When I was a kid in Houston, Texas, the undisputed king of furniture and mattress commercials was Mattress Mack (real name Jim McIngvale). His TV commercials were short in order to maintain a low budget, so to invest wisely in every precious second of TV time, he screamed everything really fast and waved money around, ending each spot with his phrase “GALLERY FURNITURE SAVES YOU MONEY!” He worked his way up to multi-millionaire status and used his money on things like paying for medical bills for a girl who was mauled by a lion on his property, 6-figure sports bets, award-winning thoroughbred horses, and executive-produced the movie Sidekicks with his friend Chuck Norris. Living in Mattress Mack’s...
When we're playing mahjong in the alley, I've been bringing out the ol' boombox to play music. The boombox only has a radio and cassette player in it so I've been making these mixes of Cantonese covers of English-language pop songs, mostly from the 80s and 90s. It's cool to the people who have never heard them before, but it's driving everyone else crazy who has to listen to the songs over and over again as I flip the same tapes over, back and forth. Anyway, here's a list of my top 10 favorites (plus an extra song that everyone should know about...you probably know what I'm talking about). Listen to it on TIDAL here! Listen to it on Spotify...
Please note that this article was published on November 7, 2025. By the time you read this, prices may have increased and establishments may have closed down. I’ve been drinking for a long time, and it’s easily my favorite pastime. Unfortunately, drinking with friends, neighbors, and strangers has fallen out of style since the 2020 pandemic, and it seems to get worse by the day. The number one excuse I hear for not wanting to go out anymore is cost. “Minimum wage in Los Angeles is $17.87 an hour, and that barely covers one drink and a tip,” people tell me. Not surprisingly, the ones who say this usually think going out for a drink means going to Tower Bar...
My friend and neighbor back in Houston, Shane Patrick Boyle, died in 2017. His death was highly publicized because he started a GoFundMe to raise funds to buy insulin, which he couldn't afford at the time. He rationed the insulin he had and then died before he could buy more. This is what most articles online will say about him. But I'll always remember him as the founder of Zine Fest Houston and as an artist. Here's a comic of his that I've had for over 10 years now called "Happy New Year". It was published in his zine, "Shane (#8)", and only low-resolution scans of it exist on his private Facebook page. I always thought it was so beautifully...
Places to learn and play mahjong in Los Angeles: Lucky Bamboo Mahjong Club Paid monthly event, all ages welcome, RSVP required In-depth lessons for beginners or those needing a refresh Open-play for players who know how to play Website Instagram Mahjong Underground Free weekly event only available to those 21 and over Open-play with no dedicated lessons Instagram East Never Loses Lessons available at certain events Open-play available Website Instagram LA Mahjong League Lessons available at certain events Tournament-based gameplay Open-play available at certain events Website Instagram Mahjong Mistress Lessons available at certain events Open-play available at certain events Instagram This past Saturday, I won the Los Angeles Mahjong League Tournament at Chifa out in Eagle Rock. It was totally unexpected,...
