Southwest Left Coast

The wry, amusing persona of Stan Ridgeway has lasted over the years since his rise to prominence with the quirky genius of Wall of Voodoo. I saw him Monday night at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach. He was in great shape Monday. He performed two of his most-liked songs, "Roadblock" and "Mexican Radio." I got some of his act (blurry, unfortunately) on my cameraphone.

Stan asked for a martini, which was brought to him. Ate an olive, then said he tasted polonium. Joked with a guy who was celebrating his 25th birthday.

Before he played "Camouflage," Stan explained the song's background, and said, "Goverments start wars, not solidiers."

Stan Ridgeway is well worth seeing, even if you don't like barbecued iguana. And check out Wall of Voodoo's MP3s - including "Mexican Radio," at its Myspace page.

Dr. Michael Kennedy, a retired thoracic surgeon, explains how surgeons adapt to instruments show mirror images of their internal target. He illustrates with an example of people who wore lenses that inverted their vision, so right became left and left became right. The brain learns to perceive motion and space correctly. Taken at the Cathy Seipp DVD giveaway party on Nov. 18 in the swanky Studio City digs of TV critic Ray Richmond.

As a native Californian, I knew this, of course. But it was nice to see it confirmed by one of those quizzes that proliferate throughout the Internets.

Here's my result:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
The South
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The Inland North

Film critic, actor and all-around personality Luke Y. Thompson discusses his new movie, "Mad Cowgirl", available on DVD Dec. 5. Luke attended the Nov. 18 DVD giveaway of Cathy Seipp's tribute/roast on Sept. 10.

Those bagels never had a chance. Ray Richmond shows the edibles who's boss at the superbly convivial brunch he hosted for the Cathy Seipp DVD giveaway.





Blue and Apricot: Kate Coe and Amy Alkon enjoy some laughs at Saturday's Cathy Seipp DVD giveaway brunch.

Too. Much. Fun.
Saturday I attended the long-awaited DVD giveaway of Cathy Seipp's Sept. 10 roast. After that brunch in Studio City, I also attended a marathon party that night in Solana Beach. After parking my car in Solana Beach early Saturday morning, the rest of the day I used mass transit; to attend the brunch, and to get back to Solana Beach for the party. I used Amtrak to Union Station, thence the Red line rail to Universal City, then the 150 bus to the brunch, and did the reverse to get back.

Here's a photo from the brunch; more coming later. This one below features Dr. Mike Kennedy, his daughter Annie, and guest of honor Cathy Seipp.