Wattstowers

I spent yesterday eating BBQ at the Watts Jazz Festival right next to the historic Watts Towers.

What the h-e-double sticks are the Watts Towers, you ask? Well, they are these freaky towers made out of scrap rebar and other materials such as seashells and Canada Dry bottles, and they sit right in the middle of Watts. They were built by this badass eccentric named Simon Rodia, who worked on them all by himself, and did other things like bury his car when the police came looking for it.

In the usual fashion, a careless and indifferent city was about to raze the towers when two smart dudes came along and realized that they were looking at a completely unique piece of LA history. So they fought the man and won, and now a whole new group of artists and neighbors are rallying to revitalize the area around them.

But enough history - the jazz fest was super mellow. The hats were good, the ribs were fantastic, and the music was even better. And except for the ribs it was fo' free. So get thee out of your usual fifteen-mile radius and go check out something new in this fantastic city of ours.

Rick + Jose FINALLY!

So the real reason I was in SF was to witness the wedding - yes, wedding, not commitment ceremony or domestic partnership registration - of the lovely Rick and Jose. It took place in the beautiful SF City Hall rotunda at the top of the stairs; I wept like I always do because I'm a big fat sap, and then we partied in Sausalito with paella and pie that night and chez Robert and Andy the next day.

And all I can say is FINALLY! Rick and Jose hold a special place in my heart because they had their first real date at my 30th bday party. I have to say, it was a gift unto itself to see Rick at my party waiting for Jose to walk in, looking so nervous and fumbling with his drink and generally dropping things. I got mileage outta that one for years.

Furthermore, Rick and Jose's wedding had the distinction of featuring the first-ever inclusion of a BlackBerry in the ceremony (that I've ever seen). The Supe marrying them read a poem off it. Knowing the number of times that Rick and I have cracked up at various weddings over things just such as this, I thought it very fitting that there I was at his, laughing and secretly rehearsing my sarcastic comments to lay on him later.

And finally: FINALLY! At least one city in the USA has stepped up and done the right thing with all this mess. Because love is love is love is love and then there's legislation.

Congrats Jose and Rick!

I Was in the Third Row at the Nick Cave Show

And yep, he was singing right to me.

Yes, it was my second show in 4 days.

That'll do for another few years.

Nick Cave, Spiritualized.

It's been an amazingly spiritualized time - I got to roast a pig on a spit and see Nick Cave, all in the same week.

You think I'm speaking metaphorically, but you didn't see the moon rise behind a giant neon cross on a hill above the Hollywood Bowl. And you didn't hear Nick sing "The Ship Song."

That, my friends, is the True Religion of Coco.

(I'm going again in San Francisco.)

Last Weekend I Roasted A Pig On A Spit

No words. I have none. It was a religious experience.

Let me just say this: When you know the exact animal that gives you your food, it changes everything.














*Photos courtesy of Gracie J.

Spontaneous Partying

Leave it to HT:C-K to throw the perfect spontaneous end-of-summer party this past weekend in their amazing pad with its beautiful fairy garden. I'm talking warm air, sparkly lights, red wine, flowers in the fountain, smoked salmon, good fashion, better tequila, roaming sweet-faced dogs, and a man in a white linen suit presiding over the grill. Cause being spontaneous is fo' free.

Bodyworlds

Imagine you donate your body to science and the guy says, "Great, here's my vision. We'll have you balancing in the splits on two balls, with one hand on a third ball and your other hand holding your internal organs aloft. Oh yeah, and we'll have your back flayed open."

That, my friends, was exactly what I saw on Sunday night at the California Science Center's "Bodyworlds 3" exhibit. It is the most amazing scientific exhibit I have ever seen. They plastinate a bunch of bodies that have been donated to science (with the donor's full understanding and consent of how they will be used), and then carefully arrange them so that we live ones can see all the amazing structures of the human body. It is incredible, especially for a freak like me who likes to take everything apart and see how it works. Besides the many, many humans in various poses (lots of acrobatic ones, so you can see how muscles work), there's also a plastinated GIRAFFE. And the blood vessel system of a lamb that looks like some spooky piece of art. I left with a new appreciation of how amazing the body is, and frankly, a new appreciation of all life.

This one's over, but I see that there's a "Bodyworlds 4" already traveling through Europe. Do not miss it. It may not be cheep, but when will you ever get a chance to see something like this again?

A.D.D.G.

So Saturday night was Ali G's grand opening of her show A.D.D.G. (aux dehors de guillemets) - look it up, suckas - at the lovely Honor Fraser Gallery, and I have to tell you, it was dope.

First of all, the artwork was amazing; I really have to go down and take a look at it again because there were so many well-wishers and art hipsters and nice people there that I didn't get nearly enough.

Second of all, the women's dresses. I knew my friends looked good, but not that good. There was something about the night that really brought out the best in everybody.

Third of all, the dinner afterward, which can only be described as one part triumph, one part art-family and one part Puccini. Just the way I like it.

So get your asses on down the Honor Fraser and check it. Cause it is, of course, fo' free.

Photo courtesy of Tulita Jeng, whose hair was looking fabulous that night.

Staycation

Big shout-outs to my little bro E-Rock, who's working the two-week Staycation up in SF with his GF. Instead of pouring money down the gas-tubes, they're staying in town with a full schedule of All The Shit You Always Say You're Gonna Do But Never Get Off Your Ass For.

What can I say? Dirt runs deep in the family.