Pillow Warfare with the Midnight Ridazz

Around 8:30pm, Mike and I bike about 7 miles into Echo Park in well, Echo Park. There are signs of fellow riders with overstuffed messenger bags and blinking red lights along Sunset Blvd. We circle the lake to find hundreds of other blinking lights and bicycles resting on a grassy knoll just east of the lake. Resting for the battle...the Midnight Ridazz pillow fight!

We were greeted with the familiar faces of Jason and Meespace, first time Midnight Ridazz riders. After an hour of sipping on Tecate and building excitement, the sprinklers went off. Might as well start riding to the first battle: Sears Tower. (An old Sears building in downtown LA) 

11:30pm: A few miles in, we arrive at the abandoned parking lot. Bikes are abandoned and people just began to charge the group swinging in any which direction possible. After being bludgeoned several times, I take a time out to check out the action: Mike is charging the crowd (his height was an advantage), Jason's pillow had evolved into a "ball and chain" sort of weapon swinging one handed into the mass, and Meespace hit me. The "music bike" played great songs for us to get excited.  

Next stop: LA Memorial Stadium. At 12:30am, there under the Olympic logo we then again began violently swinging our bedding with laughs and smiles. An appropriate way to celebrate the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing games because this was where the 1984 games' opening ceremony was held. Filled with Olympic spirit, I think people were hitting harder this time. "What is that?! A sack of flour?!" I yell as I get beaned right in the face.

We then take our bicycle group of at least 600 - 700 riders to the streets of downtown LA. We take a detour to an empty parking lot. Destroying any sort of caution tape barriers for our bicycles to get a clear view of the Gehry Disney Music Hall. It was graceful with clear skies behind it.

Last stop: Los Angeles' most architecturally advanced building: the CalTrans building. 1:45am: Bikers climbed on walls, took water breaks, and we watched as the flatland bikers began to do tricks under the red and blue flourescent lights of the building. Kids did all the bike tricks that made your jaw drop. 

Mike and I decided to head back to Echo Park around 2:30am. We had just rode about 20 miles and weren't quite ready to return to Hollywood to meet with the drunk drivers that just left Cahuenga Blvd. Soup at the Brite Spot. 

Near 4am, we ride back. Running red lights all the way home. No cars. We enjoyed the silence and calmness of a perfect climate that we never experience in Hollywood. Sleep happily at 4:30am. 

Errol Morris: commercial director?

I've always been a fan of Errol Morris' documentaries. He has a knack for captivating the audience enough to let us empathize with the most seemingly immoral characters. For instance, in his film, Mr. Death he had the audience relating with his subject, electric-chair expert, Fred Leuchter Jr. in his belief that the Holocaust had not happened. He's a very powerful and objective filmmaker.

To my surprise he also directs commercials (probably to fund his documentaries very much like my friend, Doug Pray ) which were quite entertaining. See them at his commercial website: www.errolmorris.com

Melrose Avenue on Thursday nights are for the sexy consumer

After an extremely relaxing Thursday, Lorenzo and Nathan ( my two most hip hop fashion conscious friends) heard word of a party at the G-Star store on Melrose to launch their new underwear line. OK, it took a little bit of coaxing, but I decided to go out with them because pizza was involved in the plan of events.

We found out that Thursday night was the night to celebrate LA's appreciation for consumption and ultimate good looking-ness. Nathan had once again flirted with his "mall girlfriend" who worked there. While Lorenzo, Jason and I gawked at the fashionistas in denim and undies at G-Star, we heard word that there were "hot chicks in underwear" down the street at Affliction. (A line of clothes by Ultimate fighting champ, Tito Ortiz. Ultimate testosterone charged apparel) The guys were really excited about this idea. I was really not into that, but at least it was closer to the pizza joint. 

And of course it was everything I'd imagined: scantily clad busty blondes on a red carpet. Paparazzi rushing. Fancy Ferraris and Jenna Jameson's fancy white car. Gag me! It had to be the biggest concentration of hot chicks with douche bags in this hemisphere.

After some nagging, I finally got to the Tomato Pie for my pizza. HOWEVER, after having to get through the lines of a shoe party for ASICS, we then had to cross the Affliction red carpet or somehow get by. Nathan and Lorenzo snaked through the sea of people with Jason and I trailing behind...only to get cut off by a gaudy limousine. Hugh Hefner's limo. Arm in arm, Hugh Hefner and girlfriend no.1, Holly Madison, road blocked us in. Jason started to throw a fit (maybe because there were so many fighters around) about how they're blocking a public sidewalk. I was distracted. It was actually quite amazing to see how young Hef looked. Perhaps his blonde colored fountain of youth works...

Who is You? #1

When it comes to you, I can always expect  to lean in and be surprised by silence. 

You = My Iphone. The contours of my face are not compatible with the positioning of the mute button.

Real Men Can Tie Bow Ties

My father once said this to me after one of our formal occasions. And therefore, Lorenzo must be a "real man." 

One of Lorenzo's latest fashion conquests: the non-clip on, traditional gentleman's bow tie. After trying to learn how to tie one for about 8 hours, he finally did it. I believe the success photo was taken around 4:33am. (Note: Cher got it in a few minutes, and Michelle had known all along thanks to her work at Ralph Lauren)

**This will the be the first of many fashion adventures I will chronicle. From his fedora, to his dashiki ("hey man, nice dasheeeki...") Lorenzo has courageously walked down LA streets like they were his movie set. While some may consider some of his choices failures, it's always good to know someone's taking the risk. See his work at www.savelorenzo.com

Tender Greens

Like most industrial/studio areas in the Los Angeles area, Culver City is being developed into a more cosmopolitan neighborhood. Leave it to my very health conscious former bosses, now good friends, Melanie and Peter Murray to introduce me to the next healthy good eats: Tender Greens.

It's patio like setting serves sandwiches that are simple and healthy like their tuna foccaccia sandwich and their bbq chicken salad. All their vegetables are fresh and organic with plenty of vegan options. It was the lighter meal that left me satisfied on a typical Los Angeles summer day. We finished off our Arnold Palmers with a carrot cake "muffin top" and a peach cobbler. The desserts were smaller but we love to share. 

Anyway, if you're in the area, it's a great place to sit and talk outdoors. The diverse crowd of studio geeks and relocated hipsters and yuppy hippies are comforting somehow. Don't mind the line, it only proves the food is good.

Tender Greens 

www.tendergreensfood.com

9523 Culver Blvd.

Culver City, CA 90232

310 842 8300

The Dark Knight

Yes, I liked it. Heath Ledger was a perfect monster.

I will probably not watch it again because it was hard enough to get tickets as it was. I sat in the front row in the middle. Wasn't so bad. 

The Airborne Toxic Event and Cirque Berserk

After celebrating Grace's latest promotion and discussing our Vampire saga (Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga) over curry, I drove to Silverlake to spend time with my 2nd favorite married couple (after my parents), Chris and Heather.

Tonight we anxiously awaited to watch a friend, Noah, and his band, The Airborne Toxic Event play for the first time on Late Night with Conan OBrien. We had wine and cheese over the latest in current events (LA Tom's shoe drops, obscene events on the Metro) latest reads, and old horror stories from junior high. Honestly, I had no clue that Noah was even in that band until last night. I suppose it shows how aware I am of these types of things.

On Saturday, after listening to my current album rotation (Al Green, Rolling Stones, Magnet) near half a dozen times, I decided to go outside. A nice day. I accompanied Lorenzo to the button store. While you're probably asking if I've considered ending my life, it really was a little fun for such a small errand. 

I then packed up my bicycle and headed to downtown to meet Eva, her boyfriend Tim, and Joe. We took our bikes to Cirque Berserk. It was a sexy gothic circus put on by locals. It was right by the train tracks in a small field outside of Chinatown. Eva had a few friends in the performance and it was pretty exciting. The circus was somewhat intimate, we enjoyed ourselves among the sexy "freaks" as they contorted and flew in such graceful movements. This was a special circus. A married couple organized the entire event. They were deciding between purchasing a home and creating the circus of their dreams. This was it; their labor of love. Intimacy was key. Feathers, top hats and lace seemed all the more tempting.

With still time to go, we pedaled around downtown and stopped at a local bar to meet with Lorenzo, Nathan, and Charles. Not nearly dressed up enough we managed to get in dressed in our dirty clothes (dusty from the circus and sweaty from the ride) with windblown hair and be mistaken for a lesbian couple. 

Earthquake

I've had my share of natural disasters while on the job: diverting traffic due to a massive brush fires in Griffith Park while we shoot on the opposite side, soaking up water in the mobile office due to floods in Portland, gripping to a pop-up tent tightly while a dust storm sweeps through a shoot in the Mojave. The industry is quite relentless when it comes to Mother Nature's will.

Last week, LA was struck by a 5.6 magnitude earthquake. During the earthquake, I was prepping a music video for Natasha Bedingfield, a British pop star who sang the theme song for The Hills and some sort of feminine product.

We were out on a soundstage in Castaic, CA. This town is a truck stop for the most part before truck drivers approach the Grapevine on the I-5. The day was warm and I supervised as the crew began to hang lights and build sets.

When the tremors began, my friend, Deepak, and I suddenly noticed that the lights and sets (about 13 giant flats) begin to sway. We were so mesmerized by the swaying that it took us far too long to realize it was an earthquake. The assistant director made the call to evacuate. While standing outside, the Native American stage manager, Winterhawk, came out smiling. He gently placed his hand on the ground and said "Hmm yeah, about a 5.6. Definitely not a 6 or a 5." (Winterhawk is an amazing character all in all. From his spiritual connection with the Earth to his heavymetal band that toured with Metallica, he has plenty to say. A pleasure to have around.)

After we got back inside, I had to go over emergency procedures with Natasha and her entourage in case there were aftershocks. This was their first earthquake and were a little uneasy. Duck and cover, ladies!

 

A Forward

At the request of my mother and her best friend, I am beginning this collection of "isn't it odd's" and "who knew's" for them. But do not fret, wandering reader, you're welcome to my life also.

I've titled my blog after my literal pet lemon I had while I was in 2nd grade. My neighbors, the Lyssands, had a very good lemon season. Their tree had produced lemons near the size of grapefruits. I became so attached to one that I had drawn whiskers and eyes on it. The lemon lived in a paper bag that had the details of a dollhouse. My mother, then, made me throw it away once it became moldy.

I felt that this was an appropriate title since it reflected a sense of love for things that are often sour or bitter. (I still describe hell as a place with only Lemon flavored Starbursts.)

A Sunday to live by

Some Sundays are forgettable and some can be uplifting, like yesterday.

On July 13, 2008, Prime Minister Olmert agreed to swap 5 prisoners with Hezbollah in exchange for the bodies of Israeli soldiers in 2006. A suicide bomber attacked police in the Oruzgan Province of Afghanistan and Pope Benedict XVI arrived at World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney.

In Los Angeles:

I had lunch with some of my best friends in LA at my favorite place to eat, Joan's on 3rd. Where we got into debates over the new 3G Iphone that Cher clutches these days versus Nathan's undying dedication to his Blackberry.

After lunch I accompanied Ryan and Grace to LACMA. We explored the newer BCAM wing of even more contemporary art. I revisited some old favorites by Jeff Koons and Basquiat and Warhol etc that I had seen in high school. It was a fun reminder that I should really keep up with my writing to be an artist.

Later on, I wandered along Sunset Blvd on foot. Holding a leftover cupcake, my Gazillion bubbles I had needed to blow all along the sidewalk. I picked up a couple movies by Werner Herzog in order to quench some curiosities. Then over to the bookstore to finally fulfill Grace's wishes of reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyers. (yes, the vampire book. Yes, the one from the young adults section. I noticed)

Managed to find a spot to read the book at Solar de Cahuenga among the laptops and glasses that scattered the room. Then trekked home.

An excellent afternoon.