ive often said i dont like being on panel discussions

and tonight i was faced with why

even though i have a website with my name in it, and even though i fake it reasonably well, (not so) deep down i am ridiculously shy

and i know myself well enough to realize that if i have my mouth open the odds significantly increase that i will say something embarrassing to either myself or my employer.

but people invite me to these things, and i battle the fear of being boring with the fear of making a fool outta myself and a lil demon whispers in my ear something along these lines:

you are tony pierce OF COURSE you are going to say something stupid, so just dont Also be boring. and ps you cant hide who you are.

those voices make their way to my stomach. which is the magic 8 ball of my soul. so for lunch i ate a sensible salad. and when i left a little early to change clothes at home i went to Vons and got a nice spicy tuna roll

because what could be better for a soon-to-be-upset stomach than supermarket sushi?

but relaxed at home for a few minutes. snacked. ished, showerd, and shaved. got into some traffic. made it to the santa monica with 4 minutes to spare.

and when the time came for we, the panel to be introduced, thank God, the host of the show took the floor (pictured above) for 10 minutes because suddenly it got really hot in the room and i ran to the mens room to powder my nose cuz i was fixin to die.

got back just in time as the panel had introduced themselves, it was my turn and we were off.

all went (seemingly) well – other than the sustained hiss i got from one member of the audience after i told the crowd of attractive young women that if they all dont have a photo of themselves as their Twitter icon then they’re missing a great opportunity if attaining followers was one of their goals.

i even got a few laughs.

but right at the end someone asked what my favorite blogs were. and i said, well it might seem like pandering but i have often said my faves have almost exclusively been women and most of them happened to reside in Canada.

i explained that two in particular was one raymi the minx and one keira-anne. and, because time is of the essence, especially near the end of a two-hour discussion, i described one as “sweet” and the other as “saucy”.

somehow all i was projecting was that i liked them because they were both easy on the eyes.

and i got called out.

a followup question came from the back along the lines of “other than being hot what ELSE do you enjoy from these female bloggers?”

and your hero thought, this is exactly why your stomach did not want to be here. this is precisely why i should just stay in my pajamas and hide behind the glow of the macbook. this is specifically why i attempt to remain comfortably numb in public – because when i drop my guard the unedjumacated politically-incorrect sexist pig leaks out and everyone can see.

but luckily i was able to explain that yes people like raymi and keira and so many others may lure you in with their beautiful photos but once you get beyond the image and get to the actual content you get to see not just who these fine women are but you learn a little about the cities and country that they live in. you get to learn about their struggles, insecurities, hopes, loves, dramas, families, and stories.

after the show the young lady who had put me on the spot was super sweet and apologized for what was probably seen as an awkward moment, but i told her not to sweat it, that it was honest and great because all we had been talking about was to be honest in our blogging and tweeting and there she was actually living it.

anyways if we hadnt been rudely interrupted by one of the only other dudes in the place i wanted to tell her that right now my favorite summer blog is also written by a young lady, but an AMERICAN

yes, Alecia’s asian vacation is the type of travel writing that can only be seen in blogs for its honest, not trying to be anything other than what it is, educational, funny, weird, filled with pictures, and so so many interesting tales.

more female bloggers i am inspired by and hope to one day be as good as (lets try to keep it to 10): leah, lindsay, erin, gage, zulieka, krista, danielle, katfran, xiaxue, and last but not least the so nsfw xtx

ok now im going to drink that beer i promised myself.

someone got bored and left me

a lot of questions on my formspringr

q. did you hear the latest? people in iraq had their first ever irish pub there after american troops left. they had a blast!

a. did you hear the latest? that joke bombed.

q. how many licks does it take to get to the centre of your heart?

a. i <3 how you canadians think its ok to spell like dirty frenchies.

q. only 2 days left in august. are you ready for september yet?

a. are you kidding – i have my calendar-flipping finger all lubed up and limber.

q. if you had a credit card with an unlimited spending limit, what would you buy first?

a. but you see, in your fictional scenario i’d still have to pay off said purchase, so nothing. i hate having bills of any sort. use cash bro. its in the bible. sorta.

q. what favorite food do you like to make these days with cheese?

a. i do everything i can so that i never have to make anything called food. if i cant get it via a drive thru or at a sushi bar i have failed.

q. light hearted conversation usually leads to laughter. are you able to laugh these days on a whim?

a. sure but its not heartfelt. its more of a nervous laughter. a creepy one.

q. in the circle of life, who is it in yours that is always a few sandwiches short?

a. those who leave formspring questions. zing!

q. how comfortable are you with your friends online that you have connected with out there in real as well?

a. there are those you want to sleep with and those you want to drink with. both sets i can handle for about 4 hours then i wanna be alone again.

q. if one of your friends in cyberspace was about to become homeless because of unforseen circumstances, would you let them stay with you?

a. probably not. i rarely enjoy having house guests, especially those who might not ever leave.

q. have you ever met really funny people while doing your laundry?

a. no. mostly super sad people because WE ARE DOING LAUNDRY AND DONT HAVE MACHINES IN OUR MANSIONS

q. what are some of the things you do on saturdays that open a new door to your boundaries of thought?

a. dude my thoughts have no boundaries. thats part of the problem/

q. what is your most funniest japanese phrase or saying.. ?

a. what have you people done with the forks!

q. name 3 things that are funny about yourself.

a. my double chins, my pregnant belly, and my funny bones.

q. would you like to come out for some cheesecake?

a. sounds cheesy

q. have you seen others out there of late trying to make a real difference for others? what has been the most inspiring so far?

a. i have met some people in the peace corps. i think i love them.

q. who is your favorite european artist? .. music wise.

a. the clash

q. what has been your favorite item of clothing from the Gap?

a. you just want me to say thong dont you

q. did you notice the tree’s are starting to change color already , yet!!!

a. did you notice you added an apostrophe for no good reason?

i dont like doing panel discussions

but someone cool invited me to partake. so if youre in LA and want to see something you wont see very often, read below. but first an example of old school social media

from the invite:

Hello L.A. Edsters. Our friends at Demand Media (which is seemingly always hiring, btw) have agreed to play host to our next Ed 2010 panel discussion. This one will be a brown bag discussion on social media and how to use it to better your journalism career and your publication’s online attention.

We’ll have four panelists discuss these and other issues and then we’ll open the discussion up to you guys. Most important, we’ll give Edsters some time to network (socially) after the event.

MORE DETAILS:

Our esteemed panel of social media experts include Tony Pierce, blog editor for Los Angeles Times (Twitter: @busblog), Rachel Globus, editor, Answerbag.com/Demand Media (Twitter: @mediajunkette), Sheigh Crabtree, Vice President of Audience Development at Perfect Market (Twitter: @sheigh), Debra Eckerling, Freelance journalist/manager of Write On Online (Twitter: @writeononline). Before we start the panel, Jeremy Reed, Demand’s SVP of content (Twitter: @jebreed) will welcome everyone.

REFRESHMENTS: Sodas and waters will be on hand.

PARKING: There is a public parking garage on Second Street, next door to Demand Media’s building. The fee is $5. There is also parking in Demand Media’s garage for $6. If you’re parking on the street or in the public lot: someone will be at the front door of the building to let you in. Ring the buzzer near the main entrance to enter the office.

Why don’t I like panels? I’m not convinced that anything ever comes of them. Is the web better? Do people do stuff smarter? Do people really learn in ways they don’t learn from just reading the sites and blogs?

I know I live in LA and schmoozing makes the world go round, but schmoozing makes my gut churn ’round. I hate it, i avoid it, and i can count on one hand the positives that i have experienced either professionally or personally from contact i have made while wearing a “Hi my name is Busblog” sticker.

But like I said, some cool people invited me and I look forward to being on a panel with my former cohort Sheigh who is a quiet leader on the web.

today is the sunset strip music festival

and i cant wait.

last year the Donnas, the Kottonmouth Kings, Korn, Ozzy and many more rocked the strip. (check out my photo essay review of last years fest on Pop & Hiss).

this year Common, Slash, and the Smashing Pumpkins are the big acts that will have us rocking out to.

it’s been super hot all week, but the Good Lord pushed the high temps out of Hollywood this weekend and thats why it’s right to give him praise.

Here’s a quickie little video clip of my favorite moment at last year’s SSMF which beautifully employs not only the main stages on either side of the historic street but also some of the coolest clubs in Hollywood: The Roxy, The Whisky, and the Viper Room.

oh and also the Hustler Store is right there on the strip too. ha!

dear fake marisa gabrielson

thank you for inviting me to be your 8th friend on facebook.

something troubles me though.

how does such a pretty young lady allegedly working somewhere as interesting as the Los Angeles Times only have 7 friends on facebook?

also, how is it that i dont remember seeing you around the building and yet you want me to be your 8th friend?

did you hate everyone at Laguna Beach High AND everyone at your college?

also, why are the only friends you have on facebook guys? do you hate all women too?

meanwhile who is this marisa gabrielson who bears a striking resemblance to you, who, like so many pretty young ladies does not share her private information to plain old strangers on the web. and she, I would hazard to guess, has hundreds of facebook friends

because she is really marisa

and not some shady spam-based operation waiting to lure horny weird men into their trap and unleash some ungodly web-based chicanery upon their computer for no extra charge.

real spam dude behind fake babe profile, why on earth would you target the LA Times, an organization that could easily investigate whats behind all this tom foolery and out you faster than you could say chimichanga (for no other reason than its fun to say chimichanga)?

you sound like someone dying to get caught.

which is what will happen to you, by us, or by someone. dont worry.

and if youre lucky someone like marisa will sue you for how youve damaged her in some way.

which is why i intentionally spelled her name wrong

on this sacred blog.

it’s friday

which means omg its Answers from Tony

what are your thoughts on the proposed weezer tour where they play two nights in each city, first night they play the blue album start to finish and second night pinkerton?

i have several thoughts.

first you should know that both of those records are two of my faves of all time.

you should also know that both of those records are pretty short (Blue Album is 41:17, Pinkerton is 34:36). and we all know =w= isnt hurtin for cash. and we know Rivers is a spiritual man and therefore wouldnt seriously charge fans $$$$ to see two shows when conceivably the band could do both albums in one night.

because im olde i actually saw the first blue album tour and weezer played all of it plus a few b-sides at the Universal Amphitheater (as it was called then) and it was a great show but it felt abbreviated because most of those songs are short and feel shorter.

if i was the weeze and i wanted to plant my flag id do the blue record first have a cute intermission where, i dont know, The Rentals would come out and play 4-5 songs, then id come out with Matt Sharp and do Pinkerton, and bust out some metal classics for the encore with Matt and the Rentals all on stage.

now that would be a concert.

anything else would border on gimmickry, novelty, and things-unlike-weezer.

lookee here, it’s Mark Milian once again

explaining a new facebook feature

with David Sarno, and special guest Dan Gaines.

very funny way to talk about a new feature in a way big newspapers rarely do.

also tip of the hat to Tim French who filmed it and Myung who cut this video.

Tim was my guy when i interviewed Hef and Bruce Willis and Myung was my dude whene I went to the mansion for Halloween. They rock mightilly.

the truest wanted to go to the so so sushi place

i was all, f that, you deserve the best, lets do it right


hot sake is so good. you try to only have one large but a small bottle always gets ordered later.


this is what the sushi chef looks like after a beer and some sake


the fish in the back was some wild japanese mystery that was sooooo good. in front (outta focus) is the sawara


wild sake salmon in the back cold chillin


lincoln blvd., btw, near the Custom Hotel


sauteed mushrooms and japanese green peppers


in the back is the toro that makes girls squeal in delight and up front was an aja that was so great


they can even make potatoes taste better than any potatoes youve ever had


end it all with some green tea ice cream. not pictured, the lobster roll. meal for two is over a hundy so save up, however so worth it.