Sunday, February 24, 2008

Night in Hollywood

Last night my friend Krissy and I got a taste of the L.A. music scene… And it left me wanting more of it!

THE GOOD
Tony Lucca: Ever heard of him? He’s a very talented singer-songwriter who is great to watch perform live. He doesn’t always play with them, but his band last night (bass player, electric guitar player, and drummer) was all in sync with everything he did – grooving, swaying, bouncing, rocking. They were VERY entertaining! As we were watching him, I was curious what his face would actually look like – unobscured by his thick-rimmed glasses, full beard, and newsboy cap. When I was reading his bio online later, I realized I had seen him before – on the Mickey Mouse Club! He was one of the older mouseketeers – then clean-shaven with gelled hair. [Jon said that’s probably why he’s trying to look so different now.] :) He’ll be playing at the Hotel Café venue for the next three Saturday nights, if anyone’s interested!

THE BAD
The guy who went after him was visibly less talented as a performer. His voice and guitar skills weren’t bad, and Krissy even commented that we might think he was good, sight-unseen. But his sight WAS seen, and it was awkward if you made eye contact with him. It was like he rehearsed his playing expressions in the mirror… He thinks: Now I’ll do my sexy face and strum. Krissy pointed out when he was making weird eyes at me (small venue), but I pointed out when he was making the same weird eyes at one of the guys in our group, too! [Steven said it made him uncomfortable. Ha!]

THE RANDOM
After leaving Hotel Café, we were quickly circling the corner (in the rain) to walk past several busy clubs**. We hurried by someone I recognized as an actor, but couldn’t place or name him. Later the name “Josh” sounded right, so I browsed around the imdb site until I remembered. His character’s name was “Josh” when he was Rachel’s boyfriend on “Friends”. His real name is Tate Donovan.
Of course, he was obscure enough that I was the only one who recognized him… Because I’m weird like that.

THE BLING
So, our hook up for the concert and the parking (we didn’t have to pay because we parked in his office lot, which is a life-saver in Hollywood) was one of Krissy’s friends from her church… who happens to work for Diane Warren. While her name may not ring remembrance to many of you, her songs will. Do a quick skim of all the songs she’s written on this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Warren.
She’s worth about $600 million dollars for all the successful songs she’s written. And she only gets richer with all their airplay, movie showings, and remixes. Needless to say, her office (i.e. the eighth floor of a tall building overlooking Los Angeles) was amazing – every wall had a gold or silver album, a nomination certificate, or a photo with her and a celebrity. She had four baby grand pianos throughout the offices and lounges, and in her demo room is a Grammy she won… Krissy and I giddily touched it!

**I’m sorry, but, wearing a tiny cocktail dress and standing in a long line in cold rain just to get into an overrated expensive club isn’t my idea of fun. But L.A. is full of those scenes.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Two Videos That Make Me Laugh...


(Thanks to Ethan for leading me to that one.)


(Thanks to Matt/Colleen for this one.)

Monday, February 18, 2008

It's just WRONG! Hrumpf!

As I've been home from work (sick - blech), I've watched one commercial a number of times... that I do NOT approve of. It's an AFLAC commercial, where a factory worker is asking her boss if they have AFLAC insurance, but he just says they have "uhh" and points to an orangutan wreaking havoc on their workplace.

Here are the problems I have with the commercial:

1) It uses an ape in a commercial. What most viewers don't think about (or realize) is that apes used in the entertainment industry aren't full grown adults. They're young, which means they've been pulled from their moms at young ages. (Hence why when I worked at the zoo, many people thought the chimps were gorillas because they'd only seen entertainment chimps with pale faces - chimps have pale faces when they're juveniles. When they get older, they're too strong and often aggressive, so they're discarded to sanctuaries or labs.)

2) The orangutan is shown acting in an anthropomorphic manner, which encourages people to believe they would make great pets and not realize that (a) that's illegal or (b) they grow up to be six times stronger than adult humans and are unmanageable to treat as "little humans".

3) This is the most annoying of all... they over-dubbed the orang using CHIMP noises! Orangutans don't make all those vocalizations - they use long calls and grunts because in the wild they live great distances apart in trees. Chimps are the louder bunch with all the screams and "ooh ooh aah aah" noises.

Anyway, I just had to get that out there. Sorry for my rant!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Cue John Williams


Jon forwarded me a link to the new Indiana Jones trailer (to be released on May 22nd this year), and I just had to share my excitement with you all! (You, especially, Erin.)

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Messages from my candy

My Dove wrapper told me this today:

"Chocolate. Always your Valentine."

So true. So true.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

On to healthier things...

Exhibit A: I had a grand time eating two scoops of Baskin Robbins ice cream during our third anniversary celebration evening!


Exhibit B: I decided I need motivation to get rid of the California-added, loss-of-zookeeper-exercise tummy flub. (Yes - that is where I gain weight! I'm sneaky like that.) So... what better way to be healthier than to reward yourself with stickers? :)

The chart's end point is June - when I can no longer hide the "muffin top" while wearing a swimsuit during the summer. My daily goals are attainable, yet are things I'm not currently doing on a daily/weekly basis. Hopefully, I'll eat and exercise more than what I am rewarded for!

And let me tell ya, the stickers are already working. I wanted my veggie sticker for today, so I ran to the kitchen to eat another serving - some celery sticks with peanut butter. Mmm...