A Wise Man, a Bird, and a Fist-Fight

I took the LA Bus today. It was one of the most eventful ten minutes of my life.

First, a man who was dressed like one of the three wise men- full turban and all- came on the bus and sat down... on my lap. Which was weird for several reasons, but mostly because we had made eye contact right before it happened. It was quite an awkward moment when I had to ask him to get up. He did and then proceeded to tell me about the Christmas pageant that he is starring in. And I guess I would believe him if it didn't look like he has been living in the costume for three years.

The next stop brought a man with a parakeet on his shoulder. The bus driver confronted the man, said he can't have pets on the bus. This angered said bird-man and caused him to angrily flap his arms around while screaming about the Constitution (seriously). The altercation climaxed as the bird sprang from the man's shoulder and flew around the inside of the bus. This delighted some, frightened others. I sat mouth agape until the man whistled, left the bus, as the bird flew behind him.

The homeless couple in front of me, who had been sleeping peacefully were woken up by the events. The man went to put his head back on the woman's shoulder and she pushed his head away. He kept trying and trying, and she finally got up and moved to a different seat on the other side of the aisle. He followed. She moved. He followed. She got so fed up that she scratched his face and punched him square in the nose, which began to bleed and drip onto the aisle.

I pulled the cord and got off at the next stop.

Thora Birch Thinks I'm Awesome

I saw Thora Birch at West Hollywood Whole foods today (I was working). She was sitting on the patio watching me and Dana work. She then reluctantly came over while I was canvassing someone and walked past me a couple of times, finally stopping in front of me. I was done canvassing the guy, looked at her and randomly said, "I think you're awesome." (Skip ahead 3-5 min, yada yada yada)... "Celeste, I think you're awesome." So...

Celebrity Sighting in Burbank

I saw Alexis Bledel at the Urban Outfitters in Burbank today.

There is nothing entertaining about this story. So to make up for it, I am posting this creepy fan video.

Why I Love The Largo

So, I stumbled upon something awesome tonight. I went to the Largo website to make sure that Jon Brion was still playing this Friday. After confirming this, I randomly clicked on the audio/video tab and saw various streaming live performance MP3s from Brion, Elliott Smith, Aimee Mann, Tenacious D and others. Definitely worth checking out.

But then I was inspired enough to click on "videos" and there is a music video for Brion's "Here We Go" which shows scenes from Punch Drunk Love that I have never seen before. There is also a link that says "Paul Thomas Anderson Videos Coming Soon." My mind is blown.

New Breathing Technique

Someone I was working with today said, "Breathe in Jesus, breathe out peace."

Wow.

Frustration in the City Of Angels

Living in LA is awesome. You are presented with so many opportunities for entertainment every single night- whether it be a concert, a comedy show, or people watching on Hollywood and Highland.

Along with this comes nightly heartbreak when something amazing falls through the cracks. Tonight was no different.

(Taken from Losanjealous.com): "Bob Odenkirk (Mr. Show), Will Arnett (Arrested Development), and Dax Shepard (Punk'd) are coming together to throw a FREE show of comedy, performance, and multiple felonies. Aiding and abetting them are their friends Brian Posehn, Doug Benson, The Fun Bunch, and Tim & Eric. FREE. Seating first come, first served. UCLA Ackerman Ballroom, 7 pm."

Too bad I decided to read Losanjealous at 8:30. At least I can always head down to the White Horse and hang out with my friend Lindsay. Lindsay Lohan.

Celebrity Sighting in Silverlake

My job is not glamorous. I stand on street corners or in front of grocery stores and ask people to contribute money to various campaigns. The current campaign is increasing the use of clean energy, and hopefully reversing global warming.

One of the (only) perks of my job is that I get to see a lot of random celebrities all around LA.

Today I saw Chloe Sevigny at Silverlake Trader Joe's. In case you were wondering, she does not have a minute to fight global warming. Which I find amusing because she once starred in a music video for a band named "Smog."

Smog - I Feel Like The Mother Of The World

Amazing Self-Deprecating Advertising

This ad has given me so much joy, I felt the need to share it with everyone

Opening Pandora's Box

I have a new love in my life: Pandora.com. I might be incredibly late to this party, but I'm pretty sure it will not be ending any time soon.

Pandora is an online radio station that bases the tunes it plays on bands that you tell it you like. It's part of the Music Genome Project, which Pandora's founder Tim Westergren explains: "We set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. We ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or 'genes' into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony. It's not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records - it's about what each individual song sounds like."

It's awesome. You can have up to 100 radio stations geared for different favorite bands like Built to Spill, Radiohead, or the Pixies. My personal favorite is the amazing songs that are exposed through the Neutral Milk Hotel and Mountain Goats station. It's a great way to find new music and to remember old favs. Oh, and it's free.

First Post

I have finally given in to the evil temptress that is the blogosphere.