Please Happy

Jake’s friend Tom DiMenna is an actor, a stand-up comedian, a singer and songwriter. He is especially talented at playing an actor named Telly Savalas, who is best known for his Don Juan, crime-fighting role in a 1970s show called Kojak.

Tom recently had a gig playing Telly at the Comedy Central Stage in Hollywood, and he needed some extras to help him set the mood. (Really, he is just fine setting the mood himself. He is spot on suave with his white suit, his bald head, his dangling cigarette and his Telly-isms: “Who Loves Ya, Baby?”) He asked us to make-out during the show. We were sitting with some other couples at dinner tables on stage, the rest of the audience behind us. We were supposed to wait for the cue, then get into it. Apparently, we were slightly early, so we ended up kissing for his entire love song, the audience cackling behind us.

Tom wrote us after the show:
“You two were hilarious, thank you! I gave you the slightest look and it was go time, I should have been more careful.”

And, this from the guy who played gay lover/high councilor to Jake’s Prince Edward in a Braveheart parody music video For England.

For reference, here’s Telly playing Telly:

Here’s more from the concert last night. I posted my acoustic vid on YouTube and Vimeo. Maybe this’ll be my big break. Maybe Apple will hire me to shoot iPhone vids on rooftops across the world!

Last night, we waited in line with a few hundred others outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. We were herded into an elevator. With an elevator attendant. She pushed the 5 button.

Jake: “What’s on the fifth floor?”

Her: “Awesomeness.”

She was so right. The doors opened on to LACMA’s West Penthouse where pieces from the “set” of the Rube Goldberg machine were on display. We saw the mousetrap flags, the spinning, water-glass-playing guitar and the original suits the band members wore when they were blasted with paint!

The rooms opened up on to a rooftop space where we listened to OK Go play a few acoustic songs (guitar, xylophone and a hand-held “chaosilator” that made distortion sounds). We watched the now-viral music video on a big screen that rotated down to play (likely also built by Syyn Lab), then headed in for a Q & A and an evening of dancing to DJ Tim Nordwind (the band member with the big glasses).

Here are some stills we shot with the iPhone (again, future career as iPhonist) set to the album version of “This Too Shall Pass.” After hearing the vid version, the album version and the live version, I think I have to go with acoustic as my top choice.

Bonus Tracks:

1. I saw Susan Sarandon in the bathroom and all I could think of to say was “Excuse Me,” as I reached for the soap.

2. Jake and I spoke with lead singer Damian Kulash on the roof. Jake asked him about smashing the TV in the vid. And, yes, that is the real sound that TVs make when they’re hit with a sledgehammer. “It’s an implode, not an explode,” he told us. They smashed a lot of TVs in that Echo Park warehouse. Some they bought for $40 each. Some they bought at the discounted rate of $15 for all the TVs one thrift shop had.

3. OK Go will play in Los Angeles on May 21 at the Henry Fonda Theater. We’re hoping to be hired as dancers for that show. Stay tuned.

OK Go came to L.A. on Friday, March 5, 2010 to celebrate the release of their new video “This Too Shall Pass.” They played a small acoustic set on the roof of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, showed the vid, answered questions and let the party goers finish the evening with a DJed dance party. Oh, AND, they had parts of the Rube Goldberg machine inside for Photo Opportunities.

More later. For now, enjoy this vid that I shot with my iPhone.

Of course, I think Thich Nhat Hanh should win* the Nobel Peace Prize (not only for a call to action regarding the recent struggle at Bat Nha and in honor of his 83rd birthday on Sunday, but obviously his lifetime of tireless advocacy and patience). But, I think Obama handled the award with grace. As usual. When I heard about this, I was surprised and a little annoyed. I’m sure Obama’s critics will chalk it up to international celebrity, first black president and all talk no action. This award may actually hurt the president. But, I believe he will earn it. I believe We will earn it.

I’m filming today for the National Summit on Arts Journalism today at USC Annenberg. Organizers are presenting ten projects in arts journalism from around the country; each has something to say about the future of how arts should be covered. The event will take place in the auditorium of the journalism school in front of an audience of 200, but it’s primarily conceived of as a virtual online event.

Check out the Web site for more information.

Here’s the live stream. The event starts at 9 a.m. California time.

Presenters will present, journalists and artists will chat, tweeters will tweet. And we’ll all blog about it.

Fans of The Show already know that Ze’s back. And he’s getting money to do what he did for free for us a few years back. He doesn’t say Poop! anymore, and so far, I haven’t seen any awesome songs or power moves. But, for the most part, the format is unchanged and I’m thrilled to have the close-up, fast-talker back in my life. As for the Time emblem. Well, I’m happy for him. He is making it happen. And, I’m hoping he sneaks in a ducky or one side of a sandwich, or something from the old Ze so that all of us sports racers can recognize and share a cyber chuckle.