Gratitude

Happy Holidays everybody!!

I always remember to be grateful for the good things in my life, and I have a lot to be thankful for. In fact, thanks for reading this blog!

As a sign of my appreciation, I've recorded a little a cappella rendition of a recent Paul McCartney song that really caught my ear. Hope you enjoy!

Click the link below the hear the song. Windows users, right click and choose "Save As" to download the mp3. Mac users Ctrl+Click and choose "Save Link As":

Gratitude song!

"39 and Holding"

Thank you everyone for your warm birthday wishes! I've been quite surprised and touched by the huge number of greetings I received today via phone, email, and Facebook.

Some of you know I've been a little blue lately. Part of it is just the season, and the gloomy weather we've had lately, but a lot of it has to do with realizing my life may be half over and I feel like I'm just beginning to know how to live. I'm just not ready to be middle-aged yet!

However, a lot of wonderful and wise people have offered helpful words of advice and encouragement recently and I'm starting to feel better. I think once I get home for the holidays and visit my family things will be seen from a little happier perspective.

Jon Stewart Defends Gay Marriage

Did you see the amazing interview with Gov. Mike Huckabee on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart? It was an eloquent and passionate discussion by both men on the delicate, ever-more-urgent, controversy of gay marriage. Check it out here!

Jon Stewart (and his show) continues to astound, not only for his sharp satirical wit, but for the excellent journalism and thoughtful discourse on the important events of the day.

Thank The Troops

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the troops in our armed forces around the world protecting the freedoms and privileges those of us at home enjoy and take for granted.

I was just watching NBC's Christmas in "Rockefella" Center (welcome back Britney) and when the lovely co-hostess Jane Krakowski took a moment to thank the troops, I shared in a moment of high definition gratitude, for we do love our troops and we thank them and their families for their sacrifices, which we grieve together.

Then a thought startled me: we've been at war so long that it has become de rigueur to "thank the troops" at public events and on television broadcasts. We do it at sporting events, school functions, houses of worship, and holiday shows. It's practically expected nowadays.

Will it always be so?

Clint Eastwood Made My Day!

Wow, I just got home from another exciting Hollywood night. My friend Philip invited me to a guild screening of the new Clint Eastwood movie Gran Torino (his second film this season!) at the Writer's Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. The story is about an aging, racist widower who makes unlikely friends with the immigrant Hmong family who live next door. I won't spoil the ending, but there was not a dry eye in the house.

The movie was full of surprises and a great deal of off-color humor, which had the audience both gasping and laughing hysterically at the same time. After the film, Mr. Eastwood entered the theater to a standing ovation and sat on stage for a short Q&A. I was sitting in about the fifth row from the front, so I had a great view for both the movie and Mr. Eastwood's appearance.

He really seemed like a living Hollywood legend. Sharply dressed in tan slacks, brown shoes, a burnt orange shirt and matching tie, and a beautiful black leather jacket on top, Mr. Eastwood looked younger and more virile in person than he did in the movie. It's hard to believe he is 78 years old by his own admission tonight. Also his natural speaking voice is very clear and pleasant, not at all the gravelly mumble most of his characters use.

Occasionally at these events, I will muster up the courage to ask a question, so before the film started I considered what to ask and decided to ask if he planned to retire any time soon. It's extremely ironic that Mr. Eastwood's career has actually gotten busier as he has grown older, and he shows no signs of slowing down. He mentioned during the Q&A that he's already got another project about Nelson Mandela in pre-production and scheduled to start shooting next March.

I didn't ask my question, but I did have a brief exchange with the man. At one point, a person asked about his directing career versus his acting, and Mr. Eastwood explained that he had wanted to quit acting when he directed his first movie back in 1970:

"I was still fairly young at the time," he explained. "Well, I guess 40 didn't seem that young back then, but it seems a lot younger to me now. I was going to be a director and stop acting, but because I hadn't proven myself as a successful director, the only way I could get the movie made was to also act in it. I didn't expect to have to keep doing that, but projects kept coming along and I kept taking acting jobs. People ask me if I will ever quit and I guess I will if the good scripts stop coming."

Suddenly, I saw an opportunity and screamed out, "Don't quit! We love you!" The audience applauded and cheered while Mr. Eastwood (or Clint, as I like to call him now) laughed and looked me straight in the eye and pointed, "Let me guess, you've got a script you'd like to show me?" We all laughed -- it was a wonderful moment.

Gay Riots in Los Angeles

I don't think there's been much coverage in the national media, but we have had protests and demonstrations supporting the rights of gay Americans to marry in California every day since the election. Much of the protesting is focused toward the Mormon Church, which invested over $20 million in California to pass the proposition amending the state Constitution against gay marriage. Now the protesters are demonstrating again in my neighborhood.

I was just watching TV a while ago when I heard loud chanting and crowd noises from outside. I opened the door of my apartment to hear distant sirens growing louder and the protesters chanting and moving down Melrose Avenue, which is visible two blocks north. There were flashing lights everywhere but no helicopters for quite a while, and that is very surprising because helicopters fly overhead every day and night around here.

Soon the helicopters arrived, but I couldn't find any live reporting on local television. The choppers buzzed around overhead and followed the mob west down Melrose. The crowd apparently shifted south a few blocks and turned on Beverly Blvd. because now I see a little coverage on the local late news that the marchers are near the Beverly Center.

It saddens me that so many people are still homophobic, especially in a live-and-let-live state like California. The encouraging thing is that young people get it -- they don't give a shit if you're gay, straight, bisexual or whatever. It really is nobody's business who I want to share my body with or who I want to spend my life with in a legally recognized committed relationship. That is an inalienable human right already recognized by advanced western allies such as Canada, the UK, and Spain. Yes, that right: even a traditionally conservative Catholic country like Spain has gay marriage, but the USA, the so-called "land of freedom" doesn't!

I'm not worried though. If we can elect a black man to be President, we will have gay marriage in the United States of America. It may take another generation, but it's a legal inevitability and several states are already making progress. California will almost certainly overturn this latest ban just as they did the previous ones. We can't allow an electorate blinded by religious dogma to legislate discrimination against a whole class of citizens. That's simply un-American!

I Won! Congrats, President-elect Obama!!

For the first time in my voting life, the guy I voted for won! It's been so demoralizing to belong to the losing cause the last few years, but I am so proud to be a part of this extraordinarily hopeful and historic moment.

There's no getting around the fact that this has been an historic election, perhaps the most intense and unusual in American history. The list of "firsts" is endless: the first black contender for the presidency; potentially the oldest new President; the first female VP candidate; the longest and most expensive campaign; the most money earned by a single candidate; the most donations given through the Internet; the most unpopular incumbent president; a Congress with the lowest ratings ever; and perhaps the most new and energized registered voters participating in this patriotic process, especially millions of Latino voters, who favored Obama more than 60%, a huge shift against their traditionally conservative ties.

We may also include the unprecedented use of technology to communicate and analyze information both by the campaigns and the news media both online and on television. It's probably also the first time a candidate's grandmother passed away on the eve of the election. Such a sad twist to this climax seems almost par for this bizarre journey of a course. This has truly been the great American drama.

Who would want the job as President anyway? We've got the greatest economic turbulence perhaps ever, two wars on foreign shores, the largest deficit in history, the worst credit and housing market in memory. He's going to have a heavy load to lift and without any warm-up.

Obama is the man with all the cards in his favor. It was his to lose, but thanks to his excellent COMMUNITY ORGANIZING SKILLS, which were soundly ridiculed by the Republicans, he mounted an amazing ground war across the entire nation, with thousands of motivated citizens campaigning on his behalf. He'll need to keep that momentum in order to achieve his goals as President.

I can't believe that many black people in the South still weren't able to vote when Barack Obama was born in 1961. His rise to the Presidency is truly meteoric -- four years ago, he was still a State Senator in Illinois! Mr. Obama ran an outstanding campaign of epic proportions, but most importantly he was in tune with the American people and right on the issues.

The nation is still divided, but thankfully we have seen our political process work successfully and we have made history. It's a great moment for the American people as we move forward, beyond the Bush era and in hope of regaining our stature in the international community, by solving our problems here at home. The eyes of the world are upon us, so regardless of your political persuasion, let's all hope Obama, a true citizen of the world, continues his historic streak and becomes the greatest President ever!

Lightning Strikes Hollywood!

Wow! I just heard, and felt, two huge lightning strikes not far from me. First a bright flash, like a huge camera bulb in the sky, then a thunderous crash so loud and low, it literally shook the building.

There's a lovely fall front blowing through over the hills and a light rain has turned into a strong downpour for the past several minutes. In my 12 years here in California, I have seen and heard thunder and lightning only three times! This is great fun -- it reminds me of growing up in Colorado and relishing the first big snow of the season. Except this storm will be over by the time I publish this post. Da da da, da da....I'm lovin' it!

Vote For Obama

No he's not the perfect candidate -- no such thing exists -- but he is the best choice to lead US into the 21st century. He has got the intellect and articulateness (both sadly lacking the past eight years), and he has the plan and vision to see where America is headed, and more importantly where we should be headed.

Obama IS America!! I proudly cast my vote for the Democrat in this historic and pivotal election. Please vote (for Obama) -- we've got to take back our country!!

Bond on Blu-Ray

I know what I want for Christmas: the six James Bond films now available on Blu-Ray disc!! I'm a huge Bond fan and movie buff, so naturally I've had all the films on DVD for years. Now they are starting to come out on Blu-Ray disc but I was skeptical about replacing my expensive collection. So I rented a couple of them (Dr. No and Thunderball) on Netflix just to check it out.

My God, I was stunned at the improved picture and DTS 5.1 surround sound. The restoration team went back to the original camera negatives, painstakingly cleaning and scanning each frame in high resolution. The result is astounding! I've never seen so much detail, depth of field, and color in these old films, and I've seen many of them at the theater, on the big screen. Blu-Ray makes them look like brand new movies.

Dear Santa Claus, there are six Bond Blu-Rays currently available and you can get me any and every one of them! I have been a very good boy this year!!

Barack & Hillary "sittin' in a tree..."

I LOVE the Olympics!!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog

Check out this cool made-for-Internet short series starring Neil Patrick Harris (best known as Doogie Howser) and written/directed by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).  It has a very smart, dark sense of humor with tongue firmly planted in cheek.  And it's a musical!

www.drhorrible.com

Episodes are free just for a few more days, and then they will be available on iTunes.

Amy Adams

I'm sure you know the lovely young actress Amy Adams, who starred in Disney's Enchanted and Junebug (for which she earned an Oscar nomination).  She grew up in Castle Rock, Colorado and worked in Denver's Country Dinner Playhouse and Boulder's Dinner Theater before moving on to regional theater and eventually ending up in Los Angeles where she has burgeoning career in film and television.

I'd always thought she looked so familiar to me and wondered if I had met her sometime in the Denver theater scene.  Well, I just realized she and I worked together at the Ascot Theater's production of Phantom of the Opera.  I was digging through some papers today and came across an Ascot cast list sent by our beloved director David Armstrong a few years ago.  Glancing through the list of productions and actors, I saw the list for Phantom and there was her name listed as one of the ballerinas!  Suddenly I had a flashback and remembered very vividly hanging out with her backstage and in the dressing rooms.  

She was a very cute girl, sweet and funny, and a pretty good dancer.  I thought she was the prettiest of all the ballerinas, but since she was considerably younger than me, I never considered her more than one of the cute teenage ballerinas in the show.  Now she's a rising star in Hollywood who sang on the Oscars earlier this year.  She's also appeared on all the major talk shows and has hosted Saturday Night Live.  You never know, huh?

Hey Amy, if you're reading this, I sang the role of the Ticket Seller in the "Tickets At The Opera" number from the top of Act II.  Call me!!

What I Want For Christmas

Dear Santa Claus,

There are only 191 shopping days until Christmas, so here's what I want:

Hillary, It's Over

Dear Senator Clinton,

Congratulations on becoming the first legitimate female candidate for President of the United States. You have definitely paved the way for young women who will follow in your footsteps to fame and success in politics, business and almost every walk of life in this country and beyond.

However, for the sake of your party and the American public the time has come for you to gracefully step aside and concede. Democratic party voters have spoken, and a large majority prefer Senator Obama as their candidate for the presidency.

It is almost statistically impossible for you to win enough pledge delegates to win the nomination. The only way you could win would be if the so-called "Super Delegates" go against the popular opinion of their districts and endorse you in favor of Mr. Obama. This would not only divide the party, it would cause a major rift among the already disenfranchised voting public.

If you continue your hopeless campaign for the Democratic nomination, spending even more of your personal fortune to compete with Obama's unprecedented fundraising, your myopic hubris will confirm to everyone that you really don't care about your party or the American public. All you care about is yourself and your lust for power.

Please do the right thing and step down before this bloody battle gets even worse. Your party needs time to heal, to unite, and to form an effective campaign against Sen. McCain, who has actually become attractive to undeclared moderates who see the Democratic party as unfocused and disorganized.

The USA needs to send a strong signal to the world that we are changing and are more willing to be a cooperative force in the world as opposed to the bullying force we've been in the past. Only Senator Obama has the ability to send this message and to fulfill the promise of hope for our nation's future.

Jews Are Weird

I think almost all religions are ridiculous and destructive, full of strange rituals and idiosyncrasies that have wrought more violence on this planet than practically any other force.  Having said that, I live in a largely Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Los Angeles.  Every day I see neighbors walking to temple or to school dressed in their plain black suits and hats, looking almost like Amish people.  I see them walking a lot in my neighborhood since driving is discouraged, especially on the sabbath.

Today, Saturday, I was walking down the street near my home when I came upon one of the largest new houses in my neighborhood, a "ginormous" McMansion that takes up two whole corner lots.  I've always been curious to see inside and today I got my chance!  As I was passing the house, a middle-aged man wearing a T-shirt and boxer shorts was standing on the sidewalk in his dark blue socks.  "Excuse me," he smiled.  "Are you Jewish?"

"No," I replied.

"Oh good," he said.  "Would you mind doing me a big favor?  We're not supposed to work or touch any electronics today and unfortunately the maid left yesterday without turning on the air conditioning.  Could you come inside and turn it on for me?"

It happened to be quite hot today, so I gladly agreed and he ushered me inside the house.  As I entered the family room, his wife, wearing a head scarf, sat in the kitchen reading a book in Hebrew while their three young children played board games on the winding staircase.  I followed his instructions for turning on the air conditioning, and then he humbly asked if I could help him with one more thing upstairs.

"Sure, no problem," I said.  

"Oh, thank you so much," he replied.  "You're a doing us a big favor."

The wife looked up from her book and also thanked me.  "You're so nice to help us," she said.

Passing through the kitchen, I noticed the disarray not unusual for families with small children, but even the sink was full of dirty dishes.  Up the stairs the man and I went, stepping over the children and their games, and into the TV room which featured a huge projection television set.  He walked right over to the cable box next to the TV and asked me to change the channel so he could watch the basketball game.  That's right, folks -- Jews can't even change the TV channel on the sabbath!!  Apparently, Yahweh doesn't like his people pushing buttons on Saturdays.

The man and his wife were very grateful and a bit embarrassed by the whole thing.  He even called it a silly custom and I noticed he wasn't wearing any head covering.  I was happy to help out some neighbors in need, plus I told him I was glad to see his beautiful home.  In return for my services, they offered me a cold soda but I graciously declined, considering I was just a few blocks from home and could get refreshment there.  He insisted on filling up my water bottle with ice water, so I accepted.  

The man walked me to the door, bowing and thanking me emphatically for the "neighborly gesture," as he put it.  "Glad to help out," I said, "and Happy Shabbos!"  I left the house and made my way back home, the whole way thanking God that I don't believe in him. 

So much of religious idolatry is nothing more than empty ritual.  Why is it OK for a Jewish man to watch TV as long as he doesn't turn it on or off or change the channel?  And does God favor the Lakers or the Denver Nuggets?  Enquiring minds want to know!

Dolphins are so sexy!

Sex with dolphins is not as taboo as it used to be!  But please, remember to cuddle with them afterwards....

No Shirt, No Insurance, No Service!

Had some trauma this week when I accidentally spilled boiling hot water on my hand. I was making my morning coffee, using a cone filter cup over my thermos. I had just filled the filter cup with hot water when for some reason the filter tipped over and sent hot water and coffee grounds pouring onto my left hand, the kitchen counter, and the floor!

Painful, to say the least, but my immediate concern was the huge liquid mess all over my kitchen, just before I had to shower and get ready for work. I quickly wrapped my throbbing hand in a towel, then set about cleaning up the mess. If you've ever cleaned up spilled coffee grounds you know what a hassle that is. After 20 minutes of super-fast motion, I had cleaned up the coffee.

Minutes after the accident.

Next, I had to check my hand. I carefully peeled off the hand towel, and half the skin on my hand came with it! I felt a wave of panic rush over my body. Oh my god, what could I do? I couldn't call 911 -- I don't have any health insurance. Plus, who could cover my classes at UCLA on such short notice? I decided to quickly get dressed, put an ice pack on my hand, and drive to work.

After driving with one hand -- thank god, I'm right handed -- I made it to Westwood and stopped into the pharmacy before class. The Persian lady behind the counter was chatting in Farsi and laughing with another older lady. I looked around for something to treat my hand until they finished their conversation, then I approached the pharmacist and asked for help. I unwrapped my home-made ice pack (a ziplock filled with ice and wrapped in a towel), she barely glanced at it, shrugged disdainfully, and said, "Put some Neosporine on it," before walking away from me as if she couldn't be bothered by some stupid white guy.

Left to my own resources, I did buy some Neosporine and some spray antiseptic plus some gauze bandages. Made it to work just before nine o'clock, gave my students a quick assignment, then excused myself to the men's room to treat and wrap my wounded hand. I managed to make it through the day, but of course everyone asked what had happened. It became tedious to re-explain the situation every five minutes. By the afternoon, a large blister the size of a nickel had formed between my left thumb and forefinger. My co-teachers strongly encouraged me to seek medical attention, so I agreed to stop by the LA Free Clinic on Beverly Blvd on my way home.

Blister the size of a nickel.

By the time I got to the clinic at 4pm, they were no longer accepting walk-in patients without insurance. I asked if I could come back in the morning, but the black lady receptionist told me Friday's were reserved for regular patients only. I sarcastically replied, "I guess only Jesus can help me now." She sighed and looked over her glasses at me: "Jesus can help you get the skills to find help." Then she suggested I head to the county clinic downtown, which was open until midnight. "But you better get going before the traffic gets bad," she added.

Frustrated and confused as to what to do, I decided to bite the bullet and head downtown. After a bit of searching (again driving with only one hand), I located the county clinic at about 4:30 PM. This is when a shitty day entered the world of pathetic desperation. I hope none of you reading this ever has to seek medical treatment in a county facility, and if you have already, you know what a demoralizing experience it can be.

The clinic lobby was filled with about a hundred people, mostly Latinos and African-Americans. I was one of only two white guys there. The entire building looked like some concrete bunker, and there were no clear signs posted as to where to report or what the procedure for seeking treatment was, so I walked hopefully toward window #1. The grey-haired Latino man sat at his desk, busily pushing papers. I cleared my throat and asked for assistance. He looked up at me, paused, then said, "First time here?" I nodded, "Yes." He handed me a clipboard of documents, a wooden golf pencil, and a pink-laminated number card with #114 printed on it. "Take a seat, we'll call your number."

I found a seat between a wheezing, grossly obese black woman with a tiny little girl who kept coughing, and a young black man who held his painful left arm hidden inside his t-shirt. After about 20 minutes they called my number, took my completed documents, and told me again to sit down, "We'll call you." And that was the order of the evening. During my visit to the clinic, I was called up to the counter at least a half dozen times, just to deal with paperwork and answer questions about my injury. And every time the person finished with, "Have a seat, we'll call you." 

Neosporiney goodness!

A couple hours later, they called me up and asked me if I wanted to apply for low-income payment options. I replied I probably didn't qualify, and I didn't, so I had to pay $65 to be seen by the doctor. That's right, they collected payment before I could be seen! After processing my debit card, the cashier mumbled, "Have a seat, they'll call you."

At least another hour passed. Names were being called over the P.A. system, which sounded so distorted, it was like listening to Charlie Brown's teacher (with a heavy Spanish accent) making announcements at the bus station (Waa, wa waaa, wa waaa!). Finally, I heard my name and entered the door leading to the nurse's station. The male nurse took my ID card and messed with some more paperwork. He then repeated the questions asked previously by a different nurse, then took my blood pressure and my temperature, and then told me to -- you guessed it -- "Have a seat and we'll call you."

More time passed. I watched Family Feud, Millionaire, and Dr. Phil on the lobby TV which didn't have an antenna so the picture and sound were fuzzy and hard to make out. Patients were being called in but the pace was getting much slower. Finally, around 8pm, I went back to the nurse's station and politely asked for an estimated time of when I could see the doctor. "What was your name again?" the male nurse asked. "Oh yes, well there's still a lot of people in front of you, so please be patient." I showed him my blistered hand, as I had done at least five times already, and he said, "Yeah that looks pretty bad. You should get treatment. Let me go check with the doctor and I'll get back to you in about 15 minutes. Have a seat and we'll call you."

Impatient, but hopeful, I strolled back to my seat. It was well after dark at this point, and people had stopped coming into the clinic. There were about 40 people left in the waiting area. Another 40 minutes passed with no response from the nurse. Frustrated, I walked back to the nurse's room and peeked in. There was no one there. I sat down again for a few minutes until I saw the nurse back at his station. I went back up to him. "Hi, remember me? You were going to see if the doctor could see me tonight..." "Oh yeah," he replied. "You can be seen but there are nine patients in front of you and there's only one doctor working. Please have a seat and we'll call you."

A few days later.

Dejected and uncertain about what to do, I returned to my seat. This was really getting frustrating. Already I had been waiting more than four hours and had yet to receive any medical assistance. My hand was hurting and every time I peeked under the gauze bandage, the huge blister seemed to be getting bigger. Several times I considered going to the men's room to clean my wound and put on more Neosporine (I brought the medications I had been using just in case the doctor wanted to see them), but I didn't want to interfere with the wound any more than necessary before the doctor had a chance to see it. So, I waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.

After nine o'clock, the clinic started to quiet down. There were just about 15 - 20 people waiting in the lobby, but almost no staff members seemed to be at their posts. Several times I wandered up to the counter, even peeked in the cashier's window, but nobody was in sight. Then the janitor, a big beefy black guy who could have been a linebacker, came in to sweep the floors. Then he mopped the floors. Then he told all of us sick and injured people to get up off our seats and move to the other side of the waiting area so he could mop the floor on our side. People were very disgruntled by this and I scolded him, "These are sick people here, man. Have a little consideration!" To which he replied, "Gotta do it, gotta do it."

On the road to recovery.

I was beyond frustrated by this point, not just in pain from my hand, but feeling the humiliation of being treated like a second-class citizen. What kind of "free" country treats its people -- its sick people -- with so little regard for their welfare? Isn't the first duty of a government to guarantee the safety and well-being of its citizens? I kept remembering Michael Moore's film Sicko which showed the terrorist detainees at Guantanamo enjoying free, first-class medical treatment all at the expense of U.S. taxpayers, including me! That's right -- the enemies of our country receive better medical treatment than its tax-paying citizens and it's all free. Fucked up!!

By 10 PM, the situation was not any better. In fact, I saw one of the nurses leaving with his backpack over his shoulder. The medical staff were actually leaving the clinic with sick people still waiting to be treated. I had had enough, and I thought it would be better just to go home and start treating my wound myself rather than wait there longer and let the wound get worse. So, six hours and $65 dollars later, I left the county health clinic without being seen by a doctor.

I called my band mate, who had asked me to keep him updated on my progress, and he was livid that I hadn't been seen. Luckily his mother-in-law is a nurse so he phoned her and she recommended a course of treatment, which I have been following with successful results. Luckily my wounds are not life-threatening, but it has been a painful, traumatic experience, not just due to the injury, but to realize first-hand how broken our health care system is in this country.

A week later, getting better.

Two things I've learned: first, I've got to get some kind of basic health insurance, even if it has a $5000 deductible, because you can't get treatment in this country without health insurance, regardless of the quality of your coverage. And second, we have got to nationalize the health care system in this country. It is no longer a financial issue, it's a moral one.

The United States is the ONLY developed country in the world without a national health care system, and it's because the powerful billionaires in the insurance racket don't want to lose their gravy train so they buy the politicians and the system gets worse and worse. Do not be duped by the propaganda they've been spewing out for decades about "socialized medicine" (shudder!). It's bullshit. Even those pinko-red commies in Cuba have better access to health care than those of us here in "God's" country.

If you are a baby boomer reading this, be very afraid, even if you have insurance. The largest generation ever to populate the earth are just beginning to enter retirement age, which means they will need more and more medical treatment. Who is going to treat them and how will they afford it? Health care should not be a for-profit industry. America can no longer claim moral superiority in the world and let its people suffer the indignity of a medical system worse than some third-world countries. Access to basic medical treatment is not supposed to be a luxury afforded only to the elite few; it is a fundamental human right.

iTunes is #1

Wow! In less than five years, iTunes has become the #1 music retailer in the world, surpassing even Wal-Mart!!

Read the article here.

Star Sightings

This was a busy weekend for star-sightings here in Hollywoodland.  First, on Friday I was walking along Beverly Boulevard in front of CBS when suddenly I spotted a cute little black Audi convertible carrying Olympic Gold Medalist and current Dancing With The Stars leader Kristi Yamaguchi and her dance partner (cutie!) Mark Ballas, who was driving the car. 

Ironically, I had just been watching them dance on ABC.com before leaving the house!  At first I couldn't believe it was them, but then I realized they were waiting to turn in to CBS, where the show is performed.  Suddenly I got all star struck and called out to them, which I rarely do to celebs -- such a touristy thing to do!  Their dancing was so amazing and impressive; I wanted to shout out my support and they were very gracious and receptive.  Too bad I didn't take a picture, but you can see a bio with pics if you click on Kristi's name above.

Then on Saturday, I was just starting the last Hollywood tour of the day and had finished describing the Walk of Fame, when from out of the crowd 24 star Kiefer Sutherland walked right past me as we were crossing Highland Avenue in front of the Gap store.  Although I recognized him immediately, it took me a moment to come up with his name, I was so surprised.  As the name finally emerged from my lips, a peal of recognition registered through the tour group.  They were pretty excited to see a real Hollywood star in the flesh, and actually on Hollywood Boulevard, which is a pretty rare occurrence these days.

Finally, driving home this afternoon near the intersection of Beverly Blvd and Santa Monica, I spotted Oscar-nominated director Ridley Scott driving a cute black Prius.  Mr. Scott's esteemed credits include last year's American Gangster, Black Hawk Down, Gladiator (Best Picture Oscar winner), Thelma and Louise,  Blade Runner, and the original Alien.  It was ironic to see a big-time Hollywood director driving himself in a tiny hybrid vehicle, but I guess even the rich and powerful want to help the environment, and follow the latest trends to boot.

Yvonne Elliman Rocks!

Wolfgang's Vault just posted a couple concerts from my old Superstar "pal" Yvonne Elliman.  The pair of dates from New York's Bottom Line club were recorded live in 1978.  The band was tight and Yvonne crooned her way through a refreshing variety of musical styles.

This is fun music that really captures the time period!

Go Metro Redux

About a year ago, I wrote about my experiences switching to public transportation instead of driving to work every day. At the time, I was very eager to do my part to help the environment and to avoid the maddening frustration of rush hour traffic here in Los Angeles. I enjoyed riding the bus because I could read, listen to music, or sleep while leaving the driving to somebody else. Well, time has passed and things have changed.

Unfortunately, the bus route by my apartment changed schedule as of the new year and the results have not been helpful to me. The bus should now arrive only about five minutes earlier than before, but for some reason it has been very inconsistent as far as being on time. It either comes ten minutes early, or ten minutes late; a few times it never arrived at all!

After a month of dealing with this hassle, and being late to work several times, I gave up and went back to driving my car. Luckily traffic has not been too bad lately, so I haven't had many frustrations. Sadly, I have not read a single book since driving again, compared to more than a dozen books I read last year. Also, my cardio strength is reduced because I'm not getting as much walking exercise as before and a little bit of a rubber tire has returned to my waist line.

The nice thing about driving is I have a sense of privacy and quiet, which is definitely lacking on the street and the bus. It's great not to have loud traffic noise drowning out my iPod, and I haven't had to suffer through hearing everyone's cell phone conversations (in Spanish) when I'm trying to read or relax.  Plus, I'm guaranteed a seat when I drive!

I also feel more motivated to run errands after work. I can get my grocery shopping done on the way home and I have enough time to do laundry in the evenings after work because I get home much faster than the bus. After a lengthy bus ride, I felt tired and very reluctant to get back out on the streets in the evenings. So, time is saved as well.

However, gas prices continue to rise -- we're real close to $4 a gallon out here -- so I may go back to the bus if I can find a reliable schedule. As it is, I would have to leave the house 30 minutes earlier than before just to make sure I'm not late to work.

Probably I'll end up compromising by driving on days when I need to run errands, and taking the bus a few times a week to save gas, help the environment a little, and to catch up on my napping...I mean reading!!

Oscars 2008

I tried to post my Oscar predictions here yesterday before the awards ceremony, but for some reason I lost my Internet connection and couldn't finish the post. So this will be more of a wrap-up instead.

The title of this post could have been "Oscars 2008: Who cares?" because this has been rather a dull 80th birthday for Oscar. The writers strike dampened the mood of the whole industry here, so no one has felt very celebratory lately. Add to that a dirth of blockbuster films and familiar stars, and there really isn't much need for the average person to tune in to the Oscars telecast this year. I've read preliminary reports that this will be the least watched Oscars show ever, by a longshot!

Unlike years past, I did not see all of the nominated films, and yet there weren't many surprises among the winners. The only mild upset was in the Best Actress category. Oscar pundits were expecting either veteran Julie Christie, the always fabulous Cate Blanchett, or even little Juno star Ellen Page to walk off with the golden statue. However, the award went to the gorgeous French actress Marion Cotillard for her portrayal as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose. I haven't seen the film yet, but Miss Cotillard's transformation into the French chanteuse looks amazing! No wonder the film also won the award for Best Makeup.

My favorite moment was when host John Stewart brought songwriter Marketa Irglova back to the stage after a commercial break because her acceptance speech was cut off by the orchestra. That was classy of him. Another favorite moment was my homegirl Amy Adams' live performance of one of the three nominated songs from Enchanted. Her song didn't win, but her performance was a lot of fun.

Anyway, that's it for Oscars 2008. Watching the ceremony with my friend Heidi was fun because we played her famous Oscar drinking game and got drunk very quickly!

A Sad Life: Christian Brando

The late Marlon Brando's first son, Christian, has died at age 49. Poor Christian had a very sad, tragic, and short life.

He spent his youth torn between his estranged parents who fought a bitter cutsody battle over him. Later Christian shot and killed his pregnant sister's boyfriend and spent five years in prison. The sister gave birth, then committed suicide.

Christian also was accused of spousal and drug abuse, and, if that weren't enough, he was a former lover of Bonnie Lee Bakley (she claimed he was the father of her child), who was allegedly murdered by Robert Blake.

What a fucked up life.

CNN: Christian Brando dead at 49

Letter From My Idol

Oh my God!! A dream has come true for me early this new year.

Those of you who know me know that I am an ardent fan of a particular well-known personality. I've followed this person's life and career since I was in high school and a good deal of my attention, and my money, has been spent on this person.

It turns out that a recent acquaintance happens to be a long-time associate of my idol, and she was able to put me in contact with this person. I sent a little fan message, not really expecting a reply, but I did receive a thoughtful and detailed email and I'm completely thrilled!!

Wish I could spill the beans on who it is, but I'm sworn to secrecy out of respect for this individual's privacy. Again, if you know me well, you know who it is, and you know how exciting this is for me.

Pinch me, I'm dreamin'!