What! June 29, 2017
By Lisa Baker • 06-29-17
My 17-year-old daughter loves movie scores…loves them. If you have ever watched any part of a movie on mute, you know that without music, scary scenes aren’t as scary and happy endings just aren’t very happy. But when you add a live orchestra, it takes the emotional impact of a movie’s music to a whole new level.
With that in mind, I recently arranged our family vacation around a concert by Hans Zimmer, a German composer and record producer who announced last fall that he was going to do just three concerts (they lied) in the states. The three of us planned for months so we could get cheap hotel and cheap airfare…the plane left in the wee hours of the morning…we thought we were so smart. We arrived in LA, and took the bus to Enterprise, which happened to be half the price of the first two car rentals I found…always keep looking. We pulled into our hotel at 8:30am and thanks to sweet Emma, the Marriott Residence Inn desk clerk that allowed us to check in 6 hours early, we were unpacked and eating the complimentary hotel breakfast with brie and croissants at 9am. No pour-it-yourself waffles in the shape of Texas. It was a huge room full of fine food. And, yes, it was only 9:00am. We then napped and my son spent the afternoon with some of Hans Zimmer’s tech guys, while my daughter and I walked to Bottega Louie where we ate Portobello fries and drank a Toyoko Mule before we packaged up a box of macaroons to take with us. From our hotel, it was one block to LA Live for the concert which was w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l.
Since the 80’s, Hans Zimmer has composed music for over 150 films. His works include The Lion King (for which he won an Academy Award), Pirates of the Caribbean series, Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception and Interstellar, Driving Miss Daisy…just to name a few.
We set our alarm for 4am the next day and headed up to San Luis Obispo (according to Ian Landau, it’s one of the one of the Four Happiest Cities on Earth) to tour the packaging department (thank you, Jay Singh) of Cal Poly University, where my daughter is dreaming about spending four college years. We ate fabulous donuts at SloDoCo (go to their menu online – it is the most unbelievable thing you have ever seen) and then we drove back to LA by way of the ocean, 60 degree temps and no humidity. We might have stopped and played in the ocean. It was beautiful.
On our third day, we hurried over to Disneyland, drank Dole Whips and had our picture taken with Mary Poppins. “A Practically Perfect Day.” Disney is one of the happiest places in the world.
On our fourth and final day, we packed our bags, left my daughter at the hotel doing homework while my son and I visited the Hollywood Walk of Fame – 2,600 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in 15 blocks of Hollywood Blvd. and three blocks of Vine Street sidewalks. It’s a popular tourist destination with as many as 10-million visitors a year. I looked at five stars, then I was bored. We visited Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and looked at the feet and hand prints of famous people like Trigger, then ventured over to The Hollywood Bowl. WOW. Loved it. The history of Hollywood is interesting but the best part of Hollywood was the gelato from Grom. Delicious.
Our 8:30pm flight which was delayed until midnight so we finally arrived home at 6AM, five hours later than planned, but happy. The three of us all agreed, this trip will be hard to top in the future.
I will note that we used a brand new park & ride near Hobby called FastPark. It’s all covered parking, I had a coupon and we are sold…especially since they handed us three bottles of cold water on our way back to the lovely humidity and heat of Brazoria County.
Spanish astrologist and tarot card reader, Pilar Abel, announced two years ago that she is the child of artist Salvador Dali who died in 1989. A judge in Madrid has recently agreed to exhume Dali’s remains to obtain DNA samples for a paternity test. Because Dali and his wife (married 1934-1982) did not have any children, his estate, valued at approximately $325-million, was donated to the Spanish Kingdom following his death. Hmmm.
A jury has awarded $870,000 to a man whose surgeon removed the wrong testicle. I don’t care who you are, that hurts.
My co-workers at The Source Weekly work hard all day long to help me find interesting and informative ‘stuff’ for this column…just this morning Tina offered me a story about a 19-year-old pregnant woman, holding a baby but still able to beat her boyfriend bloody with a pot of chili, a bat and a knife. My son said that was a waste of a good pot of chili. Maybe there’s another side of the story, but I doubt it. Now, if that wasn’t enough, Connie mentioned that a woman in South Carolina delivered a 14-pound, 1.4-ounce baby…that’s two regular babies. I feel for that new mom like I do for the guy that the doctor removed the wrong testicle. Ahhh.
George Clooney and business partner, Rande Gerber, are selling their tequila company that they started just four years ago after failing to find the perfect tequila while on vacation in Mexico. They were offered $1-Billion for Casamigos and the deal is expected to close before the end of the year.
A young girl fell from an amusement park ride at Six Flags Great Escape in New York, this last weekend. Bystanders broke her 25-foot fall from the gondola ride. It was reported that ‘Human Error’ on the part of the 14-year old girl caused her to slip out of the 2-person gondola while riding with her younger brother. Momma told you to sit still and keep your hands inside.
Mary Poppins is flying in…The Center for the Arts and Sciences. July 7th, 8th, 9th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th. You won’t want to miss it. An extra performance has already been added. Go to TheCenter@bcfas.org or call 979-265-7661 for tickets. This production is generously sponsored by Olin Corporation.
Search teams at the Grenfell Tower fire in London have retrieved and identified 18 of at least 79 people that lived in the building…but, because of apartments being sublet, people living illegally in the country, and the fact that there are only ashes left, it will be almost impossible to have an exact number, especially since some victims may never be formally identified. It has been reported that a flammable material on the building might have been responsible for how quickly the flames spread. Seven other buildings have been found to have the same material because it was more affordable to use. The tower’s residents had repeatedly complained to local officials about the building being a fire hazard.
When you get ready to sell a property, it is recommended that you don’t do anything shocking in either the structure, painting or remodeling that might distract future buyers and make it difficult to sell. So, when the Longaberger Company Headquarters office building (which happens to be shaped like a giant picnic basket) was put on the market in Newark, Ohio, no one expected that the building would linger, unsold, for almost 2-years. They have dropped the price on the 180,000-square-foot building from $7.5-million to $5-million since it hit the market but there are still no potential buyers. It has been suggested that a buyer could remove the 150-ton handles from the roof and come up with a great paint color scheme to make it fit in to YOUR company plans. I think it’s cute but then I love kittens. It looks like foreclosure is now inevitable.
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS: Prince William is 35. He’s a prince, Need I say more? Cartoonist Berke Breathed is 60. Bloom County. Actor John Goodman is 65. I don’t think he gets the recognition that he deserves. Clyde Drexler is 55. Carson Daly is 44. Actress Frances McDormand is 60. Musician Mick Fleetwood is 70. Fleetwood Mac. Paul McCartney is 75. You will be glad to know that he is finally letting the sides of his hair go grey.
When people say, “Stop living in the past, my thought is…but the music was so much better then!”
I first met Ken (Carson) back in 1961. My Barbie Doll was so happy to have him. He was blond, buff, blue-eyed and handsome. Well, after watching Barbie go through her evolution…different skin tones, hair styles and careers and such, Ken was feeling pretty put-off. Now Mattel says there’s Asian Ken, Ken with the man-bun, Ken with corn-rows, Ken with cool glasses, Ken as a bleach-blond surfer, Ken with olive-skin and more. Fifteen new dolls and seven skin tones. Sigh.
When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a small package. John Ruskin
Death Valley had a recorded temperature of 127 degrees last week. The hottest atmospheric temperature ever recorded on Earth was 134 degrees in July 1913, at the same location. The first days of summer have brought some of the worst heat the western US has seen in years, forcing flights to be canceled (planes are certified to take off in temperatures up to 118 degrees) and straining the power grid. Aviation experts say that the hotter, thinner air saps power from airline engines and makes it harder for the plane to get off the ground.
Martha is a big Neapolitan Mastiff; not very pretty, lazy, very sweet but gassy dog. She just won the 29th annual World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. Martha won $1,500, a trophy and a trip to New York to be on morning talk shows where I saw her. It’s a really, nice story. Several weeks ago, she was a rescue animal and nearly blind from neglect. After several surgeries, she can see out of one eye. Life is good.
Be decisive. Right or wrong, make a decision. The ‘road of life’ is paved with flat squirrels who couldn’t make up their minds. – Unknown
Grand Theft Avocado: A trio of California produce company workers were stealing avocados from their company and selling them for ‘cash unauthorized from the company grounds.’ Mission Produce estimates more than $300,000 worth of avocados were lost. That’s a lot of guacamole.
People have only as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take – Emma Goldman
Have a great Fourth of July and remember that the Fourth of July is known as Independence Day because that is the day that the Second Continental Congress adopted the full and formal Declaration of Independence. Even though we had declared that we were independent, the American Revolution was still being fought, which meant that we were still not independent. Regardless of the ongoing war the following year, people in Philadelphia celebrated a muted Fourth of July.
While celebrations on July 4th during the American Revolution were modest, after the war ended in 1783 the Fourth of July became a holiday in many places. The celebrations included speeches, military events, parades, and fireworks. To this day the Fourth of July is the most patriotic holiday celebrated in the United States. I’m off to visit Tom and get my fireworks.
– Lisa
