CAREER
My job with Buena Vista Home Entertainment is going well. Daryl is still working at Disney Music Publishing, but he has picked up some side work painting cells for an art dealer in Hollywood.
TV APPEARANCES AND TAPINGS
Thank you for the phone calls and e-mails regarding Desperate Housewives.
The last of my extra work is on HBO’s The Comeback. Since this is a show-within-a-show-within-a-show, there’s no telling what footage will make it to air, but it looked liked it was going to be pretty good. .
STAR SIGHTINGS
We continue to bump into celebrities; it’s just a fact of life out here. Daryl saw David Hasselhoff in the Disney Channel building and Giovanni Ribisi drove by us while were waiting to cross the street.. Melissa Joan Hart walked by our table at lunch two weeks ago. We saw Neal McDonough (Boomtown, Medical Investigations and Minority Report) when we were walking through a parking deck. We were shopping next to former Walt Disney World Inside/Out host JD Roth. And on Friday, Daryl was in line at Pink’s with Paul Dooley [Molly Ringwald’s Dad in Sixteen Candles.]
FILMS
We haven’t seen Revenge of the Sith yet, but we did see Dream On, Silly Dreamer. This documentary was created by people who lost their jobs when Disney Feature Animation switched completely to 3-D computer-generated films. The sound quality wasn’t great and the ending was abrupt, but there was humor, emotion and animation that kept the show interesting. The sold-out crowd was full of animators from lots of studios. Roy Disney was there to introduce the film and he got a standing ovation.
I also have to recommend ENRON: The Smartest Guys in the Room. This solid documentary will make you think twice about trusting anyone in power.
BOOKS
How To Be Lost by Amanda Eyre Ward was a quick but thoughtful read about a New Orleans waitress trying to locate or close the case on her sister who has been missing for 20 years.
One of the authors Daryl met at the Book Festival back in April was Charles Phoenix. He specializes in Southern California history and we have both of his recent books. His website is dedicated to nostalgia and features a “Slide of the Week.” Check it out. http://www.godblessamericana.com/
CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS
While talking with Daryl, Charles Phoenix suggested that we attend This Is Your Life, Bob Baker. Mr. Baker has run a marionette theater in downtown LA for 40 years or so. We got to see a “greatest hits” show with scenes from his favorite productions.
In one scene a skeleton tossed a skull up in the air, caught it on his foot, balanced it, kicked it back into the air and caught it. There was also a funny sequence where a chicken laid an egg, the egg cracked open, and a baby chick got up and walked over to the mother, and they exited together, [with one puppeteer controlling all the action.]
Bob Baker’s TV and film resume is expansive and he’s worked with everyone from Elvis to Spielberg. Here’s a list with some photos of his work. http://www.bobbakermarionettes.com/Credits.html
CHURCH
We went to church twice this month. I know that’s nothing to brag about, but I wanted to share how different these two experiences were.
We attended a service at Saddleback Church, the one started in 1980 by Rick Warren. The success of his top-ten book The Purpose-Driven Life has increased Pastor Rick’s congregation to 20,000 members.
The Saddleback grounds were lovely. You could sit outside with your crying baby [or cigarette] and listen to the sermon on loudspeakers. Or you watch the video feed at the Terrace Café and enjoy a snack.
The Worship Center was about the size of Target and had at least 2,000 people. Most of these folks were dressed in theme park attire: jeans, sandals, Hawaiian shirts and some halter tops here and there. The service opened with two contemporary Christian songs, moved on to the sermon and collection, and closed with Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “Taking Care of Business.”
The 50-minute service moved along nicely and Pastor Doug, dressed for a summer barbeque, was very entertaining. It was the first sermon I’ve experienced that was built around the TV show 24 and will hopefully be the last in which the minister discusses reading the Bible on the toilet.
At the other end of the spectrum, we attended High Mass this past Sunday at St. Thomas The Apostle, Hollywood. This Episcopal--Anglican church was built in the 1930’s in a quiet neighborhood about a mile past Grauman‘s Chinese Theater. Inside this gothic structure, there wasn’t a 15-piece band, but an organist, a full choir singing “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” and lots of incense.
The guest speaker, Father Alan McCormak, from Trinity College in Dublin, devoted his sermon to exploring the mysteries of the Holy Eucharist and transubstantiation. Except for the occasional police siren outside, it felt like we were in an English country church.
We enjoyed both services, but they couldn’t have been more different. If you are in LA and looking for something to do on a Sunday, here are two options:
http://www.saddleback.com/flash/default.htm
http://www.saintthomashollywood.org/
VISITORS
Speaking of visitors, Daryl’s Mom and Dad were here for a week celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. Daryl took a few days off from work to show them the sights, taking them to High Tea at the Huntington and touring the Gamble House. They got to see the “real LA” when the four of us got stuck in a 2-hour traffic jam on the way to Saddleback Church. Afterwards, we stopped at Downtown Disney to eat dinner and to watch part of the fireworks from the Esplanade.
The following day, we took them on a walking tour of downtown Glendale including the Glendale Galleria. Then Mr.and Mrs. Cameron drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco, making stops at Santa Barbara, Hearst Castle, Monterey, and even Solvang. Their last night back here, we took them Canter’s Deli.
This restaurant got its start in New Jersey in 1924 but the Canter Brothers moved it here in 1931 and the rest is history. Read about it here: http://www.cantersdeli.com/aboutcanters/
The restaurant is open 24 hours a day and the house specialty is a sandwich piled a half-pound high with Corned Beef and Pastrami called the Canter's Fairfax. Hmmmmm.
We also ate there this month with our friend Mark Henso. He was in town to facilitate some team-building sessions for a big conference. Mark does this kind of thing a lot because he is the “Chief Imagination Officer” at sparkspace, a company he created five years ago in Columbus, Ohio. It’s going so well that he was just named one of “Columbus’ 40 under 40.” See what all the fuss is about and get inspired at http://www.sparkspace.com/
And stay tuned. The June Update is right around the corner.
James
