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Join Script Doctor Eric and his sidekick Matt as they welcome screenwriter/producer Anne Lower to the UCLA Radio studios.

Anne will join Matt and Script Dr. Eric on their popular screenwriting podcast – Scriptcast – this Wednesday at 11am.  Tune in by clicking the headphones above, or listen later by going to  iTunes and searching for “Scriptcast.”

Anne has been involved in a number of great projects (check out Anne’s bio) most recently developing the supernaturally thrilling webseries known as They Live Among Us. Matt and Eric will chat with her about screenwriting, web things, and anything else they can think of.

Got a question for Anne?  Tweet it to @scriptdreric before the show.  Or if you’d like to reach Anne directly, she’s @princess_scribe.  Yes, Princess Scribe.  It’s also the name of her blog (See PrincessScribe.com.  No, seriously, see it.)

Seriously.

Listening to Ozomatli is kind of like putting the iPod of someone with very eclectic music taste on shuffle and using some type of magical new app to combine five different genres into one catchy song. The ten-piece band’s sound has been described as having elements of Latin, reggae, rock, rap, hip-hop, salsa, jazz, and funk music, all at the same time. In an interview, two of the band members themselves attempted to described Ozomatli’s diverse arrangement of sound, comparing it to when “you drive down Sunset Boulevard and turn off your stereo and roll down your windows and all the music that comes out of each and every different car, whether it’s salsa, cumbia, merengue, or hip hop, funk, or whatever, it’s that crazy blend that’s going on between that cacophony of sound is Ozomatli.” This analogy to the rhythms of choice of Los Angelenos is no accident. The band met and was formed in the heart of LA in 1995, and their earliest performances were on street corners and along picket lines in the area. Since then, Ozomatli’s success has taken off, and they’ve played for appreciative audiences across the globe. Ozomatli returns a little closer to their home city tonight, taking over the House of Blues Anaheim with comedians Cristela Alonzo and Dillon Garcia as openers.

If you’re not going to the show, don’t let that stop you from checking out the unique blend of Los Angeles sound that is Ozomatli.

Ozomatli – City of Angels

If you haven’t made Valetine’s Day plans yet,  why not go see Robin Thicke and Melanie Fiona in concert at Club Nokia in the Pretty Lil’ Hearts Valentine’s Concert 2012? UCLA Radio is giving you TWO chances to win tickets – on our Facebook page and our Twitter page.

The award-winning multi-platinum superstar, Robin Thicke, returns to center stage with Something Else, a joyful and modern tribute to the ’70s soul and pop records that have inspired an extraordinary career.

Something Else is aptly titled. “It’s time for hope and change,” Thicke says. “It’s in the air. And I’m speaking on the times around me.” Thicke echoes the change with mesmerizing Superfly-era vocals, Gamble and Huff-inspired horn arrangements (”Hard on My Love”), unabashed lyrical optimism and an irresistible invitation to the dance floor (”Side Step”). “I don’t want to be a preacher, but I do think at the core of every great existence is an abundance of love and joy, and the only way to create that is to give it,” he adds.

The first single, “Magic,” draws all of Something Else’s influences together into one blast of disco-infused dance pop. Robert Hales, director of Gnarles Barkley’s “Crazy” video, was tapped to add visual balance between downtown dance couture, references to Fred Astaire’s Mr. Universe and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, one of Thicke’s all-time favorite films.

You can purchase tickets for the show here. Make sure you check out Robin Thicke’s song “Magic” below.

Want to help out an up-and-coming band, but don’t know who to get behind?

Look no further!  The band LA Font has a Kickstarter campaign going to raise money to record their next album.

Go ahead and click on: LA Font’s Kickstarter Campaign

Who is LA Font?

Did you really not click any of the above links?

LA Font is an indie-alt Los Angeles band making a new album.

To hear their stuff and to see some of the good press they’ve been getting, well, just click one of those links.

And…that’s it.

Send LA Font some money soon.  Be a part of making something cool.

Seriously.

-DJ Octoon

Don’t call it a comeback: Script Doctor Eric and his sidekick Matt have returned from vacation to do their popular screenwriting podcast: Scriptcast

This quarter, (Winter, 2012) Scriptcast will be recorded Wednesdays, 10am-noon right here on UCLA Radio.

Want to listen live?  Is it Wednesday?  Yes?  Then check your watch: if it’s between 10am and noon, click the “Listen Live” headphones at the top of the page.

If you miss the show, rumor has it they post the episodes in the form of that new-fangled thing called a “podcast” and can be found on iTunes if you search “Scriptcast.”

Another rumor has it that because of the podcast numbers, it happens to be the most popular radio show in the history of UCLA Radio.

A screenwriting podcast is the most popular show at UCLA Radio?

Yes, but on this screenwriting podcast they actually have big-time screenwriters, like Nick and Jeremiah, and actual celebreties like Randall Park.

Okay, one celebrity.

The show also plays unsigned music.  (I do the music for the show: Email your track if you want it played.)

And if that’s not enough, there’s witty banter between Matt and Eric.

Much witty banter.

See you Wednesday.

-DJ Octoon

The Los Angeles Lakers won’t have to wait too long to get back on the floor after they play The Chicago Bulls on Christmas Day.

Laker fans will finally get their basketball fix as the Lakers are scheduled to play three games in three nights. On Dec. 25^th the Lakers host the Bulls and the NBA’s league MVP, Derrick Rose. The Lakers are looking to start off on the right foot as they try to get their first home-win of the season.  On Dec. 26 the Lakers travel up north to play against the Sacramento Kings and then fly back to the city of angels on Dec. 27 as they host the Utah Jazz.

I guess the milk and cookies were enough for Santa Claus this year. The NBA season has returned and Santa seems mighty generous in giving Lakers fans plenty basketball action.

Christmas isn’t the only holiday on which the Lakers play. They are scheduled to travel to Denver on Jan. 1 and also play the afternoon of Dec. 31 against an unknown opponent.

The Lakers won’t be scheduled another three games in three nights, however there have been talks that minor changes will be made to the schedule, which will be finalized and released Tuesday by the NBA—the NBA schedule has yet to be publicly released.

Even though many Laker fans are looking forward to see the boys in purple in gold back on the court, Andrew Bynum will serve a five-game suspension due to the incident in the playoff in which Andrew body-slammed and J.J. Barea.

But no worries, at least we’ll finally get to see Kobe on the floor!

The NBA is finally back and scheduled to kick off its season with a triple-header this Sunday, December 25th. The season has now gone from what would have been a 82 game season—if the players had accepted the 50/50 split—to a shorter season which will consist of 66 games, after the players and owners finally came to a negotiation over Thanksgiving weekend. It will surely be a jolly holiday for all the fans and NBA players that have been anxiously waiting for this season to start!

The triple-header will consist of a rematch of last year NBA Finals; The Dallas Mavericks vs. The Miami Heat. A great match up between two plausible NBA contenders; The Los Angeles Lakers vs. The Chicago Bulls, and a team that’s been struggling to return to its glory against a team that will try to become a dominant powerhouse in the eastern conference; The Boston Celtics vs. The New York Knicks.

With these great match-ups anxiety is hitting every NBA fan in their hearts and bodies. The Miami Heat and their fans are looking to redeem themselves and prove that last years NBA Finals exit against the Dalla Mavericks is nothing but a motivational experience to show that they are still the most dominant powerhouse in the Eastern Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers and their fans cannot wait until they can finally see Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum hit the court as well as to how Mike Brown and his new coaching staff will make adjustments to the offense. While the Bulls and their 2010 league’s MVP, Derrick Rose, are still on the quest to make an NBA Finals appearance. The Boston Celtics still have their big three, who won the NBA championship in 2008 and are hoping to prove to everyone that they are still a force to overcome, but will the New York Knicks finally show up and manifest their two powerful all-stars–Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony?

Who will demonstrate the desire to win it all at the end? I can’t wait to find out!

Welcome back NBA!

In case you haven’t guessed…

UCLA Radio is currently on Winter Break.

We’ll be back in full force Monday, January 9th, 2012!  Be sure to check our radio schedule for all the new shows!

Meanwhile for cool (get it?) posts about music and UCLA things, see the UCLA Radio Blog

Seriously.

I might have been insane to go to a show the day before a final, but honestly, I don’t regret it one bit. Girls played an incredible show at the Music Box this past Tuesday, December 6th and I left the show happier than I was this entire finals week.

We had a bit of trouble with traffic, so I only caught the last song of the first opener, Melted Toys.  The San Francisco based band had a dream pop-esque sound to their music.  I enjoyed what I heard, but unfortunately I wasn’t there for enough of their set. I think they’ve got a lot of potential in their music and are a band to keep an eye out for.

And on a completely random note, the guy from Steel Train and Cullen Omori from the Smith Westerns were both there mingling and hanging out, separately though. It was interesting turning around and seeing the lead singer from bands you’ve seen before just hanging out.

Regardless, The Tyde came on next, and they had an eight or nine piece band on stage.  The Echo Park based band played a solid set, with a distinctive indie rock vibe to their sound.  Employing a tambourine orchestra (not really though. They had two full time tambourine players and vocalists on stage, which was amusing), the Tyde performed for about a half full Music Box.  Although they played well and are a talented band, the crowd was waiting for the set to end so that Girls could go on.

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November 26, 2011. While most of the Bruin population was over at the LA Coliseum watching the USC v UCLA game, I was instead next door at the Shrine Auditorium waiting for Morrissey to croon and serenade me.  Good choice, right? Morrissey even poked fun at this fact by saying midway between his set, “Now are you sure wouldn’t rather be down the street with the Chicago Bears or whoever?” No thanks, Moz, I’m comfortable with where I’m at.

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When the bowl lineup was announced this past Sunday, there was the usual onslaught of complains about how the BCS is run. I’m not a big BCS supporter by any stretch of the imagination, but what gets lost in all of the controversy is a pretty good lineup of bowl games set to take place in about a month. Here are my picks for the 3 most exciting bowl games this season (Spoiler Alert- these games will all have a LOT of offensive production…)

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The start of the 2011-12 NCAA Basketball season has not been kind to the Pac-12, as the conference seems to be having another down year.   UCLA, Arizona and Washington were all teams that were expected to compete for the Pac-12 crown, but have struggled mightily to open the season, losing to “powerhouse programs” such as, Saint Louis, Nevada, Mississippi St, Loyola Marymount and Middle Tennessee State.  Oregon, a dark horse candidate to win the conference before the start of the year, has seen freshmen Jabari Brown and Bruce Barron leave the program before the start of conference play. Even Oregon St. and Stanford’s solid performances have not been able to stop the perception that the Pac-12 is weak this year.  Unfortunately this perception is fairly well founded, as Jeff Sargin’s latest computer conference rankings  have the Pac-12  as the 9^th best conference in the country, behind the Moutain West, Atlantic 10, and Missouri Valley.  In order to get more than a couple schools into the NCAA tournament this year, Pac-12 teams are going to have to make the most of their remaining non-conference games.  Here is a list of the marquee non-conference games that the Pac-12 has left:

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It is still so stunning to believe that UCLA (6-6, 5-4 conference) has made it to the inaugural Pac-12 Championship this Friday vs. #9 Oregon (10-2, 7-1 conference) in Eugene, OR, with a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line. Thanks to a Pac-12 South division that was simply awful most of the season and an NCAA ban on rival USC, who just beat the Bruins 50-0 this past Saturday, UCLA has slipped their way into this amazing opportunity.

To add further intrigue to the situation, it has been announced that head coach Rick Neuheisel will be fired following Friday’s championship match, regardless of the result, granting the wishes of countless UCLA students and fans hoping to see the program head in a new direction.  Neuheisel was 21-28 in four seasons with the program, appearing in only one bowl game during that span.

The stakes of this championship match have the classic makings of an all-or-nothing scenario.  With a stunning win, UCLA would improve to 7-6 and earn a berth in the Rose Bowl, which would easily make them statistically (and performance-wise, if we’re being honest with ourselves) the worst team to ever make it to a BCS bowl.  A loss puts the Bruins at 6-7, and will require the Bruins to be granted a waiver by the NCAA to play in any bowl game, which they have reportedly applied for early this morning.

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San Francisco based band, Girls, will be playing the Music Box on Tuesday, December 6 and UCLAradio wants to send you to the show! Girls is currently touring for their sophomore album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, which was released this past September. Read the rest of this entry »