Ring-a-ding-ding! Have just returned refreshed from my annual February mental heath constitutional / cocktail binge in the swank retro mecca of Palm Springs, California, ready to resume blogging as soon as the hangovers subside. Herewith are the Cliff Notes.
Friday AM: after landing in LA late Thursday, special ladyfriend Tammi Jo and I hook up with our pal Ruth Waytz for a special Tinseltown treat. Ruth has secured us entry to a table read / rehearsal for an upcoming episode of Futurama. We caravan to Fox Studios in Century City where the read will take place. This involves signing a non-disclosure form, and thus I am not at legal liberty to disclose the details of the script or punchlines contained therein. Other than it will be very, very funny. And that Fox spares no expense in providing pastries.
At the conclusion of the read, we get a chance to chat with some of the voice talent -- including the incredible Billy West, John (Bender) DiMaggio, Katey Sagal, Lauren Tom, Phil Lamarr, and Tress MacNeille -- as well as Matt Groening. No photos were allowed in the room, but I snapped a few from the Fox/Movietone studio backlot, which dates from the 20's-30's golden age of Hollywood.
After bidding our adieus to Ruth, TJ and I head east on the 210 to Azusa for lunch with our buddy Gale Banks at his top secret speed lab. Gale always has some neato projects underway, and today would prove no exception. Like his Banks Sidewinder Duramax Dragster, aiming to become the quickest diesel vehicle on Earth. Gale took it to Bakersfield yesterday for testing, and I will report results when available.
Gale's also been doing some cool stuff for the US armed forces, including hot rodding diesel mills for marine applications and Humvees. The up-armored Humvee you see here is clad in 1/4" plate steel and weighs in at 7 tons, so it needs a little oomph at the throttle.
Back on the 210 east, next stop Palm Springs. Anticipation builds when we see the windmill farms at the 111 exit, signaling a weekend of old school grownup fun is mere minutes ahead. Our base camp this year is the Orbit In, a cozy motor hotel originally built in 1957 and renovated in 2000 to its Rat Pack glory; complete with poolside cocktail lounge and midcentury mod furnishings.
After a few belts at the bar, we gussy up in our 1963 Mad Men best (cocktail shift for Tammi Jo, sharkskin suit & skinny tie for me) and head out for another special treat: a martini party at John Lautner's mountaintop Elrod House overlooking Palm Springs. The house is probably best known for its starring role in the 1971 Bond flick "Diamonds Are Forever," where it played host to the donnybrook between 007 and bikini kill girls Bambi and Thumper. A memory refresher:
Anyhoo, the house is just as amazing now as it was when it was built over 40 years ago, when the next door neighbors were Steve McQueen and Bob Hope. Vodka martinis (shaken not stirred, natch) flowed like water to the intoxicating rhythms of the Martini Kings. Best of all, Thumper (Trina Parks) was at the party, lovely and dangerous as ever. But I was somewhat disappointed that she didn't judo flip me into the pool.
Saturday: put on my jumpsuit for a lazy day of drinking drinks and seeing sights provided by Palm Springs Modernism Week. One of which was the vintage Airstream trailer show at the Ace Hotel and Swim Club. The old land yachts still cut a handsome figure in polished aluminum.
Some other random vehicular sightings from Saturday included a '68 Eldo ragtop, and a Tim Blair-pleasing Australian Chevy Ute.
And the ne plus ultra of Palm Springs living, the Frank Sinatra House (1947) designed by E. Stewart Williams.
At the M Modern Gallery we got a chance to take in the latest Shag show, along with these crazy miniature sculptures by Michael Leavitt. The theme was couples, and they included Sigfried and Roy, Barack and Michelle Obama, and Sonny & Cher (Sonny, as you may recall was also Palm Springs' congressman).
Happy hour cocktails at the Orbit, followed by more cocktails and steak at a local eatery; followed by yet even more cocktails at Shanghai Red's, where the band features our Chicago pal Gary Gand on guitar. An hour or so of finger-snappin', then back to the Orbit for a nightcap.
Sunday AM: Two years ago our aforementioned friend Gary Gand and his lovely wife Joan began a book project with the great Julius Shulman, whose iconic photos helped glamorize West Coast modernist home architecture. In 2008, at age 97, Shulman spent a few weeks photographing midcentury modern houses around Chicagoland, including Gary's swanky pad. Sadly, Shulman died last year at 98, but Gary and Joan continued working on the book. At Shanghai Red's, Gary informed us that they just received the first copy of the book from the printers, and invited us to drop by their equally swanky winter home in Palm Springs this morning for a peek. A fine book it is, and now available for pre-order on Amazon.
Afterwards, we repair to the garage where Gary and Joan proudly show us their latest hoopty, a classy ivory-on-blue '64 Thunderbird -- a 27,000 mile unrestored original previously owned by a California lemon rancher. A handsome bookend for their ivory-on-turquoise '57 T-Bird. We pile into the '64 for a leisurely tour of the neighborhood.
It's a date! After checking out of the hotel we headed east on 111 to Indio, famed Date Capital of the USA. This unassuming Riverside County burg is said to produce 80% of the dates consumed in America, and boy howdy, they don't let you forget it. On the outskirts of town is Shield's, a frozen-in-time 1930's roadside attraction; if the item you seek is made from or in any way related to dates, here is where your quest will end.
Case in point: Shield's purportedly famous date milkshake. Verdict: not bad, but somewhat fibrous.
Can a date obsession be taken too far? The shocking answer would lie inside Shield's movie theater.
At first, Tammi Jo was reluctant to enter the dark theater with me. "Oh, come on, don't be such a prude," I coaxed. "It's educational! Who knows, you might even find it exciting."
When it was all over and the lights came up, the overpowering sense of shock and guilt told me that Tammi Jo was right -- there is nothing "healthy" or "natural" about explicit date palmnography. We left Shield's, and after navigating through this crowd of palm pervs in the lurid red light district of the National Date Festival, headed back to LA in shamed silence.
Singed eyebrows, anyone? Brief pit stop in downtown LA with our buddy Coop and his lovely lady Stephanie, during which we all headed to Trader Vic's for Polynesian splendor and flammable beverages. An original piece of Coop artwork for the Iowahawk blogging grotto was also obtained, pictures of which are forthcoming.
Final stop of the evening in Long Beach, a/k/a "Iowa By the Sea," where we strapped on the feedbag with the lovely Ruth Waytz, the lovely Grace Danziger, her unlovely husband Marc "Armed Liberal" Danziger, and young Danziger fils Isaac. Blog rumors circulated, names sullied, schemes plotted; good times, good times.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Our insurance agent called to inform us that the check for our February house trailer premium had bounced, thus forcing a hasty trip back home to tell Kyle to cancel that arson fire accident.
Adios, California! We'll see you again soon -- slippery mall floors and personal injury lawyers willing!
