Jennifer Holiday and Jennifer Hudson

Oh. My. God.

Paperless Toilets

Oh, yeah, this is a bright future.

Woof in Atwater Village

There's a new doggie boutique and it's on Glendale Blvd. in Atwater Village, which leads me to believe that, at last, gentrification is on the move. The little store sells organic doggie treats, doggie clothes, leashes and such, is decorated with portraits of dogs in clothes and is really just the darn cutest little store ever seen.

Best of luck to them and welcome to the neighborhood!

Woof!

Tom Waits

(hat tip Atrios)

He's clearly left the reservation, but he's amazing.

Fantasia

(hat tip Tom)

Hey There Vagina

KROQ-FM had a parody of the song "Hey There Delilah" that they made and had been playing regularly this week until somebody got scared of the mean old FCC and made them pull it. So, morning DJs Kevin & Bean made it available on another site. Why not fight censorship and download it. It's free at www.freetobe-la.com.

The Dodgers Game or My Birthday Project #11

For Father's Day this year, my father gave me four of the family tickets to the Game. My family has held these tickets in aisle one on the field level since the Dodgers moved into Dodgers Stadium way back in 1962. 45 years. That's even older than me. And though my grandmother is gone now and her brother is getting up there in years, the family will hold on to the tickets. Who knows, the Dodgers may actually win again some day.

It was a picture perfect day. I met Dave and Connie at the entrance to the field seats on the 3rd base side and we waited for Marine Trevor to join us. Trevor, another born and reared Angeleno, was psyched about the seat location the way only an Angeleno can be...and it was worth it almost for that reaction.

Anyway, the game was mostly unremarkable. The Dodgers kicked it off with a homerun and then the Angels (Yep, a freeway series -- a first for me) went to town on the Dodgers pitching. It was more about being there and enjoying the great atmosphere.

Really, is there anything better than sitting in the shade of aisle one, behind home plate, on a warm Sunday afternoon? Other than winning, that is.

Thanks for coming, guys. I had a blast. And, hey, Dad, thanks for the tickets!

Went with the Wind

One of the best comedy shorts ever to air on TV, this was written by the brilliant comedy writing team of Stan Burns and Mike Marmer. Enjoy.

Chuckles Bites the Dust

via kenlevine

Morissey or My Birthday Project #10

I don't know if I'm wearying of these projects or just suffering some kind of enui or because it's really summer at this point, my weekends are already very full, but I'm having trouble making the time.

That said, I hope to persevere.

Last week, my old pal Troy invited me to see Morissey at the Hollywood Bowl. Welcome to my birthday project #10. Now, I was never a big Morissey fan, but did like the Smiths and thought it would be fun.

Lord was I right.

After parking at Hollywood and Highland and trudging up Highland with two supermarket bags of wine, salad and deviled eggs (Bristol Farms Deviled Eggs -- do yourself a favor and don't buy them. Feh!), I made it to the Bowl.

First, though, Highland has been under construction for months now and is a total clusterfuck to walk and a hazzard. The city knows the Bowl season is starting. Come on, folks? What the fuck? Fix this street, L.A., or suffer the slings and arrows of a lot of injury lawsuits.

So, I go the Bowl store and buy a corkscrew and a plastic Bowl drinkholder because I'm told you can't bring in bottles for rock concerts and that I could transfer the wine into the plastic-- no problem.

Wrong! Or I got a surly ticket-taker. So, I threw out that wine and that newly bought liquid holder and we moved to our seats, which were midway up. Really great.
Morissey had just come on and he gave an amazing performance. I can see why he is so adored. He jumped and writhed and snaked and and and all over the stage.

It was like he was possessed and the crowd of latinos, asians, gays, aging hipsters and combinations of all of the above were madly in love.

Bravo!

After the concert, Troy and I parted at Hollywood and Highland where he too the subway home downtown and I found my car and found myself in hideous hideous hideous traffic.

My bowl traffic tip: whatever you do, do not take Hollywood or Franklin going east after the bowl (especially after a hipster/latino/gay magnet performance like Morissey's.

You're better off crawling of broken glass through a shallow sea of rubbing alcohol. As Liz Taylor said when asked her advice to newcombers to Hollywood:

"Take Fountain."

Next up on the birthday project will likely be my first Dodgers game of the season, tomorrow.

Britain's Got Talent Alright

A.O.C.

Holy shit. I had been there before, but this time was different. This time I ordered 12-hour cooked soft pork belly. Jesus, Mary and Holy St. Joseph, I will be thinking and dreaming of this dish for the rest of eternity. It's that good. Save up. Go. Order it. Delight in it.

Air Kissing 101

VideoJug: How To Air Kiss

Laughter Sometimes is the best medicine

Beverly Hills Lawn Watering

While walking by Beverly Hills City Hall today around 1p, I was startled that the city actually was watering their grass on the North Santa Monica Blvd. side of City Hall. All state and local agencies will advise you not to water your grass/lawn during the day -- let alone mid day -- but rather at night, as it's less wasteful.

Surely Beverly Hills is in the same drought as the rest of Southern California. It's not that special.

So, what gives, BH? Why being so wasteful? Or is it just a simple mistake? Inquiring minds want to know.

Paris Hilton

And she reaps what she blows.

Now, if only we can get the media to show as much interest in the criminal acts of the federal government.

Yeah, right.

A guy could dream.

Habeas Corpus 101

Why you should care.

Mass Transit and Southern California Amusement Parks

I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain today with our workmates and met one of them at the Santa Clarita station for the Metrolink. Incredibly, the Magic Mountain website does not note in any discernible way that it is relatively easy to get to the park by commuter rail.

Is this just something not thought out or something completely thought out? Perhaps, they don't want to encourage people from taking transit because if people take transit, they won't get their $15 parking fee.

The Disneyland website also doesn't clearly point out that you can easily take mass transit to the happiest place in the world. There's a metrolink stop at Anaheim stadium, which is maybe 5 minutes by bus or tram from the park.

Shame on these two giants. What they should be doing is encouraging visitors to take mass transit (come on, Disney folks, you built the freakin' monorail for God's sake) by providing clear instruction on their sites AND offering park discounts if visitors show their transit receipts.

For that matter, same goes for movie theatres, plays, sporting events. Come on, folks, you either want to help the region or you just want to get an even bigger piece of the pie.

Shame on Six Flags and Disney.

Los Feliz Street Fair or My Birthday Project #9

Last weekend was the annual street fair on Vermont from Prospect to Franklin Ave. After returning from a midmorning hike with Philip in Runyon, I hooked up with Brian (not Philip's boyfriend, btw), who loves street fairs as much as I do. We're simpletons that way.

Anyway, I pick him up in Silverlake and head over to Los Feliz (we are such eastsiders), and hope we can find a parking space within the county limits. Lo and behold, two gays are leaving and they are parked a corner away from the start of the fair. So, we replace their parking space with our's and the universe remained in balance.

Heading into the bazarre and the bizarre of the street fair, we cross a small stage where an interesting band is, eh, jamming, and then, most importantly, we note that Vermont restaurant is hosting a beer garden. Sold.

We have a couple glasses of wine while watching the hodgepodge go by and then join them in their march. I believe my favorite moment occurred when I snapped a photo of an alleged scientology booth and the guy looked pissed. I mean pissed.

Another favorite moment was when Brian got his cotton candy or, as they say in Ireland, cotton floss. Ick. But, he does look happy doesn't he?



Here's the angry looking alleged scientology fella.



Here are a few more pics from the day.

Tom Hatten

I had no idea this guy was still around. I loved watching him as a kid host weekend tv on ktla, featuring Popeye cartoons. What a different time.

Too Much Happy Time

Best Passed Out Prank Ever - Watch more free videos

LA Times

Those kicked out say goodbye. The paper will be less without them.