Bonjour!!
FedEx on it's way...we will have bouillabaisse!!! I hope I don't regret holding back the best shrimp for Rance.

We're going for a Marseille/Bar de la Marine thing, so don't show up in "Couture".

Chinquapin

The Countdown Begins
Less than 19 hours to go until the start of the Grand Opening of The Nut House. This is a 4 day event, so don't blow your whole wad Wednesday night.

I'll see you all tonight. I've got to check on my Fed-Ex seafood shipment, Eiffel Tower punch dispenser, and the Can-Can dancers.

Bonne nuit,

Chinquapin

Tea and Sympathy
Mood:  caffeinated
Please forgive my inattentiveness. Setting up a high tea at The Nut House proved much more challenging than I'd thought. The only experience I've had planning a similarly formal event was my wedding some years ago(upon their arrival at the hall, the wedding reception caterers thought I was the wedding planner).

Very odd having high tea on the coast of southern California. It was quite warm out, and I imagine it was very much like Gibraltar.

The formal tea has gotten me thinking about wealth and class, especially after small-fry0 broached the subject at "Bloggers Paradise". I've seen a great deal of wealth out and about the "Greater Los Angeles Area", but the level of class has not kept up.

I'm not talking class structure, but class as in grace, charm, civility, manners, etc.

Sadly, even common politeness is absent among a group of "sales help". The incident a few weeks ago with that lovely full-figured young woman from "Hairspray, The Musical" is a perfect example. Rude and inconsiderate behavior is epidemic in the "civilized" world. It's as if rudeness confers some sort of elevated status upon the offending party.

Oh... the Sunday night crowd is rolling in.

So, off with the Anglophile hat and on with my Francophile chapeau in preparation for...
BASTILLE DAY!!!

Hope to see everyone at the Opening Night Celebrations.

Bloody Marie Antoinettes and Champagne Punch will be served. Any suggestions for the menu?

Chinquapin

HOLLYWOOD FOREVER
No folks, chinq hasn't gone out(or stayed in)on a bender and gotten a tat.

Hollywood Forever is a cemetery in Hollywood, CA, which happens to share it's southern border with Paramount studios. Douglas Fairbanks Sr. & Mary Pickford have huge, beautiful neo-classic monuments, it is truly a memorial park. I know this, because I would drive there on my lunch break and have a little picnic in my car. It's the nicest park in Hollywood(check out their website).

You don't even have to be famous to be buried there. And the fun thing is, you or your family can bequest/request(for a fee) graveside remembrance screenings on video. Hey, it is the 21st century.

So, I was thinking that if we can take "entertainment" to the gravesite, what's the next step? Where would you like to be "laid to rest" if you could pick anyplace on earth(we'll save "the moon" until the mid-21st century)?

-The things the bartenders and I talk about while we close.

Chinquapin

I'm Tired, So Tired(Brenda Lee everyone!)
I'm sorry about that one, I get slappy when I'm tired.

I'm workin' hard this week, and once again have to share the computer with Mr.Man. Not much goin' on at The Nut House today. It's just as well, to much construction noise to have conversation, polite or otherwise.

Major renovations should be over by this weekend, so I hope to see some newcomers, along with the regulars-of course.

Night all,

Chinquapin

Getting The Word Out
It's hard to know which tact to take, the hard or the soft sell. I've tried to read the crowd, sometimes successfully, sometimes I guess I've pressed a bit too hard.

Formal invitations seem...too formal for this joint(thanks Rancelot-can't really call it a dive anymore). There is one exception however, the celebrity known as Rance.

A-lister or not, Rance is a bloggin' superstar. His appearance at the Grand Opening of The Nut House would garner more attention than a truckload of kleig lights.

"But chinq" you say..."Rance must get dozens of invitations, why would he show up at The Nut House?" Well, I've been looking around L.A., and celebs seem to like investing in local restaurants,clubs and movie theaters. Maybe it's vanity, maybe a tax shelter, I don't know. But it's the tactic I'm taking with Rance.

The following is a draft of my business proposal to Rance. Any input would be appreciated, but I need to get this to him on Wednesday, 7/7/04.


Chinquapin
The Nut House


Rance
http://captainhoof.tripod.com/blog/


Rance,

Post this or not, the following is a business proposal, asking only your time and your smile(that is if your mom hasn't knocked your front teeth out for back talkin' her).

I am not a lawyer, so please excuse the plain English.

I've recently opened a new blog-joint, The Nut House. The Grand Opening will be Bastille Day weekend(July 14-18). I know your time is valuable, so here's the proposition. In exchange for a brief appearance, a few words, and a smile(or not), a cold Bud and a plate of the finest shrimp on the California coast is yours.

The Nut House is open, but currently under renovation. Please drop by and take a look, no commitment necessary. The food service license hasn't come through yet, so just nuts, pretzels and other muchies for now. If you like what you see, we can discuss investment options. Otherwise, come by, have a drink, and enjoy.

Chinquapin

P.S. to the A.S.
Any or all of you are welcome at The Nut House in any capacity. 1st drink on the house!


Comments?

Chinquapin

What a drag it is getting old(Happy 4th of July)
Many celebrate July 4th as the birthday of the USA. I look at it as the anniversary of the conception of the USA. The birth taking place in Paris in 1783.

Either way, the holiday marks a passage of time. And that, my friends, has long been a no-no in tinsel town. And thanks to Extreme Makeover, The Swan, various cosmetic companies and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Board of P.S.(other countries names may be substituted for "American"), the apperance of aging is becoming a no-no all over the "civilized" world.

OK, here's the point(in a round about way, of course). I was talking to my mom on the phone Saturday. She's in a fly-over state, unless you're running for President. She's retired, and she and her friends have really gotten into community volunteering. One of her friends(lets call her Joan) visits what used to be called a resthome. Joan hadn't been in for a while, and one of the women she regularly visits wouldn't lift her head up. The staff told Joan that the woman had been in this position for a few days. Joan sat down and tried to talk to the woman, and upon lifting her head, discovered that the poor woman had grown a small beard and mustache. Joan told the staff to help the woman keep herself groomed, and on the next visit, the woman had her head up.

We all should have some pride in our apperance, but looking our best has nothing to do with looking young, or looking "done".

And so, to mark the passage of 228 years, Happy Conception Anniversary USA!!! I raise my glass to you!(She's looked better, but she's ready for a comeback.)

Chinquapin

It's about time!
While running around Friday, looking for "bar fixtures", I ran across a cute store in Larchmont Village selling Historical Action figures. I don't know how long these have been around, but it was the 1st time I'd seen or heard of them.

Take a look at them here(visual aid only, I am not promoting this website):
http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=AU11316

Screw Spiderman, I want Einstein.

Got to go pick up Mr. Man at the Burbank -oops, I mean Bob Hope Airport. Do you think the FAA changed the Airport code from BUR to BOB?

Chinquapin

Good-bye Mr. B
When I turned on the TV this morning and saw the clip of "A Streetcar Named Desire", I was pretty sure Marlon Brando was dead. It could have been Malden, but I'd just heard something about Brando's health, so I was almost certain it was the Big Man.

While the news chopper hovered over his estate off of Mulholland, the reporter mentioned numerous times Mr. Brando's desire for privacy/seclusion.

This afternoon, while shopping for "bar furnishings", I walked past an actress/wife of a sports celeb loading her baby into the carseat of her new Rover. Earlier, I'd practically rubbed elbows(OK-overheard a lengthy cell conversation) with an actor/husband of an actress/business owner. (If you haven't noticed, I prefer backslashes to hyphens.)
That got me thinking, if I manage to get some celeb(s) to show up at the Grand Opening of The Nut House(July 14-18), I should give the non-celeb guests a heads-up on "How To Behave Around A Celebrity".

A little background for those from non-celebrity centers of the world. My first "real" celeb sighting was in Los Angeles, it was Gene Hackman. He was standing on one of those parking lot concrete curb/planters in a lot shared by a bank, a multiplex, and an office building... in the San Fernando Valley! For those of you not familiar with the snobbery aimed at "The Valley" by those over the hill(B.H. WestHolly, the Westside...the list goes on), if you saw the "Sex and the City" ep. when Miranda tells the girls she's moving to Brooklyn, that's about right.

Anyway, back to behavior in proximity to celebrities. The following is only applicable when said celebrity is NOT working, work including PR/Promotion.

I must give proper credit to my(oops, there's that possessive word again)man. He came up with the M.O. while shooting low budget movies with lots of gratuitous nudity(boobs). We are not talking pornos, we are talking super low budget...mostly schlock. After a couple of these shoots, Mr. Man realised that he reacted to these topless women the same way he'd reacted to people with a physical handicap. They are extremely hard to ignore, but you try not to stare. Eventually, if you are a well adjusted adult, you get used to the boobs, the wheelchair, the missing limbs...or the celebrity.

The topless woman, amputee, or celeb may be having a bad day. Try to read his/her body language and use some common sense before approaching. In other words...BE COOL.

Imagine you are sitting down to a quiet dinner and the telemarketer calls(God I love the "Do not call" list).
Or you're taking your kid to the park and an un-named proselytizing religious organization's representative targets the two of you.
Or that the annoying/somewhat scary person at work gets up to get coffee everytime you get a refill.

Let's try not frighten or piss off our celebrity friends at The Nut House.

RIP Mr. B.

Chinquapin

Caution: Hard Hat Zone
Well, looks like The Nut House isn't gonna be as "divey" as originally planned. The Health Dept. is making me strip the entire interior. Seems there's mold throughout the place, guess that's why it was such a deal.

So, I've got to choose a new interior on top of everything else, any suggestions? I'm not putting a ton of money into a place that might get busted up on a regular basis. I thought about tileing the walls so I could just hose the place down every morning, but the noise level would be deafening. Vinyl & formica? I could cover the walls with vinyl, would they get sweaty? Does anyone have any experience with that(S&M chamber maybe)? I'll drop by F&S today and get some swatches.

If you drop buy & I'm out, there's a cooler on the back deck with some beer, just keep the cooler in the shade and don't take open cans off the property(the neighbors are already a little pissy about the construction noise).

Inga, sorry we missed Midsommer. I'll make sure we have little Swedish toothpick flags for next year.

Oh...I need a drink for Bastille Day. It could be an actual French drink, or a French themed drink(nothing insulting, we are aiming for world unity). For example, green beer isn't really Irish but Irish themed -kinda. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Gotta go look at juke boxes now.

Chinquapin