So much _______, so little _____________

Yeah, I've been quite invisible on this thing this week, but it's been hell-a crazy with getting this party ready. The guest list keeps growing and there's the prospect of yet another real TV personality being there...one who was on the actual "Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour." It's not definite that this special guest star will come, but it'll be pretty damn cool if this person does drop by the party.

Nothing much else to report besides the fact that planning for this party has taken up most of my free time outside of work. Speaking of work, it's chugging along. I'll be going to Florida for a few of the "Beat the Clock" tapings this summer. The trips will mark the first time I've been on a plane in a little over a year. It also will be the first time I've been in Florida in over year as well. The last time I was there was for Promax, a promotions convention that was held in South Florida. Hopefully, I'll have some time to sneak a visit to the family when I'm in Florida. And I've made a decision...I thinks I'm finally gonna let my mother in on "you-know-what" next time I see her. As I said several months ago, one of my New Year's resolutions was to fill her on my "happy" lifestyle. It's not that I haven't spoken with her...I do pretty much every week. It's just something I want to tell her in person. And seeing how I that opportunity is coming up soon, it's time to the bite the bullet and let her know...

And speaking of family, Ted, Larry, and I finally met Nathan's family tonight at Nathan's big graduation/birthday party. His parents and his sister were there...All GREAT people. His parents apparently have dropped by this site! Hee-hee...So needless to say, they already had known quite a bit about me before meeting me in person! A lot of the bunch were there including Erin, Adam, Joel, Katie, and Chris. We got to see Nathan's new apartment which is AWESOME. All in all, a great time. And if your'e reading this Nathan...welcome to the real world! :-)

Reunited...

Lots of seeing "familiar faces from the past" this weekend...Friday, I met up with my friend Eileen from Florida. Eileen and I met years ago on "The Magical Armchair," the Ben Folds Five fan E-mail list. She was in town for the E3 convention so we met up. It was the first time we'd seen each other in YEARS. I think the last time I saw her was when I was still a senior in college. Did a lot of catching up on lost time and she introduced me to her friends Doug (who happens to be one of Ben Folds's tour managers) and his wife Michelle. Very cool people who happen to live not too far from me. Again, proving that this world can be eerily small sometimes.

So I spent the afternoon with them and got home where I saw my friend Carrie-Anne from college. It was a brief reunion for the meantime because I had to run off to a big birthday dinner for Matt at Lala's...Yummy Argentinian food and a tasty waiter as well...A lot of the gang was there for Matt's b-day. By the end of the dinner we were having a little bit too much fun with Matt's new birthday gift. It was a gift I had never seen the likes of in my life and one I'm not sure if I'd want to encounter in real life...

The weekend was pretty laid-back...Mostly did some catching up on rest...Felt really out of it on Saturday night...Nevertheless, I managed to do a lot of prepping for the big "Match Game-North Hollywood Squares" party. Ted, Larry, and I realized that our initial idea for setting up the living room area isn't going to quiet work, but I think Ted's got an alternative that'll remedy that. This is looking like it's going to be the biggest party we've had at our place. And not only that, but I believe we're going to have a few REAL game show personalities there.

Today, I got sucked into the "Trading Spaces" marathon on TLC. Geez, that show can really get addictive. There's this one designer (I think her name is Hildy) who is an INSANE woman. She wears these high heels and leather pants while she's doing the remodeling work. Her ideas are ludicrous...even *I* can telll they're bad! One episode she did this weird quadrant thing with a room painting each quadrant in a different color and the other episode I saw had her gluing hay to the walls of a living room. HAY!?!?!? It looked like a barn loft for crying out loud...

Yesterday and this evening, spent some more time with Carrie-Anne as well as Dani and Sara, two other college friends of mine. Did the ol' game thing with them playing some "Act One," "Dirty Minds," and this great new game called "Hilarium." I think "Hilarium" is best described as Pyramid-meets-Charades-meets-Whose Line is it Anyway on speed. VERY fun stuff and very loud stuff too. 'Tis a game best recommended when you don't have anybody sleeping in your apartment or home or neighbors who are sensitive to noise. :-)

Gypsies, tramps, and geez...

A random past couple of days...Got some Drew-time in Wednesday night since he's going to be out of town for a few days. We did a little shopping and then went back to his place where I showed him an episode of the "Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour" to prep him for the big party. He's going to host the "North Hollywood Squares" party while I'll host the "Match Game" part. We then played a round of "Pyramid" with his roommates to cap off the night. Fun, fun stuff as always. I can't express how cool it is to have somebody like Drew in my life. Ted and Larry joke that Drew and I probably have "the most committed platonic relationship" that they know of. They actually have quite a point. I really have never had a friend who randomly calls me throughout the day and likewise, whom I just randomly call too...I mean, the perfect example is when Drew arrived from his plane flight yesterday, he called me from the airport. It sounds dumb and all, and for all I know he might have his other friends too, but for him to call me...I dunno, I just think that's really cool of him to do so...especially since we've really only known each other for a couple of months. And a number of people have pointed out the many times I mentioned his name in my blog. I can't help it...He's really become a big part of my life. I just hope it's not a byproduct of the novelty of finding somebody with some many common interests and that there's something enduring in all of this (be it a friendship, relationship, or whatever).

Last night was quite fun...It was Divas Las Vegas on VH1. I normally can't stand these Divas specials (* gasp *), but I figured "what the heck?" this year. It could be something as train-wreckish as the "Michael Jackson" special last November. Well, it wasn't quite the Michael Jackson craptacular, BUT boyyyyy did I have a field night with this.

[SUPER-BITCH MODE ON...If you're a Divas fan, you probably do NOT want to scroll down...]

Celine Dion was back in terrible form beating her chest and doing that "I'm better than you" wiggle with her finger after her songs. UGH...I just wanted to break that finger off and yell, "Shut up, Celine!" Ted then astutely pointed out how Shakira was looking and sounding like all the Muppets at one point or another during her number. What else...what else...Oh...The Dixie Chicks looked like they were wearing the drapery from that "Went With the Wind" sketch from "Carol Burnett." During the fiddle solo, I had a flashback to watching Irlene (or was it Louise??) Mandrell on that old NBC "Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters" variety hour. I likened the Mandrell sisters show to "Remedial Hee Haw" for those that thought "Hee Haw" was a bit too hard to follow...And Cher, Cher, Cher...Cher looks great and god bless her for still recording and putting out hit albums, but boy...did we really understand the true meaning of the "Live" part of "Divas Live." Not her most accurate vocal performance ever...Cyndi Lauper (or was it a bleach-blonde Susan Ruttan?) joined her somewhere in the haze of off-key notes. But, the realllllll kicker was during Mary J. Blige's number. Through the miracle of cryogenics, holographics, pyrotechnics, and duct tape...the re-animated corpse of Whitney Houston (still decomposing from her freakish rendition of "Wanna Be Startin' Something" on the Michael Jackson craptacular) joined in on the warbling/shouting/screaming while I hit "replay" on the TiVO to make sure we didn't intercept that scene from "Attack of the Clones" where Obi-Wan goes to the white planet where they make the clones and where they have the creepy alien people. And to cap it all off...There was shot of Sigfried in the audience without Roy and without a tiger...

[BITCH MODE OFF]

So needless to say, I still can't stand "Divas Live," but I had fun trashing it. Plus, Chris came over and brought some luscious desserts he made. Caleb also showed up as well as Rob. And...there was a rare appearance by NATHAN! It's amazing...we've seen Nathan three times in less than a week! That's something I haven't said in quite some time. It's so cool to be seeing him again. I wouldn't say the he had a falling out with us...I think the best way to describe the past few months between us and Nathan is a valley of noncommunication. It's really useless to point the blame since there was some things I would have done differently on my part and I think the other guys feel the same way about some things they did too, but that's all in the past. Last night was VERY key in bringing things closer to the way they used to be between Ted, Larry, Nathan, and me and I really, really hope that things keep moving in this direction. We talked about a lot of things (most of which I won't bore you with the details of) which kinda opened my eyes as to how I've conducted my friendships. And while I would hope to think that I've been a good friend, there have been some things I've said and done (and in some cases NOT done) which in retrospect probably weren't the best cases of judgment. I must say, the thing I love about Nathan is that he doesn't sugarcoat things...Of my friends he is one of the best at keeping my head straight and really helping with putting things in perspective. And Nathan, I'm NOT just typing this because you always read my blog...I DO mean it sincerely...

Tick-tock-tick-tock

So Monday wasn't all that great of a start to the week...For one thing, there was a lot of rain. A LOT...And you know that rainy days and Mondays always get me down and rainy Mondays are even worse. Rain does a funny thing to traffic around here. It makes it worse because when it rains, everybody turns into ME driving. It took me an hour-and-a-half to get from the valley to my office in Santa Monica when it normally takes 45 minutes like it did today...

Work's been pretty good though. This week, I've been helping out mostly with coming up with ideas for "Beat the Clock" stunts. We're supposed to start taping this summer. My desk has piled up with scribbling and sketches of the various diagrams I've drawn to illustrate the stunts. Stick figures everywhere! AAAHHHH! It'll be cool to see if and how any of my ideas make it to the actual taping stage...

Last night, met up with my friend David last night. Got a copy of my "drop" on the "Russian Roulette" set from him. :-) Other than that, just been busy prepping for the "Match Game-North Hollywood Squares" shindig. Monday night, Ted, Larry, and I starting trying to figure how this will all lay out in our living room. I think we've come up with a plan that'll work. And Drew's been helping out quite nicely with coming up with material for the games. I gotta say that this could be the best party we've thrown yet!

This morning, I caught some new rough cut footage for "American Idol," the new reality show we're doing for FOX. Some really really good stuff. It premieres June 11th on FOX.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

What a day yesterday was...Started things off by getting up earlier than usual to try to get Stones tickets. I drove to the Wherehouse in Burbank to get in line for tickets only to realize that the tickets for the show venue Drew and I were wanting to go to (The Wiltern Theater) weren't going on sale at the Ticketmaster venues. So, I quickly rushed home just minutes before tickets went on sale to brave the phones and Internet. 10 AM rolls around...the start of the ticket sales...The phone lines were a joke. No luck there. I tried logging on to the website. I was thwarted. Within minutes the Wiltern was sold out. So, I went to Plan B...the Edison Field. There weren't really any seats that worked for Drew or me. Plan C...The Staples Center. No tix in our price range were left there. BLARGGGGGGHHHHHHH! By 10:15-ish, it was all over...it was worthless...no need to go on...Time WASN'T on our side and we shall be getting no satisfaction especially since nobody came to my emotional rescue when i was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. C'mon I should get some tix for putting those Stones references together! :-(

After the Stones fiasco, Drew, Ted, Larry, and I joined Erin for brunch at Hugo's in Sherman Oaks. Or I should say Hu-GAY's. Adam and Katie met us there. And boy it was truly a "family" restaurant but of a different kind of family. We realized that while it's nice to get together at restaurants in a big group, it's not really conducive to catching up with everybody. Little clusters of people tend segregate in their own pockets of conversation...It was fun nevertheless...

We finished up brunch and Drew, the roomies, and I went to Toys R Us (again...). We got the Jedi Duels game and played it when we got home. Continuing the pattern things seem to be taking with these Star Wars board games, Larry won the game with Drew coming in second and me bringing up the rear (don't go there...).

The day ended when the "Survivor" gang gathered to watch the big finale. I will dare to say that this could be the last "Survivor" I really follow closely. I really started to lose interest towards the end of the season. There wasn't (at least in my mind) anybody to root for in the Final Four. My "faves" were gone quite early (poor, sweet Gabriel). And I'm really not the biggest Rosie fan, so that didn't help matters with the post-finale wrapup, which I didn't stick around for. Plus, the switching of the rules?!? Leaving one elimination up to luck?!? I understand the need to spice things up, but geez, that was plain ridiculous and honestly, I think the integrity of the game is hurt by it. I dunno...With "Scrubs" moving to Thursdays this fall, I think the torch has finally gone out for "Survivor" on my island.

:-) , darn ya, :-)

Last night, Ted, Larry, Drew, and I went to see "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" at the El Capitan. "Roger Rabbit" is one of my all-time favorite movies. It always puts such a big smile on my face. Something we didn't expect was a little panel discussion about the film before the screening featuring some of the movie's animators as well as the voice of Roger Rabbit himself, Charles Fleischer! Great, great, great stuff...The only byproduct of seeing the movie again was that Ted came to the conclusion that I'm Roger Rabbit. Now honestly, what does a big-footed, clumsy, stumblebummy, bad-driving cartoon character who loves to make people laugh, but can't hold down a single shot of liquor have anything to do with me? Oh, wait...yeah...moving on...

After the movie, Drew and I had dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen where he and I came up with some more questions for the "Match Game-North Hollywood Squares" party. This party is going to kick some booty. Drew's come up with a lot of good material for the party. Now, if there's just some way he can parlay that talent into a real game show job...

Today, I finally saw "Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones." I'm one of the bigger "Star Wars" fans, but I gotta say, this kinda snuck up on me and I wasn't all crazy-excited about going to see this like "Phantom Menace." I was VERY surprised at how good this was. This has to be the most visually overwhelming movie I've seen. The CGI effects fit so organically in the film and it doesn't have that CGI-ness that dogged some of "Spiderman." And the sense of humor from the original three films was back. There were flashes of the old "Star Wars" spark through the film. And Yoda kicked ass. No, I take that back...He kicked MAJOR ass! This totally blew away the "Phantom Menace." It's probably the third-best of the five "Star Wars" films.

Did a little shopping after the movie and picked up a few new toys. At "Toys R Us," I found this Activision TV Games gadget which basically looks like a Gamecube controller on steroids. There's a wire that runs from it to the video and audio inputs on the TV. You turn on the controller and voila! You have a choice of playing 10 classic Activision Atari games. It all runs from the controller and 4 "AA" batteries! "Pitfall" and "River Raid" are as addictive as I remember them. :-)

I picked up a couple of DVDs over at Best Buy, including "Midnight Madness," the 1980 Disney-Paramount co-production about a late-night scavenger hunt through L.A. It's notable for being Michael J. Fox's first movie in the U.S. I remember it because it played incessantly on HBO when I was growing up and because of that catchy disco theme song that played over the credits. We watched a little bit of it before headed out to a party and we played the "pick out the L.A. spots" we've been to game.

And speaking of that party, we went to Adam, Joel, and Katie's housewarming party tonight. Fun stuff. We saw our friend Nathan there after not having seen him for the longest time. They've got quite the nice house. We met a few cool people at the shindig and savored in Katie's delicious chicken puffs. So far, it's been quite a fun weekend...Tomorrow should be quite busy...Stones tix, brunch with Erin, and the big TiVO/VCR/end-of-May-sweeps clusterfuck! YAY!

W-I-N

Kicked off Thursday night by joining Ted and Larry at Marix in Weho to help our friend Jeremy celebrate his birthday. We had not one, but two possible celebrity sightings. We know for sure that David Boreanaz was there when we walked in. And as dinner wrapped up, we think we saw Vin Diesel. Now, I really didn't think too much of Vin Diesel before, but after seeing what could have been him in person, I now understand what all the fuss is... :-)

After dinner, I headed over to Drew's to hang out for a bit. Watched the "Will and Grace" which was better than I expected and then capped off the night with a game of Scrabble between Drew, a couple of his friends, and me. Thanks to some lucky tile draws on my part and some unlucky draws on Drew's part, I managed to eke out a win by a margin of just a few points. VICTORY IS MINE! Well, at least until the next Scrabble showdown comes along.

Everything's all right

GREAT night last night. I went out with Drew to The Largo to see a concert by Jude. It was a fantastic show and The Largo is a great venue. I had never been there before, but ever since I moved here, people had been telling me that I should go check it out. I can see why...It's such a great, intimate atmosphere. We had dinner at our table there before the show started. There was even an opening act called Gus. Jude was phenomenal. It was basically just him and his guitar or him at the piano. For a few songs, he had a bassist join him, but otherwise, it was a pure solo set. And a really long set too. I definitely will be returning to see shows there. From what it looks like on the schedule, Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket is playing there and Colin Hay of Men at Work is even playing a set there too!

Checked out fortheboys.tv for the first time in a while. 'Twas nice to call in and talk with the boys again. Plus, my friends Matt and Gigi were guests on the show, so that was fun. Things look good for me making another appearance on the show some time soon, probably before the end of the month.

And speaking of shows...Here's a little something you don't see every day on a TV show's set:

I might just make it after all

Geez, what an odd life I lead...Kato Kaelin was in our office yesterday. We've been developing a project with him. I helped to edit the presentation tape together and he actually remembered me by name when he dropped by. There was a point in the afternoon today where I was standing next to him as we watched his recent interview on "20/20" while some other execs watched. Needless to say, I don't think I ever pictured myself typing the words I just did... :-)

Nothing too much else to talk about...Tried out a board game I just got called "Acquire" and unsurprisingly, Larry kicked my ass in it. Our friend Chris dropped by last night with a new hairdo. And we capped off the night watching "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" special. What a great show...It's probably ranks near the top of my favorite "classic" TV shows. And Betty White is such the "all-American" grandmother.

Oh, here's a website to check out: steveswebpage.com. It's Steve Burns, formerly of "Blue's Clues." He's gone all alt-indie rock. Actually, I like the music. It is quite reminiscent of "The Soft Bulletin" CD from "The Flaming Lips."

And for you game show fans, here's Game Show Concert, a site that highlights rare music cues from game shows.

Some tagging, trivia, and Taboo

Something is off with Blogger and their time stamp, so the dates may not make all sense. In any case, the blog which supposed to be on Friday ended up being stamped as Saturday and is now up...

But to today's blog...A great weekend. Friday night, a bunch of us went laser tagging in Sherman Oaks. It was Ted, Larry, Mike, Drew, and I along with Ted's friends from college. I must say I've never been quite frightened as I was playing laser tag. It wasn't the laser tag that frightened me...It was the throng of little kids. They were like Ewoks...No, they were like those horrific monkey-bear, pygmy corpses that chased Brendan Fraser in "The Mummy Returns." They multiplied as we turned each corner and they kept shooting at us! The horror! The horror! But it was fun. :-) We'll probably be going back again soon. And as a plus, we saw Eric Idle there with his daughter. Cool stuff....

Saturday, Ted, Larry, Drew and I went to Hilary and Chad's housewarming/"Hollywood Squares" wrap party. It was great see Hilary and Chad again. The last time we saw them was at my birthday party last February. They've got a great new place. They even have an arcade game in their living room! After the party, Larry, Drew and I whipped out some board games. We played the new "Star Wars" edition of "The Game of Life" that I had gotten earlier that day. I got my ass kicked summarily by Larry and Drew in that...TWICE. We then played "Clue Master Detective." I finally caught on to Larry's dirty strategies and actually won the first game we played. On the second game, I got my ass kicked as Larry won the final game of the night. By then, it was 3 AM and time to call it a night.

Today, I slept in a bit. Did a litle shopping with Drew at the Virgin Megastore in WeHo. I picked up "Queer as Folk 2," the TV-movie sequel to the UK version of the series. I also found another book to add the growing library I have of the history of video games: "Supercade." Lots of really neat pictures in there. After the shopping excursion we headed back to Drew's place. We started up a rematch of "Scrabble" on his computer. Drew, as always, took the lead, but I started closing in on him when his friends Rikki and Seth dropped by. We shifted gears and played some games with them. Drew and I teamed up against them in a game of Taboo and Trivial Pursuit before they had to leave. After which, we resumed the game of "Scrabble" which got interrupted by a technical snafu just as we were tied. Arrrrrrrr....

On the inside...

Thursdaywas quite fun...Made a visit to CBS Television City yet again. This time, I went there to check out the big dedication ceremony for the "Price is Right" time capsule and the new Bob Barker Promenade. It was a nice ceremony. They lowered some Price memorabilia including one of Bob's old trademark microphones and a Plinko chip among other things. It's quite amazing what a reaction Bob Barker gets from an audience, especially from people around my age and college students, of which there were plenty of waiting to get into the taping that day. Fun all around...I just STILL find it odd that I'm on the inside of all this and that just a few years ago, I was like those college students waiting outside at CBS

Well, it's offiical. Richard Karn is the new host of "Family Feud." I've already seen some grumbling from people in the groups and message boards. I have seen bits of the audition tape and I gotta say that I was surprised. He does a good job. One thing I noticed is that he really roots for the contestants and gets excited when they win.

There's also been a press release about a couple of revivals we're toying around with, one of which is a show that is very close to my heart (seeing how I was a contestant on the most recent version of it. I can't say too much about that particular revival, BUT if certain things line up the way we hope with it, this go 'round with the show could actually work. Keep your fingers crossed!

Ahh, tonight was the "historic" episode of "Whammy!" that I referred to. I think a more appropriate way to describe this episode was "odd." Not only did we have our first "ZERO" winner, but we had the debut of a live-action Double Whammy. That took some time to figure out the staging of. Kudos to our man in the Whammy costume. He did a terrific job especially considering that it is QUITE hard to see through the costume. Upon closer inspection, the eye holes aren't where you'd expect and they aren't in the most convenient spot. We also had the debut of the split-screen with the Whammy. Credit for that goes to our master director R. Brian DiPirro. Needless to say, it was quite the unusual episode of "Whammy!" and one we thought we'd never see happen. BTW, Alicia, the lone surviving player that episode will be returning this season. We taped her "return" episode on our last day of taping. It hasn't been scheduled yet, but it will turn up some time later this season.

Well done

It's been a busy past couple of days. Had to get into the editing frame of mind to put together some compilation reels of stuff the company's been working on. Over the past 48 hours, I've learned that while Adobe Premiere can do a lot, it's not the most user-friendly editing program. Nevertheless, the reels were completed and they turned out all right.

Tonight, I went out to dinner with Drew and his friends Adam and Missy. We went to the Outback Steakhouse over in Burbank. 'Twas a lotta fun. Adam and Missy are very cool and very funny. Lots of "bell"-worthy zingers abounded over the cheesy fries, bloomin' onion, and maragritas. :-)

It seems like some press releases are coming out in regards to some new projects we're working on...All I can say is in the next few weeks keep your eyes peeled in the trades because you'll be seeing more stories on things we've got on the horizon, some of which will be a bit more definite and concrete than the one that was just released.

Out of the box

It was a very cool day yesterday...Ted, Ryan, Drew, and I visited "Hollywood Squares" during the afternoon to catch Whoopi Goldberg's last two shows as center square. Wow...It was really good stuff. I don't know how much of what they taped will eventually find its way to actual broadcast, but the last show of the day had some of the funniest moments I'd seen on the show in quite a while. According to the slates, the last new show with Whoopi is scheduled to air on July 19th. It is definitely worth checking out. Even cooler was hanging out backstage after the show. We got to meet Bruce Vilanch, Gilbert Gottfried, and Tom Bergeron. Ted and Drew were also ecastatic at meeting Bear in the Big Blue House. :-)

Earlier on Sunday, I picked up the pics I've had taken over the past couple of months on the set of "Whammy!" They'll eventually find their way online...my guess is that you'll see them by the end of the month.

In the evening, Ted cooked up a special nacho cheese dip to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. A few of us gathered at our place to watch the big NBC 75th Anniversary special. A lot of our wishes with the special were fulfilled. Drew had his Punky Brewster and ALF fix, while I reveled in seeing Supertrain and Pink Lady mentioned in the montage of "NBC failures." Where was Mr. Smith, though?!?

In other bits and pieces...Larry, Ted, and I have decided upon the theme of the next party we're throwing..."The Match Game/North Hollywood Squares Hour..." Larry even came up with a way to convert our living room from the "Match Game" set to the "Hollywood Squares" set. Oh, we're serious about this I tell ya...Just wait and see!

Hole-y cow

It's been quite a fun weekend so far...Kicked things off Friday night by going to the Arclight to see "Spider-Man" with Ted, Larry, Erin, and Drew. Fun movie, plus it had Tobey Maguire in it...so that's always a plus. :-) Actually, it was better than any summer movie I saw last year. Lots of A-list trailers beforehand...It made me realize that I'm going to be heading out to the movie theater a LOT this summer. And for some reason, I keep forgetting that "Men in Black II" is being released this summer. After the movie, we all hung out for a bit at my place, had a little ice cream, and called it a night.

Yesterday, Drew and I checked out a taping of "Russian Roulette" thanks to a little help from my friend David Hammett who also has been doing some work on the show. It was neat seeing a taping with very little knowledge of how the game looked or even played beforehand. It looks like GSN's got another solid show on their hands. Mark Walberg was great and the game is really good. The "gimmick" of falling through the hole fits in organically within the game structure. Before the taping, Bob Boden let us have a go at dropping through the hole. VERY fun stuff! I should be getting a copy of the tape of me falling through the hole soon. Eventually it'll find its way up here online. :-)

Proving how small this game show world is, I bumped into a few familiar faces. Burton Richardson was there doing announcing and warming up the crowd with his smooth vocal stylings. And Laura Chambers was there working her contestant magic! It was sooooo cool to see her again. She and I worked together on "Greed" and a couple of other projects. It had been quite a while since I seen her. I think the last time was about a year ago at the very first taping of "Weakest Link." She is such a sweetheart!

After the taping, Tony, David, Drew, and I headed over to the C&O Trattoria in Marina Del Rey for dinner. For those of you in the area, it is a great place to get some good Italian food. In keeping with the game show theme of the weekend, we saw Ross Shafer of "Match Game '90" at the restaruant.

Well, the game show fun continues in a few hours...A bunch of us will be heading to see "Hollywood Squares" this afternoon for Whoopi's last taping. It should prove to be a very interesting one...

May day

Quite a fun past couple of nights...Tuesday night, I went to a party at Moomba thrown by the company that does the animation for "Whammy!" I brought Drew along for the fun and merriment. The pre-party prep was a show in itself. Adam and Joel were at my house along with Jered. Every time I'd step out of my room, I'd be told to get back in there and find something else. I ended up going with a black sweater/slacks/jacket ensemble that Ted and the boys picked out. According to the guys, I looked quite cute...I'll be the judge of that when I see the pics developed. After the party, I went back to Drew's place and we ended up playing "Scrabble" on his computer until 1 in the morning. It was then that I realized how great he is at and how crappy I am at "Scrabble." I'm still astonished that "EF" is a word in the "Scrabble" dicitonary.

Wednesday night, I went to Disney's California Adventure to join in on "Minnie's Moonlit Madness." It's a company event at Disney that Ted was able to get Larry and me into. Basically, think of "The Amazing Race," but done at California Adventure. It was a LOT of fun. Ted, Ted's co-worker Kimberly, Larry, and I were a team and we were all joined at the hip thanks to a "bungee! bungee! bungee!" cord. We were able to knock out all ten of our clues before time ran out that evening. The drive back home was a bit hellish. Highways and lanes closed EVERYWHERE for construction. Fortunately, thanks to Larry's highway knowledge, we were able to find a route home before it got too late...