Archive for the ‘Entertainment’ Category

I rarely get excited for events of any sort of religious nature, but the Schmooz-A-Palooza is coming up around the corner and is always an exception. Rather than a mixer where one goes to meet Mr. Right, she goes to meet and greet Mr. (or Misses!) Right Now, in a low-key, no pressure type of setting. The three floors filled with scandalously-clad kids allow for absolutely no boredom, and an endless array of active options. More or less, this night (unlike all other nights) serves as one giant reunion, and in addition to meeting people of a newer nature, ghosts from friends past, present, and future come from The Valley and the Westside to join in the festivities of a party so grand it takes an entire year to put together. So rather than stuff stockings and wait for the obese jolly man who could certainly use a fat flush stat, get to the party that everyone else and their mother will be at. More than likely you have work off the next day anyway and you never need an excuse to let loose on the famed sunset strip.

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I looove Halloween, what a great holiday! It’s a fun opportunity for us to act like kids without apologizing for it. Being a brunette who’s petite, yet curvy, a sexy Wonder Woman costume seemed to fit the bill. As I searched for Superman/Clark Kent (no doubt a great how-we-met story don’t ya think?) some other treats passed me in the early evening. What a fun time Halloween is.

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Hollyweird really knows how to breathe new life into the night of the living dead.  With girls traipsing around in next to nothing and dudes pretending to be someone they aren’t, the night was everything you could hope for in a masquerade.  That being said, my date with Rob Zombie was a hectic and hazy experience – but well worth the chaos.  Aside from the pretty little things that peppered the Palladium, the mosh pit was a mangled mess of a situation (much like my love life) and those brave enough to participate enrolled themselves in a drunken dance of punching and pushing that looked more or less like a ballistic ballet gone awry.  It’s nice to pretend to be someone else for a whole twenty-four though, what’s life without a little role-play?  So when you get bored with your current crush sitch, just don a disguise and go out looking for new guys.  It’s nice to get a little devilish in the City of Angels, and even better when all hell breaks loose.

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Yoga.  There I was for the first time sweating (understatement) in 115 degrees.  Thinking, why the heck do people do this Bikram Yoga?  My mind was running and my body was about too as well.  After 60 minutes my clothes were drenched and I had run out of water.  With 30 minutes left, I was about to sneak out the door. I figured I made a good showing at my first class.  But the teacher coaxed me into staying – even running to get me more water – so “I would keep with it.”  As it comes to dating, maybe we should all have the same teacher.  Someone who coaxes us to stay longer, try harder, not run so easily.  Yes, after a while it does no good for anyone to stay any longer than necessary in the wrong scenario,  BUT just maybe, we should all stay a little longer and sweat it out.

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Over the weekend as I was doing mundane bills and paperwork, I turned on the TV to the movie Hitch with Will Smith. The scene is where Kevin James is showing off his proud dance moves or as Kevin’s character calls them “making the pizza,” “the q-tip,” etc.  Will Smith denounces Kevin to never perform such moves in public especially in front of his love, the elegantly photographed Allegra Cole.  During the scene I was laughing out loud, because those are the quirky, endearing idiosyncrasies that I would fall for in a heartbeat.  What can I say, I am charmed by quirky, geeky, good guys.

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My beautiful best friend got engaged last Friday night! She and my soon-to-be-bff-in-law really are completely meant for each other, so this upcoming union will be a great one. Unfortunately, there is at least a year of planning, toiling and inevitable stressing to get through before the big day. I’m sure it will be several months before my bff turns bridezilla and starts stalking the city streets, and even though I will be multi-tasking like it’s going out of style, I plan on enjoying every minute of it. Now, after getting sun-stroked from a post-engagement day by spending six hours at the beach, I headed over to South for JDate’s video game bash. The Sunday fun-day action was in full swing by the time I arrived and Wii had a lot of fun as the girls-gone-gaming madness ensued. Now, I am a fitness fiend and workout as much as I can, but my cardio was no match for the tennis tournament going on in the pool room. I will be upping my regiment before the next competition, that’s for sure. All in all it was a great way to end the day, and the crowd was as varied as the choice of post-NES systems. Game, set, sparks! Last night, South was totally where it happens.

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There are only a few more days until my favorite coming of age retro ritual makes its comeback. I’m referring to, of course, the Bar Mitzvah Disco that’s happening this Saturday! Half the incentive to attend is to relive my fashion “don’t” era by parading around in eighties ensembles that should have never left the house- let alone made it to the runways. So grab your bf, bffs, and/ or beau of the moment and make sure to match your crimped hair to his equally entertaining flock of seagulls do, and get yourselves to the dance floor. At least this time the horah won’t be such a horror, thanks to the little issue of an open bar you can now fully enjoy! See you there this Saturday, and I’d get your tickets asap, so you can turn your attention to more important details, like which spandexy mistake of a skirt will out 80’s your inner circle of friends. Everybody wants to rule the world, but only a select few can rule the dance floor.

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I’m from Southern killer California, so very few things still excite me – and the Jewish coming-of-age ritual pretty much YMCA’d me out back in seventh grade. So bar & the fairer bat mitzvahs definitely don’t make my weekend top-50 list pretty much ever – until now. Thanks to the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles & JDate, we can take our DeLoreans for a spin (now that we actually have our licenses) and kick it old school in the spandex, latex and ever-chic tuxedo shirt for a bar mitzvah night you wish you could have enjoyed back in the day (now that you can actually use and abuse the open bar). I’ve rounded up my Heathers and my make shift brat pack will be making an appearance at the uber sweet simchah. On August 8th, we’re bringing thirteen back. Even Molly Ringwald’s escapades will pale in comparison. So get ready to “b/b m” the night away and bring even the slightly more elusive blasts from our pasts into the new millennium – Los Scandalous style. Every second, every moment, we’re gonna- gonna make it last.

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Photo Date: 1966 Photo by Ken Whitmore - All Rights Reserved, 1978 Ken Whitmore - Image courtesy MPTV.net

In light of the current J.J. Abrams cinematic reboot of the Star Trek franchise, the JFacts team decided to dig a little deeper and see what impact Jewish people have had on this ever-evolving cultural phenomenon. First and foremost, you should know that three members of Star Trek: The Original Series (or TOS in geekier circles) are, in fact, Jewish.

William Shatner as Captain James Tiberius Kirk

Before negotiating the terms of air travel and hotel stays for Priceline.com, Shatner negotiated through space and time as Captain of the USS Enterprise. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Shatner’s grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Hungry. Shatner’s grandfather was born Wolf Schattner and later anglicized the family name to Shatner. After the initial 1966-69 run of Star Trek, Shatner reprised the role of James Kirk in seven subsequent Star Trek films,starred as the title role in T.J. Hooker and won an Emmy for his performance as attorney Denny Crane in Boston Legal.

Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock

Leonard Nimoy was born in 1931 in Boston, Massachusetts to Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants from Izyaslav, Ukraine. After starring in over 50 television and film roles, Nimoy was cast as Mr. Spock in Star Trek and received three Emmy nominations for playing the complicated half-human, half-Vulcan character. Nimoy would go on to star in seven subsequent Star Trek film adaptations, including 2009’s Star Trek, and directtwo of the films, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and the most successful of the original film adaptations, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Nimoy also directed the 1986 hit comedy Three Men and Baby starring Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg.

Walter Koenig as Pavel Checkov

Koenig was born in 1936 in Chicago, Illinois to Jewish immigrants from Russia who upon coming to the United States shortened their last name from Konigsberg to Koenig. Koenig was added to the cast of Star Trek because of his resemblance to The Monkees star Davy Jones, in an attempt to woo a younger audience. The character was also added because of an article in Pravda (the central publication of the Soviet Union), which complained about the lack of Russians in Star Trek. After the run of the initial television series, Koenig rejoined the cast of Star Trek for six subsequent films and was a frequent cast member n the TV series Babylon 5. Koening stood as best men for Trek cast mate George Takei (Sulu) in his highly-publicized 2008 wedding to Brad Altman.

The Vulcan Salute

One of the most famous lines in Star Trek is the Vulcan salutation, “Live long and prosper,” which is usually accompanied by a hand salute with an extended thumb and a v-shape made by spreading the index and ring fingers. This salute was created by Leonard Nimoy on the fly during the filming of the first episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Original Series. Nimoy felt there should be a distinct greeting amongst Vulcans, something akin to a handshake, so he adopted a gesture used in the synagogue he attended as a youth. The Jewish gesture he co-opted for Star Trek was originally a blessing used by the kohanim, whom are genealogical descendents of Jewish priests from the Jerusalem Temple. As the Vulcan salute seeped into pop culture, many incorrectly assumed it was a tip of the hat to the hippie culture that arose around the same time. It was not until much later when Nimoy revealed the secret of the salute, that its Jewish origins were made public.

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