section is up and running, so check back soon, as this format allows more frequent updates than previously. We'll see if we can get something more substantial up over the weekend.

Movie Madness

Well, how good was the Mel Brooks tribute at the Academy on Friday? It was fantastic. It was just so nice to see the best excerpts of his greatest films (from The Critic to The Producers to Blazing Saddles to Life Stinks) on a big screen. Many of his long-time collaborators were on hand, including the hilarious Carl Reiner (know to most as the old guy in Ocean's 11). Mel Brooks was also there in person, so it turned into an emotional night, as we watched footage of his departed wife, Anne Bancroft, dancing and seducing her audience. Of course, it was plain funny too as Brooks has funny bones, but the evening provided a nice balance for a tribute to such a mensch.

Saturday, we drove out to Santa Paula, Ventura and Camarillo. And, Sunday we went to the farmer's market in Hollywood, which has grown tremendously since we were last there. A weekend of errands, and then back to the Academy last night for the penultimate film in the 1939 series: Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, with Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr. Great film. Next week is the last in the series, The Wizard of Oz.

Signing Off... For Now.

So, here's the big news: Apollo Hosting, where our website has been based since 2003, is changing management, so we're switching to FatCow.com, which looks very promising. Until tomorrow, the website will be down, as the site transfers, and then we'll have to rebuild the site from scratch. This might be that golden opportunity to finally switch over to DreamWeaver. The site will look different from now on, but the update is long overdue. Thanks for sticking with us.

Nothing will happen tonight, as we're very excited about going to the Mel Brooks tribute at the Academy. More about that soon.

Render unto Caesar...

A while back, I read an interesting article in the New York Times about the home of the Caesar Salad. I was intrigued by the concept of it being created by an actual person, Caesar (originally Cesar) Cardini at the Restaurant Caesar in Tijuana, Mexico. I was even more intrigued by the fact that the restaurant is still around and still serving Caesar Salads, which most tourists are too scared to eat because of the raw egg involved. I sense a trip to Tijuana coming on. In the meantime, El Coyote in Los Angeles serves a mean version of the salad.

Total Eclipse

Today there will be a total eclipse of the sun, which can be seen throughout Asia, but also online.

We're having an eclipse of our own in California, with a horrible new budget for the state.

On the good news front, Downtown Los Angeles will see its first new cinema opening in decades this November, so we'll be able to avoid reality far more easily and far more often.

Speaking of films, the Academy's season of ten nominees for best picture in 1939 continues and we saw the great "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" on the big screen last night. Timeless classic. More relevant than ever. And this Friday we'll be back for more, as the Academy is hosting a tribute to Mel Brooks. Saddle up!

Yow!

Very sad about the news coming out of the Beastie Boys' camp this morning. We were looking forward to seeing them in concert at the Hollywood Bowl this September, but it turns out Adam Yauch (see title of this post for pronunciation) has a form of cancer in his throat and will go in for an operation next week. The good news is he's expected to make a full recovery; the bad: no new album or tour for a while. Our thoughts go out to him and his family. Check out the BBoys website for a very honest video explanation from the man himself.

Here's what the Hollywood Bowl website is posting:

"Adam "MCA" Yauch of Beastie Boys was diagnosed last week as having a cancerous tumor in his left parotid (salivary) gland. Luckily it was caught early and is localized in one area, and as such is considered very treatable. It will however require surgery and several weeks of additional treatment. Fortunately the cancer is not in a location that will affect Yauch's vocal chords.

Beastie Boys have canceled all upcoming concert appearances to allow time for Yauch's surgery and recovery. The release of the band's forthcoming album Hot Sauce Committee Part 1 will also be pushed back.

Paraphrasing from a video statement on Beastieboys.com, Yauch said, "I just need to take a little time to get this in check, and then we'll release the record and play some shows. It's a pain in the neck (sorry had to say it) because i was really looking forward to playing these shows, but the doctors have made it clear that this is not the kind of thing that can be put aside to deal with later."

Outsourcing

I've wrestled with an easier way to update the News section since we started this site in 2003. I abandoned this third-party blog after a few months back in 2005, as we were still posting a lot of photos in the News section. We're still using old software to update the site for the moment, so it's been pretty difficult changing the pages on a regular basis. We're switching back to a third-party blog service, as we need to update our site faster and from any location. Just as with the photo section (outsourced to a fantastic service called SmugMug), we're going to start using more dedicated services to run different parts of the site. In 2005, blog software was still in its infancy, but it seems to have caught up with our needs, so we have no more reservations. Hopefully, we can find a decent place for the mp3 mixes we host as well. In the meantime, here's another change and a new look we hope you'll appreciate.

As for news, we had our first "lazy" weekend since April. Friday, we went to see a great little documentary (Food, Inc.) at our favorite and cheapest cinema in Pasadena (the Regency). On Saturday we visited Jonna and Le to see beautiful Baby Addison in Orange County, and on Sunday we relaxed around the house, staying cool because outside it was hovering around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Summer's here, at long last.