She's a my birthday too!!

So...I had my birthday which, up until the day of had been perfect. But God knew nothing can be perfect for me, not yet at least. I woke up to find out that my car needed to go into the shop and $600 later it was fixed. UGH, thanks God!! The day before I had gone to Bakersfield to visit family. I went to visit my Grandma in Wasco and had a really nice "dinner" served promptly at noon followed by "million dollar cake." It was all very good and the visit was great because I got to tell her all about the TCM Festival.

I had Smith's frosting cake with Mom, Dad, Uncle David, Allen and Granny later that night. And I also got to find out that both of my grandmothers have a thing for James Mason's voice...I don't think I cared to know that.

I drove home, woke up wanting to go run errands and found out, nope, I get to go to Ford. Blah. Tasha and I still went to Mastro's for a really nice birthday dinner in Newport. She'd never been and I think she liked it, I of course, loved it.

Super cute photo of Tasha (Or as my Scottish Granny calls her "Tinnie Bash.")

Their drinks are fabulous. Tasha had wine. I'll take her word that it was good since I'm not a wine-o.

I had my favorite, a Lemon Drop with dry ice. The smokey affect is impressive when it's served.

I had a KC Rib Eye, a very fine choice of meat I will say. It was like butta. Tasha had the fillet mignon and we shared the gorgonzola mac and cheese and 1lb baked potato...I had never seen one so big!! Fantastic dinner and I was very happy to go out with a great friend and get dressed up for a fancy-schmancy dinner. I ended the evening watching 'It's Complicated' like the 80 year old woman I really am.

That Friday night Cassie came down to visit, which almost never happens so it was a big deal. We went to the Getty Saturday afternoon to see the DaVinci exhibit which was...annoying. Since I never have Saturdays off I forgot that the masses go out then and I hate being with the masses and their devil children. There were WAY too many strollers at the Getty. Children, especially those that are messy and can't walk well should NOT be anywhere near FINE art. Stay home. The exhibit itself was mainly sketches which needed to be viewed through magnifying glasses, and with all the people crammed into those rooms, it just wasn't great. Thank God there was more stuff to look at!!

I came across this painting of a Spanish woman. It was very vibrant and I was impressed with how HUGE it was...I'm a size queen.

This was a basin depicting Cleopatra's life. If you can see there are swords and sharp crap popping out everywhere, I would not be washing my face in this at all!!

This was a table which I found to be very creepy. I mean you're eating your dinner and you look down and there are all these faces smiling at you like they're saying, "Hey, thanks for the nice view."

Me and Mr. Bojangles a few lives ago.

Squinty!! It was super bright that day.

Me, "Harry" and Cassie

After almost a year and half of not seeing each other my "Harry" came and met us for Brazilian food at Fogo de Chao in Beverly Hills.  And do I know my friends or what because they both LOVED this place. Cassie said it was like having your best friends keep coming by the table to ask if you'd like some more meat. It really is like that, they have 16 different kinds of meat there and a great salad bar and a great bar (Thin Mint cookie shots!!!) It was great and ever the classy guy, Harry picked up the tab!! Now THAT was nice.

        

DONE SON!

Notice how Harry is the only one that looks blissful, while the girls are bordering on pain.

After dinner we all went back to my apartment and talk, talk, talked until 3 AM. It was a VERY good time and I really appreciated them driving down to see me because it's a 2.5 and 5 hours trip for them. YIKES! Over all a really awesome birthday and if you didn't get my reference, it is, yet again, an 'I Love Lucy' one. Educate yo' self!

That's Entertainment: Plastics

My new found love of Anne Bancroft begins.

So...I was draggin' in the morning and did NOT wake up for the 9AM viewing of 'Sunset Boulevard.' I was not ready for my close up Mr. DeMille. I arrived for the showing of Joan Crawford's home movies which spanned from about 1938-1942-ish. They were nearly all in color but they were silent. I really enjoyed them and I was about 1 of only 500 people that have ever seen them. Her grandson, Casey, hosted the showing. He is NOT Christina's son and has never met her and said that he nor his mother, Cathy, thought that movie/book was an accurate depiction of Joan.

A really great shot of Joan hunting in the woods.

Joan and Christina sunbathing (NUDE!) It was adorable. Everything that was shown of Joan interacting with Christina was super cute. Christina was crazy and I'm glad that Joan's grandson is trying to restore her reputation.

Filmed in Shafter, CA. Not Indiana.

The first film of the day was 'North by Northwest.' It was PACKED!! Robert Osborne was there interviewing Martin Landau and Eva Marie Saint before the film. Martin Landau looks like a really nice old dude...until you watch the movie and he's creepy as hell!! Also, was he gay? It's a legitimate question because I learned that Tony Curtis dabbled in men...and animals!!!AHHHH!!!! Any who, I had never seen the movie all the way because it's ALWAYS shown in Bakersfield because the famous plane scene was filmed in Shafter, about 20 minutes away. And here's a little tidbit for you, the man that flew the plane was my Grandma's neighbor. Fact.

I am glad I hadn't seen it all the way through because it was REALLY good on the big screen. Also, this was the third movie I had noticed James Mason in during the festival. What was that all about? He is one creepy dude.

Up next, another funny person put in an interview with Buster Bluth. Buck Henry was there for 'The Graduate.' He wrote the screen play for the movie and is also Liz Lemon's dad on 30 Rock. He was very funny, even with Buster Bluth.

The movie was great and I now want to see more movies that Anne Bancroft was in.

Buck Henry is the guy that is at the hotel front desk...he reminds me of Jack Lemon a little bit.

After the movie I went back across to Club TCM and met up with Carley for a bit before I drove my tired self home.

I will for sure go to the Festival next year but the things I will do differently are 1: buy the best ticket and 2: get a hotel so I can take naps in the afternoon, driving back and forth was no bueno!

That's Entertainment: Hail Caesar

So...I went to the 9AM showing of 'The Bad and The Beautiful' at Grauman's 6, which I found is hidden and is pretty much a a normal cinema. But at 9AM I just wanted caffeine. I saw my film crew friends again at this event because Robert Osborne was there interviewing Cheryl Crane, Lana Turners daughter...yes the one that may have killed Lana's boyfriend.

The movie was good, but I had to leave an hour before the end because I had to make it to Mel Brooks' Walk of Fame ceremony.

The ceremony was packed and included a stinky hobo with matching stinky trash bag. Ugh. I saw my Writing 1 teacher there, Ira Miller, the the tall man next to the glowing angel of botox and the man in sunglasses.

There were tree cutting guys across the street that Mel Brooks yelled at and told to watch out for the birds' nests. He was super funny through out the ceremony and Carl Reiner was there and spoke.

(Sorry it's sideways, if I fixed it, it wouldn't upload to youtube, whatever, the audio is the best part.)


The real press got better footage of the ceremony and I'm barely in the last bit of this video, trying to take a photo in the top right with my huge sunglasses on.

I walked back to the Roosevelt to grab something to eat. There's a diner in the front called 25 degrees and it's always p-poppin' so I ate at the counter. I sat next to a very chatty, and nice, gay dude who had worked with Robert Osborne at the Hollywood Reporter years ago. Then a girl with a laptop sat down next to me and we chatted for a bit. She said she was from Vanity Fair and asked if she could interview me, of course!! So we talked about why there's a lack of young people here (that was a very commonly asked question to me) , why I like old movies, etc. And I ended up making in Vanity Fair.!!  NEAT-O!!

I did enjoy a great burger which I couldn't even finish!

After lunch I went to Club TCM to relax before I went to see 'The Producers' at Grauman's.

Had TCM photographer not of walked by taking photos, I would have taken a nap here. I was full, very sleepy and little did I know, sun burnt, fun! I met a mother and daughter (both older than me) and chatted with them until I went across the street.

I was in the second row because I wanted to be super close while Mel was being interviewed. TCM photographer finds me again!

I was pretty close but these old crones next to me told me there was no photography allowed, there was an announcement! Guess what you weathered old witch, EVERYONE else is taking photos. I didn't care for those two me-maws. Someone almost as annoying was the interviewer from Vanity Fair. He was very nervous and didn't laugh when things were funny and I'm sure Mel Brooks was thinking, "Who the hell is this guy?" He also looked like Buster Bluth from 'Arrested Development,' just like him.

"Hey Brother!"

After the interview I moved back to a seat on the side of the theater and out of the wings, in the empty row in front of me is MEL BROOKS. Holy crap. I didn't talk to him because I thought that would be rude, but I was super close to him. He left after the beginning of the film.

After the movie I went back to the Club and talked to a 19 year old guy from UCSB, Kevin, who's studying film and wants to direct. He was very interesting and knew a lot of about movies, hopefully I'll see him next year.  I decided to leave after that and not go see 'Top Hat' because I am not a big Fred Astaire fan and I was super tired.

Here are some shots of Club TCM.

A screen which played a loop of dancing (and swimming) numbers from movies. It was muted because there was other music played in the club.

The dance floor had chairs on it and the bar is in the background.

To Be Continued...

That's Entertainment: A Star Is Born (ME!!)

Named after Teddy Badass Roosevelt

So...I went to the first TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood as a birthday present to myself. I was supposed to go to Vegas, but plans fell through and this turned out to be the best choice. The first day turned out to be a longggg day for me. I had to get up and get my dress from the tailor and go pick up my tickets to the festival, I was hemorrhaging money all day long! But I paid to go see the re-premire of Judy Garland's 'A Star Is Born.' WORTH IT!!

As I left the hotel to go beautify I was stopped by TCM to be interviewed. I was wearing my HUGE Jackie O sunglasses and they asked me to removed them. I lifted them up and said, "I'm not wearing any makeup, these are staying on." I was interviewed for about 10 minutes and ended up seeing that film crew at almost every event I went to, so we became pals.

Gettin' my hur did

I drove down to the DNA Salon on Beverly and saw Meredith Morris, who's AWESOME. She did my up do from photos I brought in of Joan from Mad Men and it was perfect. Then Rada Maksimovich did my make-up, very peachy and 60's ish.

Back of my 'do

I got into my dress and drove to Grauman's, very jittery about my first red carpet...anything! I played "I'm the Greatest Star," from Funny Girl to pump myself up. Oh and did I mention I was in 5 inch heels, please God, don't let me fall! I watched a how to walk in heels video from Oprah that really helped me.

Eli Wallach

There were two red carpets, one for the real stars .

And one for the no bodies who paid BANK to come were shooed inside like schoolkids late from recess. They could of at least had someone taking photos of us for fun!

In the lobby they had a few costumes from Judy Garland's various films scattered around.

The screen was HUGE

I went to see if I needed to sit down yet and since I was alone I figured I could sit where ever and stood in the lobby to watch the stars come off the red carpet. I saw Eli Wallach come in and two ladies in matching ruffly peach outfits (I later found out one of them was Ann Rutherford, Scarlet O'Hara's little sister!! WHAT!!) I saw some people that I knew but didn't know their names, because they were newer stars and then it happened, Alec Baldwin walked in.

To the surprise of myself mostly, I was very composed. He beelined to the popcorn counter and grabbed some treats and there were some skinny mousy girl, not dressed up and had her hair in a messy bun with him. They were not affectionate, but I still didn't care for her. He went to his seat so I figured I better find one myself. This old lady asked me if I worked there and while explaining that I didn't to her I heard in the back of my left eara deep gravely, " Excuse me."  I said, "Oh, pardon me." (How the hell was I so composed while dealing with my idea of perfection?!) He sat down, I found a seat that, oddly enough, was 7 seats away from Mr. Baldwin and nestled in between two of the most ignorant people I've ever met. This is what I felt like inside though,

Yes, the furthest ear is him.

Robert Osborne went up and spoke and got Alec Baldwin to come up with him ala The Essentials. I learned how to figure out the video aspect of my camera FAST!



Before the movie there was footage from the original premiere down the street at the Pantage. Lucy and Desi, Lauren Bacall and a bunch of others were interviewed and people clapped when each one came on screen. Dummy #1 to my right was there with her boyfriend, who could have saved himself $599 and left her at home to watch Gossip Girl, asked why people were clapping, those people weren't really there. I was clapping because I was exciting to see my favorite stars alive again on the big screen and for, oh, respect!

The movie began and it was wonderful. This song really stuck out to me:



(The bottom take is what was used.) It was one of the most perfect songs to see on a HUGE silver screen and made me truly appreciate movies as they should be seen as well as how Judy Garland should be seen. She seems to be one of those shoved down your throat like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn but on the big screen with a loud soundtrack and passion behind the words, I GOT why she was/is so great. And yes I did tear up. Youtube doesn't do the song justice, it was wonderful.

in·ter·mis·sion/–noun

1.a short interval between the acts of a play or parts of a public performance, usually a period of approximately 10 or 15 minutes, allowing the performers and audience a rest.
 
Dummy #1 asks what is an intermission. I told her. She responded, "I don't know what else could be in the movie, it seems like it's done." I tell her, "Well, it's not, you have about 1.5 hrs left so you better get up." Please, go away and die because you are worthless were my thoughts. She went to get gummy bears which she smacked loudly and left the wrapper on the ground, PIG! Dummy #2 on my left asked what was restored in the movie. The audio track is all there but there are stills in black and white that were recovered from the cut scenes that we got to watch as we heard the audio, that was the restored part, which Robert Osborne, talked about, at length, had he listened!!
 
The movie ended and I see Dreamboat getting up and out before the lights are up so I scooted outside as well. He's walking around to get in the car, Boring McYawn is already in the car, and I say, "Pardon me Mr. Baldwin." He looked up and I walked out into the street to show I meant business. "I find you terribly fascinating," he loved that, "If you ever want to steal John Wayne's footprints..." And he laughed took my number and said ," ok, thank you." That was a reference to an 'I Love Lucy' episode and if you've never seen it, you're welcome.
 

 
I then walked over to Club TCM, because I didn't pay $1,000 extra to go to the Vanity Fair party (NEXT YEAR!!!), and bought myself a $4.99 Diet Coke. I met up with two really nice girls I had seen at the premire who were dressed cute.
 

Me, Carley and Amber

They left early and I went in and ran into one of the guys that had interviewed me earlier that day and I can't remember his name but we had a nice long talk. I'm horrible with names!!

The Essenstials Set

We parted and I went home around midnight because I had to be back in Hollywood the next day at 9AM to see 'The Bad and the Beautiful."

To be continued....

Teddy Roosevelt kicks Ayn Rand's A$$

So...I was at the gym tonight and I saw where the checker-inner guy normally is sitting there was just a book. 'The Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand. "Wow," I thought, "this guy is pretty weird, why would he be reading such a heavy book?" This guy is the same one that tells me I'm not very consistent at working out and that even though I work 6 days a week sometimes I should come in on the 7th day (Sorry I don't have a job where I get to sit down all night long guy.) and rubs his girlfriend's ass while she's running. I can't stand this guy already!

As I left he was back at his spot and I asked him if he had read that book. He said he had and was shocked that I knew who the author was. I should have played dumb because I was then locked in an hour long talk about bullsh*t I didn't care or agree with him on and didn't want to put forth the energy to fight with him because I would still be there right now if I had.

Craig is this idiot's name, he's an atheist who thinks I ride a motorcycle (so basically thought I was a butch dyke, thanks douche.), but that's neither here nor there. He's majoring in philosophy. I'm not a big philosophy buff or Ayn Rand for that matter, but I held my own in this conversation. He told me he thinks religion is stupid and you can't prove it and it holds people back and you can't be prideful or selfish. I listened to him prattle on about this for the better part of 45 minutes. He started talking about the Middle East some how and I said something about Teddy Roosevelt and the carrying a big stick quote. He said, "Oh Teddy Roosevelt, I think he was horrible. That's when the Presidents really went down hill, starting with him."

Wait, WHAT?

I think he saw that he had to really prove to me what he was saying because my eyebrow had raised so high it was almost to my hairline. I LOVE TR, LOVE him. He said TR was the reason government was involved with busting up big businesses and we shouldn't be involved in that. He didn't have an opinion on my Big Stick comment because he didn't really know much about TR's stance on foreign policy but thought it was like W's and he thinks we should always be isolationists not "cowboys" or have "national pride". And that TR "fancied  himself a cowboy." No dude, he WAS a freaking cowboy. He was THE Rough Rider. IDIOT! "Didn't he create National Parks? I don't like paying for those, I mean the government doesn't pay for things I like and those aren't even any good so they should be privately funded so I don't have to pay for them." I don't like the outdoors much but I never thought I would meet someone who hates conserving nature and actually finds it a friggin' burden on them self financially. I think my brain was melting out of my ears at this point.

Who doesn't like Teddy? I never thought I'd meet someone who hated him. He is the most bad ass President EVER! Better than Lincoln because someone tried to kill TR, shot him and with the bullet in him gave a one hour long speech!!!! BAD ASS!!

So, Craig was and still is, really pissing me off. I can't stand these hipsters that think sitting around and thinking about all this stupid stuff makes them the next Aristotle. I'm fine with people not thinking there's a heaven, great more room for my plantation in the sky, you can work in my cotton fields for eternity and ponder more stupid crap, like "Why was I so stupid to think Teddy Roosevelt was a bad President?"

GAH!!!! STUPID PEOPLE!!!

Marty!! We've got to go back!!

They had style, they had grace

So...I got to Hollywood Blvd. early for my class tonight and decided to wander around. It was daylight so I was safer than it being at night. I've walked past this theater and it always makes me sad. Clearly it once was a really neat theater and now it's all boarded up. I did a little research and found out that this spot is apparently very haunted because in 1901 it was an elementary school that burnt down killing 25 kids and a teacher. The theater was built in 1936 and was in use until 1995. There are a lot of neat old buildings on Hollywood Blvd. that, in a past life would have been some really swingin', happening places. It reminded me of Back to the Future. How things were once awesome and now they are all dirty and scary because people are all buttholes now.

Ice, Ice Baby

As I went about my little adventure to look into the past I really found one from my family's past. Jack Warner was the ice boy to my Great-Great Grandpa Abraham Goldberg. Jack apparently asked Ab if he wanted to go into the Nickelodeon (WAY before it was the name of a cable network) business with him and my stupid Great-Great Grandpa said, "I've got enough money." What an un-Jewish answer...they can NEVER have enough money!!!

Walk like an...

One landmark that has not turned to rubble was the Egyptian Theater. It open in 1922, just a month before King Tut's tomb was discovered  and was built, in my opinion, in a much more opulent manner than Grauman's Chinese just down the street.

See the pyramids along the Nile...

This doesn't even lead anywhere! Now that's crazy money!!

Slide your feet up the street bend your back...

Near the glass doors they have a schedule posted with all the movies they are playing for the month listed. On May 1st they are playing all three Back to the Future movies. I'm like a psychic! I text Harry to tell him he should come for a visit to watch all three...apparently there is suppose to be a special guest at the end of the showing. Maybe it'll be someone awesome like Doc Brown or someone less awesome like Bliff, either way that's cool.

I walk down the lane, with a happy refrain...

I couldn't get any closer to this building but it was really pretty and had a lot of detail. I wonder what it once was? Now it's stuck next to these two crappy souvenir shops. Poor little building.

Shoobie, Doobie, Doo...

I didn't know THIS place is the oldest Italian place in Hollywood since 1949. If they drove all the other Italian places out of town they did a bad job because Musso and Franks serves Italian and as been around since 1919. Someone needs to fix their sign but that mosaic is pretty cool.

While walking down to Grauman's Chinese I saw a girl flip out when she came across Marilyn Monroe's star on the Walk of Fame. She yelled and then kissed her hand and touched the ground. Maybe she thinks these people are buried under the stars, I don't know, but it was gross.

The Lady, She's a Tramp...

I wear the same shoe size as Sinatra. We could do a Tootsie like movie together where he borrows all my clothes...hilarious!

You Made Me Love You, I Didn't Wanna Do It...

Why does Gable's prints have a brass boarder? Did Lucy and Ethel try and steal this one too??

MAME...

Rosalind Russell as Auntie Mame reminds me of my crazy Grandma M. And my feet are WAY bigger than ol' Roz's tootsies.

I had to hoof it back to my class down the street but I did have a fun little adventure in only an hour before class.

And I'm going to be 40....SOMEDAY!

Drunken rock out. Clearly I'm doing my best Freddie Mercury.

So...'When Harry Met Sally' was on E! the other night. I've seen that movie about a kajillion times. I remember my parents referencing that movie to tell me men and women could never be friends. I'm fairly certain my Dad almost knew the spiel verbatim, like some kind of cautionary Gettysburg address or something.

I have always had more guy friends than girl, now the guys are just gay so the Harry/Sally thing turns into the Will/Grace thing, but I never worried about any of then actually liking me (the straight ones), but this scene in the movie has always stuck with me as a reminder.

I moved in with my guy (non-gay) best friend in college (For the sake of this blog, his name will be Harry). We were never single at the same time and I was totally certain there was nothing there because I asked him to Winter Formal in high school (as friends) and was shot down.

Yes I did have blonde hair at one point

As far as I was concerned we were like brother and sister since we were born 5 days apart, went to the same schools since we were 6 and when I was blond, looked similar. So, for three years we lived together and with each other's boyfriend or girlfriend at certain times. Neither one of our dates ever worried that we liked each other because they figured if something were to happen it would have by our early 20's.

Harry moved away and I still haven't found that replacement and it's been almost 2 years. Now, don't get me wrong, he's irreplaceable and I really miss Harry... a lot. But I am still looking for that straight buddy to pal around with, like I make you dinner and you fix crap for me and watch Old School and talk about random historical events and Back to the Future and not worry about him trying to do anything funny.

Now I have to worry about people asking me out to places I do not want to go to on dates and then expect something..physical. As if a $25 date means I have to put out....hookers make better money than that!!! I just want a freakin' friend. It's like THAT is harder to find than a date.

A good piece of advice from my crazy Grandma M is she told me to make sure I'm friends with who ever I end up with because once the love is gone you can at least like the person. So, shouldn't it all start out as friends?