I saw The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly on Tuesday. A lot of fun, as always. I believe this was my fourth time seeing it at the Ken, though this time there was twenty mintues of extra footage. The added footage was basically exposition, making plot points abundantly apparent, and were probably unnecessary for a film of its length. But still, it was interesting, especially a scene where Tuco recruits some old friends to help him kill The Man With No Name.

Then yesterday, Wednesday, I went to the Derby to see the Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players. I had some errands to run, then around one I got on mapquest to see just where I was going. The show didn't start until 8, but I noticed that the Derby is right next to Griffith Park, so I thought I would leave early and go there before-hand, have a picnic and read until it was time to go to the show. I didn't hit the road until close to three, however, and as one might imagine, had quite a bit of traffic all the way.

Around five, it was getting so bad, that I decided to just eat along the way and wait out the traffic a bit, so I got off when I saw an In-N-Out. But I decided I should pick up some local color, so I pulled into a place called the North Woods Inn, which I had noticed on previous trips through what is apparently the town of La Mirada, but reminds me of the least-visually appealing parts of Kearney Mesa. The sign promised sandwiches and dinners, so I figured a sandwich sounded good. The building was built to resemble a large log cabin covered in snow, and inside the look was complimented by wall hangings (paintings, stained glass, taxidermy) which might be considered tacky, but actually seemed to me to be charming. I thought there was sawdust on the floor, but it turns out those were well-trampled shells from the complimentary peanuts on the table (you are encouraged to throw them on the floor). The dinners were around $25-$30, but from what I observed, were huge; everyone seemed to be sharing a dinner (the dinners come with two salads, so I imagine this is encouraged). I just ordered a sandwich, which I gather doesn't happen there often. The open-faced chicken sandwich, it turns out, isn't really a sandwich at all, just a grilled chicken breast, with cheese bread on the side. The bread was amazingly good; soggy, but in this case, that seemed to work in its favor. The salad wasn't bad; I've since learned I was supposed to mix the red cabbage slaw into the salad, instead of eating it seperately, but I enjoyed it on its own. The chicken was okay, nothing special; I assume most people come here for a steak. I ordered dessert, which apparently is unusual as well, or so my waiter told me. He was training someone, and was delighted he could show her how to make a dessert, because no one ever orders them. I guess the dinners are just too big. Interesting place; I can think of lots of reasons not to like it, but it charmed me nonetheless. If I was fond of steaks, I'd go back sometime.

I was there about an hour, and traffic was letting up. I hit more traffic as I got closer, and realized that, my earlier concern that I wouldn't be able to keep busy until the show notwithstanding, I was just barely going to make it on time. So I went straight to the Derby, around 7:40. Turns out the show didn't start at eight, that was just when they would be letting us in. So I had to stand outside for twenty minutes, as the muggy air tried to bring me down. Once they let us in, I was really taken back by the venue. The domed ceiling was impressive, as was the circular bar in the middle of the room. I saw a screen in a side room, and a stage in the main room. I assumed the opening acts would be on the stage, and the Trachtenberg Family would be projecting their slides onto the screen. So I sat at the bar and had a drink while I waited for the first act.

The Moodoo Puppets opened the show, inviting us to sit on the floor and watch the adventures of Martina, a little girl lost in the universe, trying to save a magical school bus. Watching a children's puppet show in a bar was a bit odd, but a lot of fun. The only person under 21 in the whole place was Rachel Trachtenberg, who seemed to enjoy the puppet show; her presence in the audience gave the moment some air of authenticity, as though the puppets were for her and we were just along for the ride. I can't say it was a great puppet show, but it was entertaining, and the Snailian puppet was especially amusing.

The next act, and the highlight of the evening for me, was Gwendolyn and the Good-Time Gang. She has a wonderful voice and just enough perkiness to perform delightful children's songs, without becoming grating. I suppose "effervescent" would be the word. She opened with "Farm Animal Friends," the only song of hers I'd heard before. She also performed "Freedom of the Heart (Oodily, Oodily)," which might be more well-known due to its inclusion on the Chuck and Buck soundtrack. Actually, she sang just about every song on her album, and some more: "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider," a countrified "Bare Necessities." It was not hard at all to see why children would love her, and not much harder to see why the adult crowd was, for the most part, digging her. I bought her CD after the set, and having listened to it on the way home and during my commute today, my favorites are still the songs I loved the most during her set, like "My Anatomy," and, probably my very favorite of them all, "I Don't Think I Like It."

The CD I'm sure would delight any child, and is great, but not as great as seeing her live. Gwendolyn is very good at doing different voices, and for the most part becomes a child on the album. She's good at it, but I enjoyed her live, better, when she was portraying herself as she is, an adult with a childlike appreciation for good innocent fun, rather than a child impersonator, as on the CD. But that said, I still love the CD.

When they were done, I got the CD, then ducked into the side room where the screen was. I got a seat on a wonderful, plush chair, right in front of the screen. I was brooding on my unbelievable fortune for a good five minutes or so, before I realized there were no instruments in the room. Then I looked on the screen, and saw via the televised projection from the other room, the Trachtenberg's setting up on the stage. So I went back to the other room and got as good a vantage point as I could. Sadly, despite the intimate venue, there were a lot of people for the Trachtenberg Family's set, and with the huge honking bar in the middle of the room obstructing the view, it was very difficult to get a good vantage point. And it was hot as blazes. And we were crammed in like sardines. So by the time the Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players took the stage, I was hot, sweaty, and clausterphobic, and probably not in the best mindset to see the show. So please bear that in mind.

They were fine. Nothing special. "Look at Me" and "Mountain Trip to Japan, 1959" are great (the "secret" portion of their web site has a multimedia clip of "Mountain Trip," but sadly without the apparent public execution). "Middle America" is good, too, though for some reason, given the wonderful potential of the subject matter (it narrarates drivers ed training material), seems to me to fall a little short. Jason Trachtenberg is a bit odd, his ramblings between songs veers erratically between amusing and aggravating. Rachel Trachtenberg's occasional comments are charming, though for the most part you forget about the novelty of the youthful drummer. Maybe because I couldn't see the drum kit from where I was.

What I'm trying to say is, I enjoyed the songs, but still felt let down by their set. I think the imperfect conditions, plus fretting about the drive home, might have put a damper on my mood, so I won't necessarily lay the blame on the Trachtenbergs. In any event, it turns out Gwendoly and the Good-Time Gang was worth the drive alone. There was apparently another act after the Trachtenbergs, which I didn't know about, but it was about 11:30, and I had to work today, so there was no way I was staying. I made it home around 1:20, and after getting Tanner calmed down, went to bed.

Today was an okay day at work, the new ticketing system was having some problems, but overall not much happened. I took a long lunch and went and got my tickets for the White Stripes, that should be fun. Michelle is in town, Eric will be dressing up as a Stormtrooper and marching into Comic-Con. This will be the first time I've ever gone to Comic-Con. Looking forward to the Adult Swim seminar, and the Simpsons stuff. And meeting Keith Knight. I thought his band was going to be playing down here for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, but apparently not. So it goes. Haven't seen Michelle yet. She and Eric left for a planning meeting with her little Star Wars nerd friends before I got home from work.