Friday, Mar. 27, 2009

Clark: The aliens are coming! Isn't it cool?

It's a little strange to get excited about Modesto being invaded by aliens, yes?

Sounds messy.

But excited — in a truly silly way — was how I reacted upon finding out that the new animated 3-D film "Monsters Vs. Aliens" features just such an invasion.

It's nice to see Modesto referenced nationally in ways that don't speak of murders or meth, or that compare our city to a dark, dank, dirty hole in the middle of California. Even an alien invasion is better.

I discovered another six degrees of Modesto and "Monsters" moment while searching the Internet about the film.

I ran across a video from Sacramento's Channel 31 news. A reporter was doing a live feed from Modesto about the movie connection that also included footage from an interview with Kiefer Sutherland.

Sutherland is one of the actors providing voice talent for the film. At the end, he obliged the interviewer by giving our city a shout out:

"Modesto rocks," he said.

Back in Modesto, the reporter said that after the cameras had gone down, Sutherland explained just how much he really does think Modesto rocks.

The actor — best known for his role as national savior extraordinaire Jack Bauer on TV's "24" — also produces and manages rock bands, including one called Honeyspot.

Honeyspot has played in Modesto several times, including shows at the Fat Cat and at downtown's Exclamation Festival.

Sutherland told the reporter that the band has a hard time selling tickets for shows in most cities, but always sells out in Modesto.

Hence, "Modesto rocks" for him.

Which is lucky. Because if anyone could save our fair city from those doggone aliens, it's national savior extraordinaire Jack Bauer.

My husband was at a conference in Berkeley this past week, a six-day, five-night extravaganza at the Cal campus.

Conference attendees were set up in a hotel adjacent to the university in a building that's probably been there as long as the campus itself.

Which is to say very old, very Berkeley.

We had joked that he'd no doubt enjoy his five full evenings with the TV remote to himself for a change, since I generally invoke the weak but effective "Gee, it's for work" clause to monopolize evening viewing time.

So I felt doubly bad when he called me from his room the first evening. He said he'd been heading up the stairs thinking how much he'd probably miss the DVR.

Indeed, watching in real time feels like a night in the woods with nothing but two sticks and a prayer once you've been DVR-spoiled.

Imagine his surprise, then, when he opened the door, scanned the room and found out fast-forward withdrawal was the least of his worries.

"There's no TV!" he said, exasperated, but in an almost hushed voice — like he didn't want anyone in the next room to know the true depth of his dismay.

Heck, I couldn't even comprehend his word combination at first. No TV? That's just gibberish.

Before the eye rolls commence, I'm sure there are plenty of hotels in the world that don't provide televisions in their rooms. But my family doesn't stay in those places — intentionally, at least.

Luckily, my husband is not anywhere near as addicted to TV as I am. Unlike me, he was more than capable of getting through without it.

We're adding letters to the editor to the Scene section this week.

In the past, all letters from readers have gone to The Bee's opinion pages. Beginning today, we're running in Scene those that pertain to entertainment.

This week's letter celebrates Central West Ballet and is on Page E-11. Continue to e-mail your entertainment letters to letters@modbee.com.

Reach Scene editor Pat Clark at pclark@modbee.com.