Pre Christmas hoopla....

Last Saturday I met my family in Hollywood for the annual Directors Guild Christmas party. My sister has attended this party for 23 years in a row and she has the pictures to prove it. I've been to this party a couple of times and it is quite the shin dig for little kids. They have popcorn, juice, ice cream, coffee, candy, a state of the art theater showing cartoons, a bouncy house and a gift dispensing Santa Claus. We are usually among the last people to arrive at this party but this year we were among the first. We got there so early that there was nothing going on just yet so we walked down Sunset Blvd. and want to the Bristol Farms market to kill some time. Some how everyone but me noticed Tim Allen shopping in the store. The kids were too awestruck to say anything, my sister and mother were too shy. I never even saw him. I can't believe my celebrity radar was so out of whack. I'm usually the first to see famous people and I'm the one trying to use my eyes to get my mother to look at the person standing next to me. (which has resulted in more than one conversation that sounded like: "Tami, is there something wrong with your head? Why are you looking like that?") Anyway...by the time it was made clear to me who was in the store...he had already left. We made it back to the party just in time to see a real movie star
The picture is kind of dark but that is star of stage, screen and lunch boxes everywhere..."Scooby Doo". What is up with the look on Jake's face? He was thrilled to get his picture taken with one of his favorite actors and yet it looks like we beat him before the picture was taken. (*no children or faux canine were harmed during this photo shoot.)

We stepped out of the Santa Claus line to take the Scooby Doo picture and then got back in line. Figuring Jake would rather do anything than stand in line I told him, "LOOK, Jake!!! It's Tweety Bird. Let's go take a picture with Tweety Bird!!!" Jake looked and me like I was nuts and he told me, "I don't like him." And that was that. There would be no Kodak moment with Tweety. But not to worry because there were several other Kodak moments to be had:







Hannah and Jake got gifts from Santa. Jake got some type of action figures and Hannah got a deck of Uno cards emblazoned with NBA players. What 11 year old girl wouldn't love that? Last year Hannah got a deck of Uno cards with out anyone representing that girly sport of professional mens basketball. I definitely see a trend brewing. I think next year for Christmas I'm going to get her a set of deluxe Uno cards so she won't feel forgotten.

When the party was over we were all starving so we went to Canters for a late lunch. In order to save time we should just have our bill xeroxed because all of us get the very same thing every time. Tori was the only one who went exotic on us and ordered "The Marilyn". That would be a grilled swiss cheese and tomato sandwich on rye. I get one every time I've been there but I don't get it grilled. After looking at these pictures I think you can see why:This is a germ-o-phobe's nightmare.

When we were finished eating Rebekah and I parted ways with the rest of the family. I had tickets to the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas concert and Rebek and I were going to spend the night at the Hilton at Universal Studios and attend the concert the next day.

I thought I knew how to get from the Fairfax area to the Universal area but I got lost and we wound up in Beverly Hills. We drove around Beverly Hills and then got out and walked around Rodeo Drive. By the time we got a place to park all the stores were closed. Can you believe they would close at 6:00 on a Saturday 2 weeks before Christmas? That’s just foolish! We had a cup of coffee at Coffee Bean Tea & Leaf and defrosted our fingers and noses. (I know you guys from out of state will laugh in our faces...but when it hits the 50 degree mark we start to freeze.)We had posed for a few pictures and got frostbite in the interim.



(Sorry about the blur...I have no idea what was going on with the camera at this moment in time.) Can you believe the street lights on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hill are actually chandeliers? I'm as big of a fan for ostentatious displays of wealth just like anyone else but I think that this is taking it a bit too far.

We got to the hotel and checked in and got unpacked. We both had more fun than a barrel full o monkeys with their lighted 5x’s magnified mirror. Is there any teenage girl or middle aged woman who isn't fascinated with looking at their skin when it's magnified 5 times its normal size? (it's ok...you can admit it. We're all friends here...) We went down stairs and had a drink in their restaurant/lounge. Of course I had a chocolate martini and aye carrumba... it was muy bueno. Bek didn’t comment on the state of her Mr. Pibb.

As we walked through the lobby we took a couple more pictures:

We were going to check our email until we found out that their internet services were .49 a minute. How insane is that? So, choosing not to personally finance Paris’s next pocket poodle we went upstairs and watched tv.

We were awakened early the next morning by Rebek's telephone ringing. When she answered it I could hear a man screaming his head off and I told her to give the phone to me. This unidentified man was certain that Rebek had toilet papered and vandalized his house last night. His house which is in Riverside....75 miles away. I tried to tell him that Rebek was with me last night and that we were in Los Angeles. He insisted that I was telling lies and that I, too, would be arrested when the police showed up at Rebekah's house and then he hung up on me. He called back a little later and said that he knew for a fact that not only did Rebekah toilet paper his house but she also vandalized his car. This man was in a rage and he was vile. You wouldn't believe how he was talking to Rebekah. I told her to hang up on him and she did. The phone rang again and it was the daughter of the nasty man. She apologized and told Rebekah that she knew it wasn't her who toilet papered the house. I'm glad that someone apologized but I'm still hoping that one day I, or Rebekah's dad, will get to meet this man face to face.
(I have no idea what has happened since.)

After that lovely start to our morning we got up and checked out of the hotel. We drove all the way to Sherman Oaks looking for a Denny’s or IHOP but to no avail. Finally we found a Marie Callenders. We had the breakfast buffet that came complete with malt balls and gummy bears! Mmmm, candy....breakfast of Champions!

Then we went back to Universal Studios and saw the movie, “This Christmas”. It wasn’t as good as the commercials made it look.

Then we headed out for the concert. We were literally the first two guests to arrive. This was inside of the VIP tent. Those two girls were caterers. We had our choice of all the food and h’ourderves unlike last year when we hardly got a piece of bread. It was freezing cold outside so we tried to get in and find our seats however the auditorium wasn’t scheduled to open for another 15 minutes. So as we were walking back to the outside area…I was taking a picture of the guitars that belonged to the head lining band, “MUSE”,
when I hear Rebek say, “Auntie….Auntie….” and just as I turn around I see Stryker heading up the stairs. "Stryker" used to be the afternoon drive DJ on KROQ and Rebek and I are in love with him. He is no longer on the day time drive slot because he is now the DJ on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Rebek tries to act like she's jaded and like she's seen it all before...but when you put her in front of a famous person who she admires she turns to jello just like her her old auntie. She couldn't even get her arms to work well enough to take her camera out of her purse and take a sneak picture of him. I would have stopped him and asked to take a picture of the two of them but he was actually running up the stairs. We were just happy that we got to lay eyes on him.

We went outside and stood under an outdoor heater. "Bean" of “Kevin & Bean” fame, (The number 1 morning DJ's in Los Angeles from KROQ) walked through the gate and stopped to warm himself under our heater. I asked him if I could take a picture with him and he was polite and charming and as as nice as he could be. He is very tall and he had to fold himself in half to be in the picture with me.

It's no wonder he was cold...he was wearing shorts!

The powers that be finally allowed us to go in and find our seats. We were delighted to see that they were awesome! They were in the first row of the loge section. We had the railing in front of us so we could lean against it when we stood or put our feet on it when we sat. It was colder in the theater than it was out side so we went back outside and resumed standing under the heaters. That’s when I saw Dr. Drew Pinski. He does “Love Line” on their late night show with Stryker…and he is also a regular contributor to several tv shows. I took my picture with him and he was also as nice as could be.

Then a little while later I saw Ralph Garman. He does the show biz report on the KROQ morning show. I asked if I could take a picture with him and he was as sweet as he could be. . I hit the KROQ trifecta! I never expected these guys to be so nice and so accomodating but they were and now I like them even more than I did before I met them.

We went back in to the theater and watched the show. The first few bands were just ok, but then “Modest Mouse” came out and livened up the crowd. They were a lot of fun. We had heard a rumor that "The Killers" were going to show up and do a surprise set and I was a very happy camper when they showed up. They were the only ones who had the stage decorated. They had a bunch of Christmas trees and a few midgets dressed like elves! They only got to sing 4 songs but they turned the crowd on it's head. I took video of them but I can't find my camera cable so I can't upload it just yet. So you'll have to settle for blurry pictures:

Brandon Flowers, lead singer of "The Killers" on the video screen.

The next band was “Jimmy Eat World” and they were really fun, too. I like a lot of their songs and I'm happy to say that they sang them all. The final act came on, (“MUSE”) and they were good but I’m sorry to say that they really didn’t stand a chance coming on after “The Killers”. Rebekah got in trouble with the Universal Amphitheatre police for video taping “Jimmy Eat World.” On her hand held camera. Uh, Puleeze! There had to be 10,000 people video taping every act that had been on the stage and yet they told her that she couldn’t video tape. (Go to YouTube and search KROQ and see just how many videos have already been posted from that night.)

We had a fabulous time at the concert and now we are both sick. We sang our heads off and apparently singing at the top of your lungs will make you sick. It happens to us every time.