ETA VTA Returns?

I really should start posting here again. It was cowardly of me to stop. Maybe next week...we'll see.

What The Hell Happened To...Last Night's Post

Last night I was busy working away on three different posts, one for Down With Pants!, one for ETA VTA and one for The Sports Logo Pundit. This is pretty typical for me, I usually start a post and then drift off and work on a post for the other blog and go back and forth as things come to me. Unfortunately, I rarely save or backup my work and until last night, it has never been a problem.

But at about 11:30, with all three posts more than 2/3 done, there was a massive power surge that knocked out my computer, my DSL line and my TV and made the lights in the house go crazy bright. It scared the crap out of me because it reminded me of what our landlord described could happen with all of the old, ungrounded wiring that runs through our apartment and I thought that everything was going to be completely messed up.

And the reason for this power surge? A damned drunk driver. Some jackass crashed his car into a pole knocking power out to over 2,650 people in the area and caused the surge that temporarily knocked out the power in my apartment. Most everybody had their power back on only hours after the crash, but some were without until noon today and it forced Ventura College to cancel all of their morning classes.

There have been reports of damaged appliances from the surge leading to commenters on the Ventura County Star website to charge that the drunk driver story is a cover up since Southern California Edison isn't responsible for damages caused by a third party. This isn't the first time that we have had power surges or lost power this week and some people think that something fishy is going on. Personally, as much as I like a conspiracy theory, I can't believe that the utility company would go to that great of lengths to not pay damages from a power surge.

Luckily, everything in my apartment came back on within a few minutes and nothing was damaged. The only messed up thing to come out of it was that I lost all of the work that I had done on my blogs that night. Maybe Southern California Edison is trying to cover up their vicious personal attack on me.

RATM To Reunite At Coachella

Originally posted over at my other blog, Down With Pants!, this kind of qualifies as local news since many Venturans will be heading to Coachella themselves or are trying to make the decision whether or not to go...

What the hell happened to Rage Against The Machine? Actually, it's a question that I lamented back in November, a lament that apparently didn't fall on deaf ears.

Thankfully and excitingly enough, Zach de la Rocha and Tom Morrello have patched up their relationship enough to reunite Rage Against The Machine and headline The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, April 27-29. Which day Rage is going to play was not announced.

I've never been to Coachella: the desert heat, ridiculously priced tickets and general malaise have kept me far away. But a Rage reunion is nearly enough to motivate me to go this year even though the other headliners include Red Hot Chili Peppers (yawn) and Bjork (huh?). Other bands scheduled to play include Sonic Youth, The Roots, Willie Nelson, The Decemberists and Crowded House.

Rage Against The Machine's energy and message is exactly what has been missing from mainstream radio for the nearly seven years that they have been broken up. Even though meat heads and frat boys throughout the land "Raged" whenever they got the chance despite the fact that they were "The Machine", the politics were at least put on the table for everyone to consider. No other band right now, or since, has had such a radical viewpoint reach so many people.

One of the most amazing things about this war is that there has been no strong, truly dissenting voice coming from the arts and music communities. Sure, there have been a lot of calculated songs and announcements, but typically they have reeked of glossy public relations campaigns rather than true dissent or they have come from the fading hippie set that nobody will listen to anymore.

Whether or not this one concert will bring these guys back together to make some serious lefty music again is yet to be seen, but you can't deny the importance of Zach and Tom putting aside their differences to play at least one show together. Hopefully, that energy, combined with everything that is currently going down, will fire these two up again and get them creating that hardcore, politically charged music that they were once known for.

Like I said before, If there was ever a time for Rage Against The Machine, it's now.

UPDATE: The full lineup was released on Monday and Rage is playing on Sunday the 29th. Music snobs everywhere are wetting themselves over this lineup (but are pissed about the RHCP and Rage as headliners) and they should be wetting themselves, it is pretty incredible.

As Seen On TV

Keep up the good work CAPS-TV channel 6! You mean to tell me that there isn't anybody who works there that flips the channels and notices that the computer has gone kaput?

ETA VTA Suggests: Weekend Edition

Architexture Salon's Fashion Show - Sunday @ 6:oo PM - Paddy's: Apparently it's fashion week in Ventura. I'll be celebrating by wearing t-shirts and jeans! I'm so fashionable. For the rest of you hipsters, head on down to Paddy's to see this show featuring Ventura stores and designers like Wild Planet, Sassy Sally, Ciao Bella, Camouflage, Soul Tonic and Diva. They are going to have belly dancers and burlesque dancers and door prizes, pretty sweet! Tickets are $10 and proceeds go to AIDS Project Ventura.

College Basketball - Saturday - Everywhere: There are so many games being played in the greater Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles area, it's ridiculous. Too bad all of them are basically at the same time. The in county highlight is Ventura College against arch-rival Moorpark, which should be a knockdown, drag out fight. Here is but a partial list of the games being played sorted by distance from Ventura...

Moorpark College @ Ventura College - men at 5:30, women follow - One heck of a rivalry. Go Pirates!
Cuesta College @ Oxnard College - men at 5:30, women follow - Oxnard just won it's first game of the season, thanks to a forfeit.
Occidental College @ California Lutheran - women at 5:00, men follow - the CLU men scored an amazing 129 points last Saturday.
South Dakota State @ Cal State Northridge - men at 2:00 on Sunday - CSUN is frustrating. Good sometimes, terrible others. Which team will show up against the 4-13 South Dakota State team.
Hope International University @ Westmont College - women at 5:30, men follow
Cal Poly @ UCSB - men at 7:00 - UCSB is tied for second in the Big West.
Arizona @ UCLA - men at 1:00 - Watch it at Rookees because the game is sold out and tickets are going for ungodly prices.
Arizona State @ USC - men at 5:00 - USC is red hot right now and ASU stinks. Should be a gloatable game for all of you USC homers.
Pepperdine @ Loyola Marymount - women at 4:30, men at 7:30 - Neither men's teams are very good especially with LMU's Brandon Worthy out for the season and Pepperdine's best player Michael Gerrity transferring to Charlotte. But it's a rivalry game that I attended last year and it was a blast.

Winterfest All-Breed Dog Show - Sat. and Sun. - 7:00 Am to 7:00 PM - VC Fairgrounds: Dog shows are so hot right now! Come for the poodles, stay for the Bernese Mountain Dogs. Admission is free, parking at the fairgrounds costs $5.

Sexual Jedi @ Billy O's and Gypsy @ Wine Lovers - Saturday Night: I know nothing about either of these bands other than Sexual Jedi is a great name for a band and that Gypsy is described as "hot female pop rock", which sounds good to me if it indeed is true.

ETA VTA Suggests: Film Edition

Caddyshack - Thursday @ 7:30 PM - Regency Buenaventura: I'm not sure what I need to say about Caddyshack. It's only the funniest sports movie...ever. Slap Shot comes close but even the Hanson Brothers can't compare to Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield.

Army of Darkness - Saturday @ 11:59 PM - Westlake Village Twin: I haven't been to a midnight show in Westlake yet, but I'm sure that it is an interesting crowd. I might have to check it out for Insomniac Cinema's showing of Army of Darkness. It's like a trifecta of Bruce Campbell around my house lately: I'm in the middle of reading his autobiography If Chins Could Kill, he is staring in the best commercials currently airing, and now Army of Darkness is showing at midnight. If you can stand driving to Westlake and lounging around with rich nerds, you are in for a treat.

Pan's Labyrinth - click here for showtimes - Century Downtown: Admittedly, A little more highbrow than Caddyshack or Army of Darkness. Pan's Labyrinth is everything that critics have been saying about it and more. This movie has been in my thoughts ever since we drove to Westlake a couple weeks ago to see it and now that it has finally come to Ventura (it started last Friday) you too can get blown away by this film without venturing up the grade. I'll openly admit that I'm awful at describing why I liked a film other than "it's funny", so I won't even try, but I can tell you that everyday a new thought about this movie jumps into my head and makes me feel even stronger about how incredible a film it is.

The RC Surfrider

A couple weeks ago I spotted this father and son playing with their really cool remote controlled surfer...

I'm not a big fan of remote controlled anythings, but this thing is pretty sweet. It rides waves in, jumps waves on the way back out, rights itself when it gets dumped and has a really long range helping it get to the big waves farther out.

I was hoping that a Ventura company made this item, but unfortunately, RC Surfrider is based in Huntington Beach (no surprise there). Has anybody ever seen these for sale in Ventura?

ETA VTA MySpace Friends: Floater Six

I got a message from ETA VTA MySpace Friend Six on Friday with a couple of quick questions...

"Can you suggest blog topics?" - Yes, most definitely. It would be a big help.

"If so, then I would suggest that someone come out and review the band Floater Six this Saturday at San Souci!" - Whoops! Saturday? I missed the show, I was in the Bay Area watching my Washington Huskies (lost, ugh) and Gonzaga Bulldogs (win, woo hoo!) basketball teams and visiting my brother. Currently there isn't anybody else to send to do reviews - we are a one man operation of love - so no, I can't send anybody out, sorry.

Unfortunately, I didn't even get Six's message in time to let you all know about their show. But I would be glad to give Floater Six a quick plug for some of their upcoming shows just for being an ETA VTA friend...

Next Show: January 26th - The Double Down Saloon - Las Vegas
Next California Show: February 3rd - Velvet Jones - Santa Barbara
Next Ventura Show: February 24th - Billy O's

If you would like to be our friend and enjoy all the benefits of said friendship, please visit our page on MySpace today.

Wings Pizza N Things - Camarillo

I have had serious hankering for a big ole slice of thin, floppy, New York style pepperoni pizza that has been that they toss in the oven for a couple minutes after you order and you have to fold it over on itself to eat. Seems simple enough, right? Unfortunately, I haven't found a good place in the area to find a nice slice like this. I know some people swear by Tony's Pizzaria, but after a particularly bad experience there, I won't ever be back. Sadly, Sbarro in the mall is the only other option I have found so far.

I thought maybe I had found a place while trying to think of something for lunch the other day. On their website, Wings Pizza N Things in Camarillo promotes their New York style pizza, so I headed out in search of a solid two slices lunch special.

I knew I was in trouble when at 12:15 on a Wednesday there wasn't a soul in the joint and there wasn't a lunch special anywhere to be found. But I pushed on and ordered a medium, New York style pizza with pepperoni and pineapple.

20 minutes later, my pizza finally arrived and it wasn't good. A thick layer of coagulated, fake looking cheese coated the spongy, chewy, bland crust. A smattering of pepperoni laid on top of the cheese like a shirt on an ice rink and the pineapple was dried out and flavorless. I love pizza, even bad pizza, but this I was barely able to stomach (it didn't even reheat well today).

The only good thing about Wings Pizza N Things is their pinball machine. Even though it is WWF themed, it is one of the funnest pinball machines I've played. In the unimaginable amount of time that it took to cook my crappy pizza pie, I played two games. You get five balls for 50 cents and if you screw up and miss a ball, you almost always get a second chance. That's how a pinball machine should be.

Unless you love yourself a killer pinball machine, Wings Pizza N Things should be avoided at all costs. I do love a good pinball machine and it might be enough to lure me back. Please God, let me find a better restaurant with WWF Royal Rumble pinball.

Three Chains That Ventura Needs

Here are three chain restaurants/stores that need to open their doors in Ventura...soon. The first two are available in Los Angeles right now while the third one's closest location is in Tempe. Man I wish I had me some money to sink into a franchise...

Famima!! - Best damn convenience store ever. Incredible sushi, of all things.

Pinkberry - I could go for a fruity pebble, coconut, blackberry frozen yogurt right now.

Cereality - If I would have know about Cereality, I would have gone to Arizona State.