Cheech, and Chong II

He was one of my favorite comics as a boy.

So when a reporter, videographer and photographer went to meet Cheech Marin, guess who had to come along to supervise?

An exhibit of Chicano art titled "Papel Chicano" - exclusively on paper, not the elistist canvas - from Marin's private collection is on display at the Muzeo, Anaheim's new museum that opened about six months ago.

I got to speak with Marin for about three minutes. He was super cool and, like most comedians, very funny. He's a big Obama fan, and I even got a big chuckle from him by repeating Obama's top reason he should be elected, from David Letterman's Top 10 List the night before: "Three words - Vice President Oprah."

I have fond memories of watching Cheech and Chong movies as a boy. Recently, I've enjoyed him most in Tarantino's "From Dusk Till Dawn," in which he played three roles: border guard, bar employee and gangster. My favorite scene is when Clooney and Tarantino walk up to the Titty Twister, and Marin is promoting the different types of, uh, prostitutes that are available.

Had it not been so early (about 10 a.m.), I might have asked him to hang out ...

Wetter than Seattle

Los Angeles has had 3.8 inches this month - nearly 4/10ths of an inch more than Seattle. It seems that I've seen more rain in California this month than in the total time - 28 months - I've lived here.

The NAMM show came to Anaheim last weekend. It's THE trade show for the music industry, open only to top musicians, businesses, executives - and media. It's Anaheim's biggest convention and - wandering through the convention center - it was amazing to hear the caliber of musicians promoting various instruments and equipment.

Here's a good ol' video from the first day:



Tuesday, an old friend and coworker, Carly, blew through town. So we took her out to Alex's Bar and then Shannon's Bayshore. Here we are at Alex's drinking 24-ounce PBRs:

Fame!

I had a busy weekend: wings and beer in Aliso Viejo on Friday, karaoke in Los Angeles on Saturday, and a bicycle ride to the Queen Mary on Sunday.

The highlight, by far, was Serena's 26th birthday at Caffe Brass Monkey, pictured, a popular L.A. karaoke bar. We headed up there for some good times and bad covers. Here, Denisse, some rocker chick from the Valley who's a friend of Serena's, Serena and Rosalba butcher Irene Cara's "Fame":



Sunday, we took advantage of the 75-degree day to ride beach cruisers down to the Queen Mary, pictured, and the Soviet submarine, the Scorpion. From there, we biked back to the Yardhouse to meet Mason and watch the Giants-Cowboys game.




Unfortunately, the Cowboys lost, ending their season. The Cowboys' slide began when Jessica Simpson appeared in the stands wearing a pink Tony Romo jersey. Romo, Dallas' quarterback, was playing awesome until that game. Then Romo and the team faltered.



The Dallas media has a new name for Jessica. They're calling her Yoko Romo ...

Lynch is back!

Check out that crazy mofo's weather report on the right!

Shaking the (concert) tree

When it comes to music, southern California is the center of the universe. Thanks to Jerry's urging, I've been getting out to see more shows.



I saw two awesome bands the past two weeks. On Dec. 27, I saw the Rev. Horton Heat at the Wiltern Theatre in L.A. On Jan. 2, I saw Social Distortion (above) at House of Blues-Anaheim.

The Reverand - a psychobilly legend - rocked the Wiltern. Lenny Kilmister, the bassist from Motorhead, made a surprise appearance and jammed for four songs. Lenny even sang lead on a cover of the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen." It takes balls to do that cover, but they pulled it off. Enjoy this video clip. The camera audio cracks up, but the sound there was awesome. Lenny is front and center, while the Rev is on the left playing the brown hollow body:



Social D also had a surprise, starting their show with three ACOUSTIC songs: "Ball and Chain," "Ring of Fire" and another I didn't recognize. Here's a low-res clip from my phone of "Ball and Chain," an awesome song about love gone bad:



For New Year's Eve, I was fighting off a cold, but I still headed to a friend's in L.A. for a cozy wine party. She and her fiance had six of us over for several different wines and appetizers. A good, low-key time.

This past Saturday, I spent the night in San Diego to see a good friend, Ellyn, get married. The reception, as most do, rocked.