The Brass Monkey is unlike any other karaoke lounge. Well, that's not totally true. It actually seemed to be a very typical karaoke lounge, except that virtually no one there on Wednesday night could sing. And the place was pretty crowded. Talented singers or not, they were nonetheless the most attentive karaoke audience I've ever seen, with people singing along and cheering for me, an unknown tourist, when I finally got up to the microphone. See if anyone at The Mint pays you any attention if you're not a regular there. Plus, one woman at The Brass Monkey sang the theme song from "The Greatest American Hero." She didn't sing it very well, but it was still one of the most brilliant karaoke moments I have ever witnessed.
On Thursday night, FP and I met my high school friend Kristie in Silver Lake for dinner at the Edendale Grill and a post dinner cocktail at the Mixville Bar. Delicious food was consumed and enlightened conversation was had on the patio in front of the converted firehouse that is now the Edendale Grill. Yummy. That's a photo of myself with Kristie just before our feast began. Fabulous Patti and I decided to go to The Derby after dinner, and that was... well, just a little disappointing. The space is really cool with two stages of live music happening at once, but only one of the many bands playing Thursday night was any good. Some of the boys in the place were kind of cute, but they tended to hang on girls who looked like poster children for drug abuse. I'm not usually so catty when it comes to other women, but these girls were something else. Maybe I'm getting old because I seem to have missed the memo proclaiming the heroin chic look back in vogue.Friday turned out to be somewhat of a lazy day, but who cares? I was on vacation, after all. After my run, I lounged around Fabulous Patti's apartment while she took a nap. We then ordered Chinese food from a delicious restaurant in Hollywood before heading out to Atwater Village to meet some other friends of mine from high school.
Emily and Dionne (pictured here with Fabulous Patti and myself) were part of this group of decidedly cool kids two years ahead of me in high school. They not only listened to all the good music, but they actually went to live music shows years before such a habit became a regular part of my life. I may have known the Three O'Clock, but Emily and Dionne were at the clubs watching them play while I was at home listening to them on Rodney's Sunday night show on KROQ. Emily now works for the city of Los Angeles; Dionne is a professor at Loyola Marymount University; and we all caught up on what has shaped our lives over the past twenty years. We met at the Big Foot Lodge and sipped girl scout cookie cocktails (that's really what they were called) while we dished on all things Poly (our little private high school in Pasadena), politics and L.A., in general.
Once back in the City by the Bay on Saturday afternoon, I had to get cute and scoot to my friend Anne's wedding in Berkeley. Hey, Anne is also a friend of mine from high school; apparently, it was an all-high school weekend for me. Anyway, Anne and her now-husband Stoycho were married at Cafe de la Paz near the U. C. Berkeley campus. They used the theme from "The Pink Panther" as their wedding music, and we all dined on delicious Argentinian food while the wine and sangria flowed at the reception. I was able to pin the bride down for a photo before I left. This is Anne (second from the left), along with Keri, me and their friend Stephen before Keri, Stephen and I made our exit.Today, after laundry and a very long run/walk across almost the entire city, it was back to work. I suppose all good things must come to an end, including mini-vacations. Oh, well.
This is totally off the subject, but the Red Sox won the ALCS tonight and are going to the World Series. Yay.
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