UrbanAddiction.com: August 2007 Archives

August 31, 2007

Hitting the Big Time

This past Monday I went to work with The Divine Ms. Jimmi again at another event here in Philly- the showing of the original and the greatest Hairspray. I have seen the latest John Travolta movie and didn't care for it. I saw the Broadway show with Harvey Fierstein and adored it. The Divine One had two costume changes and this time Lance was on hand to help with the wig and make-up.

The venue this time was the Trocadero Theatre AKA The Troc. I would liken it to LA's Troubadour. An old burlesque theatre, many a great band has performed there. Jimmi's manager Robert booked this gig and the accommodations were even better than the last (which were pretty damned good). This dressing room not only had a private bathroom but it had a stocked fridge as well. Security was tight and only Jimmi's personal assistants/hair & make-up people were allowed back stage and up the steps to the dressing room. I'm always amazed at what celebs say they need to make the show go on. We were happy for a lighted, air-conditioned space with running water and a toilet.

During the show Lance and I admired our work from backstage like two proud parents. Jimmi would go on and then we would run backstage with him to get ready for the next set. The show was a smash and Ms. Jimmi was channeling Divine that night. We felt we did her proud and I hoped too that John Waters would be pleased.

The Flyer

The fridge contained Poland Springs, Coronas and Miller Lites.

Eat your heart out J-LO! lol

A private bathroom. A must-have for any dressing room.

Posted by Liz at 02:03 PM | Feedback (3)

Working With the Elderly

I never think of my Mom as old but the truth is she isn't as sharp as she use to be. She can't hear worth a lick- she never really could. I know I'm lucky to still have her and I count that blessing daily but sometimes you forget you can't depend on that person in the same way.

Today I asked her to answer the phone when it rang and take a message. This was important and I know now I shouldn't have involved her even if it seemed simple enough. Instead of taking the message, she assumed it was someone else and just handed me the phone. I began chattering right away thinking it was that other person and that they were in a hurry. She didn't hear them say who they were when she answered the phone. Oy vey. It put me in an extremely embarrassing situation and messed up an important appointment I was trying to make for someone else.

I couldn't even believe she did this however now I know.

Posted by Liz at 11:47 AM | Feedback (3)

August 26, 2007

Friday Night With Pharaohs

Friday night we took my nieces to see the Tutankhamen exhibit. I was dying to see it this summer and it turned out to be the last big hurrah for the season.

The way the exhibit was displayed was amazing. They really tried to take you into 1922 Cairo. My favorite part of the exhibit was rounding a corner to see a large photo of steps and a quote by archaeologist Howard Carter pertaining to the moment he was about to discover the tomb of the "boy king."

King Tut was only one year older than my oldest niece. I told the girls this would be a once in a life time chance for them to see the treasures unless they travel to Cairo where the exhibit will retire to a new museum. The girls were really fascinated and decided on the way home to construct their own little museum to play with. Tut had a throne made for his Aunt. I was sure to point that out to the girls and they just laughed at me.

After the exhibit, we ate a fine dinner at a Tut inspired restaurant within the museum. I have never eaten dinner in a museum. It was a new fun experience and I was so glad to share it with the girls.

Posted by Liz at 06:27 PM | Feedback (1)

August 24, 2007

Philly Peeps

Driving in the car the other night, the conversation between Ms. Jimmi and I went a little like this......

Jimmi- "There are a lot of people moving into Philly from NYC. You can always tell a Philly native. The New York people are all slim and chic. The Philly people walk with their heads down and have slumped shoulders. They look so....defeated. "

Me- "I know what you mean! When I was in LA. No one wore stretch pants. They could all zip up their pants. People in Philly look like their diets consist of cheesesteaks and soft pretzels."

Jimmi- "You could drop Sylvester Stallone and his mother Jackie back in South Philly tomorrow and they would blend right in."

*WATCH THIS! Click the link to see one of Philly's own in action when the news media knocks at his door after he is accused of beating up his 78 year old mother.*

Philly natives. According too Jimmi the look never leaves you.

Posted by Liz at 04:24 PM | Feedback (4)

August 23, 2007

Summer of Dark Shadows

"Director Tim Burton and pop icon Madonna have both gone on record as fans of the series. As a child Johnny Depp was so obsessed with Barnabas Collins that he wanted to be him." ~ Wikipedia

This summer I picked up another new addiction- renting old Dark Shadows episodes. I remember coming in from school and the show being on and I remembered names like Barnabas Collins and Angelique but I really didn't recall the storyline. One day around the end of June I read on Netflix how the episodes may seem campy at times, but still hold up. I noticed there were a lot of seasons to watch in case I really starting getting into it.

I was immediately hooked. It's got the wealthy Collins family rich in traditional witches and vampires. I didn't watch when I was in LA, but I set it up so a DVD would be waiting when I got home. I'm that hooked. It's perfect light weight summer viewing.

Last weekend my dear friend Ricky told me we would be attending a Dark Shadows convention. Check out the really cool autographed picture he got me! He also got me another 8X10 of my favorite character, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. I should tell you two of my nieces are hooked right along with me. They have birthdays coming up and Ricky picked up some trinkets for them too. They're going to flip almost as much as I did.

*Oh guess what! Click here to read some exciting Dark Shadows news.*

Ricky got me an autographed pic of Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie. Thanks Hun. XOXO

Posted by Liz at 09:58 PM | Feedback (1)

August 22, 2007

I LOVE Gummi Bear

My favorite celeb on TMZ.com is oil heir, Jason 'Gummi Bear" Davis. Jason is not only sober these days but counts himself as one of Paris Hilton's inner circle along with his brother Brandon " Greasy Bear" Davis.

Click here to watch Jason interact with fans.

Posted by Liz at 11:17 AM | Feedback (0)

Look Who Is My Age

*Disclaimer: There seems to be some confusion when I post, "Look Who Is My Age." No, it isn't my birthday. I just like seeing what my age looks like on others.

Tori Amos

Posted by Liz at 10:39 AM | Feedback (2)

August 21, 2007

We Now Resume Our Regularly Scheduled Program...

June-July-August 2003: 113 Americans killed
June-July-August 2004: 162 Americans killed
June-July-August 2005: 217 Americans killed
June-July-August 2006: 169 Americans killed
June-July-August 2007: 229 Americans killed (August not over yet) ~ Via C&L

*Update:
Cheney on Iraq in 1994.

Posted by Liz at 08:04 PM | Feedback (2)

August 19, 2007

M. Tonita's Birthday Bash

Last night a bunch of us hopped into a limo and proceeded to Jones for dinner and drinks. Click on the link and take a tour. the decor really reminded me of a lot of places in LA- very retro, very cool. Anyway, the food is good and reasonable so the place is pretty busy.

Jones restaurant has only been around for a short time, but has become very popular. It is another gem in the Stephen Starr restaurant empire, reputedly named after Jones' beach in NY, which Starr used to visit as a child.
The atmosphere brings to mind a suburban upper-middle class living room in the 60s-70s, with a split-level shag-carpeted, comfy chair feel, with stone walls, columns and fireplace, that make you feel like you're in the old Brady Bunch house. ~ Phila Travel Guide

Of course we had a blast in the limo. Thanks to Alison the champagne was flowing and everyone was feeling good. The birthday girl gave us the cutest party favor bags filled with sparkling lip gloss, glow sticks, blue hair pieces and round tinted sunglasses. Everything a groovy girl needs to swing. We also each received a CD mix of M.'s favorite dance jamz that played in the limo all night.

We wound down the party at a place called Ms. Tootsies.
We had the sky bar all to ourselves. By this time there were about ten of us all together so this was great. As luck would have it one of our party knew the master mixologist and he wanted to create speciality drinks. You know the kind of drinks that taste like juice and feel like you were hit with a sledge hammer the next day? It was a gorgeous place to hang out with a fantastic bunch of women. As the birthday girl said in an email this afternoon, the only wrong with the night was it ended too soon.

The Sky Bar

The Beautiful Birthday Woman.

Me & Margaret. We partied in Hawaii a few years back.

The limo had two bars.

Party Over Here!

Posted by Liz at 06:47 PM | Feedback (9)

August 18, 2007

What A Week

Wednesday night my friends at the Dumpsta Players took the stage at there home venue of Bob & Barbara's. Yours truly worked the door. The bouncer Kenny checked ID's, I took the $1.99 cover. The show was excellent; one of their best. I like working the door especially with the no-smoking policy in Philly now. What a pleasure. My energy level was up all night, I didn't reek like smoke when I got home and I get to hug and kiss friends as they come in. The show was standing room only and this Wednesday we go over to gorgeous Lance's (See photo below) to see the video.

This brings me around to last night. Philly's own The Divine Ms. Jimmi enlisted me as a personal assistant /stylist for a show she was doing that was also being filmed for a documentary (stayed tuned for that). Jimmi has been taken on by new management (We love you Robert!) and this was no time to "wing" it. Jimmi was doing a tribute to Divine for Sex Dwarf's 4th anniversary at Philly's premier New Wave dance party.

Robert handled everything for us, the parking and the dressing room. We had a private area at the club complete with fans, special lighting and bottled water. We arrived early and were able to relax. I painted Divine onto Jimmi's face (He has beautiful skin by the way) and everything just fell in place. Next I needed to style Divine's wig. Jimmi brought a long blonde number and in a stroke of accidental genius, I gathered the top up in a high twist and left the back long. It was Gwen Stefani meets Divine and it was fabulous if I do say so myself!

A few close Dumpsta friends came backstage to wish Jimmi well and compliment her hair and make-up. Jimmi also had to do a couple of interviews for the film's director. Finally it was showtime. Divine was escoted on stage by Sex Dwarf regular and Philly's favorite night owl, Robby. Robby (See photo below) makes an amazing showing everytime you see him and this event was no exception.

Robby: A Major Player in Philly's Nightlife.

Needless to say the show went off without a hitch. The Divine One was on point and the crowd adored her. The entire event was a huge success and I had a blast. Tonight, I'm off to a friend's birthday bash. We have a limo and the plan is to restaurant and club crawl our way around the city. Stay tuned- lot's of good pics are coming!!

Creating Divine

On a personal note:
Jimmi- Congrats on a great show last night. It was worth all the "abuse" you dished out to me as your personal assistant / hair stylist / make-up artist / chauffeur. Let's do it again soon. :D

Me & Lance

Me & Robby

The Divine Ms. Jimmi was a hit!

Posted by Liz at 11:15 AM | Feedback (4)

August 13, 2007

01.20.09

01.20.09, originally uploaded by Rosie O'Donnell.

I love this picture, love the tee-shirt. I'm surprised John never posted on his blog where I could buy one.

Posted by Liz at 07:40 PM | Feedback (3)

August 10, 2007

Wanna See A Free Movie?

Watch this one. It's about a relationship and it's 70 minutes long.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Read this really smart blog post about video games and art blah, blah, blah. Is there any such thing as art? Good question.

Posted by Liz at 10:06 PM | Feedback (0)

The Ring (Not Scary)

Remember the ring I accidentally walked out with from a store in LA? Not surprisingly with three nieces, it's found a new home with the middle cutie, Lea.

Posted by Liz at 11:14 AM | Feedback (2)

August 09, 2007

Bill Clinton On Palestine

Click here and fast forward near the end (1:03). Listen for Susan Silver's question to President Clinton regarding Israel and Palestine. More importantly listen to his answer with an open heart. It is amazing and so hopeful.

Posted by Liz at 12:44 AM | Feedback (0)

August 08, 2007

Scott Baio Is 45 … and Single

My old heart throb is back and guess what? He is as completely dysfunctional as anyone who knows me and my taste in men, would expect. OK, but this isn't about me it's about 80's hunk Scott Baio. I admit it, I'm glued to the show. The trouble is I happen to know a lot about Scott's family because I read up on them in between collecting his pictures that covered my bedroom walls from age fourteen too sixteen. Did I ever mention that I actually met Scott when I was fifteen? Now when I watch the show as a 44 year old (and still single as well) I have yet to hear this doctor ask the questions that might actually help Scott gain some insight on his philandering ways.

Recently, Scott's father passed away. There is no mention of the role his father played in the life of his womanizing son. Scott sees marriage as a prison so my question is which parent was the prisoner and which was the guard?

Scott's latest blonde playmate girlfriend Renee (yes, blonde playmates are his type) is waiting in the wings for Scott to pop the question. Word on the street is this woman who has a 17 year old daughter she is not raising, is already pregnant with Baio's off spring. I'm no psychologist, but I see a few red flags in that scenario.

The show is cute at times and I find myself smiling through Scott's use of expressions like "broad and nice rack." Clearly, Baio is a sexist pig who likes his women bleached and not too bright. I tune in to what becomes a half hour of unanswered questions for me and anyone with any life experience. I'd like to get a hold of Scott and ask him some pointed questions regarding his so-called "fear of commitment." I see a guy who needed to be the center of attention with a deep seated need to prove himself worthy. Of course I will never get the chance to chat with Scott. I'm SO not his type.

Posted by Liz at 01:52 PM | Feedback (4)

Help Jesse Friedman Overturn his Wrongful Conviction

Click here to read how you can help and see Capturing the Friedmans.

Posted by Liz at 01:04 PM | Feedback (0)

August 07, 2007

LA Pics

Crazy pic courtesy of some random myspace page.

Finally, I'm posting the pics from my LA/Vegas trip. As far as LA goes the weather was AWESOME. The traffic and cars on the other hand? Not so good. Really though I loved LA. Vegas and the desert especially were amazing. The sad thing about Vegas is the tearing down of all the old cool retro buildings and these massive shopping malls called Hotel/Casinos taking their place. The shopping is great but The Flamingo must have been slick in it's day.

On a serious note, while in Cali I had the opportunity to speak at a girls juvenile detention center on alcoholism and it's effects on the family. I spoke to a group of girls from the most tragic family situations you can imagine. The experience was incredible and it was completely my pleasure to hang out and talk with the girls and the amazing staff.

I had a lot of high points on this trip and made some pretty cool purchases for myself and the girls. Speaking of my nieces, I talked to them often and missed them like crazy. What they say is true- home is where the heart is and I could never see myself living too far away from them.

Some Los Feliz street art.

View of LA from a home in the hills.

Casa Malibu was a lovely little place although I didn't get a wink of sleep
due to the crashing waves right outside my door.

Inside my hotel room (#72) at Casa Malibu where Jamie Lee Curtis is a frequent guest.

Malibu beach was so nice. Can you imagine the Jersey shore being this empty in July?

An art deco home in Malibu? It's beyond my wildest dreams.

Me in the desert at last! I loved it.

We drove past the Hoover dam. It was 110 degrees that day.

This is the view of the pool from our hotel room.

The pool was so, so nice. It was the best part of Vegas. I'm not a big gambler so pool time was everything too me during the day. After a while I had to go back into the room because of the heat, but for the most part I felt wonderful with the low humidity.

The Eiffel Tower was next to the pool. Very cheesy, very Vegas. lol

Not exactly healthy eating, but I had to try an In-N-Out burger while in LA.

One of these juicy burgers belonged to me and it was as tasty as it looks.

The ranch was a really cool place.
Too bad the AC in the room didn't work and it was 110 degrees. We were unable to stay and got a full refund. The idea was to sleep here and then go to the new sky walk at the Grand Canyon. Get this- it cost $50.00 PER PERSON just to use THE ROAD that takes you too the Grand Canyon (The road is not paved either). Once at the sky walk you're charged another $25.00 and you are NOT permitted to take pictures. Instead they take your picture and charge you. NO THANKS! We decided right away that wasn't happening for us. The woman who ran the ranch/hotel told us most Americans pass on it and only foreigners are bothering. She said most Americans consider it a huge rip-off.

This was my room. Pretty cool except it was sweltering.

Ahhh Zuma beach. What can I say, I loved it.

Mr. hot lifeguard. More of what made Zuma beach so great.

The Grove is a great place to shop and I spent a lot of time and $$$ there. It's also the place where I had a celebrity siting! Yes I did! If there was ONE PERSON I was dying to see while in LA it was this guy. I thought I was going to have to hit a club to see him in person but he was walking along just as natural as can be right there in The Grove. I was so star struck I forgot his name for a minute. I didn't dare approach him. Just seeing him was enough. Wanna know who I saw? Check out his picture below....

DJ Steve Aoki!!! Steve is the big brother of top model Devon Aoki and an entrepreneur in his own right. In this pic (courtesy of Cobrasnake) Steve works the crowd in his famed green pants. The same pants he was wearing when I spotted him. (gasp)

American Girl located at The Grove. Of course I had to pick up "Los Angeles" American Girl tee shirts for my nieces.

Seeing Tom Morello perform at The Troubadour was amazing however I realized something and that is some things are better when they happen organically. I didn't feel like saying hello to Tom at a "meet and greet" after the show. I had done that in Philly weeks prior and met him personally years before in NYC. This time I was happy with just seeing the show. Later in the evening we returned to the Troubadour where Julie made friends with the doorman earlier in the evening. He let us go upstairs to Tom's after party. BTW- this person was there....

That's actor Breckin Meyer (Clueless, Can't Hardly Wait). Again, I just wasn't about to approach Tom as a "fan, party crasher, stalker" type. Julie said hello to Tom I hide out then left as quickly as possible. Tom was off to get pancakes. I actually reconnected with Tom's roadie who I had become acquainted with in Philly. We agreed to stay in touch so that was really nice.

*Another celebrity siting was this fine actress coming out of our nail place....

Actress Jennifer Coolidge. (Legally Blonde, Epic Movie) BTW- she was driving a Porsche.

If you asked me what my favorite area was I would have to say Beverly Hills. Rodeo Drive is very touristy. Melrose Ave and Robertson Boulevard were more fun for shopping but Beverly Hills really is lovely. It's so clean and spotless. My favorite location had to be the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows. This place is stunning. You are literally transported back in time to the glamour of old Hollywood. I loved it. We had coffee in the cafe and the waiter was telling us about a man that actually lives at the hotel full time even though he has a home! Where are these men? Is he single? I don't care if he's a bit eccentric, I can work with that in between room service.

Me at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

The restroom located in the lobby of the hotel.

A historical landmark, The Fountain Coffee Room has restored the 20 green bar stools that originally surrounded the classic curved soda fountain counter, built in 1949. Note the signature banana leaf wallpaper.

And Finally.......

Malibu at sunset and a heart felt thank you too Julie for making this trip possible. Thank you again for everything! XOXO

Posted by Liz at 01:19 PM | Feedback (6)

August 03, 2007

Home

Liz in Malibu Photo by: Julie

I'm home still jet lagged and in the middle of home renovations. Will post more soon. Wish you were here.

Love,
Liz XO

Posted by Liz at 04:39 AM | Feedback (2)