WEEk 45: Nov. 4th - Voting Afterparty

I know the political world is a frustrating topic for many of us, especially in this time of economic hardship. But I'm interested to know in who everyone voted for (though I believe it's a no-brainer since we all live in LA.) That aside, we could also put in our two cents about the various propositions being passed, etc. Politics... debates... what a heavy subject. So bring your favorite [alcoholic] drink and let's party like it's the 1920's....

WHAT: Voting Afterparty
WHEN: Tuesday, November 4th at 8:00 PM
WHERE: My apt.

Even if you can't come to my Voting Afterparty, I hope you all vote. Your opinion slightly counts in this country, after all.

As an extra bonus, I'm letting you in on the other event I'll be doing during the week.

WHAT: Container Gardening Class
WHEN: Saturday, November 8th at 1:00 PM
WHERE: In the American Cement Building- 2404 Wilshire Boulevard, 4H, Los Angeles, CA 90057

About the class:
You don't need a huge backyard to grow a sizable portion of your own
food. There are ways to grow food even in small spaces. Learn about
types of containers to use, equipment needed, the right soil, when to
plant which seedlings and how best to deal with problems such as too
much or too little sunlight. Each student will receive a mix of lettuces,
herbs and edible flowers to plant their own salad gardens. Please bring a
wide and shallow clay pot with a hole in the bottom to the class for your
salad garden (12 inches wide; 6 inches deep).

For more info on other Homegrown classes: http://www.homegrownlosangeles.com/home.html

REVIEW on WEEK 44: Tarot Card Reading

We started the night with the Reading. I set the table up with an old package design project I did called Casting Shadow, which combines the four elements into different elements used in casting spells - candles (fire/Salamander), incense (air/Sylph), plants/herbs (earth/Gnome), and oil (water/Siren). I lit a couple white candles between the tarot reading section, and placed a 4 elements poster behind me as the backdrop. Incense burned in the living room. Appropriately dressed like a gypsy, I gave each guest one reading - the week-ahead reading, which, as appropriately named, gave us some insight on how their weeks would progress. Such themes included love, finances, work, and friendship.

Following the reading we played some Mario Kart on the Wii, followed by the horror/suspense/thriller "The Skeleton Key," a movie to which I like introducing people. If you haven't seen it, the ending's twist is always the best part, and everything is very clear. One of my favorites to watch around this Halloweeny time of year.

---- STATISTICS -----
People attended: 3
Time alloted: 3.5 hours

----- RATING ----- (out of 5 stars)

Overall Experience: 4.0


Also, some photos from Friday's Kids Party at Nick, along with the other festivities that day, like pumpkin carving and costume contests:










FUN FUN FUN!!!

REVIEW on WEEK 43: Halloween-Birthday Bash

The guys spent about three weeks decorating for the party. I helped with some of the painting, lighting, etc. And it turned out pretty good: Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Nightmare Before Christmas, Peter Pan, Swiss Family Robinson, Sleeping Beauty, among more generic Halloween themes. People were dressed as various Disney characters like Mickey/Minnie, Belle, Jasmine, Tiger Lily, Tinker Bell, Jack Sparrow, etc. And the non-Disney: Benjamin Franklin, A Penguin and a Penis, and usual sexy-girl costumes. Deane and I went as Roger Rabbit and Jessica Rabbit. My first time doing a couples-costume. We received plenty of compliments. I'm happy with how our costumes turned out. It's amazing how much potential thrift stores have.

As far as the actual party, Vinyl Candy performed a few songs, and we followed that up with a birthday cake (raspberry mousse) for Justin and Pete. I wanted to do some other events, but people seemed more into the drinking and socializing. I'm more of an "everybody get together and do the same thing" type of party. So I was a bit disappointed when none of my activities prevailed. No apple-bobbing, though I used some of the apples to make "poison apples." No pumpkin-carving/decorating, though I had gotten the pumpkins and the carving/painting supplies. No costume contest, though I had bought plenty of prizes for all the contests. Ah well. I guess I can save them for Tuesday night, or another night of fun!

----- STATISTICS -----
People attended: 50+
Time alloted: 4.5+ hours

----- RATING ----- (out of 5 stars)

Overall Experience: 4.0 (because my activities only survived in my head.)

WEEK 44: Oct. 28th - Scary Movie and Tarot Card Reading

I'm ready for a relaxing night in. Come to my apartment for scary movies and games, and a Tarot Card Reading by yours truly - Madame Rochelle. If you have a suggestion for a movie, let me know or bring it in!

WHAT: Scary Movie Night and Tarot Card Reading
WHEN: Tuesday, October 28th at 8:00 PM
WHERE: My Apt.

*Note: This is all in traditional fun/entertainment. I've never read Tarot cards for anyone, so take what I say as pure entertainment. I am not a psychic (not professionally, anyway) just as you are not a mindless monkey waiting for me to tell you how to live your life or what to believe (at least I hope not.)

FYI: We will be researching our astrological signs as well (in case you don't know much about that) and we will be burning incense and candles, and maybe even some sage! Hey, you may even be able to cast a spell on someone that night!
_________________________________________________________
Also, for anyone who's interested, I have 3 tickets to the Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Halloween Party here at work! Some of the funnest times EVER at the studio!

WHAT: Nickelodeon's Annual Kids' Halloween Party
WHEN: Friday, October 31st from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM
WHERE: Nickelodeon Main Building

(Aren't you glad you read this entire post?)

WEEK 43: Oct. 25th - Halloween Party

I've been wanting to host a Halloween party, but my place is so small that I would only be able to allow 10 in comfortably, 20 in intimately. So when Justin told me he was throwing a party, I told him I would help him with it so long as I could contribute some of my ideas too! This is a HUGE collaboration among great artists in the industry, and it's been so fun prepping for it so far!

WHAT: Justin and Pete's Birthday-Halloween Bash!
WHEN: Saturday, October 25th at 8:00 PM
WHERE: Justin's House (call or email me for the address)

Here are the finer details:
Disneyland-themed!
Wear a costume!
Bring some friends
I'm the "activity planner" for this one, so some activities in the works include bobbing for apples, fear factor, pumpkin-carving/decorating, and possibly a scavenger hunt.

Also, just FYI: It'll be really scary, guaranteed! I mean, we were almost mauled by a pitbull the other night when we were decorating! What could be scarier than that?!!?

REVIEW on WEEK 42: Haunted No Go

I really have to vent. I mean, long story short - we didn't go. Short story long - So Jubart and I get to Hollywood and Highland, and I figure we should just park there to avoid circling around Hollywood streets just to find a free space. $2 with Validation. Not bad. So we stop in to the Chocolate Factory and get some chocolate-covered strawberries to get us validated. Then we head over to 3360 Hollywood Blvd., across from Cherokee. We get there at 8:45pm, and we wait by the sign, just as Brian's (I guess he's the owner) email instructed. We call them to make sure we're in the right spot for pickup. No answer. But I leave a message telling them where we are and to give me a call when they receive the message. We wait till about 9:15, I call again. No answer. I leave another message, voicing my concern that they forgot to pick us up. We walk to the other location in front of the Metro Station. No one there either. I'm beginning to think this is a scam. No, actually, I had seen some red flags to begin with, so I dunno if my distrust made this night not happen, or if it was their unprofessionalism, or both. I mean, if you look at their website, it looks pretty cool, right? Looks legit. But when I talked to the guy on the phone, he sounded like a stoner - very unprofessional. When I emailed him, he didn't respond till the next day, even if I sent him an email in the morning. Plus, he said to call if we had any questions, yet he didn't leave his number on the email, and the email address itself was a Yahoo account. Luckily I paid through Paypal, so I opened a dispute, and am still waiting to receive a response and my full refund. But what a waste of time, money, and energy getting down there. I've never had such a bad experience with a tour company. They should have every person's number in hand to double-check they don't leave anyone behind, and to answer any questions should customers have any. What a joke!

Anyway, it made me think of all the times I've had these "instinctual feelings." I can tell something is going bad and it does go bad. Now, I don't know if it was my thoughts that made it happen, or if it was common sense - I saw a pattern that was obvious it would lead to disaster. In any case, I should have seen it coming... whether I thought it and it happened, or I was just aware of the problem and it happened on its own. But a little reassurance would have been nice. And I guess it's a bit of both. If the guy sounded professional, I would have placed more trust in him and I would have had no worries that the night would be flawless. But he didn't sound reliable. His unprofessional demeanor is why I worried, which also coincides with why he never followed through. (Wow, sounds like a mathematical problem.)

Case in point: Trust your instincts. They're usually right.

WEEK 42: Oct. 14th - Haunted Hollywood Tours

Hollywood harbors more mystery than most of us may know. Come discover much of Hollywood's haunted past - Marilyn Monroe's mirror, the Roosevelt Hotel, OJ Simpson Crime Scene, Manson Murders, Tower of Terror, and the Cemetery of the Stars.

WHAT: Haunted Hollywood Tours
WHEN: Tuesday, October 14th at 9:00 PM
WHERE: Mann's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, CA

http://www.hauntedhollywoodtours.com/moviestarshomestours/public_html/book.html

REVIEW on WEEK 41: Oktoberfest

I guess I kinda messed up on this one. I read the website's hours and saw that they were open from 12 to 7pm. But that's probably the hours for the village itself, NOT Oktoberfest. The beer hall opened at 6:30pm, and we were long gone before then. But we explored the abandoned town, saw the little stores, and went to the marketplace. There we sampled delicious meats and cheeses from Germany and its surrounding countries. Deane picked up two kinds of bacon and a black forest ham. I picked up a bottle of Riesling with a golden monkey adorning its body. Then we went to the deli, where we tried bratwurst (with sauerkraut) and goulash soup. The Hefeweisen was superb! Very sweet! I usually don't like beer, but this one was tasty.

All in all, it was a decent German experience... I was bummed that we didn't get the "Oktoberfest" experience. Eh, I'm not a fan of beer anyway (though I wouldn't mind another Hefeweisen to fill me up with carbonated, stinging burps.)

----- STATISTICS -----
People attended: 2
Time alloted: 2.5 hours

----- RATING ----- (out of 5 stars)

Overall Experience: 3.0


That night, I went to Amy's Broadway Musical Birthday Party. It was a lot of fun. I dressed up as my favorite: Elphaba from Wicked, degreenified. I'm so proud that Amy planned such a kick-ass party! Congrats and Happy Birthday!

Also, that reminds me... the night before I took her to Hollywood to watch a play called "Asleep on a Bicycle." It was one of the better plays I've seen all year. Very whimsical, surreal, witty, touching, etc. A woman who is struggling with family issues discovers the great love she has with them through her dreams. My words can't give it justice. Just go out and see it if you get a chance.

WEEK 41: Oct. 11th - Oktoberfest

What's October without Oktoberfest? Come celebrate the coming of fall and pumpkin pie with beer, brats, and a Bavarian Brass Oom-Pa Pa Band from Germany.

WHAT: Oktoberfest
WHEN: Saturday, October 11th at 12:00 NOON
WHERE: Alpine Village - 833 Torrance Blvd # 1, Torrance, CA 90502 - (310) 327-2483

For more info: http://www.alpinevillage.net/

REVIEW on WEEK 40: Typhoon

Fear factor time. I can't believe we ate crickets! They were pretty crispy and salty, sitting amidst a bed of shredded potatoes sprinkled with garlic and salt... which was overkill for me. But at least I can say I tried crickets now. As far as the other dishes, we ordered frogs legs, samosas, gyoza, kungpao chicken, pineapple fried rice, and Malaysian noodles. The Pan-Asian food was mediocre at best, and definitely not authentic. (My "authentic gauge" is this: if you ask for spicy, and it comes out spicy, it's authentic. In Typhoon's case, their spicy is mild.) As for the service, it wasn't memorable, though I did like how they had coat hangers for people to hang their possibly-wet coats. (It was sprinkling that night.) But the company was great, and I'm glad people tried the crickets with me. Hey, you can't diss something till you try it... and now I can officially say I don't like the taste of crickets... though they weren't quite as disgusting as I thought they'd taste.

----- STATISTICS -----
People attended: 5
Time alloted: 2.5 hours

----- RATING ----- (out of 5 stars)

Overall Experience: 3.5