And incidentally, here’s a photo I took of Jennifer Hudson at last year’s American Idol Finale (she’s in the middle).  I snuck into the press line with some fake credentials I made :

We just came back from seeing Dreamgirls at the Arclight, and I know I’m not saying anything profound, but WOW.  I really didn’t think there could be a better move than “Babel” this year, but this film was entertaining on so many levels.  It wasn’t perfect, but who cares?  It was absolutely enchanting.  I was skeptical after I saw how much Oprah was pushing it,(God love her, but she said she also “loved” “White Chicks”).  But everything they say about it is true.  Jennifer Hudson is a real star.  That’s what is really so amazing about the opportunities that American Idol gives these young kids who are bright and driven enough to take them. If you remove some of the creepy “idolatry” it really is a beautiful rags to riches story (I’m talking about Idol, but I digress :).  The 8:10 show in the Cinerama Dome was sold out.  Ron Howard was in front of and Whoopi Goldberg was behind us.  Patrick Dempsey was also there with a bunch of people.  Several people applauded throughout the movie.  I read an article today though about how disappointed Jennifer Holiday is about her exclusion from all the publicity.  Also the more I learn about Florence Ballard (the original Supreme, who Jennifer Hudson/Holiday’s character Effie is “loosely” base on), the more tragic the whole thing seem.  Hollywood always needs a happy ending though, and this movie is no exception.  There’s a good podcast you can listen to here that addresses a lot of the rumors regarding Beyonce/Hudson/Holiday and interviews with all of them.  Despite all the drama, you should go see this movie…if you don’t like it, I’ll pay you double!

I just came back from this movie, and loved it.  I was curious as to why happiness was misspelled but now it makes sense:  The main character takes his son to Mrs Chu’s day-care centre in San Francisco’s Chinatown where the pre-school Chinese children have painted “Fun, Joy, Happyness” on the mural outside the building. (In a scene appearing in the screenplay, but cut from the finished film: when he points out the misspelling, Mrs Chu replies that it doesn’t matter whether “happiness” is spelled correctly, only that children have it (later he contemplates the concept of the “pursuit of happiness” as written into the US Declaration of Independence).  Tyson and his brother actually taught Will Smith how to solve the Rubik’s Cube for this movie:

Wonder where Will Smith picked up his impressive Rubik’s Cube skills in The Pursuit of Happyness? Thanks to one of the world’s top competitive Rubik’s Cube champions Tyson Mao, Smith was able to learn how to master the mind-boggling cube for his leading role.
When Mao’s younger brother Toby taught him how to solve the cube in July 2003, it was only a matter of time before Mao could solve the puzzle faster then his brother…that is in less than two minutes- blindfolded of course. When not covering their eyes, Tyson and Toby are ‘speedcubing’ wizards, solving the cube in less than 20 seconds and taking part in competitions all over the country. Twenty-two year old San Franciscian native Mao has only been beat by two of the world’s top 3x3x3 blindfolded Rubik’s Cube competitors. This and the fact that he was one of the ‘geeks’ in the hit reality show Beauty and the Geek last year, makes him a perfect geeksugar geek of the week.

Eva came this weekend and helped me put up my tree….it’s become somewhat of a tradition, when I’m not out of the country for Christmas.  I’m also dog sitting this week…which is good, as we had to put Beast down last week.  Terribly sad.  Anyway, the house is finally ready for the holidays!

So tonight I went to the Best Buy in West Hollywood to buy a digital camera for my boss for Christmas.  I walked out of Best Buy with the camera and receipt in a bag, and walked next door to Target to buy some things.  I was in the toothpaste aisle picking out some toothpaste, and when I stood up, my shopping cart with the camera in it, was gone!  I ran to security, and the security guard got on his walkie talkie and told all the store managers to be on the lookout for a Best Buy bag with a digital camera and receipt in it.  Then I started scouring the checkout lines discreetly looking in peoples carts.  I found myself mentally profiling people, which was scary, but the security guard had told me that they had had several incidents like this. A few minutes later, a woman who had actually stopped at the Pizza Hut inside of target to buy pizza, overheard one of the manager’s walkie talkies and threw a Best Buy bag with a camera in it on the counter and ran.  Long story short, I got my camera back, but they never caught the woman.  Moral of the story (especially for my female friends who leave their purses (and kids) in carts unattended), is don’t!

The day before, I was driving down to a Christmas party in Irvine.  I had bought a dozen Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills to take to the party.  About 1 mile before my exit on the 5, I got pulled over for going 85 mph.  Not needing a 2nd speeding ticket this year, I explained that I was late for a Christmas party, and that I was bringing the “Sprinkles”, at which point I offered the cop a cupcake.  You’re not going to believe this, but he let me go with a warning!!  He didn’t even take the cupcake.  He just told me to slow down!  I wished him a Merry Christmas, and went on my way.  Suffice it to say, I now drive with cupcakes all the time   LOL.  Maybe I can do a commercial for Sprinkles to help supplement my ridiculous car insurance bill!  Ho Ho Ho!

My friend Jorge called me this morning.  He and his wife own the Rottweiler you see below.  His name was Beast, but that moniker was completely misleading, as he was really a big pussycat.  I used to dog sit for him, and he always attracted a lot of attention when I would walk him around West Hollywood.  One year I took him to the Pride festival and he won the award for “Most Butch Dog” LOL. Anyway, Jorge called because Beast’s arthritis had gotten worse (he wasn’t that old, but because of his size it took two grown men to lift him).  When he got there, they X rayed him, and found out he was riddled with cancer.  The vet gave him some medicine for the pain and suggested he spend his last night at home surrounded by loved ones, before bringing him back the next morning to be put down.  That night, as Beast lay on his bed, unable to move, but comfortable, we held a “wake” of sorts.  He was clearly aware of everyone’s presence, and still had a HEALTHY appetite, as he wolfed down a WHOLE bag of treats I brought, as well as several cheeseburgers.  He was in the habit of swallowing things whole, without even chewing, and his last night was no exception!  He was fat, and happy, and feeling no pain.  We shared our favorite stories about him, and tried to comfort him as best we could.  The next morning, 10 Ambien didn’t even put him to sleep!  He fought until the end, when the vet administered the shot.  It was a dignified end for a dignified friend.  I’m sure he’s chasing squirrels somewhere with Oreo   Sleep well Beast.  You were loved.