For Comedy, Please See

Okay, I'm moving the comedy blogging to a for-real website - https://comedygroupie.squarespace.com/ (Pretty soon, you'll be able to get there just by going to comedygroupie.com, but apparently it takes up to 5 days to register a domain name).  Not sure what that means for this blog, but I do have a history of leaving many an abandoned blog in my wake so that seems like the likely outcome here.

Thanks for all your support!

Naughty 13: Lucky Me

Finally got to see Sam Tripoli's Infamous Naughty Show at the Holywood Improv last night.  I think last night finally sealed my opinion on the Improv, but I'll save that for another post.

The show was full of pole dancing, porn stars, very funny folks and very special guests.  Sam opened the show with some of his best stuff.  I'm pretty sure I'll never get sick of "Crimes of Awesomeness" and "High hoof, high hoof".  That was followed by incredible acrobatic feats on the pole by Annemarie Davis.  By that time, everyone finally had their drinks at the table and the show was off and running.

Surprise special guest Margaret Cho killed, as did everyone's favorite stoner Doug Benson.  I especially liked his bit about how women are lying when they say they are looking for a good sense of humor, but we say that "because it wouldn't be polite to say 'I like cocks and money.'"  For a second great surprise, Jefrey Ross dropped by and did some of his Hasslehoff roast material.

Poor See Hang tried to give it to volunteer Zoe as per porn acting coach Roger Star's (Eddie Pepitone) instructions - "Be like the banks, like the oil companies, like Lehman Brothers"  But Ron Jeremy came out, banished him back to toiling in tech support obscurity, and showed the audience just how it should be done.

Speaking of tech support, the AV system was completely screwed last night.  We were able to catch a couple of the prepared videos, but it just completely died in the middle of the very promising Strippers Guide to Fighting Terror starring Taylor Vixen (Sam promised it'll be online soon).






And there was more!  Bunny Fever, Shawarma the Ass Eating Persian, Kagney Linn Karter, Soma Snakeoil, the Silver Schlong award... oh and we learned the fun fact that in his younger days, Sam was a towel boy at Crunch. ha ha!

It was great, sort of like an old-fashioned variety show, if it took place in Sodom & Gomorrah.

Names Night!

Last night, in conjunction with Mitzi Shore's 80th birthday, the Comedy Store held it's first Names Night in over 8 years.  It was incredible.  New and old Names came by, many with family and friends, did a set in the Original Room and then came to the party in the Main Room and recorded a message of gratitude and reminiscence for Mitzi & The Comedy Store Archives.

Behind The Names: Jeff Scott

One of the names that will be painted on the wall during the Names Night at The Comedy Store this Sunday is that of Jeff Scott, the piano player for over 15 years.  Jeff not only plays the comics on and off the stage, often providing witty remarks along the way, but he is what Mitzi calls her "Social Butterfly" going around the club all night, talking to each of the comedians, the staff and those of us who just hang out, like the big brother glue holding the place together.

He's also a walking repository of the history of the Comedy Store, going all the way back before it was Ciro's.  During the very first conversation I had with Jeff, he pointed to the wall between the Main Room and the Original Room and told me that when this was Ciro's, there was no wall, just one enormous show room where the likes of Frank Sinatra and Lana Turner would enjoy dinner, dancing and entertainment.  Since then, I've been privy to such gems as :

Open Mic

I have been remiss about blogging since I started doing Open Mics around LA.  I've also been remiss about sleeping, so there's that.

My first open mic was at Sal's Comedy Hole - a newish spot in Hollywood that has been transplanted from its successful roots in New York.  It's rapidly becoming my favorite non-Store place to catch a show and it's definitely my favorite open mic so far.  The vibe is fantastic - kind of like the Store - it's role as creative incubator trumps being an uptight place of business.  But Sal's gives its performers even more free range and, since it's new, hasn't yet been bogged down by politics and tradition.

Just a Saturday Night

Last night was a good night at The Comedy Store.  It's funny because the crowd was much larger on Friday and this one was a little apathetic, but they came around.  I have to admit, I snuck into the Main Room to catch Stephen Rannazzisi's set before the show started in the Original Room and I was pretty happy I did.

Chris Millhouse is my Hungarian Parlament of Comedy

Despite having lived there for two years and made about half a dozen visits besides, it took an entire decade for me to actually visit the Hungarian Parlament building.  And it wasn't for lack of trying, I was just foiled at every turn.  Kind of like trying to see Chris Millhouse do a set.  I first saw Chris on LiveAndOutLoud and thought he was pretty amusing, started following him on Twitter and saw him tweet about being up at the Comedy Store for Potluck.  I completely missed him that night and I keep missing him every other time I try, so now this has become a quest.  A quest which was foiled again this Sunday when I actually made it to Potluck early.

What makes a good comedy club?

As you all know, I love the Comedy Store. I'm starting to think I like it more like a drug than a boyfriend, but regardless, I love it and I hate when anyone speaks ill of the place. Of course, comedians love to bitch about venues and what they do wrong - often onstage - and the Comedy Store is no exception. So being a rational, analytical kind of gal, I try to see both where they are coming from and objectively how much weight the complaints really carry. For comparison, I keep my eyes open when I'm at other shows - whether it's the Laugh Factory or the Improv or a smaller room like the Great & Secret Show or Silent Taco.

Laughter is Power

I go to the Original Room at the Comedy Store a lot. If the Comedy Store were a dude, he would be my boyfriend. Well, no, probably my regular booty call, because the Store doesn't seem like the type to settle down. Anyway, I love that place. But, as they say, show me the hottest woman on earth and I'll show you a guy who's sick of sleeping with her. Sometimes you have to switch things up. So this week, I saw the Great & Secret Show, Storyteller Series Fisticuffs, and the Laughter is Power benefit for the Jenesse Center. Okay, the last one was at the Comedy Store, but it was in the Main Room with a very different group of comedians that I see on a daily basis. And it was amazing.

My Day in (Small Claims) Court

I got to spend this afternoon in small claims court.  I'll cut to the chase and say my case was dismissed, but the plaintiff has the option to re-file so I'm not stupid enough to blog about details with such a litigious fellow at large.  Most of you already know the story anyway.

But, here's the thing, the reason the case was dismissed is that the plaintiff didn't show up, so I was supposed to go at the front of the line for a cursory appearance.  But something got screwed up, so I ended up sitting through every single other case for the afternoon.

The Great & Secret Comedy Show

I try to go catch the Great & Secret Show at the Unknown Theater about once a month, sometimes twice.  Admittedly, the last couple of times I went was motivated mostly by my stalking of Zach Sherwin, but I have loved the Walsh Brothers since Ms E Christi introduced them to me back in Boston.  It's a great show and a nice balance to my mild (ha ha) obsession with the Comedy Store.  As hosts, the Walsh Bros (and friends) are more of a sketch show underpinning, holding the whole show together and often providing the most laughs, rather than emcees who just keep the show moving and the crowd clapping.  The acts are always interesting and a little off the beaten path.  I mean, the sets of Zach Sherwin, Ron Lynch and Erin Judge have very little in common besides being awesome.

Comedy at the House of Blues

Last night was a hard night to choose where to go see some comedy - there were three shows I wanted to see but I ultimately went with the one that was walking distance from my house to support Shawn Halpin.  And, I have to say, Shawn was the pimp of the show, since he brought 200% more women (me and Jen) to the audience than the one other guy who brought a female.  One of the comics even fittingly did a bit about how comics don't know women so there's never any girls at the godforsaken parties they throw.

Why Are You Google Stalking Dan Madonia?

I'm so curious, I get more hits on my site from people Googling Dan Madonia than any other search term - why are you Google stalking him?  For real, post a comment, I'm dying to know.

They Hate Us For Our Freedom

I would like to sincerely thank all Veterans and service members who gave their lives so that I could live in a society that includes Food Trucks and The Sunset Strip... together!

What Happens at the Comedy Store Stays at the Comedy Store

Backstage at the Comedy Store is a weird and wonderful place.  And when I say "backstage" you should know there is not actually a backstage (Ok, there is the Green Room, but that's a tiny trippy mirror-plated room straight out of the Kinnison days).  Backstage is sort of wherever the comics are hanging out - waiting for their set, waiting to watch someone else's set or just having a drink and a smoke.  Could be the hallway, the kitchen, the front bar, the back stairs or the Main Room after it empties out.  In fact, sometimes "backstage" even moves itself into the Original Room as the crowd dwindles down to just the other comics and maybe 2 guys from New Zealand.  That's when you might be treated to an extra special David Taylor set where he goes beyond the fine acerbic/dickhead line he normally treads and lays into everyone in the room, the building or who has ever once crossed his path.  Those are some great times.  Even when you're the one on the business end of his attack.

That's What I'm talking About

As I've mentioned before, I have a soft spot for the late night comedians who can handle it well.  Of course, my  all-time favorite is Don Barris, who can handle everyone from the obnoxious drunks to the dead quiet stone-faced crowds and somehow manages to make The Barris Kennedy Overdrive bit entertaining over and over again.  But there's a lot of other guys giving a good go of it.

Now, I should mention, there's really two types of late night crowds that I've encountered.  There's the mid-week and there's the weekend.  At 12:15 on a Wednesday night, there's usually about 4 guys left, and they're always foreigners, usually from some random place like Finland or Estonia.  They are sitting pretty close to the front, so you know they've been there since the start.  I suspect that their guidebooks told them to visit The World Famous Comedy Store and since they aren't American, they're just too polite to just get up and go back to their hotel before the official end.  And occasionally there are the obnoxious drunks (and occasionally I am those obnoxious drunks), but usually only one or two.  And this Tuesday, there were two super bitchy, super drunk Australian chicks by the time Sam Tripoli took the stage.  Now, I'll be honest, I've seen Tripoli perform at least twice before and have no memory of it.  I blame this on The Stripcrawl and too many bullets at The Sunset Trocadero, respectively, and not Tripoli being an unmemorable comic, because he is freaking hilarious and had complete control of the room from start to finish, including repeatedly putting the worse of the two Aussie chicks in her place - a very satisfying thing for the rest of us audience members to watch.

In Praise of the 12:15 Comedian

I have a great love for the 12:15 comic at the Comedy Store.  At first, it was just because that was about the time I'd stroll on in and the crowd was so thin that they'd start talking to the audience, and I was the vast majority of the audience.  But as I have started to spend an inordinate amount of time watching comedy, including the guys who go on at 10 or 11, my love and respect for the 12:15 comedian has only grown.

Hopefully, they had a at least one other slot somewhere earlier in the night, but regardless, they made an effort to get here to go on for what is bound to be a tiny, drunk and possibly surly crowd.  They don't do it for the money (which is shit) and typically they don't really get to work out their material because of said sucky crowd.  But they get up there and do their 15 minutes and work with what the drunk loudmouths (like me) in the crowd start spouting.  It's really a heroic effort.

What Day Is It?

Wherein I attempt to beat Time and discover my new musical guru, that you can't go back to 20 again, and that I have a serious nerdy glasses fetish

Dan Madonia & The Silent Comedy on The Real Sunset Strip

Wow, just wow.  Trina had really been talking up The Silent Comedy for the past couple of weeks and she was not wrong.  Firstly, check out the moustaches!  And then take a listen to the music.  I really don't think any of these YouTube clips do them justice - and everyone at the show on Saturday agreed that this was the best of their recent performances.  Trina had specifically instructed me to wear my dancing shoes and she was not wrong.  I started out standing in the back, sipping my drink and mostly just nodding my head and tapping my feet, but by the second song it was as if my body had taken me right up to the front and started dancing of its own accord.  I had no choice but to give in and boogie down.



I feel like now I'm damning Dan Madonia with faint praise, but he was terrific too.  It's just that The Silent Comedy was mind-blowingly awesome so I had to start with them.  But the night actually started with Dan and he was terrifically funny.  There was one point where the crowd almost turned on him, but he quickly saved it and had pretty much everyone in the place laughing.  And, apparently I can not go see comics anywhere without somehow inserting myself in their act - it isn't just the Comedy Store that brings that out in me.  Dan had this almost throw-away line like "Who's got some tits I can snort some coke off of?" and one guy in the corner was very adamantly raising his hand, so I raised my pointing finger toward him and got "I like how you're volunteering other boobs when you have a perfectly good set, yourself." heh.

Not really sure how The Real Sunset Strip is going to follow an awesome night like that, but heck, I'll settle for about 75% of the awesomeness

Foursquare Mayor of the Comedy Store, Bitches!

I am the Foursquare Mayor (hunh?  What's that?  Read here) of my laundromat and my yoga studio.  Mainly just because I think I'm the only person who has checked in to either place more than once.  Not exactly cool.  So I was incredibly excited when my after-midnight visit to The Comedy Store on Monday night earned me the Mayoral title!

The funny thing is that I had never even been to the Comedy Store until the StripCrawl.  It's stupid really.  I love comedy and this is literally the closest comedy club to my home (just up the hill!) and a pretty awesome one, to boot.  I had tried to go a couple of times, one time we ended up at the Improv instead and the rest of the times the "Let's stop into the Trocadero for a drink first" plan turned into "Let's just stay at the Trocadero until closing time."  But now the place has an irresistible pull for me - especially after midnight.  The crowd thins out and the comics are edgier, drunker and often funnier.  I've also noticed they tend to talk directly to the crowd a lot more.  I don't know if that's considered kind of hacky and a crutch to other comedians, but as an I'm-the-center-of-the-universe egotist in the audience, it's appealing to me.  And, especially since my Jenny Lane Tour, I tend to know at least one or two people hanging out in the back, so I have entertainment if I get bored of the guy on stage.

I was actually starting to get a little self-conscious of my newfound addiction to the 1 am comedians after wandering over there late-night, mid-week last week but now that it confers bragging rights (albeit, nerdy, nerdy bragging rights) I will proudly own up to my secret weakness.

The Jenny Lane Tour

The best compliment I ever received in my life was a friend saying "Amy, when I'm with you, things happen that don't happen to normal people."  I am always the one who will somehow end up trundling us into a car for a ride to that after party.. or, heck, a whole other city.  In other words, I'm the Instigator  So it was a little unusual to find myself in the hands of an even bigger Instigator last Friday after Foursquare Day in the person of Ms Jen Moore.

We had been cleared out of The Viper Room after our free Foursquare Day show in prep for the sold-out real show (thanks Viper Room!) and were headed up to the Rainbow when we started discussing whet should be the plan for the rest of the night.  Now, I should probably mention here that I have developed what I like to call The Circuit for Friday night.  I start at either the Viper Room or the Roxy, depending on who's playing, then go to the Rainbow and finish up at the Sunset Trocadero where I drunkenly harass the other Lat Call patrons to tip Sascha generously.  Sometimes I add another stop or two along the way.  So, when Jen mentioned a similar circuit she had in mind, I decided to just submit utterly and go wherever Jen wanted.

Now, I have been able to come and go mostly anonymously along this Circuit for weeks and months now.  I even commented to a friend it was my "extroverted introvert time" where I got to go be alone with other people.  It was a totally different story with Jen - she knew everyone from the regulars to the doormen to the bus boys everywhere we went.  It was pretty hilarious and awesome.  Plus, she's found all the limited access nooks and crannies in each of these locations, so it was a pretty fun tour of "behind the scenes"  I also got the honor of being one of the first to view Jen's (then) empty new Larabee St apartment (the one so close to the Viper Room it inspired the "Why, Miss Jenny Lane" quotable).

We finally finished up at The Comedy Store where those boys in the Barris/Kennedy Overdrive pretty much kept at it until they were forcibly ejected from the stage by staff who wanted to clean up and get the heck out of there.  Grabbed some "breakfast" at Swingers and I had to finally call it a night at 5 am.

Thanks Jen for the excellent tour!

Tweetcrawl Eggstravaganza!

The Strip Crawl was awesome, pretty much my ideal evening, actually - cheap & free booze and hanging out at my favorite places with a bunch of folks who love them as much or more than I do!

I had my festive ears on - I bought them at Hustler and the clerk seemed really disappointed that I was planning to wear them outside the bedroom.

Melissa Auf der Maur at the Viper Room

The show rocked.  I honestly haven't paid much attention to Auf der Maur's career since the Hole/Smashing Pumpkins days.  I vaguely remember a single from her solo album a bunch of years back, but I always thought she was pretty awesome so it seems like a good show to hit up.  It was the album release of her new venture - which is actually more than an album, it's a whole multimedia extravaganza with film and a comic book and probably some other stuff.  Despite my ignorance, it was well worth it.  She rocked, her band rocked.. I really am such a fan of rock artists who just pour their whole heart into it and aren't trying to be hip or ironic or whatever.

Also, Melissa herself is tinier and more beautiful than I had imagined. She's not Kylie Minogue tiny or anything, but from all the music videos I've seen her in, I pictured her as a sort of towering amazon. One thing she does have in common with Kylie is a surprisingly gay (male) following.  Again, I claim ignorance of whatever career and personal factors have affected this, but it was a pleasant change of pace compared to my usual (but still generally awesome) experiences at the Viper.

I definitely plan to get some of her stuff and I hope she's also getting royalties from the Hole stuff that's stuck in my head now (and thus will inevitably be purchased soon).

One Year On: An Embarrassment of Riches

Well, it's my one-year anniversary here in LA and I could not be more grateful for the past year.  I'm working for a company I love and the being in LA this time around had definitely helped me understand my company and my industry better - and given me more chances to put my fingers in every cookie jar around.  The change in venue definitely helped me mentally open a new chapter in my personal life, too.  On that level, it's also been such an experience of growth and change - meeting so many wonderful people who think and act and believe and work so differently from me.  Thanks to the fantastic weather, I have discovered running and hiking.  And, of course, I've morphed into a kooky Cali pseudo-hippie, drinking my organic free trade coffee with almond milk and going to vernal equinox mediation-yoga-dance parties.

I've also had the opportunity to rediscover live music - somehow the love of a good rock show that was bred into me by both nature and nurture got displaced when I discovered cheesy pop and dance clubs.  But now with the legendary Roxy Theater and Viper Room in walking (or, as if often the case, stumbling) distance from my house I've been able to see everything from hair rock to hip hop on a regular basis.

Then there's all the little things, like so many bars & restaurants with outdoor seating and the great weather to enjoy them almost any time.  Living in a state where Happy Hour is legal. Getting more Vitamin D from the sun than from pills.  A Trader Joe's on every corner.  If I could just somehow add Dunkin Donuts & the Sox to the mix, I'd pretty much be in heaven.

Los Angeles has been a real gift in my life, so I wanted to take a second to really tell the universe "Thank You!... and please keep it coming!"

Yoga Booty Ballet

I think SoCal has spawns more "religious" and fitness fad than any other region in our fine country.  A lot of them (and I'm talking about both categories) and stupid and a little dangerous.  But it certainly gives one a good deal of choice.  And in amongst all the hay is a needle of awesomeness (now I'm only talking about fitness).

Yoga Booty Ballet is my needle.  I stumbled across the class thanks to Groupon and I am so grateful.  I try to go three times a week now and I chose not to sign up for a second session of bootcamp to have the time and money to devote to YBB.  It's the prefect mix of sweat, mindfulness and joy for exactly where I am on the cheerleader-hippie spectrum.  The first class I attended was Patty's Wednesday night and as she introduced herself and YBB to us newcomers, she exhorted us all to "dance like you're alone in your bedroom" and proceeded to lead us through a fantastic dance sequence set to Madonna, Lady GaGa, Ke$ha and The Heavy.  I leave class filled with love and appreciation for everything and everyone, no matter how I walked in and it seems to have a cumulative effect just like regular mediation.  It is so awesome, I have even started scheduling my personal life around it.

PaleyFest: Seth McFarlane & Friends

If the Cougar Town panel was disappointing, then tonight's Seth McFarlane panel totally made up for it.  First off, the moderator was Bill Maher and the first panelist they introduced was Seth Green - both of which were unbilled "Additional guests TBA"  Score.  And from there, things just got better.  It was such a well paced a hilarious panel that actually covered a lot of topics about the shows (mostly Family Guy) and the process of making them - what the writers' room is like, dealing with the censors (apparently the show's biggest supporters within the network - go figure!), what, exactly, is a Muddy Ramirez.  I also liked that both Seths brought their cocktails out on stage with them.

PaleyFest: Cougar Town

One of the great benefits of living at the source of all pop culture as that, for the most part, all the makers of pop culture also live here.  So it's not uncommon to have events like book signings that boast celebrity authors.  And one of the first events I was able to attend when I moved last year was a PaleyFest panel for Dr Horrible.  And it was fantastic.  I mean, I'm a Whedon fangirl, but the panel was fantastic and introduced me to the true awesomeness of Felicia Day and was my first visit to the ArcLight Cinerama Dome.

So I was pretty excited when PaleyFest rolled around again this year, this time in the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills.  I decided to go to the Cougar Town panel, even though it was on a Friday evening, because I think the strongest thing about the show is the fantastic ensemble cast.  Unfortunately, the panel itself seemed to go off the rails pretty shortly after Bill Lawrence announced he was 12 chardonnays in and never really got back on track.  Lawrence had a lot of amusing anecdotes that were great to hear, but it just seemed to be missing something and the majority of the cast really didn't get much chance to contribute.  Pretty much all I learned is that Christa Miller is insanely sexy in a way that somehow just doesn't make it through the camera.

She Don't Lie, She Don't Lie, She Don't Lie

So, I've been mulling over whether to actually write this post or not, but it's one of the biggest "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore" things that still stands out to me.  I suspect is has something to do with my proclivity for dive-y rock bars, but "Do you party?" seems to be as frequent a pick up line as "Can I buy you a drink?"

The ACE Eddie Awards

I was very fortunate to be invited to join the Avid table at the American Cinema Editor awards this past Sunday. I suspect the open seat had a lot to do with it being Valentine's Day, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Somehow, it didn't click in my head that it was an awards show until I actually got there and saw the flock of reporters waiting to catch a glimpse of Morgan Freeman and James Cameron.  There were also some pretty impressive dresses, including my friend Tina, who was wearing a vintage couture dress recently worn by Rihanna.

Vains of Jenna at The Viper Room

Vains of Jenna has quickly become one of my favorite bands to see live.  As lead singer Lizzy DeVine yelled to the crowd at the end of the set, they prove that Rock n Roll is alive and well.  They are just straight-up, balls-out rock, almost a throw back to the 80's without being anachronistic.  The music is great and they have just the right stage presence that's not too little but not so much as to be pretentious or comical.

The only thing I was disappointed about were the opening acts.  None were bad, per se, but the first two just didn't feel fully baked - didn't seem to have a consistent look or sound going on.  The third band was pretty good, but I didn't get to catch their name because some guy was yapping at me the whole time.  So, unfortunately, I didn't find a new band to start seeing, but VoJ totally made up for it.

Here Comes The Rain

This is my first real rainy season here - I moved just after "winter" finished last year and I can count on one hand the number of days it rained between then and this week.  And, boy, have I gotten used to it!

The rain isn't quite as discombobulating for me as it seems to be for everyone else around here, but I do still find myself walking right out the door without an umbrella because I'm used to not even looking at the weather and assuming it's pretty much the same as it was yesterday.  I have also completely forgotten the fact that rain + my hair = wavy curls.  I wasted a good chunk of time straightening my hair this morning, only to find it all wavy tousled when I got to work (yeah, that's it, I was going for that sexy bed head look).

Liquor, liquor everywhere

I realize that Massachusetts has some crazy liquor laws - you can't buy alcohol outside designated "package stores" and,  until the Pats' second Super Bowl win, you could buy any kind of alcohol on a Sunday.

So the fact that grocery stores have a better selection than most liquor stores around here is a bit of a change.  It's especially disconcerting to see Wild Turkey across the aisle from Advil in the CVS.

It disturbs me, but I like it. Not only because NyQuil is no longer the only thing that gets me drunk at CVS, but also as more evidence that I live in a much less stupidly puritanical place.  I think the apex of this rational approach to the hooch is the wine & liquor 6 pack.  In pretty much any retail outlet,  they provide these handy cardboard carrying cases that holds 6 bottles of wine or liquor and you get 10% off if you buy 6 at once.  Goooo binge drinking!

The Martians are Me

I pretty frequently use a Ray Bradbury story as a metaphor for my move to LA.  In this story, a team of Earth astronauts land on Mars on a mission to find out what happened to the first mission, who all just disappeared.  They meet some lovely Martians and settle in and really don't find anything untoward.. or any explanation, for that matter.  And the big reveal is that the lovely aliens ARE the previous mission.  Somehow from eating the food, breathing the air and drinking the water, the humans are transformed into aliens.  But it happens so gradually that they don't realize it and then, once they are more Martian than Earthling, they just completely forget about having been human in the first place. 

So, I tasked some of my friends with monitoring me for sudden desire to spray tan or not eat anything but horse asthma pills.

However, I've started to slip already in other ways.  I actually caught myself thinking "I should go buy some of those skinny, tapered-leg jeans so I can tuck them INTO my boots." *shudder*  I mean, my boots are hot, but that's one step closer to Uggs and a miniskirt.

More damningly, I've just started a screenwriting class.  That was one of my big complaints about my previous visits here - everyone is a screenwriter.  Literally everywhere I went, I'd overhear the guy at the next table - or even the next gas pump - droning on about his little project.  And now, I am one of them.  Fortunately, I have a day job, so I haven't gotten to the point of sitting in Starbucks at 2 pm with my laptop.  That's my small comfort.

Sadly, I didn't get a chance to support The Strip this week, in part because of the screenwriting class and more due to my early morning bootcamp.  Gonna try to make it out next week, but i may have to dial that resolution back to once per month.

Ducati All Stars and Vains of Jenna @ The Roxy

The first show in my new effort to Support The Strip was pretty awesome.  The Ducati All Stars = (Camp Freddy + corporate sponsorship - the sheer number of special guests that usually pop in) and pretty much I would go see Camp Freddy every day if I could.  I think on Saturday it was Donovan, Billy, Steve Stevens, Steve Jones, Jason Bonham, Franky Perez and Mark McGrath.