sha in LA

100.3 The Sound...and your Los Angeles Lakers!

With the demise of local radio station Indie 103.1 this past January, and my reluctance to accept newer forms of technology, I am limited to listening to either standard radio or CDs while driving in the Zoom Zoom.  The first few days after Indie left the airwaves I was in a funk.   What was I going to listen to?  I hated everything that came across the dial.  I was seriously considering a full fledged switch back to all-sports-talk-all-the-time but just couldn’t get myself to go there again.  While it’s nice sometimes it just doesn’t cut it these days with me; especially since I have grown accustomed to listening to music.

Then I remembered a station I had pre-set a few months prior and decided to give it a try.  That station was 100.3 The Sound and it’s now my go-to favorite with things like Album Sides Wednesday, 10at10 and My Turn among other things to keep things fresh and not as repetitive as all the other stations.  If you listen to The Sound then you know what all those references pertain to and if you don’t listen you can probably figure them out pretty easily.  Album Sides Wednesday is just that…complete with the gap between songs where you can hear the static of needle on record; 10at10 involves a theme…be it year or a word or whatever; and My Turn is a program where artists and/or other public figures take over the station for an hour and guest DJ (commercial free).

And speaking of My Turn…last night after I did a few turns of the pedal in Spinning class and was on my way home I heard some DJs with thick accents that I didn't immediately recognize.  Well they turned out to be Sasha Vujacic and Pau Gasol from the Los Angeles Lakers. Two words; AWE-SOME.  I had a huge grin on my face for nearly the entire drive home listening to my beloved cro magnon-ish Sasha with his limited command of the English language and Spicy Spaniard Pau.  What I would have given to be a fly on the wall in that studio!  I’m convinced that there was some major air guitar, air drums and bad singing happening during their set that contained Bohemian Rhapsody…I’m just sayin’.

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I've got an Idea...

 

Elephant Theatre Company

presents the World Premiere of

THE IDEA MAN

By KEVIN KING

Directed by DAVID FOFI

 

with  KERRY CARNEY   MEGAN DOLAN*   DAVID FRANCO   ROBERT FOSTER  

GINA GARRISON*   LARVELL HOOD*   FRANK MERINO*   JAMES PIPPI  

GEORGE RUSSO   TIM STARKS*   MATT STURIALE*

(*alternating cast- please refer to online schedule)

 

MAY 8 – JUNE 6

Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8pm

 

 

General Admission: $20

Previews May 2, 3, and 7, $15 | Opening Night Gala May 8, $30

 

 

ELEPHANT THEATRE

6322 Santa Monica Blvd.

Hollywood CA 90038

(one block west of Vine on Santa Monica Blvd)

 

 

Produced by LINDSAY ALLBAUGH 

Associate Producer BERNADETTE SPEAKES  

Assistant Directors TARA NORRIS & MARISA O’BRIEN 

Set Design ELEPHANT STAGEWORKS  

Lighting Design by JOEL DAAVID 

Costume Design LOUIS DOUGLAS JACOBS

Original Score LANFAIR FIELD 

Sound Design MATT RICHTER

Assistant Set Design NOELLE LEIBLIC

Stage Manager SHANNON SIMONDS

Rehearsal Stage Manager BONNIE MCNEIL

 

 

Reserve Your Tickets Today!

(323) 960-4410

plays411.com/ideaman

ElephantTheatreCompany.com

reflections of...

Last weekend I traveled back to the DC/MD/VA area for my yearly pilgrimage to DCLX; a swing dance event that happens every April. I grew up in the area and usually set aside some time to go visit the old neighborhood that I lived in for 18 years prior to moving to California.

My planned escape from Maryland was no secret to anyone who knew me growing up as I had pretty much decided by the age of 12 to leave directly after high school. That gave everyone a 6 year buffer to get used to the idea of me moving, and generally speaking I had little trouble adjusting to life 3000 miles away from where I was raised. However even though it’s been 21 years since I last lived in Maryland there are still places that haunt me when I return. Inevitably I’ll be driving down a street, one that I had driven on numerous times in my youth, and I will be overcome with waves of memories all hitting me at once, sort of like a movie where there’s a chaotic montage of images flashing through my head. Then the wondering of how my life would have turned out had I stayed and what was it that so deeply pushed me away from the area and to Los Angeles. Sometimes I think I never had “closure” with my old self and this is why I tend to get heavily emotional when I’m back there. Or perhaps it’s just sense memory causing me to be so reflective.

Whatever the reason for my melancholy I will probably never fully know, but I remind myself that I am who I am today due to my experiences and I love the life I have created here in Los Angeles.

You can take the girl out of Maryland but you can’t take Maryland out of the girl.

 

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play games, be entertained, support the arts!!

Join us on Saturday April 25th, 2009 for:
A BIG OLD BENEFIT PARTY!
All proceeds go to The Elephant Theater Company's
13th Season of World Premieres
 

7pm - 10pm
U-GAME-IT
A crazy video game room and a live DJ! With 7 flat screens, 6 X-boxes, and a Wii, play everything from Madden 2009 to Rock Band to Racing Games. Check it out at ugameit.com. You should definitely bring your younger friends, children, nieces, and cousins to this family friendly part of the night. Also, any adult males who like video games, of which, from what we understand, there are many.

THEN...

10 pm - 1 am
ELEPHANT CABARET
A Cabaret Night, full of comedic monologues, spoken poetry, a comedy sketch or two, and of course, lots of music! Clap along, be moved, and laugh!

Why:  'Cuz were Elephants, and THE IDEA MAN opens on May 8th!

When: Saturday April 25, 2009; 7pm - 1am

Where:

The Lillian Theatre

1076 Lillian Way

(south side of Santa Monica, between Vine & Cahuenga)

$$: Adults $20, 18 and younger $10. 

Includes unlimited video game playing, food, and beverages with a drink ticket included in the admission price, and access to the late night cabaret.  There will be a cash bar*. 
(*All attendees must present their ID to get a drink wristband.)

 

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focus people, focus

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calling all my weather-god readers

The last time I called upon my readers to concentrate on good weather for a specific time period you came through with flying colors.

That being said, I'm going to call upon your powers again.  Now focus on the below picture, the sun needs to stay in the Thursday, Friday and Saturday blocks for the lovely city of Washington, D.C. next week:

 

Thanks kindly for your assistance in this matter.

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did someone say pillow fight?

Did you know that today, Saturday April 4th, was International Pillow Fight Day?

Los Angeles participated in the event along with a host of other cities all over the world.  Our event happened at Pershing Square in Downtown and I was there to capture it on film.

As the rules go you are only allowed to hit people with pillows, anyone carrying a camera is off limits.  I stayed on the fringes of the fight and snapped a zillion pics.  Just uploaded the cream of the crop to flickr; go have a looksie.

In the meantime, here's my favorite shot from the day:

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roller derby run down

My how time flies when you are having fun.  Or a procrastinator.  Mmm, perhaps both.  3 years ago this month I posted the result of an online quiz I took that was apparently linked to the LA Derby Dolls website and it proclaimed that if I were to become a roller skating warrior that Fight Crew was the team for me.  

Due to my usually booked Saturday nights at the theatre, going to actually see The LA Derby Dolls in action has proved somewhat difficult.  Until last night.  Earlier in the week Phillanova Fox (formerly of Square One fame) mentioned that a few friends were planning on going and asked if I was available and wanted to come along.  I immediately said yes and started to jump up and down in sheer excitement.  

Saturday night finally came and I gots all dressed up because afterwards I’d be hanging at the bar and I of course wanted to look semi cute.  So I stroll into Bergins where we all met and the first thing Princess Leah says is not “hi” but “you do know that we will be standing the entire night and you have to pee in a port-a-potty...right?”  So consider this my fair warning to all who haven’t gone to a Derby Dolls event and are planning; wear comfy shoes, bring a lightweight jacket (for the girls) and pee a lot before actually arriving at the event.  Luckily the cute shoes that I was wearing were one of my more comfortable pair so it was all good.  

The 5 of us arrived a snitch after 7pm and were luckily able to snag a decent spot near the corner where the announcers are located.  Another piece of advice, the larger your party the earlier you should arrive if you want to secure a good spot to see the action.  The only drawback to where we were located is that we couldn’t hear the announcers very well because, as Leah showed me, there were no speakers pointed in our direction due to feedback issues.  Whatevs, it was a minor detail that I didn’t mind.  Because although the announcers have a great sense of humor you aren’t there to listen to them, you are there to watch some great action!  

Now remember when earlier I mentioned that the quiz I took stated that if I were a Derby Doll my personality was a best fit for Fight Crew?  Well, coincidentally enough, out of the 4 local LA Derby Dolls teams Fight Crew was battling it out with The Swarm from San Diego.  Sweet!  

If you haven’t been to a roller derby event and don’t know the rules, yes there are rules, then one would think it just a pack of girls skating around a banked track trying to kill opposing team members.  And even though it resembles that a bit there is actually offense involved and points are scored making it an official sport.  Prior to arriving everyone tried to school me on the game and it kinda made sense but since I’m a visual person they all assured me that I’d figure it out pretty quickly.  After having read the rules of the game in the program and standing around for about 45 minutes waiting I was super ready for the match to start.

I’d attempt to give a run down on the rules but that’s just too much for right here, suffice to say it's easy to grasp the concept of Roller Derby and amazingly fun to watch.  The Swarm is a really good team and jumped out to a 20 point lead pretty quickly but Fight Crew battled back and made it a game for much of the match, until the end when The Swarm got their killer instinct back.  Fight Crew ended up losing the match but in my book they are all winners.  Kick-ass, rock & roll-er derby winners baby.

My one word to summarize the night was WOW.  Just WOW.  Seriously more fun than I’ve had in quite some time all for a mere $20.  And will I be back?  Most definitely!  Although not for a few months as I will have theatre duties for the next 4 scheduled matches.  But I’ll be sure to keep my eye on the fall schedule and pray I have no conflicts.  Perhaps by then I will have made up my own roller derby name, because you can’t help but figure out what you’d call yourself if you had enough guts to join those fine ladies.

And one last piece of advice, no cameras allowed.  Since I couldn’t take any snaps of the action last night I will leave you with a shot of my fabulous skates that need some dirtying up a bit, don’t ya’ think?

....and Stretch checking out my skates

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psycho kitty

I think my cat Stretch has separation anxiety issues.  Or he's simply bored to death while I'm not home.

There's this toy that he loves, it's a stick with strings attached to it.  Mostly he likes to attack it when I wave it around as he's sitting in his playcube.  Sometimes he gets all focused and tries to chew off a portion of one of the strings, but it usually takes a few months of good solid playtime to really destroy the toy and render it useless. 

Over the past 6 months he has had 3 of these particular toys with the most recent one introduced to him yesterday. 

I came home late this evening to find this:

Yes, he chewed off all 8 strands of string at the base.  And while I was setting up the shot, he had to get in there and gnaw away at the stub.

So my cat needs a chew toy that he won't demolish in a day and ingest but keep him occupied.  I wish there were greenie bones for cats...

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8 on 8th

Midway through the 8th Street Walk today we realized we were 8 deep.  The Gentrifier, 3rd Street Larry, Jessika, Shannon & Kevin and April & Edgar joined me in my quest to explore the little loved 8th Street.  As the troops were gathering at 8th and Flower this afternoon the adorable Carmen and her daddy John stopped by to bid us a fond farewell on our journey westward. 

8th Street cuts a swath through the city that ranges from urban wasteland to mini mall haven, 70's stucco nightmares to million dollar estates and everything in between.  Roughly 3 hours and 6.5 miles after starting out we arrived at our final destination, Tom Bergins, for a much needed drink and bite to eat. 

I was very happy to have some newcomers joining in on the festivities and, depending on how much pain they are in tomorrow, wonder if they will ever decide to join me on one of my crazy street walking adventures again.  I guess time will tell, I've got a year to plan my next adventure...

In keeping with the "8" theme, here are my favorite 8 pictures from the walk.  Photo-editing wasn't too difficult seeing as how I only took 33 snaps in total.

Enjoy!!

 
Multi-family residential on 8th

 
Over the shoulder randomness of the other Shannon, April and Edgar.

 
Motel Inn on 8th

A note for Sophie...

The source of our mini detour onto Wilshire Blvd.

 

A tree that looks like an Elephant???

 

Mmmmm, sure...Elephant.  [everyone saw it.  me, not so much]

 

The finish line, Tom Bergins.

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