cloud covering the moon...

the sky has been dark with a strange yellow light, giving even morning sun an evening feel.
the fires are burning, ash is everywhere in the air, i got into my car & it was coated in white crumbly ash, inside & out.
people are losing their homes and all i can hear is the sound of helicopters. It is burning hot in the air. BAtman sits, watching & listening, out the window. He knows something is wrong out there.

this will be a brief blog and i am addressing things on many levels: be grateful for what this life has offered.
life can end from one second to the next. be present. the problems that you think are big, they are small.


this will pass like a cloud covering the moon. Don't feel despair, my friends, make this life count.
i am grateful for every day i wake up.
signed, a four leaf clover of a girl...

birthday girl, scream awards & dream life

last week was almost more than even this Batgirl can handle.
my birthday, working the Eagles/Dixie Chicks shows at the new Nokia theater in downtown LA, Neil in town, my landlord's poor kitty that i have been cat-sitting had a serious episode that landed us in the kitty ER over the weekend (she is MUCH better, saw her today), my beloved Ghosty got hit by another car on Hollywood Blvd, (just some body damage, but still!)the Scream awards @ the GReek Theatre....ok. wait.
let me just show some photos...


Neil got us into the big El Capitan theatre presentation of 3-D Nightmare before Christmas, where the director Henry Selick came to talk about the process w/ some of the people involved in the making of this classic. He showed us how the heads of Jack were changed and the eyelid movements show emotions...
downstairs they had an exhibit of artifacts from the film, i was taken by the box of Jack heads. They gave us free popcorn in Nightmare tubs..and they had a film clip of Tom Burton's voiceover behind a Mexican wrestling mask, saying thanks for coming to see the show. Neil then got up on stage to help introduce the Coraline clip, which was stunning. The advancement in technology since the Nightmare days, wow.


.yes, it was the day after my birthday...
On my birthday, Drew took me to the new Sean Penn film "into the wild"--we went to the arclight. the film wasn't perfect, but it moved me, the book was a personal favorite. sometimes, we all consider leaving everything behind...I like the restaurant there @ the arclight, they put little clapboard sheets down on your table, saying when your movie starts, so the waiter knows when time is nigh....

then we had a night of it @ the Scream Awards on the 19th, Neil won the ICON award, the show airs tomorrow (Tues 23 Oct) night on SPike TV.
Steve Owens took this photo of us, me w/my camera...
we walked the red carpet right behind Paris Hilton (Neil spotted her back at the hotel, but Red & I, we thought she was a lookalike until we saw her again at the event, where all the paparazzi were screaming for her--oh well, who knew?)

Drew wore a Neverwhere (www.neverwear.net) shirt in honor of Neil. Roger Avary also put on a Scary Trousers shirt to announce the clip of Beowulf. I seriously love that guy. Did you see "killing zoe"!!? SAw Rob Zombie & Sherri, they flew in for one night off the Ozzy/Zombie tour to honor Alice Cooper in the tribute. Ozzy & Slash played with them as well. big noise!

Harrison Ford won the Hero Award, Shia LeBeouf presented it to him.

Shia & Neil posed for me in the green room. I was pretty fan-girl over Han Solo standing right next to me. but even more exciting? Bruce Campbell in the corner. A real room full of people, i didn't recognize half of them until they got up to accept their awards. Seth Rogen presented Neil his award and Boss was just right in there with a speech praising the CBLDF and making a sincere thank you. Drew & I were seated in the audience behind him, where we could see him, in the tv jump boxes. seated next to us was the actor that played Sabretooth --at 6'8", he was taller even than Drew. Down at the other end of our row were all the remaining cast of Star Trek, Kirk, Sulu, Chekov, Spock & Uhuru, (see her next to Drew & REd on the carpet walk in this photo-she is like royalty)

in this photo of Kevin smith, you can see the Giger-inspired angel statues that shot flames behind him, miss Wendy's new company made them...really impressive.

Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez won for Grindhouse, which i LOVED, that film got no love from marketing. My Greek brothers, Tommy Lee & Criss Angel presented something, but i was too busy trying to dry off my camera, which i accidentally placed (carefully, even) into a cup holder that i didn't realize had a cup in it, with beer in it. Death by drowning. I got this very last photo of the Star Trek reunion, but man, it isn't good. I really wanted it to be good for my little brother, who at one time, was quite the fan...Nimoy looks great!unfortunately, I drowned my camera just before Neil's acceptance speech so i got no photos of him up there, a few film clips, but until i figure out how to pull stills, hope someone else got a good shot of him.
now, what new camera shall i save my quarters for...? check out the show Tuesday night (Oct 23) on Spike TV!

the legendary Rick Baker

i grew up loving every kind of horror movie, tv show, charles addams cartoon, creepy comic books (thanks to my brother!)--
Halloween just lives in my heart. When Malena sent me an invitation for Miles' group artshow being held at Rick Baker's Sinovation Studios, it was like getting an invitation to Valhalla.
The studio was tricked out like a graveyard, and there were pieces there by my hero Bernie Wrightson, Dan Brereton (*sigh)
and William Stout, to name a few...
An artist new to me whose work i was drawn to like a magnet was Ragnar, simple graphite drawings on paper, but it struck me in the heart, thunderbolt-like. There was a video loop of Michael Doughtery's upcoming scary "Trick r Treat"--oh yeah! and let's not forget the letter-perfect
Miles Teves
Here are Red & Charle by the classic portrait Miles did of Malena, can you see it in the lower right hand corner?

here Charle photographs the display of movie masks (Miles did the green one for the film "Legend")

Then we went upstairs into Mr. Baker's private viewing room, no photos allowed, sorry. It was truly an education in movie magic. From American Werewolf in London to Men in Black to Nutty Professor, Batman to Ed Wood, the models were on display. I will always be grateful for Miles inviting me. As we came down the spiral staircase after the tour, Rick Baker himself was at the bottom, I gave him my best million-dollar smile & said my thank yous. He was a true gentleman.
Here is a photo of Miles & cowboy boot-wearin' uberartist Coop & Malena & Miss Ruth, getting herself struck by a bolt...
a truly great night.

am i dreaming?

i know i have mentioned Ghosty, my car before. it is the sweetest little miata convertible. this car was a virtual gift from the Gorgeous couple Miles & Malena...they gave me such a great deal on it & i have loved every minute of driving him. He has various nicknames such as the Aspirin, the Tic Tac, the Barbie car...
anyway. I have been on and off the road so much I haven't really gotten him a local doctor, and it was time. The Viking told me about ISE auto mechanics right over in my neighborhood. I took ghosty in there to get a tune up. and...a couple hours later,
I got the call every car owner hates to get: "How attached are you to this car>..?"
Craig the owner & Melissa who seems to be the glue holding the place together were very nice to me after i walked over, saying: whhha? VERY attached, thank you very much.

Last year, my radiator overheaed and the upshot was that some of my cylinders were affected. Craig said: do you want to commit to this car? because it will be a costly repair to try to get the problem under control. A valve job head gaskety sort of thing.
All this was said with love & kindness, two tones i am not used to hearing from a repair shop.
So they had the car all taken apart and meanwhile, i also needed a headlamp replaced. Craig said he would call me when it is put back together. I go back, he says: we are going to monitor the progress together. I stand at the counter, preparing to pay, and Craig says: let me go ahead and mail that bill to you. I said: hmmm what's that?
he said: you can go now & pay me later. This is my first time there!
I told him that was best bad news i ever got, given in the sweetest way.
I am in love w/ this auto shop.

BEOWULF, baby & things to watch for...

The trailer for BEOWULF is up on the front page of Paramount's website. whoop!
this film is holding great fascination for me. when i saw the 3-D clips @ comicon, it was truly jaw-dropping.
it is like a shiny present under the tree...
us & uk release date: NOVEMBER 16th...

take a look:
http://www.paramount.com/

and Neil has won the big Spike TV/SCREAM/Comicon 2007 ICON award,
the award that was presented to Frank Miller last year.
(am very proud of Boss, he has had a non-stop year....)


this year, Scream is taping at the Greek Theater right in my neighborhood.
also they are doing an Alice Cooper tribute...w/ozzy, zombie, slash, joe perry & more--Halloween is coming early!
what to wear...oh dear.
for a quick clip of last year's award show:

http://www.liquid-theory.com/scream_sizzle_716.html

The show is airing on October 23rd on Spike TV...watch-----

also coming up next week, a 3-D viewing of Nightmare before Christmas @ the El Capitan and a big Rick Baker Halloween artshow & a Simpsons table read...finally a real holiday for me.
am usually out on the road at this time--a first!

Last time I was home for Halloween, i turned on the TV to see "13 Nights of Fright" that Neil was hosting with Malena...
for a teeny look at that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_XqLLOM0to

will take photos...i promise.
ps who knows how i can make this these links active? signed, your friendly neighborhood luddite

kitty back on the road...

some new dates are up for the winter tour Tool, i know there will be more announced,
we have rehearsals in LA for about ten days, and then on to Austin for the first show...
i have to say, this is one of the best crews i have ever worked with
alot to love on this tour...
here is a photo from Istanbul, our guitarist & drummer, tour manager, rynne & me w/the legendary Peter Murphy of Bauhaus...
i fake-fainted when i met him, he was a real sweetheart & very versed in the ways of the Turkish people. he gave us lots of stories.

we did our last load out of the European run in pouring rain on the slick decks of the Istanbul venue, i mean MONSOON type rain. We just marvelled at the amount of rain dumping on us. The day had been a beautiful clear day on the waterfront --over all, the show was one of the best of the tour, i think because everyone was very ready to advance toward their homes...
more soon, just wanted to post these dates. who can come see me???

2007 07 Dec Spokane, WA US Spokane Arena
2007 05 Dec Portland, OR US Memorial Coliseum
2007 04 Dec Everett, WA US Everett Events Center
2007 27 Nov Saskatoon CANADA Credit Union Center
2007 25 Nov Billings, MT US Metrapark Arena
2007 24 Nov Salt Lake City, UT US E Center
2007 23 Nov Casper, WY US Casper Events Center
2007 21 Nov Denver, CO US Pepsi Center
2007 19 Nov Tulsa, OK US Tulsa Convention Center
2007 17 Nov New Orleans, LA US New Orleans Arena
2007 16 Nov Houston, TX US Toyota Center
2007 14 Nov Austin, TX US Frank Erwin Center