Spittin' Wicked Randomness, Vol. XXIV

I haven't updated much lately, because I've been working 52 hours a week AND spending every spare minute when I'm not at work editing video and burning DVD's AND preparing for the large repair project that is currently going on in our house, with the entire office being torn apart and new windows, dry-wall and pannelling put up. But a few things that seem worth mentioning.

I did get to have a little fun Sunday morning, when I had to drop off Brandie at LAX to catch her flight back to school, then pick Bobbie up on her way back from visiting her dad. I had about 90 minutes to kill, so I went to Pann's Coffee Shop, possibly the Googie-est coffee shop in L.A. (except maybe for the Ship's locations, all of which are long gone). Everything about Pann's is perfect: the wacky type-face on the giant sign, the space-age design of the building, the stone wall that seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the decor. Food was good too, but a bit pricey--I ended up paying $15 for a french toast combo and coffee.

After that, I decided to make it a double-header and go to Randy's Donuts. After all, how can I call myself an Angeleno if I've never been to the place with the huge donut on top? I got a couple each of glazed and chocolate raised. And you know what? GREAT fuckin' donuts! Not that they were higher quality than other donuts, more like they were just more donut-y. Like, they were the essence of donutness.




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The great thing about this blog is occasionally getting a comment from someone really cool. And I got a really cool one on my Hillbilly Frankenstein post, from none other than the band's original lead singer, Miss Formica Dinette! She'll be performing with Robert Drasnin at Tiki Oasis this august, and the idea of her powerful lungs delivering Yma Sumac-like exotica vocals (I assume that's what we're talking about) makes me feel all tingly!


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As if Angelenos didn't have enough cool opportunities for movie watching between the Cinematheque (60's Japanese action flix AND film noir in April!), the New Bev and the Cinefamily, the So Bad It's Good Film Festival brings this classic to The Vista in Los Feliz this Friday at Midnight:

SAVAGE STREETS, SHOWGIRLS' Damaged, Group-Home-Reject Older Sister (1984)


Any fan of vintage 80's sleaze will want to ink in this ultra-rare big-screen presentation of one of the most deliciously nasty flicks of the decade. Displaying the kind of consistently full-throttle, go-for-broke badness that is the Holy Grail of trash, SAVAGE STREETS is LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN Meets CLASS OF 1984, marrying gritty sex to relentless violence. All the things we love about awesomely awful low-budget Cinemax fare are well-repped: a compelling plotline about a tough girl-gang honcha (the quintessential Linda Blair) out for revenge on the rival guy-gang who gang-raped her hearing- and titty-impaired baby sister (Linnea Quigley!) on the floor of the boys' locker room; multiple catfights; tons of nudity, including plenty of beaver and a hot pair of male buns; hideous post-FLASHDANCE style; filthy dialogue; overwrought original rock songs by John Farnham; and fresh from CHAINED HEAT, John "Dean Wormer" Vernon and Carole Ita "Rosie Greeenbaum" White as faculty members. Shot on the then-savage streets of pre-Kodak Theatre Hollywood, it climaxes at the Supply Sergeant where Linda shows she knows her way around a leather jumpsuit and a crossbow, if not the pronunciation of the word "drowning". Well-directed by unsung skank-meister Danny Steinmann, who hit the big-time with the most entertainingly disgusting FRIDAY THE 13TH installment, PART V, A NEW BEGINNING, then vanished from the landscape. Many Golden Turkeys promise jaw-dropping horrendousness and non-stop cheap laughs but this is one of very few that delivers them, along with a leg-warmered kick to the nutsac. "You're a tough little bitch, arentcha?" Then miss this at your peril! The screening at 12 midnight Friday, March 28, at the Vista Theatre will include a special appearance by co-star Luisa Leschin, who went on to become a top sitcom writer after playing Linda's giggly chola gal-pal.


-----Christian McLaughlin

I'm philosophically opposed to the phrase "so bad it's good," but that's a debate for another day. The Vista is my favorite theater for first-run movies, and provides patrons with an extraordinary amount of legroom (and easy access to the Tiki Ti).


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Bob's podcast this week is a selection of his favorite 70's punk songs, so worth checking out even if you can't truck with the sort of extreme hardcore he often showcases. Grab it before it goes away--Saturday morning, he'll be uploading his first installment of an Early Florida Punk series.

And speaking of podcasts, The Rub's History of Hip Hop podcasts are amazing.

Hilarious story: How P.Z. Myers got expelled from a screening of the creationist documentary Expelled! Read to the end--the punchline is what makes it.

Here's another great story: How a WWII Flying Ace found out that he had shot down his favorite author.

Boy, I'm so glad we're finally having that national dialogue about race...

And I just think this Josie and the Pussycats satanic posession comic is really cool.