HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROCIO!

11/6/08 Happy Birthday to my cousin, Rocio. She turns….well, let's just say she and I are the exact same age. And by the way, I'm 50!! ☺

Today I was back at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills and had a chance to speak with Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, the two young stars of Slumdog Millionaire, the excellent movie I saw a couple of days ago. These kids could not be cooler and more excited to be in Hollywood and to talk about this film. They are both unknowns here in the States but after these performances, my guess is we'll be seeing lots more of them. And let me tell you: Miss Pinto is one of the most beautiful young girls I've ever seen. I mean she is stunningly beautiful. And if you go see this film - and I really hope you do - be sure and stay through the credits. That's all I'll say about that!

Tomorrow, I'm taking a day "off" work…because I have so much work to do! Allow me to explain: I've ask my New York peeps if they can "fill-in" for me and do all my daily writing tomorrow because here's ALL I have on my schedule: I'll be right back at the Four Seasons for the Transporter 3 junket, then at 5:30p I'm going to see Twilight (I know, I know Katelin, Aly, just about every other teen girl I know, I wish I could take you all), then immediately after that, I have to race across town to see the new Sean Penn movie, Milk, which I hear is very good. Sean Penn has always been one of my favorite actors anyway, so I'm really looking forward to it. CRAZY busy day tomorrow! I'll tell you about it on Saturday…maybe, because Saturday I have the Milk junket, the Twilight junket AND a 5:30p interview with the very cool young singer/songwriter Brett Dennen, who I first saw and heard at last summer's Coachella Festival, followed by his concert at one of my favorite L.A. venues, the Hotel Café in Hollywood. I know, pretty boring, huh!

Peace!

Three words: YES HE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11/5/08 Three words: YES HE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In between wiping away tears last night, I was calling and texting both my daughters, sharing with them true history in the making! I'm soooooooo proud of this country for making the creed that ALL men are created equal truer than it's ever been. All things are possible: LIFE IS GOOD!!!!

Just got back from another screening, but at least this time, we were treated to food and drinks before the movie. The venue was unique: a nightclub in the heart of Hollywood. They set up a large screen in what would normally be the dance floor so that a handful of us could watch Transporter 3. This movie is definitely not my cup of tea. Yep, people and cars fly in this movie and, oh, I don't know, about 50 people get killed!! The bottom line: if you like violent video games, you'll love this movie. As for me, thank god I had good food and a couple of glasses of wine, otherwise the night would have been a complete waste of my time.

Tomorrow I get to talk to the cast of Slumdog Millionaire. That I'm looking forward to.

Peace!

ELECTION DAY!!!

11/4/08 ELECTION DAY!!! I'm hoping today turns out to be a VERY historic day for this country! I've been a proud Barack backer since day one and though I still have no voice – literally – I will be leaving in just a few minutes to lend my voice – symbolically – to what I hope will be an Obama win tonight!

Last night began a very crammed movie week. Thankfully, I saw not one but two GREAT, GREAT (yes, TWO greats for EACH film) movies. If Slumdog Millionaire isn't in the Oscars hunt, it would be a crime. What a fantastic film, one I HIGHLY recommend. Without giving anything away, a kid who grows up in the slums of Bombay eventually goes on to win $1 million of India's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. But that's not the story…the real story is how he did it and the journey he takes to get to where he ends up. Just a fantastic film!

The second great, great movie I saw yesterday was actually a documentary called Pray the Devil Back to Hell, an amazing true story of a group of African women who band together and demand an end to civil war in Liberia. This will be one of those incredible movies that you will not find at the local megaplex, so go out and find it and do yourself a favor: watch this movie in order to once again be educated on and convinced that non-violent protest does work. Remember: revolution begins in your own heart!

Peace!

VOODOO CHILLY: FANS EXPERIENCE HENDRIX IN L.A.!

11/3/08 I hope you can hear me. ☺ I SAID I HOPE YOU CAN HEAR ME!!! ☺ Last night I COMPLETELY lost my voice at the Experience Hendrix concert at the beautiful but very chilly outdoor Greek Theatre. No, I didn't lose my voice yelling and screaming at the show, I lost it because I've been sick for a few days now and the cold night air certainly didn't help matters much. So when Bill Thomas, my longtime friend Jackie Gilman's husband, came over here to meet me for the show, I'd already lost my voice. So I would not have been able to yell and scream even if I wanted to.

But enough about me, let me tell you about the show. Buddy Guy was amazing! Kenny Wayne Shepherd was fantastic! Jonny Lang was amazing! Robby Krieger of The Doors was spectacular! Eric Johnson was sensational! And Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, a VERY special surprise guest, was outstanding! All those great guitarists, plus many more, and Jimi Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Billy Cox, played Hendrix music all night! And it was awesome! I'm so happy Bill enjoyed the show so much, and even happier that we got a chance to go backstage after at the end of the night and we got a chance to say hello to Brad and Eric, and to take a couple of pictures with both! Once again, here's my piece on the entire evening. Life is very, very good!!

VOODOO CHILLY: FANS EXPERIENCE HENDRIX IN L.A.!

Last night, the unseasonably cold – for California – yet always beautiful Greek Theatre in Los Angeles played host to an array of hot guitar players, all on stage and under the stars on a crisp November night celebrating the music and legacy of one superstar, Jimi Hendrix, as part of the traveling Experience Hendrix tour. The evening's highlights included Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, former Hendrix collaborators Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox and guitar wizard Jonny Lang doing a red-hot version of "Fire," Kenny Wayne Shepherd performing six-string magic on "Voodoo Child" and Hendrix influence Buddy Guy smoking on "Red House." Other Hendrix disciples paying tribute to the original guitar hero last night included The Doors' Robby Krieger, Eric Johnson, Cesar Rojas and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, Doyle Bramhall II and Eric Gales. The Experience Hendrix tour moves on to San Francisco tonight, Wednesday to Spokane, WA, Thursday to Seattle and Friday to Portland, OR.

Peace!

10/31/08 I'm a big believer that everything happens for a reason. Last night I had a wonderful time with Bree at the beautiful Pasadena Playhouse where we saw her friend Mimi Kennedy in the great one-woman play The Lady with All the Answers, the story of advice columnist Ann Landers. I had no idea until I saw this play how very cool Ann Landers was in real life. She was very hip, very forward thinking for her time. Kudos to Mimi for a great job! We went backstage to say hello after the show and after exchanging hellos and congratulations, we decided to go out and celebrate with a margarita…or two, where we got into a long and wonderful discussion about this Tuesday's election. Mimi is just as cool – and intelligent – as Bree is on all current affairs. It was fantastic to sit and listen to these two very smart women talk about stuff so near and dear to my heart as well. VOTE!

OK, so I told you earlier that I believe everything happens for a reason. This morning I was supposed to talk to Paris Hilton about her piece of crap movie, Repo! The Genetic Opera. Well much to my delight, when I got to the hotel where the press junket was being held, A) it turned out they decided to make it one big press conference with several cast members, but B) there were NO microphones set up for us radio guys to record sound. So guess what I did: I split faster than you can say…REPO!…uh, ME GO…HOME!! And I did. The studio people apologized left and right, and I let them, but I was happy not to have to talk to a seemingly "dumb blonde" (which, sadly, she is) about a dumb movie. I went home to finish my daily writing so I could be ready for Sunday night's Experience Hendrix concert at the Greek Theatre. I'm happy that I'll be taking Bill Thomas, my former St Joseph's School classmate Jackie Gilman's husband, with me. It will give me another chance to thank him – and her – for all the work they did for our reunion about a month back.

Peace!

10/29/08 Three nights ago, I was in the same room with Bono from U2, a man, who as anybody who's ever met me for 5 minutes knows, I admire tremendously, not just for the great songs he writes, records and performs, but for all of his fantastic work as a social activist, fighting against the spread of AIDS in Africa and working to eradicate poverty through his many charitable organizations, including the ONE Campaign, of which I'm a proud member. Well this morning I was on the phone with Shakira, someone I consider to be the Bono of Latin America, for all the same reasons I admire Bono, only her efforts are focused on helping children in Latin America. Picture the scene: It was 9 in the morning, I'm sitting at my computer desk, still in my PJs and I called into a special phone number to be a part of a nationwide conference call in which Shakira was talking about her efforts to stimulate and promote early childhood development and erase hunger and poverty. I'm on the phone….TALKING TO SHAKIRA!!!! It really doesn't get much better than that. She's bright, caring, informed, compassionate, passionate and extremely talented…and sexy as hell!! And she's on the other end of my telephone!! Pinch me! No, really, Shakira, PLEASE pinch me! ☺

God, on the COMPLETELY other end of that spectrum, this Friday I get to…make that, I HAVE to speak with Paris Hilton. She has an absolutely crappy new movie coming out called Repo! The Genetic Opera that is supposed to be a cross between Rocky Horror Picture Show and Blade Runner. I've seen it: it's a cross between really bad and horrible!

Thankfully, I've got something much more exciting coming up this Thursday: Bree has invited me to join her for the one-woman play The Lady with All the Answers, the Ann Landers story, starring Bree's friend Mimi Kennedy (the mom on Dharma & Greg).

Peace!

KINGS FOR A DAY: BONO, EDGE SHARPEN BLUES SKILLS!

10/27/08 Last night I was in the same room with Bono and the Edge from U2! Normally that would be all I would need to write to make this quite possibly the absolute BEST post in the brief history of this blog, but obviously this deserves further explanation. I was invited to cover last night's Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz's tribute to B.B. King and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen at the Kodak Theatre here in Los Angeles. That was cool enough, but when I heard Bono and The Edge were going to be on hand as surprise guests, presenters and, possibly, performers, well, my ass was down there faster than Michael Phelps through water!! And man, was I glad I went. Bono and Edge first showed up onstage to accept Allen's award, Bono joking, "We're not as smart as him, but we're certainly better looking." But later in the show, the real fun – and reason probably most of the crowd, including myself, was there – began when the two joined B.B. King onstage for a very loose but very cool version of "When Loves Comes To Town," originally found on U2's Rattle and Hum album, featuring of course, Mr. B.B. King, who also performed the song with U2 in the Rattle and Hum movie. Later still, Bono and Edge came back onstage to join a whole host of incredible musicians, including B.B. once more, for a rollicking good time version of the blues standard "Let the Good Times Roll." With the biggest smile on my face and spring in my step, I practically floated out of the Kodak Theatre, down Hollywood Blvd. and down to the Metro Rail train stop to catch the train back to my small apartment, where once again, alone and in complete silence, I just had to say to myself: Life is Good! Here's my review of the evening.

KINGS FOR A DAY: BONO, EDGE SHARPEN BLUES SKILLS!

U2 members Bono and the Edge last night helped honor blues legend B.B. King and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the latter two receiving special awards at the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz's The Blues and Jazz: Two American Classics Gala Concert. The two Irish rockers accepted Allen's Herbie Hancock Humanitarian Award, Bono quipping, "We're not as smart as him, but we're certainly better looking," while Edge called blues and jazz the "greatest gifts" America had given to music. Later, they joined King onstage for a spirited, spiritual, and eventual soulful version of U2's "When Love Comes To Town," a song off Rattle and Hum that Bono said was released "20 years ago this month…and B.B. told me then the lyrics were 'very deep for a young guy.' I'm not so young now, but I hope they're still deep coming from B.B.'s voice like a volcano." Later still, Bono and Edge came back onstage with B.B., Robert Cray, Keb'Mo, Hancock, keyboardist George Duke, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and a stage-full of fellow performers, who Bono said would have to "slum it tonight" to play with these two "very white Irishmen," for the very appropriately titled evening closer, "Let the Good Times Roll." The evening was taped for future broadcast, details to be announced soon.

Peace!