Where in the World is Timothy?

Can you find my husband in this picture?

When former Laker Shaquille O’Neal announced earlier this week that he’s retiring from basketball, CBS immediately sent a reporter to Tim’s radio station to film commentary for the Early Show. Tim, who’s never met a video camera he didn’t like, used the opportunity to test the equipment in the next studio. Hey, who wouldn’t want to be on national TV? You can see his puzzled coworker asking, “Tim, what are you doing here?” The footage aired yesterday morning.

Here’s a close-up, in case you missed him the first time.

Southland

We’ve always been fans of L.A. cop shows—Dragnet, The Shield, Law and Order: Los Angeles, and the still lamented Boomtown. But the best one, hands down, is Southland, the gritty docudrama that was picked-up by TNT when NBC foolishly canceled it two years ago. The show not only takes place in real-life Los Angeles settings (hooray for Molly’s, one of Tim’s favorite hot dog stands!), but is credibly acted by a terrific ensemble cast.

We made reservations last night to see Dick Van Dyke in conversation with Carl Reiner at the Writer’s Guild, but canceled immediately when we heard the Paley Center for Media was featuring Southland as the topic of one of its monthly evening events. Unlike its annual film festivals, which are staged in large venues to accommodate thousands of fans, events held at the Paley Center are small, intimate affairs (less than 200 people), where stars and admirers sometimes even intermingle. We’ve attended many such Paley events—an early Mad Men panel, a tribute to filmmaker Robert Altman, a Friday Night Lights panel, the final episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, etc.—and have never been disappointed.

The stars of Southland were already walking the “red” carpet by the time we arrived. All the actors on the show are brilliant, but we were especially happy to see our favorites: Michael Cudlitz, who plays John Cooper, the training cop addicted to painkillers; Ben McKenzie, a rookie cop from the ritzy westside; Regina King, the sensitive but grounded female detective; and Shawn Hatosy, hotheaded Sammy Bryant, whose partner was killed this year in the most heart-wrenching episode yet.

Cast members and show co-creators Christopher Chulack and John Wells sat at the front of the small Paley theater after screening the last episode of the season. We learned that the show is shot entirely on location, helping make the action seem very true-to-life. Since Southland is on cable, seasons are only ten episodes long, allowing the writers to create story arcs that begin and end relatively quickly. Plots are inspired by events experienced by LAPD officers, who work closely with the cast to advise on how cops would actually handle real police situations. Everyone was obviously very grateful to still be on TV.

Filming for next season starts in October, so keep your eyes peeled for live location shoots around town. Then set your tivo. New episodes of Southland begin airing in January 2012.

(Photos: 1. Cudlitz. 2. McKenzie, Hatosy, King. 3. Hatosy)

Eichler Tour

In the early 1960s, real estate developer Joseph Eichler commissioned the local firm of famed architect A. Quincy Jones to design a tract of homes on the north end of the San Fernando Valley. The homes, located off of Balboa and Woodley, are distinctly modern, with low-sloping A-framed roofs, clean vertical lines and unadorned facades. Embracing the mid-century “indoor-outdoor” philosophy of design, each home is situated around a small open atrium that greets the visitor at the front door. Other features include concrete floors, post-and-beam ceilings and burlap-covered closet doors that conspire to give the houses an extremely natural—as opposed to human-made—feeling. We, of course, love Eichler homes and so were thrilled to be able to tour six excellent examples yesterday with the Friends of the Gamble House, a preservationist group that sponsors various architectural tours. Indoor photography was mostly restricted (don't want the world to know what's behind those deceivingly simple exteriors), so here’s a taste of what we saw (click on the images to enlarge):

Last Weekend

The weekend began, of course, with the royal wedding, Friday morning. I debated waking up at 1AM to see it live, but tivo’d it instead so I could watch while getting ready for work. The whole hat obsession was a bit odd, but the wedding itself was wonderful. Kate Middleton and her dress were gorgeous and I cried when William and Harry—both looking so handsome in their military regalia—arrived at the church. If only Diana were alive to see it. What a glorious day!

In the late afternoon, Tim and I joined a handful of my students who had arranged a tour of the CNN studios in Hollywood. We’ve toured other TV studios before, so nothing new, but we did see Dr. Drew, CNN’s latest on-air personality, getting off an elevator, and chatted briefly with fashion commentator Nick Verreos on his way to shoot a critique of the wedding guests’ attire.

On Saturday, Karen and I spent a couple of hours visiting homes on the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase tour. Now in its third year, the tour featured more than 70 properties located in a diverse section of L.A. that stretches from Culver City to Venice Beach. This has become a premier event for local gardeners and, most amazingly, is free. Highly recommended.

That night Tim and I joined my students once again for the dept’s annual Dodgers outing. The seats were in nosebleed territory, as usual, but the view of the city was phenomenal. After a long day in the sun, I was exhausted, so we left the game early, stopping in upscale Larchmont, on the way home, for an ice cream nightcap. Baciami gelato: creamy, rich and expensive, but oh so tasty—yum!

Back to it on Sunday, Tim accompanied me on yet another house and garden tour—this time in Santa Monica. The homes were fabulous and the weather perfect. We took the Miata and rode with the top down all day. After three hours of touring, we headed toward the Brentwood Country Mart for some Reddi Chick rotisserie-baked chicken, our new favorite “fast food” on the upper westside. Built in 1948 and looking like something right out of the midwest, the barn-clad Mart is located on the corner of busy San Vicente Blvd. and 26th St. in the heart of ritzy Brentwood. The shops may be too high-end for our thin wallets, but the food is outrageous—definitely worth the 20-minute (on a good day!) drive.

POTUS in CC

The President was in town yesterday—but not just any town, our own Culver City, where he stopped at Sony Studios to campaign for the 2012 election and rally supporters before heading to Brentwood for a big celebrity fundraiser. Those of us attending the Sony event were told to get there by 4PM. Although we live only a mile away, Tim, who came home early to avoid the nightmarish traffic that always surrounds the President’s visits, dropped me off at Veterans Park across the street from the studio. The parking lot was already filled. I joined a handful of people walking toward Sony.

A small contingent of protesters crowded the sidewalk outside the studio gates. Sheriffs, dressed like Desert Storm troopers, stood nearby. Across the street were gawkers who, I assumed, were waiting to catch a glimpse of the President. Five military helicopters had flown over the house about an hour before, so I suspected Obama was already safely sequestered inside.

Once past the security gate, high-rollers—who actually got to meet-and-greet the President—were directed left, while the rest of us common folk joined a long line to the right. Unlike the last Obama fundraiser I attended, this one was well organized and smooth. Lots of young professionals were on line, many of whom hugged each other or shook hands as they passed. Ahead of me was cartoonist Keith Knight, who quickly made friends with a lawyer standing next to him. I didn’t see anyone I knew, but we were all stunned and amused by an Obama look-alike who happily posed for pictures! (See the photo above.)

After waiting an hour to check-in and pass through a bank of metal-detectors, we entered sound stage 30, right next to the studio entrance. (I was hoping to see more of the Sony lot!) People queued up to buy snacks and drinks, while loud disco music boomed overhead. Having attended many of these types of events, I made a beeline toward the back of the building, where I knew Obama would be speaking. I staked my spot, about 20 feet away from the raised lectern, and didn’t move for the next three hours.

Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx was the evening’s master of ceremonies, revving the crowd with chants of “Four more years!” and the new campaign slogan, “I’m in!” Sit-com star Rashida Jones made a brief appearance, followed by the Foshay musical choir, a group of charming young people who sang “I Want to Shine Like Barack Obama Shines,” a song they wrote specially for the occasion. Next up was a Grammy-winning folksinger, whom I liked very much but whose name I never did hear. Then finally, at 7:20PM, the President emerged to a rousing ovation.

I could barely see for all the cameras being held high, but at least this time I could actually hear what he had to say. Obama was relaxed and funny—very self-deprecating about his graying hair—and everyone loved him. Noticing a woman faint in the front row, he immediately called over the medics before continuing his speech. I clapped loudest at his comments in support of education and the environment and a reduction in military spending. In all, he spoke for half-an-hour before stopping to shake hands. Not wanting to get stuck in the building while the secret service hustled him away, I zoomed toward the door as soon as he said “good night.” Everyone was buoyant.

Outside, traffic started to back-up as Culver Blvd. was temporarily closed for the President’s motorcade. I rushed to the corner and stood with a small group waiting to see Obama drive by. Sure enough, within minutes people began to cheer as the presidential limo and an endless parade of black SUVs, including a bomb squad truck, zipped by. I waved madly and screamed. I then called Tim to come pick me up.

Walking back past Veterans Park, I overheard two teenaged boys talking about what they had just experienced. One of them ran ahead when he saw a friend approaching from the other direction.

“Rick!” he yelled excitedly. “You’ll never believe who we just saw driving by. President Obama! It was so cool!”

Very cool indeed!

Theodore Payne Foundation Tour

We were thrilled and honored to be invited onto the Theodore Payne Foundation’s Native Plant Garden Tour again this year. In fact, when asked which one of his clients’ houses should be included on the tour, our landscaper Joel didn’t hesitate to recommend ours. The tour was held this past Saturday.

Payne not only provides signage and color-coordinated t-shirts, but also a docent or two to help manage the crowds. This year I requested our friend Marcy, whose own beautiful gardens have been featured on the tour in previous years. When our great octopus agave died last fall after producing a 15-foot stalk of blooms (see last year’s tour photos), Marcy rescued the babies, called “pups,” to pot them for a fundraiser. I’m not sure what happened, but on Saturday she showed-up schlepping 80 small potted agave plants.

“I thought it would be fun to give them away to the people on the tour,” she offered. And she was right! We lined them up on the front and back porches with a big sign saying, “Please help yourself!” They were gone within four hours.

Marcy greeted people in the front yard, while Tim and I answered questions in the back. In November, we created a third garden where our rear driveway used to be. People who had been on the tour last year were very interested in seeing what we’d done. They also loved our naturally symmetrical western redbud tree and, of course, our spectacular dendromecon (Channel Island Bush Poppy), which apparently has no peers. But everyone was most fascinated by our leucadendron (pictured above)—a South African native that most had never seen. Its unusual blooms are gorgeous.

By 4:30PM, we were completely exhausted. . . and very, very happy. Some 120-150 people had come through (we lost count, early on!) and all said they loved our gardens.

“What a beautiful sanctuary!” one woman exclaimed. Another asked if I talk to my plants.

“Of course!” I said. “Who wouldn’t? After four years, I’m still amazed every morning when I come out to see what else has bloomed.”

What a joy to be able to share such beauty with others.

February/March

It’s been an incredibly busy two months, in both work and play, hence the recent dearth of blog postings. I won’t bore you with the work stuff, but here’s a sampling of some of the fun things we’ve been doing:

Lots of Theater

In early February, Tim and I went to a reading of a two-person work-in-progress play called The Opponent, featuring TV stars Dulé Hill and Donal Logue as a pair of washed-up pugilists. Extremely intimate venue—one of the rehearsal rooms at Culver City’s Kirk Douglas Theater—and interesting performances. Not a bad way to spend part of a gloomy Sunday afternoon.

Two days later, Karen and I saw Sting and his wife Trudie Styler perform in a benefit reading of Twin Spirits, a short play chronicling the highly romantic (and ultimately tragic) love story of German composers Robert and Clara Schumann. John Lithgow narrated while violinist Joshua Bell and others played music from both composers. Judging by the ovation he got before the play even started, Sting was the evening’s big draw. But it was truly Trudie’s night as she gave an emotionally moving performance as Clara who, as a teenager, falls in love with the older Robert and remains faithful to him long after his untimely death. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Karen and I also saw Jane Fonda play a Beethoven scholar dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease in the Tony-winning drama 33 Variations. The entire cast was terrific, but it was Fonda whom everyone was buzzing about as we left the theater. Her performance was great, plus she looked absolutely fabulous.

Paley Festival

A big part of March is always spent at the Paley Fest, the Paley Center for Media’s star-studded annual celebration of television. Although the two-week festival used to honor the TV shows of our youth, in recent years it’s become mainly a showcase for the most popular programs of the moment. We attended four events this year: Parks and Recreation, Glee, Raising Hope, and a reunion of Judd Apatow’s Undeclared and Freaks & Geeks, two cult favorites that aired in 2001 and 1999.

Parks and Rec was, of course, very funny, with nearly all the cast present. (Though Rob Lowe was absent, everyone insisted he’s staying on the show.) The actors obviously all have great affection for each other and acknowledged that Amy Poehler is their leader.

Glee was the same: lots of cast love and joy about being on such a mega-hit program. I was disappointed that Lea Michele was back-east filming a movie, but almost everyone else was there. Jane Lynch is very attractive in person.

Disappointed, too, that Cloris Leachman didn’t attend the Raising Hope panel, but enjoyed the rest of the cast. We did get to sneak-preview the final episode of the season: a flashback to before Hope was born—very funny!

And speaking of funny, the Apatow reunion was, of course, crazy and profane. Neither Charlie Hunnam, who now stars on Sons of Anarchy, or Oscar-nominated James Franco were there, but they both sent cute videos, which the audience loved. Lots of affectionately funny stories about Franco, in particular. It was wonderful seeing the “freaky” and “geeky” kids (Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Jason Segel, Busy Philips, Linda Cardellini, et al.) now all grown-up . . . and, for the most part, extremely rich and famous.

Food!

As an early birthday present, I treated Karen to a Moroccan cooking class at the Beverly Hills Williams-Sonoma a couple of weeks ago. We learned how to make a savory chicken stew (which I made this week at home—yum!), couscous with almonds and apricots, carrot and parsnip salad, and orange-cardmom ice cream. The point of the class, of course, was to get us to buy Williams-Sonoma products; but the food was just amazing, so we easily ignored the sales pitch and concentrated on the meal. I highly recommend trying other cooking events there—some of which are even free!

And, of course, Disneyland

Tim has a ton of vacation time to burn-off at work, so we went to Disneyland one rainy Friday morning, just because we hadn’t been there in a while. The crowds were light and we were in-and-out all within four hours. My kind of TGIF!

Snow Above L.A.

The weather guys and gals were almost giddy predicting snow in L.A. over the weekend. Although it apparently snowed in Burbank late yesterday, the only white stuff we saw was up on the mountains this morning. These were taken from Kenneth Hahn park—one of our most favorite spots in all of Los Angeles county. Downtown L.A. and the Hollywood sign never looked so beautiful!

Tim took these 30 minutes later from the Baldwin Hills outlook above Culver City. No snow, but spectacular nonetheless.

Downtown Culver City

Marina del Rey

Porkapalooza

I stopped eating red meat over twenty years ago, but never gave up pork (or beef tacos, for that matter, but that’s another story . . .). In fact, pork is our favorite food—we serve it at all special occasions and adore it in all its forms: bacon, pork chops, carnitas, babyback ribs, ham, etc. No wonder, then, that we flipped when we heard that Mozza, one of L.A.’s top-rated Italian restaurants, had begun offering a multi-course pork dinner every Saturday. January was sold-out, so Tim made a reservation for Karen and us last night.

Seating was family-style (i.e., one long table for everyone). We got there a half-hour early to make sure we could all sit together. There was no need to worry: places for 30 were already assigned and the menu at our three settings had Tim’s name on it. The diners seemed to be mostly “industry” folk (i.e., people who work in show biz) and at least one couple was from out of town (San Francisco). Almost everyone dressed up. I, on the other hand, opted to wear stretch-pants with an elastic waistband—there was no way I was going to be limited by constrictive clothing.

Dinner started at 7:30PM with fresh-baked foccacia. We’ve seen our fair-share of multi-course dinners before—mostly as fund-raiser events—but this was more like the movie Big Night, where a pair of brother chefs decide to cook the meal of their lives in hopes of saving their restaurant. Their dinner—a masterpiece—goes on all evening. Unlike the movie, though, last night’s feast did not include dancing between courses—which was too bad, because I think any type of exercise would have gone a long way toward helping us better digest our food. As it was, we just sat and ate for three hours.

Our host was Matt Molina, a 2010 James Beard finalist for best chef on the Pacific coast. Happily, our seats faced the open kitchen so we could watch him work his culinary magic.

The first course was salumi and various patés. I’m not a big cured meat fan, so was able to resist. Everyone else piled it high. I thought to myself, “There are at least five more courses to go—pace yourselves!” But apparently I was the only one who listened to her inner voice.

Next was pork belly sausage with grilled broccolini. I like my sausage almost burned to a crisp (a Philistine, I know!), so only nibbled off of Tim’s plate. The broccolini was good, though, marinated in olive oil and hot spices. While the next advertised course—soufflé of parmigiano-reggiano—was baking, chef Molina brought out a surprise course: scaloppini made from muscle meat left over from that week’s butchered pig. He had pounded, breaded and fried it to perfection, then served it with tasty greens.

Finally, after quite a long while, the soufflé emerged to a round of “oohs and aahs.” As expected it was heavenly, as was the pork leg ragù served along side. The highlight for me, though, was the roasted pork shoulder that followed. After presenting it for all to see, the meat was chopped and served with a chicory salad—now we’re talkin’! I, unfortunately, ate just a little too much of the shoulder, however, and so left the table as soon as the main course, pork loin, appeared. One too many pork plates for me (a wimp, I know!). But Tim and Karen stayed till the end, enjoying various flavors of gelato and sorbetti for dessert. They saved an after-dinner cookie for me. It was, of course, shaped like a pig!

Our review: Although we both had something of a meat hangover this morning, we heartily recommend Mozza’s pork dinner for all who love “the other white meat.” The food was fabulous and we had lots of fun watching Molina meticulously prepare each course. But be forewarned—there’s a lot of food here, so you may want to fast the day of the big event. Or at least pace yourself as you joyously move through each course. You don’t want to miss dessert, like I did.

'60s Rock 'n Roll

I nearly drove off the side of the road the first time I saw this billboard. There they were: the Beatles, floating above the street just three blocks from our house. Two months later, they are now ubiquitous throughout the city, inviting us to buy their music on iTunes. I love seeing them, even though they’ve become a big part of the visual noise of Los Angeles.

And speaking of the Beatles, Tim and I are in the midst of taking a (free!) five-week class called “What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been: A Review of Rock’s Greatest Decade” at the Grammy Museum downtown. I’d looked for such an opportunity for years. Still, I thought it was a risky commitment since we’ve both been students of 1960s rock-n-roll our entire lives—Tim, in fact, is currently reading Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards’ new autobiography. Would we know more about the topic than the instructor?

But not to worry. Robert Santelli, executive director of the Museum, is an excellent teacher and master storyteller. Not only is he our age, he’s also met and worked with many of the artists he talks about, making his classes extremely personal and fascinating. I knew we’d struck gold when, halfway through the first session, Tim leaned over and whispered, “I LOVE THIS!”

In the first class, Santelli highlighted music of the early 1960s, positing that this era is often forgotten because no one sound dominated. Sure, there were the “girl groups” and male teen idols we all watched on American Bandstand. These were also formative years for Motown and the Beach Boys. Still, no one great group or musician emerged like, say, the Beatles or Eric Clapton, so this period has been forgotten. At the end of the first session, Santelli promised to dedicate the entire next class to the single most influential songwriter of our generation.

“Paul Simon?” I said, daring Tim to disagree.

“Nope! Brian Wilson!" he countered.

We were, of course, both wrong. According to Santelli, Bob Dylan was the single most influential songwriter—and to hear him tell it, the single most influential human being!—of our generation. I’ve never been much of a Dylan fan (sorry Ginny!), but the lecture was illuminating, taking us through the singer’s entire career right up to last year, when Dylan joined Santelli at the White House for a concert celebrating civil rights. Exciting stuff.

Week 3 finally brought us to what Santelli calls the “1st British invasion”—the Beatles, naturally, but also early Clapton, the Animals, and groups like the Dave Clark Five. I especially liked how the instructor focused on the Beatles’ formative period in Germany—a time that I’ve always found absolutely fascinating. At one point, Santelli asked the students—some 150 of us, mostly baby-boomers—if anyone in the room had seen the Beatles in concert. A woman said she’d seen them twice: she was in the audience for their first Ed Sullivan appearance and then again at Shea Stadium. Our collective jaws dropped in pure envy.

The Beatles’ story continued in week 4 as Santelli compared the group’s (arguably) greatest album, Sgt. Pepper (1967), to the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds (1966). Though I didn’t think so then, I now believe Pet Sounds is the far superior album and listen to its songs regularly. Sgt. Pepper, on the other hand, is fairly dated—“A Day in the Life” being the only song worth playing over and over again. Santelli then challenged us to come up with a list of the 25 most important rock songs of the ‘60s. Here are mine (in alphabetical order):

All Along the Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix)

Be My Baby (The Ronettes)

California Girls (The Beach Boys)

Crossroads (Cream)

A Day in the Life (The Beatles)

Eight Miles High (The Byrds)

For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield)

God Only Knows (The Beach Boys)

Good Vibrations (The Beach Boys)

I Got You Babe (Sonny and Cher)

I Heard It Through the Grapevine (Marvin Gaye)

I Saw Her Standing There (The Beatles)

Light My Fire (The Doors)

Like a Rollin’ Stone (Bob Dylan)

Louie, Louie (The Kingsmen)

Respect (Aretha Franklin)

Satisfaction (Rolling Stones)

Something (The Beatles)

Sounds of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel)

Stop! In the Name of Love (The Supremes)

What’d I Say (Ray Charles)

White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane)

Whole Lotta Lovin’ (Led Zeppelin)

Woodstock (Crosby, Stills and Nash)

You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling (The Righteous Brothers)


One more class to go. We’ll be discussing the 2nd “British invasion” (e.g., Led Zeppelin, et al.) on Tuesday.

Which 25 rock songs would you nominate as the best of the 1960s?

Palm Springs (Again!)

I have never subscribed to the notion that a hotel room is just a place to sleep. For me, the hotel is every bit as important as the rest of the vacation. And even though I’ve never had a good trip ruined by a bad hotel, I have been on several great trips that were made even better by a wonderful hotel (the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua anyone?).

One of our latest fave getaways is Desert Hills. One of Palm Springs’ many “boutique” hotels, Desert Hills is located at the foot of the San Jacinto mountains in a very quiet part of town. I discovered it last year when we made last minute plans to attend Modernism Week at the height of the desert tourist season. We returned this past weekend for much deserved R&R—plus I was craving sun, sun, sun. We got tons of all of the above.

The best thing about Palm Springs, of course, is that it’s only two hours away. On Friday, we waited till rush hour traffic had passed and then hopped in the car and headed east. We were eating lunch in the desert by 1:30PM.

There’s not a heckuva lot to do in P.S., but we always manage to have fun anyway. Highlights this time included a terrific Richard Avedon photography exhibit at the Art Museum within walking distance of Desert Hills. (If you ever visit the museum, be sure to go up to the third floor and look into “the tunnel,” an art piece using lights and mirrors to create the illusion of an endless hole—absolutely mesmerizing!) We also drove out to Palm Desert to see Mike Leigh’s Another Year (fabulous film). En route we spied this great neon sign advertising a do-it-yourself carwash, of all things!

The most unexpected part, though, was a World War II celebration at the Palm Springs Air Museum, certainly one of the best air museums in Southern California, if not the entire state. Two veterans shared their memories of the war, followed by an exciting air display by an authentic WWII plane. At least 200 people were there to cheer as it took off and then buzzed us three times. As thrilling as it all was, I could easily imagine how frightening it must have been to see that thing flying overhead during WWII. I wanted to run for cover!

The rest of the time we sat around the hotel: me doing crosswords (my favorite form of relaxation) while Tim read. We were completely refreshed by the time we got back home on Sunday—just the short break we needed. . .