Bo Derek on Secret Desires! UPDATED

It's been so hard to keep this quiet, but finally the news was leaked last week that the lead for our telenovela Secret Desires (formerlly known as Fashion House) is Bo Derek! How crazy is that? I can't wait until some of the other cast are announced.

But here's a write up from Programming Insider, sent to me from my friend Robyn Snyder who works in TV/Film development...

In my Programming Insider this morning... ;)

Bo Derek Joins the Cast of MyNetworkTV's Secret
Obsessions:
Former '70s sex symbol Bo Derek has joined the cast
of serial Secret Obsessions, which will debut
Sept. 5 at9 p.m. on new platform My NetworkTV.
Derek will play Maria Zianni, a cutthroat fashion mogul
(is there any other type?) who rules the fashion
world and runs her company with an iron fist.
Derek's last regularly scheduled series, drama
Wind on Water, lasted two weeks on NBC in the
fall of 1998.

(How funny is that last sentence, by the way?)
We have no pics yet, and I haven't met her, but I couldn't be more thrilled...

Onto other news, my friend Mary Martinez sent me this posting about the telenovela craze. This was from the BBC and they mention our shows (pictured here); interesting that it's making news all over.

Then my friend Matt sent me info from this story on IMDB gossip:
Bo Derek To Play Ruthless Fashion Boss in New TV Soap

Veteran actress Bo Derek is to play a ruthless fashion company boss in a new Us TV soap. The 10 star will play cut-throat Maria Zianni in new primetime drama Secret Obsessions, which will launch in September on new primetime TV network MyNetworkTV. Derek says, "I couldn't be happier to join such an amazing ensemble cast and groundbreaking new television series. I can't wait to play Maria Zianni, such a compellingly ambitious and treacherous woman." Secret Obsessions will also star Natalie Martinez, Taylor Kinney, Mike Begovich, Donna Feldman and Nicole Pulliam.

Ode to Polyester

"Look Francine, Tab! For our diets!"
-Cuddles Kovinsky (Edith Massey)

Our Annoying TV Diet

Last night I woke up hungry.

This isn't such a deal for Steve; having fought both obesity and anorexia in high school, his whole eating thing is out of whack. I'm used to him waking up at four in the morning and eating half a protein bar before going back to bed. But not me.

Steve and I make our lunches because it's cheaper and easier to eat healthy when you brown-bag it, and we tend to eat very well...

Okay, it don't look like much. But this is one of my typical daily diets.

banana snack, go to the gym, breakfast of egg whites and Canadian bacon (which in Canada, they just call "ham"), a salad with roasted chicken for lunch, two snacks-- string cheese and protein bar, and then something lovely for dinner. Tonight, for example, we're having low-fat/low-carb meatloaf with roasted veggies.

This is normally plenty of food, but on Sunday we had a drink (or 10) and ate a bunch of fried foods: onion rings, chicken fingers, French fries, taquitos. Yum. Needless to say, my stomach is all screwed up, I wasn't hungry most of yesterday, and last night I woke up starving. Ate the other half of Steve's protein bar at 3am. That's romance.

But now, as I sit at the office enjoying my salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, goat cheese, some basil leaves and chicken breast in a lovely balsamic vinaigrette , I think about something very significant: Anorexic people are weird. Especially those twins who keep getting on all the entertainment shows like they have a special talent. Not eating is not a talent.

You know what's also weird? People on vanity diets. But since I'm on one myself, and fighting for a set of abs by the time HGTV arrives at our house, I refuse to place judgment.

I must run. A sprig of basil just fell on the office floor and I can't waste one calorie.

WORD OF THE WEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!! (March 27)

The word of the week is: Geri-Jewell

Definition: Noun. The placard that an old (geriatric) person hangs from his or her rear view mirror so that they can receive preferential parking, even though this person is not technically handicappable.

In a scene:
While searching for parking at a Red Lobster in San Diego, Rick and Steve get cut off by an old woman in a Mercedes Benz. She then proceeds to park in a handicap spot and hops out (wearing a smart little purple nylon sweat suit number) and jogs into the restaurant so she can meet her fellow ladies that lunch.

RICK: Why does that bitch get to park there?
STEVE: She has a Geri-Jewell hanging from her rear view mirror.
RICK: She better not eat all the cheese biscuits or I swear I'll key her car!

And now... a photo that (supposedly) has nothing to do with our WOW.

Baptism and a Restaurant Opening

This photo is from the baptism for my niece, Savannah Hope, that Steve and I attended last weekend in San Diego. (In case you need some help, she's the one in the white dress being held by her mother, my sister, Eileen.)

That's Steve on the left holding Savannah's sister, Haylee. Behind them is me. In the center are Savannah's parents, John and my aforementioned sister, Eileen. Behind Eileen is my mom peeking out, then next to her is my sister Mary, her husband Gary, and their daughter Louise.

Just an FYI... if you have a partner who can draw the Disney Princesses, it's far less important that we're at a baptism than it is to get Tinkerbell and Snow White on paper.
Last night Steve and I attended the opening party for Black Steel, which is located in the hippest section of Hollywood Blvd. next to Bella Cucina. Chef J. works for Pamela Anderson and she's an investor in the place, so of course she was in attendance.

We love Pamela A. She's so cute, so sexy, and yet she completely gets her own camp factor and plays it up. She walked past us at one point, brushed by Steve and smiled at me. Of course, we had our cameras and didn't have the courage to ask for a photo.

No, the creepy model dude who was wearing an unbuttoned shirt, a pashmena and had his hair tweaked to high heaven like a parrot on parade had the guts to shake her hand, but we didn't. We could've become her gay best friends. But alas, no.

Black Steel serves healthy meals in a high-end atmosphere-- it's all about losing weight with a sensible, tasty diet-- and we sampled some amazing sushi. Let me tell you, it was better quality than Hollywood hot spot, Koi, and with much bigger portions. The location plays up Black Steel's sexiness while fully utilizing the space's raw look: dark fabrics, deep bankets, and exposed brick. Standing out in this dark dining area and bar is a vibrantly lit bright white kitchen which is like a giant TV at one end of the building. Inside is a chef's table for two so you can see all the action. Amazing.

The night was super cool, as was the free wine, so we ended it by eating the new Tendercrsip Cheesy Bacon Chicken Sandwich at Burger King. Yum.

Look Who Was at Red Lobster

First off, yes, Steve and I went to Red Lobster (For the seafood lover in you...). I know. Crazy. But this was the celebration brunch for my neice's baptism-- which I was the Godfather for-- and while I will post a picture of that tomorrow, I wanted to point out that many famous people go to Red Lobster.

For example... There was me, Richard Andreoli, who was on TV Land just last year...


But look who else was there, and enjoying a frosty cold beer behind my neice Haylee and myself.



Yes, that's right, Barbara Bush. You see, San Diego is quite the hip, Republican den!

Rick & Steve on TV!

Ever since Steve and I bought our house we thought about trying to get on HGTV for a home improvement. But then we did a lot of the interior stuff ourselves since it was the only way we could live/work here with any amount of sanity.
The backyard, however, was another story.

As you can see, the colors are wild, everything is a bit wacky and while we knew we could slap down some paint we really don't know anything about which plants go well in certain locations, how to care for them, or how to fix the yard to take care of certain eye sores such as our lovely laundry unit or views of our neighbor's houses and phone wires.

Enter Matt James, The City Gardner.

The City Gardner is a show from the United Kingdom and it has a huge following. Designer Matt James comes into small urban spaces and helps the owners renovate your garden into a fantastic usable space. It's shown late on HGTV but they're going to shoot a season of episodes in the United States, and since our yard is really an extension of our house it seemed like the perfect show for us to be a part of.

And last week, we were accepted.

Steve and I kept this all really quiet because we didn't want to jinx anything, but Matt and the producer, Rupert, came out a couple weeks ago and then last week we got the call where everyone approved us. So in three weeks they will be at our little pink cupcake house, redo the yard with the help of us and our friends, and then it will premiere on HGTV at some point this year.

Depending on the confidentiality agreement we might not really be allowed to journal about the whole process, but if so I'll keep the blog updated on everything. But either way it's going to be a super cool experience and we can't wait!

And just FYI, we started out TV diet yesterday. I mean, really, the camera adds 10-pounds and the last thing we need is people watching us on the tube and wondering just how many cameras we had filming us. Yuck!

WORD OF THE WEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!! (March 20)

The word of the week is: Mexican't

Definition: Noun. A person of Mexican heritage whom you are not allowed to date.

In a scene:
Rick and Steve are out with their friend Amy looking for hot straight shank for her to date. We quickly spot a swarthy Mexican man.
RICK: Girl! There's a hot Mexican guy for you to date.
AMY: Um... no.
RICK: What's wrong with him?
AMY: You see that hairy back? That makes him a Mexican't.

Thanks to Amy Witry for being so funny!

Tons of Fun Things!

Hey Kids,

Met all my deadlines for Secrets: Fashion House this week. Thank God! Off to San Diego. Steve will take photos. More work next week, but they're super juicy episodes and I can't wait!

Here are some fun things for you to check out, etc.
Are you a fan of Project Runway? Our friend, super author Dennis Hensley, got to interview Tim Gunn from the show. It's an exclusive interview for The Advocate and it's pretty great, candid fun. So if you like the show, or Tim, check out the article.

Are You Prepared For A Terrorist Attack?

Well, neither are we. But our friend Bonnie Burke sent us a piece of political humor concerning the US Government's new website, Ready.gov.

The author takes photos from the website and puts his own captions under it. Here are some examples from the article:
If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle. If you are Vin Deisel, yell really loud.

Anyway, this article cracked me up, so if you want, check it out.

Finally....

Do you watch HGTV?

You better. Your favorite Mondo Homo couple is going to be on it this fall. More info later.

Happy Birthday To Me!

"Beware The Ides of March!"

March 15th is my birthday, but when you're working crazy hours like this it's hard to make it all happen. Steve found a way, though. He got us a hotel room at The Standard hotel downtown!

Five minutes from the house we were suddenly on vacation in another town. A bottle of Marilyn Merlot (actually, it was the new Norma Jean-- a young merlot), room service for dinner (cheese plate, mixed green salad, fish & chips for me, steak and fries for him), and watching America's Next Top Model on our sleek platform bed.

Afterwards, rooftop cocktails. A bath in our focal point tub. Sleeps. Lots of sleeps.

Here are some photos of the fun!


(left) Sing it with me everyone... "It's.... Aaaaaaaaa..... Liiiiivvvvv-innnnnngggggggg!" Yep, the hotel from the old TV show It's a Living (and the pilot movie for Buck Rogers, but whatever).

P.S. How much do we love our little camera now that we know it can take these slammin' night pictures?











I'm told the building to our left, which is right next to The Standard, was personally saved from destruction by George W. Bush. I was told this by his PR people. I'd actually forgotten that fact because the information was tossed out there willy nilly during that whole silly eavesdropping scandal.




The rooftop bar featured water bed cabannas. There was also this fun pool!

It was colder than a witch's tit. We did not swim.




Here I am thinking about how much I feel like Kylie Minogue dancing in front of the Bonaventure Hotel in that music video from back in the 1990s.

And here is Steve looking at the food menu on the rooftop bar. They didn't have cake. We ate Oreos later.

And here is The Last Unicorn.










This is all I got at this point. Off to San Diego Friday for my neice's baptism. More next week.

Work, Battlestar Galactica and more.

I am so busy with this telenovela right now I want to die. Wake at 6am, work until midnight. It's really intense and I just want to sleep. Been skipping the gym. Stressed as hell.

But then again, I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's the most fun I've had writing since my book came out.

Had birthday cocktails last night at Marix with some friends. Fun. Forgot the digital. Very little evidence of what went on. But my poo slice friends, Amy and Rick, did meet one another. Fun times. And we came up with like 5 words of the week (amazing what tequila will do). But I have no time to post them or find pics or do anything else right now.

But my friend Matt Breen interviewed the hotties from Battlestar Galactica; Steve and I are going to try and watch the season finale tonight. But here's Matt's interview. I'll try and pen more later.

Ladies Night In and Buying a Piece of Rick & Steve... too late

Steve and I got a new dining room table from our new favorite store, West Elm, but we couldn't get our old one to Loyda the housekeeper's house and so we donated it to Out of the Closet; this chain of thrift stores is run by AIDS Healthcare Foundation and sales from their stores help pay for free HIV/AIDS testing and counseling services (among other things). We felt very good about ourselves on all fronts.

Then, as I was driving home from the gym, I noticed that our table had become a window display. Here's a terrible photo of it due to glare off the glass and the fact that Steve and I were too chicken to get out of our car and actually snap a photo close up. But because OTC does such fancy displays-- this is a gay run thrift store chain, after all-- we felt honored that it stood proudly in the window on Fairfax Ave. with a bouquet of silk flowers on the top and a porcelain duck at the base. Kind of like how we had it looking at our new home... only different.

Anyway, on Monday it was gone. Yep, replaced by a black marbled lacquer number with low, round chairs that have dirty white cushions on the back. Nagel print, anyone???

What's the deal? Does OTC have such a high volume of dining room sets that they constantly rotate stock? Or did someone buy it because it appeared to be of such high quality (because God knows we were holding that thing together with gallons of wood glue and tons of screws)? In truth, I didn't care enough to get my ass out of the car, walk in and ask. But I was sad to see it go.

On to more fun news... Friday, Steve and I hosted a small pizza and wine dinner for some of our friends at Wagstaff Worldwide, a PR Firm handling restaurants and travel. The Wagstaff people have always been so very good to us. For example, besides hooking us up with some killer meals, they were the peeps who took Steve and I to the opening of Casino Morongo. That's where I got a free massage, Steve won $200 on the nickel slots, and we both saw Destiny's Child perform from two feet away. (Beyonce held out her microphone to Steve during the concert, then leaned into the wind machine at the end of the runway before marching back to join her sistahs.) Mind you, this was before the casino opened, locked out all the restaurant owners and staff, and the place became trashy. But we'll cherish the memories nonetheless.

In the above pic are Mikel (single and looking for fun), Andrea (taken), Nadia (single and looking), Rachel (taken), Emily (single and looking), and Steve (taken and better not be looking).

Here I am with Rachel, whom I love and not just because we both enjoy the wine. Dinner was from Pizza Buona, which is just down the block at Sunset Blvd. and Alvarado. They have been in business since the '40s and serve amazing pizzeria style crust and pizza. So tasty! Literally some of the best I've had (along with Vincenzo's in Santa Clarita and Filippi's Pizza Grotto in San Diego). The crust is airy but firm on the bottom and it holds a nice chew to the texture. The cheese is rich and plentiful, sauce offers a great savory/slightly sweet contrast, and the meats are amazing. The pepperoni, in particular, is worth hitting because it's richly spiced and drips with enough grease to feel satisfied and not sick.

It was so good, we enjoyed the pizza again on Sunday for Oscars-- a ceremony that enough people have written about on every blog in creation so I'll pass for this one.

Back to work on Secrets: Fashion House this week and we're in crunch, so if I don't write a ton in the next three weeks it's not because I don't love you, it's because I'm employed. Cheers.

WORD OF THE WEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!! (March 6)

The word of the week is: Hatch Back
Definition:
Adjective. The condition where a person is missing his or her gluteus maximus; the image resembles a person's back simply splitting at the bottom into two legs, as though the rump had been sliced off with a sharp object, such as a hatchet.

Used in a sentence:
RICK: Is it me, or does Paris Hilton have no ass?
STEVE: No, she doesn't. She has a hatch back.

Franklin Ave and Dimples returns!

Steve and I love Los Angeles. From its history to its food, we love experiencing as much of this city as we can. That sense of history is one of the reasons why we chose to live in Echo Park. So was the affordable real estate. And my Halfrican American non-existent ethnic heritage screaming to come home. La Raza!

Anyway, Steve found this awesome blog for anyone interested in LA. It's called Franklin Avenue. It's created by a husband and wife couple who we think we'd be friends with because they like lots of the same things we do, and they cover everything from reviewing LA restaurants to the tragic destruction of the Ambassador Hotel to and truly tragic Rick Dees possibly returning to the Los Angeles airwaves. (Shocking, I know, but it is possible and you heard it here first. Or there. Whatever.) Anyway, if you're into those things, check them out.

(Gay) Ghetto Vons

You may recall when we first moved to Echo Park I wrote about the Vons grocery store that everyone over here calls Ghetto Vons because it's so old and, well, ghetto. No bakery, deli, small produce and meat areas, an old 1950s facade and lots of wasted parking lot space. But you can find plenty fattening snack foods, sodas, beer and tortillas, sales on pasta-beans-rice, and many other elements which would actually make for an interesting case study on nutrition, education, and how that all plays out in an ethnically diverse, economically challenged neighborhood. But really, who has the time? I'm writing for telenovelas now.

Anyway, in that blog I mentioned how there was a questionably gay Latino boy working there. Ay Dios Mio! Because I hadn't quite embraced my Latino ethnicity at that point I didn't get that he wasn't just gay, he was el maricon mucho grande! And he's not alone.

This place seems to be the hub for homo jotos in LA because I know of at least three young guys (18-21 years old) who are queer, a lesbian-- or at least a very stern young lady who doesn't wear makeup and only likes Steve and I-- and one very friendly young man around 25 or so who enjoys chatting it up with us every time we're there. A lot.

But how can I be so sure they're actually gay and not simply polite? (Vons is called "The More Store" after all...) Well hell, kids, it's not like I'm playing Gay or Euro Trash. Or even Dyke or German College Student. They're Latino and I'm sure I'm part Latino somewhere in my blood so I should know. But also, the young ones wear gay triangle symbols when working!

Screw Starbucks for their progressive employees. Forget about Pavilions in West Hollywood where you can pick up multiples fruits in every aisle. This is the G-spot for Echo Park and in some really fun way it makes me feel like I'm at home every time I shop there.

Now none of this has anything to do with Dimples, who I also wrote about in that entry. She was the large black sistah who didn't quite live up to her namesake as she blandly checked people out at the register. Well guess what... Dimples has lost some weight, she looks great, and she wasn't totally monotone when we went through her checkout line.

Since that first meeting I had made it my goal to get her to smile. This is how our last meeting played out...

Steve and I get to the register and I pull out my camera phone, but like a skilled celebrity she turns away every time I snap a photo. I get two, but they're not great.
DIMPLES: You got your Vons card?
RICK: I'll just punch in my number.
She nods and continues working, but I get the sense that she's thankful I've saved her the extra work. She then finishes, I use my ATM card to pay, and she pulls off the receipt.
DIMPLES (speaking with the rehearsed elegance of a professional): Thank you Mister... (She stops, looks at my name, then rolls her eyes up to look and me.): Mmm Mmm.
She says it with a tone that indicates, "I ain't even gonna try pronouncin' that one!" So I tell her my name, she makes eye contact, nods very friendly-like, and the corner of her lip starts to riiiisssseeeee.... but then stops.
DIMPLES: You need help out which yo' bags?
RICK: No, but thanks!
I smile big. She looks amused by us. We leave. I then try e-mailing myself the photos from the phone but I can't figure it out. The end.

Well, okay, so she didn't smile yet. But thank God Steve was there to verify her presence. Hopefully I'll figure out how to make this dang phone work the next time, but it's nice to know that Dimples is still around with my homo homies at the gay ghetto Vons.