CRog

Now You Know where to spend the brutal hours between 6-10, not on the road but with me at  the Hotel Palomar, a new hotel owned by the San Franciscan hotel group Kimpton. Its an eco-hotel in the Beverly Hills area. Its great. They’re doing fun things; have good people working at the hotel.

I like it here. I know one of the bellman from the Tribeca Grand New York days, which makes it feel family, and the whole San Fran connection lends a really relaxed but pro approach to everything. Unlike a few of the hotels I’ve worked for in LA who are really uptight, service is so so, and managers complain about me wearing g-string, 90’s work-out gear to my gigs… excuse me?

I’m not really rocking the g-string at this hotel, but there are many other attractions ; ) to come out for. Its a pet friendly hotel so on Wednesdays between 4-7 is a pooch cocktail hour. You can bring your dog in, get a drink, and some free pet goodies from vendors at the cocktail.

The restaurant is great. Really good food, a VERY well done wine list and GM Michael can point you to some amazing wines not to mention some pretty good small production liquors, and a lot of the cocktails are sprigged with herbs from the hotel’s rooftop garden.

So needless to say, I’m very happy to be playing tunes at such a great place. Come and check it out. I’m sure Michael will hook up a free drink.

Six to 10 Wednesdays
10740 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024-4493
(310) 475-8711

the recipe

(B.P. -before the post- Officially, I’ve declared it Bitch Week. Its okay to bitch this week.)

I went to my favorite South Central Grocery for the first time since we moved back.

The Dichotomy of Rope

Then to a LA Fashion week event in which Alex had two short films showing.

I thought it was pretty rude that this woman assumed it would be boring and brought her blankey. Jeeeezz!

this is what Alex thought of the whole thing. Funny I wasn’t even thinking about this when I posted that last post of Zappa doing the same thing.

I peeded here before going to my gig at the Standard. A Mexican gay bar.

this place was next door. What is a weirdo ripper?

the Standard LA. My view from the booth.

Then I went to a new club where I was to give a mix to the promoter. I caught him as he was walking to his car. He was very excited to listen to it as he drove his porche convertable home. I felt bad for my little CRX. I’ve neglected her so!

Ushered into the club to catch the last few tracks, I passed someone in a hoody who at first, looked like my friend Punk Rock Pete, only he was a little cleaner than Pete, but I do think Pete move to LA so I looked twice.

But then, I was driving the stalion home and I saw the same guy with a big white dude. At first I thought, oh that’s nice, it must be his father, then I put it together, big dude was his body guard because out of no where, 7 photographers with huge pro-cameras and flashes jump out and start shooting him!

It was so weird. Its 2am in LA and there’s no one around but this guy and his body guard trying to move forward, just move forward, and they can’t cause the guys won’t stop taking pictures.

Dude.

I got here on Wednesday I had been here 21 years ago with my grandmother mom and dad, my new brother and anunt and uncle, and the memories of that trip are strong.

We were given a lei upon arrival and wisked off to have a little breakfast. There was a smoking section on the plane and I remember feeling jet-lag for the first time… a five hours difference from texas.

I remember ordering orange juice and noticing even at nine years old that it was really expensive and my dad explained that everything here is imported therefore more expensive and the concept of being in smack dab in the middle of the ocean really hit me.

This time there were no free leis. I got my luggage, put on the chicken mask and waited outside for Harvey and Gelareh. 

They pulled up and Harvey ran right past me, even though there was no one else around, just this strange chicken-god and he still didn’t see me. You would think…

So i finally meet Gelareh, a woman Harvey has spoken very highly of… she a tremendous surfer and a the tough/kick ass, beautiful Iranian princess almost a black belt mama of 39 Hotel.

Chris Lam was with here, a pure souled Hawaiian native of Chinesse descent with a signiture short mowhawk I’d recgonize anywhere.

We piled in the car and were off to Duke’s down the LikeLike highway. 

Duke Kahanamoku the god of surf

I ordered a Tropical Itch just for the back scratcher and after a few of those and some fries jumped in the Pacific with Gelareh.

fries at duke’s

The beach was crowded with Japanesse and American tourists, the water was clear and warm. A sea turtle swam right up to us, poking his head out of the water to say hello! welcome back to Hawaii and Gelareh chased after him under the water.

She didn’t catch him but she did discover a battery operated grey kitten which soon became our mascott: Cosmic Kitty.

Mikey B., Mizz Melie Mel and Hunter, joined us and the night came like a soft blanket reuniting the fellows of the same bed… New York, Cambridge, Hawaii, Texas, West Virginia, China, Philipenes, New York, Los Angeles. The only home one knows these days is the home situated in your heart and these are my peoples and we are together in a beautiful place, Hawaii.

Later that night Chris and Gelareh took the team and Cosmic Kitty to an awesome sushi place where I sampled snake juice, a moonshine liquor with a huge snake in the bottom of the bottle, marinating and adding his speacial snake juice to the alchol you’re about to injest.

Truthfully, by this time I’d had one too many Tropical Itches to notice any affects ; ). It was a lovely welcome.

After Sushi we went to 39 Hotel. It is a great space and then to a bar down the street to sing kareokee. I’ll get all the pics up soon.

new-york-sunday-twilight, originally uploaded by ChristineRenee.net.

if I hadn’t landed a beautiful a place in laurel canyon i’d be vying to move back. I’m in the right head space for it now; You have to leave to come back, and so far seeing my friends here… its so reassuring. These people are my family and I pull so much love and inspiration from them.

We came in on Monday, Dam A. from Strakx, our future roommate in LA also flew in. We met up at Snacky’s in Brooklyn, Dan, Alex, Melanie, Hunter and I before heading out to Roxy’s party at Sway. Jose Parla. was there celebrating a friends birthday. How great is this idea?…

these masks of the birthday boy where floating around.

moi, jose parla and birthday boy Shadi

Last night Mellie and I went to Kate’s yoga class: Extreme Yoga at Crunch gym on Broadway and Houston. We started the class with a song/prayer to Krishna in Sanskrit and proceed to do yoga for and hour and a half. I’m so comfortably sore today, and Kate is such a good teacher… we were posing to Nights and White Satin and the Eagles. Nice One.

After that we had a last minute dinner party at her’s with all of my best girlfriends (excluding a few)… Mika, Kate, Melanie and Fatima. I made a killer putanesca and melie made an awesometown salad. I was kissing everyone every minute. So good to be surrounded by these strong beautiful friends.

Then we went to Paul Sev’s place Betrice and then to APT where Brennan Green and Danny Wang were DJing.

 danny and friend

Danny used to come by Stooz records on 7th when I worked there. I met him through the Eric Duncan crew, a very masculine set, and Danny was the main person in my life at that time (Harvey too) who supported my interest in DJing and  music and was constantly pointing me toward amazing songs and telling me to be me… to be a strong woman, and I love him for ever for his love and support.

It had been maybe four years sense I’ve seen him and it was sooooo good to see him again.

Jason Spun, Sonya, Tim Sweeny, Doug Lee, Justine, Sara and Brennan… it was a little Reunion and the dancing was nice.

Today I go see two friends who had babies while I was away.

xo,

CR

(PHOTOS to come. There are some great ones, but due to technical difficulties like leaving the camera battery charger in an El Paso Best Western I am unable to show you at this time.)

Friday morning on a few hours of sleep we woke up and made the finishing touches on our room, cleaning up for Mikey B flying in from Austin to stay at the Hippy in the Hood house. Alex and I are on our way to Marfa TX and will miss Mikey. We’re going to Texas for a few days before we fly to New York.

Onward to Marfa! A magical place, a place where I felt we should be officially married. Its also day four of our fast. Just looking at bottled juice and fruit make me full. I want nothing. It’s our normal tradition to have a martini in the airport bar of all the airports Alex and I have been in, but not this time.

Marfa has no airports so we land in El Paso and suddenly we’re in texas. There are people in digital desert camo everywhere, trainees and soldiers from a near by Fort Bliss.

Its a different a world here, America proper. A different dimension. You can read the paper, listen to the news but there is no substitute for meeting the people who are living this reality we all as Americans some how contribute too. There is a war going on.

We drive off in a rental and are so light headed from lack of sleep and not eating for four days that we’re positively giddy. We pass a hugely masculine Don Quixote statue marking the airport entrance and I swerve out in the streets of this flat, dry land.

And sense I don’t really care that I’m gliding from lane to lane I decided better that we break this fast and come back to earth even if we do it at a Subway in Love’s.

Which is what we do, a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers, oregano, oil, vinegar and a beer. We’re on vacation.

ON our way to Marfa we pass the famous Prada store. It’s actually a store replica that will never function as a store but will permanently display shoes and handbags from the spring 2005 collection. Its pretty awesome, and Alex and I decided it was the perfect place to take a leak.

Three hours from El Paso we are now pulling into Marfa. The population here is 2121 (6) and there’s a big beautiful sign in a purple, midnight blue with a tired cowboy on horseback that reads “Marfa. The Way the West Was.” Welcome home.

Our next stop was at Cheapo’s liquor store, and from there we descended down a spiral of drunk debauchery. We’ve booth been so busy and with different schedules that I think we were craving some sort of dramatic break from this pattern and we let each other have it. I can’t even remember what we were fighting about but it felt sooo good to fight.

We went to your standard upper-middle class “fancy” restaurant and had a rum martini before sitting down to dinner. Then ordered an appetizer of beets and oranges. By the time the second course came, putanesca and arugala salad, I wasn’t hungry cause I was so mad at Alex.

I remember (as opposed to a lot of moments about that night I don’t remember) looking at him and thinking, “oh my god we’re getting married, wait we are married, wait what the fuck is going on? What are we fighting about?” Finally one of us grabbed the uneaten salad and threw it at the other. Our first food fight.

I left the restaurant crying and there was a trail of green mashed chlorophyll in my wake. Alex ran after me finding me in a field of large cacti rumbling around in the gravel telling him to leave me alone. Then I said, “give me the keys,” and I got in the car and started to drive off, but I stopped to pick him up, of course.

He opened the car door, and I said, “Where’s the wine? Go back and get the wine.” And we looked in each other’s eyes and started laughing.

We drove one block to our hotel, the Thunderbird, took off our clothes and dove into a neon green pool of water naked and silent under the stars of Texas.

Party Crabs, originally uploaded by ChristineRenee.net.

How cool are the Japanese? Its Party Time! Bring the Crabs!

thought you’d enjoy this….the idea that mc donalds has a policy for
it’s mcnugget sauce is beyond genius (especially when you arrive
stoned)….. J

California Dream, originally uploaded by ChristineRenee.net.

Sunday, no sleep and where to get a Bloody Mary?

I sun bathe before I can do anything letting the big guy do some de-toxing while Alex is spray painting our car black.

We make our way in a painful stupor To Miss Zoe Bonham’s house for a luau at the invite of SEAN PATRICK and the lovely mikiala, bringing extra bunny ear sunglasses made by Peeps and entertaining everyone with the stories of our travels and the way we met and fell in love.

It was a magical day.

John Hollywood came by, along with Dan and his girl. And the lot of us sat in a circle smoking from a huge bag someone FOUND in a certain house somewhere.

Meanwhile, Miss Bonham rocked out in her third outfit of the evening (woman of my own heart) to Led Zeppelin -no less – while this woman with huge, real titties falling out of her shell bra explained to us how great it is to be in LA, and you know, I’m really starting to believe her.

She took a picture of her tits, showed us and then said, “We’re living the California dream, man!” It was too amazing.

After our Chicken Eats Ice Cream in South Central video, Alex was inspired to make episode 2, Chicken Goes to Hollywood.

Shit’s piling up! My editor promises delivery soon.

Afterwards’ we spent a lot of time in the garden cleaning up: Hands in the dirt, the smell of cut grass, sunshine in February. A beautiful thing.

The Italians cooked an amazing couple’s dinner and Alex build a bonfire in the back yard.

I go back and forth all the time between missing New York and being glad I’m here. But watching the fire, in MY backyard, the constant hum of the 10 in the background, the police helicopters flying over head, the knowing that we’re in the middle of a major metropolis’ DOWNTOWN and I’m sitting with my feet in the dirt tending a fire with a long stick, THIS made me very happy.