louise on the left (coast)

I adore everything this Lucy Pepper puts her talents to: Here's her version of " A very silly story, inspired by 51 twittersourced things. " 51 from lucy pepper on Vimeo . Enjoy.

So, my husband sent me a link to a new video ( Born Free  by M.I.A.) for a couple of reasons: One, because he knows I have always been a huge fan of Costa-Gavras's work , and the video is, interestingly, made by   Romain- Gavras ,   his son who is clearly a chip off the old block. In fact, this video, Born Free, is the second politically controversial video he's made, the first being a video of a song called Stress by the group, Justice. (I guess there's a lot of pissed off gang kids in France these days making Clockwork Orange look like just a bad shopping day at The Block At Orange.) *Personal note* Digression I happen to love political drama. I must have seen Missing and The Music Box , and Pan's Labyrinth (made not by Costas-Gavras, but Guillermo Del Toro) about 5 times each.   I have always felt that artists and storytellers should use their talents to help contribute back to the community they live in on a global level. I know there's such

Amazing dueling footage of Mother Earth's astonishing fury, both real and as imagined by Disney. (Note first clip of visible shockwaves from  the crater at Eyjafjallajökull.) Other than when you saw Disney's Fantasia, when have you ever before  seen  red glowing lava as well as volcanic bombs flying through the air? Then again, you could always skip real life and fast-forward to Disney's  Fantasia's Rite Of Spring : I think I need the soundtrack of "Dueling Banjo's," here...

My life has been really upside down lately, and rather mixed up and as a result I've not done much blogging as of late. I've tried to learn more technological bells and whistles which, unfortunately have only served to make blogging that much more messy.   I apologize for this.  Hopefully, I'll be up to speed before long. In lieu of having anything of importance to say about the state of the world, or anything funny to share, I decided to go back in time and hunt down a recording of the first real "grown up" song I can ever remember coveting...And I can tell you that it was off of a great "hippie" album of one of my aunts and uncles, called "Take A Giant Step" by Taj Mahal.  I LOVED this album.  Still do.  And I think the entire message of this song sums up who I have always been, and who I will always be. I adore this song. Wish I had something live post.  If anyone can find a live video of Taj Mahal playing this live, I can't tell y

I specifically asked people (whose taste I still trust and respect) for the name of a place to eat at which would not be generic "or Hooters" to entertain someone from out of town while they were in the area, which is how I found Miceli's Restaurant. Here's my review of dinner out. Micelis' Restaurant  is definitely not your run-of-the-the-mill, urban strip mall eatery, like the over-priced crap on Universal City Walk.  However, it is the kind of Italian dive I could imagine shooting Bonnie Blakely in.   Add to this it also hosts what I would call the worst lounge bar in the world. I mean, to me, nothing says "nice dinner out" like trying to order pasta over screeched show tunes from "Annie" while being accompanied by a lounge band. The bizarrely over-priced Italian ambience does not stop there, either, in fact the entire restaurant looks  like a 1984 backdrop to a summer stock version of "Lady and the Tramp."  Red candle

In praise of  The Red Balloon , t h e a ward winning film,   Le Ballon Rouge   by  Albert Lamorisse. And, this is also in praise for those who bring the beauty of primary colors into our everyday world. Below are a few clips each of which contain different scores inspired by this classic children's film, which I find interesting. But, here's a link to the original classic film,  The Red Balloon , as it was first released which obviously is equally as beautiful. (Grainy, but perhaps my favorite selection) And, finally there's this version: City Breathing: The Red Balloon . (Brooklyn Indie Band) If you have never seen this The Red Balloon , then you must.  It's perhaps the perfect film about love and loss, and having faith in a better tomorrow.

Okay, I know I missed out on the cool quota by not setting foot outside Orange County once during the entire Coachella 2010 festival,  but, hey -- I can rock the house just fine myself, thank you very much! I'll let you in on more details of our Girl Film Fest right here - but right now I have to share this cool clip of funky mixter djs that I really like. Meet CDC: Some cool guy mash up mixers

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Yesterday and today I get to play "Judge" at this year's CSULB 2010 TheatreFes t!   (Question I could see on the faces of the competing groups: Was I a "Kara, Randy, "E" or a SIMON???" (Answer:  None of them in person, since every performance was on paper.  So on paper I would say I was mostly Ellen, a little of Randy and a little of Simon.  I wasn't dressed in enough bling to be Kara.) So, yeah, yesterday I saw 30+ comedic scenes by So. Cal. High School kids, and today I get to see even more comedic monologues. Lots of great talent out there! Local theater kids everywhere need to step up their game because the competition is fierce! :o) (To learn more about the CSULB TheatreFest competition click here .) Today I get to judge Comedic Monologues today and I'm really looking forward to it! Such great energy out there and some really talented kids.  It's always a huge surprise who jumps out with the best performance.  I learn

Semifinalists from Finnish TV show Kuorosota, engage in battle of choirs with unique performance of Bad Romance,  by Lady Gaga. - Hurry up and Finnish already.

Two trailers for new HBO's new show "Treme." Just now saw first episode of  "Treme," (pronounced "treh-may") and I'm telling you the show is AMAZING.  Set your DVR's, folks. "Treme" is a great example of how art can play an important role in our society getting us to care about the right stuff.  Art should always throw serve to throw a spotlight on subjects of importance:  And in this case, the subject is New Orleans.  And I love the context of the telling of this story, starting three mos. post-Katrina.  Brilliant context. "Treme" manages remind us why New Orleans is still the crown jewel of America's best cities.  And by doing so serves to both archive and reveal some of it's lesser known, quirky treasures.  Things not everyone even knows, yet. New Orleans's survival is connected to it staying on our radar. It needs artists and story tellers to keep reminding us that it's still there

K. C. and the Sunshine Band: Never a favorite band, but for me, an evocative one. Random memories this song makes me flashback to: "Jazz Dance." 1978.   The NCSA snack bar.  9:00 P.M. Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Me and Betty Ann Byerly laughing so hard we peed in our pants. Dopey character shoes, Capezio wrap skirts and endless, black leotards.   (Worse: Black leotards on guys !)  *Note:* Any male ceases to be "hot" once they've shown up to acting class exposing their skanky bare feet and wearing a black leotard.  It's all a terribly cruel prank by acting teachers in full mid-life crisis to make young men do this. BTW:  Betty Ann Byerly was the most fun I've had domesticating with someone that did not result in marriage.   Going to the mall, pranking old ladies telling them we missed them at church last week, and how were their kids doing, anyway?  Then watch them struggle to deal with this, clearly never having met us, but not being

Separated at birth? Tiger Woods  Napoleon Dynamite

For the first time in almost two years, Tina Fey reprised her her portrayal of Sarah Palin this weekend on SNL this time sending up Sarah Palin's new TLC Show "Sarah Palin's Alaska." She also introduced another fake SNL show supposedly a spinoff involving her husband  (played by Jason Seudeikis),   as an outlaw cop transplanted from Alaska in NYC. Was it as funny this time as it was the first time she did it?   Oh, I don't know.  The problem is, I find anything to do with Palin less and less funny as she wiggles her way into our lives at every given turn, even when someone as  brilliant as Fey juggles her missteps so cleverly into her comic portrayals of Ms. Palin.

So, we have this really bizarrely shaped back yard with almost 300 feet of ugly cement that exposes our home to way too much of our neighbor's property.  I hate it. Last year I tried planting something called "creeping fig" to disguise the "Oh, wow!  So, this is what Jail looks like" essence of our landscape design. Here are a few more photos Pete took today of our backyard and I'm taking some landscape design suggestions from who ever wants to offer them for a cool way to bring the concept of privacy and green-eco appeal to our backyard. Design goals: Privacy, beauty, drought tolerant plantings native to Southern California. Design Obstacles:  Cost.  Too sophisticated labor.  It has to be something I can do. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Yesterday, our family took a spin down to Escondido to the San Diego Wild Animal Park , for what I can only say was an amazing day. But, the high spot of the journey was watching this little guy -- nuzzle with his mom. (Note: I don't understand why, but Blogspot has changed it's format recently and I can't upload photos up here like I used to.  So, here's a link to my facebook page's photo albums to see my photos.) The video is from a few months ago,  but he's really not much bigger these days. And there's another very hungry mommy elephant currently on "baby alert" who I can vouch was certainly "eating for two," yesterday -- This place is so beautifully, and ethically constructed. Why can't all zoos be as loving and respectful of the animals and the environment as the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Zoo ? The entire message there was one of caring for the world and conservation.  The really make sure all the visitors