I recently interviewed Claire Hoffman, one of my favorite writers. We discussed a number of topics, including the current state of journalism, her favorite writers, and what’s on her syllabus. If you haven’t read her profile of Joe Francis, I would recommend doing so immediately. It’s fantastic.

Anyway, here’s a bit more on Claire from the intro: Claire Hoffman rose to prominence while at the Los Angeles Times after an article she wrote on Joe Francis, the impresario behind Girls Gone Wild, was published in 2006. "Baby, Give Me A Kiss" is bold and daring, graphic, and deeply personal in a way not normally seen at the Times. It begins with Francis holding Hoffman’s arms behind her back against her will, pushing her face against a car, and yelling wildly. From there the reader is given a first hand tour through the seedy universe of Francis. It became an instant sensation on the internet, amassing more hits than any other article in the Los Angeles Times‘ history. Since then, Hoffman has waded through the world of polygamist Mormons for Portfolio, spent a night at Amy Winehouse’s flat for Rolling Stone, and most recently had soup with Prince for The New Yorker. She is currently a contributing editor to Rolling Stone, and an Assistant Professor of Journalism at UC Riverside.

I just recently discovered a website that allows you to take any mp3 and make it into a ringtone. I’m just getting warmed up, but so far I’ve made two that I think are worth listening to and/or using.

The first is the appropriately titled “Phone Call” by Jon Brion, off of the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack. Click here to listen and/or download.

And the second is a song that was stuck in my head for weeks after watching the following video:

So simple, yet so effective:

Sometimes just the thought that my president and I share the same favorite TV show makes me happy.

Natasha Leggero
Sunset Junction
Astute readers may remember Ms. Leggero as a member of my crush worthy harem of ladies. Normally I would be too intimidated to speak to Natasha, but on Halloween I imbibed a bottle of white wine in the space of about ten minutes and miraculously all of my fears melted away. When Natasha randomly walked by me on the street I knew exactly what I had to do. Full hearts, drunk minds can’t lose!

I yelled her name.

Loudly.

Natasha turned around, finding a bearded man in maternity wear, and instead of turning foot and running, she came to me. Surprisingly, enough synapses were firing properly in my brain, for I was able to explain who I was and hold forth on a number of topics. I even briefly danced the dance of The Snuggler, to demonstrate who I was. Then the repartee came to an all too brief end as a taxi cab pulled up and I was whisked away from her.

Andre Royo
UCB on Franklin
BUBS! Holy shit, what do you say to this guy? Bubs and a friend were walking around outside the UCB, trying to get into the Jeff Garlin Combo platter show with Patton Oswalt and Sarah Silverman. They didn’t appear to have much luck, but as soon as the line started to move they were ferried inside. I ended up sitting four seats away from Bubs and can say that he seemed to be quite the laugher. As I was leaving he was standing by the bathroom and I was tempted to say, “Good to see you sober, Bubs,” but instead smiled and went on my way.

Jessy Schram
UCB on Franklin
According to her myspace page, in addition to an apparently outsized ego, “Jessy possesses an intangible star quality rarely seen, with beauty, intelligence and talent that is readily apparent, but not intimidating, and which appeals to young and old alike.” She has guest starred on “Veronica Mars” (which was why I recognized her) and a number of TV shows and also makes really, really crappy, radio friendly music. In person I have to say that the star quality was not quite as strong, nor as readily apparent, as her biography would have you believe. She did say excuse me when she asked to walk by, so kudos for good manners!

Michael Peña
The Echo, Sunset, basically all over Silverlake
I recognized this guy from his brief stint on “The Shield” while at The Echo and gave him his proppers for holding his own against Walton Goggins. I fear that he may have taken my innocuous compliment for more than it was, because ever since then he has become a constant presence in my life. After moving to Silverlake, I’ve learned that I can count on two things in this world: 1. The sun will always rise in the east, and 2. No matter whether I’m riding my bike, going to shows, restaurants, etc, Michael Peña will be there. He has become my rock. My latino hipster that I can always count on to come through with a warm smile, good cheer, and a doff of his Newsies cap.

Adam Scott
Gelson’s grocery on Highland
The first thing I thought when I saw this guy was “I saw your prosthetic penis on ‘Tell Me You Love Me,’” but it didn’t seem like an appropriate thing to say. I wish I had seen “Stepbrothers” at that point, because I would have been tempted to yell, “Dane Cook’s on Pay-Per-View in 15 minutes!” Seemed like a nice guy.

“I know this is going to sound strange,” the email began, “but is the story about Jared you posted seriously true? I worry since a friend of mine and I are supposed to meet him.”

She went on, “He said he’d get us into a venue since we are his ‘friends.’ If he really did that, I’d rather not go out there and deal with him.”

The “Jared” she was referring to was Jared Leto. The “story” in question was an essay I wrote detailing an encounter Leto had with a friend of a friend. And “she,” I discovered after a myspace search, was a 17-year-old girl who loved Leto and his band, 30 Seconds To Mars.

“Yes,” I wrote back, “the story is true.”

The Story

Originally written for the now defunct website otherpeoplesstories.com, the essay detailed events a friend of mine told me happened to a friend of hers.

Basically Jared Leto, coasting on the goodwill generated from his preternatural ability to lean and pen odes to automobiles on “My So Called Life,” came to town with his band, acted like the uber-douche that he is, and, prior to coitus, gave the friend of a friend the choice of calling him “Jared” or “daddy.”

Months passed after the encounter and she became obsessed with him, but he never called. Then late one night her roommate answered the phone and heard a drunken voice talking about erect penises. After explaining who she was, the voice apologized and said, “Oh sorry. Could you tell her Jared called?”

He never called again.

The Response

Shortly after posting the story to my website, I began to notice a spike in visitors coming from a message board called “Jared’s Place.” After registering an account, I was able to read the thread dedicated to my essay. There were a variety of responses.

Many expressed doubt that Jared was capable of such actions and pointed to the vegan talk from Jared as a sign that it was all made up. (At that point in time Leto had not publicly identified himself as a vegan. He would later go on to record PSAs for PETA). Others posited that an angry former fan, no doubt rebuffed by Jared, had mixed fact and fiction. But the vast majority of the fans didn’t care if the story was true or not, and got caught up in a heated debate of whether Jared or “Daddy” was appropriate.

“Daddy is just gross,” LetosGuRL87 wrote, “I’ve gotta go with Jared.”

An official moderator deleted the post after it ballooned to three pages. But shortly thereafter it was resurrected and the debate began anew, “Jared” or “Daddy”?

I assumed that the interest would eventually die out. But not only did it not die, it crossed international waters.

“Mad funny story about how Jared ‘bad,’” was the translation for a link I found on a Russian message board.

Apparently the Japanese were interested in Jared’s sexual proclivities as well, because I started getting hits from the land of the rising sun.

As it got more and more visitors, I began to feel an air of nobility envelope me. There I was, out there fighting the good fight, riding my electronic steed through the village, calling out to the townspeople that they should batten the hatches, lock their daughters up, and make sure the chastity belts were securely fastened, for The Jared of Leto was fast approaching. And he was bringing with him an unruly band of mascara-ed men who were dead set on soiling the women of the land, as well as the ears of the towns folk with their accursed “music.”

My Response

While I found it commendable that the young lady did her research, I was also a bit scared that she could not see where Jared was heading with his interest in her and her friend. I told her to exercise caution with the minuscule rocker and not do anything she didn’t feel comfortable with (because I wear a sweater and care about children).

She replied:
“I see.. its an 18+ private party, and I was a bit leery since he dates a lot of girls my age… (18 to 20 ish) and it just seemed weird when he asked me as a photographer, and a friend of mine, but said he couldn’t get any parents or siblings, etc in, One person per band member… Thanks for the reply, this seems pretty fishy now.”

So, sorry Jared Leto. You mercilessly toyed with the feelings of bitchin’ chick Angela Chase, made god awful music while looking like a gothic raccoon, and preyed upon innumerous impressionable fans, but thou shalt not be giving high school age girls the choice of Jared or Daddy. No sir, not on my watch.

“John, you ever had a pair of jeans that fit you like no other?” the bald woman in baggy pants said into the phone as her body shook and spittle formed in the corner of her mouth, “Then, John, you know why I’m so FUCKIN’ PISSED that you lost my laundry!”

Ten minutes earlier this same woman had walked into the laundromat I was sitting in and immediately started hassling the nice Asian couple who ran the place.

I didn’t notice her at first, I just heard her voice. And what a voice it was. No doubt finely seasoned with a daily regimen of Pall Malls and booze, she had the pipes of a Glengarry Glen Ross-era Al Pacino.

Her sartorial choices, on the other hand, appeared to be informed by 8th grade skateboarders. Stubby feet were encased in puffy, boat-like sneakers, and a long chain hung from a pair of pants that looked to be fashioned from a shower curtain of denim.

In a perfect world she would have extolled the virtues of a sensational bowel movement, just as Pacino did in that fine film, but she had more important things on her mind. Namely, what happened to 37 pounds of laundry.

Her inquiries about the missing clothes were civil enough at first, but quickly devolved into an odd mix of constant cussing and inappropriate and irrelevant personal information.

She held forth on a number of topics, including: what life was like as a 47-and-a-half-year-old Latina woman on disability, a recent court settlement of six thousand dollars, and a firm belief that the proprietors had both copulated with their mothers. Not surprisingly, this ended up being an unsuccessful form of negotiation. When it became clear she wasn’t going to get anywhere, she screamed for them to get the owner on the phone.

“John, I have the ticket in my hand and my clothes aren’t here,” she yelled after being handed a phone. “How does you do this, John? Listen to me, John, how does you do this?”

The woman averaged three Johns per sentence and seemed to make a point of bookending every phrase with the owner’s name. She whipped herself into a lather in no time, promising law suits and beat downs, and then, inexplicably, began using the name Julio.

Apparently John was unsure how he did it, because the yelling did not let up for another five minutes. The couple stood by quietly, waiting to get their phone back. Finally, mercifully, the conversation came to an end with a “Fuck you, pendejo!”

The woman realized that everyone in the laundromat was paying attention to her insane ranting, and for a second just stood there, taking us all in, then bellowed, “FUCK ALL YA’LL!” and left.

A strained silence lingered in the air. Then the Asian woman said simply, “She crazy,” and went back to her work. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and went back to what they were doing, because really, what else could be said?

This Halloween I donned a pair of women’s maternity shorts, threw on a yellow polo and called it a day. Because I was The Snuggler.

Here’s my inspiration:

Not a single person recognized the costume.

Last week, Fred Nicolaus, one half of Department of Eagles, looking dapper in a blue blazer with a gold button, stood outside a Starbucks in Manhattan and spoke with me about a number of topics, including Conan O’Brien, Jerry Springer, and bad puns. The bulk of the interview will be published in Thrasher magazine in the near future, but what interested me most was the heart-warming drawings on the band’s website. Nicolaus’ mother, an elementary school teacher, put on her son’s album during a free drawing session and the class produced some amazing results:

Click here for more.

Fred and I spoke about the drawings, and since it probably won’t be published in the interview, I’m going to put it here:

I was looking at the website and loved the section where your mom had her students do drawings based on your music.
That’s my favorite part of the site. The funniest part about them is that I don’t understand this concept of a band being two people on a tropical island. There were about twenty of them and almost all of them had an island. It’s really weird; it’s a simple motif and I can understand why kids would be attracted to it, but I don’t know what it has to do with playing music. Normally when you see people on a desert island it has nothing to do with music.

I think my favorite was the one with the guy saying, “I know, I rule!” and the other guy saying, “Yeah.”
Yeah, that one is great.

Have you decided whether that’s you or Dan that’s ruling?
That’s Dan and I’m the one agreeing. At that point I don’t think the kids had met Dan so maybe it’s an extrapolation of his personality.

How did your mom decide to do that?
Well, I don’t know if you have any relatives are teachers, but my mom is always working my brother and I into her stories. So every time I go to visit the kids know everything about what’s going on in my life, like if I just broke up with my girlfriend or something. There will be 5-year-old kids telling me “I’m so sorry.”

And if you haven’t heard In Ear Park yet, I highly recommend checking it out.

In Ear Park

No One Does It Like You

Some more than others:

Fading Away [The Smoking Gun]