A CraigsList ad is asking for potential “new roommates” to apply for “The Real World’s” 24th season.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 24 then email us at rwcasting@bunim-murray.com with the following information: Name, Age, Phone number, A brief bio, Two recent photos

In the subject line write: “[your city] Recruiting”

Think you have what it takes? Feel free to include a copy of your cover letter in the comments below. For shits n giggles.

Certainly, it’s pretty common to go see Tuesday night’s Comedy Death Ray and have surprise appearances by the likes of Sarah Silverman or Louis C.K., but even the lesser knowns are comedians who you can bet will soon enough be appearing on Comedy Central or SNL (before they binge out on coke, OD, and live on forever through “underground” YouTube videos).

On Wednesday night, again, for only $5, Lindy Gomez will be performing her new one woman piece, “Will That Be All?” mocking race and minimum wage jobs. Or so the synopsis leads me to believe:

Have you slapped your cell phone shut after a heated one-on-one with a East Indian customer service operator and thought, maybe I’ll order Indian tonight? Or accepted a towel from a spicy Mexican bathroom attendant and thought, maybe later I should download some Manu Chao? Or better yet, gotten a basket of spicy fries from a desperate L.A. waitress and thought, thank god I have my SAG card. These are the invisible people who keep your passable existence moving from day-to-day. And they demand you attention…for a solid 28 minutes until you troll next door for a dirty martini.

While you may not recognize her, it doesn’t matter – she’s hot. Just look at the picture!

However, you’ll recognize the the director of the show as the aloof and smarmy lady from the 1-800-DENTIST commercials. Suzi Barret was also recently featured on Los Angeles blogs with her video, “I Hate L.A.” Also hot.

Also on the evening’s bill: The Apple Sisters in “Thanks for Stuffing.” Again, all for $5! Show begins at 8pm.

Reservations and info.
Upright Citizens Brigade, 5919 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles

Except that there is no rule prohibiting public photography in Los Angeles subway systems. And any detainment would require a reasonable suspicion of the subject having committed a crime… which may have occurred, but the only unusual activity the Sheriff ever cites is Discarted’s act of taking photos.

After handcuffing Discarted, the sheriff doing most of the talking, Officer Richard Gylfie, is heard threating threatening to put him the FBI’s “hit list” and will be flagged and detained before boarding planes, trains, or other forms of transportation where an ID is checked. And why? Apparently for not shivering in fear to Gylfie’s demands to tell him why he’s taking photos… or maybe I’m missing something.

As if it needs repeating, photography is allowed in public spaces, including the subway system. Its a shame that the same people who we pay to enforce our laws are blatantly ignorant of this, and instead abuse the power that we bestow upon them to harass and intimidate.

Feel free to leave your thoughts here, or at Discarted’s blog.

photo by Mc-Q, used under a Creative Commons license

December 8th at the Echoplex. Only $20. Can you beat that friggin’ lineup?

I’d say its impossible, but on December 9th at the adjacent Echo, you’ll have Black Francis with Bob Oedenkirk, Tim & Eric, Dave Lovering, Brian Posehn, and more. Again, for only $20… or $35 for both nights.

Now that I have your attention, let me tell you what its all about: a benefit for the now 8 1/2 month old baby Winston Bertrand.

Winston Bertrand was born on February 20, 2009 with a double whammy of two extremely rare and life-threatening conditions. Winston was born with two rare complex malformations called Lymphatic and Venous Malformations. Lymphatic malformations are varying sized cystic abnormalities of the lymphatic system occurring in perhaps 1 in 10,000 births. His parents, Jennifer and Chris Bertrand have had to practically abandon their business to assist in around-the-clock in-home medical care for baby.

The Pixies’ Black Francis and his badass wife Violet Clark have taken up the cause of spreading the word about Winston and encouraging people to help the Bertrands cover their astronomical medical costs.

And thus the two nights of sheer awesomeness that rival the original Band Aid lineup (although a group performance of “Feed the World/Do They Know Its Christmastime?” would be epic).

Night 1, Tuesday, December 8th, 7pm at the Echoplex: Rockin’ performances by Black Francis w/ Flea, members of the Pixies, Love & Rockets, She Wants Revenge, Weird Al Yankovic, Michael Penn, David J (Love and Rockets/Bauhaus), Grand Duchy (feat: Black Francis & Violet Clark), The 88s. Tickets and more info.

Night 2, Wednesday, December 9th, 7pm at the Echo: An evening of the ‘ol comedy hosted by Black Francis… on stage: Tim and Eric (music set), Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn, and Dave Lovering (drummer of the Pixies performing his mad science teacher magic act). Tickets and more info.

(unable to embed here – click here to watch)

In summary, Haggis’ initial frustration arose from the San Diego branch’s support of Proposition 8, and, in spite of his appeals, the Church’s inaction over condemning the support of the anti-gay legislation.

“I told you I could not, in good conscience, be a member of an organization where gay-bashing was tolerated,” Haggis writes.

Haggis goes on to verify and condemn that the Church used private information gathered during an auditing session to smear a Church defector, a tactic the Church has long denied ever using.

“So, I am now painfully aware that you might see this an attack and just as easily use things I have confessed over the years to smear my name.”

The letter ends, “I hereby resign my membership in the Church of Scientology.”

But one thing he never does is recant any of the core teaching or beliefs of Scientology. His bone lies only with how the Church is run.

Additionally, the site this first appeared on, the writer, by former Scientologist Marty Rathbun, notes that the Church of Scientology is not anti-gay, and that L Ron Hubbard even had long time staff who were homosexual.

More importantly, both Rathbun and Haggis, while they have strong issues with the Church itself, both continue to have strong beliefs in Scientology itself. These aren’t people who ran from the Church, believing they were duped by a bunch of alien hogwash, but true believers who take issue with a system and leadership they argue is taking advantage of its members.

Which begs the question… have former members of the Church of Scientology yet tried to create a their own church, using the same materials, but without the cultish tactics that Scientology is currently synonymous? And if not, could the comments from as high profile member as Haggis become the spark for such an effort?

—

On a related note, during an interview on Nightline last Thursday, the same Scientology spokesman who Haggis’ letter was addressed to, stormed off set in the middle of an interview. At the end of the clip below, you can see spokesman Tommy Davis yanking off his microphone and walking away after reporter Martin Bashir asked him about some core beliefs relating to Xenu, Thetans, and other topics that are allegedly priviliged information only for those among Scientology’s highest ranks.

And by asking about these beliefs, Bashir was simply asking if Davis believed in them. (fast forward to the 3:15 mark to get to this portion of the report).

Really early rendering of attack on the moon.

Have a decent sized telescope? Turn it toward the moon Friday morning at about 4:30am, when NASA will crash a pair of orbiters into the south pole, and you may be able to see the resulting plumes of dust.

The NASA exercise is intended to determine is water is contained in the moon’s soil.

Of course, Griffith Park Observatory will be closed at that hour. Because, y’know, its so darn early.

No Public Viewing of Moon Impact from Observatory
NASA’s LCROSS mission, searching for water ice, will culminate with two lunar impacts near the Moon’s south pole at approximately 4:30 a.m. PDT on Friday, October 9. The impacts may be visible with a telescope. However, due to the very early hour, neither Griffith Park nor the Observatory will be open for public viewing.

The attack on the moon will also be televised.

Press releases cite the move was made due to “popular demand,” and promised those with existing tickets would be able to call Ticketmaster and to make arrangements to switch their purchase to comparable seats.

Alas, Twitter is all abuzz today (as are the comments of yesterday’s post) with tales of people being stuck on hold for hours with Ticketmaster, then when connected being told to call back later, or, perhaps worse of all, finding out “comparable” seats meant “comparably priced” seats, and that they’d have to pay extra to be as close to the stage or in as prime a spot as before. Numerous out of towners are upset that they’d booked airfare and hotels for a show they can now no longer attend.

Are you among the Pee-Wee fans who has been inconvenienced by this switcheroo? Let us know your story in the comments… were you able to get through to Ticketmaster? How long were you on hold? What were your original seats compared to the new ones?

I’ve never understood why anyone would care one bit what language a sign used. Without a doubt, dealing with cashiers or any sort of customer service types who don’t speak English can be frustrating, but not in a “get out of my country” sort of way – just in a, “if a business is going to repeatedly screw up my order because they hire a staff that can’t understand me, I’ll shop elsewhere,” sort of way. That’s capitalism.

“I think they should be in English as well as Spanish, because there are Korean signs down there and I don’t understand that gibberish,” said another Hesperia resident speaking at the city council meeting.

I’d call this out as racist, but there’s no reason to not believe residents would also complain if the signs were in French or German, so to be fair, I’ll just label it xenophobic.

More importantly, this issue raises an alarming issue: clearly Inland Empire really love to read billboards, otherwise why would they care? Finally, a win for outdoor advertising!

City officials hope to pass a ban on such dangerous equipment as yoga mats and exercise balls, but in the meantime point out existing city code that they believe already prohibits personal trainers from bringing clients to parks:

12.48.070 Commercial activities.
Commercial activities, including, but not limited to vendors, caterers, and peddlers, including vendors, caterers and commercial enterprises associated with permitted, organized groups, shall be prohibited in all City parks unless a permit is obtained from the Director of Parks and Recreation. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the Director of Parks and Recreation from awarding a franchise for special events to a particular caterer or vendor.

I’m not a lawyer, so correct me if I’m wrong, but if they’re going to use this to charge personal trainers with a misdemeanor, wouldn’t this also apply to nannies or babysitters?