Weekend Update

On Friday morning, I got a call from my friend Chi, who informed me that he got some Kings tickets from his work and asked me if I'd like to go. Hell yes. I think hockey is an awesome sport, and even better, we got to sit in a luxury box and rock on someone else's dime. See those escalators in the background? That's how I usually get to my nosebleed seats. To get to the fancy seats, you have to use a separate entrance with its own set of escalators.


Perhaps the best part of sitting in a corporate suite is when the dessert cart comes by. I didn't see the Butterfinger cake that I had the first time I got to sit with the fat cats, but there was a mighty 7-layer carrot cake and some pretty nice slices of cheesecake. I had the caramel apple--sliced, of course.


Oh yeah, the game. Edmonton jumped to a 3-0 lead, forcing young starting goaltender Ernsberg to take a seat. But backstopped by LaBarbara, the Kings erased it and got the lead in an inspired second period. Edmonton outshot the L.A. skaters by a wide margin to tie the game, eventually winning it in a shootout. This is what Staples looks like as dejected fans leave the arena.


On Saturday, I had the privilege of attending Happy and Bret's annual holiday cookie party. It's always fun to see friends from all over the place pigging out on sweets, but this time was a little different. I don' tknow if you can tell, but one of the bowls of snacks has Cheerios in it. Happy split the party in two, and we attended the earlier, baby-friendly one.


Here's GR photographer Ben, his wife Kim, and their daughter Isabella. Great to see them getting out. I think little Bella was passed out the whole time we were there.


Clockwise from Wendy: Pro skater, rad musician, and friend Ray Barbee, his older son Nolan, Eloise, Kim, and Ray's wife Steph. Ray has a Japanese tour with the Mattson 2 coming up, so keep an eye out for that.


After the cookie party, we hustled over to Margot's one-year banquet in Koreatown. Check out the fresh fruit spread! It's like Small World, a game show, and Thai fruit carving all mixed together. I especially like the melons fashioned into mouse heads. Unfortunately, we did not get to partake of the fruit salad--kind of like how we were handed birthday cake as we headed out the door.


The drama came after lunch, when Margot was presented with number of items that would predict her future. Kind of like when the baby was forced to choose between a toy and a sword in Lone Wolf & Cub or New Legend of Shaolin. After much tension, Margot chose to hug her mommy (Jenny, second from left). What does it all mean?


Girls, girls, girls: the birthday girl with her dad, cartoonist and GR contributor Martin Cendreda; Eloise and me; my niece Lucia with my twin brother/her uncle Greg.


Today, Eric and I gave a talk at the Vintage Toyota Museum in Torrance. It was a pretty interesting spot and the high school students were cool and attentive.


Afterward, we went out for Chinese food with the organizers and some of the students. We got hooked up with mango pudding afterwards--or was it jello? Either way, it was a nice way to end a good weekend.