EastGirlsWest

Camels

It’s strange to find myself in a place where there are camels just wandering around.

On our drive to Masada yesterday, I saw a hillside dotted with about 25. There was a young boy herding them, and he’d throw small rocks at their backsides to move them in the right direction.

Tay and I have a phrase, or rather a phrase structure, that we like to use when we’re being definitive about something. For example, while the onset of sleepiness may be expressed as such, true exhaustion merits the declaration “I’m tired like tired.” A particularly fine meal is “delicious like delicious.” And occasionally, the phrase will feature a noun rather than an adjective to highlight a particulary urgency, as in “I need wine like wine.”

So Tay emailed me yesterday to ask, “Is it hot like hot?”. To which I could only reply, “It’s hottest like hottest.”

I now feel there can never be enough of the following items:
1) SPF
2) Bottled water
3) Light cotton fibers to protect one from the sun and absorb sweat from the body

I can’t really complain though, because while I did spend a fair amount of time outdoors yesterday, the nature of my duties here allowed me to spend many hours in the air conditioned (ish) dining tent. The crew, on the other hand, has spent four days building the set, the production control room, and everything else on site from scratch. They’ve put up lighting, set up cameras and cables, unpacked loads of equipment. In the heat. All day. Every half hour or so they would come into the tent and grab two bottles of water, pour one over their head, and drink the other. I’m in awe of their perseverance.

We were at the site until 11pm last night, and right before rehearsal a dust storm kicked up. Winds were battering the tent, convincing us all we’d be lying under a pile of canvas and metal rigging in no time. Walking outside required - I’m not kidding - sunglasses at night. Dust in nostrils, eyeballs, hair and every possible crevice of clothing. Mouth closed. I just tried to pretend it was all very The English Patient and I was Kristin Scott Thomas (not a problem for me to immerse myself in that fanstasy).

But despite the heat and the wind, it is beautiful there. This particular corner of the Judean desert is stark and gaunt, monumental and very impressive. It’s a grand setting for tonight’s show.

Sunrise Over the Dead Sea

You knew that headline was coming.

I woke up at 4:15 this morning and sat outside my room on the balcony, looking out across the water. Those mountains the sun is coming over? That’s Jordan.

A few hours later I walked across the street with some colleagues, and we floated in the salty sea. Round pebbles of salt cover the bottom, and it’s true about the floating. Impossible not to - we laughed at the need for the lifeguard surveying the little beach we left our towels on. We also spashed around like true tourists, laughing and squealing at our inabilty to stay vertical in the water.

My skin has never felt as soft since I got out. The entire experience was so strange, so impossible…I understand why people think the sea has healing power.

Next on the agenda today is a site survey with my producer and cameraman. We’re heading to Masada at high noon, and have been told it was 124 degrees there yesterday. It’s already suffocatingly hot here next to the water and I can’t imagine what awaits us on the mountain.

I’m leaving town tomorrow for Israel, to do my PBS pledge thing for this concert, featuring the talented David Broza with Jackson Browne and - one of my favorites - Shawn Colvin (her cover of the Tom Waits song ‘The Heart of Saturday Night’ slays me every time). In fact, I’m hoping to get to interview Jackson and Shawn on camera. Which will be perfect, since clearly I’m already on a first-name basis with each of them.

We’ll be shooting live on location, and I just heard it’s approximately 800 gazillion degrees at this exact spot in the desert. I wonder if it was that hot when the Jewish-Roman war was fought there? Also, I will be spending 300 gazillion hours on a plane to get to this parched piece of earth. But really? I don’t care because I’M GOING TO ISRAEL.

In the meantime, life does not stop here in San Diego (GASP). Dave Hampton (who is one of those people who can only be referred to by first and last name) is holding another fantastic Objects USA event this weekend with his partners Ron and Steve. Titled Summer Survey, the highlight of this event will no doubt be the insane, bizarre, beautiful, puzzling, intriguing and just plain out there body ornaments, showcasing a unique facet of California Design. I have it on good authority that live models will be draped and adorned with these…pieces. Some of which involve bird skulls. Don’t miss it.

As for the weekdays: if you’re looking for an addictive addition to your daily blog rounds, if you are perhaps lusting for something new, then check this out. Producer, photographer and culture junkie Angela Carone has got one helluva platform for her musings and recommendations - which are always worth reading.

More soon from points east.

Elk carpaccio, with blueberries.

Olive oil ice cream.

Lobster bisque, which I drank out of an unbroken eggshell through a straw.

Tonight, it’s big portions of all kinds at The Hash House, where we’ll be celebrating Michelle’s last night of work there!

It’s Friday, and yesterday I was on KPBS with the lovely AnnaMaria Stephens to talk about the weekend.

Her picks included next week’s San Diego stop on the True Colors tour, which she also wrote about in CityBeat.

As for me, I can’t say enough good things about Starlite, THE new restaurant from Tim Mays and friends. You can read about the visionary designers here, and a detailed review of the dining experience on this other blog. Bottom line? Damn good food, freakin’ great drinks, absolutely gorgeous space. Highlights include: the hexagonal entryway, the sunken bar, all chandeliers. Plus the frites and the Starlite Mule, served in a copper mug. I will be back.

There’s more more more, so click here and listen.

Tonight, The Husband and I are off to this delicious event. I’m wearing a fancy dress and silver shoes!

I can’t get enough of Jezebel, the Gawker media “women’s” blog. It’s dripping with the trademark Gawker-style snark, and dishes out fantastic headlines like “Lindsay Lohan and George W., Separated at Birth” and “My Existential Sarah Jessica Parker Crisis“. But my hands-down favorite post last week was about the store I hate to love: Anthropologie.

Looking through the latest “Anthropologie” catalog takes us back to that time we decided to keep starting and stopping our meds to see what would happen; that is, the time when we were crazzeeee. The catalog is all over the fucking place, price-wise; one cute cotton top on one page will go for $78, and an almost-identical piece 6 pages later is a staggering $200.

Finally, a blog that feels my pain! (read more here)

From the Associated Press:

Screaming Paris Hilton sent back to jail
Today at 12:22 pm

Paris Hilton was taken from a courtroom screaming and crying Friday seconds after a judge ordered her returned to jail to serve out her entire 45-day sentence for a parole violation in a reckless driving case.

“It’s not right!” shouted the weeping Hilton. “Mom!” she called out to her mother in the audience.

Hilton, who was brought to court in handcuffs in a sheriff’s car, came into the courtroom disheveled and weeping. Her hair was askew and she wore a gray fuzzy sweatshirt over slacks. She wore no makeup and she cried throughout the hearing.

Seriously, could this have turned out any better if it was scripted? I love seeing the words “askew” and “sweatshirt”, along with the phrase “no makeup” in the same paragraph.

Read more here if you haven’t already.

Moments before we leave for the ceremony

(Photo by Angela. You can see more of her pre-wedding pics here.)

What can I say? It was a grand day. An absolutely perfect time - full of family, friends, love, joy and delightful surprise. I think the photos tell the story better than I can…so check ‘em out! A few on my Flickr page (by Peggy & Allen), plus more on Susan and Aaryn’s pages. Many, many more to come.

P.S. The Betrothed is now The Husband!