Tikis on Skates? Maybe at the next show.

I have yet to write the Cruise Ship Chronicles, but I think I am just about ready to. We've told our stories enough times now to be able to break a week at sea into a brief(er) telling, so hopefully it won't take me a week to write.

BUT. Since then, we've been keeping busy and I need to write those things down so that I don't forget. Here it goes:

On Sunday, Ryan and I met up with Kate at Forest Lawn Cemetery, which has a fabulous museum - who knew?! (Kate, apparently.) We got there a few minutes early (mark the date, folks. It won't happen again!) and so we strolled around the hillside and marveled in the fantastic view of Los Angeles. It was a really clear day and the city was remarkably visible from way up on the hill.



It was also cold as ice, so we ended up going inside the Hall of Crucifixion-Resurrection which was really lovely and had beautiful stained glass windows. Photography isn't allowed inside the Hall but I had to sneak one picture just to be able to read the center of the stained glass window (Honoris Causa).



Then we headed over to the museum to see the In Search of Tiki exhibit, which is FANTASTIC! Again, photographs are not allowed in the special exhibits, but I had to sneak one when I saw Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily's tiki mugs on display! Hooray!



Lots of other interesting pieces, including an original painting from Shag and his own personal collection of tiki mugs (Jericl has a few pics on Flickr). My favorite pieces, though, had to be some of Marc Davis's original art and the wooden tikis from his and wife Alice's collection. There were so many!! By the time we got to the permanent museum collection, time was running out, but (again), wow. When was the last time you saw stained glass from the 1300s? Or a gold covered door 15 feet tall? Hmm? If it's been a while and you're in the LA area, I highly suggest this as a day trip. It's free, it's beautiful, and the cemetery is so peaceful. Plus, the Last Supper in stained glass? Hello!

But we had to leave, alas, to meet up with Miss Bliss for lunch before the Moonlight Rollerway HOLIDAY Jubilee! Just before the show started, I spied Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily and ran over to say hello, like the stalker that I am. They are so kind, that they tolerated my presence AND said hello back! As I returned to my seat, I spied another celebrity, Mena Suvari (who sat right behind Kate). She's, of course, even tinier in person. The retro slide show took us through Christmases of yore, as well as some other holiday treats, which was hi-larious. And after the show, we took a short break to the snack bar, before the skating extravaganza began. We spied 4 seats together just before 2 surly teens snapped up 2 chairs next to us, forcing Bliss and Kate to sit apart from us *sigh* but it was still great. Ryan kept leaning in to ask me "is that my brain leaking out of my ear?" because the awesomeness was melting his mind. Understandable. I mean, hel-lo! When was the last time you saw a tiny rabbit skating on quad skates or skaters dressed as holiday gifts or pumpkin pie? It's been a while, I'll bet.



Of course, I had to get my picture taken once again with Mr. Phoenix, for my collection of Awesomeness.



Then, we donned some rental skates and hit the floor. I DID NOT FALL ONCE. Which is an accomplishment in itself. I left my camera safely in a locker, so I didn't get any pictures of us out there, rollering ourselves silly until the very end.



It was a glorious start to the holiday season!

Charles Phoenix's Disneyland Tour of Downtown Los Angeles

First off, everyone asks me, "who is Charles Phoenix?" and there isn't any easy way to describe him. He's sort of the Emperor of Los Angeles. He's the keeper of kitsch for our fair city and a collector of vintage 35mm slides, which he finds at thrift stores and garage sales and turns into spectacular slide shows in a variety of themes. He's a local (and national!) celebrity and a fantastic host. Check his website for the Slide of the Day and updates about his latest shows.

Anyhow one of the tours that I have been wanting to do is his "Disneyland Tour of Downtown Los Angeles" which highlights the fun and frivolity of Los Angeles, through the eyes of Disneyland. You can read all about it on his Tours page. As you know, I am a big Disneyland fan, so this would interest me even if I weren't totally in crush* with Charles Phoenix.

The day began at Union Station, where I spied Mr. Phoenix and introduced myself. Ryan and I were breakfasting at the bagel place in the station and didn't want to miss the registration. Charles immediately noticed my Charles Phoenix appliqué (which I made out of felt and puffy paint, based on this puppet made by Kevin Kidney) and loved it (!) and commented that "those school bus earrings are not lost on me!" New BFFs. Right out the gate. Lovely.

The whole cadence of the tour is fantastic. After checking in with Jodi (in the bowler hat), everyone is directed to introduce themselves to Charles, who hand writes your name tag - like getting your own customized mouse ears! The tour began with a grand look around the train station, including the shuttered restaurant and both patios and gardens. We then headed to the metrolink terminal to view the Matterhorn (and the gorgeous ceiling) and catch the "monorail" train to Chinatown, where our school bus met us. After driving to the main gates of Chinatown, everyone was given a penny for the wishing fountain. Someone made this child's wish come true by offering up a quarter for the carousel. Some of the other "attractions" in Chinatown include Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the old Mule Train ride, and Space Mountain rockets. We got a tour around Chinatown and even a tour of You Chung Hong's office, which had been sealed since 1977 when Mr. Hung died. Mr. Hung was the first Chinese-American attorney in Los Angeles and his office is a temple to mid-century decor gorgeousness.

After Chinatown, we boarded the bus and headed to Olvera Street, where we toured LA fire station #1 (the first one!) and the Pico House, which was hosting an Italian-Californian exhibit (very interesting!). We then walked through Olvera Street proper to browse the various kiosks and tour the Avila Adobe, the oldest house in Los Angeles. At the end of Olvera Street, Jodi (in the bowler hat!) was waiting for us with delicious taquitos! After stuffing our faces and licking our fingers (believe me, you don't want to miss a drop of that tomatillo sauce!), we boarded the bus again to head to LUNCH. Lunch at Clifton's Cafeteria! I didn't take many pictures there, since I was too busy gawking at the jell-o display and making references to our last trip there in March. We did get two pictures of us pigging out, which is really more than you need.

After overeating, we walked down the block to the Arcade (no photography allowed), which was the first shopping mall. Then over to the old Dutch Chocolate Shop, which is now another mall space. On the way, I spied this AWESOME gold and diamond necklace with a giant Last Supper embossed on it. This gaudy bauble is about 6 inches in diameter. Holy Jeebus with a sparkle! We saw the Bradbury Building, which was built in the late 1800's and designed to be a building from the Year 2000. Amazingly beautiful. Across the street is the Million Dollar Theater, which has so many gorgeous architectural flourishes on the outside I couldn't stop myself from photographing it.

We then walked through the Grand Central Market, which was LA's first 'grocery store' where you can still find whole roasted pigs (with fresh chicharones) and medicinal herbs, alongside fresh produce. We then headed to the defunct Angel's Flight which is a short trolley up a very steep hill (rumored to be re-opening in 2008). We took the stairs along side the trolley which were very steep indeed. I was proud of myself for making it up! There are about a zillion steps and they are at a crazy incline. My thighs were burning, but I made it! At the top is a plaza between several high rise buildings, which are the Tomorrowland of LA. On the street, we were delayed momentarily by a film crew, shooting a car commercial. It was funny to pass the PAs who would huff into their walkie talkies, "hold. This group is still moving through." We walked to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, which is gorgeous in a garish way. It's a massive silver structure, the likes of which you've never seen (unless you live in a Frank Gehry vision). Charles gave us an overview from the center of the donor circle, which is a neat spiraling tribute in marble (on the ground) to all of the donors who made the concert hall possible. We passed through the "Grand Canyon" of the concert hall (where you can see how reflective the building is) to the gardens where a giant water feature was designed as a tribute to Lilian Disney. The broken china that has been turned into a beautiful mosaic reflects Mrs. Disney's love of Delft china. On this side of the building, it was pointed out where the reflective covering had to be refinished, because the sun reflecting into the neighboring condos and office buildings were creating temperatures of 140 degrees!

Then we traveled down the block to have a "Great Moment with Mr. Lincoln" before finding the sunken garden, which harbors a spaceship fountain! (Disney buffs may recall the old Flying Saucers of Tomorrowland, which bear a striking resemblance to this fountain.) After enchanting at the roar of the water, we traveled via our Magic School Bus to Carroll Avenue, which has the highest concentration of Victorian Homes in LA. Charles pointed out some key Victorian architectural points, my favorite was this "abacus" design on the porch, and then we met our bus once again to head over to the Bob Baker Marionette Theater.

If you haven't yet had the pleasure, I implore you to go see a Bob Baker show. This theater is like nothing you've ever seen. You walk into a plain door and are transported into this gorgeous techicolor world, where puppets come to life. The marionettes are all hand-crafted lovingly at the theater and are handled by performers who love their craft. We were honored with a preview of The Nutcracker, which is running now, and then Bob Baker himself came out to perform with a puppet that he built when he was EIGHT YEARS OLD (he's now 85!). I have a video of his performance that I'll post to my YouTube page when I get the chance, because it is so magnificent.

After the show, we were invited to the Party Room for cake and ice cream (!) and a Q&A session with Mr. Baker himself! (I also have a video of him telling the story of landing his first puppeteer job - check YouTube) We were so wound up from all the fun that we had a hard time being corralled back onto the bus, which would deliver us back to Union Station and into "reality." Which was jarring, to be honest. We said goodbye to everyone and even got a souvenir and weren't ready to leave. We ended up browsing around the station a bit more and then grabbing a snack before driving home. It was SUCH an incredible day. And the best way to 'take in' the city in a single afternoon. It was the perfect introduction and we will definitely be back to all of these places again soon.

If you are interested in a Charles Phoenix tour (and you should be!), check his site for details www.charlesphoenix.com/tours about upcoming events. We've already got our tickets for the Holiday Rollerway Jubilee -- how about you?!



*my cousin coined this term as a kid. He never had a crush on a girl, he was "in crush" with a girl.

skate or die (trying)

Last Sunday, Kate and I went to see the Charles Phoenix Moonlight Rollerway Jubilee and, oh my god, it was awesome. I thought it would be a kick to go roller skating again and a slide show? Fun bonus. Turns out that I didn't read the fine print and so I had no idea what we were in for. And it the best kind of surprise there ever could be. I also was able to break out the new ROLLER SKATE earrings that I bought for Kate and myself from Laurina.Pastina (via etsy).





First came the slide show. The chairs were set up on the rink, and out comes Charles Phoenix replete with his gold sparkle suit, band leader hat, and ostrich plumes galore! He circled the crowd a few times and then started his presentation, which included a very dear tribute to Dominic Cangelosi, the world's greatest roller rink organist. What? Yes. Yes, that's right. The Moonlight Rollerway has an ORGANIST. As Charles would say I know.


photo by jamesandtim



After giving us a brief tour of the history of roller skating, all in slide show format, the audience took a short break for ice cream and punch (!). When we came back onto the rink floor, the chairs had been moved around the perimeter of the floor. It suddenly dawned on me that there would be a skating performance. Great, I thought. The first skaters to take the floor came out to the Green Acres theme song and included overalls with sequins and girls in square dancing garb, in addition to the Eddie Albert/Eva Gabor characters. After which came the skating CHICKENS and TURKEY. And then when my cheeks were already hurting from laughing so much, out came the COWS [check out this video, courtesy of MiniJen]. No, for serious. The guy next to me said "I'm dead. I have died. Died and gone to roller skate heaven" and I heartily agreed.



From life on the farm, we made our way through the decades. The twenties were represented by this DARLING young girl who skate-danced to "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (which I haven't been able to stop singing since. Watch the opening to the movie here. Dang, I love me some Julie Andrews.) and she was fantastic. A national champion, don't you know? The thirties and fourties were covered by a sailor/pinup girl double feature and then another solo (by a male sailor). The fifties were covered by this ADORABLE group of little girls called the Poodle Skirt Girls. The sixties was another ensemble group that skated to a sixties medley with a little dash of Austin Powers for good measure. [Videos of the sixties, courtesy of jamesandtim]



Just for fun, there was a set of fat ballerinas and a re-enactment of Swan Lake in drag.

Video of Swan Lake, courtesy of jamesandtim




There was a quick decade skip to give another national champion his opportunity to perform his solo. Which was crazy. It incorporated a chair on caster wheels and a lot of fancy footwork. [Video of James Johnson's solo, courtesy of jamesandtim] You really just have to watch it. And after that, a special performance of the title song from "Starlight Express" by some of the cast of the show. VERY roller retro.



Then we leaped back a decade - why not? - for the big finale, which was a seventies roller disco that was really super amazingly fantastic. Check out these moves! [video of Disco Inferno, courtesy of jamesandtim] Check out those costumes!



The entire show was really fun and I wish I had a whole thesaurus full of synonyms for "awesome". It was way more than I expected - more than I KNEW to expect - and made me want to strap on my skates again. Which I could actually do! After the show, there was free skate for everyone. Unfortunately, Kate and I couldn't stay to skate (she was off to wow Hollywood and I was off to... um, read a book on my couch). BUT we're planning a slumber party/skate party and I am this close to talking Ryan into skating this weekend. Roller boogie!! And also, I severely covet the skate covers that look like high heels.


Of course, I have hundreds more pictures over on Flickr and have started a group pool for the Moonlight Jubilee pictures as well.