Live from Los Angeles

Ode to the Bowl

Last night I fulfilled one of my earliest LA fantasies. (No, not that one.)

Anthony and I finally made it to the Hollywood Bowl! As a music fan (whose daily commute for months included Bowl traffic) I was always so jealous of the show-goers streaming into the gates, carrying their picnics and wine. At last, I satisfied my curiosity and we were treated to an amazing show and a spectacular LA night.

For Anthony’s birthday, I got us Bowl tickets to see the LA Philharmonic. But not just any LA Phil show – this was the orchestra playing the score from Planet Earth – and conducted by its composer, George Fenton.

(We love Planet Earth so much that we unknowingly bought each other a copy for Christmas last year. It was like Gift of the Dimwitted Magi.)

Along with the music, we got to see clips of Planet Earth projected in HD on a giant screen suspended from the top of the Bowl. Last night actually was the first-ever HD show at the Bowl, Fenton told us.

It would have been an experience on its own, just being inside. The laid-back crowd, everyone doing the Bowl tradition of spreading out and chowing down before the show, the clinking of wine glasses, the unbelievable sounds of the LA Phil bouncing off the seats and the stars…

Add in a gigantic TV screen with sharks and alligators and baby ducks and it was pretty much a little slice of heaven.

 

Technorati Tags: Hollywood Bowl,Planet Earth,George Fenton,Los Angeles Philharmonic

Mr. Incredible Hulk, You Have the Right to Remain Silent

I don’t understand how this news didn’t dominate national coverage yesterday, but sometimes stuff just falls through the LA news hole…

Batman got arrested. And not just Batman – Spiderman and Cat Woman, Scooby Doo and Elvis. LAPD has decided to crack down on the very dangerous superheroes and characters who hang out on Hollywood Boulevard and pose for pictures with tourists. (And me.) 

One of the first people I met in LA two years ago was a city attorney who told me this was imminent – that the superheroes are business people who need to be licensed just like everyone else. I was just hoping it wouldn’t happen.

Just when you think LA doesn’t take itself seriously, it decides to get itself worked up and accomplish something that helps no one at all. Supposedly the characters are being too pushy when it comes to asking tourists for tips.

I have to think tourists know what they’re getting into when they come to LA and stroll Hollywood Boulevard.

It’s a shame to think of Hollywood without the art of what these guys bring to the Walk of Fame. No matter how many times I see Hollywood Boulevard, I still crane my neck when I drive by, trying to get a closer look at Captain America, Michael Jackson and Darth Vader. Gene Simmons was known to take his breaks at the Coffee Bean across the street and would sit outside, reading the paper as traffic streamed by.

I can only hope the cops soon will get distracted and forget their dedication to keeping Marilyn Monroe and Bart Simpson in the pokey.

Come on, LAPD, lighten up. Free your imagination. And Batman.

 

Technorati Tags: Hollywood Boulevard,Walk of Fame,Kodak Theatre,Grauman's Chinese Theatre,LAPD

Judge Ito Tells Me His Thoughts on the Los Angeles Legal System

I know everyone complains about jury duty, and believe me – I was whining as much as anyone when I got called in this week.

But I should have known jury service in Los Angeles wouldn’t be just a regular old civic duty. It was another surreal peek at how truly weird this town can be.

There were hundreds of us gathered this morning in the jury pool room in the criminal courthouse downtown (where people like Chris Brown appeared the very same day for hearings). The clerk who was running the show gave us a few directions and then said someone had stopped by who wanted to say hello.

Judge Lance Ito, looking not a day older than he did in 1995, stepped to the podium.

I’m telling you, I couldn’t make this up. He delivered a little speech.

He gave us a bio on the namesake of the courthouse -- Clara Shortridge Foltz, the first woman admitted to the California Bar. He opined on the LA Times and how much he misses its heyday and how he learned to read by sitting on his dad’s knee and perusing the Times comics with him. He told us about his father, a 95-year-old World War II veteran who was forced to give up his car keys two years ago but won’t give up his car.

He talked about how important jurors are and how great the jury setup is. He gave us a rundown of Los Angeles County courts – 50 courthouses, 7,000 jury trials a year. He talked about how wonderful the system is and how it runs like a finely oiled machine.

Are you getting this?

He told us we may have to stay awhile. The trial we get assigned to could take up to a week, he says. Maybe longer. Maybe six weeks, like the fraud trial he’s getting ready to preside over. (“But don’t worry – ha ha – you’re not in the pool for that trial!”)

Ha. Ha.

One trial he knows of, he says, even lasted nine months.

“I didn’t think that one was ever going to end!” he joked.

Now, I wouldn’t pull your leg. At this point, I was taking notes. I think I may have said out loud, “The folks back home aren’t going to BELIEVE this one.”

Then he thanked us for the chance to speak to us. It’s the only time, he said, he’ll ever get to talk to a standing room-only crowd.

He left, and everyone clapped.

Soon after, I was offered the chance to postpone my jury service. I gratefully took them up on it.

But I can’t wait to go back. 

 

Technorati Tags: Lance Ito,OJ Simpson,Los Angeles County Criminal Courts,jury duty

The Red Carpet Is Damp -- It Must Really Be Raining

Well, now I feel a little silly.

You're all going to think I'm a weather hypochondriac, after all my bellyaching about how it never, ever rains here.

If you're watching the Golden Globes red carpet right now, you may have noticed something odd. It does indeed appear that water is falling from the sky.

Nothing like live entertainment television to make a liar out of me.

In my defense, look closely and you'll see signs that show I've been telling the truth all along. People are absolutely discombobulated. Whenever a drop of water hits them -- actors, publicists, camera guys, Ryan Seacrest -- they truly look like they've just been slapped in the face.

For once, they're out of their element.

 

And Seacrest just admitted that many people in LA don't even own umbrellas. I'm just gonna say I told you so.

I'm safe and dry for now but headed out in a few hours to cover after-parties.

I'd better not get wet.

 

Image Link: [USA Today]

Technorati Tags: Golden Globes,Ryan Seacrest

California: What Happens in Government Stays in Government

I was really excited to hear on NPR, as I drove to work this morning, that all systems were go for today's federal trial on Prop. 8 to be broadcast on YouTube.

The proceedings would, as they say, be televised. Exciting news. It would have been the first federal trial in at least nine Western states ever to see that kind of sunshine, according to the LA Times.

The idea of finally seeing a federal trial on TV, and the public having that access -- even after the fact -- was thrilling.

A year and a half after moving to California and finding out exactly how little information a government can get away with releasing, I was frothing at the idea of just about anything in a government building being televised.

Shoulda known. It was too good to be true. The U.S. Supreme Court pulled the plug this morning.

For now, I'll remain starved for public information.

As a reporter, the blockade here on what you can know about what your own government does is endlessly frustrating.

I couldn't believe it when I first found out that something as rote as a police incident report in California isn't public information. That means if someone breaks into the house next door to yours, you have no way of finding out anything about it. The cops will tell you they went to the address, but they won't tell you why.

Considering that, I guess the prospect of watching a telecast of something as historical as the fate of Prop. 8 was really too much to hope for.

 

Technorati Tags: Prop. 8,Open Records,Freedom of Information Act

If Christmas Exploded, This Is What It Would Look Like

LA is not – as you might have gathered – about subtlety. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that the holiday of American excess truly indulges itself here.

Keeping this in mind, I still ventured to The Grove last week. The fancy-pants outdoor mall is a total scene here, in every sense of the word. Celebrity sightings, trendy, high-end stores and tons of outdoor tables filled year-round with people hoping to be seen by someone.

The whole place has that Vegas on the Strip feeling – the ultimate planned community, all bathed in warm light. And your eye never falls on any unpleasant sight. It even has grass and a dancing fountain.

I love it.

The first time I saw The Grove, I was mesmerized. But I still wouldn’t have gone near it during the holidays if I didn't have to cover a movie premiere here (The Young Victoria) last week.

But once I saw the Christmas-on-crack display going on here, I was hooked. I took Anthony back two nights later.

There’s the tree (supposedly 100 feet tall), fake snow being blown out onto shoppers, a lit-up Santa and reindeer flying overhead, a trolley, real carolers, a giant Santa house draped with trippy bears and candy canes – and in the middle of it all – a rotating Cadillac on a stage under spotlights.

It’s positively pornographic.

But you're probably not surprised. In LA, it's only natural.

I think I'm almost getting used to it.

Merry Christmas, Los Angeles!

 

Technorati Tags: Christmas,The Grove,The Young Victoria

Giant Sequoias, Attempt No. 1

One of the many things that still fascinates me about Los Angeles is the amazing view of the mountains from just about anywhere. Sometimes they’re covered with dingy red layers of filthy smog and haze. But you can still see them.

Even weirder is that around this time of year, when it’s still in the 70s down here, you can see snow caps on the mountains. On clear days, they almost glitter in the sunshine.

I finally got to see some of it up close last weekend, when we got a wild hair and decided to take a road trip to Giant Sequoia National Monument.

It was a grand plan. We would drive up the mountain, about 2.5 hours from home, hop out and hike for a bit. We would stroll along the Trail of a Hundred Giants, the grove where the trees grow up to 220 feet high, 20 feet wide and are 1500 years old.

We didn’t quite make it. Did I mention the snow? The first warning signs were giant… warning signs. That chains were required and there would be icy “patches.” We ignored those and powered on. How bad could it be? It was still sunny and the snow we did see was melting.

The second warning signs were the trucks. The size of which I hadn’t seen since living in West Texas. Man trucks. Our Honda Civic felt mini. Then, as we wound our way up the mountain, we stopped seeing any other cars at all.

Finally, when there was more ice than road (and no guardrails), we gave up and turned around. I think we were no more than two miles from the famous trail, but the thought of careening off the side of the mountain to an icy death sucked the adventure out of me.

Plus, it really was cold.

 

This is how long I was out of the car. Long enough to pose for this picture. The air was so clear and frozen, it hurt my lungs. The smog I had stored up in there was confused and pissed at all the clean air that was suddenly rushing in.

My body missed its comfy, warm blanket of haze.

We’ll have to try this again in the spring. After the thaw. I’ll be ready for more clean air by then.

Until then, I'll enjoy the snow caps from down below.

[Photos by Anthony. More on his Flick page.]

Technorati Tags: Giant Sequoia National Monument

I'm Done Getting Fit. Bring on the Sweet Potatoes.

Just in time for Thanksgiving, I finished up the Us Weekly 30-Day Get Fit Challenge. Check out my final post. Spoiler alert: the results aren’t dramatic. I’m thinking of starting my own new show – The Least Biggest Loser. For people like me who don’t have time to spend six days a week at the gym.

Speaking of getting off the wagon, it’s time again to dust off the Thanksgiving recipes and put my pots to work. That’s right. It’s sweet potato time.

I won’t rehash this, but for those of you who were in on the yam-sweet potato debate last year, here’s a little gem that I shot at the grocery store last night:

I think California thinks if it says it enough times, it will come true. Yams will genetically mutate into sweet potatoes.

Just think of how many calories my anger is burning up…

 

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving,Yams,Sweet Potatoes,Us Weekly

Heidi and Seal's Wild Ride

Because I’ve always liked to celebrate a prolonged Halloween holiday, I’m posting a couple of pictures from Saturday night.

I was at Heidi Klum’s Halloween party for work. But way more interesting than the red carpet was the car Seal and Heidi arrived in.

Check this out:

It’s an old Cadillac, and I’ll have to rely on my dad to read this and tell me what year.

But it was awesome. Seal drove it up to the club, then sat on Santa Monica Boulevard and revved the engine for about 10 minutes. The already-boozed Halloween crowds were going nuts, and security was screaming at them to back away from the car.

When Heidi and Seal stepped out, dressed all-out as crows, a driver climbed out of the backseat and took over the wheel. Here he is afterward, screaming at other drivers to get out of his way as he tries to leave the parking lot.

 

I asked Heidi how they picked out the car, and she shrugged (I think she shrugged – it was hard to tell under all the feathers) and said it just looked like it matched their costumes.

 

It reminded me of another old caddy we saw at the Peterson Automotive Museum when my parents were in town. To me, it looked like candy.

1959 Cadillac Series 62.

 

Beautiful. Any time of year.

 

Image LINK: [BabyChums.com]

Technorati Tags: Heidi Klum,Seal,Cadillac,Halloween,Peterson Automotive Museum

Live from Los Angeles Gets Fit Celeb-Style

So, it looks like this blogging thing is catching on.

Even my editors at Us Weekly think I have a knack. They’ve managed to rope me into doing it for the magazine’s Web site.

Here’s to me, Us Weekly’s first blogger. Read all about me pulling off the Us Weekly 30-day Get Fit Challenge here.

I know what you’re thinking. That I’m a true wordsmith – and that my talent for stringing words together is finally getting me recognition on a national stage.

I think it’s more likely that my editors think my hiney is fat. And that I’m the best candidate to write about losing weight because, well, I could stand to carry around a little less of me.

Either way, I’m now working out with a celebrity trainer, feeling the pain and already wondering what I’ve gotten myself into.

It was really hard to get moving, after avoiding the gym for a good six months. But the truth is – I feel a little better already, now that my blood is moving again. Believe me, I hate to admit it.

But don’t worry. I’m not going “LA” on you guys. If anything, having a celeb trainer is putting me even more in touch with my plebeian roots. The more I try to channel Jennifer Aniston on the treadmill, the more I see visions of Roscoe’s chicken and waffles.

Then again, that might be the LA in me too…

 

Technorati Tags: Us Weekly,celebrity trainer,Roscoe's House of Chicken N' Waffles