Boo! A Halloween Night Entry from Ken!

So, it's Halloween night here in Los Angeles, and I'm staying home tonight. I think I'm just too tired to get all dressed up and venture out among the scions of freaks and geeks who get dolled up every year. Or maybe I'm just too old. At 34. Now isn't that what's truly scary? I did make it out over the weekend, and took this picture over at the Faultline.

So anyway, I know that it's been AGES since I've logged a new entry here. Chill out already--I've been busy. Seriously, we're talkin' B-U-S-Y, with all the perks that come along with it. Like being too tired to spend any more time in front of a computer terminal than is needed after spending all day doing just that at my day job at AVN Online, then coming home to do even more writing for the mags that I freelance for. The last thing I want to do on days like those is contribute even more to this oncoming Karpel Tunnel Syndrome that I just know I'm going to end up with one of these days. I can already feel my fingers aching on certain days. Or maybe I'm just getting older...?

Anyway, lots to catch you up on. First, the biggest news: I was on live TV! That's right; yours truly made his first TV appearance on the talk show On Q Live on the Q-TV Network. It was a pretty rad experience, too. I was terribly nervous before going on, and that nervousness was exacerbated by the fact that I totally got lost driving over to the studios. They had one of the major streets closed down due to an accident, so here I am srambling to find my way to this TV studio when I have no clue how to get around in the frickin' Valley! But I finally made it--with just enough time to be rushed into makeup, then have a few moments of chill time before being escorted onto the set by this totally hot go-go dancer boy who was probably straight as can be. (Ugh; don't even get me started on the whole straight guy thing. We'll be here for days.) The guest host that day was one of the guys from Queer Eye for the Straight Girl, and he was pretty funny. They asked me a bunch of questions about the book and about gay rockers, and I barely have any recollection of what I said, though I do recall that, for being as nervous as I was before going on, I think I actually did a pretty good job of expressing my views. The producer said he'd like to have me back on to discuss my next book. Hmmmm... guess that means I'll have to get started on it then, huh? By the way, don't forget to check out my site, HollywoodKen.com, where I will be posting the video of my first talk show appearance as soon as the folks over at Q send it to me!

A few weeks ago, I took my first trip to Phoenix, Arizona, where some really cool writers, artists and theater people were putting on an event called the Love Shack, which was inspired by the Homocore book. They had Brian Grillo and Ryan Revenge (from Best Revenge and Spitshine Records) come over from L.A., and I was there to sign copies of the book (I sold a few--enough to pay for my food while there), and there were a few other bands playing as well. It was a pretty cool event, though I was deathly tired from my day of traveling and just wanted to crawl into bed by the time the night was over. (This pic is of me, Ryan, my buddy Scott and Brian Grillo.)

I have to say, I really liked Phoenix. I'd never really been there before, except one time when I was laid over at the airport for like an hour and a half while on my way to San Francisco several years ago. But I was totally surprised by how totally frickin' DEAD that place was! I mean, it was like an old folks' retirement location or something. It kinda reminded me of a bigger version of Palm Springs--all palm trees, quiet streets, sweaty days and extremely warm nights. There was no hustle and bustle like here in L.A., and for that, I really enjoyed it.

My buddy Paul, who I stayed with, took me up to South Mountain, and there was a really cool view of the city from up there. We did some hiking up there, too. Tourist hiking, of course, but hiking nonetheless. It was quite a majestic site up there. I got some good shots of the cityscape from up there, but the pic I'm most fond of is this one that I took while just walking around up on the mountain around the rocks and stuff off this one quiet path--away from all the screaming kids. I'm such a major fan of the desert. There's just something so beautifully barren and stark about it. You know you're among earth's most basic elements when you're in the desert. That's one of the reasons why I really enjoy being in Southern California, where places like Joshua Tree are so close and you can just go be among cacti and rocks and the earth, and it just all comes together for you. Does that make me weird?

So, I finally sent out all of my portfolios to magazine editors, and it looks like I'm going to be doing some writing for Rockpile, which is out of Philly. They're a great mag, so I'm thrilled that they're interested in having me contribute to them. And I'm hoping to hear back from the others that I sent packets out to. I sent these little guitar keychains out with each packet, along with my spiffy new business card and color Xeroxes of my writing clips.

Elsewhere, things seem to be moving right along in my career. I'm trying to get more involved in writing about movies. This coming weekend, I'm going to attend my very first Hollywood press junket, this one for the brand new gay cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain. On Saturday, there will be a press screening of the film, and on Sunday, the junket will take place over in Beverly Hills. Both Jake Gyllenhall and director Ang Lee will be there to answer journalists' questions, and I've seen how these things usually go in movies, so we'll have to see if I'm able to get a word in edgewise among the microphone hogs. This should be pretty neat. Looks like I will be doing lots more of these events in the future as well.

I also got to attend a performance of Silver Lake phenomenon Robbie D., who did his annual Telekenesis show over at the Cavern Club Theater. Robbie's shows are always something to see; he's like a combination of John Cameron Mitchell (from Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and Marilyn Manson, which is a pretty screwed-up combination, you have to admit. One of Robbie's special guests was none other than Ann Magnuson, the performance artist who used to be on TV's Anything but Love (with Richard Lewis) and who was also the lead singer for the sorely missed Bongwater. My buddy Kevin and I got to talk with Ann afterwards, at which point Kev snapped this nifty pic of me and Ann. She did a GREAT number called the "Cemetery Blues" that was one of the highlights of the evening. Robbie's rendering of Donovan's "Season of the Witch" was pretty intense, too. God, I love that Cavern Club Theater!

Oh--I did another book signing, this one back in the beginning of October at the West Hollywood Book Fair. Bill Maher and Neil Gaiman were both there signing books just a few short feet away from the Alyson Books booth where I was signing copies of mine. It was a pretty cool experience, even though I didn't end up signing a single copy of the book in the hour that I was scheduled to be there. (Alyson did a REALLY crappy job of putting a booth together this year. It was actually pretty tragic, but I guess I shouldn't be complaining.) My friend Kevin took this pic of me while we were there, and later on we went and saw Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's new movie Mirrormask, which was brilliant!


Well, that's about it for this time around. I'm kinda tired of typing now, even though I have tons more to say, but that's OK. It can wait for another time. I need to give my hands and fingers a rest after all this typing. Talk with you soon, and stay in touch at LaLaLifer@aol.com! Oh, and my Web site should be launching in the next day or two, so don't forget to keep checking back for the announcement of that.

XOXO,
Hollywood Ken