Wildfires Return to Malibu

For the second time in a month, Malibu suffers through a wildfire. 49 homes burned after a wind swept fire erupted at 3:30 am in the hills. "Suspicious Activity" by humans is the suspected cause. Unconfirmed reports that the blaze may have been started by some youth drinking nearby, at a local party spot. It was the most detructive fire in the area since 1993.
It could have been much worse. This time fire officials were prepared with a extra large air assault contingent on standby, and fire crews on staged on the ground nearby due to high fire danger from Santa Ana wind conditions, and thankfully no other major fires burning in So Cal.

Alicia Keys Sings For The Strikers

Alicia Keys performed two songs Tuesday for the WGA Striking Writers in Hollywood, then the strikers marched down Hollywood Blvd to a rally near Highland and Hollywood. Today Governor Terminator said the strike is costing California 20 million bucks a day.

Old School Cool

"Mannix" starring Mike Connors was a top ten hit in the late 60's and early 70's and was one of the most violent shows in network television history. I recently went to his home in L.A. on assignment to get a "noir" looking shot of him for a story the in Washington Post. As soon as we started chatting I thought to myself, this guy is definitely cool and I knew we were going to make some nice pictures. I asked Mr Connors if he had any old props or mementos from his Mannix days. The gun in the photo is all he had, but it worked out great with the reflected light streaming through some blinds. And, of course he took the bullets out before we started.
He told me he hadn't been photographed in a long time , didn't really care for any publicity anymore, but the Post got him to appear in the paper for a story about the need to get Mannix released on DVD, and when it is , I'll be buying it.
Here's a quote from Neely Tucker's story in the Wash Post "Somewhere out there, there's a place where a sport-coat-clad private eye can whip around L.A. in a convertible, get beat down by some goons, shake it off with a Scotch on the rocks, then solve the case of the week with an assist from his leggy secretary" How awesome is that!!

Actors Walk the Line

Ben Stiller, Minnie Driver, Nicollette Sheriden, Lily Tomlin , Sara Silverman , and Julia Louis Dreyfus were among the celebrities that joined the picket lines to support the writers strike outside of Universal Studios as the Writers Guild Strike continues for a second week.

Veterans Day at Arlington West

Every Sunday on the sand just to north of the Santa Monica pier, a volunteer group called Veterans for Peace put together Arlington West, a temporary tribute of crosses to memorailize US armed forces killed in action in the war. The total as of Veterans Day, November 11 ,2007 -3850 American soldiers killed, 57,355 wounded.

No Justice, No Scripts

Hollywood is shutting down because the Writers Guild is fed up with the man. I was thinking if the photographers had a union , the slogan on the picket line could be "No Justice, No Pics"

Welcome back Carter

Jimmy Carter , the 39th President of the USA , still going strong and making the world a better place at age 83. In town Working with 100's of volunteers on a Habitat for Humanity project building homes for the needy in Los Angeles late last week. He is a good man with integrity. "Jerry has to leave in 15 minutes" These are the words a publicist tells me as I am walking in to photograph Seinfeld for a story about "Bee Movie" , his first big project since the show ended. I'm still amped up from the hour and a half , 25 mile drive from Venice Beach to Burbank , taking every shortcut I could think of to get there on time. The smell of my smoking brakes in the air, as I made it just barely on time to Dreamworks Studio for my appointment. So, after firing off about 15 frames , somebody starts having a very loud conversation with Jerry from the back of the room. Jerry keeps looking over my shoulder while engaging with the interloper. I glance back and realize it's Jeffrey Katzenberg , a founding partner of the studio.Next thing I know, JK blurts out I have 5 more frames left to finish up, counting down as I shoot. And he was not kidding. So that was that. The Post ended up publishing the photo above of Seinfeld laughing at a Katzenberg joke. Life with the big boys!