While the main goal of my paternity leave was to bond with Lucy and help out with Grace, I also wanted to get a few projects done in the occasional downtime. Both were somewhat more complex woodworking projects than anything I’d done before, and both were essentially done from scratch, with all of the haphazard […]

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We’ve been waiting expectantly for our daughter’s arrival, which was predicted to be around November 8. On November 1, though, Aimee’s doctor told her that surprise, she’d be having the baby the next day. We headed to the hospital at 6:00 am, and just after noon, Lucy arrived with great fanfare and, thankfully, little drama. […]

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I’ve been going to Wilco shows since the ’90s, but I’ve never caught them three times in one year. Aimee and I enjoyed a perfect late summer evening at the Hollywood Bowl last night, for my third L.A. show of the year. We had some amazing seats for the final show of Wilco’s North American […]

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One week a year for the last five years, I’ve gone to a different theater in the L.A. area every day for seven days. Thirty-five sounds sort of like a lot of movie theaters, but there are still plenty more I haven’t been to, if I cast my net wide enough. Like I do every […]

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Laemmle Noho 7 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Tuesday, 6/5/12, 7:00 pm Price: $11.00 Concessions: Milk Duds. Audience: 8 people, in a theater that seats 225. Trailers/advertising: Trailers for Cartas a Elena, A Cat in Paris, and The Last Ride. Projection: Digital Searching for a movie I had any interest in seeing, among the glut […]

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Regency Bruin Snow White and the Huntsman Monday, 6/4/12, 7:30 pm Price: $11.50 Concessions: None. Audience: About 40 people, in a theater that seats nearly 700. Trailers/advertising: Trailers for The Amazing Spider-Man, That’s My Boy, Rock of Ages (enough already), Total Recall, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Bourne Legacy. Then an ad for THX, […]

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Arclight Pasadena The Intouchables Sunday, 6/3/12, 10:45 am Price: $13.50 (with $1 discount for buying online) Concessions: None. Audience: 5 people, in a theater that seats about 120. Trailers/advertising: Trailers for Beasts of the Southern Wild, Moonrise Kingdom, and The War of the Buttons. Projection: Digital I probably wouldn’t have ventured out this far, as […]

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Regal Cinemas L.A. Live 14 Men in Black 3 Saturday, 6/1/12, 4:10 pm Price: $13.50 Concessions: None. Audience: 50 people, in a theater that seats 292. Trailers/advertising: Deep breath… An ad for “Pretty Little Liars.” A strange hybrid trailer for “That’s My Boy” in which the stars half-heartedly proclaim how funny the movie is. Ads […]

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Landmark Regent Theatre The Dictator Friday, 6/1/12, 7:30 pm Price: $10.50 Concessions: None. Audience: 12 people, in a theater that seats about 400. Trailers/advertising: Ads for Blue Moon beer and Allstate, followed by trailers for Bel Ami, Magic Mike, People Like Us, Nobody Else But You, and a teaser for the Anchorman sequel. Projection: Finally, […]

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AMC Loews Broadway 4 Bernie Wednesday, 5/30/12, 7:00 pm Price: $11.50 Concessions: None. Audience: 14 people, in a theater that seats about 180. Trailers/advertising: Trailers for Rock of Ages, Moonrise Kingdom, The Intouchables, Hysteria, and a Madagascar-themed “silence your phone” ad. Projection: Digital How is it that there are three AMC theaters within a two-block […]

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Laemmle’s Royal Theatre La Grande Illusion Wednesday, 5/30/12, 7:10 pm Price: $11 Concessions: None. Audience: 18 people, in a theater that seats about 600. Trailers/advertising: I walked in during a trailer for a foreign-language film, which was followed by trailers for many other foreign-language films. First Farewell My Queen, then Unforgivable, Oslo, 31. August, Follow […]

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By the end of the trip, Grace was able to utter those three words in a row, which made the occasionally trying times in the car seem completely worth it. The trip was a lot of fun, and Grace did an amazing job adapting to days spent in the car and nights in strange new […]

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We’re setting off tomorrow for our first ever family road trip, around California. Since moving here in 2006, I’ve only ever driven as far north as San Simeon, and only visited San Francisco once. This time, we’ll be exploring more of the Bay Area, Silicon Valley, Big Sur, and up to Sacramento before heading back […]

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Once again, Grace accompanied us to the Amherst Association of Southern California’s gathering for the annual Amherst/Williams game. This time, it was downtown at the cavernous ESPNZone, which provided plenty of visual stimulation for Grace. She was suitably dressed as a little Lord Jeff, with purple pants, a frilly white shirt, and gray sweater. We […]

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