Nicholl Fellowship - part one

So, I have three scripts that I want to enter into the Nicholl Fellowship this year. The last time I entered the Nicholls I think was in 2005, so it's been awhile. That year, I didn't make it to the Quarterfinals, and I'm hoping one of my scripts can sneak through this year. I say "sneak through" because out of 6,000 entries, it takes a little luck along with a good script to get past the first round.

My first entry, The Rebound Guy, is one of my rom coms. I know the Nicholls aren't known for selecting comedies, but Greg Beal, the guy who organizes the contest, keeps emphasizing that they don't discriminate against comedies. Plus, I think it's a darn good script, so we'll see. Fingers crossed.

Time to whip the other two scripts into shape before the final deadline.

More Wall Decorations

After remembering the photo of Trent on my adolescent closet, I searched for other photos I had hanging up. Here's what I found:

Oh, Bai Ling. What went wrong? I saw you in Red Corner and thought you were so amazing and were on your way to being the next big thing. So beautiful, so talented. You were creepy in The Crow. Well done. Then in Anna and the King you were so beautiful and so talented again. And then you stopped being in movies and started dressing like a total wackjob, even winning Fug Madness (okay, I'll admit, that's impressive, but sad). And now you're going to be on Celebrity Rehab 5. Argh. You are still hot and can still act. You were even good in LOST, though I remember your part was some lame storyline to explain Matthew Fox's tattoos (you know, which are his real tattoos, so they need not be explained in a fictional show). But that wasn't your fault, that was the awfulness that LOST was at times. Please, clean it up, girl. I still have hope for you.

I was never a huge No Doubt fan, but I always worshiped Gwen's red lipstick and black liquid eyeliner. I also had mad respect for her multiple magazine interviews where she emphasized how she worked out a lot to keep her thin frame when all the other celebrities were saying they never worked out and ate whatever they wanted to. She made teenage girls believe they could grow up to be healthy rock princesses without starving themselves.

Rob Thomas? I guess I really liked Matchbox Twenty's first album. And the dude was homeless for a bit before their big break. It was a nice story. Moving on...

 CZJ, I loved you in Mask of Zorro. I'm still a little creeped out that you married Michael Douglas.

Wino Forever. How come Charlie Sheen can be a wife-abusing, anti-Semitic, host of porn stars hauling suitcases of cocaine, yet completely in demand when all he was good at in the first place was playing a womanizer who spouted bad dick and fart jokes? And you, with years of solid film performances and multiple Oscar nominations have one small misunderstanding with Saks and some prescription pills and your career is toast for ten years. Hollywood is not fair. Lucas was a childhood fave. Dracula, Little Women. So good. You looked great in Black Swan, not a hint of Botox. Here's hoping for more leading roles in the near future. And finally...

Okay, this was not the same photo of Shirley Manson that I had up, but it was the same hair and makeup, so it may have been from the same shoot. In my photo she was wearing a sleeveless robin's egg blue latexy shirt, but I can't seem to find that photo. Anyway, Shirley was my hero, still is. Love her voice, love her lyrics, love her style. Love Butch Vig and the rest of Garbage. No, I did not watch her in The Sarah Connor Chronicles because I gave up on that show long before then, but I'm always tempted to check out the episodes she's in. Maybe someday.

I had many, many more photos, mostly from Premiere (does that magazine even still exist?) and Rolling Stone, which is business savvy and makes you pay a subscription fee to look through their archives. Darn you RS for refusing to adapt to the free internet age.

Island of Flowers

I was watching the Nicaragua episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. He observed that it would be hard to do his gluttonous food show after witnessing young children digging through a landfill for food and recyclables. The scene reminded me of a documentary short that I saw years ago. It will definitely stick with you.

Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor passed away on March 23 at the age of 79. The media was quick to label the occasion as the death of the last true Hollywood star. Somewhere, Debbie Reynolds muttered, "Really? Are you effing kidding me?" And Lauren Bacall rolled her eyes and continued reading the phonebook just to listen to her own voice.

All the summations of Ms. Taylor's life have blurbed about her personal life overshadowing her acting career. Maybe it's because I wasn't alive when all the drama was taking place, or maybe because I watched a recent interview with Debbie Reynolds where she spoke of making peace with Elizabeth decades ago, but I've always just seen her as a gifted actress, stunning beauty, and gracious humanitarian. I recently watched Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Great performance. And, of course, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? would be the performance of any actress's career.

Okay, her personal life was pretty soap operatic with her first husband, Mike Todd (founder of the famous Todd-AO) dying in a tragic plane crash when she was 26 and the whole Eddie Fisher drama to on again, off again with Richard Burton for over a decade. But I will always remember Elizabeth as National Velvet.

This movie was one of my favorites growing up, and it still holds up. The Pi? Any little girl's fantasy. And Donald Crisp and Anne Revere are the parents you dream of having as a child; smart, loving, and flawed, but able to recognize their flaws. Anne Revere won a well-deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the film. Unfortunately, her film career was ruined after she was blacklisted for refusing to testify to HUAAC. Ugh, what an ugly time in American history. Such a shame for all the talent so senselessly punished, and such a shame for us all, missing out on so many great Anne Revere (and countless others) performances.

But I have digressed. Rest in peace, Elizabeth. I'm sure Hollywod will make a movie about your life soon.

Japan

This post comes very late. On March 11th a 9.0 earthquake struck northern Japan near Sendai. As if that wasn't devastating enough, a tsunami followed that demolished many seaside towns. I turned on CNN right after the earthquake was reported on the local news. For a half an hour I watched a single helicopter shot of the tsunami wave tearing through the coast and countryside. It looked like special effects in a movie: so surreal, so fast even from so high above. I'll never forget it. I hope to see nothing like that again.

Two weeks later, the earthquake isn't dominating the news, since it seems like there won't be a nuclear meltdown, there isn't enough fear to spread to be worth the U.S. media's time. But I want to take a moment to remember the tens of thousands of lives that were lost and send out a prayer to the people of Japan and their families who have lost loved ones or will spend years rebuilding their lives.

Wall Decoration

Holy hell! I can't believe I forgot to include Trent Reznor in my Oscar blog!

In high school I had magazine photos of all my favorite actors/actresses/musicians hanging on my closet doors. This SPIN cover of Trent Reznor always stuck out the most. I would stare at it all the time, hypnotized and pondering: Why did they apply concealer around his nose in perfect trapezoids and then not blend it? Why does he look so much like Jesus? Is he praying? Where did the bump on his nose go? This is the most photoshopped photo I've ever seen. I can't believe Trent signed off on this. It seems so un-Trent Reznor.

I even remember the article a bit. "The Perfect Drug" had just come out and was a huge hit accompanied by an awesome video. Trent was asked about his next album and he said he didn't have much material. He was having writer's block and a little perplexed. Oh the woes of being an artist. I was shocked when The Fragile came out a year later because not only was it awesome, it was a massive two-discer. I guess the inspiration must have struck. There is hope for us all.

In high school, if you had told me that Trent Reznor would cut off all of his hair, win an Oscar, and give a completely tame, everyman acceptance speech, I would have told you to eff off, turned up the NIN, and continued applying my black kohl eyeliner. But now that I'm older (and not any wiser) my inner fifteen year old celebrates this former rebel winning an Oscar. He deserved it. The Social Network's score was perfect for the the movie. And when was the last time a true rock star won an Oscar? I've seen a number of concerts in my day, and Trent in concert rocked it for two hours straight. It was most impressive. The only other musician I've seen capture the stage like Trent was Bono, and Bono didn't writhe around for two hours.

Congratulations, Trent. I'll always remember you as the picture on my closet door; you, but not quite you. As any artist should be.

Jiraffe

Hubs and I share the same favorite restaurant in L.A., which works out well for us. Jiraffe in Santa Monica is quaint, elegant, and serves delicious food. The first time we went there we had an orange duck dish that was one of our favorite meals ever. Although we've never had a meal quite that good during our subsequent visits, the food has always been excellent with top notch service.

Every Monday Jiraffe offers a 3 course menu for $38. We went last week, so here's an example of one of their decadent meals.

Amuse Bouche:

In the winter, Jiraffe serves creamy mushroom soup in tiny mugs. So cute. The amuse bouche in the summer is an apricot, mint, feta salad that's even better.

Appetizers:

Tuna Sashimi

or


Mushroom Stuffed Quail

Entree:

Pancetta Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Dessert:

Chocolate Hazelnut Bomb