Better in 3-D

Dreamworks PR team pushed that "Monsters vs. Aliens" had a strong female role model. Not only that, Reese Witherspoon's animated character, Ginormica, also had a smokin' bod. And at 50 feet tall, we got to see a lot of it.

The movie was entertaining and light-hearted, and even if it is not the next "Shrek" or "Nemo", it was hugely fun to listen to the oohs and aahs from the little kids in the theater. And 3-D is a must. I even fell prey to the moronic sensation that if I lifted my hand in front of my face, I could actually touch the bouncing rubber ball coming towards my head!

If you have kids or a niece or nephew, this is a amusing, wholesome way to spend two hours!

Billy Joel / Elton John

On Saturday night, Poppie, Amos and I went to see Billy Joel and Elton John perform at the Honda Center. Amazing show with all my favorites from each.


Here's Billy doing Piano Man -- he also did hits "We Didn't Start the Fire" and "Up Town Girl". As quite the showman, he playfully interacted with the audience and seemed to really enjoy himself.


Here we are in our kick-ass seats.


And the end of the show, Elton and Billy took the stage together and sang each others songs. Brilliant packaging putting those two on the same bill. The show looked sold out and with seemingly low production costs, they must be raking it in!

I wish Tina Turner would pair up with Rod! Imagine that ticket. Yow.

Chuck and Elsie visit LA!

Elsie's parents live in Grenada Hills, so it was easy to skip over to West Hollywood to join Kraus and I for some reminiscing and catching up. Check out info about Chuck's band, Lips Like Morphine from Las Vegas Weekly here.


Here we are on the patio at Barney's Beanery -- please note: it was Kraus's choice in meeting place. And yes, Chuck is still as funny as ever!


Can you believe Chuck still has his Boston College ID? I wish that on graduation day, I collected all of my favorite people's IDs so that we could look at them now. Wonder if he has any money on his meal plan still? Hee hee.

Typical Day in LA

Good morning in Los Angeles! After a 7:30 am hike at Runyon Canyon, I had some sweet, just-cut fruit and freshly squeezed orange juice with a side of bright sunshine!

Happiness!

Best Twelve Minutes of Your Day

Check out the short video below called "Dragon Slayerz". Skip the Dungeons & Dragons, fairy tales and swords thoughts and think more along the lines of 'cougar' dating, but much, much older.


DRAGON SLAYERZ from ulteriorproductions.com on Vimeo.

If you want the laughs to keep coming, click here and go to the shorts section to watch "Mano-a-Mano" and also "Big Pussy". The first is about a competition for a job offering gay phone sex and the latter has nothing to do with cats. As you may be able to summize, these should probably be watched at home. . .

Makes you wonder about the corrupt mind of the writer of these hysterical flicks, doesn't it?

Rain or Shine?

Living in LA, it seems like you can have a picnic on any day of the year, except for the month of January when it rains. So why, on the day of my first pool party, did the temperature plummet and the forecast call for showers?!

I took out my camera late in the festivities, so I missed almost all of the guests. But take a look at a few fun moments.


Rebecca and Jared

Martin and Nikki -- I'm noticing a head-lock theme?

Me, Reagan and Kraus in the jacuzzi.

If we had that much fun on a 60 degree and cloudy day, imagine what a blast hot weather will be!

Ladies Brunch

It is not often that you can get seven successful, smart, charming women together on a Saturday afternoon. This past weekend, Jacqueline King organized a brunch at Mirabelle for an impressive group of ladies -- and I got to go too! The bottomless mimosas provided loose lips and lots of laughter.

Above, from the left: Erica, me, Michelle, Shannon, Alice, Pansy, Jacqueline and Maiken.

Today's Quote

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to
the eye." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Olanna's The Hostess with The Mostest

I should have known better. When Olanna invites you over for a pizza party, she doesn't mean Domino's delivery. Last night, she hosted a brilliant pizza-fest done right. Her friend, Johnny Margliano, made the everything scratch -- from the dough to the sauce. The Brooklynite's pies were so tasty that no one left even the crust behind. I loved the steady flow of hot-from-the-oven slices, and I even got to make one myself!

Apparently the secret is square stone dishes -- not the round ones!


Here I am getting a lesson on how to toss the dough -- keep your knuckles up and move quickly!


Here's the master chef getting some aloe to cover an oven burn. Can you guess how this group knows each other? Of course, acting class!! Look at their expressions -- the DRAMA!

F My Life

You thought you had it bad?

Ingrid turned me on to this hysterical website.

Click here.

Life is Good!

Here is me, Shawn, Kim and Andrew with Austin behind the camera.



I'm feeling very thankful these days -- friends are getting laid off, another pal is struggling with the sadness of a sick relative nearing the end, and some buddies are talking about divorce. You would have to live in a cave to have not seen all the news about what a difficult time it is for the nation as a whole.

Thus last night was especially wonderful. Close friends at our favorite Korean BBQ restaurant, eating the same meal, talking about everything and nothing -- exactly as we have done many times before. Although it is not new and different, I'm just glad we still can have nights like yesterday's.

Today's Quote

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out." By Art Linkletter

Tabhair póg dom, is Éireannach mé

To all my Irish friends and the rest of you too. . .Wishing everyone a very happy St. Patrick's Day! [Did you know that St. Patrick was actually Scottish?]

Hope you all enjoy an Irish Whiskey or a Guinness with your corned beef and cabbage. And may you find a four leaf clover too!

LA Arboretum

This weekend was my first trip to the LA Arboretum in Arcadia. Here are some snaps from the beautiful grounds.


Above -- Mom inside of Patrick Dougherty's woven sculpture.



One of many peacocks freely strolling around.

Mom's Birthday

Melisse is back as my favorite Los Angeles restaurant. The new contemporary design was exactly the face lift that this elegant, two Michelin starred spot needed. Check out the new lighting fixtures. . .



When my Mom and I arrived, we were seated in a cozy corner under those fun fixtures, but after the amuse bouche, we were asked if we wanted to move to a more visible location. Mom had spent the day at the hair salon, so how could I deny the other patrons of her beauty?

Speaking of the amuse bouche, ours was a purple grape wrapped in goat cheese and rolled in crushed pistachios. The contrast of the sweet juicy flesh with the tart cheese and salty pistachios were an amazing start to our artfully presented meal to come.



My pal, Andy, suggested I say hi to his friend, the sommelier, Brian. So glad I did because Brian brought us a delicious Malbec (Mom's fave) and then spoiled us with crisp whites and a perfectly sweet dessert wine.

But back to the food. . .one highlight of our tasting menu was the truffle crusted Dover sole -- the intense, earthy aroma of black truffle paired well with the moist, simple fish. Next up, a trio of pork which included the belly, leg and loin served over braised cabbage and as a special side treat, a date wrapped in smokey bacon. The magic of Melisse is that nothing upstages the fresh ingredients making your palate a dance floor for their locally grown or raised, artistically presented delicacies.

Look how intricately crafted our desserts were -- the nearest plate is to-die-for sticky toffee pudding and farther away is passion fruit custard.



Final note, the refined service rounds out the Melisse's flawless experience. Aside from the normal crumb removing hoopla, when resetting tables, the busboys, dressed in neat button-downed shirts and tailored vests, took an iron over the white table cloths to remove any unsightly creases! So special. . .

That's my name, don't wear it out!

Seems that my name is getting lots of use lately. There are the usual familiar ones -- Lotus cars, Lotus freakin' massage parlors, and Lotus software, but here are some fresh ones.

Prince's new album is titled Lotus Flow3r. I discovered a line of vodka out of San Francisco called Lotus Vodka. And LG just released a new Lotus cellphone. But my personal favorite is this one. Yes, this is exactly what I want people to associate me with!

Wise Words from A Birthday Boy

I hope you are listening with your heart for what you know feels good. Your heart will always guide you in the right direction, it just takes a conscious awareness to listen and act accordingly. -- Jason Hughes

Happy Birthday, Jason!

AND today is my Mom's birthday too! She is in LA now, so stay tuned for her birthday celebration posting soon.

Soundscan

This weeks top Digital Songs:

1. Flo Rida -- Right Round
2. Lady Gaga -- Poker Face
3. Miley Cyrus -- Climb
4. Soulja Boy Tell 'Em Feat. Sammi -- Kiss me Thru The Phone
5. T.I. Feat. Justin Timberlake -- Dead and Gone
6. The All-American Rejects -- Gives You Hell
7. Eminem & Dr Dre & 50 Cent -- Crack A Bottle
8. Asher Roth -- I Love College
9. Kelly Clarkson -- My Life Would Suck Without You
10. Lady Gaga Feat. Colby O'Donis -- Just Dance
11. Jamie Foxx Feat. T-Pain -- Blame It With the gorgeous Ashley Scott!
12. Kanye West -- Heartless
13. The Fray -- You Found Me
14. Britney Spears -- Circus
15. Taylor Swift -- Love Story

MY absolute favorite song right now is by Amadou & Miriam -- a married blind couple from Mali. Their song "Africa" featuring K'Naan has been playing on Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW, but sadly I can't find it online to download. Why?????

So instead, I'm offering this Stevie Wonder tune. Man, I love this one.

Today's Quote

"Get out of here and move forward. This never happened. It will shock you how much this never happened." Don Draper, Mad Men

Gold Standard

The famous food writer for LA Weekly and Gourmet Magazine, Jonathan Gold, had a foodie event on Sunday. He invited his favorite 30 restaurants to assemble at Smashbox Studios for a massive food and wine tasting called "Gold Standard".



Although the event was pretty disorganized, Kim and I had many highlights. Our favorites were chocolates from Providence, bacon & duck sausage from Wurstkuche, pork belly from Animal and our favorite, below, beet gnocchi over an arugula salad from Angeli, which is Evan Kleiman's restaurant. Evan is my hero with her weekly radio show on KCRW called Good Food that I blogged about here.



Unfortunately, the Mozza line was too long and Chili My Soul had burnt their chili which gave it an overwhelming smokey, charred flavor. Nonetheless, the Ciudad's paella and Natraliart's Jamaican jerk chicken overshadowed any misses. I hope this was the first of many Gold Standards to come!

Recycling

Here's a few tips I picked up along the way. . .

The cardboard on your toilet paper roll is recyclable! If you don't have a recycle bin in your bathroom (who does?), then a simple way to remember not to toss it in the regular trash is to slide the empty roll over your plunger's handle. After you've collected four or five, you can then bring them to the blue bin and feel really good about yourself.

Don't throw out those batteries either. Batteries contain heavy metals which leach into the soil through landfills and potentially contaminate our water supplies. Instead, purchase a very reasonably priced box from Battery Solutions, fill it up dead batteries (and old cell phones, cameras, or laptops) and seal the box. It comes with a Fed Ex Ground sticker, so it couldn't be any easier to do the right thing. Battery Solutions will recycle all the hazardous materials and prepare them for reuse.

If ordering the box is too much for you, just give batteries to me. I'll add it to my box. Practically effortless!

Weekend Update

My fantastic Friday night festivities were tennis and sushi. I had my lesson with Jason after a long hiatus due to rainy weather, and the time killed my tennis momentum! I completely lost my backhand, stumbled over my own feet, and had a sore wrist by the end of the hour. My dedication to the sport has now become intense.



After, we walked up the street to Nobu Matsuhisa's original sushi spot, Matsuhisa. The yellowtail with jalepeno sashimi was so delicately sliced that we could see through it. Jason was amazed with the unagi roll, and both of us devoured the miso marinated black cod. No wonder the spot is still packed even after 20 plus years. Oh, and celeb sighting: Heidi Klum and Seal.

Speaking of celebs, on Saturday I was at the Byron Williams salon to get a trim from Bernard. Next to me in the wash basin for a shampoo was Tori Spelling. She looked just like she does on tv, was clicking away on her blackberry and seemed to have a lot of nervous energy. Anyhow, as I was leaving with my sex kitten hair style, I saw no less than 15 paparazzi on the curb. Who are you waiting for, I asked. They responded, Tori Spelling. Really? Do Shannen Doherty or Jennie Garth get that kind of attention too?

On Saturday night, Kelly and I went to an art opening for Christian Letts. Not exactly my kind of art -- a little dark, and as you can see below, some nakedness! I added the red heart and star for my fragile, sensitive readers.



Here I tried to get with the artistic vibe with my camera. That guy must have held his head very, very still.



And this one is of Kelly and me in front of some more dark paintings.



The evening continued with Foxtail then Villa, but those pictures are staying in the vault. Whoop whoop!

Poker Night

The fun continues. . .


Andrew and Olanna


Poker is on! Andrew came in first and took home the kitty.


Tim and Molly


Olanna, Rebecca, Jared and Jason


Shawn, Austin and Jackie


Pool shark Kelly and me


Adam and Jordan


Olanna, Kim and me

Dominick's

I'm sure I should be blogging about more meaningful things like the faltering economy, the existence of God, the effects of global warming, where I see myself in 10 years. . .But instead, here's another picture of a flippant night on the town.

Here are Adam, Carolina, Kelly, Kelly, me and Felipe at Dominick's.



After, Carolina and Felipe and I went to their friend's spot, Hotel Le Petit, for rooftop drinks by the pool and fireplace. Hands down, my new favorite place -- it is so beautiful while lounging on sofas, gazing out on the glittering city lights -- even during tax season, in these environs no one can stay melancholy!