Be it faux-hawks, dancing, or the city of Florence, the cast members of "Jersey Shore" love to declare everything their "best thing". Here are some of MY Best Things.
Peter Bart wrote this very interesting article which I read in yesterday's Variety. It brought back floods of memories from the three and a half years I lived behind "the Blvd":
The first time I saw the block being prepped for the Oscars (so exciting!)
The first time I saw the title & posters of a movie I worked on plastered all over the marquee at the El Capitan (also so exciting!)
Working & attending premieres & parties at Gauman's, El Cap and The Roosevelt Hotel
Altering my plans/driving routes to avoid the traffic clusterf*%&s caused by those premieres
Realizing that the Santa/Christmas play area was actually a Scientology recruitment area
Shlepping coolers of snacks and wine through the madness, up Highland, to the Bowl
Hiding beverages in the bushes of the Roosevelt before going inside (and then maybe or maybe not retrieving them later)
Getting pizza at 2 am with my neighbor (and now roomie) on the walk home from the clubs
Finding a fly baked into my cone at the gelato shop (why do so many of my memories involve food?)
Free concerts thanks to Jimmy Kimmel's outdoor musical segments
Dodging tourists
Dodging street performers
Dodging those annoying/terrifying characters (seriously - Spiderman would climb on the scaffolding in order to be more in-your-face). If you don't believe me READ THIS!
I could go on and on.
As I'm guessing all transplants with Hollywood dreams do, I felt excited and inspired when I first visited the Walk of Fame. Seeing the names/stars of all my Hollywood "idols" and believing it would be me one day was just so super cool. Sadly it lost its luster as time wore on and I started to feel a little bit of pity for the tourists who came there expecting... well, something more. But I am very glad to hear that "Iris" is having a positive effect on the area. I hope the renovations bring new life & energy to Grauman's, and I will definitely head back that way to catch the promised documentary. In the meantime, here's a couple old pictures from The Blvd that I managed to dig up:
my very first time on The Blvd (with an In-N-Out beverage of course) - posing with Marty Scorcese's star on the Walk of Fame and avoiding the Storm Trooper a few feet away
aforementioned Oscar prep
Maybe one day someone will blog a photo of themselves posing w/my star.................... ;-)
While perusing CNN.com today I randomly came across this article which I think anyone with "the bug" should read. I was definitely expecting a mention of the Chinese tea scam that I fell victim to in Shanghai (more on that later). That wasn't the case, but I had to share it anyway for multiple reasons.
1. "Never just get on a random guy's camel." Priceless advice.
2. I've visited NYC 5 or 6 times, have done lots of wandering around in the city, but have never met a "CD Bully". They sound wayyyy more aggressive than the Scaries on Hollywood Blvd. (yes, I made up that word, no I'm not the only one who doesn't like them - read this for the full story). To my NY friends: have you ever been accosted? What did you do?!?
3. It's unbelievably sad that people are so desperate that they have resorted to throwing fake babies.
Anyway, as I mentioned, the article also reminded me of the time I got duped in China - a story I'm happy to share, despite it revealing my incredible naivety, if it prevents just one person from falling into the same trap. Here's the setup: I was traveling by myself for a week in China before having to report to Base Camp/"set" on a television show I worked on that shot in the country for a couple months. I wasn't new to foreign countries, but this was my first time traveling completely alone without speaking the language (and the locals didn't speak English. At all). So I was actually feeling pretty proud of myself for having successfully navigated/explored Hong Kong and made it to Shanghai without any hiccups.
After a healthy breakfast of peanut butter cracker sandwiches (my stomach wasn't as happy as I was to be in China), I boarded the Shanghai metro near my hostel and rode to the center of the city. When I got off the train I was a little disoriented so I got out my map and my Lonely Planet and sat down in the public square to get my bearings. Mistake #1. I mean, the only quicker way to write "TOURIST" on my forehead would have been TO WRITE "TOURIST" ON MY FOREHEAD.
I was then approached by a girl and two guys - all Chinese and probably a couple years younger than me - who spoke a little English and were very friendly. They said they were from another part of the country and it was their first time in Shanghai as well. They sat down with me and asked where I was trying to go. I pointed to the museum in my book (which happened to be directly across the street. Woops. I would've figured it out eventually. I think.). The girl, who was doing most of the talking, said it was closed this particular morning and I should come with them to a nearby tea ceremony they were going to instead. What the hell, I thought, it's not like I have a schedule I have to stick to, it sounds interesting, and these kids seem really nice. Mistake #2. *sigh* It seems so obvious in retrospect, but apparently the whole "don't talk to strangers" rule didn't apply for me in China.
At this point I actually asked themif they could show me where the bank was so I could exchange some money. My unfounded confidence had officially turned into stupidity. Thinking back on it I am kinda shocked they didn't just steal my money right then and there, but I suppose there were so many people around that they couldn't have gotten away with it.
Anyway, we then proceeded to the tea ceremony itself where my memory gets a little fuzzy (note: not in a "they drugged me" way, but in a "everyone's speaking Chinese and I don't understand a single thing that's going on" way). They probably did show me a menu of some kind (other folks with similar stories tell of not being shown a menu), but it didn't matter because I couldn't read it and didn't understand the RMB to USD conversion having only been on the mainland <24 hours. There were lots of teas of varying colors and scents and the girl who had initially approached me would try to explain in English what they were. One of the types of tea, which just looked like a dry clump of leaves, opened and blossomed into a beautiful flower when the server poured hot water over it. Superfun! I, happy to be having an "authentic" Chinese experience and blissfully unaware of the shadiness behind it, sipped all the teas presented to me and then picked out some gifts to bring back home to friends and family. When the bill came I do remember thinking that it was unusually high, but I really thought that I was just misunderstanding the conversion. Mistake #3. So I paid with my BofA debit card, walked out with my new "friends" who told me that the museum I originally wanted to go to was now open, and went on my merry way.
Obviously I had no idea I was being scammed - I even took "look at this cool thing I did" pictures of the whole thing:
It wasn't until a couple weeks later when I was finally settled in at Base Camp and connected to the internet that I logged onto my bank account online and saw the damage. I've blocked out the actual number from my memory because it was that horrific, but I kid you not it was in the $400 range. FOR A TEA TASTING AND SOME TRINKETS. To put this in perspective, cab rides in China cost me about $1-3 USD. Hostel stays in China cost me no more than $15-20/night USD. 5-star hotel suites with TVs in the bathtubs in China cost me about $60/night USD. NOTHING, with perhaps the exception of a house or small child, I did or bought in China should've cost me $400.
Apparently, and unfortunately, this is a pretty common scam. I first heard that it was happening to other people when an article came out prior to the Beijing Olympics warning westerners. Now there are even videos on youtube of similar experiences. This guy actually went back:
But hey, you live and you learn, right? At least I can say with full conviction that I will never EVER make the same mistake again.
A friend posted this fantastic article written by the Sage of Omaha himself on FB today. I must say, it's really refreshing to hear from someone actually IN that top-most of tiers, as opposed to pundits/reporters/commentators/people-who-don't-know-what-they're-talking-about who claim to know what is best for everyone. I truly hope that this piece is put in front of all members of the "Super Congress," and is read by anyone protesting tax increases for the super rich.
Readers, have any of you ever met W. Buffett? I bet he's awesomesauce. I mean, he frequents Dairy Queen - which is like, my best thing (circa 1993)!
