Orange Juice

or anything from my wishlist

Run 2, Bike 10

Really these should all be separate entries, but since I now apparently only update once a week, we get them all in once huge mass entry. But with subheads in case you get bored!

I'm SO Beverly Hills...
For people I email frequently (or frequently for me these days), I've brought up this stupid LA party I went to last weekend a bunch of times but refused to talk about it because I was going to write about it here. But then I never did. So here we are.

Last weekend, RJB and I were invited to the BOSPoker charity event in LA. These people know how to throw a party. So RJB and I drive to LA because, you know, why worry about gas? BoSPoker has comped us two nights at the Beverly Hilton. Yes, the Beverly Hilton. Ridiculous, I know. Better yet, we have a cabana room that overlooks the pool area, which if you know me at all you know how happy that makes me in many ways. So we settle in. To our cabana room at the Beverly Hilton. We visit with some industry friends who are in town for the party and then we go to this ABSURD party.

You can see some pictures of the event here. And here's all I'm saying. I'm not saying the thing wasn't spectacular, because it was. It was hosted in a mansion on top of the Hollywood Hills that was owned by some shady Russian who stays there, like, two weeks a year and rents it out for shoots and parties the rest of the time. Many lit up terraces of stone and pools and hot-hired-women and magicians and free food and booze and b-list celebrities (except for Mekai Phipher and Tom Arnold who are pretty a-list). I tipped the bartender closest to where we were some bucks up front and my cosmo was ready before I hit the bar all night long. And it was a good cosmo. It was a stunning and awesome party. But...

I'm so over that scene with a bunch of mean-spirited kids in their twenties who all find their way into an exclusive event where they stand around in their high-end LA fashion that they will return to the store the next day while hoping to get spotted by Danny Masterson who they are sure will help them catch a break. And I mean men and women. And that wouldn't bother me so much if they weren't so mean to other people. They are mean amongst each other because they all want to be the .00001% who make it in Hollywood and everybody else is competition, but mostly they are mean to anybody who doesn't fit into their world because it makes them feel better. Here's an example, and it was hard for me to watch. There were also a number of guests at this party who were BoS online tournament winners from places in the midwest, and one of these winners had his two sisters at the party. The two sisters were both naturally cute girls, but they were dressed all wrong in dresses that looked like they came from the prom section in Ross and shoes from Payless which, despite what lies Starr Jones tells you, are obviously not cool. But these girls were having a really good time and everything was amazing to them. And they didn't know they were dressed wrong, they felt really pretty. And they were just having such a good time, unlike most of those LA kids who were miserable standing around trying to get noticed.

But of course the LA kids couldn't stand the fact that somebody might be enjoying life, and so a few of them started to tell the sweet little girl about how she was all wrong for that party. And she ended up having to go back to the hotel in tears. And what should have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for her ended up just making her feel badly about herself. And I literally hated those kids for that. The only thing that made me feel better about how that went down is the knowledge that 9 out of 10 of the LA twentysomethings at that party will end up working at a Jiffy Lube in Minneapolis after they run out of money and options. Hopefully that girl's self-confidence will bounce back and she'll live a much happier life than any of them.

Aside from that, though, the weekend was So.Damn.Nice. We ate poolside brunch on Saturday and then watched the Agassi semifinal match while cool air came in the open windows and then cruised up and down Rodeo Drive with Matt McD, where I found the perfect neon green Dolce and Gabana pants for both RJB and Matt for Christmas. Then a poolside drink and some nap time, because high-end shopping is hard. Then we went to Matsuhisa for dinner, and it is the best sushi you will ever have AND by far the best oyster shooters. Plus Nicholas Cage was eating there so we got to watch celebrity mess. And then on Sunday Shadalan came out an joined us for champaign brunch poolside before we drove back.

And also on the road we ate at the Mad Greek which in many ways was as good as champagne brunch but not as good as Matsuhisa. And that is all. It was a near-perfect weekend.

2046 - A Movie That's Better the Next Day
This week we all went to see 2046, which is a Hong Kong love story set in the 1960's with weird elements of the far future thrown in using the context of the protagonist being a writer who writes about the future. That's about as clearly as I can describe it, except to say it essentially deals with the life of a man who falls in love with a woman, loses her and then is never able to capture love again. Within moments of leaving the film, you realize what a lovely film it is and decide that you actually liked it muchly. However, while watching the film, you hate the filmmaker for two reasons.

The first of these reasons is because he bombards you throughout the film with hundreds and hundreds of extended shots of sad women. These shots exist in such prevelency and length for no reason other than the filmmaker's obsession with them. Here's a sampling of some of the variations on the theme of sad women you can enjoy you your two hours of movie going:

• Sad woman gambling
• Sad woman standing in doorway
• Sad woman on phone (many times)
• Sad woman standing on room (four time)
• Sad woman smoking
• Sad woman eating noodles (twice)
• Sad woman laying in bed
• Sad woman in rain
• Sad woman as crying android

And this is just a start. If you see the film, perhaps you could make a list for me. Except you will be exasperated by the film before it ends because of the other reason you will resent the filmmaker. This is one of those films that winds to a natural conclusion and then...keeps...going....on...and...on... You will be ready for the film to end, but it will not. The ending happens. And then another ending happens, and then another ending happens. But regardless, after pondering, I gave it a 69 out of 100.

Speaking of Loving People...
Had a lovely trip to San Diego with much beach time while I was checked out of ILovePaulJack. That's such a nice city. Had a fantastic meal here. Did a lot of shopping. Walked on the beach for hours. Relaxed. Needed it. Oddly, ended up without a working internet connection and was forced to relax. That was good.

Are we glad the NFL is back?
Hell.Yes. I said early on the in the pre-season the Steelers would be 13-2 and that Cincy could be dangerous and that New England statistically should be having a season where they feel like they're finally off their game. Do you believe me now?

I traded to get Hines Ward in my fantasy league and my league players gaveme all kinds of shit about it, but who acquired lots of fantasy points this week? This girl.

But I hate Sunday's like this when TO doesn't do anything funny, most of the games are blow outs and it's too early in the season to have a storyline to the league yet. That doesn't mean I'm not happy as a clam sitting here updating and watching the end of the Denver/San Diego game. Because I am. Very happy.

San Diego is 0-2, but they look good. They'll turn the corner. Trust me.