Celeb Sightings & Disney Events

It's been one heck of a busy week for Rick and Steve. Monday night started with us attending the Milt Kahl tribute at The Motion Pictures Academy. Milt Kahl was one of Disney's "Nine Old Men" who helped shape the classics and the face of animation, so the event was a packed.

We heard a lot of people got turned away, but Steve and I somehow made our way into the VIP reception where we enjoyed some light food, a glass of wine, and displays of original Kahl drawings, model sheets and animation cels. Some of it was insane, like the work he did on the Prince in Sleeping Beauty, because Steve has really bad copies of those pages for reference, but to see the actual artwork right there -- with coffee stains and colored pencil lines-- was just really special.
We saw clips of his work, and heard from guests like Andreas Deja and Charles Solomon who hosted, as well as Brad Bird, John Musker, Ron Clements, Floyd Norman, John Pomereoy, Kathryn Beaumont, Alice Davis and Sybil Barnes (Kahl’s daughter). The night went really late (we left at 11pm and as they were showing some last clips of his work), but seeing his animation as well as rare interview footage was worth the trip.


The other night we also hit The Arclight in Hollywood to see Every Little Step, which is the documentary on the history and revival of A Chorus Line. We really loved the film and left wanting more (I totally think a channel could have done a 6 hour piece that got not only into the current performers but also the scandals surrounding the original production).




However, that doesn't directly relate to the celebs. What does, was the premiere for Next Day Air that was happening at the Arclight on the same night. The turnout was pretty good from the looks of things, and we did spot a couple famous faces along the way.


In the crowd, Steve said he spotted Chris Tucker. I did not, but Steve has a knack for those things so I believe him.

We parked next to Eva Pigford who was very tall, very thin, and very beautiful. She shared a smile with Steve -- I think she knows her gays when she sees them.
Finally, Chi McBride who most recently played Emerson on Pushing Daisies was also in attendance. I wanted to tell him how much I loved his work and the show, but the timing didn't seem appropriate.





That's the word thus far this week. Gearing up for a beginners trapeze class this weekend where I'm bringing some new people (friends of Steve's from work) so convert them to the wonders of exercising in the air. More to come...

Preschool Show Fun

The second annual Cirque fundraiser at the Rose Scharlin preschool was a great success. The day began at 9am where Rex (Cirque School owner), Tall Rick, Francesco, Jessica and myself met on site to set up the outdoor rig. This was the second time I've helped do that-- not that I'm a pro now, but I do feel like I'm learning something.

Mom came up on Friday night, saw a little rehearsal, then joined us for the show. Steve had to basically entertain her the whole day, and while Mom is low-maintenance I know the stress of it probably exhausted Steve as much as getting ready for the show exhausted me.

Here are some photos from the day...
Rex sits at the top of the rig while I'm at the base in the distance and Tall Rick has his back to the camera.

Francesco warmed up the crowd with some clowning.
Tall Rick did an elegant performance on tissu. Here he is just before the flippy fall and pinwheel down.
Beth and Thayr, the two professionals in the group, ended the first set with a comedy juggling show.
I started the second set. Here I am about to do iron cross above the bar.
Here I am doing iron cross on the bar as the trapeze spins in a circle.
And, of course, my signature move -- the back plaunge.
Jessica followed me. Here she is doing the candle stick.
Finally, Thayr ended the show with some rolla bolla action. Much fun, and hopefully more performances to come.

Oh, Those Darn Kids!

Funny girl, Amy Witry, is visiting family in Iowa. She has a super cute niece and nephew -- they both met Steve and I the last time they were visiting so they could meet a real-life Disney artist. I brought nothing to the table... or so I thought until the kids were leaving and Amy's niece announced, "He's CUTE!"

Needless to say, I love them both dearly.

Anyway, Amy had just blogged about her crazy nephew, his questions about Zac Efron being gay, and much more hilarity. Check it out.

SPEAKING OF KIDS...

Also, if you're interested in watching me do crazy trapeze stuff in front of kids, you're welcome to attend the fundraiser this weekend at:

Rose Scharlin Cooperative Nursery School
2414 Lake View Ave. Los Angeles, Ca. 90039

The show is roughly from 1pm-3pm, with a break in the middle. I'm in the whole show, but I won't be on the trapeze until around 2:15pm. I say "around" because none of these events ever happen on time. Sometimes they're even early. So come to the whole thing (besides, the other performers are really amazing).

It does cost, something like $12 or $15, but the money goes to this cool school in Silver Lake.

Up in the Air for Saturday

I got this random email from the chef at Sila Bistro in Silver Lake. He's seen posters in the neighborhood for a circus show at a local preschool and wondered if that was us.

Yes, yes it is. It's kind of exciting. This is the first time I've ever been on a poster for a show since I was in high school drama. I mean, I've worked on movies and kept a poster from each, but it's not the same thing.

They use "dazzling" and "gravity-defying" in the same sentence to describe the performers. And they haven't even seen us yet. Kind of crazy.

Went to circus class last night and took Steve and his friend Jaime from work. It's not that I'm trying to convert him to circus arts, but it is a good workout and he can spend time with his ladies and me, so it's fun. He did very well, though we were all working so hard no one actually had the time to take a photo. There was a woman doing professional photos for the site and she snapped a cut pic of us doing abs together, but I don't have a copy yet. There are some group photos posted on Facebook, so I'm hoping I'll get tagged with those soon enough.
In the meantime, here are some pics of me and my fellow performers at rehearsal. That's Tall Rick on tissu, about to flip up into a back straddle.
Francesco, our lovable clown, practicing the opening act.
The beautiful and bendy Jessica...

And here I am, in the actual costume I should be wearing that day. On the left I'm doing the back plaunge (don't ask me how to spell it, it's French).


For the record, I'm called Little Rick in class. Not "small" Rick. That would be insulting. Little implies youth and thinness, both of which I like thank you very much.


I'm supposed to be swimming, which is my excuse for having bent knees.

And below I'm doing flag, which seems to be my signature move. Ya see, Tall Rick and Jessica may have lots of flexibility (and I have some) but I'm definitely strong so I tend to do more of these power moves. I'm okay with that, you need to have one thing that helps you stand out, right?
Hopefully we'll get some pics at the show. More to come...

A Close Shave

This is me thinking...
I was wondering what I should do for next week's preschool circus show. I'd been assigned my character-- the Venice Beach muscle man, natch-- but how to add to that? I felt like I looked too modern, and we're doing a sort of pseudo 1920s beach thing. (Okay, maybe not exactly that time period, but somewhere in the general neighborhood. Either way, I look too contemporary.) What I need, I realized, was a makeover of some kind.

With that thought in my head, I decide to shave off the goatee. I've had it for a long while and the only time I trim it completely off is when I accidentally nick an area bare. But I grow it back after a week or so (it takes me a while to grow facial hair, and I barely have any on my cheeks-- the reason I have a goatee is because that's pretty much the only thing I can produce).

So on Saturday I did a facial (While you're in there grooming, you might as well...) and then shaved my face smooth. Steve's cool with it, I guess. He hasn't started ignoring me while cruising guys with facial hair, so I think I'm pretty safe.
Ahh, the face of an angel, no?

Sister Aunt Mary - R.I.P.

"Sister Aunt Mary" was the name we used for our Aunt Mary, my father's sister. Dad came from an old school Catholic family where the first-born son was a priest (Uncle Francis -- until he eventually married a woman and left religious life) and the first-born daughter became a nun (Aunt Mary).

Sister Mary Perpetua died April 3rd, while I was in the middle of jury duty, and I didn't want to pen off some quick note about it on the blog. I wanted to give her life some thought so I could write something proper. I've read the obituary the Order of Grey Nuns wrote for her and it's fine, but it's just about her life.

I, however, knew her as a fascinating woman with great humor, a misbehaving history where she and my father would ditch school as kids, and a deep love of God that I'll always remember and cherish. She walked through a room like an unstoppable tank (as most nuns of a certain era did), taught me sign language, and showed me that there's nothing wrong with ordering a blue-plate special and cocktail at 5pm when you're in New York City.

Her Humor

Steve met Sister Aunt Mary right before my book came out in 2004. We visited her at Our Lady of Fatima Convent in Jackson Heights, NY, then went to dinner with her and Sister James Maureen. James Maureen was one of her best friends and kind of looked like the mother in Triplets of Belleville. She also drove everywhere -- albeit by making illegal u-turns in the middle of busy New York streets, knowing full well that God was on our side so we'd be safe. (Ahh, the faith of religious people.) Unfortunately, we didn't bring our camera.

Sister told us about two semi-recent trips to the doctor. One was for her eye, which needed an operation so she could see. When the doctor explained that she could potentially lose her eye, she said this:

"Oh good. Do you think you could give me a blue one instead? I've always thought I'd be more attractive with blue eyes." He looked at her, stunned. She played innocent. "Don't you think I'd be more attractive with one blue eye?"

A short while later she'd have a second operation to remove a potentially cancerous bump from her face. But that might leave a scar.

"Then everyone can just called One-Eyed Scar-Faced Mary." Sister James Maureen was horrified that she'd tell us this.

"What?" Sister Aunt Mary asked, again ever-so-innocently. "If you had a piano teacher named One-Eyed Scar-Faced Mary you'd listen to what she told you, wouldn't you?" Steve and I nodded. We would.

Her Grand Performance

The second story involved Sister Aunt Mary traveling into the city to finally purchase a used piano for the church, which she would use to teach children. There's a store next to Carnegie Hall. She marveled at the gorgeous new Steinway Pianos, and the salesman let her sit at a couple and practice, even though she'd made it clear the church couldn't afford one of the new ones.

"You know, I always dreamed of playing at Carnegie Hall," she told him off-handedly. "I guess this is as close as I'll ever come." She then stood up to complete their purchase.

"You never know, Sister," the man replied, and went off to write up the receipt.

According to Sister, he was gone for a long time, and she wondered if he'd forgotten them for some wealthier customer. Instead, when he returned, he asked her to follow him into the back of the store -- she thought he was going to show her a piano more in line with their budget-- then through an alley, and into the stage door at Carnegie Hall. There she met the stage manager, who without pausing led her to the center of the stage where a beautiful piano was waiting.

"He said to everyone in the room, the janitors, backstage people and staff, 'Excuse me, everyone. Please stop what you're doing. Sister is going to perform.' I didn't know what to do, I was shocked. But all of them took a seat in the auditorium, so I sat down and played my favorite song. And when it was over they applauded."

I wish I'd written in my journal what her favorite song was, but I didn't. However, whenever I think of this story, it makes me cry with happiness.


My mom, brother and sisters are all stunned that sister met Steve, much less that she let the both of us in the convent. She knew about our relationship because she was my favorite aunt, and I hated traveling to New York and not calling her. So I told her the truth. Mom says age mellows you, so maybe that's why she never condemned us to hell. I won't pretend to know the answer.

But maybe one day she'll tell me her reasons, when I see her again on the other side.

Jury Duty Done ... Now a New Circus Show

THUMP! Pop! Pop!

Those are the noises I heard upon falling from the trapeze last Saturday and hitting the crash pad. The thump was my body, while the popping was my left arm and right hip popping out of their sockets.

We were rehearsing for an upcoming fundraiser at a preschool, and I was pushing myself really hard. I felt exhausted, wasn't paying attention, and changed my grip on the bar without thinking. Suddenly, I realized a fall was about to happen, and I was smart enough to let go of the bar because if I'd held on my entire body would have slipped and yanked on that one supporting arm, probably causing a serious injury.

After hitting the crash pad, my limbs immediately popped back into place and all is fine (I'm told I fell like a pro). But now my shoulder and hip muscles hurt like I slept wrong for a week. So I'm icing muscles, applying Tiger Balm, an popping Advils.
In the top picture is Tall Rick, Francesco and Jessica. The four of us are doing a beach themed show and tonight was my first day back. I moved slowly, muscles were a bit tender, but all in all I did well.
My focus now is creating my character and finding ways to make proper breathing and careful transitions (as in, being mindful of where I am and what I'm doing) a part of the performance.
So this weekend and next week will be a series of rehearsals for next Saturday. I'll make sure not to fall in front of the kids.

By the way, did I mention my Mom is coming to the show? Fun.

WORD OF THE WEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!! (April 9, 2009)

The word of the week is: Juriatric

Definition: Adjective. When you've served on a jury for so long that you feel like you've lost years of your life and are closer to death.

In a scene:
Rick and his fellow jurors enter their 15th day of service, and find out they have close to 65 questions to handle during deliberation.

RICK (to another juror): Girl, I feel juriatric.

Le Chateau, Part Deux

Okay, so where were we?

As I mentioned, on Saturday evening Steve, myself and our friend Shamaa paid a return visit to the Chateau Marmont to make up for our last embarrassing visit.

"Don't slam the passenger door too hard," Shamaa said. We were taking her Mercedes this time for fear that the valets would recognize me driving Steve's Mini Cooper. After all, I have one fashionable jacket and I was wearing it again-- probably with the same shirt since we couldn't remember our wardrobe choices from last time. "Some guy hit me and it popped out the passenger mirror," Shamaa continued. "I pushed it back in but I don't know how well it's going to stay."

Mirror worries aside, we made it in time for our reservation, sat on the outdoor patio, and watched as the sun set, golden light illuminating the sides of Le Chateau until it became too dark and the space's beautiful garden lights took over. Tucked into quiet corners were various visitors.

So who did we see (because none of you all tune in for my flowery writing, I'm sure)? We saw comedian Richard Lewis with two lady friends, but they didn't stay too long because there was like a tornado whipping through the courtyard at times. The wind didn't bother us, but there was one woman at another table who wanted to go someplace less windy... and be outside. Idiot.

We then saw Rachel Zoe who has become quite thin. It's not to say she wasn't trying to bulk up, she had a full meal of wine and cigarettes while hiding behind ET sunglasses. Super cute.

Finally (and probably the most exciting for three foodies) was seeing Padma Lakshmi from Top Chef. She's super tall, which I know we should have assumed but it still surprised us, and she was bundled in the kind of winter jacket one wears to Russia. In the winter. But she rocked it so who cares? We wanted to go over and say hi but, you know, it's Le Chateau and people don't do that sort of thing at places like this.

And speaking of food (kind of), let me tell you that it's less about the food at Le Chateau and more about the atmosphere. Not even celeb watching, so much (though we were), but the magical feeling you have sitting in a place that's filled with such grand Hollywood history. It felt special, as though the three of us were a part of something very important. It also seemed exciting, perhaps because all three of us are entering new points in our lives/careers. So while the meal was just fine, it was the shared moment that made the evening absolutely lovely.

That was our conversation as we stood by the valet station and saw Shamaa's Mercedes pull up... the passenger mirror hanging out from its casing.

"Oh my God, we're so ghetto!" she whispered, horrified. "Get in the car! Quick! NOW!"

We scuttled in, slammed the doors, and laughed as the mirror banged against the car during the short drive home.

New Kid on the Block

Here's a pic of Steve standing with young Robby from Austin, Texas and his Guncle Joe. Guncle Joe, it seems, has been a fan of our Mondo blog for quite some time. His nephew, young Rob, is an animation student, a huge Disney fan, and wants to become a Disney animator one day if all the planets become aligned.

So this past weekend young Rob made a trip out to LA to visit his guncle and see Disneyland for the first time. Guncle Joe contacted us to see if we'd chat with Rob about what it takes to be an animator-- since Steve knows a thing or two about that.

We met at Fix in Echo Park and had a lovely little afternoon visit. Rob was so adorable, excitedly telling us about his first trip to Disneyland, his artistic inspirations, and the classes he's taking in Austin. Steve told him about his school and work experiences, asked to see some of Rob's art, then showed Rob his professional portfolio.

It was just such a fun little respite from a weekend loaded with work (for me).

But as Steve said, when he was Rob's age, meeting professionals was the inspiration and kick in the ass he needed to get through school.

And seriously, look at Rob's smile. Could he be any cuter with his excitement?

However, our Saturday adventures were not over. Oh no. Because as you may recall, we tried to visit the Chateau Marmont a month and a half ago, but got turned away because we didn't have reservations (flakey Rick). So after meeting Young Rob and Guncle Joe, we shot home, took a power nap, changed and picked up friend Shamaa for our reunion tour.

More on that tomorrow...

The Jury that Drinks Together...

Today we were waiting to go into the courtroom and I start talking about The Edison, a super cool bar in downtown LA, not far from the courthouse. Some people have been, others had not but were intrigued -- especially about their Soup Kitchen Fridays.

So I say, "God I could us a drink..." referring to the trial.

Everyone agreed.

And so tomorrow, Friday, we're all walking over after court to enjoy a beverage.

I'm just doing my part to keep the wheels of civic justice well lubricated.