Well, it has been a jam-packed week in the house of BLA!
Firstly Eileen and I along with our good friends Herb Ankrom and Marc Cleary had a great day out at Will Rogers State Park in the Pacific Palisades to support the charity ‘Safety Harbor Kids’ with their 7th Annual Polo tournament – Don’t ask me who was playing who as I was most distracted by a fun blackjack table which had my name on it for most of the event. Our dealer was a laugh riot who encouraged us to cheat, a LOT!!! (Wish they were like that in Vegas) – Anyway Eileen ended up being the winner and scoring a tower of chocolates. It was so nice to see so many members show up including a pair of gorgeous Brit actresses; Judi Shekoni and Tehmina Sunny, the latter telling me excitedly about her hush-hush new job! – Couldn’t happen to a nicer, more hardworking gal. Congrats Tehmina!
Champagne and strawberries soon followed as everyone went to dig the divots.
We decided we wanted to arrive in style so booked a chauffeur-driven Escalade from Evolve Executive Car Service (818/571-1985) and was delighted to know it was owned and driven by a fellow Brit, Nigel Copps – he definitely took extra special care of us – and we highly recommend him for any red carpet events you might have coming up. Find him on Facebook at Evolve Executive Car Service LLC.
On Sunday, we were also lucky enough to be invited along by member Penelope J. von Kalinowski to attend the ‘Abba-fest’ at the Hollywood Bowl (2301 N Highland Avenue, Los Angeles,) – which is a must- do if you’ve never been this outdoor music space. It’s is remarkable, truly one of LA’s best music venues. And this night was no exception, it started off with a ‘Glee’ inspired sing-off between three of our local colleges, the winners where called ‘The Scattertones’ who performed a mash-up of “Money, Money, Money”, “Mamma Mia” and “S.O.S” Then after a short interval came the main attraction – ‘ABBA-FEST’ – The world’s best ABBA tribute band. Apart from the dodgy wigs they were pretty darn convincing, working their way through the hits, they had the whole crowd up on their feet, average age was around 60, but that didn’t stop them shuffling in the aisles. One of the best things about the Bowl is you can also bring your own picnic and wine – and needless to say two bottles later we were joining in with the old timers on “Take a Chance On Me”.
It truly was a blast, so try to catch them next time they are in town if you can. Next week I’m off to see ‘Earth, Wind and Fire.’ truthfully I can only name one song, aptly title ‘September’ but I’m sure they will be thoroughly entertaining with better wigs 😉
We had been getting a lot of requests lately to bring back our ‘A Very British Pub Quiz’, so with the help of our interns Sophie and Sarah we hosted our comeback night at The Pikey, (7617 W Sunset Boulevard. www.thepikeyla.com last Tuesday, which was packed to the rafters. Sophie and Sarah spent all week sourcing and researching questions and took the duties of quizmasters. And did us proud. The winning team ‘Our house’ took home the top prize and Team ‘No Chance’ in second place received tickets to see the brand new Britflick ‘The World’s End.’
Next Tuesday we welcome the new incoming British Consulate-General, Chris O’Connor and the same evening we are hosting a cocktail reception at the very famous Fahey-Klein Gallery for the winners in our RANKIN photo competition in association with Heifer international and Talent house. Speaking of: we are proud supporters of A Place At The Table event on the 19th of September, during Emmy week honoring the marvelous actress Susan Sarandon and featuring an amazing live performance by Grammy winners ‘The Band Perry’. There is still a chance you can join us, as there are still a few tickets available. Check their website for all the info: www.heifer.org/beyondhunger/#reserve. You can email me directly at Craig@britsin.la if you are interested in coming with a group of us. This truly is a wonderful charity that empowers women in third world countries and teaches them sustainability with the use of livestock. It really is inspiring work these guys do and a what a huge difference they have made over the years.
Have a wonderful week Breeps and hope to see you at one of our upcoming events.
Best, Craig
All images courtesy of Craig Young
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