MetLA

It was bound to happen - Pinkberry invades the northeast side. There's a new one going in on the corner of Hyperion and Rowena in Silver Lake. It's guaranteed to bring the traffic all the way down from the Trader Joe's crush to the intersection at Rowena. Personally, I think the stuff tastes like watered down sour cream, so you won't see me as part of the Pinkberry Herd. Ich.

For the 3 of you who read my blog (whatup Kyle & damali!), you might be wondering if I fell off the face of the earth. Not exactly, I just got Lost.
I want to write more about my amazing experiences in Hawaii, but I need to tread lightly because of that scary ABC confidentiality agreement! Stay tuned, I'll figure something out...

One of the greatest things about living in LA is a mild December heat waves. This weekend was picture perfect - clear, blue sky and 75 degrees. I took advantage of the great weather and took a long hike up to the new, improved Griffith Observatory. I've lived under or around the Observatory for over 10 years, so I was excited to see the improvements.
The main building is essentially the same, just more shiney and white. The grounds look way cleaner too. It helps that they don't let personal cars up there anymore - it cuts down on the traffic and pollution and crowds.

There's a new Cafe, aptly named the Cafe at the End of the World (shouldn't that be Cafe at the Top of the World??). Now that looks like a nifty place to take the family in from out-of-town.






James Dean still lives up there, or at least his statue. Rent "Rebel Without a Cause" to see the fantastic use of the Observatory grounds.




So sorry to the rest of the country - I'm going to enjoy this weather for as long as it lasts!

This Tony Shaloub film AmericanEast has been filming in our little Atwater Village for the last few weeks. They caused a minor ruckus amongst the blogoshphere when us eagle-eyed restaurant lovers thought we had a new falafal place in the AV (not entirely improbable ever since India Sweets and Spices came to town).
For the last 3 days the production shot at a house on my corner. I know the script supervisor, Ari, so after seeing Miami Vice last night (Colin Farrell = SO hot), I stopped by to say hi. Turns out they were filming the last shot of the film. It was an establishing shot of the house, and instead of calling "cut" the director ran into the shot and the crew followed him, they were screaming and bouncing up and down like they had just won the World Cup. Hopefully, that will be me on September 14, when I finish my latest film!

Wow, this is way over the top. They are telling old people and children to stay inside. In our house, our thermostat quit trying to keep track after 99 - it just went to 00 all night. Yes, folks, it's 100 degrees INSIDE our house. So we stay in the bedroom and office, the only two rooms with a/c units. The upside is I'm not watching much TV. The downside is my brain is melting out of my ears.

I spent last week working on BONES. For those of you without FOX, it's a show about a forensic anthropologist played by Emily Deschanel. There's a super tall background actor named Joe that's booked every time they film in the Jeffersonian forensic lab. One of my jobs is to tell Joe where to stand and where to walk. I really want to start a website called WheresBigJoe.com to see if people can spot him in the back of every shot. He's hard to miss!

...and I love Defamer. Not just because they post my random musings (like this one on the LAFF Closing Night), but because I laugh out loud reading every single post. Bookmark this site - it's a keeper!

Check out this war of words created by a poor profile of one of Hollywood's smartest journalists. Nikki Finkie details the problem on her blog the fallout is also on Gawker , normally one of my favorite websites. She refused to let the reporter and his sources get away with that careless article and almost more importantly, held her ground against the “what’s your problem lady, can’t you take a joke” response to her criticism. I love that she REFUSED to accept a double standard and shone the spotlight on it actually happening in front of our very eyes. These guys just Don’t Get It.