The First Echo

In honor of my upcoming 10-year anniversary of living in Los Angeles (June 27), I continue to reminsce and reflect on my time spent in this mind-boggling, maddening, yet marvelous town. Therefore I've come up with another list of lessons the City of Angels has taught me throughout the past decade (you may remember my first list from last October ). Some are obvious, some are surprising, and some I shall hold dear for the rest of my life... 1. Palm Springs is where older "confirmed bachelors" and married retirees go to die. But before that, they drink lots of Bloody Marys and enjoy an occasional round of antique window shopping. 2. The Hollywood Bowl is the place to be...spotted by a dozen people you haven't seen in months or acquaintances you've been meaning to unfriend on Facebook. 3. A girl who claims that she's "a gay man trapped in a woman's body" or "must have been a gay man in a past life" is just covering up the fact t

What a difference a decade or so makes. #DamnI'mOld.

I consider some of my time spent on Facebook work-related. Research, if you will. It's become one of my main sources for news, particularly when it comes to pop cultural headlines. However, I'm getting the feeling that the Facebook phenomenon has hit a plateau. As much as I love posting new music videos I like, Tumblrs I'm addicted to, links to news articles I find fascinating, songs I'm obsessed with, memes I can't resist, and pictures I'd like to show off, I am starting to see why there may be an emerging cultural shift in attitude towards Mark Zuckerberg's game-changing creation. At the risk of being called a hypocrite, I have to say that I'm starting to detect some symptoms of Facebook Fatigue. And by "fatigue" I don't necessarily mean I've grown tired of it. It's more of a realization of my love-hate relationship with the social network and all of its trappings. I don't like that it's the first site I visit ever

When it comes to TV shows, I consider myself a hardcore loyalist. I endured the subplots that spun out of control at the end of season 4 of Melrose Place (lobotomy anyone?). I stuck through the unnecessarily complicated third season of Lost . And I continue to give  Once Upon a Time and Smash a chance despite their surprising...mediocrity. So, now that Glee is nearing the end of its third season with the futures of many characters up in the air -- regardless of which contracts have been renewed or not -- I'm very curious to see what mastermind Ryan Murphy has up his sleeves regarding the future of the show. Why? Because, despite any backlash or diminished viewer interest the show has suffered from, I do plan to come back for a fourth round of show choir theatrics. Murphy gave fans a glimmer of hope last summer with The Glee Project , wisely combining the drama of reality-competition with a preview of what's to come on the musical dramedy. And now that most o

Several rainstorms and three volumes later, here we have another compilation to add to the pile as you begrudgingly start that spring cleaning you've been putting off since St. Patrick's Day. This season has proven to be quite bountiful with tunage. My iTunes library has quickly blossomed into a full array of songs ranging from returning 90s alt-rockers (Hello, Garbage) to teenyboppers turned rappers (thank you Mr. Bieber). Hurry up and get on the bandwagon before summer rears its sunburnt head... 1. "Warrior" by Mark Foster, Kimbra & A-Trak - This heavenly slice of electro-pop just might turn out to be one my favorite songs of the year. With a collaboration like this, who needs to ride on Gotye's shoulders? Kimbra is spreading her wings and ready to soar. Listen : 2. "Payphone" by Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa - Adam Levine & Co. are punching in their pop card, and although the addition of Wiz is utterly unnecessary, this should satiate

I was only in kindergarten when an orange-haired girl named Cyndi Lauper made her debut on American Bandstand , or what my 5-year-old self knew as That Musical Show That Came On After My Saturday Morning Cartoons . Back then, to me, Dick Clark was That Man With the Skinny Microphone Who Talked to Singers. Little did I know how much more than that he was. As I got older, I recognized him on New Year's Eve as That Guy From American Bandstand . He was this adult man who got to hang out with pop stars and talk with teenagers I envied (they got to sit in that cool-looking studio!). What made Mr. Clark so cool was his effortless ability to treat every single one of them -- teens, musicians, even the crazy ones -- equally and with respect (and this was waaay before the letters TRL meant anything to anyone and before America was obsessed with voting for an Idol ). Just watch: Rest in peace, you "Oldest Living Teenager." H.P.M.

I've recently fallen in love with Eric Hutchinson's single "Watching You Watch Him." With its deceptively bouncy acoustics but melancholy lyrics, it works as a theme song for anyone who's ever had an unrequited love. Much like Robyn's "Dancing On My Own," it moves along, soaking in its sad, woe-is-me sensibility. So, the music video for a song about a guy pining for (I presume) a girl who won't give him the time of day should reflect such heartachy sentiments, right? Wrong. Mr. Hutchinson opens the song with, "I love you from the bottom of my heart. And that's not gonna change, but things look grim"...and from what we can see, the dude is smiling while he bops along on stage with his guitar -- in front of a group of cheery line dancers . WTF? Okay, maybe he's just happy to star in a major music video that'll garner enough attention and get him some extra fans. But where's the stark cinematography? Where's the raw

Since today's date is many a horror fan's favorite day of the year, I couldn't resist strolling down movie memory lane... Arguably considered the Citizen Kane of slasher flicks, Friday the 13th boasts the simplest of plots: horny, young people go into the woods and fall prey to a maniac who butchers them one by one. The end. Roll out the body bags. My introduction to the bloody saga unfolded in a way that would cause a horror fanatic to either scream or shame me. First of all, I watched most of the F13 films on broadcast television (translation: all of the nudity, profanity, and gore were edited out). Second of all, I watched them out of order . Blasphemous, right? How could someone go through the entire series in non-chronological order? Granted, this was no Harry Potter , and continuity wasn't an issue, even though there were a few recurring characters who overlapped in some stories. However, as an 8-year-old TV addict, it didn't matter. As long as there wer

Although it concerns me that one of my favorite pop divas from the UK has jumped on the Guetta bandwagon (like soooo many Top 40 acts nowadays) -- and that this new single features eerily similar strings found in the epic "Titanium" -- I shall enjoy Jessie J 's efforts in trying to nab herself more American fans. After all, last year's "Domino" made a sizable impact and turned heads. So I guess it makes sense that she's trying her best to get more play on the dancefloors (and radios). I just hope she doesn't compromise her original image and vibe that made her stand out in the first place. I wouldn't want her to fade away and get lost the noisy shuffle. That said, enjoy:

...with these ecards I created over at someecards.com . *Bonus points to those who get the above reference. This "drunk slut" meme has been called both true and misogynistic. How could I NOT take advantage of this innocent image that takes me back to kindergarten? In some bizarre future world, I can imagine The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo making its way onto required summer reading lists across the country. H.P.M.

I thought I'd try something new and different regarding my recent obsession with memes and writing movie reviews. How about combining the two? Especially with attention spans now dwindling by the day...

The music video for Keane 's new single, "Silenced by the Night," couldn't have debuted at a more perfect time. Seeing as I'm about to embark on my own little road trip with one of my besties (tomorrow), I look forward to blaring this soaring piece of piano pop, performed by one of my all-time favorite bands, while cruising up the California coast and enjoying the scenery. It shall be a relaxing and carefree (and long) weekend, just like in the video. Minus the shitty Volvo and any romantic anguish, of course. Enjoy: Happy Easter, H.P.M.

May I present just a few highlights from my birthday weekend... Drinks at Ink on Melrose and the new Revolver in West Hollywood, followed by brunch at Kitchen 24, a matinee at the Arclight (saw Bully ; not entirely what I expected), cake and board games at home, and then Legendary Bingo at Home Restaurant in Silverlake on Sunday night (my friends at Instinct Magazine were hosting a fundraiser for AIDS LifeCycle). Here it is: three days in two minutes. Feeling loved, H.P.M.

'Tis the first day of April, and you know what that means (besides nursing my birthday hangover)! Time to pop in the DVD of a classic 80s slasher flick which, 26 years later, still holds up as a nifty, little thriller that stands above most of its holiday-horror brethren from the blood-soaked era ( Silent Night Deadly Night , My Bloody Valentine , Graduation Day ). April Fools Day begins a la Ten Little Indians , Agatha Christie's classic murder mystery also known as And Then There Were None . Eight people (in this case, college students) gather together for a weekend at an old, isolated house on an island owned by heiress Muffy St. John ( Valley Girl 's Deborah Foreman ), and soon enough each guest gets knocked off one by one by a mysterious killer. The cast of AFD includes a number of young actors who were in their prime back in those Reagan years. Thomas F. Wilson (Biff from Back to the Future ) plays skirt chaser Arch, who trips into a nasty booby trap in the