James Fletcher rocks, tocks

Ex-Filmstar, Women drummer goes solo, at least for a bit

James Fletcher is one of my favorite Orange County musicians. He is witty, stylish, talented and a gentleman. He's been tapped by Matt Costa and Scott Weiland for his drumming skills, but most recently he's decided to back up his own talent as a frontman, resulting in his first solo CD The Booze & Clocks.

Aside from being paraded around like a piece of meat by OC Weekly last week as part of their OC's Sexiest People issue, he's also holding down the Monday Night Residency at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa for February.

How was the show last Monday? Was it weird to be the frontman suddenly after so many years backing up others? Did you love it? Was it exhilarating? Excruciating?

It was a lot of fun. I've been fortunate to surround myself with a very strong band. That makes my part somewhat easy. It felt great to play those songs live. The record and rehearsals for the live shows have been quite time consuming. It's been the better part of a year seeing that through from making the record to getting on stage. I had the best night's sleep after I got home from playing that show last week, and it wasn't  just the whiskey.

In your bio on your web page you said that you started hashing out some old songs you had on cassette tapes. These must have been collecting dust for a while since they are on cassettes. Did you always plan to do something on your own?

I started putting the songs together for the record about three months before recording them. I used cassettes because I have a crappy tape recorder, and that was my first stage of getting rough ideas together. I hadn't ever really attempted to write songs of my own from start to finish before, but it seemed a good time. I had a bit of time and a nice, quiet spot in my garage to try it out. I had stopped touring and was getting a bit restless at home. I thought, 'Why not do something else that takes up a lot of my time and makes me no money!!'  I'm great at that.

Considering some of the concepts for these songs were written years ago, was it hard to dive back in and explore the emotions behind the lyrics? Did you end up combining old experiences with new?

The ideas were pretty fresh. I bought those cassettes brand new in Feb. 2010. Yes, they still make 'em.  New song ideas that stemmed from a life time of experiences I guess.

"Wind Whipped" is decidedly different from the rest of the album. Tell me about that song. And "Mother Oh Mother." I'm not sure why but that song made me sad.

"Wind-Whipped" was one of the two songs that came from working with my great pal and legendary troubadour, Pat Visel. He had the chord progression, and I came up with the vocal melodies and words for the tune. The other song we did that way was "Some Summer." They both have a Viselian touch, and it's classic. 

"Mother Oh Mother" was a mixture of something I'd read in a book about WWI and the basic idea of a mother. You know, the fact that if you can stand up, eat, think and wipe your backside, it's most likely thanks to your mother... well, my mother in this case. The WWI book told of how many young men cried out for their mothers while they were dying from gunshots, shrapnel and mustard gas in the trenches along The Western Front. Don't worry, I won't get all heavy and cerebral. It's the only book I've ever read.

Some of these songs sound very smooth seventies. Was that intentional? Does that come from your influences? You seem to have a penchant for low-fi seventies stuff like Bread and Buffalo Springfield. How does a guy growing up in Newport Beach gravitate to stuff like that? Why are you so un-punk rock?

We worked relatively quickly when making the record.  The engineer, Ryan Mall, only had a month to spare, and I had a limited budget. I am very happy with the outcome thanks to the money and time constraints. It's the best way to do it.  It forces you to make decisions and trust your instincts. The sound and feel of the record are what I like and what I know. The music I heard on the radio and at home as a young kid left an impression on me. I'm sure that comes through on this record. As far as punk rock goes, I grew up around it and played it, but I never loved shitty three-chord punk rock. The closest I ever got to punk was XTC,The Jam and Toy Dolls.

Can you tell me about the booze and clocks? Not the CD, but an answer to the same question you ask in the song.

Oh boy......explaining that song will be far to boring for print.   It's a bit of hope and a touch of despair all in about 3 minutes.  The rest is for your ears to decide.

For more about James Fletcher, click here for an article in the OC Weekly published recently:
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/2011/02/james_fletcher.php

Or visit his Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/James-Fletcher-Music/139676419398145

So Sick and Twisted

 

 

 

 

Sick Sense 

IE Weekly

Before cutting-edge cartoons became the norm, Spike & Mike’s Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation blazed the trail

By: Arrissia Owen Turner

Craig “Spike” Decker and Mike Gribble changed animation history by accident. It all started when Gribble showed up to a party in a clown costume. It was the early 1970s, and he and Decker hit things off immediately, sharing an off-kilter, wry sense of humor and an appreciation for anything counterculture.

Gribble moved into Decker’s Victorian crash pad in Riverside, known then as the communal living space Mellow Manor. Decker attended Riverside Community College, making the Dean’s List while studying physics and physical science.

But the two stopped clowning around and embarked on an inadvertent revolution with their festivals of animation shorts that kicked off the careers of luminaries like John Lasseter (Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Cars), Danny Antonucci (Ed, Edd ‘n Eddy), Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls) and many more. Way before bizarre and politically incorrect animation became mainstream—a la early ’90s Ren & Stimpy and Adult Swim’s programming—animation from the likes of Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead), Matt Stone & Trey Parker (South Park) and Eric Fogel (Celebrity Deathmatch) were fixtures of the touring festival.

After years in hibernation, the festival is back, with four dates scheduled near Decker and Gribble’s former stomping grounds at the Fox Events Center in Redlands. Sadly, Spike is going at it alone these days with Mike on board only in memory and name.

The Revolution Begins

“He was a genuine character and a funny guy,” Decker says of Gribble, who passed away in August 1994 from cancer. Decker says he still takes a moment to ask himself during decision-making, “What would Mike do?”

In the mid-1970s, Spike was a member of the band Sterno and the Flames. Decker and Gribble started promoting the band’s gigs through their company called Mellow Manor Productions, finding unique ways to get people to the band’s rock shows by including horror, rock and classic movie screenings. 

The band also showed classic cartoons like Popeye, Betty Boop and Superman, and even the newish cult favorite Bambi Meets Godzilla by Marv Newland on a screen behind the band playing. 

The band fizzled, but Decker and Gribble’s fervor for animation presented a new opportunity. The two created 90-minute features out of animated shorts and branded it “Spike and Mike’s Festival of Animation.”

In 1977, the festival (later renamed the “Classic Festival of Animation”) launched, showcasing the short animated films by touring theaters, film festivals and college campuses annually. The festival premiered early works by the aforementioned Lasseter (the Academy Award-winning short Tin Toy), Tim Burton (Vincent), Nick Park (A Grand Day Out, Wallace and Gromit), Bill Plympton (Your Face, Nose Hair) and others.

Decker and Gribble also produced the student works of guys who went on to the big time, including Pixar’s Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc.) and Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo).

Key Lime Pie by Trevor Jimenez

“It just fit and it worked,” Decker says. “We started getting to know so many of the animators, it just started revolving.”

Animation is Unlimited

The duo had to overcome some stigma at first, with many not won over by the idea of a festival dedicated to what they perceived as childish cartoons. “Each film is a movie in itself, a masterpiece,” Decker says.

Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation started in 1990 and accompanied the original festival showing unrated adult-oriented shorts, eventually completely replacing the Classic Festival.

Sick & Twisted got its start at UC Berkeley’s Wheeler Auditorium at when Decker asked the crowd of co-eds if they wanted to see something a little more mature. “Hells yeah” was the answer in no uncertain terms.

It was meant to offend from the start. Sick & Twisted’s creation was prompted by a few animated shorts that Decker and Gribble saw potential in, but were too high on the gross-out and taboo meter for the regular festival.

To create an entirely new festival, Mellow Manor Productions funded the creation of new shorts by some of their favorite animators, including Mike Judge. Judge went on to launch his Beavis and Butthead empire with Sick & Twisted’s help.

Dog With Electric Collar by Steve Baker, playing during Sick and Twisted

“It was total freedom for them to do these crazy, sick and twisted films using animation as a medium,” Decker says. “It’s a natural application because animation is unlimited with what you can do with it.” 

How to Pick a Winner

Beavis and Butthead’s pre-MTV short Frog Baseball was one result. “The characters and the voice that Mike did were really good,” Decker says looking back. He appreciated Judge’s affinity for parody, something Decker likes for its ability to shine a bright light on hypocrisy and truth. “It’s the backbone of stand-up comedians, even comics in newspapers.”

Decker and Gribble trusted their insight. “We had a brand and a concept,” he says. “We had a good knowledge of what works with audiences and whether a film has merit or not.”

Of the 22 shorts on average shown during an animation festival, whittled down from about 500 submissions, the key commonality is hitting funny bones just right—whether sick and twisted or not. “We had an incredible skill to know when something was a winner,” Decker says.

Still, Decker knows some of the shorts aren’t going to win Oscars.

“Obviously everyone isn’t going to like all of them, but humor is the No. 1 criteria,” Decker says. “It’s like Ben & Jerry’s. You are not going to like every flavor, but there are some damn good flavors in there.”

Electric Roses by Pedram Goshtasbpour

Decker shies away from taking too much credit for the subsequent success of the Pixar animators, Park, Judge and the South Park guys, though it bears noting that Decker and Gribble were the first to screen Parker & Stone’s famous Christmas short (The Spirit of Christmas) that launched Cartman and the crew into superstardom. So we will give him and Gribble credit for that; they were definitely the talent’s biggest cheer squad.

The New Generation

“We believed in them, saw the talent and the value and we stepped up before anyone else and put their stuff out there,” Decker says about the cavalcade of renegade animators. “It’s just built on that.”

Decker and Gribble set out to educate audiences in every town they hit that animation was more than kids’ play. “We wanted to show that these were incredible films and that some were absolute masterpieces,” Decker says.

Still, with Sick & Twisted gaining momentum, it was hard for Decker to continue to produce both festivals. The Classic Animation Festival ended up being phased out. 

“We just didn’t have the infrastructure to do both,” Decker says.

The digital revolution helped bring it all back though.

This year, the “New Generation Animation Festival” has been added to the tour, which is basically the same as the Classic fest, but the name change is meant to emphasize the festival’s core progressive animators.

These days, Decker doesn’t have to comb the globe looking for cutting-edge animators. “People know us now,” Decker says. “We’ve paid enough dues for people to trust us and want to be part of the show. People use it as a résumé now.”

The payoff for Decker and his crew is helping take up-and-coming animators to the next level and finding them an audience. “We believe in someone when no one in the world outside their parents had seen their work and then all of a sudden they have people from another country watching their stuff,” Decker says.

Santa the Facist by Bill Plympton

“Spike and Mike’s Festival of Animation gives audiences the only opportunity to view the wonderful art form of the animated short film,” Lasseter has said about Decker and Gribble. “They also give young animators and filmmakers a chance that they normally never get in the film industry.” 

“We Are Not Mainstream”

Others have said the same, just with more colorful language. “Spike and Mike are to animation what salad dressing is to sex,” according to Stone & Parker.

“It’s like someone who works on violins and knows a great Stradivarius,” Decker says. “It’s just working on these films and being characters outside of the mainstream. Just like someone in the music industry, we notice things that are different because we are not mainstream.”

While Decker remains humble, he can look back at what he and Gribble accomplished and feel proud.

“Part of me is like, ‘We earned it and why not?’” he says. “Part of me is thinking that we don’t get enough recognition for it. And then another part of me, at other times, like when we find ourselves at the Sundance Film Festival or screening at Cannes—that is very exciting and I am very appreciative of that. But I do feel that we’ve earned it.”

The dream would be to have a late-night TV show to showcase the Sick & Twisted talent. “We would like to get some mainstream shots out there,” Decker says.

Looking back at some of the talent he’s worked with, like Park of Wallace and Gromit fame, he’s even taken aback by the amount of genius that has passed through the festivals.

“I can’t think of too many titles that we have ever passed on that we didn’t hit it on the money,” Decker says. “We strive for perfection.”

Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation and New Generation Animation Festival at the Fox Events Center, 123 Cajon St., Redlands, (909) 233-6727; www.spikeandmike.com. Jan. 14-15, 21-22. Tickets $10 for each festival, $18 both shows.

http://www.ieweekly.com/cms/story/detail/sick_sense/3713/ 

White Out!

Shaun White visited Big Bear's Bear Mountain Resort today. I tracked him down to his surprise. I was the Big Bear paparazzi for the day.

Shaun White visits Bear Mountain

Superpipe phenom Shaun White takes time out from boarding Bear Mountain Jan. 6 to take a photo with a fan, 11-year-old Owen Hamer of Moonridge. (ARRISSIA OWEN TURNER/Big Bear Grizzly)

Shaun White hits Bear for respite, runs

By ARRISSIA OWEN TURNER
Reporter

Big Bear Grizzly

Published: Thursday, January 6, 2011 3:29 PM PST

Shaun White, aka Bear Mountain's ginger son, visited Big Bear Thursday, Jan. 6, to hit some jibs and relax incognito sans sponsors, photographers and hoopla. The two-time Olympic gold medal snowboarder who got his start riding the slopes of Bear Mountain returned after six years of jetsetting and taking the mainstream world by storm. "I'm glad to be back," he said at the top of Chair 9 before taking a run. "It's cool."

Here's the link online to today's photo op:

http://bigbeargrizzly.net/articles/2011/01/06/sports/doc4d264f582f90d576168333.txt

There's No Time Like Snow Time

Altitude Adjustment  

IE Weekly

Our review of the region’s chillingest winter sport destinations

By: Arrissia Owen Turner

Now’s the perfect time to wax up and dig into the powdery realms you’ll find at our higher elevations . . .

BEAR MOUNTAIN

The 2009-10 season at Bear Mountain Resort marked 20 years of progressive terrain park development. The resort, once called Goldmine before it merged with the other Big Bear ski resort (Snow Summit), is at the forefront of snowboard culture, allowing park designers carte blanche to build whatever they want to ride on. 

Whether you’re jibbing an old jalopy, sliding across picnic tables or hitting the new $5,000 feature, the Paul Jam, a cascading stair step that looks like a huge Devo hat, you’re sure to have a blast. Bear Mountain offers SoCal’s only superpipe, plus a halfpipe and a beginner pipe to live out your Olympic dreams. 

Chad Blau at Bear (Arrissia Owen Turner for Big Bear Grizzly)

It’s no secret that Bear Mountain was home to über-boarder Shaun White, but these days you can still share the slopes with snowboarding greats like J.P. Walker and Mike Casanova, among others. Most weekends are host to contests and events of every kind.

Once upon a time, Snow Summit was the go-to resort for snowboarders. But once the merger occurred, Bear Mountain Resort became the destination for snowboarders and freestyle twin-tip skiers with its 748 total acreage; with 198 developed and 550 acres undeveloped in Deer, Goldmine and Bow canyons. The more advanced riders can hit the canyons to navigate between the trees when a good dump of natural snowfall occurs. 

Bear Mountain is keeping a tight hold on their reputation as one of the most progressive snowboard parks in the U.S. The mountain is littered with more than 150 jumps and 80 jibs spread out among the 17,000 vertical feet of top-to-bottom terrain.

This season, the resort added the new Skill Builder Park in the beginner area with scaled-down features and DIY signs that spell out exactly how to raise the bar on your riding. 

Bear Mountain boasts 12 lifts, with two high-speed chairs straight to the top. The highest elevation at Bear Mountain is a staggering 8,805 feet at Bear Peak, with about 17 ride-able miles across the resort. The longest run is Geronimo at 1.5 miles. 

After covering the entire mountain, you’ll be ready for a cold one at the Beach Bar, an outdoor bar that overlooks The Scene and Central Park for plenty of entertainment. Why exert yourself when you can watch others from the comfort of the deck? Looking for warmth, Trappers Lounge is just a staircase away.

Bear Mountain Resort, 43101 Goldmine Dr., in the Moonridge area of Big Bear Lake, (909) 866-5766; www.bearmountain.com.

MT. BALDY

Suzy Chafee anyone? Hell yeah.

Skiing Mt. Baldy resort is like jumping in a time machine, sans hot tub. Anyone with fond memories of long, straight skis, Boda bags, Led Zeppelin blaring and foxy babes in blue bibs can certainly appreciate the vibe at Baldy. 

If it’s been decades since you’ve skied here, you’re in for a treat—it’s frozen in time. From the chair lifts to the faces of buildings, you’ll feel a little dazed and confused. Even the snowmobiles look circa 1983, but in the best way possible. 

The resort opened more than half a century ago, starting with a Hudson engine and a bale of rope, developing into a full-service resort boasting six double black diamond runs. It’s no Mammoth, but when there is plenty of snow it’s epic. 

First things first, you take a ski lift from the parking lot to the main part of the ski area. Once you arrive, you’ll find the rental shop, ski lesson sign-ups, the Notch Restaurant and the Mt. Baldy Yacht Club (Stella and Widmer on tap!), basket check, first aid and all the rugged terrain you can handle 25 minutes from Upland. At the end of the day, you can either ride the lift down to the parking lot or just go balls out and hit the moguls the entire way down. 

Aside from the awesome aesthetics, something that makes Baldy special is that it faces south, which can be a real curse when you’re trying to maintain your snowpack. But it also offers one of the most impressive sunsets you’ll ever find. 

The late sun reflects off Long Beach Harbor, magnifying the scene in a rare atmospheric condition. On a good day, you can actually make out the shape of sailboats. Squint past the fog and you can just make out Catalina Island. 

The drive to Mt. Baldy is short and sweet, and with much fewer cliff drops from the side view window of your vehicle, but there are plenty of challenging slopes once you arrive. 

The recent rains washed out part of the road after the mountain area received more than 25 inches of rain and three feet of snow, but county crews worked to keep the fun alive with the road to the resort is reopened with restrictions. 

For the time being, skiers and snowboarders must arrive by 9 a.m. to avoid the uphill road closure, which enables the crews to continue the repairs. To ensure your spot on the mountain, make a reservation and print it out, or go to the resort’s website and print out the home page, which has a message about the road closure. Leave early and stay late. And don’t forget to fuel up. There are no gas stations once you pass Claremont or San Antonio Heights. 

Mt. Baldy Resort is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Chairs 2 and 3 are open with a combined 1,250 vertical feet, with Chair 4 opening weather permitting. There is also a Monster Tubing Park available for those looking for speed without strapping in or clicking in. And if you’re just hanging out for the view, there is a pass available just to ride the first lift up to the main ski area. 

On the way home, stop off at Mt. Baldy Lodge in the Village, a rustic bar and restaurant with plenty of grub and mountain men to chat up. Mt. Baldy Lodge also offers overnight lodging, as does Snow Crest Lodge.

Mt. Baldy Ski Resort is at 6700 Mt. Baldy Road, Mt. Baldy. From the 210 freeway, exit Mountain Avenue and head north. Mountain Avenue turns into Mt. Baldy Road. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (909) 982-0800 or visit www.mtbaldy.com.

SNOW VALLEY SKI RESORT

Snow Valley Ski Resort in Running Springs is sort of the stepchild to Big Bear’s two resorts, but it’s got that whole 30-minutes-closer-than thing going for it—and that’s 30 minutes without chain control, which usually sets up right after Snow Valley. 

The resort is a perfect place for beginner and intermediate level skiers and snowboarders, and there are a few black diamond runs to keep their patient buddies satisfied. The trade off is that the lift ticket prices are much nicer on your wallet. 

But don’t underestimate Snow Valley. The EDGE is a park with a tank jib, small flat rail, table and spine, with more features being added daily as the season kicks off. Once the snow starts dumping, two more terrain parks will open, the Rim Progression Park and Hideout Jib Park. 

There are night sessions until 8 p.m. Lines can be long at lunch time, so consider brown bagging it or hitting up the chalet before or after chow hours. It’s all a bit primitive, but there’s a reason why.

The ski area started in 1924 with a sling lift, then called Fish Camp. By 1941, the ski resort took on the name Snow Valley Ski Resort, and by 1949 the resort installed its first chair lift. Jump to 1994, and snowmaking was added, and by 1996 the resort added an innovative snowboard park that flowed from hit to hit. 

During the past summer, Snow Valley invested nearly a million dollars, upgrading ski and snowboard rental equipment along with a new computerized rental processing system. Chair 8 has been refurbished and will allow easier access from Slide Peak to the front of the mountain. 

Snow Valley is close enough to make for an easy day trip, but for those looking to tuck in after a long day of boarding or skiing, there are lodges and hotels available in Running Springs or nearby Lake Arrowhead. Closest is Giant Oaks Lodge, minutes from the resort. For reservations, call (909) 786-1689. For more information about the area, visit www.runningsprings.com.

Snow Valley Ski Resort, 35100 Highway 18, Running Springs, (909) 867-2751; www.snow-valley.com.

SNOW SUMMIT RESORT

Snow Summit is the most visible ski resort in Big Bear Lake, just a jaunt up from Big Bear Boulevard and closer to the Village area with restaurants and bars. It’s family-friendly and offers myriad intermediate and beginner runs, along with the double diamonds for the more advanced skiers and snowboarders. 

The resort offers 31 trails, 14 chairlifts, a 1.25-mile run and a snowmaking system that can convert up to 6,000 gallons of water per minute into snow when Mother Nature fails SoCal. 

Kenny Milliken at Torchlight (AOT)

The mature crowd can hit Snow Summit to escape the hot doggers that Bear Mountain caters to. The resort touts itself as the “Premier Mountain Resort Experience in Southern California,” with a more refined skiing experience offered. Night skiing is available many nights throughout the season, and New Year’s Eve boasts the annual Torchlight Parade that is always a sight to see. 

At the top of Chair 1, the East Mountain Express, stop for a bit at the View Haus restaurant, which has a stunning view of San Gorgonio and some tasty barbecue grillin‘. Sit out on the oversized deck and order some pulled pork or a half-pound burger, grab a beer and you’re in nirvana. 

For beginners, Snow Summit offers an exceptional ski school, with guaranteed results. If by the end of the lesson you can’t make your way down the beginner slope, you get to keep taking lessons until you can. 

And if it’s your first time at Snow Summit but it’s looking awfully familiar, it might be memories from John Cusack and Chevy Chase flick Hot Tub Time Machine, which was partly filmed at the resort.

Snow Summit, 880 Summit Blvd., Big Bear Lake, (909) 866-5766; www.snowsummit.com. For lodging information in the area, visit www.bigbearinfo.com, www.bigbear.com or call (800)-4-BIGBEAR.

MOUNTAIN HIGH

Just a little ways from the Cajon Pass sits Mountain High Ski Resort in Wrightwood in the Angeles National Forest. More than 80 years ago, construction on the resort kicked off, back then called Big Pines, transforming the winter wonderland into a recreation destination. 

By 1980, Mountain High merged with Holiday Hill and became a single resort, Mountain High Ski Resort. Now the resort offers 46 trails and 11 chair lifts, including the regions first high-speed detachable quad. 

In 1997, the resort underwent a huge transformation, renovating everything from lifts to the grooming equipment. Since 2001, Mountain High has earned the title of most skier visits of all SoCal ski resorts. Most recently the resort remodeled the West Base area. It also increased its snowmaking by 30 percent. 

Aside from the West and East resorts, Mountain High now offers the North Resort, with 70 acres of beginner terrain and the North Pole Tubing Park, SoCal’s largest tubing park. Formerly Ski Sunrise, the North Resort is located directly across from the West Resort and operates weekends through the peak season. 

New for this season is the resort’s longest terrain park yet at 1.6 miles, located at the East Resort. The park will no doubt lure some riders to the east side, easing congestion on the main side of the resort. 

Goldrush run on the east’s gradual pitch is perfect for features and offers better terrain for the park. The park includes banks, hips, jibs and jumps. There is also a second learn-to-ride zone at the top of East Resort perfect for beginners, which also includes a small BoarderCross course to get your speed on. 

The West Resort upped its game, as well, adding a new stair feature in the Playground and a pipe jib designed and sponsored by Skullcandy. The new Skullcandy feature mimics an iPod docking station with built in speakers to rock your world.

Mountain High Winter Resort, 24510 State Highway 2, Wrightwood, (888) 754-7878; www.mthigh.com.

Making Skiing Plans for Nigel

Not only do I have a weakness for telling rock stars' stories, I also love kids. Who doesn't? Especially kids who kick cancer's ass. This is my little buddy Nigel, who I wrote a story about this week. He is back to skiing after two years of cancer treatments—before he can even walk again unassisted.

Cancer survivor goes skiing

Nigel hits the slopes. (Photo courtesy of Tim Holland)

Nigel Holland beats the odds

By ARRISSIA OWEN TURNER
Reporter

Big Bear Grizzly

Published: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 7:47 AM PST

Nigel Holland set a goal for himself: to ski again before he could walk. Nigel recently met that goal, just a little more than two years after he was first diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

The 9-year-old Big Bear Valley resident was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a solid cancerous tumor in the cerebellum of the brain. It metastasized to his spine. His illness galvanized the community, resulting in Team Nigel. The group helped organize fundraisers to raise money for the family’s medical bills related to Nigel’s condition.

But the biggest hurdles were left for Nigel. After surgery to remove the tumor, Nigel developed a neurological disorder that caused him to lose his ability to speak due to cerebella mutism. Nigel has nerve damage in his left eye and uses a rolling chair that he pushes with his legs to get around. He is starting to take steps unassisted.

Within four months, with the help of hearing aids and therapy, he was able to speak again. Nigel is no longer undergoing chemotherapy at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

“The doctors said Nigel’s latest MRI was stable and shows no new signs of cancer,” says Tim Holland, Nigel’s father. “Nigel has improved in everything—speech, writing, getting around. He has more questions than I have answers. He is amazing.”

Nigel’s physical therapist helped him hit another milestone recently by working with Nigel on his balance and muscle memory, Tim says. After setting a goal to ski again before he conquered walking, Nigel accomplished just that. Before his diagnosis, Nigel was an avid skier on the Snow Summit Race Team’s development team.

Nigel, skiing in Mammoth, pre-diagnosis

Muscle memory is key to Nigel’s ski success. Just like riding a bike, muscle memory consolidates a specific motor task into memory through repetition. When a body movement is repeated many times, like skiing, a long-term muscle memory is created, eventually allowing it to be performed without conscious effort. The muscles remembered.

Nigel says he is feeling stronger. “It’s fun,” he says about getting back to the ski resort. He looks forward to the day when he can rejoin his friends on the hill from the ski team, he says.

“His next goal is to walk,” Tim says. “His vision is definitely improving and his last hearing test they said it was stable.” Aside from hitting the slopes, his biggest accomplishment this year was returning to school, Tim says.

Nigel is a third-grader at Baldwin Lane Elementary School. “He is able to be there for seven hours,” Tim says. “That would have been impossible a year ago. Nigel never complains that he can’t walk or he has trouble doing things. He is one amazing little boy.”

To read the original story in the Grizzly, click below:

http://bigbeargrizzly.net/articles/2010/12/17/news/doc4d082b09c2dd0128216760.txt 

David kicks Goliath's BofA Ass

Big Bear homeowner sues Bank of America, wins

Dave Graham sued Bank of America and won in small claims court. The bank admitted to committing fraud in small claims court. (ARRISSIA OWEN TURNER/Big Bear Grizzly)

Mortgage lender admits fraud

By ARRISSIA OWEN TURNER
Reporter

Big Bear Grizzly

Published: Friday, December 17, 2010 11:26 AM PST

DEC. 17, 11:15 a.m.: David Graham just slayed Goliath in small claims court. The Big Bear City resident, with the help of Alan Sims of the Center for Litigation and Consumer Real Estate Education, took Graham's mortgage lender, Bank of America's BAC Home Loans Servicing LP, to court and won Friday, Dec. 17.

Graham sued the mega bank for fraud because he was put into a loan modification program by Bank of America when the bank knew from the start he did not qualify. Judge John Pacheco ruled that Bank of America is in violation of Californa Civil Code 1565-1590, particularly 1572, suppression of facts and 1575, undue influence.

The judge awarded Graham $7,595. This is the first known case where Bank of America has been found guilty by reason of fraud.

Sims acted as a professional witness in the case. He says Bank of America committed fraud because there is a simple calculation from the start that determines whether someone is qualified for a loan modication. The lender has 90 days to tell the client whether the loan modification is approved.

Bank of America's representative, mortgage service specialist Anthony Lopez, admitted in court that the lender continued to accept modified payments for six months after the bank determined Graham was not approved for the modification. Sims says that the representative said on record that the bank staff is not trained well enough to facilitate the loan modification rejection within six months. Audio recordings of the testimony should be available by Dec. 20, Sims says.

"They had prior knowledge," Sims told The Grizzly. "That is the key to proving fraud and getting a conviction." Bank of America is expected to appeal.

For a previous story about Dave Graham's suit against Bank of America, click here:

bigbeargrizzly.net/articles/2010/11/24/news/doc4cec7c3d0c89b793199927.txt

For more information about the Center for Litigation and Consumer Real Estate visit www.clcree.org/, e-mail info@clcree.org or call 909-584-8820.

Desert Queens

Bring the Reign

Thu, Dec 2, 2010

Culture Magazine

The desert dudes from Queens of the Stone Age unleash an oldie and a goodie

By Arrissia Owen Turner

Now that Queens of the Stone Age is more than a decade old and has surpassed the fame of date shakes, it’s time for Josh Homme and the rest of the band to look back at a deed well done.

Come January, Homme’s label Rekords Rekords will reissue the band’s self-titled 1998 debut, which has been out of print for many years. The CD stormed out of the sand, whipping critics into shape and lending a feminine machismo to the rock scene of the day.

While a new QOTSA release would be even more sought after—the last was the 2009 full-length Era Vulgaris—the band has spent the last few years working on side projects. For now, the re-release offers three new songs from the band’s formative years.

Bassist Michael Shuman’s side project Mini Mansion’s new album (also being released in January by Rekords Rekords) is decidedly downtempo with Shuman switching to drums for a change. He started the band in January 2009 with Zach Dawes (vocals/bass) and Tyler Parkford (guitar/keys). CULTURE talked with Shuman about musical multi-tasking and what puts the “desert” in desert metal.

Who is the driving force behind Mini Mansions?

We started it together. Zach is the middle man between me and Tyler. I’ve been friends with Zach since we were kids. He went to school with Tyler. He introduced us. Zach and I are both songwriters in our own right. I didn’t start a band and recruit two guys. It was definitely formed together. But I drive it now that it’s functional.

Do you share songwriting duties within the band?

It’s pretty split. But a lot of the ideas from our first EP and our first record are songs that Tyler’s had for a long time. A lot of people misconstrue it as me writing it all, doing everything. There are two voices you hear on the record. The main voice you hear is Tyler’s.

This is a very quiet album. Not what I expected from a member of QOTSA.

When we started, it was even quieter. There were no drums. It was supposed to be a mellow project. It’s gotten progressively louder and the live shows are heavier. People think coming from a band like QOTSA that we only listen to heavy music, but for the most part, even the guys in Queens, we don’t listen to just heavy music. Because I am in a rock band, I like to listen to mellower music when I’m not playing it. I don’t need to be bombarded by heavy music all the time.

For the full story, click below:

http://freeculturemag.com/2010/12/reviews/queens-of-the-stone-ag/