Daryl and I started 2006 off with the traditional Southern “lucky” meal of black-eyed peas and collard greens thanks to our friends Shawn and Rob. Here are some highlights from the rest of the month:
A YEAR IN LA
January 19th marked one year as residents of the Greater Los Angeles area. As much as we’ve done during our time here, there are probably 526,600 more things still left on the “Living in LA” list. I’ll be happy if we knock out 20 this year.
WHEEL OF FORTUNEHere’s one thing I can cross off the list: Attend a taping of Wheel of Fortune. It only took me 30 years and a gracious invitation from friends at SOAPNet. [Quick plug: “Watch today‘s episodes tonight.” Contact your local cable provider or visit. http://soapnet.go.com/]
When you attend a Wheel taping, there are only two rules you have to follow: 1. Do not shout, speak, or whisper the answer. 2. When Vanna claps, you clap. The second rule is a lot harder than it sounds, especially when you consider that the 1992 Guinness Book of World Records listed Vanna White as the world’s most frequent clapper. They estimated that she puts her hands together an average of 720 times per show. Ouch!
Wheel of Fortune debuted on NBC in 1975 with host Chuck Woolery and manual letter-turner Susie Stafford. My sisters and I watched it regularly that summer. [I think it was paired with High Rollers starring Alex Trebek and Ruta Lee.] Back then, after each puzzle was solved, the winning contestant had to immediately blow their jackpot on the [overpriced] goods filling the set. Leftover amounts were put towards a gift certificate or put “On Account” to be used later in the show. Chuck regularly explained that if you hit Bankrupt, you’d lose all your cash, “but once you buy a prize it‘s yours to keep.” The biggest prize was usually a Chevy Vega.
Boy, have things changed. The two cars up for grabs at last weekend’s taping were a Land Rover and a Porsche Boxster. Not too shabby. And now there’s an online component that lets “Wheel Watchers” win identical prizes at home. Genius! No wonder Wheel is routinely one of the highest-rated syndicated shows. You can find out more about the show or just run your curser over the wheel and watch it spin. It’s all at http://www.wheeloffortune.com/indexflash.php
Wheel of Fortune teamed up with SOAPNet to do a week of shows--all in one day--with soap stars playing for charity. I watched them tape Monday’s show and then went to hang out/assist in the VIP and Press Rooms while the other four were recorded.. It was fun watching the episodes backstage with about-to-compete celebrities like:Corbin Bernsen--LA Law, General Hospital
Galen Gering--Passions
Rebecca Herbst---General Hospital
Susan Flannery--The Bold & The Beautiful
Lorenzo Lamas--Falcon Crest, The Bold & The Beautiful
Kristoff St. John--Young & The Restless
Alison Sweeney--Days of Our Lives
Jack Wagner--General Hospital, Melrose Place, The Bold & The Beautiful
I can’t tell you if anyone went home with a car or anything but I will tell you that we had a laugh when one contestant thought the correct answer was “beluga snails.“ Find out who the big winner was the week of February 27. Check your local listings.
MOVING
Almost a year to the day that we arrived in CA, it was moving time again, only this time we were helping out my Uncle Carl. It took two weekends and several trips in the U-Haul to get everything into the storage unit. Carl had a house under contract but unfortunately [or fortunately] the inspection revealed shoddy construction and questionable building permits. He’s renting a place in Joshua Tree while he looks for another house.
ROSEMARY CLAIRE BRIDGES
The following week we were in Washington, D.C. for the birthday and christening of my goddaughter Rosemary Claire Bridges. At the tender age of one she’s just beginning to master words like “mama,” “dada” and “plbtff.” She’s developed an appreciation for the music of Gwen Stefani, but that might just be her dad’s influence. Rosemary has an amazing array of facial expressions that leads us to believe that she may one day be a great dramatic actress like her mother Rachel.
Rosie showed great composure at her christening until Reverend James began to dab her with holy water. She started crying directly into his sweater where the microphone was pinned, demonstrating her unique flair for comedy. The congregation had a big laugh and then Rosie was back in her parents’ arms, looking just as adorable as ever.
MONKEY BOY AT CHARTER THEATER
That night we were lucky to see the Charter Theater comedy Monkey Boy. In the play, a young girl standing in a hotel lobby is taunted unmercifully by a large cockatoo. Fifteen years later, the same parrot now named Monkey Boy is given to her as a birthday gift and her life begins to unravel. My friend Keith wrote the very funny Monkey Boy with two friends and Rachel played the lead. It was a BUSY weekend for the Bridges family!
Next up, Keith is directing Wonders Never Cease a new play by one of the co-writers of Monkey Boy. I love this set up: “Ever wonder what your childhood would have been like if the stuff you ordered from the ads in the back of comic books actually worked? This guy does. In this magical new comedy from Charter Theatre, find out what it's really like to have x-ray vision, hypnotize total strangers, read minds and rule an undersea kingdom of sea monkeys.”
If you’re in the DC area, swing by Georgetown for a show. Dates and ticket information are at www.chartertheater.org
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
The following week, Daryl and our friend Cynthia were at the Ahmanson Theater to see The Importance of Being Earnest. They had okay seats, but just before the lights went down, an usher asked if they wanted to move closer, so they followed her…to the front row! It was an excellent production featuring Lynn Redgrave and Miriam Margolis, but there even more actors in the audience.
DARYL’S STAR SIGHTINGS AT EARNEST
Dana Delaney--China Beach
Robert Sean Leonard--Dead Poets Society
Sharon Lawrence--NYPD Blue
Joan Van Ark--Knots Landing
Juliet Stevenson--Emma, Truly Madly Deeply
John Michael Higgins--Best in Show, A Mighty Wind
MOVIES
We got to be part of Hollywood history last weekend. On Friday, January 27, Steven Soderbergh‘s new film Bubble debuted in theaters, on DVD and on cable TV simoultaneously. We watched the film on HDNet in the comfort of our home and enjoyed it. The low-budget film takes place along the Ohio/West Virginia border and follows a week in the lives of doll factory workers. Because it was shot on digital video and featured amateur actors, you wouldn’t think it could be so entertaining, until you remember that it was directed by the guy responsible for sex lies & videotape, Ocean’s 11, and Erin Brockovich. He has five more films in the works under the same contract and Bubble bodes well for the future. Here’s a good write-up from NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5167394
VISITORS
The first guest of the year was our friend Monty who stopped by on January 2nd for a quick visit. The weather was a little iffy but we had fun before he headed out to Vegas to spend a few days with his family.
Before I forget: Happy Groundhog Day!
Until next month,
James & Daryl
