Floating Away

Floating Away Review: uWink, not so cool

Last night, the lady friend and I went to uWink with another couple friend.  After talking about it for some time, we decided to check it out.

It all began about a year ago, at the Entrepreneur Association's Conference at UCLA Anderson.  Nolan Bushnell, creator of Atari and Chuck-E-Cheese, spoke about his latest venture, uWink.  Think digital Chuck-E-Cheese for adults. 

Games, photoscapes, and SportsCenter are projected onto the walls while guests order food, drinks, and play games from touch-screen monitors placed in the middle of each table.  The atmosphere and technology is supposed to promote an extremely social environment.  Unfortunately, the reality of the technology makes the entire experience incredibly antisocial.  There were four of us at the table, but we spent hardly any time actually talking or interacting with the couple across the table from us.

Surprisingly, there are NO games that you can play with the entire table.  The terminals pop up from the center of the table, like a pyramid, with two monitors, facing opposite sides of the table.  The technology fails because each monitor runs separately.  In order to create a fully social environment, the terminals need to be sync'd up.  Not only do you need to be able to see what the people across the table are doing on their screens, but you need to be able to play games with them. 

The ultimate goal of uWink is to become franchised around the country.  The location in Woodland Hills is their pilot location.  I am concerned because they've been open since October and have still not been able to create a truly multiplayer gaming experience.

As a stockholder, I want nothing more than for uWink to be a huge success.  However, after my visit last night, it's got a long way to go.  Today's stock buying lesson:  experience the product before you buy!

So, with all that being said, please go and spend lots of money there :)

$35 Massage Leaves You Smiling

Too much family time is never a good thing.  This labor day left my back in knots, so I decided to try out the $35 massages from the California Healing Arts College.  It was fantastic, and I highly recommend it.  For only $35, you get a full hour massage from a massage student.  I imagine that the experience can differ greatly based on who you get, but my experience was great.  If you go, ask for Aimee.

Because it's a "Teaching" facility, you can't tip.  So it's $35 out the door.  You can easily make same day appointments by calling 310-826-7622.  If you live on the westside, there's no reason not to check it out at Bundy and Santa Monica.

Basketball, Politics and the Valley

 

So, yesterday I caught the end of the story on the radio that Congressman Brad Sherman wants to name the Reseda Post Office, the John Wooden Post Office.  He introduced legislation yesterday that coincided with UCLA in the Final Four.

Several years ago, after Chick Hearn died, I read a blurb in Sports Illustrated that said the Encino Post Office was named after the late great Lakers announcer.

Turns out, Brad Sherman was behind that one too.  Is that all he does?  I am all for memorials, but are post offices the best way to remember our childhood heroes? and is this really what we want our legislators working on?

All this talk really made me wonder about what is next.  If Brad Sherman had his way, where would he stop? Here are some ideas:

The Tom Lasorda Italian Deli
The Phil Jackson Fishing and Outdoor Depot
The Ervin "Magic" Johnson HIV/AIDS Center (too soon?)
The Vlade Divac Czechoslovakian Embassy
The Seth Cohen Anime Depot
The Marty McSorley Montessori School
The Arnold Schwarzenegger Center for Women's Rights

What's Brad Sherman thinking next? Any ideas?

 

Learn how to become a Super Hero

On my way home yesterday, I saw an amazing outdoor campaign for the new MARVEL Super Heroes Exhibit at the California Science Center.  The exhibit begins March 27th and will be live through September 4th.  The exhibit will then begin touring other Science Centers in the U.S.

There are two things that really struck me about this ad.  First was its wonderful use of the actual lamp post signage medium.  You see these ads all day long driving around Los Angeles.  Most of them are simply signs that don't take advantage of the unique layout.  One reason these banners stand out so much is because they do capitalize on the unique layout.  The ad shows a figure that is half Super Hero and half you.  The actual lamp post accentuates this idea.  As a result, it's easy to understand the key message of this ad:  Become a Super Hero at the California Science Center. 

On a side note, the last lamp post campaign that I loved was about three years ago for the LA Philharmonic.  Remember the "Phil your..." campaign?  I tried to find pictures, but couldn't.

Of course the second thing about this ad that really works is the content.  Seriously.  Who wouldn't want to become a Super Hero?   I think this exhibit is going to be wildly successful.  If you do attend, please share your experience with us.

Some fun things to do at the Exhibit:

• Test the strength of Spider-Man's webs
• Explore which area of the Incredible Hulk's brain is responsible for his trademark rage
• Put on an exo-suit and experience Iron Man's strength
• Experience the life of Doc Oct with multiple limbs

My Day at The Watts Towers | Pics

 

Last weekend, with Lauren in town, I wanted to do something very cool, very LA, yet not lame. I have wanted to go to Watts Towers for sometime, but never really got my act together and with Lauren in town, it seemed like a good reason for us both to go.

The Watts Towers is certainly one of the most unique pieces of art/architecture I have ever seen.  I thought a lot about my trip to Park Guell in Barcelona when wondering through the property, but this was much different, largely because the towers were built entirely by one man, Simon Rodia.  Rodia worked construction jobs during the day, but on the evenings and weekends, he scoured his neighborhood for odds and ends and built an incredible series of towers and objects out of mosaic tiles, glass, pottery, shells, and his own mortar.

He never used any modern tools, no scaffolding, no bolts, no rivets, no welding.  The man was truly a visionary.  The arts center offers tours on the hour for $5. It is money well spent.  Our tour guide was excellent and they let you roam the grounds after the tour is over. 

Last October, the LA Times had a piece on the Towers and the challenges it faces now.  Read it here.

The Watts Towers of Simon Rodia is located at 1761-1765 East 107th Street.

More Watts Towers images after the jump . . .

Will Joey Jump the Shark, too?

Confession: My first concert was New Kids on The Block at the Universal Amphitheater.  It was a birthday gift from my parents to my sister and I got to tag along.  My sister LOVED all of the New Kids, but especially Joey McIntyre. 

Somehow, I am able to spew out Joey's recent cameos (from Boston Public to Wicked to Dancing with the Stars) so it came as no surprise that I caught his latest endevour in last Thursday's LA Times. 

"New Kids on the Block alum Joey McIntyre, who made his Broadway debut as Prince Flyero in "Wicked," heads the cast as king of cool Fonz in the new stage musical "Happy Days," which is based on the 1970s TV sitcom."

I really don't know what is more offensive about this, the fact that someone thought it would be a good idea to make a Happy Days the Musical or the fact that Joey McIntyre screams cool so much that he could play the Fonz or that someone else thought a great tag line for the show would be: "Aaay! It's a Musical!" Really. It hurts on many levels.

My only hope is that years from now, when Arrested Development does some sort of 20 year reunion, Joey McIntyre can be a guest star and jump over a shark on his way to Burger King.  That would tie it all together for me.

"Happy Days" will be playing at the Falcon Theater in Burbank until March 12. You can even see the show for free by being an usher!

UPDATE: This morning I woke up to find that the LA Times reviewed the show over the weekend and came up with a strikingly similar title: 'Happy' Jumps The Shark.  Does the staff of the Times read our blog?

Float Away From Here: Thursday Edition

Many things to share on this fine Thursday:

- The last Chocolate Genius residency night is tonight at Largo. Don't miss it. According to Largo, there is still space for reservations, so come down early for dinner.  Joe Henry opens up.

- Josh Rouse tickets at the Henry Fonda Theater goes on sale Friday at 10 am.

- Jax's Hump Day Picks made me laugh out loud with Cheney's Got a Gun

- I am very excited for the new Rhett Miller album and Irene at brokencalm points us to some local dates and info on the new Rhett Miller album.  His duet with Rachael Yamagata is streaming on his myspace page.

Rhett Miller LA dates:
March 02, 2006 - Tower Records (Sunset) - Los Angeles, CA (8PM)
March 28, 2006 - Galaxy Theater - Santa Ana, CA
March 29, 2006 - Henry Fonda Theater - Los Angeles, CA

The Henry Fonda show and the Galaxy Theater shows are on sale now at ticketmaster.

Everything I needed to know to run the LAPD, I learned in Kindergarten.

From  listening to the news, some might think that LA is falling apart.  This simply is not the case.  LAPD Chief Lee Baca has everything under control.  After weekend race riots in LA County jails, Baca ordered the segretation of inmates.  After receiving a special handwriten note from an inmate, Baca is confident that the situation is getting better.  After meeting this inmate at the flagpole after arts and crafts, Baca is believed to have a new valentine as well.