Birthday²

Our friend Chris visited from Las Vegas this weekend to celebrate his birthday. So we decided to treat him to dinner and a show in Los Angeles, followed by the requisite tour of gay bars in Long Beach.

For dinner, we stopped a hipster burger joint in Los Feliz called Fred 62. I call it hipster one, because of the 50s décor with the seats upholstered in car seat leather and sporting headrests, and two, because the serve American classic food but spruce it up to make it look fancy. Like the chicken pot pie that Chris ordered: a high-walled bowl of pastry at the center of the plate, surrounded by a thick green pesto, inside the bowl was a layer of buttery mashed potatoes smothered in gravy then covered in steamed vegetables, with two whole grilled chicken breasts lying atop those. It resembled a sculpture rather than a food dish, but Chris said it was delicious.

After dinner, we headed over to Melrose to catch the early show from The Groundlings. This little comedy/improv group has brought the likes of Will Farrell and Sheri Oteri to public consciousness. And even though neither of them performed last night, it was still a good show. They opened with a sketch set aboard the Death Star, where two crewmen worked away at the controls while Darth Vader discussed plans with an officer. When Vder's back is turned, the two crewmen gossip away like two little queens. It was hysterical! The rest of the show had its moments, both good and not-so-good, and the Birthday Boy unwillingly became involved in one of the sketches. So it turned out to be quite a bit of fun.

Back in Long Beach, we stopped at a few of the bars, people watching, unexpectedly meeting some friends, and generally rousing rabble until last call.

The next morning, we woke late and hurried off for brunch. The first place had a wait of 35-45 minutes so we decided to pass. The next place was far worse: 1h45m to 2 hours. Holy Heck! We finally chose Hof's Hut for a mere 15 minute wait.

We had a dinner that evening for our friend Clark who also happened to be celebrating his birthday so in order to kill some time before then, we caught a screening of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. A great movie, both story and special effects-wise. The CGI apes, chimps and orangutans were amazing, and I believe Andy Serkis deserves some kind of award for his work as Caesar.

Clark joined us for dinner around 7 at The Yard House and a bit of walking around Shoreline Village. The food at the restaurant was very good if very overpriced. But the churro sundae from the Funnel House was worth the price: two fresh churros covered with a mound of ice cream and whipped cream -- plenty for all four of us. We ended the night at the Silver Fox, listening to some karaoke and trying to hold conversations above the loud music.

Hopefully tonight, I can catch up on some sleep . . . .