happy first birthday Brand X!

and they said it wouldnt last.

brand x is motoring away and today they celebrate their first anniversary.

so proud of the young women and men who put together this weekly celebration of insightful features, profiles, news, and reviews that reach a slightly younger demographic than our flagship paper.

if only you knew how hard these folk work.

lemme put it this way, lets say its 9pm. lets say most of the building is gone. lets say youre walking through the second floor. there will be a Brand Xer or two plugging away. it might be Ali (above), it might be Deb, it might be Alex… you get the point

lemme put it another way. lets say its 6am. odds are Richard is blogging away for the blog. well before the dawns early light. well before yours truly even awakes. and sometimes he’s rockin before that time.

which all makes it not one bit surprising that their content is so solid and their success is consistent and sure. i heart them all.

the busblog approves of this birthday.

this is not a love song

i disagree with almost everything that johnny rotten sings about. but hes still a role model.

still a hero. still a standard by which i want to live up with. isnt that weird?

shouldnt you wanna be the opposite of who you disagree with?

PiL gave an unremarkable, uninspired show last night at the unispireable Club Nokia.

the place wasnt packed. the crowd was soft. there were no mohawks, no slam dancing,

very few signs of punk rock.

in fact in the middle of the show, in the Pit, we were asked by a gentleman to keep it down because our talking was disturbing him listening to the show.

i gave him a look that should have said “if my talking is ruining your punk rock, then your punk rock is limp cuz im not even talking that loudly.”

but we took his advice and adjourned to the back of the “club” and hung out at the bar. and talked more.

it was a boring show and anyone who chooses this weekend to skip Jay-Z and “rock” to PiL is in for a sorry let down. the ship has sailed. the revolution is over.

the most dangerous band in the world has lost their danger.

johnny is clearly happy, which we all know is the end of art.

which is ok, cuz i was able to have some really good conversations, unmolested.

i swear i had no idea that i was in the shot this much

if id known id had done something more interesting with my look.

anyways, hef was great, and said he thought it’s a cop out when celebs go to rehab after they get caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

who knew the playboy founder was such a romantic And homebody?

anyways, know one thing i love about this guy? if you notice on the right hand side you’ll see this big giant bust of one of his former playmate girlfriends Barbie Benton. then theres pics of his previous gfs (kendra, bridget and holly) and his wife. the man has no problem celebrating current and former loves.

more over at the Ministry

of course i got a Double Down value meal today

who doesnt love values?

ever think about your life and say, what happened to it? where did my lust of knowledge go? where did my undying love for mankind go? where did my enthusiasm to discover the unknown go?

ever come home, let the dog out, get the evening paper from the doorstep, and think “i just wanna take a nap”? but you dont mean nap. you mean a long walk except no one would cross your path on this walk. it would just be a stroll through a new suburb, too new for trees. too new for sidewalks. too new for anyone to know each other so you can pretend like you live at the end of the street. but you dont.

youre just napping. and walking.

with your newspaper. and pipe. and vneck sweater.

the double down
makes you hallucinate. it makes you believe in aliens. it does something to your blood that makes you hyper inside and squirrelly outside. mine made me wanna punch someone. not in a mean way, in a loving way like *pow* you should take a bite outta this thing.

you have to pace yrself when you double down. cuz the grease can create an imbalance. not to mention the salt. the whole thing is delicious of course because of the “if it tastes good its bad for you” theorem, which gets supersized in this example and then poured all down your shirt.

when you eat your first double down you say, ok it would be nice to have some bread on this. then you say oh hi theres sauce in here. where did that come from?

then you say, omg cheese too? and finally, wait, Bacon?

its more than a party in your mouth, its a freakin disco dance with your neighbor flipping the lights on and off to the music: YES ITS STUPID BUT IF YOU GO WITH IT IS FUN FUN FUN!

kfc’s chicken somehow remains the star of the show despite all the distractions. the seven herbs and spices have seen fads come and go and hang in there during the doubling of downs. theres no doubt this is ridiculous but so were ice cream sundaes when Al Gore first introduced them. so was letting your kid sit on your lap and play air traffic controller that one day at work in the air traffic control room, so was Twitter. but we learned to embrace those oddities and now look at how much better our lives are.

the line for this treat was so long i had to get out of my beloved automobile and enter the establishment, and when i took it home, i unwrapped it, considered placing it on a plate, and sank my teeth into it.

my life has changed

in other bad/sad news

one of (if not The) last remaining All American Burgers

is being turned into a Chipotle

(the sign says “Burritofication in Progress”.

although i like Chipotle and it will be nice to have one closer to me than the Grove, i liked All American Burger.

yes their burgers werent good (i preferred the Pastrami sandwiches)

but they harkened back memories of Fast Times at Ridgemont High

memories that are quickly fading now that the Sherman Oaks Galleria is gone

and many of the landmarks and stars seem to be going the way of the dingo.

some interesting facts about this years Floatopia

this year law enforcement shut down beach access from the campus to the farthest reaches of Isla Vista.

according to the award winning UCSB Daily Nexus, approximately 8,000 partiers were forced to rage in the streets of IV. “[59] Deputies made 31 arrests and issued 139 citations,” the paper said.

last year 12,000 people attended Floatopia, the Nexus approximates. “13 arrests, 78 citations for alcohol-related offenses” went down last year.

So attendance was down, but arrests and citations went way up?

heck of a job, foot patrol and sheriffs.

law enforcement shut down the beach access for Isla Vista

because of *rumors* of a big beach party.

pardon me, but IV is part of america. unfortunately it isnt its own city,

thus it has to bow to the whims of the county of Santa Barbara

who feel the need to do things to 93117 theyd never do to 93101.

im sorry but arent you innocent til proven guilty?

thus shouldnt you be able to party first and only get arrested/hassled after you break laws?

one of these days IV will be its own city and the young adults will be free to live

just like the old adults are allowed to live a few miles away.

until then things like todays c-blocked Floatopia will continue to make me cringe

FREE THE BEACH!

photos of isla vista today by kevin alan baum via flickr