My latest car accident

Here we go again. my second car accident this year took place on Tuesday morning. I ended up in a 4 car pile up on Fountain Ave approaching La Cienega on my way to Beverly Hills. I was car #2. Car #1 and 2 had slowed down for the upcoming traffic signal. Car #3 rear ended me about 30 mph which caused me to bump into Car #1. Then Car #4 plowed into #3 at a very high rate of speed, shattering his window, and totaling both of those cars. It was really weird to be in the middle because I felt three distinct impacts in rapid succession. When I got out I expected the very worst from my car but was surprised I could pull over. My rear bumper was completely bent down and the side panels and rear light were shattered. The man in Car #3 had a bloody head and the air bag in Car #4 had deployed. It looked better for me when the Sherrif arrived because Car #1 had little damage, which proved I was not at fault. We closed down Fountain Ave for 45 minutes at the height of rush hour and traffic signals up on Sunset Blvd were out, so it was a parking lot. I ended up having to get my car towed and will be without it for 3-4 weeks. One of the side panels was wedged up against one of my tires so I could not drive away. Here are some of the pictures for your entertainment.

John Ritter Mural

They just finished painting a big mural of John Ritter on the side of Hollywood High School. It looks great!

Merv Griffin, 1925-2007

Hollywood Tourism

This lady is out at Hollywood and Vine almost every day passing out fliers for tours and such. She's always in her Sunday best. I'm not really sure what motivates her, it probably pays crap. But she's nice, I talked to her a few times. At least she's better than the Tony Alamo religious freaks constantly waving newsletters in your face. They are annoying. I have to get a picture of those guys soon.

Communal smoking

These guys on Hollywood Boulevard were having a good old time having a communal smoke from a hookah. I know they are very popular in middle eastern countries. Imagine all the germs on the receptacle tip. ewww.

Hal Fishman, 1931-2007

Hal Fishman was news anchor at KTLA for nearly 50 years and had an amazing career. I always appreciate the memorials on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, here is the one for Hal on Vine St.

Feed "The Birds"

I decided to be nice and feed the ugly pigeons outside the Hollywood Post Office. Within only seconds I was mobbed by at least 25 other pigeons AND a seagull (where he came from I have no clue). It reminded me of that scene from Hitchcock's "The Birds."

Box Suite at the Staples Center

I was so excited to be invited for an evening in a box suite at the Staples Center to watch a basketball game. Those are the private areas above the regular seating designed as miniature living rooms, with a kitchenette, lounge furniture, and plush stadium seating for about 18 people. There are also two bar areas on either side with bar stools so you can sit and have a place to put down a plate of food while you watch the game. Each suite also has it's own television and dvd unit if the game isn't holding your interest, and there is also a monitor to get close-ups of the basketabll court. Our host told us the suite costs $300,000 annually! I went as part of a customer appreciation night from my investment advisor at AXA, who leases the suite from Staples. It was really fun to watch a game in a luxurious environment and see how the other 1% of society lives. Thanks Mimi!!

Oops! Waiting for a star to fall (on her ass)

New Submissive Jesus Ad

A nipple, a comb, and some jazz

Last Friday I went to a gallery opening of a photography show. The live entertainment was a jazz singer, an older woman in her 70's, if not older. She walked up front and took her place, and her bare breast was so long and droopy that it was peeking out from under her shirt. Her nipple was smiling at everyone. It was hard not to laugh. Then a nice woman from the audience walked up and pulled her shirt down as the singer was not even aware. She went on with the performance and waved a comb around that she had been combing her hair with. At one point she walked right up to me and started singing in my face but I pretended to be engrossed in the program notes because I knew I was going to bust out laughing in front of everyone. Finally she went away. Too bad I couldn't get a picture of her floppy tit hanging out. That was quite a sight.

Mobile Billboard

I always thought the moving billboard trucks around Hollywood are so clever!

The $300,000 Wedding

I had an amazing experience playing for the most expensive wedding I have ever seen, and may ever see. The truly ridiculous part about it was that the event was rumored to cost over $300,000 and I was forced to accept a pay cut, and the bride and groom were too cheap to cover the parking of the musicians, and probably all of the other vendors. But, they will spend over $25,000 for a ballroom with silk draperies, chair covers, flowers, and specialty lighting??? I ended up accepting the job because it was on a evening where I wouldn't otherwise be working, and I decided that some money was better than no money. They had a huge feast before the wedding, with live music and an open bar, as the catering crew set up the reception with no expense spared. This had to be seen to be believed! Here are the pictures to prove it.


..and a view of one of the reception hall, blinded by the bling bling


Here is a close-up of one of the tables, glimmering like diamonds!


Here is an unbelievable image as I walked in to the ballroom for the ceremony


...and this was the view I had from my harp


Then the paparazzi came to take pictures, complete with their own photo director.


...and finally more than 1000 lucky guests came in their finest to witness a grand affair. They cheered, screamed, hooted, and hollared like it was the Stupid Bowl as each person came down the aisle and probably nobody heard anything I played. I could barely hear myself.

It couldn't have been more unusual!

Green Dog!

I thought it was outrageous when I saw two pink dogs on Hollywood Boulevard. Today, however, I saw a poor pooch dyed florescent green!

Barfalicious

Well, I have been purty busy lately and unable to write a blog entry, so here is a gratuitous barf video for your entertainment.

RIP Tammy Faye

A colorful life and personality is gone. She never got the respect that she probably should have had.

A new sign

Hollywood and Vine has a new sign, finally! It use to say "Pacific Travel School" for years, and that business was not even located there. Slowly that intersection is evolving, although I read in the LA Times that they don't expect construction on all projects to be completed for at least another five years! They haven't lit up the sign yet as far as I know, I'll bet it will look nice.

Ice Cream Man!

This is the ice cream man who pushes his cart up and down Hollywood Blvd and on side streets. He has a little bell he rings constantly that drives me CRAZY. How can he listen to that all day. I think a lot of people buy stuff from him. On occasion I see him pull up to this one particular gate where he rings and rings the bell cause he knows all these little Mexican children come running. It's kind of predictable yet amusing. A few years ago, I once saw one of these ice cream men with his hand down the back of his pants scratching his bare ass, while he pushed his cart with the other hand. I was scarred. Ever since then I have vowed not to buy that ice cream from his fecal fingers.

Pyewie!!

They are remodeling the old Broadway Department Store at the corner of Hollywood and Vine. At the last door alongside the building on Hollywood Blvd, they have wedged some port-a-potties in a small hallway and the doors are left wide open to provide some ventillation. It is absolutely disgusting - the smell. I don't know how anyone could even go in one of those things. Wouldn't they die from methane gas poisoning?

Hey, check out this page, it is everything you ever wanted to know about farts!

http://www.heptune.com/farts.html

The NEW New Zoo Revue!!

Ice Castles

Awe, this one always makes me teary!

Wunder Bug

I saw this cool dune buggy parked on Hollywood Blvd, there was a stuffed tiger tied to the hood. I couldn't figure that out. The car is defintiely not safe but probably fun to ride in.

Bathing birdies

These ugly pigeons were taking a bath in a fountain at the corner of Sunset and Vine. For a second I actually thought they were kind of cute dancing around in the water so I took a picture. Awe.

Graffiti

I am so tired of seeing graffiti all over Hollywood, and the culture of it amazes me. My interpretation is that it is used as a status symbol, and various sub-cultures are constantly trying to one-up each other with creative and brazen displays of superiority. One of the most recent examples is the abandoned Shell station at the corner of Cahuenga and Franklin. A fence with a green tarp was errected around the property, and the windows were carefully boarded up. Overnight, the entire building had literally been spray painted from top to bottom with gang symbols and the tarp was cut down to reveal their accomplishment. Now everyone has to stare at it everytime they are at the stop light. Very clever. I have also seen gang symbols spray pained on roof tops all over Hollywood, most noteably the huge defacing of the Bally's dome roof, and all along sidewalks, murals, anything you can think of. On one occasion I even saw a fat, ugly latino girl stop on the Walk of Fame and write her name on one of the stars with a paint marker, as everyone kept walking by. Now I am seeing graffiti carved into the leaves of plants even. Don't these people have anything better to do than to deface everything in sight? The city has tried to crack down on it. Spray paint is required to be kept behind a caged fence and an IDis required to purchase it. But that does no good. There's nothing I can do about it either. Hopefully after all the high income housing and hotels are built over the next 5 years those kinds of people won't be able to afford to live in Hollywood. It should be interesting to see how and if Hollywood can get rid of the people who have no respect for public and private property.

Live Earth Concert or The Brady Bunch Hour??

Brady Bunch Hour - 1977

Live Earth Concert - 2007

Same old tires

Ed's Star Burgers

Ed's Star Burgers is a fixture on Hollywood Blvd at Wilcox. The people that run it are so nice to everyone and they have a loyal following. I also admire how they constantly clean and sweep the Walk of Fame outside the restaurant. Here's a photo I snapped of the guy who runs the place, I don't know if it's Ed or not.

ewwwwwwwwwww

Annoying

This truck was driving all around Hollywood filming people walking down the street and giving views of driving up and down Hollywood Blvd. Do I need to sign a release form for that? I guess they want everyone to see for themselves how filthy Hollywood really is.

Another view of the Ventriloquists

Here's another view of the homeless ventrilioquists. I saw the woman pushing the female doll in a wheel chair, and then her companion has the boy doll thrown in their grocery cart. Another day of begging for money on Hollywood Blvd is done and over with.

Jammin in July

Hollywood Blvd was almost completely abandoned today because of the holiday. But there were a couple guys in front the old fox theater playing keyboards and singing their hearts out. I'll bet they made a lot of money and they were really pretty good! At least somebody had some talent for once.

Lamborghini

Today I learned to spell a new word, lamborghini. It was an amazing car I saw today zooming through Hollywood. Probably it was Paris Hilton or something, who knows! I stood in the middle of an intersection to get a good picture. I heard a black guy say, "It's a lamborghini, foo!"

Getting screwed in Hollywood

I always thought working at Paramount was the biggest screw in Hollywood, but recently I saw this giant drill bit on display at Hollywood and Vine where they are building a new W hotel.

Don't eat the mushrooms!

Here is a preview clip from the Pirromount film "God Complex" which is slated for a 2008 release.

Preview Scene From Pirromount's "The God Complex"

Hollywood fire

Here is a funny video from the not so funny Hollywood fire a few months ago.

Biker chick

I think I should walk past Amoeba Records more often. I always see freaky people hanging out down there. This couple amused me today - a biker chick in a mini skirt and her boyfriend on a hot rod. It's almost as though they are wearing costumes! I overheard them trading advice on how to get an agent. Then the biker guy started up his motorcylce and about blew out my ears. These pictures don't do justice to how perfectly dressed they both were, and perhaps they were working that day on some kind of photo shoot. It wouldn't surprise me.

Charo?

I saw this huge display in West Hollywood, at first I thought it was Charo! What do you think? I was dissapointed to see it was Angelynne.

McCartney Madness!

Today I was walking down Sunset Blvd and came across hundreds of people waiting inline to meet Paul McCartney. They were frying in the sun. Not my thing. Here are some photos I took, even the TV news crew came out.