in case you were thinking of moving to colorado....

don't

t-day hangover

i hate getting old. i wish i'd paid attention all those times old folks told me to 'enjoy it while you can, 'cause time just flies once you're older.' and it surely did this go 'round.

i can't believe how quickly the holiday came and went, and i know i'll turn around and it will be january 2nd and i'll be facing the prospect of weeks on end of work without interruption. blah! my emotional weather report says there is an 85% chance of grumpiness on that date, and a 10% chance of living successfully in the moment in the days prior to january 2nd. work will slow down at the actual holiday, but not a minute before, so i'm already mourning the rapidity with which the xmas holiday will fly by, given how quickly this last one went. if anyone's got any suggestions of how to get over anticipating-the-holidays-ending depression, feel free to share.

all of that said, i have no complaints regarding the thanksgiving holiday (other than its brevity). probably the biggest surprises of the weekend were how great 'casino royale' is and how royally craptastic 'for your consideration' is. and the fact that i didn't die on what should have been an easy hike (but not so much when you've been in convalescence for the last few months).

in other news, we erected our first christmas tree in five years in palm springs and will do the same in los angeles. pictures to follow, of course.

happy how-short-they-are-idays!

with the exception of 'the sound of music' or 'the wizard of oz' or some other movie that my family watched every year, i think 'nashville' is the movie i've watched more than any other. it's my favorite movie, and i still remember seeing it for the first time in 1991. i was blown away, and watched it three days in a row. i remember at the time it seemed so prescient because of ross perot's bid for president, and the mid-seventies sense of political and social dread that hung over the film's proceedings seemed eerily like the times then as the gulf war was in full swing and clinton was yet to be elected. who knew it would get so much worse!

i think i'll go back and watch it again in the next few days as my own little memorial service for altman, who i do think is the best american director we've had, even if his movies were often uneven and confounding in one or more ways ('popeye,' anyone?). at the same time, uneven and confounding never precluded brilliant, and a case in point would be '3 women'. i can remember where and when i saw each altman film, and that one was at the castro in san francisco before it was available on video of any sort. altman's films are best seen on the big screen, and luckily, most revival houses (like the aero and the egyptian in l.a.) screen his films every few years.


r.i.p. robert altman

a charlie brown thanksgiving

it's not even thanksgiving, and we already hauled out the charlie brown christmas soundtrack last night on the ride out to palm springs. because this is only the third time i'll be spending christmas in california in thirteen years, i'm gonna do my damndest to be in the holiday spirit.

in honor of thanksgiving, i'm gonna make these little delectables as i had them last holiday season courtesy of my friend darla and i think my arteries can safely brave them again this year.

in other holiday plans: reading (hopefully in a hammock); swimming (or at least bobbing in the water); hiking (maybe just out to the mailbox); and moviegoing (and hopefully lots of it). top of my list is the dixie chicks documentary and 'babel.'

the real michael scott

'the office' (us version) is my favorite show on television, so imagine my surprise when i found the man who is apparently steve carell's inspiration for his character.

may i also say that it doesn't surprise me one bit given my 7 years in the credit card trenches.

(god help me) we sight celebrities so you don't have to vol. 6

ok, little did i know that our weekend would turn into one long celeb-sighting fest, but it did, and i'm too tired to present to you the very LONG list of celebrities we encountered, so here's a link to wire photos from the event we attended. any celebrity you see pictured, we saw, and even met a few:

night of a thousand (or maybe just seven) stars

the celeb-sighting thing was just a little something i cooked up as they seemed to pop up every three weeks or so, but if it keeps up at this pace, we are going to switch to spotting funny bumpstickers instead and reporting back.

in other news, we are heading out to the springs for thanksgiving and very much looking forward to some serious down time. i may even bring out ye old hammock and hop in with some books. and on top of that, we may even heat the pool, though fear of the eventual bill may stop us cold, bah dum dum.

we sight celebrities so you don't have to vol. 5

last night we had two very exciting and up-close-and-personal celebrity sightings. our friend we call 'the fairy godmother' hooked us up with skybox seats for the tenacious d show at the universal amphitheatre. hungry and in need of chairs for our aged bodies, we went up to the skybox early to chow on some chicken fingers and watch the opening set by andy dick as daphne aguilera.

suddenly, a flurry of activity seemed to be occurring in the box (which is about the size of a small doctor's office waiting room). a security guy asked who we were guests of, we answered, he seemed to think a little and then receded into the shadows quietly. the next thing we know, it is the three of us, jack black, his wife, his new little baby, and four security guards. just sharing a tiny space, watching andy dick pull a tampon string out of his thong. for about 30 minutes, we had to smile and laugh and pretend not to notice the mega movie star sitting five feet away. the irony of l.a. ironies: we have to pretend not to see the person we are there to see.

then, during the tenacious d set -- which was thunderingly awesome -- i notice a frizzy -haired schlumpy guy standing behind me, munching on popcorn from the catering table. lo and behold, it is oscar-nominated actor john c. reilly, who has appeared in some of my absolutely favorite movies. we shared the space with him for about an hour and a half, much of which was spent with him standing directly behind me, laughing and munching.

a rare occasion -- close encounters of the cool celebrity kind!

here's a fun little short by miranda july starring john c. reilly i found poking around today bathed in the afterglow of celebrity proximity:

are you the favorite person of anybody?

the tyranny of wasted opportunity



le sigh. as a wee little trapped fella in small-town south carolina, i devoured everything i could find about the big city -- any big city. including minneapolis.

anyhoo, andy warhol and edie sedgewick, in particular, were two obsessions of mine. which is why i am so terribly disappointed with the trailer for the edie biopic 'factory girl.'

to start with, sienna miller? ick. and thanks to guy pearce, we have an andy warhol with square jaw and muscular, corded neck? the horror.

oh, and the horror of horrors: hayden christenson as bob dylan????? i'll have the epidural, please.

for your consideration

i am a sucker for christoper guest movies, and i am really excited about the newest, 'for your consideration,' opening this weekend. i was even thinking of braving the midnight showing on thursday night, but this bag of bones needs its beauty rest, so i'll be waiting. i am going soon (and i'm looking at you, phriedz!)

however, one of my favorite guest ensemble members (and one of the funniest things in 'the 40 year old virgin,' in my opinion) has just come out as a lesbian:

funny lady is also funny lesbian

it's a shame she didn't make some nice man a lovely wife, but i won't hold it against her.

light my fiya

you know the drunk on 'the office', meredith? kate flannery is the actress who plays her and she has a weekend gig as one of the lampshades. hilar.

enjoy! tgif!

'we're accidental crusaders for christ'

on the list of answers to the question 'what would jesus do (WWJD)?', apparently we can now find: 'well, he sure as christmas wouldn't lay any sod on a gay man's lawn!'

ah, christian kindness

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

bush just said "i hope we can overcome the temptation to divide this country into red and blue." uh, ever heard of karl rove?

in other news, let's get to gentryifyin'!

Sometimes I Feel Like I'm The Only One Trying To Gentrify This Neighborhood

we sight celebrities so you don't have to vol. 4

last night in the elevator of our friend's building after a delicious dinner, we spotted:



bobby lee of 'mad tv' is funny in person, and was wearing an atrocious hat. he voted democrat, in case you're wondering.

and, tonight at gelson's supermarket here in the nabe, spotted while grabbing a bottle of wine and cigarettes for use in case of election emergency:



roma maffia. i had that reaction i sometimes have (having watched every episode of the show on which she appears, 'nip/tuck') where i begin to speak to an actor because i think they are someone i know from a past job, a party, etc. caught myself before she beaned me with a jar of dill pickles, though.

election day fashion police

that lipstick is way too dark, especially for early morning in crawford.

i was going to comment on the belt buckle, but some things just speak for themselves.

sorry seems to be the hardest word

i promise...more mindless drivel is on its way, but it's election week, and i couldn't help but share keith olbermann's edward r. murrow moment of last week, in which he handily hands el busho his ass. warning: you will need twelve free minutes and little distraction for this one:

good night, and good luck

'cause the political talk's been gettin' a little thick around here

...i give you the inimitable ms. sondra prill! tgif!

this post being written from outside the kingdom of god

so, you've probably heard about this ted haggard thing -- grand poobah of the evangelical christian movement who has been having gay sex with a gay hustler for three gay years (at least), yet who architected the evangelicals' campaign against gay marriage (not to mention that he also participated in regular conference calls with white house staffers on this issue).

so buried in msnbc.com's lead story re: haggard this morning was this sentence:

The Bible says homosexuality is a sin that “brings grave consequences in this life and excludes one from the Kingdom of God.”

now, i've actually read most of the bible, and i've definitely read everything that's in there pertaining to homosexuality, and that sentence is nowhere to be found. where it is found, though, is in materials from every right wing christian conservative wingnut organization out there. in fact, it appears to be their primary positioning statement on the issue of homosexuality.

so what the f**k is it doing in an msnbc story as a direct quote from the futhermuckin' bible??

some days i just want to throw in the proverbial towel and lose myself in a haze of cheeto dust like entertainer/christian britney spears.

compassionate conservatism

you'd think that christian conservatives would be all about helping the poor, what with jesus being down with the helping the poor stuff, but not when it comes to helping them at election time...

think again.

we sight celebs so you don't have to! vol. 3

this is a lame one, but here goes:



and



ok, i'm pushing the word 'celeb' to the limits of its definition, but it's all i got. both sightings were at the arclight last night where we went to see 'marie antoinette' (j'adore!). i also saw my physical therapist. (and in case you don't know these folks, it's eric balfour from 'six feet under' and danny bonaduce and wife gretchen, he formerly of 'the partridge family' and both of some reality show i've never seen that's on now).

oh, and now to really take you into the outer limits of celebritydom, spotted this fella at the royal hawaiian hotel's bar (featured memorably in paul thomas anderson's 'punchdrunk love' and in multiple joan didion essays):



stumped? lemme know in the comments.

culinary adventures in the 90039

about eight years ago, i embarked upon a journey from which i've never turned back -- learning how to cook. and yes, i am still learning. i find it's very easy to fall back on the dishes that are easiest to prepare as well as those that meet with the most approval upon serving (providing me with previously hidden insight into my mother's rotation of the same four meals throughout my childhood).

however, i sometimes feel guilty for my laziness -- in all things, but especially in cooking. actually, learning to cook may be the only successful aspect of my neverending quest to become an adult, so i feel like i need to keep it up.

with that in mind, i rashly decided to make coq au vin last night. i remembered a lovely halloween dinner i attended years ago at which a delicious beef stew was served, and since it was a chilly all hallow's eve here in los angeles (with a creepy marine layer casting a mysterious glow over the lights of the canyon and especially over the large billboard for newcastle beer that can be glimpsed from my boudoir), i began the preparations (that is, two glasses of wine before picking up a single utensil).

to my surprise, as well as to the surprise of others who were consuming it, it turned out extremely well. it was, in fact, delicious. i'm going to take all the credit and give none to the le crueset dutch oven or largely organic and highly expensive ingredients.

anyhoo, if it's getting chilly in your neck o' the woods, and you're wanting to create a fall fantasia right there in your humble abode, let me suggest the coq au vin, or 'cock in wine' if the french is too hard to pronounce.