A few of the more entertaining subject lines from my spam box, all of which feature Paris Hilton since I think people will believe she has done any or all of the following:
and my personal favorite:
A few years ago, Martin Landau drove past me at the In-N-Out burger.
Tonight, it was Cameron Diaz at the Roller Derby enjoying a Hot Dog on a Stick (they bring their catering truck to the games and make a mint off the hungry hungry hipsters). I have to admit, it was a bit strange.
Not the weirdest celebrity sighting ever, or the most random (she was there with a friend who’s directing a movie about Roller Derby), but still. Notable even in L.A. for its sheer oddity.
God DAMN it.
I stopped by Best Buy tonight to continue my ongoing research into rigging a GPS into my car by actually looking at one in person. I wasn’t planning on buying anything (for reasons I will elaborate on later in the post), but then I saw two things:
1. Martin Starr, who played Haverchuck on Freaks and Geeks, among many other hilarious roles
2. Holding a Wii.
I have wanted a Wii for several months now. I’d resolved to buy one at Best Buy, as I have about $100 worth of gift cards, bringing the price down to just under $200 (including tax and a second Wiimote). And really, what else does Best Buy sell that am I not going to find cheaper online?
Unfortunately, Best Buy is always sold out of Wiis when I go, and they generally sell out any shipment they get within a couple of hours. Seeing Starr holding a Wii was the first time I’d actually seen one in a customer’s hands. I had to know if there were more.
So dispensing with my “do not approach people whose work you enjoy” policy, I went up to him and said, “excuse me, where did you get that Wii?” And he pointed out the stack around the corner. I thanked him and fled.
Oh, that stack taunted me, I tell you. But alas, there were two problems with buying a Wii an hour ago, both of which Joel reminded me of when I called and begged him to talk some sense into me:
Problem the first: I just got stuck with a big old pile of medical bills for my foot surgery, plus my physical therapy bill is swiftly approaching $500, and it appears it will not stop there. $25 a visit adds up distressingly fast.
Problem the second: I am leaning towards moving downstairs over Labor Day Weekend, and I’m estimating the one-time expenses for that (cleaning fee, moving supplies, movers because everyone I know is out of town that weekend, etc.) at about $600.
So basically, I am broke as a joke, and even the modest sum a Wii commands with gift cards factored in is currently out of my reach. Still, I was damn tempted.
It took every ounce of restraint I have to walk away from that pile of Wiis. It is a decision I am sure I will regret in a couple months when my finances loosen up and I still can’t find a damn Wii in a Best Buy.
Viewer Alert #1: We are not on tomorrow, our finale (which my boss directed) is on next Tuesdday (9/8 central!).
Viewer Alert #2: A girl I went to high school with has won the current round of The Bachelor. Though we weren’t friends or anything, I certainly remember her as being very nice, albeit a few light bulbs short of a chandelier.
Still, good for her, if she really does like the guy once all the trappings of TV are gone. I have met people who have met through stupider methods and are still happy. It’ll certainly make the reunion a bit more amusing.
The next time someone asks me what it’s like to live in Los Angeles with all the celebrities you can see, I am going to direct them to this page.
The writer has perfectly captured the grand “I don’t give a fuck about these morons anymore” feeling you get after about a year here.
via Defamer
This story about John Popper getting popped for driving over 110 MPH, then having a subsequent search of his vehicle produce a massive cache of weapons and a small amount of weed raises several interesting questions:
- Being the lead singer of freakin’ Blues Traveler, shouldn’t that be “a massive stash of weed and a small cache of weapons”? I don’t think I know one serious fan of theirs who wasn’t a massive, massive stoner.
- What the fuck is he doing driving around in Jack Bauer’s car? Is he planning to singlehandedly invade Canada for the maple syrup? He’s got enough guns in there to start a small terrorist organization.
- Why does this article fail to produce the traditional Fat Popper vs. Thin Popper comparison photo? I swear, that photo’s been on every story even tangentially related to Popper and/or Blues Traveler since Popper had gastric bypass surgery a few years ago and dropped a shitload of weight.
- Is it odd that Blues Traveler is nowhere near as popular with Thin Popper as it was with Fat Popper? Or is a dopey-looking normal-sized white guy playing the harmonica not nearly as interesting as an extremely fat white guy doing the same?
- Where, dear Gods of the Smoking Gun, is the mugshot that goes with this? I can only imagine how fantastic it truly must be.
Here in Sun Valley, you occasionally run into famous people.
Usually, it’s just an L.A.-like part of the background noise, like Jamie Lee Curtis ending up behind my dad in line for lunch at the ski lodge, confirming for me that it was Christopher Guest I’d just seen.
Sometimes, however, you actually get to meet someone that amuses you greatly. And that’s where today’s story picks up.
We were having lunch with a couple of my dad and Ray Ann’s friends, when one of the friends turned around, saw the gentleman behind him, and said “Hey Karl!”
A small man with an Austrian accent turned around and said hello, and when the friend introduced Karl to us, he said the words that made me smile:
“This is the guy whose snake ate the blanket.”
I have met internationally famous television and movie stars, but it was not nearly as amusing as meeting the little old retired ski instructor who briefly captured the attention of the world…when his snake ate an electric blanket.
Houdini, the snake, was apparently sick for some time, as you might expect for a snake that ate a whole queen size electric blanket.
However, you will be happy to learn that Houdini is now fine, and back to dining on small mammals instead of large blankets.