Razor sharp and dead-on

I love Tina Fey...Sarah Palin not so much

I'm Telling Everyone

Go see Tell No One. It's great and has you guessing through the end. It's based upon a book by Harlen Coben; I'm thinking about reading it.

West Coast Inequities

The Olympics are tape-delayed so that most people can watch the competition comfortably after work in their time zone but important things like the Democratic National Convention are broadcast live throughout the nation. The Convention is timed so that those people on the East Coast and Midwest can watch the convention when they are home from work but those of us on the West Coast miss all of it because we are still at work. Something's not right here. Another reason that I may eventually breakdown and get cable and TiVo. Or, another, more, cynical person would think that the satellite and cable companies encourage this inequity so that people like me, resistant to the allure of additional crappy TV stations, will eventually break.

"Live" Olympic Games

Living on the West Coast is interesting sometimes. Right now, I'm watching the Olympics which NBC is broadcasting "live." I know this because of the NBC Live icon displayed on the top right-hand corner of my TV screen says it is so. Yet, somehow, I am able to find the results of the games online prior to the end of the competition. Hmmm...perhaps is this tape-delayed for the West Coast?

Profile in Gas Prices

April 27, 2008

June 28, 2008

Star Sightings

Los Feliz, my current 'hood, has its fair share of celebrities who live around here. I always get asked by my non-L.A. based friends, if I've seen anyone famous lately. Most of the time, I don't -- or I guess I should say -- I don't recognize anyone. There are times I walk past someone and think to myself that person looks as if s/he could be famous but I fail to place a name to the face. Los Angeles is loaded with extremely good looking and extremely skinny people. The beautiful actors blend in with the better-than-average-looking-civilians. It's the ugly and fat people who stand out.

The past month, though, I seem to have run into several famous actors. They were:

• Tobey Maguire who was at the Arclight, a movie theatre near me. (My guess he was there to see the Indiana Jones movie as it was opening weekend and Indy was being shown on 95% of the screens in that multiplex.) Spidey watching Indy, proving that L.A. is indeed surreal.
• Scarlett Johannson who was walking in Griffith Park.
• Giovanni Ribisi who I spotted at the carwash. Actually, I probably wouldn't have recognized Giovanni Ribisi except that he was reading a script while he was waiting for his car and the script had "G. Ribisi" watermarked on it. Dead giveaway.

Anyway...Stay Dry Midwesterners.

First Day of Spring

Here in Southern California, Spring means putting away our long-sleeve cotton sweaters for another 10 months. Sounds of glee upon seeing forgotten-but-beloved tank tops which haven't been worn for the past eight weeks can be heard throughout the Southland as the tanks are pulled out of storage and placed in the dresser drawers where the sweaters used to reside. Older folks begin renewing friendships by greeting neighbors and friends with stories of the tough winter of rainy, 50-degree days and 40-degree nights, wondering how they miraculously survived another hard one. Meanwhile, young people and middle-aged people alike, worried that beach season is just around the corner and after over-indulging during the winter, call their gyms to make sure the Pilates class still is scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday at 8:00 p.m. while promises to begin to eat healthy again are renewed. And, everyone takes advantage of the extra hours of daylight at the end of the day and goes to the ocean for the last few weeks of whale watching season. Spring training is followed by baseball fans and Opening Day is celebrated. Los Angelenos wonder if the Dodgers have a chance against their hated rivals, the SF Giants. At least, Barry Bonds isn't playing this year and Joe Torre have taken over managing the Dodgers, they say. Yes, my dear friends, Spring is an optimistic time here in La-la land.