People shouldn’t throw food.
Being young is hard enough
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Author Archives: tony
What should and will win the Oscars 2020
BEST PICTURE
Who should win: Jojo Rabbit
Who will win: Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood
LEAD ACTOR
Who should and will win: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
LEAD ACTRESS
Who should and will win: Renée Zellweger, Judy
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Who should win: Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
Who will win: Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Who should and will win: Laura Dern, Marriage Story
DIRECTOR
Who should win: Sam Mendes, 1917
Who will win: Bong Joon Ho, Parasite
ANIMATED FEATURE
Who should win: Klaus
Who will win: Toy Story 4
ANIMATED SHORT
Who should win: Memorable
Who will win: Hair Love
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Who should win: Jojo Rabbit, Taika Waititi
Who will win: The Two Popes, Anthony McCarten
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Who should win: It should be a five-way tie.
Who will win: Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Who should and will win: Roger Deakins, 1917
nothing in class was true
When i was in junior high i had an unreliable history teacher.
He was funny and entertaining but, ironically, like the History Channel on TV, he wasn’t all that accurate.
One of the things that he said was the reason we beat the British in the 1700s was because they stood in plain sight, in bright red uniforms, lined up in rows
And we hid behind trees, climbed buildings and “cheated” at the game of war.
It’s hard for me now to believe that if a man is shooting at you, you just stand there and reload your musket in your red uniform, but who knows, times have changed.
But it reminds me of Trump, the GOP and this impeachment that just went down.
Mitch McConnell may not be the smartest man, the most eloquent man, or the most principled person. But he knows how to hide behind a tree and cheat at war.
For those of you reading this in the distant future: those fuckers held a trial with no witnesses or evidence so their man could wiggle off the hook.
They didnt pretend to care about the constitution or the oath to God they had just sworn to uphold. They didn’t care that he was accused for something that is literally the buggarring of democracy. All they care about is living to see another day.
And right now in American politics, you’re more likely to get heat if you do the right thing than you will if you do the evil-but-politically-advantageous thing.
In a perfect world you’d get beaten down for letting a corrupt man off the hook to do it again, but life is far from perfect right now, Future people.
Faaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrr
yr not in kansas any more
The funniest Super Bowl commercial was the one in support for more funding for public schools.
Why? Because since he was a lad, Donald Trump was enrolled in private schools and since graduating has bankrupted numerous businesses, has been impeached and today flaunted that he doesn’t even know what state the Kansas City Chiefs play in.
Former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, a product of public schools, tweeted: “It’s Missouri you stone cold idiot.”
As my man Joe Armstrong notes, “671,018 Kansas residents voted for Donald in the 2016 election, bestowing upon him the state’s six electoral votes with 56.16% of the vote.”
Kansas hasn’t voted for a Democrat for POTUS since LBJ. Would be interesting if this gaff during their moment of celebration, swings the state blue in 2020.
what i wrote for los angeleno in january 2020
Where Does the Eastside of L.A. Start?
Our Sex Workers and Firefighters are Lending Their Talents to Help Australia
MLK Through the Eyes of Those Living and Working on MLK Blvd.
What It’s Like to Be the Publicist for The Oscars
Remembering Kobe Bryant the Oscar Nominee
Tips for Making a Killer Super Bowl Spread
fucking loved the eastside story. very first guy i talk to, homeless, dressed 1,000x better than i am, clean, funny, tells me a few things he asks me to keep off the record. then he tells me exactly which taco stand he was at in east la just yesterday. ended up in a tattoo shop, disturbing two self proclaimed introverts playing a form of Magic the Gathering, met the coolest old guy ever, and barely understood about a half hour of mumbles from two drunk guys who actually had good stories.
for the sex workers it was great to be able to text jeff koga and say, got any pics of riley reid.
mlk was one i did with a photographer i’d never met before. she was really terrific. the funniest was interviewing this rapper whose day job is dressing up as the statue of liberty while spinning a sign for an income tax office. he was all you can take a picture but dont show my face. i was like yr a rapper? he was all yeah. so i go, you’re missing out on your story. countless handsome black guys are rappers. but how many were dressed up as the statue of liberty — willing to do anything for that dream, and then make it to the top? and he let me take his picture.
the oscar publicist interview was great. perfect conversation. warm day. dogs. i ate half of an eggs benedict. at the other half when i got home. who can eat when they’re conducting an interview? on the way there i thought of the perfect studio for a podcast: a mini van. just soundproof it real good, flip one of the rows of seats around. carpet the floors. install the mics. then you can just go wherever they live or work, drive to a park, and chat in the van. always perfect sound.
for the kobe oscar nom piece, i love the photos. the academy photographers were always so easy to work with. and at oscars time, mama mia they had some good stories. some of the older ones have seen it all. like they used to have to rush their film to the developer via a guy waiting on a motorcycle in the middle of oscar night.
and then yesterday we posted my interview with sarah gim who makes the most beautiful images of food and spreads. im working on this long middle class thing or else i would have had more to show.
what do i want to do
everything.
amber came home today and was all, lets walk
we walked and walked and
ate and ate and
drank so much water
i was like lets take the bus home
she said lets walk and walk and
walk and walk
shes now snoring and snoring im on the couch
cat’s on his back with his paws up
half asleep and who isnt
its 145am super bowl sunday
might as well.
had a very good day with amber today
it was her day off
but it was not mine. so for a long time in the day i was working on getting this kobe bryant piece up.
and fine tuning it, and reworking it.
still when it published there were typos.
of course.
then we had to jet across over to the Grove to interview a bunch of people.
that was not as easy as you think, but when people open up incredible things come out, so you dont need that many to talk to you.
just enough did.
and i learned that the oldest toy store in LA is in the Farmer’s Market,
and it’s beautifully stocked.
dude told me Nerf basketball is still very popular at his store.
then we went to in n out to have a cheap date nite
then we came home because i had to upload the pics from the Grove and do stuff with the audio,
and then i transcribed a few from another outing
then we drove over to CityWalk because i wanted to see Ford versus Ferrari because it was nominated for Best Picture
and I think Christian Bale was nominated and maybe Matt Damon too,
who knows but it started at 9:50pm so we went
learned an interesting thing, at that late hour they don’t charge you for parking.
saved $5 right there!
the movie was ok. nothing special. i mean i enjoyed learning a little about Shelby and Lee Iacocoa
and Les Mans
but whatever, glad i saw it, Adam Sandler was robbed.
then i came home and did a bunch more transcribing.
amber and i had a wonderful time hanging out together, something we rarely get to do it seems
and it was great.
i circled the date on the calendar
and put a star on it
i wonder if everyone is like this
i am 53 years old and i still feel shocked when i do something well or someone calls me back or a pretty girl kisses me or i have a few nice things.
it’s like how Trump keeps talking about how many people voted for him. how he keeps that flawed electoral map on his desk.
did i really do that?
am i seriously the president?
i call my mom all the time telling her, i just did this, i just did that
in amazement.
sometimes i expect her to say, baby you’re the busblog, of course they want you at that party of course they wanna talk to you, of course these nice things happen to you: you’re nice. i raised a good boy!
also whats weird is i dont look at my actual accomplishments as big deals, it’s the little victories that mean so much.
tiny ones, like when people trust me, or confide in me, or treat me with respect.
those things dont happen to 17 year olds from the suburbs.
so when they happen to me, im blown away.
i wish they could all be like this
last week it was decided that we should have an Oscar story or two, so all eyes were on me
and i thought of how hard it must have been to be the TV show’s main hype man
i mean there was Oscars So White, EnvelopeGate, Trumpsters hating host Jimble Kimble, there was Kevin Hart struggling between the cardinal rule of comedy (never apologize) and what the Academy asked him to do to remain host, and of course ratings of all tv shows sinking as people cut the cord
that PR person is an excellent man who no longer has that duty, Steve Rohr.
so i emailed him and asked him if he wanted to get the treatment, he agreed, and thursday we had lunch.
thursday night i transcribed it, wrote it, edited it and today it was published to a very warm welcome from the internet.
why? i think because we weren’t trying to make news or talk out of school, i just wanted people to know about his fascinating gig, and he was finally free to reveal all. plus, who better than someone like me to ask the questions since for years we worked on opposite ends of the same floor?
i was the right person because on one hand i did know some things, and saw some things, but on the other hand, i was in a different department involved in different assignments and priorities, so i was interested in being educated on certain things myself.
interviewing Steve reminded me of how in October i talked baseball with Jon Weisman who does publicity for Showtime. both men are so well spoken and clear. you transcribe what they say and it’s just as good as if they wrote and edited it before it came out of their mouths. very inspiring.
also, both of their memories are astoundingly accurate. names, dates, ages.
tomorrow im going to the grove to ask people questions. it wont be as easy because theyre strangers, but the good thing about strangers is they are more likely to tell you freakier things because they probably wont ever see them again and you dont know the same people.
in a turn of the tables, i was the one on the hot seat when Miss604 interviewed me about driving for Uber n Lyft.
apparently Vancouver has *just* okayed rideshare and she wanted to know what makes a good rider and i told her not just that, but lots of other tips too. so many she had to make it a two-parter.
rebbecca took this incredible picture of me driving she and keira-anne around beverly hills almost exactly three years ago
her blog has always been one of my faves and vancouver is lucky that she has kept it rolling.
don’t let me be misunderstood
today I filmed something for a documentary that will be aired on the Epix channel
IT WAS ABOUT SEX!
I did it because someone I respect asked me to. At first I was all eh. Like any good story I tell will sound like bragging. And if I hold it in it wastes everyone’s time.
Also: as a reporter, I’m begging people to unleash the kraken, wouldn’t i be a hypocrite if I don’t answer all questions honestly and frankly, on the record, anytime someone asks?
And isn’t being ashamed to even Talk about sec something the Devil would love?
Why the shame? Sex is one of the purest bonuses of being human. Most animals don’t even like honing, why should we feel embarrassed Talking about it?
but then the questions came and — wow!
how many times do you think about it? What’s your wildest experience? How about anal.
EXCUSE ME, DOUG?
I did my best to keep things both entertaining, earnest, but midwestern but it was
hard.
I just hope they are kind to me in post.