life in hollywood

2007: More of The Best

So we continue on.One by one we’ve covered my Ten (12) Favorite Tracks of the Year and we totally had fun doing it, right? Those were my very favorites. Those were the ones about which I most wanted to write. But there were others. In fact, at last count there were something like 130 songs […]

Condom Torn

I get back from New Mexico on Saturday. Everyone is talking about the windy Friday. Evidence is all around; leaves in piles in the gutter, downed palm fronds everywhere…and the once proud column of white at Sunset & Vine hangs in tatters. Thank goodness the banners (kinda) survived. Again, I just have to know what […]

Invader Hunt: 10.2006

It’s Sara’s idea to jump. She and Maryann make several passes in front of the big mosaic. I snap away. Then a woman who works nearby observes our antics and volunteers to take a photo of all three of us. So we get in front of the artwork and, on the count of three… We’re […]

Late Night Fury

“Ask me if my mother’s dead or alive! Ask me if my mother’s dead or alive! Ask me! Now ask me if I give a fuck whether I live or die! I don’t give a fuck if I live or die!! Go ahead! Call the police! I’ll kill every one of them! Don’t you fucking […]

Massive

It’s late and I have a thirteen hour work day ahead of me. Keir’s next to me. He’s got a five hour drive ahead of him. He’s got to go back to Sacramento tonight because he has an 8:30 orientation to attend, where he’ll be getting himself…uh, oriented. For that reason, we’re both drinking water, […]

Blood on Santa Monica

I’m walking to work. This usually means I head down Martel to Fountain, cross to Fuller, drop down to Trader Joe’s on Santa Monica, where I get that fantastic pear and gorgonzola salad, a couple bananas (organic, yes) and maybe a protein bar. Then I swing back out to Santa Monica Boulevard and shoot East […]

Dahlia overload

Website traffic is through the roof all of a sudden. It’s the ol’ Black Dahlia again. Do an image search for “Black Dahlia” and you get this. The very first picture on the page is on my own site. Click on that and you’re pulled into my page about the delicate skin. I wrote the […]

L.A. Moments

I’m on La Brea. I’ve just crossed Hollywood Boulevard, approaching that intersection where Groove Fitness used to be (you know, that gym that supposedly had a live DJ spinning electro/house/trance while you worked out?) Ahead, coming from the other direction, is an ambulance. I dutifully pull over. There are a few other cars pulled over […]

Futbol in Los Angeles

The LA Times has a couple interesting World Cup-related articles today about the ways in which the world’s largest sporting event is reflected in our little West Coast villa. There are little enclaves around town that seethe with support for every team in competition. The articles tell us how to find them and where to […]

Hollywood & Vine

At the risk of taxing your bandwidth, I’m gonna post another thousand words today. I still feel like one of the backpackers in Hostel after spending some time in that abandoned hospital, but I’m at work and drinking coffee, so I’m suffering from the illusion that I’m on the mend. Here’s a photo I snapped […]

Back To Hollywoodland

So the return trip drags. Way too much time is spent waiting in terminals and on tarmacs. The Doctor Pepper beverage service on the return trip is no where near as tasty as it was on the way out. And after a week of high-altitude, clear-sky serenity it’s almost a relief to be picked up […]

Ashes & Snow

It’s Friday in Santa Monica. Fellow ‘moeb cats, Sara and Charles and I are on a mini-trip. Sara and I know each other from our Rocket Video days. She works with me on the mezzanine. Charles divides his time between the Mezz and the Jazz room. Sara loves Social Distortion and wants to marry lead […]

Spike

There’s a great deal of activity outside my little office at Argentum on Sunset and Seward. A little investigation reveals that Spike Lee is shooting a commercial. Craft service is across the street. Actors stand about in the chilly sunshine. Grips and gaffers clatter away beneath my window. A row of dark director’s chairs lines […]

The Attack Of The Bird Lady

Paris Hilton got mad at us today. Wait, wait, let me preface this: We have a customer up in the Ameoba mezzanine we refer to as Satan. It’s not that he bears any resemblance to or practices anything in the style of the Dark Lord. I mean he can be a pain, and on some […]

Christmas At The Hollywood Sign

My mission: climb to the Hollywood Sign. Objective: determine whether the Space Invader art installed by the artist Invader is still in place, or whether it’s been stolen just like all the rest of it. It’s Christmas morning. I drag myself out of bed at eight, suit up and then drive up through the morning […]