Sunday, May 8, 2011

Griffith Observatory

We went to the observatory. We went to a lecture on Space. They were also filming a show called Cupcake Wars. We got to eat the cupcakes. It was grand.

Red velvet milkshake of win


Colin Fong: Thermo-Hipster

Periodic table of elements (for Mandrew)

"The real star of Hollywood"- Simon Bennett 

Speed and the city

Monthly space talk at the observatory 

Sweet cuppin' cakes

You get a cupcake! And you get a cupcake! And YOU get a cupcake!

FIN

Brooke

OMGWTFBBQ

Today, while Colin was filming, I thought I'd take Elizabeth on a sightseeing mission. Take in a museum, go to the beach, some third other thing... normal touristy things. Elizabeth suggested a trip to the Museum of Jurassic Technology and I thought, "Sure, I love Sam Neill, why not!". Welcome to the strangest day out I've ever had in my life. MY LIFE. 


The Museum of Jurassic Technology is a museum of things. What connection any of these things has to any other thing in the museum is impossible to determine. It is a museum of things that have nothing to do with the other things in the museum. You go to the space museum, you think, "Space Shuttle... Stars... Moon rocks... yes, a place for everything- everything in it's place". In the MoJT you think "Tiny priest on head of a pin... mouse on toast.... advice on writing letters to bees... WHAT IS HAPPENING". 


Taxidermied fox head. Inside the fox's head was a holographic video of a portly gentleman in elastic waisted blue jeans, who was making fox noises.


Device for telling the future.

Something.

Something else.

Dog thimble found in trailer park.

Out-of-focus deer

Dice that failed. 

Mouse on toast. (It is worth noting here that this is Museum is quite humourless)

It is also important to mention at this point that the place was decorated like a funeral home. It was also very dark. We walked up these creepy stairs and into a David Lynch movie. A man (we couldn't decide whether he was real or made of wax) was sitting alone in a room full of pastel portraits of dogs who went into space. He sat unmoving while we stared at him for quite a long time. He had this look of intense delight on his waxy face, mouth open in a frozen smile, eyes wide, completely still. We both freaked out so hard we backed out of the room and fled down stairs, until we decided we had to know what was going on, so we crept back up only to find the room empty. 

The Museum of Jurassic Technology is like a weird cult's museum proving their religion to be true, only at the end there IS no cult, and you've just seen a bunch of things proving something but you don't know what. We felt like aliens from another planet looking at Earth things with little or no explanation as to what we were seeing and what it did. Or, for my younger audience, we felt like that bit where The Little Mermaid is brushing her hair with a fork. I bought a copy of Flatland on the way out. I could have bought a taxidermied Sloth.

Eager to continue the weird, we took the bus to Venice Beach. 
WEED. 
That pretty much sums up Venice Beach. The air was full of weed smell, people selling weed, some guy rolling a joint on his dinner plate at a restaurant. I saw more rampant weed smoking here than I did in Amsterdam. I also saw a bum who'd let you kick him for a dollar. 
Then we went to the freak show, which was the same as outside, but with less weed. 

EL CHUPACABRA! (Also, Bigfoot).

Various Sea Horrors

Fiji Mermaid!!!

The smokey streets of Venice

There are a lot of muscly men in DT's hanging around there. Also, orange women with fake breasts, and hobos. I saw one sleeping and my immediate reaction was "10 points if you ollie a bum!". Damn you, Tony Hawk!!!

Anyway, I'm off for some mice on toast. Shout out to my Mum on Mothers Day.

L8trZ
Brooke

Friday, May 6, 2011

ColinFong.Net


Colin Fong Online: For all your Colin needs! Download a Colin of your own! Watch it surf down the series of tubes to your home Personal Computer (or "PC"), then share it with your friends using electronic mail! But remember kids, sharing too much personal information with your Colin could result in your details becoming available to interweb predators or an online scam syndicate. Always ask your parents permission first!  


Not much to report this week, Colin is still working on the Eric Roberts movie. He doesn't get home till 1 a.m pretty much every night. I am still working on At The Mountains Of Madness and various other little things- trying to wrangle a pass to E3 next month being one of them. 


We are fast running out of time to get a visa (June 10 is d-day), but don't worry youngsters! We have an ace up our sleeves!* The problem is not getting work (of which there is TONS), it's getting permanent, full time work- like a 2 year long film shoot which, lets face it, is not going to happen unless Tommy Wiseau decides to create another opus or there is some other Lord Of The Rings book no-one has told me about. So we'll see what happens. Even if we come back at least Colin's resume is looking swish, and I'll get to continue on the HPLLP long distance (and play D&D with Kurt). Sydney? Melbourne? Asia? Some forth other thing? We're not calling it quits yet though, we're hanging in there like that poor, doomed kitten.


Stay classy,


Brooke


*... not like an ace that means we can stay in America, though. Boo. But still something BIG! Have to decide whether or not we wanna send ourselves broke for it though, or come back to Australia with a bit of cash left. In other words, we're still unsure of our commitment to Sparkle Motion. 

Monday, May 2, 2011

Cinco De Mayo and La Brea Tar Pits

This week is Cinco De Mayo! Which I'm too excited about, considering I don't know what Cinco De Mayo is. I know what "Cinco de Mayo" means (thanks to Panama and Seinfeld), but I'll have to look it up on wiki to find out what exactly I'm celebrating. 
We went to Olivera Street for our Cinco Celebrations (they're holding them on the weekend rather than on wednesday), Churros, Mexican food and colourful things.


I chu-chu-churro! 

Then we came home for a nap and Game Of Thrones. Later we went to see 13 Assassins at the movies, and had some passable Italian food.

Today, to celebrate Colin's second day off from the shoot, we went to the La Brea Tar Pits. 
I felt worse for this fiber-glass elephant then I did in the Museum Of Death. Work that one out.


Poo Bear. Like, without the 'h'.


Lunch break!



DIRE WOLF!!!

Wall 'o Skulls

All day long this robot sabre tooth unsuccessfully tries to eat this robot ground sloth. What an unfulfilling life for them both. 




We had very fun and learned many new things in nature. The end...?
Brooke (and Colin)

Monday, April 25, 2011

Makin' videos, Eatin' curly fries. Word.

Hey Brooke and Colin! Happy One month and one week in The Land Of The Free... COKE RE-FILLS!



America! F*** yeah!


Hanging out in Hollywood with Kane and James this afternoon! Our first visiting friends having a stopover in LA on the way back to Brisbane!


The only other couple we know who have stuffed animal children.


RUSH!!!


JOURNEY!!! 

Rush and Journey are pretty much beside each other! Like in my CD rack! Oh man. 

We spent the rest of today putting together a video resume for Colin's job application. The finished results are here:



Laydeez...

Brooke

Sunday, April 24, 2011

I see dead people... and I eat a breakfast burrito!

Colin's first day off from shooting. He's making a movie starring ERIC "Magic Sunglasses" ROBERTS! In my eyes, he's already 'made it' in Hollywood.


This morning we went back to Square One, because it was pretty good. They had an Aussie barista on! He made me the best flat white I'd had since March 20, so I had another and had the coffee jitters all day.



Colin's baked eggs 



And my breakfast burrito


While we were there I saw Natalie Portman, all full of baby. Colin missed his big chance and she walked away. Now he'll never hold her like Anakin did one night by the river of Naboo.


After breakfasting, we went to see the long-awaited Museum Of Death. The lady at the desk made us look at photos of a hit and run to make sure we could stomach the rest of the tour.



No photography inside, but I'm not sure any of you would have wanted to see photos of inside anyway.


We saw John Wayne Gacy's paintings and Serial Killer trading cards (like in The Addams Family Values!). And a whole lot of gory dead folk in various stages of decomposition. My favourite sections were the serial killers and the religious cults. They had a room dedicated to Heaven's Gate complete with mannequins under blankets wearing matching Nikes! And Jonestown Grape Cool-aide. OH YEAH!


Colin 'enjoyed' (not exactly the word) the Black Dahlia exhibit. Then Colin got queasy and I got morose, and we both decided the only person we'd ever go there with again was Spencer.  It was a cool (but gross) day out.


On the way:





Posing with our favourite Star Trek-ers



Dinosaur: Ancient enemy of Man



Gene Roddenberry and Colin. There were other stars too, not related to Star Trek, but who cares.


Saturday, April 23, 2011

Mandrew Mart

On my weekly trip to the pharmacy--where I wander around trying to work out where things are for ages then get frustrated and leave without buying leg wax or whatever it is this week that's not where it's supposed to be-- I came across this little gem. It's only a few blocks from where we live but today is the first time I'd noticed it (despite the fact a caveman is fighting a robot in the window display).



Echo Park Time Travel Mart, or as it shall now be called: Mandrew Mart


Evidence to support it's name change

They sell all kinds of crazy stuff, like pill bottles full of fluorescent jellybeans marked "Time Travel Sickness Pills" on beautifully designed labels and "Robot Milk" which was an old fashioned milk bottle full of sugar crystals with a great retro label.



Fridge full of fresh Dinosaur Eggs


They also had an employee of the month wall with Carl Sagan on it. And a selection of 1930's hats and pencil thin moustaches. I bought a Grace Kelly hat, I do not magically look like Grace Kelly when I put it on.

Anyway Mandrew, this one is for you buddy. If we have to come back in June I'll bring you some stuff from there fo' sho'. 

Nanu Nanu, 

Brooke.