Overheard in Ventura County
Small Boy Holding Toy to Dashing Pater Familias: "Daddy, children need practice chainsaws."
There's something extremely disquieting about that statement.
Encounter!
The family visited the nearby mountain community of Ojai for the first time yesterday. Ojai has a reputation as being both a spa destination and an art commune, but the latter is vastly overstated. The galleries on the main drag tended toward overpriced art glass; pseudo-Native American carvings and paintings; and wacky bird sculptures made from rebar and assorted nuts and bolts. The town itself is lovely and relaxing, though, so I can see us re-visiting it when my in-laws come to visit over Spring Break.
AND it's apparently a minor celeb haven. The most famous person I knew of as an Ojai resident is Larry Hagman - J.R. Ewing! The dude from I Dream of Jeannie! The man who destroyed his liver through alcoholism but somehow was determined to be more worthy of a transplant than a less famous person! - but my secret hope was to run into Bauhaus/Love & Rockets guitarist Daniel Ash, who also lives there. That didn't pan out, but we DID bump into a fallen screen legend at a neighborhood Mexican restaurant. We ate enchiladas next to the man who killed Captain Kirk. This is how I'd write it up for Defamer's Hollywood PrivacyWatch:
My family and I were enjoying a day trip to the wee mountain community of Ojai when who should we see enjoying a bit of the old ultra-queso at a local Mexican joint but Malcolm McDowell. He was handsome for his age, and exuded class despite the decidedly unsophisticated surroundings. I'll forever think of him as the amoral Alex from A Clockwork Orange, so was shocked when I witnessed the amiability with which he greeted a fan walking a massive Newfoundland who interrupted his meal. With him was his lovely (and young) wife - who spent much of the meal nursing their adorable ginger-haired son - and a loud woman who my wife and I later agreed was actress Brenda Vaccaro (!?!), who was unsurprisingly boisterous and did at least one lunchtime tequila shot to accompany her margarita.
Hurray for past-their-prime movie stars!
We watched the Werner Herzog doc Grizzly Man on Discovery Channel yesterday and really enjoyed it. I'm glad it has the opportunity to reach a wider audience, and am a little shocked it didn't even make the nomination short list for documentaries. I guess the more popular March of the Penguins already filled the "nature slot". At least Herzog can take comfort that he's in VERY good company when it comes to worthy docs ignored by the Academy.
We also watched Stars Wars: Revenge of the Sith with the kids, the best part of which was when they laughed hysterically at the newly robotized Anakin's pathetic "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" ("I don't wanna be Darth Vader! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!") upon learning of the fate of his beloved Padme. When children recognize how horrible your script is, George, perhaps a re-write is in order.
Oh yeah,
GO STEELERS!!!!!!!
Edit for Commercial Commentary: Eagle-eyed Machete Enthusiasts Recognize A Little Druid Networking Under The Stairs. Absolutely Brilliant.
There's something extremely disquieting about that statement.
Encounter!
The family visited the nearby mountain community of Ojai for the first time yesterday. Ojai has a reputation as being both a spa destination and an art commune, but the latter is vastly overstated. The galleries on the main drag tended toward overpriced art glass; pseudo-Native American carvings and paintings; and wacky bird sculptures made from rebar and assorted nuts and bolts. The town itself is lovely and relaxing, though, so I can see us re-visiting it when my in-laws come to visit over Spring Break.
AND it's apparently a minor celeb haven. The most famous person I knew of as an Ojai resident is Larry Hagman - J.R. Ewing! The dude from I Dream of Jeannie! The man who destroyed his liver through alcoholism but somehow was determined to be more worthy of a transplant than a less famous person! - but my secret hope was to run into Bauhaus/Love & Rockets guitarist Daniel Ash, who also lives there. That didn't pan out, but we DID bump into a fallen screen legend at a neighborhood Mexican restaurant. We ate enchiladas next to the man who killed Captain Kirk. This is how I'd write it up for Defamer's Hollywood PrivacyWatch:
My family and I were enjoying a day trip to the wee mountain community of Ojai when who should we see enjoying a bit of the old ultra-queso at a local Mexican joint but Malcolm McDowell. He was handsome for his age, and exuded class despite the decidedly unsophisticated surroundings. I'll forever think of him as the amoral Alex from A Clockwork Orange, so was shocked when I witnessed the amiability with which he greeted a fan walking a massive Newfoundland who interrupted his meal. With him was his lovely (and young) wife - who spent much of the meal nursing their adorable ginger-haired son - and a loud woman who my wife and I later agreed was actress Brenda Vaccaro (!?!), who was unsurprisingly boisterous and did at least one lunchtime tequila shot to accompany her margarita.
Hurray for past-their-prime movie stars!
We watched the Werner Herzog doc Grizzly Man on Discovery Channel yesterday and really enjoyed it. I'm glad it has the opportunity to reach a wider audience, and am a little shocked it didn't even make the nomination short list for documentaries. I guess the more popular March of the Penguins already filled the "nature slot". At least Herzog can take comfort that he's in VERY good company when it comes to worthy docs ignored by the Academy.
We also watched Stars Wars: Revenge of the Sith with the kids, the best part of which was when they laughed hysterically at the newly robotized Anakin's pathetic "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" ("I don't wanna be Darth Vader! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!") upon learning of the fate of his beloved Padme. When children recognize how horrible your script is, George, perhaps a re-write is in order.
Oh yeah,
GO STEELERS!!!!!!!
Edit for Commercial Commentary: Eagle-eyed Machete Enthusiasts Recognize A Little Druid Networking Under The Stairs. Absolutely Brilliant.