Monday, August 22, 2005

8/22 Universal Studios

Today I went to Universal Studios with a whole herd of folks. My roommates (Bron and Rachel didn’t go. Neither did Ste and Jools who were suffering a bit of jet lag after flying in last night and immediately going to the bowling party.)

We did indeed have a great time. One of my favorite incidents happened after the Jurassic Park ride. There was a Japanese guy holding a dinosaur up to his right cheek, pretending it was kissing him. His wife was taking a picture. Big Von from Dallas leaned in and kissed the guy on the left cheek. The guy felt the kiss but waited patiently while his giggling wife took the photo. He then turned and saw that he was being kissed by a six foot thousand inch African American dude and he burst into such a beautiful spate of laughter. It was an amazing sight. We continued to laugh long after we left that building.

Luke from Portland kept saying that he wanted to stop at a hat store he noticed earlier. So on the way out we stopped and he tried to go in, only to discover it was a fake store. He was the butt of laughter too.

On the metro trip back to the hotel, Betse Green (Portland) said she wanted to issue a subway challenge to everyone, to stand upright without touching anything from start to finish of the ride. I was busy whining about my knee so I sat and reffed. Von gave me a whistle and everything. I blew that whistle a lot because I knew it had been in Von’s mouth and it was kinda sorta like kissing him. (tee hee)

Six of the group completed the challenge successfully.

As we went up the escalator Stephen Bennett (Houston) ran up the stairs instead, accompanied by the rest of us doing the Rocky theme. We got back to the hotel with just enough time to leave for the dinner and party at CSz LA. They definitely know how to host a party. The dinner was superb…a Mexican feast with plenty of food for vegetarians (thanks, James). Three different kegs of beer—Bud Light, an ale of some sort, and Dos Equis—plus a bar where Rick Steadman served up some yummy drinks. A mariachi band played during dinner and afterward there was an Eagles cover band called the Long Run. I thought they were excellent. I’m a real Eagles fan and these guys knew what they were doing. Lots of us danced and almost everyone sang along.

Which brings me to why I’m not at the Pig and Whistle with everyone else. I’m icing my knee so I can enjoy tomorrow.

A reporter for the LA Times was there and I was interviewed extensively. Don’t know why they chose me—perhaps because I was one of the few grey-haired lovelies there. J
Doesn’t matter. It was cool anyway.

This has been a riot so far. I’m anticipating no less for the rest of the week.

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