September 2006: LobsterFest and Totally 80's

Hello again.

I hope September was a good month for you. Here’s what’s been happening in the Cameron/Utt household.

LAST MINUTE VISITORS
Our Las Vegas friends Paula and Mike got some unexpected time off so they came to LA for a long weekend. Luckily, Daryl and I were both able to show them the sights and try some new places. A few days later, we hosted our Florida buddy Nate who was on assignment at Disneyland. It was a busy two weekends full of laughter and too much food!

LOBSTERFEST—PORT OF LOS ANGELES
The Port of Los Angeles is not the prettiest part of California, but it is the largest/ busiest port in the United States. Paula, Mike, Daryl and I swung by to experience Lobster Fest.

On the news it was touted as the “world’s largest lobster festival” but in person, the event felt more like a small county fair. There were a few rides, some games, lots of vendors and little deodorant. Entertainment included break dancers, a juggler, and a pirate themed area with a plus-size belly dancer shaking her “booty.” The Harley-Davidson Stage featured “Dog ‘n’ Butterfly” a Heart tribute band that sounded remarkably similar to Ann & Nancy Wilson.

One of our favorite things was the Lobster Fest hat that Paula and Mike each picked up. Go the event website and click on “Pictures” to see fair-goers modeling the claw-some cap. Scroll down and you see a dog dressed as lobster. [I think the dog is a sheltie, which is almost a pun.] http://www.lobsterfest.com/index1.html

The real stars of the weekend were the 22,000 Maine lobsters destined to end up on a styrofoam plate with some lemon wedges, fake butter, and a cup of coleslaw. We each got our own lobster and sat down at the plastic-covered picnic tables to get started on our meal. This was the first time I had ever, um, dismantled a lobster and I’m grateful Mike was there to guide us through the process. The end result was delicious, but getting there was not half the fun. I now understand why restaurants charge so much.

Since Mike can’t be everywhere at once, I’ve included a handy, um, lobster-dismantling guide for you first-timers. I found it on The Gulf of Maine Aquarium website, which—as part of its ongoing message of conservation?—features a step-by-step guide for eating lobster. http://www.gma.org/lobsters/eatingetc.html It also had these tips:

--The best time to buy lobster is after Labor Day, when most summer tourists have gone home and the lobster landings are at their highest.
--Because lobster meat can go bad quickly, it's generally necessary to cook a lobster while it's still alive. Never eat a cooked lobster with its tail uncurled, as it died before it was cooked.
--Lobster claws are also known as “chelipeds.”

WHIMSIC ALLEY
Sunday morning, Paula, Mike, friends Byron and Shephard, Daryl and I headed to Santa Monica to visit Whimsic Alley, the one-stop shop for all things Harry Potter. Modeled after Diagon Alley, the store has dedicated areas where budding wizards can pick up such back-to school necessities as robes, ties and sweaters themed to the different houses of Hogwart’s. There were Quidditch jerseys, golden snitches, some Firebolts and a life-size model of Dobby the house-elf.

Paula has read the books numerous times so she pored over everything in the store as though she was going to be tested on it during her 5th year O.W.L.s. Daryl stopped off at Phoenix Wands and rummaged through the haphazardly-stacked boxes in the tall, dusty cabinet. Alas, none of the wands chose him.

As you might expect, Whimsic Alley carries products from The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings, too. For Muggles, there is Simpsons, Family Guy and Napoleon Dynamite merchandise on display. Check out the website and order something. I’m told it will arrive at your door like magic—no floo powder required. http://www.whimsicalley.com/

JAY & SILENT BOB’S SECRET STASH
Next we headed over to Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, the “geek-free comic outlet” created by director Kevin Smith. Located a few blocks from UCLA in Westwood Village, the store offers everything from “Chasing Amy Inaction Figures” to “Jay and Silent Bobbleheads.”

Props and costumes from Smith’s films are on display, including the oversized fast-food mascot “Mooby” and a pair of wings used in Dogma. Like Whimsic Alley, everything in this store is available online, so I’ve included the Secret Stash website
http://jayandsilentbob.com/

If you’d like to check in with Kevin’s production company or read his online diary go here: http://viewaskew.com/main.html Caution: “Blog” is not the only four-letter word in Kevin Smith’s vocabulary.

HOLLYWOOD BOWL--TOTALLY 80’S
We picked Nate up at Disneyland on Saturday and toured him around various LA landmarks. That evening, we made our way to the Hollywood Bowl for Totally 80’s featuring ABC, The Psychedelic Furs and Human League.

Our emcee was former Go-Go Jane Weidlen who, in a nod to her band’s first album cover [remember those?] walked onto the stage wearing a towel and turban. She’s a busy lady, just check out her bio.
http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/about/performer_detail.cfm?id=2569&back=%2Ftix%2Fperformance%5Fdetail%2Ecfm%3Fid%3D2877%3Bhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ehollywoodbowl%2Ecom%2Fcalendar%2Fcalendar%2Ecfm%3Fmode%3Dcal

ABC took the stage first and launched right into “Poison Arrow.” The crowd—with the sole exception of Nate—went wild. He was still learning his ABC’s when this band was on the charts with “Look Of Love” “Be Near Me,” and “When Smokey Sings.” He was a good sport and the three of us laughed a lot during the show.

During the break, there was a Totally 80’s karaoke contest. Imagine singing “We Got the Beat” in front of 15,000 people and having the words vanish from the karaoke screen. It happened to the first contestant. After a few moments of confusion, and the realization they were not going to start it over, she soldiered on and won $1000 for her trouble. If only all nightmares ended so pleasantly.

The Psychedelic Furs came on next performing “Ghost In You,” “Love My Way, “Pretty In Pink,” “Heaven,” and “Heartbreak Beat.” I like the Furs, but their portion of the show dragged and the crowd of Gen-Xers—most of whom are living with MTV-induced ADD —became restless.

During the second break, the audience sang along to “Vacation” and “Tainted Love” as the words again disappeared from the giant karaoke screens! None of us won $1000 but we were treated to surprise guest Annabella Lwin. She got up from the audience to lead us through “I Want Candy,” her big hit with Bow Wow Wow.

The Human League—whose synthesizer/electronic drum sound was, like, totally 80’s— ended up being the best show of the night. They were Nate’s favorite because midway through their set—the two-hour mark, actually—he finally recognized a song: “Human.” It was followed by “Tell Me When” “Fascination” and their most popular single “Don’t You Want Me.”

NATE ‘N AL’S
The next day, we had to take Nate to the Beverly Hills restaurant that bears his name: Nate ‘n Al’s Delicatessen. Looking much the same as did when it opened in 1945, Nate & Al’s is a delicious neighborhood deli that happens to be a block from Rodeo Drive. You can’t go wrong with the corned beef, the matzo ball soup or fries.
http://www.natenal.com/

While standing at the cash register, I realized that Kenneth Mars was eating a few booths over. I’m not sure if he’s a household name, but he’s recognizable to viewers of What’s Up Doc? Young Frankenstein and The Producers. His voice is pretty familiar, too, since he lent it to King Triton in The Little Mermaid. [Own the 2-Disc Platinum Edition DVD this Tuesday!]

Two minutes later we were crossing the street in front of the Nate & Al’s and walked by Michael Richards, better known as Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld.

EXTRA WORK
I worked a Crossing Jordan/Las Vegas crossover episode that included a boxing match. Most of the day found me ringside pretending to be a sports reporter. Lunch was spent on the Universal back lot, moseying through the Western sets and watching the studio tram being attacked by a mechanical shark.

The next day I spent 13-hours on the set of ER without ever getting on camera. On the bright side, I read an entire book, got to know fellow extra June, saw George Lopez and almost bumped into former-Batman Adam West.

Fox aired the episode of The War at Home I taped. You were probably watching the season premiere of Desperate Housewives instead. Wise choice.

STAR SIGHTINGS
Paula and Mike got to see the “portable/good-to-go” guy from the Taco Bell Crunchwrap commercials while we were shopping at The Grove. Five minutes later we saw the beautiful Brttany Daniel of Dawsons Creek, Joe Dirt, and Sweet Valley High.

Partridge Family bassist/reality show melt-downer Danny Bonaduce drove by in his red convertible and I got an idea for a show called Braking Bonaduce.

On another visit to Nate & Al’s, Daryl and Shephard sat near Jami Gertz from the totally 80’s movies Lost Boys and Less Than Zero. Most recently, she starred in the totally cancelled series Still Standing.

NEXT MONTH
Halloween and Friday the 13th in the same month? Spooky!

Until then,
James & Daryl