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Turkey Trot

Eat drink and be merry starting now - or two weeks ago when this pic was taken at a wine tasting party where I drank beer... I'll be travelling back to cold and blistering Illinois for Thanksgiving. Taking lots of pictures of frozen earth and hopefully not getting stuck in a snow storm. (Rumored to get one.) Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday! Will post all about it upon my return.

Pre Thanksgiving Thanksgiving

This year Gene had four floors, three balconies and a jaccuzzi to entertain with but as always, the food is the main attraction. He hosts a Saturday before Thanksgiving party every year and I have been fortunate to attend five, I think. This year's photo essay is SPECS. Last year I had a "posing as jesus on the cross" thing but it didn't go very far because David James didn't feel well and we left early. So last night I found these pair of specs on the kitchen counter and no one claimed them. So I had everybody claim them....These are some of my favorite people and favorite shots from Gene's 2003 Turkey Bash.

PS - if you look at the rest at Buzznet, beware, I sent them as very small files so when they are shown blown up, they don't look so hot....

United! United!

SEE "AMONG THE THUGS" IF YOU CAN BEFORE IT GOES AWAY!! The football supporters are off and stomping and slugging and not to be missed. The cast is great, the production is solid. It leaves LA soon, but if it makes it to your town, take a big swig of Bitters and join the fun!

Snippets of my Wednesday

Three months ago when I set up SBC service for my boss's new home, I was pretty happy with them. They made it fairly painless. In fact when the time came a month later to set up service for our office I chose SBC again, DSL included. That went well because Fox Television came out and hooked everything up. Well, the home scenario was not to go as smooth. Turns out the boss couldn't get the internet going so I called SBC a month ago and had a tech come out. He looked everything over and said there was a problem with the outside line and he would have someone else come out and take a look. (Different department) We never heard back and the boss still doesn't have internet access. So, as it is my job to alleviate as much undo nonsense from the boss's life, I holed up at his house yesterday morning after a customer service rep told me I had to call in from the problem line. This was obviously BS because after an hour on the phone with three different people and repeating my story three different times, the woman had me hangup so she could run a test which would take about ten minutes and she would call me back right after. I waited an hour and called them back. Had to tell the story two more times and was told I should've mentioned it was a Mac and was transferred again so I could relay my problem yet again. This gal said, oh, the test is still running. Sometimes if there's a problem, the test can take anywhere from 2 - 4 hours. Fine. I left and went to the office. Four hours later I called SBC again. Two more people, two more explanations and one more person telling me that the test wasn't run, can she run it and call me back. Hell no. Run it, I'll hold. Well, she came back and said the line was fine and after talking in circles about the case files, she'd have a tech sent out in the morning. Back to square one. I was lied to and made to feel like I was talking to my landlord who always tries to make me out as the guilty party for a broken sink. I was this close to telling them to take their DSL and shove it, we'll get cable. It still may happen, but what won't happen is me getting SBC DSL at my own home when I am finally able to move on from dial-up. (I know - dark ages)

The good news is - the MTA strike is over and my boss's maid was able to return to work. And her work was cut out for her. He said, "See, the transit strike affects rich people too." Its true - the place was starting to stink.

Today I am waiting for the cable guy at the office...All in a days.

Inauguration Day

We change leadership today in California. It will be fodder for months to come as we watch Arnold attempt his new scriptless job. As you may have heard he is launching his own investigation about the groping allegations against him. As he continues this charade, the LA Times has no choice but to continue looking into the claims also. I got a call from a reporter at the Times last week. She and a handful of other journalists are obviously doing their research to have found me - she read my blog entry from October, the day he was elected. She was intrigued that I met someone with a firsthand account of the misbehavior and hoped to talked to this woman. After two days of phone tag with my friend and a couple emails from the Times, insisting their trustworthiness and confidentiality if necessary, the two women spoke. I got a followup email from the Times reporter thanking me for hooking her up with such a wonderful woman. I haven't talked to my friend yet so I don't know if she went on the record or not, but hopefully it will all come out in the wash - or in this case the dirty laundry. At least she was willing to tell the story as I'm sure many are too scared to do. Of course she was a witness not a victim, but with every little step, perhaps the Times will get that much closer.

Moi and Paws

ItÕs all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Well, PetArt 5 has come and gone for 2003. IÕll be interested in finding out how much PAWS/LA made from last nights auction of ÒpetÓ art, but unfortunately they didnÕt make anything from my donated piece. There Fanny was, my portrait of a German Shepard, in a prime location on one of the temporary gallery walls, well lit and looking bright and beautiful. She really stood out Ð alas, she was not to be bid on. I wasnÕt the only one whose art did not get any bidders. In fact, during the live auction, which offered several well-known artists including Ed Rusche, Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, a wonderful photograph by Mary Ellen Mark went unsold. It was an odd auction it seemed. There was little to no advertising in the week leading up to it. I figured they had a big enough Rolodex that they didnÕt need to advertise, but then it wasnÕt all that crowded and the crowd not that savvy. Sure there were some colorful people but they were mostly the artists themselves. I only sighted one celeb, the English actress from E.R. and someone who looked like Kenny G. It seems to me that if people who are interested in buying art, that the word should be out that they can get some really great stuff for not a lot of money. The big name stuff went for 1500 to maybe 3500 on average. Most of it way under the market value.

The funny thing is Ð I chose to use my lunchbox, which sports another of my dog paintings on it Ð as my purse that night. It got more attention than a lot of things on display. For a time I had it on a table near some small sculptures and about five people thought it was up for auction. I looked away a couple times and then turned just in time to see people opening it up to find stuff in it, embarrassed that they had thought it was art. I assured them that it was and that next year it would be in the auction. One guy said, Òdamn, I wouldÕve given ten thousand dollars for that. ItÕs the most functional piece here.Ó I tried to tell a few people that they could find them on my web store but they were too fired up on the free Vox Vodka to really care. Well, that Vox Vodka was tasting pretty good for squelching the woe-is-meÕs. David James kept reminding me that I am selling my dog paintings anyway and that I was in good company Ð Mary Ellen Mark, remember? And Van Gogh didnÕt sell anything till he was deadÉ

Yeah, hmm. They had a caricature artist there last night doing his bit. Maybe next time theyÕd be willing to have performance art too. I only need one good ear.

PAWS/LA REMINDER

NOVEMBER 9 - This coming SUNDAY! PAWS/LA Pet Art 5 commences at the Music Box Theater. Doors open at 4PM, Auction begins at 5. You can bid on Warhols and Wegmans or a lovely painting called Fanny by moi. Or some of the many wonderful photos and prints like the one above. Order your tickets online today and enjoy an evening of free martinis, great art, good people watching and making the world a better place.

Day of the Dead

This morning, feeling a little under the weather - allergies, cold, etc. - I put on a ball cap and forced myself to go to the bank and to Amoeba Records to buy the two new Westerberg albums. Upon returning, I parked the car and beeped it secure when I saw Michael des Barres driving by in a shiny new Mercedes Kompressor. He was going slow, looking for addresses, thankfully not noticing me noticing him. I know Michael - at least I used to. (see 14 year old photo)We still say Hi whenever we run into each other, but I couldn't tell you what or who he's up to until I see it on the big or little screen lately. For those of you saying, "Who the Hell is Michael des Barres," I offer you this little bio. First he was an English rock star in the 70's. Second he was married to the most famous rock groupie of them all, Pamela des Barres who wrote the book "I'm With the Band". Then he joined the infamous band Power Station and then he became a working actor. I think I met him at or shortly before the party honoring his appearance in Clint Eastwood's "Pink Cadillac" in 1989 - I was the party photographer.

The years have been kind to Michael. He went gray and then blonde. He is never seen with a woman over thirty except for his ex wife. I recently saw him on screen in The Mayor of the Sunset Strip, the documentary on radio legend Rodney Binganheimer and Michael got the big laughs, still the charming tale teller. Today I watched as he parked his Mercedes on this LA street, jumped out of his car and hopped up and down like a little kid as a young woman came bounding out of the building next to mine, skipping across the street to meet him in a leaping embrace. They kissed and hugged and leaped some more. He opened her door for her then they drove away. Its good to be Michael des Barres in 2003.

I ducked inside, put both new Westerbergs into the CD player, sorted laundry and took cold remedies. I wonder if he's got a dog I could paint.