it’s already 52 degrees and it’s supposed to be 76 today and i’m going hiking! at Will Rogers state park, so first we can take a tour of will rogers’ cool home and then we can hike up into the mountains behind it. i’ve been there a lot and there’s a sign at the entrance to the trail that says BEWARE OF MOUNTAIN LIONS so hopefully i won’t see any of them.
if you want to read more about the incredible watts towers, here’s a good link.
yesterday we had lunch at a great little sushi place near the Hollywood Bowl where Christine and i had gone the last time i was in LA. i’m trying to remember the last time i was here, and it must have been a while ago. the sushi was delicious and i could eat it every day.
this is the Hollywood Bowl, a great outdoor ampitheater that holds over 17,000 people.
the season there doesn’t start till the end of june, but it was fun to walk all around and go into the museum. i saw lots of performance there when i lived here, inluding the LA philharmonic, the great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, and Tom Petty. lots of variety. plus on the 4th of July they have the BEST fireworks display i’ve ever seen. you can take a picnic and eat in different little picnic areas scattered around, or you can bring stuff and eat right there at your seat. down in front are boxes that people sit in and the first time i went to the bowl, the people i was with brought along all kinds of delicious and elegant food and we had a lovely dinner and sat in a box near the stage and watched a great show and it was an experience i’ll never forget.
last night we went to see a guy named j. keith van stratten. he used to do a comedy show that was like The Tonight Show, only it was on stage instead of on TV. before, he had interesting guests including the guy who does the voice of Homer Simpson, Dan Castellaneta. Lisa Loeb the singer and Colin Hay who plays guitar and used to be with the band “men at work” were also on the show.
the format of the show has changed since i saw it last, and now it’s “what’s my line,” modeled on the old tv show. if you want to look at the site, it’s J. Keith Show.
the premise of the show is that there’s a guest and some panelists who have to guess the occupation of the guest. the panelists were all funny, sharp and entertaining. one of the guests was an older woman who was a private detective, and then next guest was the INVENTOR OF THE INTERNET. his name is Vint Cerf. In 2005 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest civilian honor given in the United States.
and he was quite funny and after he was done he sat in the audience in front of me, with his wife and son.
the inventor of the internet and i then watched a guest who looked a little scary – she definitely had a nose job that made it a little too short, and she had this kind of scary smile. but she was a ballroom dance champion and at the end she taught j. keith some dance moves and then she started dancing and i could see why she was a champion because she was in incredible dancer.
there was a mystery guest at the end, Edie McClurg, who is a very funny comedianne and was the secretary on “ferris bueller’s day off” and she was on some tv show called “the hogan family” which i never watched.
after the show i saw the guy who played Fish on “ally mcbeal.” and also an old boyfriend of mine from LA was there.
so not only were there interesting people onstage, there was quite an assortment of characters in the audience, as well.
i have to go outside where it’s warm now.
ok then,
thursday LA grace.