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A Downtown Day

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Note:  I’m writing this from April 2020 – I did not post much of anything at all on my site during 2019 as Larry’s illness, my mom’s issues, and just general malaise kept my website motivation low. 

I don’t typically post about going to work, but this day I guess I took a good set of pictures throughout the day.   I was alone at this point still, as Larry was back east recuperating and I was holding down my job.   During this period of time, I was busy with code reviews.  But I like to head in and catch up with people so that’s what I do.  Bonus, I learned that the parking lot at Universal City Red Line station is only $3 for the day, so I started going there to commute into DTLA versus continuing to take the Metrolink.    I had been doing the Metrolink from the Van Nuys station – it works fine, but there are only a few trains that go in, and if for some reason you miss it, or that train gets cancelled, you’re screwed, whether it’s going to work or trying to leave.  The Red Line subway is far more frequent and even if it’s delayed, you’re still going to get a train eventually.   Anyway, it’s nice to have that flexibility and it’s nice to see my old work location, if not bittersweet at times.

I think this day while I was there, I ended up grabbing drinks with Derrick after work at the Grand Wilshire’s lobby bar up on its 70th floor.  It’s so great.

Sept 16, 2020 DTLA Pics:

The outdoor dining area outside PwC
The courtyard outside
From up in the Grand Wilshire’s lobby bar area
Pretty clouds that afternoon
Magic hour light as I was heading home
The sky back at the Universal City Red Line station
Hello, old friend
My chariot awaits
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So How About Those Oscars?

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Larry & I had the opportunity to attend an Academy Awards party at Ken’s house in Los Feliz – “Ken” being Mila’s brother who I’ve known for pretty much all of his life.  He’s done well for himself and has a great house in the hills of Los Feliz and as you can see in the pics below, the view is REDONK.  It was a lot of fun to watch with this group of people and while I ended up doing terribly in my predictions for most of the lesser awards, when it came to Best Picture, I ended up deciding to pick Moonlight as I figured the awards would get split between Picture and Director, and when Damien Chazelle won Best Director, I thought I was looking good.  Then La La Land is announced as the Best Picture, and while I was happy with that result, I also know plenty weren’t, and it also hurt my ballot (not that it mattered, I lost hard).  But then, that craziness of ‘oh yeah, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were given the wrong envelope’ occurred and it was like, oh shit, are you kidding?  Not just because that was an insane thing to have happen at the Oscars…but also, my employer is the one who looks to have been responsible for it happening!!  EEEK……. and throughout the news cycle today, it definitely doesn’t look like that assessment is changing anytime soon.  I can’t imagine anything else happening besides THERE WILL BE BLOOD.   This is one of those cases though where shit doesn’t have a downhill option to go….the 2 partners who are there are the only ones allowed to know who won, so anyone else who was associated with helping is in the free and clear as nobody else has that comprehensive picture…and weren’t there with the envelopes.   Girl, this is gonna be a rollercoaster, just saying.

So in the meantime, here are some fun pictures of the view from Ken’s house along with some pictures of people you may or may not know.  🙂

Looking down Hollywood Blvd towards the Oscars
Sunset was approaching too
Zooming in on Hollywood
You can see the pavilions installed on Hollywood
Prospect Studios in Los Feliz
Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Sign
A better shot of both
This is the freaking VIEW from Ken’s place
The Pacific is glowing in the sunset
Goodyear is on it
Hollywood Blvd as it comes all the way down
Glittery ocean
Me and Mila
Mila and Ilona
Scattered sunshine

Oh yeah – now this is an Oscar Winning Composer’s signature on the La La Land vinyl!:

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The Rookies Start to Realize…Well, Bronte At Least

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BB18 Episode 6 – July 3, 2016

<–Previously, we lose a game-playing master

It looks like these early episodes where the BB Roadkill is a thing means that the Sunday episode is not only an HoH Reveal & Nominations, but also the Roadkill Competition and Nomination.  That’s a lot to get through!  I think we end up losing some valuable “character building” and “strategy session” stuff due to having to force so much into one episode, but that’s where we stand.  Maybe there’s really not that much going on?  But as my title for this post insinuates, I think at least Bronte has a clue from within the Rookies crowd.  It is likely going to end up hurting her even more as she’s possibly the only one who might pose a challenge to the 8-Pack running things smoothly.  But we’ll get into that a little bit more…

So Who Won HoH?

BB18_Ep6_HoH_PaulieBlueBall BB18_Ep6_PaulieHoHNot leaving this ambiguous for ya.  Thursday’s episode ended with the HoH competition in full swing, and we found out in this episode that Category 4 couldn’t be beat.  Well, they might have been challenged by Team Unicorn (James’ team), but James threw the comp knowing full well that those on his team were ripe targets for 8-Pack.  He waited until they got to about 37 out of 40 berries collected then proceeded to “slip”, eliminating himself and wiping out Team Unicorn’s fourth row, sending them back to 30 berries.  That paved the way for an easy win, with the team (Frank) asking if Michelle or Paulie wanted the HoH.  I guess Bridgette wasn’t a consideration?  Regardless, Paulie got it for being nominated last week, and here we are.

8-Pack is of course thrilled that Paulie won HoH, even if he isn’t an official member of that alliance.  I still wonder why the hell he isn’t, but I’m not in the house.  Anyway, the next target on everybody’s list is Victor, so away we go with the machinations!

Bronte Pieces it Together, while Paul is Ready to Smash Victor Apart

BB18_Ep6_BrontePaul_ReconcileHer voice may be tres annoying, but she is quite astute about what is going on.  She’s proven she can hold her own in arguments and conversations, and in this scene here, she quite accurately told Paul what happened at the last eviction night, knowing that DaVonne and Zakiyah were the ones who lied to their faces about voting for Paulie.  Bronte insists that Paul believe her in this reckoning, and it seems he does.  But Paul has proven to be kind of stupid too, so we’ll see if she’s on her own here.  Unfortunately for Bronte, Paul ends up being a Continue reading The Rookies Start to Realize…Well, Bronte At Least →

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“No, I Would’ve Evicted Her!”

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BB17 Episode 38 – September 16, 2015

<– Previously, Austin Gets a Surprise

I’m glad that Big Brother is finally ending.  I’ve greatly enjoyed the season, even if it really does seem that you could say that the season had a ton of floaters.  That “floating” kept things interesting as the alliances almost never had any long-term impact, with the major exception of the Austwins.  That powerful clique certainly helped Julia get much further than she would have otherwise.  But the others, like Sixth Sense, Scamper Squad, etc?  Ultimately, they didn’t seem to have lasting appeal to any of their members, who frequently were in multiple arrangements each.  Vanessa was a Power Floater, I think, and made the most of whatever the situation called for.   Sometimes I think floater connotates a passive approach, but in her case, I would never say that about her.

ANYWAY, I’ve got very little energy to write up this post – long story short, John’s time was up.  I think he would have had very little chance of winning even if he somehow made it to the Final 2, because he was a returnee plus his challenge performance was kind of hit and miss.  Not awful, but certainly doesn’t compare to Liz, Steve, or Vanessa’s achievements.

BB17_Ep38_NominationsSteve, as HoH, certainly wanted to get Vanessa out this week, but she pulled out an impressive Veto win in the karate-themed Veto Competition.  We got a return of Caleb from last season as the host of the comp:

BB17_Ep38_VetoComp BB17_Ep38_VetoComp2 BB17_Ep38_VetoComp_CalebJohn and Vanessa ended up having a showdown as both Liz & Steve got eliminated first, and in quick succession, Vanessa was able to identify the correct day # before John twice in a row, winning herself the Veto.  Side note:  Caleb is still smokin’ hot. Continue reading “No, I Would’ve Evicted Her!” →

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The Gift

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The_Gift_2015_Film_Poster1The Gift (2015)

Saw this at Pacific Theaters at Americana on August 23, 2015.

The Gift got a lot of great reviews and deservedly so – and it keeps you wondering what the heck is really going on for pretty much the entire movie.  The movie basically throws you right into the story, with Jason Bateman (Simon) and Rebecca Hall (Robyn) buying some super swanky mid-century modern house up in the Hollywood Hills having just moved to LA from Chicago. As they buy some more furniture at a Crate & Barrel, an old friend of Simon’s, Gordon (played by Joel Edgerton, who both wrote and directed this), runs into him there and re-introduces himself. Simon barely remembers the guy from high school and they exchange platitudes about catching up more…which of course would be ignored. Gordon does make that connection stick though and shows up at their new home with some gifts. But of course, things just get weird as Gordon definitely isn’t acting like any old acquaintance, not by a long shot.

To say much more would give too much away, but the twists and turns of the movie were enjoyable and unpredictable. It was a very fun take on the thriller genre and it has to be said that during one point of the movie, one of the scares literally made Larry (or Lady Larry as he was henceforth titled that day) shriek out in fright. Literally shriek. Hahahaha. Anyway, if you enjoy a good thriller, definitely consider The Gift. Also, consider the other The Gift that came out in the late 1990s with Cate Blanchett. That movie is also a great thriller and very twisted.