Yum

This past weekend we went to Philly's Best for lunch. We have been there before and enjoyed their Philly Cheese steaks. I seem to enjoy it more each time that we go and now I think I know why! I realized that the combo of the meat, onions, and bread reminds me of White Castle! Out here in California we don't have White Castle. It's one of those restaurants I crave sometimes, but I can't get my fix(I haven't tried the frozen ones at the grocery store, but I somehow find it hard to believe that it tastes as good). It's funny, because when I lived near one, I hardly ever went. Now all I need is to find a pizza that tastes like Pizza King!!!

White People

I found this hilarious new blog today while reading the L.A. Times online. The blog is called "Stuff White People Like". It's written by a white guy who pokes fun at things that white people like. It's a very funny read. My favorites are #30 - Apple products, and #40 Wrigley Field.
You must check it out!
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

Late Night Dinner

On Saturday, we were invited to a birthday dinner for one of CJ's friends. It was at this restaurant called Melrose Bar & Grill. The reservations weren't until 9:00 PM, so we ate ahead of time. We did order a small pizza to snack on. It was good, and everyone else said that their food was good. It was a nice little restaurant, and I think I would try it again.

Spotted - Reality Edition

This weekend I decided to do my patriotic duty and boost the U.S. economy by going shopping. Although I'm sure I didn't make a dent in the economy, it sure made a dent in my wallet.

So I went to a mall called The Beverly Center. While I was there, I saw a couple people from reality shows. First off, as I was leaving H&M, I spotted Danny Noriega from the current season of American Idol. He was there picking out an outfit with what I assume was a stylist and a body guard. I know that contestants gets a budget each week they are on the show to buy an outfit for their upcoming performance. Seeing him really wasn't exiting, but the thought that the rest of the contestants might also be in the mall for what I call, "group shop", was interesting!

There are 2 contestants on the show that are from Indiana. The female contestant lives right outside Lafayette in Mulberry (where my mom and brother live), and the guy is from Crawfordsville (an hour outside Lafayette). So, like a 12 year old girl, I walked around the mall looking for those two (mainly the female). I thought it would be fun to talk to the girl from Mulberry. Unfortunately, I didn't see anyone else from the show.



I also saw Lynn and Alex from the Amazing Race Season 7. I rooted for them when they were on the show, but they were eliminated towards the end of the show. If you care, they were shopping for pants in Express!

BBQ

We went to this BBQ place on Monday called The Bear Pit. I liked the old fashion sign, so I decided to take a picture.

It's one of these down home restaurants where they smoke the meat in the back and they have sawdust on the floor. They had very good food. It was a cool place. I highly recommend you go there if you live in the area!

Spotted

This "Spotted" actually has a funny story to it! This character actor above is Jeff Garlin. Jeff has been in many television shows and movies. I know him best from the HBO series, Curb Your Enthusiasm. He plays Larry David's agent and friend on the show. I know that he was also in the movie, Daddy Day Care.

So while we were in Hollywood waiting for the Wicked drawing (see post below), we decided to look around the Hollywood Farmer's Market. We are walking around and I see Jeff sitting at a table eating. CJ, Chris and I were a good distance away from him. I have them look over at him and confirm that it was Jeff Garlin. They both recognize him, but we couldn't think of his name at the time.

As we are walking away, a woman walks by and says, "His name is Jeff. I overheard you talking about it... and I'm his wife!" She kept walking as if it was no big deal. For a second I felt embarrassed. Then I remember seeing that he was wearing a Cubs hat, so I said, "That's awesome that he's a Cub's fan!" Apparently, that got her attention. She abruptly stopped and asked if we were from Chicago. I said no, but we are from Indiana. She said that they are from Chicago and that her parents now live in La Porte, Indiana. So we had a quick chat about Indiana and that was it. It was just a funny little occurence that I didn't expect.

Wicked

I'm not much of a musical theater person. I've never been to a musical in my life. I saw the movie Chicago when it came out, and I enjoyed it. On Sunday, CJ's friend, Chris, asked us if we wanted to stand in line to try and get tickets to see the musical, Wicked, down in Hollywood.

Before every performance, the theater conducts a lottery where they sell unsold tickets at a discounted price. If you win, you can purchase front-row center tickets for only $25 each. It is a great deal, so we decided to try it out. We put our names into the drawing with 80 other people, who also showed up that morning. They announced that they had 26 seats available. We waited around for a half hour to see if we won. Unfortunately, luck was not on our side that day. None of us were selected to buy tickets, so we did not get to see the show. We might try again on a different weekend. We'll see!

Dinner

CJ & I went out for dinner on Saturday night with our friend, Alli. We went to Saddle Ranch Chop House at Universal Citywalk. It was a strange night. While we waited for our table employees from the restaurant came up to us and asked if we wanted them to buy us shots!!! This happened twice, but we turned them down both times. I don't think any of us felt like drinking.
Then, CJ and Alli ordered 1/2 a chicken each. Unfortunately, you can only see my freakishly huge baked potato in the picture! Then there was some drunken couple sitting across from us making out in front of everyone. Also, the old TVs were playing music videos from the mid 1990's that looked like they had recorded them on a VHS tape and had played them over and over again. I think it's time for an upgrade!!!
All in all it was a fun night though!

It's Over!

I'm glad the writer's strike is over!!! As an "aspiring" writer and someone who works for a union, I was behind them all the way. I certainly don't blame them for wanting a piece of the new digital media that the studios are (and in increasing amounts in the future) profiting from. It has been said that it has cost the local economy upwards of $2 billion dollars since the strike started in November. I must admit, as the strike progressed over the last few weeks, I did get a little worried for CJ. As many of you know, CJ works for Warner Brothers Studio in the Payroll Department. There were many people let go from their jobs with the studio due to the strike. Luckily, CJ's department was never touched. I guess those who were still around wanted to make sure they got paid!!!

I'm glad to see the writer's back to work, because with the local toll on the economy, and the sagging national economy, I was starting to get a little worried.

Check It Out

Everyone needs to check out CJ's new and improved blog, C to the J. Since he got his new Mac laptop last week he has been hard at work designing his new blog. You can check it out by clicking on the link on the right side of my page.

Don't Forget

Remember to watch Jericho, Tuesday night at 10:00 PM on CBS.

If you don't, the above picture will probably happen to the show! Boom!

UPDATE!!! Here is a great cheat sheet you can use to catch up on what happened in Season 1.

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20177518,00.html

Rip, Rip, Rip

This weekend, I finally completed a project I have slowly been working for two years. In order to get music transferred to my iPod, I first have to get the music onto my computer. I had about 3000 songs on the computer before this weekend. Over the last two years I have slowly been ripping my CDs onto the computer so I can transfer them. I still had lots of CDs I needed to transfer, so I decided to actually do it this weekend.

It took a while, but I transferred the rest of my CDs and ended up adding 1300 more songs to the computer. Now I have my entire CD collection on my computer and iPod.

I'm so glad that is over!!!

Spotted

Raven Symone was at the Sherman Oaks mall today. You may know her from the Cosby Show or her more recent television show on the Disney Channel.



Her hair was a scary mess, but celebs can look bad too!

Jericho

Everyone must watch Jericho. It is a really good show that was cancelled at the end of last season right when it was getting good. Luckily, a letter writing campaign, along with pounds upon ponds of nuts being sent to CBS (long story), convinced the network to bring back the show mid-season. If the ratings are good, they will give it more episodes next season.

The show deals with a town that is cut off from the rest of the U.S. after a series of nuclear bombs are set off around America. The town has to deal with surviving and defending themselves from outlaw groups when there is no longer order around the country.

The show premieres this Tuesday, February 12 at 10 PM on CBS!

Even better, if you know someone with a Nielson box, tell them to watch the show!!

Super Bowl

Today, most people are watching the Super Bowl. Since the Colts are not in it this year, I don't really care about the game. So we decided to go to the grocery store and do some other shopping during the game. I thought that no one would be at the store and we could breeze right in and out without all the annoying people. To my surprise, the 90 million people who watch the Super Bowl don't live in So Cal. The stores were just as busy as a normal Sunday. Oh well, so much for that idea!

I did end up watching some of the game, but I think I watched more of the Puppy Bowl and Kitten Halftime Show. I guess dogs and cats are more interesting than football.

Hike

On Saturday we went for a hike in Griffith Park. It was a nice day and we needed some fresh air. As you can see, there are some good views from this area.

You will also notice the results of the Griffith Park fire last May. It's good to see that some vegetation is starting to grow back.