Photo Shoot

The girls and I got to spend the morning at the beach. We were shooting our latest catalog and we needed some highly trained models. Willa is an old pro, having survived similar exploitation starting at around 6 months. Talia was new to the scene, but she quickly found her groove. Click here for exciting shots behind the scenes.

Model Boxing

Naureen was kind enough to invite Ken and me to her boxing match on Saturday. This was one of those "only in Hollywood" events that I've learned to grab onto - so that years from now I can reshape the memory into an example of how cool I was back in the day. In the moment, it's just further proof that I've become a cheeseball.

We arrived right on time, which means we were about 2 hours early. There were a few people milling about the grounds of this huge mansion that sprawls along Mulholland Drive. Not knowing where or what to do, Ken and I tried to go inside, but we were quickly shooed away. So we stayed in the yard with the other riff-raff like JC Chasez from NSYNC.

The boxing ring was set right against a canyon wall and the sun was blazing hot. Thankfully there was a tent with some food and beer. The fights were pretty good. Naureen prevailed in a slugfest with a British model! But then the beer ran out.

Ken and I headed for the valet, where we ran into Craig Kilborn from the Daily Show and late-night fame. We asked if we could get a picture, and he was cool with it. Click. He asked to see the shot. "No, that sucks, let's do it again." I tried from a different angle - click - but Craig pushed for perfection. "Try shooting from this angle." Click. "The light's no good. Here, try it from here." Click. Finally we got the money shot.

Do you have any future plans?

My friend, Mike, told me the story about how he drove across country to L.A. He made the trip in record time, driving through the night and rarely stopping to see the sights along the way. By the time he reached the Arizona/California border he was so jacked up on truckstop coffee that he panicked when he saw there was checkpoint ahead.

As he slowed to a stop, he quickly scanned his floorboard for empty beer cans and other incriminating evidence. A uniformed official directed him to stop. Mike rolled down his window and smiled.

- Hi.
- Good afternoon. Where are you headed?
- Los Angeles.
- Looks like you've got a full load.
- Yes sir, everything I own. I'm making the big move west.
- Do you have any future plans?
- Yes sir, I have a friend who lives in Hollywood. He says I can crash on his couch for a few weeks until I get a place of my own. I'm a musician, so I'm hoping to hook up with a band, but I'll probably have to find a job or something until I land a full-time gig, but I've got a little money saved up, just in case.

The guy with the badge listened patiently to Mike's moving story. He'd probably heard it a million times.

- That's great, but I still need to know if have any fruits or plants?
- Oh, fruits or plants? No, none of those.
- Thank you. Good luck.

Mike's future plans panned out nicely. He's one of the hottest singer/songwriters in town, and Dwight Yoakum just recorded one of his songs, the aptly titled "Late Great Golden State."