Recently in Hollywood Category

A few more posts over at Gridskipper for you to enjoy. Check out my guide to seafood in the 626 along with a primer on the "second string" sports teams of Los Angeles. The highlight, of course, is my Oscars Guide to Los Angeles. Enjoy!

It may be shallow, but I try to avoid the homeless at all costs. Part of it is because I don't feel like giving them cash is really going to make a huge difference in their lives, but mostly because of the smell. While killing a little time this morning (I enjoyed the AT&T WiFi at Coffee Bean for a few hours, but realized Borders had better seating and more convenient access to a power outlet), a homeless woman sat next to me. Her shirt was a little more transparent than it needed to be (although the large guy from Australia sitting across from her doesn't seem to mind that there is no bra hiding her nipples) but she didn't smell any more than the average cab driver. She got some books out and decided to take some notes from them, giggling as she got to a particularly humurous portion. And what made her laugh so much? Ancient Egypt and The Complete Idiot's Guide to The Bible. I guess it's true what they say: 1st Corinthians really brings down the house.

This year, I decided to go as Reggie Jackson. I think I did a pretty good job. Although some of my friends were skeptical about the number of people in Los Angeles that would recognize me, I got a lot of comments when I went out on Saturday.

Answer me a question. Why do women suck so much at parallel parking? I was doing some laundry last night, and I as I waited for the elevator, I noticed some girls across the street trying to park a Scion tC. For some reason, I was just completely fascinated by this whole thing. The tC is not as small as the other Scion cars, but it should not be hard to park. Yes, it looked like it was going to be a tight fit, but it was doable, especially with TWO PEOPLE.

That's right, one girl was doing the driving and she had her friend helping her out with her blind spot behind the car. I guess that is not so bad and I shouldn't be making fun of somebody who was a little too shy to love tap the other cars as they tried to back it in. However, I am going to laugh because I assume that the girl tried without her friend's help, and therefore needed to call in reinforcements.

I waited a few more minutes to see what would happen and even briefly contemplated going out to help them, but since I already called the elevator back once and was worried there might not be an available washer, I took my things downstairs. Luckily, the girls proved fairly incompetent and when I got back from putting my clothes in the laundry, the girls were still trying to park. This time, there was another girl playing lookout and a different driver. I was really about to help them, but I had forgot to place something in the washer and needed to hurry back.

When I finally had everything in the washer, I came up to see the girls had finally parked, but only after somebody had vacated a slightly larger spot a little further down the street. But for some reason, all of the girls (a third one must have been tucked in the backseat) were coming back to their car. Not enough time had passed for any of them to have even made it to the clubs nearby and I could only assume that they saw the permit parking signs and realized that they would have to leave, their nearly fifteen minute parking ordeal all for nothing.

I almost wish that they hadn't noticed, because seeing their car towed away would have made my night. Instead, I got a laugh when I went to put my things in the dryer about 30 minutes later and noticed somebody had managed to fit a Jetta, which is a little longer than the tC into the small spot the girls had given up on just a little earlier. Yes,I don't know how long it took them, and yes, it could have been a girl who placed her Jetta into that tight space with such aplomb, but we all know that is not the case.

While working out at 24 Hour Fitness this morning, I bumped into a girl wearing a Yale t-shirt. I was wearing my Dartmouth t-shirt, and as we looked at each other, it was as if we didn't know what to do. I smiled politely with that "you're probably jaded because you spent four years in New Haven" look, and she smiled with that "you're probably still drunk because you spent four years in Hanover" look. I sure hope she wasn't giving me that "could he possibly be smart AND single" look, because my smile could also translate to "I'm sure YOU would never drag me to go see 13 Going on 30".