aka The Battle of Kruger, which will be on the National Geographic Channel on sunday

so tell your ma you love her and then watch WHEN ANIMALS ATTACK!

raymi blathers: did you ever get around to answering my question about why you dress like a dingus?

yes i did and it was awesome.

bloopy writes: i was gonna ask, “what’s a dingus – is it related to being a lloyd?” but i just looked it up so instead i think i’ll ask, “what do dinguses tend to wear in the wild?”. . .

in the wild the dingus, like the raymi, is usually topless.

Phaedra wonders: if you could choose 1 person(living or not) to enjoy a puff and conversation with, who would that be?

this year im not doing any puffing. ive been offered to puff with quite a few excellent people, but instead i simply conversed with them. there may be a day when i puff And converse with someone again, and if i could choose 1 person alive or dead to do that with it would definitely be Artie Lange.

Pikatcho proposes: I want the XtremeMac Tuffwrap Plus for the Ipod Touch

It is true beauty to my eyes. But, I live in Canada, and apparently Mac accessories cannot be shipped to Canada (I tried it, and lost 50$).

But I want it ever so badly. And I don’t really know anyone in the states. If I give you cost + shipping + $20 for you very own pocket, will you buy and ship it to me?

That would rock.

Bonus Question: Remember the podcasts with Matt Good? Remember those good old days? Have I missed any podcasts lately? There should be another.

I would, but eBay is more rockin than i. as for podcasting, you havent missed any. me and MG used to do quite a few of them but we never really liked the audio quality of them and as you know Matt has the ear of a jewel thief. also now that i work where i do, i probably shouldnt end up in such politically charged audio chats. i should probably leave that to the pros who i work with.

Will Campbell queries: As a Sirius subscriber I’m troubled by rumors (fueled by ambiguous language on the siriusmerger.com website) that I may have to lay down some cash post merger for new hardware because current Sirius radios won’t get XM stuff and vice versa. As a satellite radio subscriber yourself, might you have any thoughts on this?

P.S. Bike To Work Week is next. Is there no better time to ride your bike to Spring Street?

first of all, is there any XM programming worthy of our Sirius equipment? i think not. secondly, i believe that the FCC has been petitioned by some powerful lobby or another to require that Sirius/XM promise not to raise prices if the merger goes through, allow third parties to create radios with the satelite receivers inside them, and allow subscribers to purchase the programming in several ways including a la cart. i would assume that that would include a la XM content too. either way i think we’re better off with our Howard.

Steve Adams asks: Is there any chance of you trying your hand at internet radio again, or did you LAist show give you too many headaches? You should try it again.

i gave Internet radio a good try. it wasnt always easy. it wasnt always hard. but back then i was too busy to even schedule one or two hours of my day for it, and now im 10 times busier. plus i work for a media giant now, i should probably focus on blogs.

Patrick ponders: they are putting up suicide fences on the cold spring bridge (since you lived in IV i figured you have been over it on the way to solvang/santa ynez sometime). Thoughts?

i knew someone who drove up there for the sole purpose of killing themselves. even without the fences they changed their mind when they got there. something tells me that if someone wants to ace themselves there are other places to jump in santa barbara than that scenic locale, namely the courthouse, the cliffs in iv, storke tower, the roof of FT. for starters.

lilian wonders: what are the top music blogs out there right now?

Soundboard, of course, Pitchfork, Gorilla vs Bear, Brooklyn Vegan, my old kentucky blog, largehearted boy for starters

anti asserts: will you stil come visit my school and talk about Los Angeles Times stuff? We’re in torrance. And can i still come take a tour of your work?

do you think you should do a revised 2008 version of “how to blog”?

What made you start using your twitter account more?

what band would you be embarrassed to admit you like?

yes, yes, no its perfect, because after i got my iPhone i was able to use SMS like a man and also because as you can see on the left i can display Twitter beautifully now, Wilson Phillips.

timmay!!!!! twestions: is kareem leaving the la times?

will obama end the war in iraq after he becomes president next year?
how long should we allow him to do so?

yes, no, we should demand that the president do the will of the people and if the people want the soldiers home the president should do like andre the giant and obey.

4rilla 4sks: Why are you going to movies with the cougar? You don’t seem all to into her.

sometimes you take a few days off and youre all, you know that chick isnt so bad, maybe im being too judgmental or picky, maybe im just being a dick. so you go to the movies, dance a little and realize, nope, it aint you. you should trust your instincts more.

zona begs: can you get mr tickets to Letterman on my birthday?

no but i can get mrs tickets to Leno. ahahahaha. jk. zona youre the man, no question about it, sadly i have no contacts at Letterman. but it seems to me that if you sent in your ticket request and told them what you do as your career he’d probably hook you up. however if that falls through, i do have a buddy at The Daily Show who might be able to get you in over there, and its a great show.

photos via raymi le minx

ax and i shall axswer

at the viper room.
they call this their quinceañera.
scott sterling from metromix interviewed them for this weeks cover story.
if i had to marry anyone right now it would be the donnas.
last summer i saw the donnas at the viper room and it was pretty good. not fantastic.
not as fantastic as i was hoping it would be. not as fantastic as when karisa and i saw them at the roxy a few years ago. not as fantastic as it shoulda been.
not as fantastic as the three songs they did at LAX were.
so im a little gunshy about going tonight.
plus i dont have anyone fantastic to go with.
lets take that back i have some choices but i dont wanna go with em
cuz what if its not fantastic, then i hafta force my smile
and i cant leave early.
tried to explain to this canadian about how sometimes i feel trapped.
not emotionally trapped, physically trapped.
when things are good or when things are bad i just wanna bail out.
felt that way even last night at iron man.
wanted to leave halfway through because i felt like i knew what was gonna happen.
and was instantly bored.
maybe one reason i love sxsw so much is cuz you can see a band for 15 minutes and leave and see another band for 15 and bail and so on and so on.
i have the attention span of a
i want a banana.

but everyones been going nuts over Iron Man and the cougar wanted to go and i felt good after work and there i was at the arclight with a hot lady and some extra cash in the etrade account thanks to ENER which went outta control today (thank you solar panels), so why not.

no it didnt live up to the hype that everyone else was saying. i have no idea why people are going 2-3 times, but i did like it, a lot. but maybe because iron man is named Tony and they kept saying Tony like a gazillion times. gwenyth paltrow, jeff bridges (who looks a lot like the trib co owner sam zell), the pimp from hustle & flow, everyone was yelling out Tony. it was like a Make Yr Own Adventure.

plus iron man lives in malibu and listens to ACDC, and well, lets just say it spoke to me.

afterwards we snuck into this club behind amoeba and danced a few songs and had a drink. which led to two. which led to an argument because i have a terrible problem – if i see that a woman doesnt like something, i will put my finger into that sore and i will push down on it.

some women dont like to be alone, some totally want to be alone, some women hate it when you point out hot ladies on the dancefloor. so lets say you dont like PDA, and im feeling nervous, i will make out with you just to see your reaction. lets say you love PDA, i probably wont touch you. when i was at the xbi they said that i would do this so that there would be a bullshit reason for women to reject me instead of a real reason like i was fat or fugly or drove a shitty car. but the xbi said the real reason i was being rejected was cuz i was being an asshole.

someone got called an asshole, someone else got driven home, and now someone is writing on his blog about iron man so that he can watch Lost, which everyone on Twitter is freaking out about.

what the xbi doesnt know and didnt know and obviously still doesnt know is even assholes get to go to heaven so i dont care if i get called that, i just dont wanna be called during my favorite tv show so the ringer is currently in the upright locked and fuck you position.

at first i was all eh, then i was like hmmm, then i was sorta wow, then i was all wtf, then i felt hungry, then i said this shit is still going on, then i was totally omg, now im feeling like i wanna hear it again.

midget kid

the jackson five doing “i’ll be there” accapella

wanna know why?

because people secretly love love songs.

also because it reminds them of a time when midget kids could fucking sing,

mylie

i was given a car to drive to coachella

i may have told you about it.

nizzan 350z.

and because the Lord loves me i was also hooked up with a bunch of cool folk from frisco, all web folk, who had a killer pad in La Quinta.

and because of the matt good + raymi + duane + oh canada + blogging community, i got to know ms suzie reynolds who flew to cali to rock out in the desert with me, as i wrote about the concert.

today the LA Times’ auto blog Up To Speed, published my review of the 350Z.

at first i did all the things that i was trained to do: keep it about the car, write about the features, explain the benefits, be critical, dont write about myself. but my editor Joni said, “yo tony, hate to say it, but this is going to be a series About the people and how the cars fit into Their lifestyle. so tell us about the concert and the girl and your experience. write about you. you have a great life, one that people would drool over, so tell them how that car fit into it. anyone can write about cars in a vaccum, so tell us about this car in a different way.”

so if you go here, you will see what i wrote, the way she wanted it. it was awkward doing it, but sorta easy once i got rolling.