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	09 April 2004 PHOTO DIARY. Emergency evacuation signs are posted everywhere at work: by the elevators, in stairway shafts, etc. They inform the reader about fire escape routes, and also what the alarm looks & sounds like. "Whoop." There it is. I wouldn't know whether to run or freak my co-workers. Two billboards along Sunset. The one on the left shows a giant animated zebra tail. For what, I'm not sure. The one on the right is an ad for the new album by undead zombie rockers Aerosmith. It features a close-up shot of a harmonica with lipstick on one end. The same harmonica is also shown tucked into a woman's low-rise jeans.   Back to main CALIFORNIA ARCHITECTURE. This fluorescent lime-green building, round and flat as a cake layer, belongs to Mutato Muzika, a music production company owned by Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo fame. If you look closely, you can see my reflection in the amber mini-gothic windowpanes.   Back to main PHOTO DIARY. Went out for lunch today with Josh and saw this gentleman painting a landscape portrait of Sunset Blvd, proving that beauty can be found in a Tower Records parking lot.   Back to main 05 April 2004 PHOTO DIARY. While out for a walk, I noticed this sign prohibiting not just mere skating, but also the act of grinding, all through a Walkway Abuse Deterrent System dubbed "Skatestoppers." A great variety of Skatestoppers are available. My favorite is the decorative AS Series. "AS" stands for "Architectural Series." I guess that would make the full, unabbreviated product name Architectural Series Series. On the way home, I passed the back of the great Hi De Ho Comics (and Books with Pictures) store, where there's a mysterious 5-foot wide keno wheel with popular comic book characters painted in each wedge.   Back to main 04 April 2004 MOVIE: ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004). A disaffected man abruptly leaves his workaday world to find himself stumbling along a winter beach where he meets an intriguing woman. As it turns out, this man and woman were actually once together, but had gone to a clinic to have their memories erased out of frustration with their relationship. Filmmaker Charlie Kaufman demonstrates growing maturity by using his trademark, reality-bending special effects for sequences that are less wacky, more subtle, and even poignant. The characters, too, have plenty of heart, and are no longer the throwaway intellectual stand-ins of his past movies. Really super good. Go see it. "How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd."   Back to main GAME: MARIO PARTY 5 (2004). When you think of multiplayer games that aren't fighters or first person shooters, one of your few alternatives is good ole Mario Party 5. It's completely absurd, requires very little skill to play, and is almost completely dictated by randomness. Think of it as a souped-up board game for the 21st century! Right. Because board games needed to be souped up. The only reasons to play Mario Party are the minigames, in which you frantically complete moronic tasks like winding a clock, dogding penguins, and catching ice cream. Faced with such silliness, you might at first chuckle with amused indignation. But the minigames soon become kinda fun, and hey, even seriously competitive at times. It's even better with a twelve pack of Tecate. So drink up! GAMEPLAY: Press A. Press A. Press A. REMINISCENT OF: Mario Party, Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3, and Mario Party 4. LIBRARY WORTHY? O dear god no.   Back to main GAME: TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 2004 Even though golf isn't so much a sport as it is a bonding activity for corporate executives, me and Nicki thought it would make for a good night of multiplayer fun that wasn't, you know, nonstop brawling and shooting. Boy, were we wrong. The production in Tiger Woods is mind-blowing, of course. It's EA. You can edit your character's face and body to bring them eerily close to your own. You can buy custom animations, clothes, and skills. You can play some of the most famous courses in the world. The only thing you can't do is actually jump in and have fun. It's a dead serious affair, filled with tables and tables of performance data and analysis. After 30 minutes of fiddling with settings and listening to endless Pro Tip advice, we put it down and played Mario Party 5 instead. Again. And we weren't even drunk. GAMEPLAY: Awful. The bizarre, RSI-inducing control scheme should only be tolerated by dedicated golf fans ("Pull back the analog stick while tapping R1, push forward, and then simultaenously tap R2 and the D-pad for spin control." WTF?). For everyone else, try Mario Golf at home or the excellent pub standby Golden Tee. REMINISCENT OF: A day at work. LIBRARY WORTHY? 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