the treasure trove of santee alley!

well, i have done plenty of wholesale shopping in my life, most of it in NYC, for 9th Life, my old shop in baltimore..which is now in the capable hands of domino Ida...but i was still dizzy after an hour of navigating the downtown LA district.

Lauren, lil' Ava & I set out to find the mythical santee alley. Of course we forgot our maps, not that we needed them to find downtown, but we didn't really know where the alley was--i first heard about it from Ali & Sarah, my partners-in-crime that worked the depeche mode & eagles shows w/me.

of course we found the alley & went a little crazy, Ava was amazingly patient for a 2 year old & afterward we went to sushi in Little Toyko. we parked right by the Japanese 1.50 store and i think i spent more there than the wholesale district. another great day in downtown LA.

Lorraine & Malena, we are going to make a trip soon, ok?!

tonight a bunch of roadie girl buddies are going to Katsu-ya. mmmmmmmm

margaret cho vs. the supersuckers

this week was fairly non-stop, but great fun... met SHerri D for lunch at Home restuarant, where they seated us by the koi pond, these fish are gorgeous! I understand that they can live quite a long time, and for some reason, these fish here wanted to talk with us. ok, i guess they were just wanting some of my breakfast burrito...anyway, Sherri offered me a merch job on Unwritten Law, and i really couldn't go, fun as it would be, little punk rock tour, and i wish i could have, just to watch Sherri in action, herding a bunch of cats.

then went with Mimi to Largo to see the comedy night with Greg Proops, who does a hilarious talk show with different guests. Jon Brion, of kanye West/fiona apple fame played some music, and greg berendt from "sex & the city" was pretty perfect, his zingers about myspace. but you know i went to see miss Cho, & she delivered. her marriage seems to have mellowed her, and she is now sporting a trim figure, with a huge body-wrapping tattoo. she has gotten into bellydancing and is going to egypt for a big b-d convention...
plus, the fabulous Nicole C was serving drinks, that cocktail-hotty.

the next night the supersuckers were in town, playing the roxy so we met early over at that legendary rainbow for dinner, and yes lemmy was there, patiently enduring some drunk girl extolling the many virtues of "ace of spades". Dave was happy because he had just gotten a box of xxx dvds, and i said, "wha?! don't you get cable on the bus?" which cracked them up as they are touring by van...the show was great, rhino bucket opened up and i got to see brian forsythe, still the vision from kix days. i didn't realize what a big fan Eddie spaghetti was of kix, but they launched into "cool kids" and a long confessional of how they lifted riffs in tribute...

thursday Mimi and i went to the second half of the comic exhibit, this time @ the hammer in brentwood, first lunch @ sasabune, freshest sushi for big girl prices. i felt a little dizzy after that meal, and the artwork of milton caniff & winsor mcKay just seeped into me. truly, i Loved steve canyon, terry & the pirates was before my time, but man! what lines...
they ended the show with charles schultz, who is such a part of every kid's life by now, however i was able to look at his work differently, much less taken-for-granted. when we were little, my brother wrote to schultz and was so happy to receive a letter in return. a generous artist he was.

today, we conquer santee alley, the cheapy fashion district fiefdom, me, Lauren & baby Ava.

ps, i got a new LA cell phone, cause i really did drown mine at neil's, please send me your cell numbers, as i lost them all.

ipods, ebay & sir alfred hitchcock

i have been reading an amazing biography of the great filmmaker Hitchcock.
never knew much about his personal life, but what a doll.

he was deeply devoted to his wife & partner Alma, they were a real love match.
she would call him "Hitchie".
he played practical jokes on many of his actors. he also used the british cockney trick of rhyming words, using "dogs feet" to say "pause"..Hitchcock was a master technician, precise & economical on his film sets. he storyboarded his own films and really attempted to edit within the camera, to keep complete control over his visions. I learned so much from his life story, written by an old friend of his, charlotte chandler.
last night i went on ebay and bought a box set of 34 of his best films, and am downloading many of his tv show episodes on my ipod, i remember seeing some of them when i was very little, his voice was so distinctive.
He was famous for telling his actors "remember it's only a mooo-vie"
i wish i could have worked with him, but he teaches me from the beyond the grave.

comic books, psychic readings & driving in downtown

been lovely busy the last few days, had to organize my tax bits & pieces, went & met my new lady of the numbers, she is in north hollywood. She had all manner of entertainment tricky ins & outs, much relief for this perdiem queen--

Right after our meeting, I went to that most unusual & alien of landscapes, the middle school, to pick up Aneeka, Malena's daughter. She and i goofed around, she taught me how to skateboard & i checked her Egyptian homework. When Malena got home, we went straight into some concentrated girl time, and lit a little candle-on-cheesecake to celebrate Lorraine's b-day. Miles gave me the Frank Frazetta movie & Malena crocheted me a touk!then we consulted the cards and the tiger fairy of topanga canyon dropped by to grant our every wish. i DO love woodland hills.

today, Mimi Ko, photographer & future NYer, came by to meet prince Batman and take me to see the history of comics exhibit @ MOCA. Since we didn't leave the treehouse 'til about 4 pm, we took surface roads, (the secret weapon of LA) cutting through Koreatown.
Had such a good time, felt like we were in another city completely, LA's downtown is really a surprise every time. So many wedding gowns! Mimi showed me the Bradbury bldg, where BLADERUNNER was filmed, and we climbed "angel flight" up to the museum. The exhibit was breathtaking, Will Eisner was far and away my favorite work shown, with young Chris Ware coming in second. Seeing the work close up with the markings and editor notes, white-out and erasure marks was deeply inspiring and we came back to the treehouse, drank some of Mimi's gift tea & talked our heads off. I can't quite believe it has been 5 years since i was in art school...

what the...??!

ps speaking of hearts, the fellow hunter that our VP Cheney shot, had some buck-shot lodged in his heart & had a mild heart attack last night. they have also decided to leave alot of the buckshot in his face. just what the hell where those guys Doing out there?
in my opinion, this is Much worse than getting a blowjob from an intern..!!!?!

flying cats & oscar statues

my trip to Minneapolis/Wisconsin ended with me transporting one of the long-time family cats back to LA with me...there is a reason cats don't have wings. Zooey is a beautiful middle-aged matronly kitty who was not able to relax and enjoy her sedatives on the flight, instead she ripped at her soft-case transport vehicle until she tore a paw-size hole in the side, howling all the while....anyway, the pass-off to miss Olga went well, as Zo finally gave in, like we all do, once faced with that monster, LAX.

i have already said how oscar-silly i am, so when i found out that they are all on display at hollywood & highland, and you can hold one, well, i had to go. We went over on the motorcycle under the nearly full moon. goofed around & had some pretty good sushi @ the shabu-shabu over there, and as we were leaving, i saw mr. mark hawley, here to mix his wife tori's upcoming box set. quel surprise! of all places and all people. we hung out with him for a couple beers, caught up on life in cornwall and then headed on back to the treehouse.

Last night I went to see laura kightlinger's comedy show @ Largo...some of the featured comedians were great, but i was there to see her, i loved her on the tenacious d show (jack black was her boyfriend). however, as she put it, she thought she was going on earlier so she started drinking early & it showed. my favorite Nicoles were both there, so it was fun anyway.

tomorrow i go get my taxes in order with a new tax lady that mr. dan boland recommended. she wants my tour books so it sounds like she has a good roadie plan.

Lorraine & I did a quick little photo shoot on the sushi couch before i left. Tomorrow is her birthday, many more, Lolo!!!
meanwhile happy heart day, all you lovely people.

in which i start a second journal

i have been posting on myspace, and am going to attempt to do the switcheroo-
technology gods, please smile on me.
will transfer some things, but first of all, would like to get used to this format--
patience will see it through.

daleks, tardis & grampa munster

'tis a fine night here in the heart of the mid-west & my ibook just tossed my super-long entry into space, so i have to re-create & no, i am not bitter, just feeling a little put out.
probably for the best, as i wasn't feeling the words flow like they really should do.

been on a steady diet of Dr. Who since i have been here at the Gaiman family mansion, watched both the very first episode, which was grand & also what i am to understand is the last one, with the newest doc, who i recall seeing in the harry potter films... good news: i like him alot. nothing like attacking christmas trees & that rose is pretty hot. our guide neil also screened lots of in-between episodes & the brilliant series "little britain" which should be required viewing.

ok, what else happened? i landed @ msp airport & spent the night @ my aunt & uncle's home. i haven't seen them in so long, and we had a wonderful visit. they brought me the hour-plus drive out here to wisconsin the next day, rolling through my requested snow flurries.

the fabulous lorraine & i wasted no time in catching up & went to the (maul) mall of america, this amazingLy strange place where shopping mall meets amusement park.
only once will i visit this place, & only to see the giant hammer ride (i think it was thor's mjollanar) Lolo let me drive her new prius because of some mysterious wounds she has suffered, broken toe & sprained finger. We met up with one of my favorite couples, bill & sharon, the hot bird chick & her genius husband. Bill installed final draft 6 on my laptop & i was so happy i could cry. *cries* ...in trade, i shall send him all the rest of the porn stash that i found while dumpster diving in vivid video's storage trash bin. (and YES, my submission was published in new issue of Dirty FOUND, i feel just like john candy in "splash")
we talked about grampa munster & this was the day before we found out he died, r.i.p Al Lewis. ....uncanny xmen, indeed--- & a happy belated b-day to mister Bill, wish he'd join myspace & make goofball comments with me.

the next day, we all went for a long walk in the woods, with 2 of the cats, fred & princess, following along, charming me completely while racing around in the snow. yes, i saw deer tracks. miss city mouse goes to the country, for real.

will add photos later, this thing may quit again. meanwhile, i got my cell phone wet & damn if he didn't die from drowning-- i guess now am really in the country...
more later & oh! i finally got to see what the daleks look like on the inside, sweet!

ps hey Baltimore, i am hoping to be on work break for BALTICON '06 & so i scheduled to be there-MAY 26-29, Neil is guest of honor & L'aM is musical guest!! Hurray!

hollywood assistant, part two

last few days, have been running solid.
my illustrious boss is in town to do movie meetings
and sushi dinners & so on & so forth, and i have been
there to take the occasional note & drive the distance.
the paramount lot gate guys now know me by name...


today we were at the G4 tv studios, to film live segment
interviewing Neil about anansi boys & his new projects.
nice guys over there, it was a real field trip for me.
quote of the day: the nerds have really won, they took over
the film world...

@5:30 am this morning, the oscar nominations were announced &
i was so happy to see terrence howard get a nod for "hustle & flow".
he was just brilliant in "crash". so i was especially fan-girl-esque
tonight when i was returning neil to the 4 seasons---
we were valeting the car as mr. howard was arriving. when he got out
of the car, & i saw it was him, couldn't help but wave & say "congratulations!" to him--
he smiled at me w/ a sweet lil' shrug & said "thanks...i know!" and then
did a sweetheart dance on the way in to the lobby.
it was a goofy hollywood moment, but i swear, that guy is going to be a huge star.
while i do think p.seymour hoffman will take the oscar---darling! it is great to be nominated...