Posts by Eric Ducker
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![Mike Myers and Dana Carvey]()
Going Back to the Basement for the Wayne’s World Reunion
Last night the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, better known as the people who give out the Oscars, hosted a cast reunion and screening of Wayne’s World. The official reason was to commemorate the movie’s 21st anniversary, which means that it’s now legally allowed to party. The subtext of the event, however, was […]
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Roadside Attractions: A Look at the Los Angeles Marathon Murals
They’re a common sight in the Los Angeles urban landscape, those rectangles of paint that don’t quite match the color of the wall they’ve been applied to. It’s a practice called buffing, and whether it’s done by official clean-up crews or cheap landlords, the purpose is to cover up graffiti. The buffing is usually applied […]
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Q&A: Girls Director Jesse Peretz on Lena Dunham, His Music Video and Features Career, and the Satisfaction of Working on Cable TV
A defining part of Lena Dunham’s deal is that in the entertainment big leagues, she’s a rising three-tool player who can write, direct, and act. But the reality is that doing all of that on your own on a television show is too much flor just one person to handle. Accordingly, over half of the […]
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Grill ’Em All: Let’s Go Eat Some Heavy-Metal Burgers With Best Coast’s Bobb Bruno
Since 2009, Grill ’Em All has been the dark lord of the Los Angeles gourmet food truck world. On January 19, they put their last truck on hiatus and opened a 50-seat restaurant nicknamed “Valhalla” in the Edwards Cinema Plaza in downtown Alhambra, the first non-mobile location to serve their heavy-metal hamburgers. Grill ’Em All […]
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We Went There: Waiting for the Rams in Southern California
At 8:45 on a Sunday morning in late October, the fans started lining up at Fiesta Hall in Whittier. The doors were scheduled to open in 15 minutes, and the board members of the Southern California Rams Booster Club were still setting up the rows of towels, light-up trinkets, and other Rams-branded merchandise to raffle […]
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Day of the Pumpkin: A Daredevil Attempt to Eat Every Pumpkin-Flavored Item From the Local Trader Joe’s
[Disclaimer: Trader Joe’s did not pay for this story. Our gastronomic stuntperson did this all on his own, for the love of the game.] Right now the United States is in the middle of a collective seasonal affective disorder. The weather is apparently colder in most of the country (no fun!) and leaves somewhere are […]
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Waiting for the Dodgers’ Eventual Doom
On Monday in Los Angeles, the sun was just starting to set after a 92-degree day, but the Short Stop bar was already glowing like a jack-o’-lantern. With less than an hour until first pitch, bartender Joe Skyward called out the latest news from the other side of the country: The St. Louis Cardinals were […]
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Q&A: Tom Scharpling on His Directing Career, His New Videos for Aimee Mann, and Working With Jon Hamm and Laura Linney
Tom Scharpling is beloved in the alternative comedy world for his call-in radio show The Best Show on WFMU. While The Best Show has run for more than 10 years, Scharpling has continued to diversify his résumé, including writing for the entire eight-season run of Monk, contributing articles to print and online publications, and doing […]
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The Quotable Cat Power: A Quick Spin Through Chan Marshall’s Greatest Recent Sound Bites
On Tuesday, Matador Records released Sun, Cat Power’s ninth album in 17 years. Cat Power is the recording and performing moniker of Chan Marshall, an artist so notoriously unpredictable that when I just described her as “unpredictable,” a cascade of black balloons fell from the ceiling and a giant banner unfurled informing me that I […]
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A Stubbly, Hobbled Demon: Questions of Fan Allegiance on Kirk Gibson “Fist Pump” Bobblehead Night at Dodger Stadium
Aside from amusement-park caricature, is there a type of portrait more unflattering than the bobblehead? When seen straight on, the features on the Kirk Gibson “Fist Pump” Bobblehead look remarkably rat-like, with its bared upper teeth, narrow eyes, and protruding snout. The rugged stubble looks like an unnatural affectation, like how Hulk Hogan used to […]
