Greeting Britlings!
I don’t know about you but I’m somewhat OVER all this rain. I guess I wouldn’t be British if I didn’t complain about the weather, right?
I love watching American local news around this time too. ‘Storm watch’. Really?
Back home our weather people are so calm about the weather, perhaps because for most of the year it’s so damn bleak. But here the weather announcers are so perky, jacked up and thrilled that there is a pothole on the 405 causing major devastation. Now don’t get me wrong, these rains for sure are causing major havoc and some people are losing their homes due to mudslides. So my heart goes out to those most affected. This month already we have had more days of rain, than not. And it’s the most rain we’ve had all year since 1998 -where 13.68 inches of rain dropped and soaked downtown LA. On a positive note it means we have alleviated the drought conditions that plague us through most of the year leading to the catastrophic wild fires.
Last week in a brief reprieve I took the dog for a walk to Switzer Falls in the San Gabriel Mountains with my pal, the magician Paul Roffman. In order to see the magnificent waterfalls you have to cross a series of babbling brooks But this time the brooks were more like angry rivers with raging waters (perfect for white water rafting) and unfortunately there was no way to cross it this time, however I did try to build a crosswalk – picking up rocks and fallen tree branches. I pretty much succeeded but it wasn’t long before the strong waters broke my bridge and I gave up. But I got a good workout in the process.
They say it’s best to visit in the falls in early spring after the rainy season when the wild flowers and blackberries are blooming. So I’ll definitely be going back and I highly recommend it to any adventurers out there, too. The trip is about 20 minutes east of Hollywood, it’s easy to find on Google maps, but be careful as the 210 is incredibly steep and windy, definitely stay focused during this leg of the drive! Speaking of new adventures….the h Club on Vine Street has finally opened its doors for a soft opening. Founded in London by Paul Allen, global philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft, and musician Dave Stewart, h Club is an international private members’ club ‘facilitating creatives to Connect, Collaborate and Create’. The official opening date is Feb 27th with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with our very own Mayor Eric Garcetti. I can’t say too much but the place is fantastic, and the major points for me include a gym, a pool, a screening room and a rooftop restaurant with major views of the Hollywood sign and the Capitol Records building. I believe they are still taking membership applications at this time www.hclubla.com if readers are interesting in applying.
And finally…..can the Oscars get any more controversial? First we had the Kevin Hart debacle, from deciding to go with no host this year, the kerfuffle about how many songs and performers they were going to allow. And now deciding four awards will not air live on the telecast (nominees and their colleagues from the commercial-banished categories of cinematography, makeup and hairstyling, film editing, and live action short). This measure hopes to keep the runtime of the show to a brisk three hours. Oi! Social media has been all abuzz with #boycottoscars and prominent filmmakers including Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron calling it a slap in the face. My take? How can you say that editing and cinematography are NOT an integral part of the filmmaking process? I can understand perhaps with the shorts…. here’s an idea, what if they become a part of an another academy show? How about calling the The Short Oscars and stream them live?
On the flip side if you are joining the boycott you can always come to THE TOSCARS instead. In case you’d forgotten, The Toscars are BiLA’s annual short film awards paying homage to the ‘real’ Best Picture nominees. It’s only a two-hour show with a cocktail reception beforehand. You get to see all the movies and the awards show all in one night. Guaranteed laughs with our slew of talent and host Stephen Marcus. Tickets can be found on Eventbrite.com and it’s this Thursday (Feb. 21st). So come and see what influence (if any) we have on that other awards show.
So with out further ado….good luck to all of our nominees and may the best TOS(C)ARS win!
Hope to see you there…
Craig
