Anyone who knows me well knows that I am enthralled by anything and everything celebrity. I know this is silly and I know that if I inspected this interest under a microscope, it would dissolve on its slide. I've heard it all. They're just people. Acting, singing, etc. is just a profession. Blah blah blah. I don't care. I just love it. Maybe it was being born and bred in Southern California that did it. Maybe it was having Thanksgiving dinner with Bonnie Raitt when I was nine that did it. (Ms. Raitt dated my mom's cousin for a spell.) My mom did fawn all over Bonnie during the entire dinner so I guess it's true that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Barton scoffs at my obsession with celebrities*. He proclaimed my Brangelina blog "boring." God forbid I blog about anything beyond our brood! To quote Sheryl Crow, if it makes you happy, it can't be all that ba-a-a-ad. I can practically hear Barton rolling his eyes right now (he's not a big Sheryl Crow fan). I guess there's just something soothing about worrying about whether Brad will leave Angelina or Britney's latest goof. Like I said in an earlier post, it takes my mind off the stresses of my own life.
Last week I went to LA LA Land for family business and my friend Cheri and I went to a taping of the Tonight Show. Growing up in So Cal, we just don't do these types of things. I compare it to when we lived approximately fifty feet away from the Egyptian Museum in San Jose. Although Nicole and I often roamed the grounds as it was a toddler wonderland, we never actually entered the museum. Same goes for many of the landmarks in San Francisco. Ask a native if he's been to Alcatraz and I'd wager that over 90% have not been there while they lived there. It's as if we become immune to the allure of our own backyards.
Anyway, I felt like a bit of an impostor since I've never seen a complete episode of Jay Leno's version of The Tonight Show. I'm more of a Letterman girl. However, the whole experience was a blast. Jay's guests were Bill Maher, Jim Norton (yawn) and James Taylor (be still my heart). Bill Maher was on fire and he just eviscerated McCain/Palin (although doesn't it seem like Palin jokes are just too easy?) He quipped "Competence is like pornography; you know it when you see it." Maher was so pumped up on politics that he almost forgot to talk about his new movie, Religulous, which looks Hilarious.
James Taylor has always been one of my favorite artists, but I've never seen him perform live. His voice is clear and pure and he exudes such warmth and sincerity. He has a new CD of covers called cleverly "Covers." He sang Leonard Cohen's Suzanne, which is a beautiful and challenging song that sounds like a run-on sentence. Apparently, back in the day, when James was just starting out, Mr. Leno used to go see James perform in Boston coffee-houses.
Stuttering John, formerly of the Howard Stern Show does the warm-up and basically strong-arms the audience into laughing at the monologue, just in case you're wondering why studio audiences always sound so manic. Also, Jay unexpectedly strolled out in his Casual Friday clothes prior to the taping to pump the audience up. Then there's the free swag. Stuttering John was throwing out t-shirts, hats, etc. to the audience. I was being a Grade-A Spaz, screaming like my life depended on getting this t-shirt and he threw the shirt right at me. Score! Can't you just see me pumping my fist in victory now?
After the show, Cheri and I went to The Smokehouse, which is one of those great old-school restaurants from 1946 with red vinyl booths and dim lighting, for a prime rib dinner. We were gabbing away when she nudged me and whispered, "That's Billy Ray Cyrus." Surprisingly, for being so enamored with celebrities, I'm not the best at spotting them. Sure enough, Billy Ray and Mrs. Billy Ray were sitting only a few feet from us at the restaurant. I guess it's a good thing that Miley wasn't there too or we would have been stampeded. I, of course, was thrilled to be in the midst of a celebrity, albeit a washed-out one, who is pretty much riding on the coattails of his daughter now. That's what I love about celebrity sighting. It's so random. It's not like you say, "Hey, I hope Billy Ray Cyrus is at the restaurant." It just happens. One of life's fun surprises.
I had a quick chat with Barton on my cell while dining. I know that's so obnoxious, but with the time difference, I had to catch him before he went to bed. I was trying to whisper that we were sitting right by Billy Ray, but Barton couldn't hear me. At the end of the call, I whispered a cryptic "Achy Breaky Heart," but alas, this was completely lost on my hubby.
To further analyze this "interest" of mine, I guess a lot of the allure is that these people do not have normal lives. Yes, they're just doing a job, but by the very nature of celebrity, they've become fish in a fishbowl. Everything they do in public is subject to an audience. I'm not saying this is fair, but I guess it's the price they pay for all the other perks. I'd love to live in a celebrities' shoes for just one day and then go back to being ordinary old Lisa. But probably not Britney's shoes because you never know where her feet have been.
As I was flying in to Austin, I noticed the glowing pink granite of the Capitol Building. Because I just happened to look out the window as we were flying over the building, I was just awestruck by the building's beauty. Another star sighting ... Texas style!
*Why is it that Barton always steal my US Magazine before I have a chance to read it? For someone so disdainful of celebrity, he gets sucked in just like the rest of us.
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