Celebrity Graving on Furlough Friday!

Those of you who've known me for a long time know that I was bitten by the "celebrity graving bug" a good 25 years ago. I'm telling you -- scoff if you must, but stand in front of Cecil B. DeMille's tomb (or Marilyn Monroe's, or Walt Disney's) and tell me it isn't the COOLEST. THING. EVAR.

So anyhoo, I wrangled a few of my peeps to go on an outing with me as an activity for our first Furlough Friday. Here, Kenna & Gin say ::likes this:: as they ride in the back of my Land Yacht!



Our first stop was Hillside Memorial Park, the Jewish cemetery off the 405 & Howard Hughes Pkwy -- the one where you can see the waterfall from the freeway. This is an absolutely GORGEOUS cemetery, full of fabulous luminaries (including Al Jolson, whose crypt beneath the dome at the top of the waterfall is the centerpiece of the cemetery). But our main purpose in coming down here was so that my Bonanza-fan peep Donna could visit Ben & Little Joe Cartwright, both of whom are laid to rest here!

Please enjoy these awesome snaps from our visit there.

Next, we moved on to Holy Cross Cemetery, the big Catholic cemetery in Culver City. There are 9-kajillion famous people here. I must've been gettin' tired cuz I didn't hardly photograph any of 'em. But here are a few snaps... including John Candy, who is located just 2 crypts above Fred MacMurray.

Gerry Rafferty/Stealers Wheel

So, a week or so ago, I learned that Gerry Rafferty was not only in the '70s band Stealers Wheel... but he was the lead-singer on their well-known hit, "Stuck in the Middle with You".

For some reason, this info has completely flipped my proverbial gasket.

Being a big-time music buff, a huge fan of 1970s pop music, AND a fan of both Gerry Rafferty and Stealers Wheel, I cannot imagine how a tidbit like this has managed to escape my notice for all these years.

This is precisely how I felt when I learned that Steve Winwood was in Traffic.

Oh well!

::dances off and awaits the next music-trivia bombshell::

Laserium!

To those of us who grew up in L.A., Laserium was a staple of the teen years. Long housed at the Griffith Observatory, it was a fun place to go on a date. Listen to cool music... watch the lasers dance... what could be better on a summer night?

I hadn't been to Laserium since I was about 17, at which time the shows were done at the Griffith Observatory. Laserium lost that long-time home when the venue closed for a major remodel several years ago. So when we heard that Laserium had a new home in Hollywood, we were eager to check it out. We took The Boy to the Beatles show on Sunday afternoon.

It was a fun & different thing to do... and VERY kid-friendly! Check it out if you can!

Read here for more background.

Shampoo.

That's right, this is a post about shampoo.

But not just ANY shampoo. Oh no. This right here is, hands-down, the BEST, nicest-smelling, cheapest damn shampoo I have ever encountered. And that includes my years working at Sebastian International when I enjoyed a 90% discount on their products.

Suave Professional.

Get thee to a store and procure some.

Spamalot!

My family and I had the pleasure of attending a performance of Spamalot on Sunday evening at the Ahmanson Theatre at L.A.'s Music Center! I was happy to be able to take The Boy here -- I have fond memories of going to shows here with my mom when I was a youngster. She took a girlfriend and me to see the first national tour of The Wiz in 1976! So awesome.

Anyhoo, we started with dinner in Burbank.

Our performance featured John O'Hurley of Seinfeld fame. I'm sorry to say he was a little disappointing -- seemed to be kinda "phonin' it in". But the rest of the cast was good, the show was fun, and, perhaps most importantly, The Boy LOVED it.

Now -- go away, or I will taunt you a second time!

Planes of Fame Museum!

After many years of not getting around to it, the fam & I finally visited the Planes of Fame Museum at Chino Airport!

This is a wonderful old place, consisting of several hangars full of old planes, mostly warbirds. Many are being worked on at any given moment; the smell of oil and/or jet fuel hangs in the air (especially on a 100-degree day, as it was during our visit). There are lots of helpful volunteer docents walking around, eager to share their knowledge of the planes with you (but not annoyingly so).

In the front of the museum (but not pictured here -- DUH, Katerz!) is an old Flying Fortress (B-17 bomber) they're working on restoring. So, so, SO awesome!

I worry what will happen to places like this when all the WWII vets have gone to that great mess hall in the sky...

Cheap Twit Date, Cont'd.

I dunno if I can take much more of this.

Now, the great LOST_SKELETON, the star of several major motion pictures, is not only FOLLOWING me on Twitter, but He is recommending me as a #followfriday.

I am also now being followed by the lovely RiffTrax spouse and Minnesotan Virginia Corbett, and the delightful blogger Cole Stratton.

I hope I am able to suitably entertain (or, simply, not annoy) these new Tweeps!

Cheap Twit Date

I've been tweeted at this week by a couple of people whose creative work I happen to adore, and this has apparently turned me into a giddy school girl. I kid you not. I. AM. PLOTZING.! I've gone all Marcia Brady during the Desi Arnaz Jr. episode!

Earlier this week, Bill Corbett tweeted at me. Now, Larry Blamire.

I dunno how much more of this my heart can take, People.

Tip tip tip tip tip tip tip!

Now, I sleep.

Wienermobile!

I had the good fortune last weekend to be able to attend a fundraiser at Griffith Park for The Liz Logelin Foundation -- an organization near and dear to my heart.

And I mean, COME ON. It's the Wienermobile! Who WOULDN'T wanna see it?! Plus, there were HOT DOGS!!!

It was so, so awesome. Thanks to the folks at Oscar Mayer for putting this little shin-dig together!

Twitter

It's taken awhile, but I have really come to love Twitter.

Not only can I rap with my peeps there, but I can watch amusing convos unfold betwixt people like Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy; Rainn Wilson and Mindy Kaling; and Grant Imahara and Adam Savage. Oh, and Mrs. Yankovic posts twitpix of the family activities. And Al's shoes.

Gina Lee slideshow

Between Facebook and Twitter and e-mail, it's hard for me to imagine there's ANYONE out there who hasn't seen this yet... but, just in case... here is the beautiful slideshow Gina Lee made for us from the photoshoot she did in May.

I can't say it often enough... THANK YOU, GINA LEE!!!

And so... it begins.

It begins innocently enough.

A mocha here, a latte there... maybe a Frappuccino® on a hot day.

Some days, you're just DRAGGIN'. You consider The Big Daddy, The Path From Which There Is No Return, The Walk On The Wild Side: the Quad Shot. But, you resist.

Years pass.

Then one morning, there you are, and the words are coming out of your mouth before you can even stop them. "Make it a quad. WITH whip." Your trusty barista Alison gets that look in her eye, that look that sez, "Ahhhh, yes. I've seen THIS before." Is there a tinge of sadness in Alison's eyes as she watches you slide down that slippery slope? Or was it a kind of twisted satisfaction, seeing you come over to the dark side, where she herself dwells?

See ya tomorrow, Alison! w00t! BWAHAHAHAAHHAHAHA!

FB Peeps

I love ALL my FB peeps.

But this newest one... HE makes me wanna PLOTZ!!! Right up against his hard Marine chest! BWHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHA

Yigo

Yigo.

I had never heard of this Pacific island, until I got a blog hit from there. See the little flag in the middle of the ocean? THAT'S Yigo.

Welcome to The Siegel Files, Yigoans!

Dinner at Speranza in Silver Lake

Had a wonderful dinner last night in the Silver Lake, with the Logelins and Internet Sensation Lauren Farmer! The food and company were delightful, as was the wine provided by Miss Lauren (this restaurant lets you brown-bag it -- lacking a liquor license maybe? I dunno...) Thanks again, guys!

The Boy *lurrrves* seeing Miss Maddy! (Heck... who DOESN'T?!) Plus, he got to imbibe a REAL Coca-Cola in the GLASS BOTTLE. What a treat!

Please enjoy this photographic documentation.

My boys at Moonstone Beach

I just found this on my fone-cam and thought it was a nice picture... the boys on the boardwalk at Moonstone Beach in Cambria.