Window Dressings

      She seems to be in a festive yet reflective mood.  (Art gallery on the corner of

Melrose and Robertson).

The skull of the ancient Pianosaurus serves as a wreath holder at the entrance

to the Steinway store on  Robertson.

The Pacific Design Center at night.

Tonight I went to Chaya Brasserie to pick up a deposit check for the band I have booked in for their New Year's Eve party.  Instead of cranking up the Honda and driving three minutes over to Robertson and Alden, I decided to walk.  It's about a 20 minute walk. On my way over and back, there were several windows that caught my eye.

Douglas gets in touch...

Last Sunday during a quiet afternoon at home I decided to change my profile picture on Facebook.  I am one of "those" people - a Facebook enthusiast.  I use it for business, to stay in touch with musicians and their gigs.  It has also brought me contact with distant cousins, lost high school chums, and an entire cast of people I have welcomed back into my consciousness.  Like it or not, Facebook can be very powerful, and I like it. 

So I was casting about for a different kind of profile picture when I remembered a lovely color pencil drawing by an old aquaintance.  I found it stashed away, scanned and uploaded it.  It is a still life, seen above, of exceptional delicacy and skill.  It was drawn by Douglas Robinson.  Douglas worked in television as an actor and writer, appearing on "All In The Family", (in this clip from "Border Patrol" he is the cowboy in the white hat and blue coat) and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show".  In the mid 1980s Douglas had a recurring role in 13 episodes of "Alice", playing "Doug", a loveable, witty and acerbic lush.  It must be said, and Doug has always been the first to admit it, that by the time I met him at a certain bistro up the street he was playing that character in real life.  And he played it to perfection.  He was one of the funniest and most charming individuals I ever had the pleasure to meet.  By the early 1990s Doug had achieved legendary status as a local character in West Hollywood.  That, my friends, is no easy feat.

My favorite exchanges with Doug usually went something like this:

Me:  Have a nice day, Douglas.
Douglas:  Oh, no thanks, I've made other plans.

He once said about an elderly actress:  "She has lovely skin.  It drapes so well."

So I uploaded one of the lovely drawings Doug occasionally gave to friends, and wondered how he was doing.  I hadn't seen him for quite some time.

Later that evening my friend Betty and I took an early supper at the above mentioned bistro.  It has been a favorite hang of mine for many years.  Betty never met Doug, so in the course of our conversation I showed her Doug's drawing on my phone, and began telling her about my friend, about how he would hold court at the very place where we were eating.  We talked about him at length, then after our appetizers came, Betty looked over my shoulder and said, "Oh, look at those beautiful hydrangeas."  I turned around and there, sitting at the end of the bar where Doug usually sat, was a vivid pink spray of hydrangeas.  Taped to the front of the bar below the flowers was a handwritten note:  "In Loving Memory, Douglas Robinson".  He had passed away just two days before.

Why, having no idea that Douglas had even been ill, let alone died, had I chosen that day to upload his beautiful drawing onto my Facebook page?  And why had Betty and I chosen that particular cafe for dinner?  Who knows...I'm a skeptic about such things, usually.  And yet, this was a profound series of coincidences.  So, rest in peace Douglas.  Thanks for getting in touch.

Notes from the culture wars...

According to Dogfriendly.com's National Travel Guide, they do indeed allow dogs on the National Mall.  Clearly this picture on the cover of Joe Maguire's book "Brainless - the Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter" was not intended to be flattering, but it has always puzzled me.  Now, before you think I am calling Ann Coulter a dog (she is reasonably attractive, and even more so in person), the reference to dogs on the mall comes from my wondering how Ann could sit, in her ubiquitous black cocktail dress, on grass that has certainly liberally (pun intended) been used as a water closet by any number of canines.  We know that Ann has lots of wealthy gay friends.  We've seen them dining en masse in fancy West Hollywood restaurants.   She could have used a couple of them with her on this photo shoot.

Looking North toward the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel

Hollywood Rainbow

Sid's spires from behind

Looking East down Hollywood Blvd....

A visit from the Muse.

Interesting how dreams can be so vivid at times.  The one I had this morning made no sense, really, and yet it made complete sense.  In the dream I was teaching school at a music academy (?) attached to an old theatre in a rundown part of a nameless city. I was sitting at a desk in an office I shared with somebody.  An attractive young woman came into the office to talk with that other person, and as she was leaving, I blurted out to her, "I want to write a column!"  She stopped, and we had a brief conversation which I now can't remember.  Before she left she said to me, "I think we can work something out."  As a result of that vague but at the same time vivid dream, here I sit at 6:00 AM working on a blog I set up a few months ago then forgot about. 

So, I guess in some weird way, I just gave myself permission to blog.  So here it is - I asked for it!  I will be posting stuff about my life (of course, its all about me) as a music booker in big bad Los Angeles. I am also a part time host at one of LA's trendiest restaurants, an ex professional actor/singer (who moved well), a former career waiter who escaped that profession thanks to a prominent Los Angeles business woman, an aspiring jazz pianist and modestly accomplished jazz vocalist, and now, along with several billion people, a blogger - with opinions.  Uh oh....that's the worst kind.

The pictures above were taken at an event we booked the band for at Madame Tussaud's rooftop on Hollywood Blvd.  It was a weird weather day in Los Angeles...weird weather days are all too common everywhere, and this one was downright tropical - LA meets Miami (a dangerous combination). The clouds were very dramatic and the sunset was spectacular.  It was as good a time as any to be on the rooftop of a wax museum.  By the way, I don't get wax museums...they creep me out and I find them a little depressing.