Eats in LA #7: Poquito MAS

The West Coast loves their Mexican food, that much is for sure, but yesterday, I got to experience what is, in my opinion, the best Mexican chain out there (yes, better than Chiptole AND Qdoba AND Neato. Well, maybe not Neato.). Poquito Mas, the "original Baja taco stand" has a local down in Burbank and is a cute little open air place with counter service and a few tables set up on a patio. They make their tortillas fresh and their burritos fresher. I had the traditional burrito with carnitas and it was off the charts. I will definitely be heading back down for MAS Poquito Mas.

First Week at Current!

Started my first week at Current TV this past week and worked a few days in my new spot in the music department. I think this internship is going to be a nice compliment to my other one, as it's a totally different atmosphere and responsibility set. Current is very relaxed (jeans to work, IM-ing to each other across the room, etc.) and the people in the music dept. seem very cool so far. Within my first hour, I got to sit in on a department meeting and learn all about "Embedded", the half-hour music show they are launching this fall (hopefully Oct. 14, but it keeps getting pushed back). I'll post more info on the show as we get closer to our launch date!

Right now, the department is all about legal clearances and post-production organization as they head towards their launch date, and that gives me a lot of cool things to do. One of my responsibilites is to research all the artists who are going to be featured on the show, charting future projects, tour dates, etc., so we can have current (get it?) info when the show airs. I also have to compile lists of concerts in LA, NYC, and San Fran to be listed on the sites and blogs, maintain the current_music Twitter account (follow us!) and this week I even got to help do some editing! Well, syncing different concert cameras to a master audio track but still, very cool. I'm loving it so far.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Chipotle

This morning I was awoken by Callie insisting that I get out of bed and go to the Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs premiere. Apparently the theater that was having the premiere has a TON of seats and to fill them all, they just let people on the street in to see the movie (and hopefully some stars). So I rolled out of bed. We got to Westwood around one, and after a brief parking garage debacle, found the theater and the red carpet!


We got very excited...until we asked a security dude when the premiere started and he informed us that is was...just about to let out. Bummer. Anyway, we scored some sweet spots on the street to celeb-spot, and that we did! As the movie let out, we hung around with the autograph scorers, a fascinating culture unto themselves, holding their huge folders full of pictures of people they have scoped and hope to get autographs from. While we didn't see Anna Faris in person, we saw her husband Chris Pratt, and saw her from the back of the SUV as they drove away right past us. We also got to see James Caan, Neil Patrick Harris, and Bill Hader! Very cool. Bill even came over to the autograph hecklers and signed some stuff. Classy dude. and VERY attractive in person. I got some cell phone pics.

(blue button down is Bill)

Very cool Hollywood experience. Rounded out with some Chipotle and it was an excellent reason to get out of bed.

Writer's Guild Emmy Panel (and Celeb Sighting #7)

A very cool perk of the ICLA program, tickets to awesome programs like the Writer's Guild Panel of Emmy nominated TV writer's on Thursday night. There were writers from all different kinds of TV and the event was hosted by Rainn Wilson (Dwight K. Schrute to you Office fans). The event was held in the Writer's Guild Theater (hope it's not the last time I'll be there!) and it was very intersting. The Q&A was a little tedious and we were all exhausted from all long day of work/classes, but it was a very cool experience. Plus, when we were waiting outside to leave, Rainn Wilson walked right by us TWICE. Pretty cool.

(crappy cell pic but there they are!)

Writers on the Panel:

• Jack Burditt (30 Rock- he was a cool dude, talked about starting out as a reader, however he just moved back to LA and is working on The Old Adventures of New Christine, so...)
• Carlton Cuse (Lost- cool guy, he had a lot of good advice)
• Andre and Maria Jacquemetton (Mad Men- a married couple who writes together, and she was the only woman on the panel, offered a lot of good insight to the world of writing)
• Damon Lindelof (also Lost- seemed like a younger guy, he was funny and had a cute interchange with the Mad Men couple about how much they loved each others shows)
• Billy Kimball & Ian Maxtone-Graham (Simpsons- these guys looked like the were characters on the Simpsons, they were also dressed alike, very metro Harvard)
• Rob Kutner (nominated for the Daily Show, but works for Conan full-time now, a very funny nerdy guy)
• Michael Sucsy (Grey Gardens, which by the way was his first EVER screenplay. he talked alot.)

S'mores and Candle Pong

The roomies and I decided to finally put our fireplace to good use and invited the guys from f102 over for for some s'mores. After the marshmallows had been toasted and smooshed between graham crackers (with both hershey's bars AND peanut butter cups), we were all hanging out in the living room when an Oakwoods game legend was discovered....CANDLE PONG! Ok, so it's not so much a game as the combination of our ping pong balls and candle laying on the same table, but the game is sweeping the nation, or at least our apartment. I think it really has potential to be as big as FARKLE. Maybe someday we'll have an excel spreadsheet on the wall, like the guys do for FIFA....maybe not.

Eats in LA #6: Late Night with Bob and Vianny

Late night adventure last night: after a brief stint at a party which was literally entitled “Rock Out With Your Guac Out,” (I don’t think I need to say any more about that) Callie, Nate and I were craving some late night eats. So, after a long, failed attempt at getting someone to deliver food to the Oakwoods, Callie drove us down into Burbank to experience the legendary Bob’s Big Boy, one of the only places open 24 hours (I guess it’s not really a college town, but it shocks me that there is more stuff open late in Ithaca than Los Angeles).


Our server was an interesting character named Vianny, kind of a homeless Danny Zucko looking character, who (and I am entirely serious about this) made jet airplane noises every time he delivered something to the table. Yes, he did. Our BLT, Big Boy Special, and pulled pork sandwiches (respectively) were all pretty good, served the purpose of some late night eats, and allowed me to check another West Coast restaurant legend off my list. And by that, I mean Vianny. Good times.

I’m Not On Fire, But California Is

So I’m sure you’ve all been hearing about the out of control station fire currently ravaging Southern California, and just wanted to assure you that I’m not on fire. According to reports, the fires seem to be dying down, but they are so close to the Oakwoods that we can see smoke clearly from our balcony.


It was crazy to see the red glow to the west when driving home from Sherman Oaks on the 101 the other night. Sometimes I think it’s a cloud in the sky, but then I remember that there are never any clouds out here. Because it never rains…because it’s so freaking hot and dry. Love you LA!

Bowling!

Time for more ICLA program activity fun! 25 or so of us traveled down to Pickwick Lanes in Burbank for some bowling. We all got one game free and after relinquishing one of our shoes to the cheery people behind the counter, got down to business. There were serious high point showdowns (Mike and Bryan), “Reverse Grandma” techniques (Callie) and struggles to down just one pin (I won’t embarrass anyone here. Not me, definitely not me). After twenty frames and In N’ Out burgers all around, we declared it a successful and fun ICLA Saturday in Burbank.

Eats in LA #5: The Fam Takes Burbank

The parentals were out to drop Teke off at Cal Baptist in Riverside and detoured two days to stay and visit me in Burbank. It was great to see them, if only for a little while. For dinner on Friday night, we walked around the Burbank Town Center and stopped to eat in a Callie-recommended Italian café right on the main drag. They had a nice atmosphere, good bread, and each of our meals (chicken piccatta, chicken parm, and homemade house ravioli) were very good.

The next day we drove around to see some of the more touristy sights, I took them by the Pendleton Center and Paramount lot, then we cruised around Hollywood. We stopped near the Beverly Center for lunch at the beloved Souplantation and shopped a little bit. After that, they headed back to Ontario to catch their plane back from their West Coast Adventure, but hopefully will be back (perhaps for a “Big Bang” taping)!

Party in the Oakwoods!

Roomies and I decided to throw our first apartment party this past Friday. It was definitely a success and we made a lot of new friends. Everyone seemed to have a great time, though for the sake of propriety on this blog, I will avoid any further details. It’s definitely nice to be living in a fun social apartment as opposed to flying solo in the Gardens like last year. Love the roomies, love the Oakwoods!

(L to R) Jess, Callie, Me, Rebecca

First Week Of Internship #1

Started my first full week at Simon West Productions this week. It’s a small TV and film production office on the Paramount lot and I’ve really enjoyed it there so far. There are only three or four people in the office, including me, so I am very involved in the daily operations. I answer phones and emails, read scripts, and handle other administrative stuff like printing and mailing scripts, ordering office supplies and getting lunch for the boss. Some of my favorite jobs so far have included handling the guest list for an the new Night of the Living Dead launch party and watching casting footage for our new remake of The Mechanic that will be starting production this fall.

It’s very surreal to be working on a movie lot with so much history. I still kind of walk around every day feeling like I’m trespassing, even though I have my photo ID that lets me in the gate…


Our office is in the old Dressing Room building and it’s in a cute little area that looks like a college quad (and was actually used as such in the new NBC show “Community”). The building is all offices now, but it used to be the dressing rooms of all the old Paramount stars (Cary Grant, etc.) which I think is very cool.


It’s an awesome experience and I am loving it so far!

KARAOKE TIMES! (AND Celeb Sighting #6!)

One of the quintessential ICLA programs I was most excited for was karaoke at Dimples, and we finally made that dream come true last weekend. Six of us jammed into Mike’s rental Ford Focus and headed down to met up with a bigger group of IC kids who had tried to get in before the 8 p.m. underage cutoff. We hung out and watched our fellow students sing, got down to “Get Low” and then got the cherry on top of the sundae that we’d been told was the Dimples Experience. Principal Belding from “Saved By The Bell” showed up and SANG KARAOKE. It was awesome!



Karaoke fun, another great nostalgic celebrity sighting, and I also got a blinking lei necklace from Captain Morgan himself. All in all, good night.