How to Host Thanksgiving and Not Have To Cook

Everyone has one family member just itching to host a holiday dinner this time of year but seriously its too hard to try to please everyone. Who needs to worry about that, the "menu" for our brother's extremely small graduation lunch earlier this year was thrown together in 10 minutes at the market without really worrying about what people would want because being a lunch they could always eat something else in a few hours if they didn't like it. My sister has offered up her house, the setting for much of our partying in the driveway for this year's gathering and she always does a good job and is well prepared. But what if you're not so entertaining inclined, there are ways around this.

Ok so everyone is showing up at your place, don't panic. Start making calls today, you have to do this the weekend before to give the family the chance to go shopping for food before the stores get too crowded. To host and get out of cooking just call and ask if they have a favorite grain or soy based meat substitute. Explain that you've been really concerned about the family's overall health and that you think this would be the perfect opportunity to set a new tradition of healthy eating. This year's feast will not include a turkey and will focus heavily on healthy grains and strange vegetables from the east. After a few calls you're likely to receive an offer to either move the dinner to another member's house or so many offers from others to bring dishes that all you'll need to do is make sure the plates and serving spoons are clean.

You can also go with my favorite standby and threaten the family with a platter full of turkey Hot Pockets or some grande packs from Taco Bell. That's worked really well! Also living in places not big enough to host the whole family with nothing but a dodgy looking alley and a treacherous set of stairs to get down that for the children is very effective in the automatic "not it" of family party hosting.

Do Not Molest The Ducks

Yesterday we took the partying in the driveway to a national level, well sort of. As much as I love music I can't listen to it all the time and when I'm not rocking out to some kick ass Belle & Sebastian tunes I'm listening to NPR. I'll listen to just about anything they have on. During the weekends I primarily listen to KPCC because they don't play music like KCRW does. A few years ago they started airing short stories from the StoryCorps project. They were snippets of conversations from everyday people telling stories. The project travels around the country gathering these stories and archives them in the Library of Congress for anyone to look up. There's a permanent booth set up in New York City and two Airstream trailers that set up camp in a new town every few weeks. Just after Christmas I started hearing promos on KPCC about the Historias project and the Airstream coming to Los Angeles. I knew this was my chance to make it into the project.

There would only be 100 spots open to the public for the recording, they had many set aside for community leaders and people that had actually done something besides amass a pretty sizable collection of pin back badges. The morning the reservations opened was my first day back at work after a bout with strep throat. Lucky for me when you have strep throat no one really wants to come near your desk so I was left alone to secure my recording time. I was assigned a late afternoon recording time on what I'd learn later was the first day of the LA stop. Dede who is also a big fan was able to reserve a session for a couple of weeks later. I called my Dad and told him a little about the project, I didn't want to confuse him - Dad not using a computer really couldn't go look up the website and see what this was all about. After a couple of phone conversations he finally understood what we were going to do that day.

Yesterday was the appointment day. Dad arrived really early to the library and didn't notice the trailer was there and left me a message about only seeing people stealing cars and mugging old ladies - he was parked by the courthouse and this is a typical Dad message left. I left work and made my way through the horrendous LA afternoon traffic to East LA. When I arrived I found

Dad hanging out by the trailer just watching the ducks at the giant pond in the middle of the civic center complex. I came up to him and asked where his little bag of bread was then he pointed to the sign saying that the ducks are not to be fed. My Dad has everything in his truck and I'm sure he has an old bag of bread or popcorn in there for feeding birds. We still had about 10 minutes before our appointment and we went to watch a really cool duck fight that had just broken out by the edge of the pond. Just when the duck fight was ending it was our time to go inside the trailer. At first Dad seemed more impressed by the trailer then the project, he had never been in an Airstream before and told the facilitator about how the astronauts that went to the moon were quarantined in one of these after returning to earth. After his initial fascination with the trailer we sat down to record our conversation. I started out asking him about what it was like raising three kids while being an active military reservist and a police officer then we talked about him growing up and if what happened with him shaped his idea of what he wanted for our lives. As he does he did get off topic at times but brought it back to the initial point after wandering about for a few minutes. In the end I asked the most important question of all, the one that had been baffling me for some time now. That question - what is up with him and the Big Lebowski. Turns out its quite simple, Dad sees himself like The Dude. Just be yourself and let other people be what they want to be, just let everyone be. Here I thought it was Walter he liked the best, I'm glad we got that bit sorted out and the mystery will be solved for generations of Ojedas to come.

We started early

We're still not sure why, it could be part of the whole - check out how non-Mexican we are kick that my parents were on in the 70's but we have photos from several studio photographers all pre-1980. Sure we have lots of those little square photos with the waffle texture varnish like everyone else but for special occasions our parents took us to the studio. About 10 years ago this photo surfaced of me choking Dede. I don't remember seeing this growing up but I do remember seeing others from this same session. I know we were baptized late, no explanation for that or why we don't have middle names. I think these pictures were not taken for our baptismal but just around the same time. There are other photos of us with our brother and he's wearing a little brown suit. My Mom made these dresses for us, not sure about the bows in our hair. I've had this hanging up in my apartment since we found it in with the other family pictures. When www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com hit the scene we knew we had to send this photo in. We were really lazy about it and just said we were going to scan it and submit it for months. Well I finally took it down off the wall and took it over to the 'bello to get a scan done. We submitted it yesterday afternoon and it was up today by lunch time, along with a very nice thank you note from the webmaster asking if we'd like to be in the new book. Go check it out for yourselves, I was going to post the picture here but you'll enjoy this site so much you'll really need to go experience it as often as possible. For your enjoyment - our pic, a salute to starting sibling rivalries and beatdowns early. Not to worry we're fine now I haven't put her in a chokehold in like 20 years.

I'll Meet You on Sunset

Just coming back home from the second show I've seen at the "new" Palladium. The first was Franz Ferdinand and tonight I went to see Arctic Monkeys. I've seen both bands before, this is the second time seeing the Arctic Monkeys at this venue. I knew they had put in a new sound system with huge hanging arcs of speakers but tonight you could truly feel the sound. They must not have had it cranked fully up for Franz Ferdinand but tonight the show was sold out and the speakers were at full volume. It was amazing the sound just shook right through you even from a fair bit away and it was still nice and clean. No cracks or fuzzy speaker sounds here, I hope they always turn it up like that.

Sheffield was definitely in the house tonight. What first caught my ear from this band was they were young and had a varied sound on their album. Riot Van sucked me in just as well as Fake Tales of San Francisco. The follow up albums have not disappointed and they've amped up the guitar sound that crept into a few tracks on the first album. The set did come to a slight halt when they decided to slow it down for a few tracks but they made up for it by flipping the amps back up and assaulting the eager crowd with a wall of blistering guitar for the rest of the set which included a Nick Cave cover. Also they seem to be super big fans of strobe lights now which I really enjoyed, it was pretty much their only lighting effect and that combined with the guitar tidal wave may induce migraines or seizures. If you do suffer some sort of head injury, have a fit or any sort of long term damage from a show I say well done, you're very hardcore.

Franz Ferdinand was a slightly mellower set which wasn't as loud as the Arctic Monkeys but was still enjoyable. When their first album came out they said all they wanted was to make music that made girls want to dance. Now they make not just the girls but the boys dance too. I'm glad to have known about the band since their origins back at the Chateau parties. The crowd for Franz was about half the size of the show tonight but I really don't think I ever saw an ad for that show and only found out about it after driving by the venue a few weeks before the show so shame on you Live Nation for not telling Los Angeles about the wonderful Scots that came to play for us.

After both of these shows I must highly recommend seeing anything you can at the Palladium. There are tons of new restaurants open in the area and plenty of scooter parking to be found. Ok you may not need to know about the scooter parking but its still good to know. More people should get on two wheels, its amazing the things I see while riding around town. Tonight I saw a man on Melrose riding a Penny Farthing bike. This is the second one I've seen this year, the first was in Oakland by the airport. I'm sure all of this is still going on when I'm in the Echo but with the radio on I just don't care as much. It is harder to take photos of cool stuff on the fly though. I'll have to see about mounting my camera to the bike and video tape my ride one night, then you can also experience the most pot hole and irregularly paved streets in all of Los Angeles!

Brick of Self Control

I've made an effort this summer to get out and see more shows here in LA. I've been buying tickets to everything that catches my fancy since I've come back from London. Tonight was the first of the shows I bought tickets for. I first saw Green Day while they were touring for Dookie way back when I was a wee lass. That was back when I was way into my Britpop days and for me to even give a band from California a second listen they had to be as good as Green Day. Over the years I've admittedly only kept up with them through their radio singles and haven't picked up a full album since Dookie. But this is LA and KROQ plays tons of Green Day, I think they played the full American Idiot a few times when it came out. This tour they had Franz Ferdinand in tow and that set me in motion to buy a ticket for this show.

I was out all day today having another wandering adventure with some friends and was a bit tired when I set out on the Vespa down to Inglewood. Shows at the Forum start right at the time listed on the ticket, I had forgotten this fact so I missed half of the Franz set but I'm seeing them in two days so I didn't mind too much. Before Green Day came on there was someone in a pink bunny suit that came out to dance to YMCA. I was buying water and there may have been an explanation as to who this was but I missed it. After the bunny was gone the band came out through the back of the venue and walked along the anxious crowd on the floor. This interaction with the crowd would carry on throughout the show. During various parts of the show the band brought on audience members to sing, play guitar, dance along and at one point they asked for children to be 'saved' and some family handed their kids down to the stage. A boy named Andrew came up and sang "Longview" although he was kind of doing a radio edit version he knew most of the words and didn't seem scared. Near the end of the show they also pulled up a guitarist to play Jesus of Suburbia. This guy came up and was immediately running all over the stage. He knew the song really well, he could be a plant into the audience but if he wasn't he's definitely been practicing his rock star moves.

It was a good show all around, I had a great seat next to this family that had all come out to see the band. I really got a second wind of energy after the band came on and was jumping around with the rest of the crowd after just a few minutes. The band also used lots of pyro and kept running into the audience, just when you're getting too tired and think you'll have to sit down they set off some explosion and you're right back into it.

There was a lot of political talk from the stage and lots of testament to the loveliness of California and how lucky we all are to live here. I don't think either of these things will inspire the young crowd to do much but whatever when you're like 14 you don't care about that stuff. The band played for a full three hours with a full band encore and a second that was an acoustic set from Billie Joe to end the night on a mellow tone and set all of the kids off to fall asleep in the backseat on the ride home. I would recommend seeing them if you're "of the era" especially if you haven't seen them before. Be forewarned though, you may be pulled on stage and when you are you will have to stage dive to get off. You also may be subjected to some band nudity, massive mosh pits, random cover medleys and security staff that isn't doing their job because they're watching the show and singing along. I was most pleased with the inclusion of "She" in the set, which is my favorite of all their songs and with my ride home, La Brea is amazing when it is empty and the view from the crest by Stocker is unbelievably beautiful. Now I have to get to downloading to fill some gaping holes in my iTunes library, I've already started with "Last Night on Earth".

Yes I do have a passport

A Disneyland annual passport that is, well for that matter I have a regular passport as well - duh!  My Dad upgraded my free birthday Disneyland ticket to an annual passport and I hadn't had a chance to use it since that day.  Kirsty came to visit LA right around the time I was getting back from England and we had limited time to see one another.  She was staying at the park and wanted to spend her last night there in the park so off we went down the 5 to give the passport a spin.  I upgraded my passport that night to a Deluxe and have since been four times in the last month.  It's a cheap day out overall, you always know you're going to have a good time and you can always leave when you're tired because with the passport I can come back any time I want.  The first evening with Kirsty was lots of fun and we made her go on the evil swinging gondolas.  The second time was with my sister, Andy and the fabulous Maggie.  This was after the "faux" party she threw for Mary.  She thinks I'm not going to tell her when she grows up that she had a staged first birthday party two weeks after the fact, she is surely mistaken.  We went just for a few hours to get a corn dog and ride on the evil gondolas again.  Andy and my sister were terrified but Maggie was loving it, she's since been on the Matterhorn and loves that too.  That's a 3 year old set to live life on the edge.  

This last Sunday Deanna and I ventured out to the park again because it was the 40th anniversary of the Haunted Mansion and some special Shag product was being released that day.  I loved what Shag did for the 50th anniversary product and from what I saw online I knew we had to head down there that day.  Josh Agle was also signing the product so it was not only a chance to buy some limited edition items but also get to meet an artist I've admired for years now.  The line to buy product was pretty long but it was well worth the wait to mingle in with the Disney fanatics.  I've seen some of these people around the park before trading pins and at the Disney character clearance store but never had a chance to talk to them.  We met a nice woman that was there to buy a $225 pin set - yes $225 american!!!  

She left after she was able to purchase a different $175 set at the gallery in New Orleans square and she had learned that the other set was sold out already.  Next we stood next to two men that were also pin collectors but then switched their focus to the Hawaiian shirts and thermos to get signed.  I had my eye on the cookie urn and one of the lithos.  Deanna had picked out a really cool litho as well but apparently lots of other people liked that one too and it sold out before we made it into the store but she did get a very nice second choice.  Everything was beautiful, even the lunch bags!  I ended up with a third item as well - the tee which has the images of the hitchhiking ghosts and some spirits soaring on the back.  While in line to pick up the merchandise we had just paid for we met Nancy who was our favorite of all the collectors.  She had on the same pair of hideous Mickey mouse Crocs I was wearing and was absolutely devastated when we told her the company would soon be going out of business.  Nancy told us all about the other things she had bought at previous events and about how her daughter was there early to buy some of her own items.  We pointed out Shag to her when he passed through the room on the way to a quick break and we helped her climb under the rope at the other line to get our autographs.  The signing line was much shorter and we were done in a few minutes, the staff helped you unpack your items, took a photo of you then packed everything back up.  It could be that the Disney fans are far more tame then the crowds at the Megastore signings but everything was so pleasant I'm sure I'll attend the next event they have with Shag.  

We spent the rest of the day in park going on a few rides and eating some fine meals.  The day was going great, the weather was fine and we decided to go on Splash Mountain.  We had a fastpass so we avoided the hour long wait in line.  We were seated in the very front of the log and I was starting to get worried about getting absolutely soaked.  It was late in the afternoon and I wasn't worried about being cold more about being uncomfortable in wet clothes, you can get a rash!  I took the option of the very front since Deanna had a white shirt on and well no need to have a wet tee contest going on!  After the first dip I was pretty wet already and was starting to fret about how much water was going to come into the log after that giant fall.  THe ride stopped shortly after the first dip because of a "logjam" but we started up again after about a minute.  The ride continued on through the briar patch without sound then the logs stopped again.  

This  time the log did not start up again and we were told we'd be climbing out of the ride and escorted out.  It was kind of cool, we got to stand inside the ride and climb past the animatronic characters that were clacking away silently and down a flight of stairs behind the ride.  For our trouble we were given a fastpass that would let us go to the front of the line on any ride, even those without fastpass set up.  It was pretty awesome and well worth our trouble.  We spent the rest of the day in the park enjoying a few more rides before giving in to our exhaustion and headed back to the car.  I'll be off to the park again before the end of the month, I'm enjoying spending a summer in the kingdom.  Who knew inside me was a secret Disney fan, although after summer is over who knows how many times I'll head back.  Could this be just a passing fancy?  Who knows I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

So long, farewell...

I'll try to keep this pretty simple because I think you've all heard more then enough from me about the trip and probably would like some more updated posts. I know I'd like to start writing about what I'm doing now. I've been back for a month now and just now getting around to finishing this. So lets just sum up the last few days in London. I came back from a blistering hot Rome to a kind of mild London. It was grey and a bit drizzly but nothing serious. I made my way over from Gatwick to Bayswater to check into the apartment hotel I had rented out for the last bit of the trip. It was great to have a kitchen and I think I'll definitely stay there again, even with the mousetrap maze of hallways to get to the room. The next day it was Oasis! At Wembley! The stadium was recently renovated and it looks amazing although a bit of a pain in the ass to find your way around the outside of the stadium. When I bought my tickets to Oasis I opted for the VIP package because it was that or hang out in the nosebleed seats, I think if the floor option was available I would have been all over it. Being near the end of my trip and being old and very tired I was so happy I did choose to spend the extra money. The Bobby Moore room is pretty spiffy (although filled with cougars) and it has its own little dance club and DJ within the stadium. That combined with the open bar you think would lead to some fabulous dance moves but alas the floor was empty apart from a few tweens during the "cool" songs.

I watched opening sets from The Enemy and Kasabian, both were enjoyable and now I need to go download some of those Enemy tracks. The Gallaghers did not disappoint, the sound system did however - twice! The band has been plagued with sound system issues on this tour and it was worrying that they'd hissy fit out and storm off stage. I've watched a couple of Oasis UK concerts on DVD and remember Noel commenting on how the english crowds have the best singing voices, I must agree. The sound of all those voices coming together was just overwhelming. You get the same thing in the US with the crowd singing along but in LA it just seems like they're phoning it in, maybe it was all of the beer but everyone was really into it. This show did have some beer throwing incidents but nothing like Hyde Park, someone in our area threw a beer into the rows in front of us and was quickly escorted out. After the show it took a while to find Michael who was on the floor for the show and we made our way through the most crowded station ever and onto a train back to Bayswater.

The next day we went into the center of London to check out Harrods and the action on the fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square. This plinth has been empty and before a permanent statue is placed they're offering one hour shifts to the public to do whatever they would like. The woman that was on the plinth when we went was wearing a fairy costume and had HAPPY FRIDAY banners on the plinth. She had a bubble machine going and was tossing treats out into the crowd, no message, no charity, just wishing a happy afternoon to everyone.

After wandering around town for a bit it was back to Bayswater for a quick set of bowling and some air hockey, we did consider ice skating but that was a bit pricey and frankly looked

dangerous. I being an American was of course victorious in bowling, my air hockey skills are still a bit sub par. That afternoon I also found my dream carport - it had a vintage Mini Cooper with a scooter parked behind it! I had to take a picture of it, also took a photo of the only LXV I saw on the trip. Having only seen one LXV I've now determined I have the ultimate poser bike but I don't care I still love my scooter. The next day it was time to bid a sad farewell to London and back home to reality. No more Eastenders, no more bacon sandwiches and cheap cider! I wonder if I'll ever know who the father of Heather's baby is, I doubt Eastenders is just going to give up that fact its probably going to be a Christmas reveal - damn you BBC.