Lorange Blog

[Ha! I was still tired from blogger prom that I totally wrote the title as Blogger Porm. Good thing I didn't write that with a 'N"] A big thank you to the Blogger Prom Committee, all the generous vendors who participated in the event, and of course the Andaz West Hollywood for such a great location. Just a quick recap in pictures before I breakdown the night in a later post. The swag bag is a post in itself. Free Drinks  (there is a happy face in my flower btw) Pretty sure this was a winning ticket...ahem But B won!   (photo from Caroline On Crack 's flickr) Mini cupcakes to die for Rooftop Pool to gaze into -only one blogger swam And of course a wonderful view of Los Angeles Can't wait for next year!?!

While standing in line for Harry Potter at the Vista Theatre, Alice Cooper comes strolling up to meet his family standing right behind us. This is what I learned ok, mostly overhead: That he is working on some project that includes the likes of Ozzie Osborne and Gwen from No Doubt. "I'm in good company on this " That when he was a kid he stood in line for triple features of cheesy 1950 sci-fi horror flicks for only 35 cents. Somehow while recording that day he hit some notes that haven't been heard in years from his throat. He parked illegally in the Von's parking lot and was aware of said illegality. That the girl in front of him had really red hair, like a true natural red. Was cool enough to acknowledge fans ( @ponceman and @rainderr ) that gave hims props in passing cars. When corrected that I was actually a guy with really red hair, he acquiesced that fact but also stated that if so, I was quite effeminate. * I did learn Alice Cooper has t...

It's blurry, zoomed in and over-exposed on purpose. Nothing too wacky but I love how it completes my outfit. Click the pic and check out all the attending bloggers and all the great swag from some cool and generous companies. It's going to be hella cool with the free drinks, food, and prizes among much cooler people than I could ever be. :) Less than 2 days to Blogger Prom 2009 ! Um, now I'm nervous meeting some of these folks!

Thanks to the two folks sleeping on my couch last week I was able to experience my first show at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday. The scheduled event Bravo Beethoven! with the LA Philharmonic which was the perfect remedy to a crazy, stressful week with new bosses and corporate drama. After LA.Metblogs post about proper bowl etiquette I kept an watchful eye on the audience looking of people texting and being inconsiderate. Only spotted a couple glowing screens on the lower levels but a few rows back were the most obnoxious Germans unfortunately. During the Egmont Overture they yapped, shared a camera to flip through pictures, and with the beep beep of a text could be made over the music. Despite numerous death glares it wasn't until a couple moved a few rows away from them was the hint was finally understood. Anyhow this was the last night our friends would be around before heading out to the Midwest and annoying audience members couldn't dampen my relaxed mood. Great fr...

After B's parents left (yes Corey I'll finish those posts soon) we gladly rolled out the welcome mat to B's old classmate who just happens to be our mutual friend's partner in crime (ie they're dating). Friends in town means more nights out and less sleep so we started out with sushi at Noshi's on Beverly.  Get the the spicy tuna rolls! Unfortunately the rest of the night was spent at the emergency pet clinic in Eagle Rock with the cat who wasn't doing so well. Thanks to Yelp again we knew the place was good but also knew to expect a little attitude during check in. We did -yay to spot on user generated peer reviews.  (the cat is alright) Night two was at El Cid, the place where B and I met almost two years ago. Rob Z was booking another great night of music at one of my favorite bars and Matt Southwell from Bang Sugar Bang was playing. Love seeing him again in particular plus mix that with old faces of my recent past and I had this moment where the...

In a short time I'll be decked out in this sweet, shiny blue vintage-y suit (actually maybe just retro in style now that I think about it) for the upcoming Blogger Prom . B and I were worried that this weekend would be spent searching through rack after rack of almost good outfits and the lust-worthy, perfect combination seemingly never in our price range. Thanks to the wonder that is Yelp we narrowed down a list of clothing shops starting in Los Feliz, working down through Silver Lake and Echo Park, and if need be, the fashion district in Downtown tomorrow. Luckily our second stop was Luxe De Ville where the owner Oskar warmly greeted us upon entering. This store had a great selection of dresses for B and some wonderful suits that met my straightforward needs: something colorful and retro fun. With Oskar's help I found a suit that fitted off the rack and he helped add a  good shirt and tie to complete the look. B had a little more trouble finding anything until Oskar...

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Within days of B's return her parents flew into LAX for a vacation. This means B and I will be acting tour guides, taking them around town for some sightseeing. First the empty streets of Downtown and Disney Concert Hall The gardens on the roof - actually a free, public park that anyone can use up to 10pm each night. This is part of a cool bar in the lobby of Disney Hall. I want to use glass like this for a wall if I ever own a house. then we attempted to find the French Garden restaurant way down by the greyhound station (7th and Mateo) which is very sketchy in general. I've spent time down there for a ton of Ashely's warehouse parties so I wasn't so phased by it all but it did freak out our midwestern guests a bit.  Sadly the restaurant had finished lunch service so we trekked back to an equally sketchy place: Americana at Brand in Glendale for the Cheesecake Factory.

www.toothpastefordinner.com I came home early yesterday sick with only a half day at work completed. Dizzy, unfocused eyes and when I brought it up, that almost fever beat my co-workers would reflexively step back to. You like crap Robert I'm sick... [left foot back] I think I'm getting a fever [right foot back] dosey do I hate being sick. Born with one of those weaker constitutions that women like to mock us men for, I might not whine but I definitely let it be known that I'm diseased and how my body is now corrupted with five soon to be discovered illnesses and maybe the CDC should be called as a precaution. My B ignored all this as she poured me a glass of OJ, placed me on the couch and warmed up the Indian food leftovers to make sure I ate something. [Garlic chicken tikka from Electric Lotus to be exact - unevenly cooked but this is not surprising as their dishes are normally served as such. Hit or miss presentation, but hey, it's close by]. When B c...

Here's another clip of Ms. Jessica Dobson doing her thing as part of the free Summer And Music (S.A.M.) series of events in Long Beach. While to most folks Silver Lake is the only scene for music locally but if you dig a tad deeper it become obvious that Long Beach (and San Pedro) had grown organically it's own scene years ago.  Is it possible that Silver Lake needs the pipeline of LBC acts more than LBC needs Silver Lake? Maybe. Another favorite band of mine are playing this Sunday, June 28th: The New Fidelity THE NEW FIDELITY A free outdoor show by The New Fidelity, part of the SAM Soul Motion Scooter Fest. 5 PM - 6 PM. See SummerAndMusic.com events page for details. June 28, 2009 Sunday, 5:00PM FREE Pine Avenue & Broadway Pine Ave & E Broadway Long Beach, CA 90802 Print Info & Directions Click here for the full SAM Summer Concerts event schedule Spanning from June to August, and running the gamut from jazz to funk to pop, Summer And Musi...

Who: The Wild Moccasins Song:   Cake  (it starts of with them goofing a cover of Rock Lobster) Why:  They made the blahness I'm experiencing today a little more cheerful

I hating feeling so out of sorts. This blahness is clearly a result of 11 hour workdays all week, the complete loneliness that has hit me aside the head seeing the bed empty when I awake. Compounded with thoughts of schedules to work on, promises to keep, etc. These are ongoing issues. This is life. Frustratingly none of this explains the burrito I ordered for lunch that arrived filled with white rice . wtf blah! Lately one time thoughts have become many and as easily as words trigger memories. I didn't think the whole Micheal Jackson thing would play a role in my funk but you have to admit he did some great music circa Off the Wall. WOXY has been playing deep cuts off the motown years thankfully as I despise the whole Thriller era that was shoved down the commercial space during my middle school years. It was unavoidable back then: There was suppose to be a picture from my junior high yearbook of friends wearing red zipper jackets but I can't seem to find it right now Othe...

Tonight's PJ Harvey concert was lovely. Just the John Parish material and the audience loved it.

I wish I could have skipped this week. Maybe forward through next week. This has been a rough, busy period at work - my department of six now down to 4 due to the manager out sick for two weeks and another on vacation.  Everyone is picking up extra work so we're functioning but I sort feel like this dude right now: A lot of work but not going anywhere fast. So what's new? I remembered yesterday that I had a ticket to see PJ Harvey for the Wiltern show this Saturday.  One of the most amazing concerts I've ever experienced was when I saw her back in 1994, even from my distant balcony seat at the Warfield (SF).  Should I take the subway this time? My dear old mom lands back at SFO after a free trip to Korea, courtesy of the foreign exchange student that lives with her.  She took a disposable film camera with her.  How quaint. B is leaving for Michigan on Saturday so I'll be alone boozing it up (no, not really) with our two cats next week.  Thou...

Arrived a little late at Pinks and found the fearless event leaders in hot dog hats and utility belts filed with condiments and over the counter gastro-relief aids. While I went to check in to receive my name tag, J and K's initial excitement died after seeing the line wrapped around the building (as usual) and being slightly embarrassed by all the attention onto the death marchers. This was cool: Pink's management gave out free chili dogs and drinks before the hot dog haikus were read and prizes giveaways. That sounded like fun but we completely missed that part of the event waiting in line for these doggies: The hour wait was worth it though. J had the Lord of the Rings dog, K had a mayo dog, and I completed the Martha Stewart as promised. As we were on the way to stop #2 I realized that I was feeling good enough to quit while ahead. Best decision ever. I was full, I had fun, I was happy, I was done. We drove by Oki Dog on the way home and took a picture for my to do list. L...

Yes that would be an OkiDog: two hot dogs + chili + cheese + mustard + bacon + all wrapped in tortilla love. This gastronomical time bomb will be consumed on the great Hot Dog Death March which involves starting at Pinks (3pm), heading over to OkiDog (4.30ish), and finishing off at Scoobys (@6.30). There will be hats, shirts and prizes given away via trivia questions. Ok it's more like Death Driving than Marching, but whatevs. I'm aiming to make it through to taste my first oki dog at least ::Crosses fingers, pats roll of TUMS in pocket::   but only if: - I can get the rest of my gang to leave the house and overcome their fear of eating one too many hot dogs. - And I can get through the "Martha Stewart" at Pinks first. (hot dog + Sauerkraut + sour cream + tomatoes + bacon = yum) You can keep up with the HDDM though the site or via their hot, meaty tweets on twitter. top photo by hexedous... via flickr/creative commons

[click the label at the bottom to see all Blogger Prom 2009 posts] One of the coolest events I've been invited to is the (hopefully 1st annual) Blogger Prom 2009 in July. I'm flattered to be invited* and with B as my partner in crime, we're excited to relive our so-so high school with better style, better booze, and cooler peeps. Now I need to get a cool suit should I rent/buy the cheesiest one ever?. Stay tune for future updates as we prepare for (in stadium announcer voice) Blogger Prom 2009 . Now if I can get TequliaCon to come to Los Angeles... *I know I don't blog as openly as I use to, have a ton of commentators like the blogs I follow, or hell, blog as much as I did even a few years ago. Despite this I still comment, I try my best to promote the better blogs out there because this whole blogging thing is important to me. Basically this is the "thing I do" in life beyond family, friends and work. This is my bowling team.

going to bed but I leave you with this Who: Coconut Records Song: Microphone Why: I actually like his solo music (more than his Phantom Planet days) as much as I like his acting . ( vid link )

I haven't been to New York since the summer 1979 as a son of a native New Yorker. It was a summer spent on the LES visiting my dad's family; well parts of it because this was the side with the most whispering regrets and the type of darkness that would jump generations or randomly sort through siblings. In as much I am my dad's namesake, his blood, the spinning wheel arrow passed me and my mom's subdued traits were allowed dominance. I'm West Coast mellow. My sister moved to NYC two months after Sept. 11th. I will go back soon to re-experience the sights and sounds from my then 8yr old life but I also plan to see the new things my dad could not have imagined. warning: silly techno music in this video ( vid link here ) On one of my favorite blogs it was mentioned that stage 1 of the High Line Park was opening next week. The thought of this elevated freight train track now is an elevated park (not to mention that people live in the Meat Packing District), w...