Not to be outdone in the marketing blitz department, Los Angeles hogs the 7-Eleven-turned- Kwik-E-Mart concept with two stores — one in Burbank (shown here), the other on the Westside. Poor Middle America. Poor Springfields of the world. They won’t be able to breeze past Marge Simpson and Comic Book Guy on their way to buy a 6-pack of “Buzz Cola” for $3.99. They will have to use the powers of their own imagination to see the freezer geezer on their way to buy ice. They’ll never know the true taste of a real, live, three-dimensional Squishee (tastes cartoony) — and they’ll never have an Indian gentleman at the cash register warn them against brain freeze at the purchase of said Squishee. Yes, that really happened.

Now they’ll never see the movie.

To promote “The Simpsons Movie,” 7-Eleven is turning 12 of its stores into Kwik-E-Marts. This is the Burbank installment at 1611 W. Olive Ave. More photos after the jump.

»continue reading A Good Day For A Squishee

A clusterfuck of epic proportions is likely to happen this evening as two people who are no strangers to being mobbed will descend on Sunset Boulevard and make getting mobbed (and stuck in traffic) just as easy for everyone else in the area. It’s the very Hollywood-appropriate perfect storm of celebrity, and no one, not even George Clooney’s beard hairs, could get out unscathed.

Perhaps while Paul McCartney is getting strummy at Amoeba and Paris Hilton is getting chummy with Larry King at CNN next door, some cloud of toxic soda spray from the Jack in the Box across the street will waft down Cahuenga and blind all Hollywood paparazzi and celebrity stalkers in one fell swoop. At the very least, it’ll gum up their cameras.
»continue reading Parisian-British Co-Invasion!

»continue reading Datarock @ Troubadour, 6/13/07

If you think a churro is nothing without its warm, gooey center, turns out you couldn’t be more wrong. Churro purists, look away. Because if you hit the Counter before July 1 you will no doubt succumb to the sweet, chunky, cinnamon-laden brilliance of the churro milkshake. Oh yes.

The only way this Milkshake of the Month from Santa Monica’s gourmet burger joint could be more delicious is if it had some sort of horchata component. (It employs the unambitious though sensible “vanilla” base. You could argue that they didn’t want to overdo it, but this is a restaurant that will pile fried egg, fried pickles and “horseradish cheddar” on your burger if you so desire.) Even so, it is awe-inspiring. It’s also further evidence of Los Angeles’ raging case of multiple personality disorder, bringing to mind a scene in which a smog-darkened churro truck plows through the uber-stylish garage door that takes up one wall of the Counter and explodes with bits of fried dough, giving diners something new to drink with their black forest ham-covered burger.

The only downside, and this should be obvious: Straw stoppage is considerable, so you must be coordinated enough for the spoon/straw combo. You can do it.

The Counter’s Churro Milkshake
2901 Ocean Park Blvd.
Santa Monica
Last chance: June 30

»continue reading Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, El Rey, 4/12/07

»continue reading Thermals @ EchoPlex, 4/6/07

»continue reading Little Ones @ Troubadour, 4/4/07

»continue reading You Am I & Actionslacks @ Spaceland, 4/1/07

»continue reading Do Make Say Think @ Troubadour, 3/10/07

»continue reading Grizzly Bear @ Troubadour, 2/21/07

»continue reading Papercuts @ Troubadour, 2/21/07

»continue reading Robbers On High Street @ Echo, 1/27/07

*or until trash day, Thursday

I’ve walked by this Dumpster 50 times, but never while it was open.

I saw no dead bodies. Maybe this is the official dumping ground of their sucky new album…

The Slayer Dumpster
Fairfax Village
Hours: M-F 8am-7pm
Sat 9am-1pm.
Closed Sundays.