Reconciliation Express
Volume 4 Book 4 of
Living in the Bonus Round
(Part 11)

The new definition of cool.
The Trout Supershow drops August 11, 2005.

[ Book 4-3 ] -- [ Pt 1 ] [ Pt 2 ] [ Pt 3 ] [ Pt 4 ] [ Pt 5 ] [ Pt6A-6B ] [ Pt 7 ]
[ Pt 8 ] [ Pt 9 ] [ Pt 10 ] [ Pt 11 ] [ Pt 12 ] [ Pt 13 ] -- [ Book 4-5 ]

July 29, 2005.
Apts, Bus Routes & Modeling.

My morning routine is now set. I run around the various neighborhoods starting about 5:30am. Given how hot the weather has been, this is the only time of the day that this is even remotely possible. Since LA is a desert near the ocean we get a cool mist just before sunrise. By about 7am, it starts heating up. This morning I took my camera with me.

First, near us, there is major construction going on. All the little single dwelling homes were razed and are being replaced with big, nondescript apartment buildings. These two below just opened:

This is a new one that's even uglier. Don't they know we live in a neighborhood and we have to LOOK at these things??

Farther down the block is a Tommy's "original" hamburger. It's basically a tasteless burger that they drown in chili. Since I can't eat all that fat, I don't indulge. Across the street was a gas station that's been torn down. I wonder what's going to come up in its place?

The big news around here, however, is the new "metro liner" bus route that starts at the ONE subway station and cuts east and west across the Valley. Since LA's pubic transportation has been notoriously bad for years and years, the city's fathers have been flabbergasted at the stupendous reaction they've been getting by making transportation easy to get to. This is the new station they've just erected on Laurel Canyon Blvd. It hasn't even opened for business yet. All this is brand new, including the "bus-only" thoroughfare it sits on.

Now, you might be asking yourself, how were they able to cut this huge street right through the heart of the Valley without tearing anything down? The answer is that this wide road (which runs right down the middle of Chandler Blvd.) used to a train track. It was sitting there for years doing nothing until someone got the bright idea to turn it into a road for buses. Notice how it's blocked off from any car traffic.

They've also been planting flowers along the route to make it pretty.

Finally, this morning, as the sun was rising, I loved how it brilliantly lit up these three palm trees all grouped together.

The running has been miraculous in controlling my blood sugars, which had been running between 170 and 220. Not only have I been testing in the 80 - 130 range, but I've been able to cut one of my diabetic pill prescriptions in half. This is GREAT news.

REGARDING MY VIDEO BLOGS:
I've had a few people asking me if I'm going to abandon this diary in favor of just doing the vlogs (since I've done so many of them lately) and the answer is NO. This diary is an institution on the Net and I have no intention of letting it go. The fact is that I have a huge backlog of video that Jimmy and I have been shooting over the years and since I have grand aspirations of becoming a filmmaker some day, it's been more than exciting for me to play around with video and music and editing.

The fact is that, aside from my exercise regimen and playing around with videos, I have been, as I mentioned before, sitting here working tirelessly on writing out the score for The Big Voice. This is a tedious process and it takes a great deal of time. I am now up to "The Closet," btw. I want to have it all ready for New York in the fall, assuming our production comes through. Lots of people have been asking me about it and all I can tell you is that when it's time to make an official announcement, then we'll make it.

Talking about it too soon may "jinx" it, as they say. So, just hang in there with me and when I have news, I'll pass it on.

THE TROUT SUPERSHOW:
Now you might be curious about the strange 70's looking picture at the top of this page. That, folks, is me. With a huge afro. And btw, that is my real hair. No processing, no curling irons, no perm. I have very curly hair that, as it grows, merely gets bushier and bushier. So why is it at the top of the page?

Because Ned Sykes and the guys in the Preoccupied Pipers group are using it as the cover art for their/our new album called The Trout Supershow. I didn't know they were doing this. In fact, I don't even know where that picture came from. But yesterday, Ned showed it to me. I was alternately horrified and howling with laughter. So there it is.

I am now a male model.

July 30-Aug. 2, 2005.
A Jewish Christmas & A Drag Queen in Rome.

Two new vlogs uploaded:

A Jewish Christmas.

A Drag Queen in Rome.

Aug 3-8, 2005.
Memorial to "Commando Cody."

A friend of ours, actor George Wallace, recently died after an accident, a fall, on a trip to Europe. He was very famous in the 50s as the "original rocketman," Commando Cody in a sci-fi serial called "Radar Men From the Moon." Jimmy and I interviewed him at a Christmas party one year where he talked about his career doing that -- and his career on Broadway. So I took that footage and combined it with video I shot at his recent funeral to make a memorial video blog which you can find in High, Medium and Low resolution.

George was a great guy. We used to see him at Kathleen Freeman's many holiday parties. He was virile, gregarious, and had a great singing voice. He also had a wonderul career in the movies  and TV as a character actor.

The big news is that we are going back to Rochester NY early in September to perform The Big Voice for a couple of weekends. I consider that Downstairs Cabaret Theatre to be a second home, so it'll be good to get back there and see old friends. As soon as I have a date confirmation, I'll post it here.

On Wednesday I'm headed up to San Francisco to see the Preoccupied Pipers performing at a club on Thursday night. If we get a chance to rehearse, we might even perform "Franco Ate The Paperwork," our fabulous retro disco song we recorded earlier this year.

Thursday, August 11: RED DEVIL LOUNGE
1695 Polk Street, San Francisco
415 921-1695
$8.00

7:30 Giant Value
8:00 Jill Olson
8:30 Chris von Sneidern
9:00 Bobby Sutliff
9:30 Boatclub
10:00 Feel
10:30 The Superficials
11:00 Preoccupied Pipers
 

 

© 1996-2005 by Steve Schalchlin. You have permission to print from this diary and distribute for use in support groups, schools, or to just give to a friend. You do not have permission to sell it.