Lars and the Real Girl

I don't imagine I would have gotten around to seeing Lars and the Real Girl had I not been given a scene to do in my acting workshop. Anytime I get to watch Patricia Clarkson, I consider it time well spent. She's such a good actor. No acting...that's why she's so interesting to watch.

I loved the movie. I thought it started out slowly, and I wasn't sure about it. About half way thru, I started really getting into it. You can tell it was written by a female. Boy, do we need more female screenwriters. This is such a sweet story. I can't imagine a town being so taken in (without giving away the plot), nevertheless, you want to believe it. I hope you get a chance to see it.

By the way, I had the rare opportunity to get to pick my scene partner. We usually just show up and rehearse briefly before we film it. Ky Evans is such a strong actor that I knew it would be fun to do. And I love playing a therapist. Oh, and did I mention that I thought Ryan Gosling gave an award-winning performance.

Nobody does parties like PartyCharlie

As I recall, one of the rules, if you will, to being an optimist, is to be as happy about others' success as you are about your own.

That certainly is the case with my friend, Charlie Scola. Charlie is a renowned party planning authority, columnist, author, as well as an actor. We met in an acting workshop about eleven years ago. After the class was over, I wasn't sure I'd ever see or talk to Charlie again, even though I thought he was very nice. He called me a few months later to tell me about a class on the "business of acting" that he thought I would like. I was pleased to hear from him...and as it turns out, he has been a friend of the family ever since. One we've flown to Catalina for lunch, one who has come to support me at my cabaret performances, plays, etc. I've always cherished our friendship.

This past week we were privileged to attend Charlie's book signing at Borders in Century City. His book, the culimination of one of his dreams, Party Planning Secrets, is full of great ideas for creating an outrageously exciting party! It was no small feat to get a Borders book store to turn over their whole store for his party! But, this he accomplished, and party we did.

There was a tarot card reader, numerologist, astrologist and magician at the party, as well as entertainment by Franki Love, Jason Farnham, and David Williams.
Free flowing champagne, vodka martini's (the pear was especially good!), and a fabulous buffet of delicious food. Asian salad served in mini-take-out cartons, sandwiches on delicious buns with turkey or veggies (yum...peppers, zucchini), a wonderful array of cheese (I loved the goat cheese covered in herbs), slices of great-looking fruit, cookies, and brownies. All top notch!

Charlie generously donated all net proceeds from the book sales to Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles. Charlie was told by Borders a few days later that his event was the most exciting they've had and had the most people attending since Martha Stewart's book signing.

I always loved hearing about all the wonderful parties Charlie was planning for celebrities. We actually attended one in Malibu a few years ago that was nothing short of fantastic. It was a benefit. We tennis enthusiasts were excited to see Pete Sampras there with his then fiancee, soon-to-be wife...an actress whose name escapes me now. Bob Sagat was there with his small children. Charlie catered a thanksgiving bbq one year for Jen and Brad, when they were married.

My friend, Denise, and I were pleased to see Barbara Rush, who looked great. Denise went up to say, "Hello." She was very gracious. Thirty years in the business has given Charlie a long list of satisfied customers.

I would recommend that you get his book, even if you have small gatherings once in a while.
He walks you through every detail of planning a successful party from ambiance to vendors, including how to create the perfect invitation, menu and theme, plus expert advice on budgeting, entertaining, safety and more.

In addition, I recommend you get on his email list for his newsletter, where he shares great recipes, and gives away tickets to some of his fabulous parties. Check it out at http://www.partycharlie.com/.

What especially made the evening fun was to meet Charlie's mom, who happened to be celebrating her birthday that day, and his brother and sister who all flew out from back East to be with Charlie. I'm proud to call this eternal optimist, Charlie, my friend.

The Huntington

If you've never been to The Huntington, in San Marino, CA, you really should go. The Huntington is a private nonprofit collections-based institution, founded in 1919 by Henry E. Huntington. This site is one of the finest research libraries in the world. It also houses a fabulous art collection, including The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough, circa 1770, and Pinkie by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1794.

There is also an array of more than a dozen botanical gardens with plants from a geographic range spanning the globe, which covers 120 acres of the 207-acre grounds. There were several roses named after famous ladies. Unfortunately, the picture I took of the Princess Diana rose didn't do it justice. You can't possibly see it all in one day, which is why several in our group had already been there a few times.

You can make arrangements for a guided tour, which I would recommend. Our guide had a myriad of tales and had worked at The Huntington over 50 years ago. She was very interesting.

The Library's collection of rare books and manuscripts in the fields of British and American history and literature is extraordinary. It has on display some of the finest rare books and manuscripts of Anglo-American civilization. Altogether, there are about 6 million items! Again...not all in one day.

We had a lovely tea buffet luncheon with finger sandwiches (I know it sounds very girlie, but the guys enjoyed it too), with many different kinds of wonderful cheese, and the desserts were scrumptious, pecan tarts, lemon bars, and of course something chocolate. Fortunately, we were able to walk off a calorie or two after lunch. The unfortunate thing about the day was the temperature. If it wasn't 100 degrees, it was very close.
Heed the warning to wear comfortable shoes.

They had a nice gift shop too. Of course, I never met a gift shop I didn't like, but the little "rose" items, such as soap and stationery, make nice presents. And it was air conditioned! A big bonus for the day.

We were all speculating on how much this land would cost today, as our guide mentioned that when Henry bought it in 1902 for $600,000, everyone thought he was a little crazy, because there was nothing much there. Such is a visionary.

Listen to My Heart

I can remember the first time I heard the song, "Listen to My Heart." I was driving on the freeway, and I decided to finally listen to the Nancy LaMott tape my cousin, Sandy, had given me a long time ago.

When that song came on, it took my breath away. I thought I was going to have to maneuver three lanes over and stop on the side of the road and just listen. I thought it was the most beautiful melody I had ever heard. And to this day, I still do. I'm sure the orchestration with the strings had a lot to do with it, as well as Nancy's beautiful voice.

Several years after hearing that song for the first time, I had the opportunity to meet the composer of that piece, David Friedman. I am so glad he decided to do a vocal workshop in Southern California last weekend. And I'm most happy that he turned out to be such a wonderful, inspirational person. After all, his songs are all about inspiration, love and hope.

My wanting to meet him goes beyond that one great song. I also had the good fortune to sing another of his fun songs, "My Simple Christmas Wish," when I played Glinda, the Good Witch of the North in "Noses are Red." This was an original musical my acting coach, Alice Carter, wrote and directed two years in a row. This was a dream come true that I would get to perform this song in front of an audience that included many actors. The lyrics are so clever.

"Just in Time for Christmas" is another gem of his that I sang at a private party over the holidays. If you want to check out his music, go to David's own company, MIDDER Music Records, where he wrote for and produced all of the late, great Nancy LaMott's CD's, most of which I own. In addition to the songs I've mentioned above, be sure to check out "We Can Be Kind," "Trust the Wind," and "Ill Be Here With You." The latter song was the title of a wonderful cd that features all of David's songs and was a benefit recording for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Friedman's credits include musical direction and vocal arranging for five Broadway shows and numerous Disney feature films, including "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin," Pocahontas," and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

His songs have been recorded by Diana Ross, Barry Manilow, Kristen Chenoweth, Kathie Lee Gifford, Petula Clark, Lainie Kazan and many others.

Charlton Heston

When I heard about Charlton Heston's passing, I remembered the time my hubby and a friend flew down in our club's Cessna 172 to Palomar Airport, where a limo picked them up and drove them the short distance to the La Costa Resort for lunch.

In the 70's, it was the new hot spot for tennis enthusiasts, and we first discovered it when we went there on our Sunny Hills Racquet Club's weekend outing. In any event, on this particular day, Dave and Bill had to wait in the limo for some time before they could get back to the airport for the return trip home. It seems the limo was waiting for Mr. Heston to finish his tennis game (or lunch) as he showed up in his tennis gear with a uniformed airline pilot.

Mr. Heston apologized for keeping them waiting. When they got to the airport, he pointed to a twin-engine turbo jet and said, "That's Bill Cosby's." He then went over and boarded a single-engine Cessna 182 (a step up from our 172) and departed. The plane may not have been a status symbol but having your own airline pilot standing by sure was.

It's good to know that when these great actors leave this planet, we still have their wonderful movies to watch whenever we want. And it's nice to recall that Charlton Heston was a true gentleman.

Begin each day

I recently went up to Santa Barbara to see my friend, Judith Scott, in "Doubt," a thought-provoking play by John Patrick Shanley that is set in the 60's. Really enjoyed it...and the q&a session afterwards.

While having breakfast at Andersen's Danish Bakery the next day, Judith happened to mention she stayed in bed that morning just thinking of all the wonderful things she liked...almonds, flowers, etc. I said, "That must have made you feel good." What a great way to begin each day! And if you went to bed listing five things for which you were grateful, that would really set the stage for the next day. I'm going to try it, starting tonight.

We stopped to shop, of course, and found a great place on State Street, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art store. It fed our artistic souls. Bright colors, unusual jewelry, unique handcrafted art glass, educational books and creative toys for children.

Santa Barbara is a wonderful town. It seems no matter what the temperature happens to be, it's a beautiful day. The architecture is extraordinary. Lots to see and do.

Up, Up, and Away

I hope I don't wait until I'm on my deathbed (one word or two?) before I gain clarity.

Wouldn't it be awful to wait until then and think, "Oh, that's what that meant." "I should have taken advantage of that opportunity instead of worrying about whatever it was I was worrying about." How many times have we heard that before people check out, they say they only regret the things they didn't do.

Well, I'm pretty much of a risk taker. Flying in a little single-engine plane for many years...three trips back to Ohio and a couple to Oklahoma...qualifies me, I think. There was the time on one of those Ohio trips, we were over 29 Palms after flying around clouds most of the day (before my pilot was instrument rated and couldn't bore holes in clouds)...we had been climbing and wanted to level off at around 7,000 ft. That's when we discovered there was a problem. It's like stepping on the accelerator of your car and passing someone at 75 mph and then letting off the pedal, only it wouldn't let up. It's like it stuck down. Well, it could be just as serious in a car...maybe more so with traffic. Thankfully, we hardly see any planes up there except when we near an airport.

However, we were flying over mountains...and looking down, there was no place to land safely.
That's when we radioed Palm Springs and told them we had an emergency. I was sure they would give us some sage advice. Only, "How many aboard?" Excuse me...he may have said, "How many bodies aboard." That's how I read it.

In any event, my good pilot used his head and figured out that he could turn off one of the magnetos (there are two) and it would let up enough to get the reading off "red line," so the engine wouldn't overheat and quit. That was the fear. It's the opposite of what most pilots are trained to do. You're trained to handle an "engine out." Not a wide-open engine. It doesn't happen. Well, now we know it can...and did. The worst part was having to dive (literally...since we couldn't slow it down as one usually does to descend for landing). It felt like my head was coming off. When we had the runway lined up, I was told to push back my seat as far as it would go...we had to shut off the engine completely in order to slow it down enough to stop at the end of the runway, which meant if there was any wind gust, we would not be able to adjust.

Palm Springs was chosen as our landing site because we figured if the jets could land there, the runway would be long enough to handle the speed of our little Cessna. As it turned out, that was the calmest day I've ever seen in the desert.

Truthfully, the air traffic controllers at the Palm Springs airport were most gracious. After we radioed the emergency, they cleared the airways for us. Didn't that make us feel important...and there was even a fire truck to greet us.

Well, I took the liberty of saying, "we" throughout, but the credit all goes to Dave Black. Whatever you do, if you are going to fly in a little plane, pick a good pilot.
Oh yes, I think I deserve a little credit, because I found out in an emergency, I just shut up and let the pilot figure out how we were going to get out of this. I do remember thinking as my birthday was near, "Oh well, I guess turning 32 isn't any big deal." Thank God, I found out it even gets better.