It’s nice to have all my files back in the proper place, with a little more room to bang around in, after a two month hiatus following the crash. Back up everything, people, this is the first time I’ve not lost a single file.

I’m going with “The 2Ks.”

I snapped a picture on Saturday on my way back from The Valley, when it was already getting unbelievably big.

Yesterday it was just a massive wash of gray smoke, punctuated by undulating white billows that rose up like the mountains had been bombed. I woke up smelling smoke the last four or five mornings, and reports are that the fire will rage for several more days. Firefighters have died in the attempt to contain it. In some ways, it’s a bit how I used to picture the end of the world, where we all numbly continue our daily routines and watch the conflagration grow closer.

But there will be renewal. The Griffith Park fire blackened the hills nearby and made the view rather bleak for a while, but vegetation is starting to grow again. The Angeles forest will follow in the same way. We get used to the fast pace of city life, where billboards change monthly and new skyscrapers spring up every year. But, putting things in perspective, taking the long view, this fire will encourage new growth, and, okay, it will take a few years for it to take hold enough to be noticeable, but a new start is only possible when the dense, dry, dead underbrush is cleared away.

Although, I was a bit surprised at the amount of booze.

Cousins galore showed up, as did my parents.

Morgan had a good time yakking with all, while I consumed the last alcohol I’d imbibe until after the film. Solely for the calories, not for any weird artistic reason.

Zoe seemed to enjoy what she could understand, but especially liked the cupcake she got, most of which ended up on her face, not in it. She started feeding her father some of the mashed-up crumbs after she’d mangled the top of the thing, in the cutest birthday moment, ever. So, naturally, I failed to get a shot of it.

And then we were exhausted and called it a day.

Right before I walked into that audition, however, I got a call to audition the following day for a feature. That was exciting, especially since the director had already seen me work, and thought I was right for the lead role. Oh, yeah. That’s the kind of confidence boost I could use just before I do every audition. I did my thing, three or four times to the direction of the, um, director, and left. I hurried home because I had a full script to read before that next day’s audition.

Not much to tell about that one, since it went very well, and I booked the lead in it. What what? Yes, I got the part, and we shoot the second week of July. To undersate it a bit: I. Am. Excited.

I mean, what the hell is that asterisk for? Wal-Mart calls it a “spark.” Sure. To me, it punctuates many years’ worth of abysmal employee treatment. “Wal-Mart. Yay! Kinda!”

Kraft is trying the same thing, adding lower case letters for a “new” touch, but completely missing the boat with the graphic.

Do they sell flowers? Do they sell fireworks? I have no idea from the logo, but I know I can’t eat those. There was nothing wrong with the old logo, and they’ve trashed its simple power with this elaborate silliness. It just makes me think how apt the phrase “technicolor yawn” is.

In a similar vein, the new Cheer logo has multicolored spooge bursting from itself. I don’t mind the jumbled letters so much, it reminds me of my washing machine agitating the crap out of my clothes, and if they’d left out the splatter, they might have been onto something, particularly because the old logo is nothing special. But no, more is always better, right? Not to mention the tagline, “brightCLEAN” is the fused neologism of a corporation itself, not a description.

Pressing forward, Stop & Shop shot itself in the foot with its redesign.

The old logo is nigh perfect. And how do you rebrand a logo that embodies the name with a literal graphic? Why, you give it to a kid who knows how to use the copy & rotate functions in Illustrator! I don’t know what I can buy at Stop & Shop, but I’ll bet they have candied orange slices.

Super Fresh was on the right track, and they started with a rather bland logo, but the sage green doesn’t bespeak freshness to me, and the graphic is just superfluous. Not everybody needs a graphic with their logotype, guys. IBM, anyone?

Likewise, Sysco’s burning desire to get in on the lower case game wasn’t so bad. Their old logo is, admittedly, a bit clunky.

But they could have kept the instantly recognizable box graphic (which is clever, as Bill Marsh points out in the article, and bespeaks storage and transport), and that semicircle bit on the capital “S” says nothing about them or what they do, and it doesn’t fit in with the rest. Why add whimsy when it has nothing to do with your company? Sysco moves food from supplier to seller quickly and safely. That’s important, necessary work. Make that the focus of your brand, and you have our respect.

The only example I really liked was Aussie supermarket chain Woolworths. Like the font (if maybe a bit thin), like the colors, love the new graphic. Good work, Hans Hulsbosch.

The world is full of banal designers. I’m just amazed that they keep getting hired and paid to produce such ill-considered and counterproductive work.

Then it was over, and I could see daylight through the windows. In fact, could see daylight all over the place, since the house was coming apart. A group of angry pirates then started coming up through a trap door in the floor near the far wall. I rushed over and stomped around their heads and arms, careful not to actually make contact, and realizing this was all part of the game. They retreated, and I jumped out a window to my right into a pool that the house was floating on. More pirates started to come at me, and I swam for the side of the pool, heaving myself over just before the pirates closed in on me.

I found myself in a vaguely medieval town, marveling at the detail, and found little signs that gave me clues as to the nature of the place. It was a theme park, called Caligia (no idea why, or if that meant anything). The employees were all acting the part of residents of that little world, and they all carried pager/PDAs that told them the descriptions and names of approaching patrons, so they could address them directly. It was a bit like The Pirates of the Caribbean come to life, and I couldn’t wait to see more.

Unfortunately, I found I needed to pay the entry fee to continue, and a flyer showed the base price: $499. The place was impossibly expensive to run, clearly, but easily one of the best theme park concepts in my memory (which was, you know, dream memory). It’s a rich man’s game, immersive wonderlands.

But it’s supposed to be the best night to go, since it’s crowded and they have hot go-go boys writhing above the crowd. The place was full of mostly hot messes, but there were a few normal guys from the neighborhood and beyond (also a few gay-friendly straight couples), and the DJ wasn’t half bad. Not a patch on the guy who spins at Faultline for their Sunday beer bust, who mixes old and new tunes with panache and wit and is worth going to listen to for his set alone, but pretty good.

I was sweated on by passing dancers, which was a bit disturbing, but we saw a few friends and acquaintances, so I think I’ll give it another shot. Especially if I pick up a couple more “no cover with this” flyers.

(L-R: Brian, Dennis, Ryan, Jason, Jesse, Johnny)

(L-R: Ryan (barely), Jason, Jesse, Johnny, Evan, Nater, Nicole)

Jesse’s swine outfit was fantastic.

(L-R: Ryan (Danny’s friend), Danny, Ryan (Dennis’s roommate), Evan, Dennis)

Nater, who I hadn’t seen since last year, made it up to the fiesta.

Phillip didn’t go out with the revelers, having work the next day, but he joined in while we were inside.

And then, of course, Micky’s.