Tryphoon's Lair

Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles

An afternoon in the Mojave

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Totally using my friend Tom's Facebook status update regarding this event, during which I checked 2 of the last tasks in my full Americanization list in one go: "Shooting at various objects" & "Spend afternoon in open desert" 

"On Saturday, we established a modern-day "Ligne Maginot" on point defending against the Armenians from Glendale.

Then we raced some RC cars through the desert, and drank beer with the local denizens..."

Great time, great fun and yes, I got scared by the locals! 

New Year's Eve across valleys and time zones!

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This year, once again, we enjoyed celebrating the arrival of the new year 3 times.

First, British Time, at 4:00pm at the Fox & Hounds in Studio City, with the usual suspects (Geoff, M and gang). As in any good English party, we then crossed the road, had a curry. I added my own twist by receiving a parking ticket as well! Bye bye 2011...

Then East Coast time, at 9:00, with most of the kids from our street! TV on, countdown, champagne, amazing food (including some Russian caviar) and good company.

Finally, proper midnight Pacific, still at our neighbors, in a way smaller committee, after most of the parents left to put their kids to bed!

Tomorrow will be another year!

Xmas Party at Barbara & Brian

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Good wine, good food, good friends.

We braved our colds, drove over the mountain and down to the valley of Burbank. Saw some old friends, made some new friends, got merry by the end of the evening.

Sometimes, life is unfair...

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There are people you meet in life that you think you might spend some time close to. There are other people you know you will never want to spend more than a couple minutes with. And there are people who, from the first second you meet them, you know that they will part of your life for ever. 

Last week, I lost such a person in the late John Warren.

John lost a battle with one of the least forgivable cancer, Pancreatic cancer, only months after he finally decided to retire from Disney and spend some long retirement years enjoying his numerous passions.

John was a friend. John was a mentor. John was a fatherly figure. I have often joked (and told him) that without him, I would never be who I am today.

And he is gone.

I met him many years ago, in London, when we both worked at Disney and were both part of the smokers clan... We used to see each other in the smoking zone of the Hammersmith office, often battling wind and rain, taking furious drags on our Marlboros before rushing back inside. But one day, I left the Internet side of the Mouse House and joined its TV/Media side (thanks to M. Beal, another one of my London days mentors) and soon enough, John and I tried to figure out a way make our media buyers embrace the 21st century, dropping VHS tapes and accepting video streaming. This effort took us a good couple of years, a ton of persuasions and John's entire address book, during which we got to know each other. During this time, I spent numerous hours listening to him and his stories ranging from artistic photography to music through technology, sitting on one of his office chairs, while he kept repositioning every object on his desk to reach perfection. And John had a lot of stories! 

We shared numerous passions, had the same views on many subjects and were just 20+ years apart. 

John kept talking about his family, his wife, his son, Jay, as well. The true passions of his life out of the office (Funnily enough, a couple of years later, both Jay and I would end up moving to Los Angeles, a couple of months apart and keep bumping into each others at various gigs).

John had done so much in his life (and yet probably not enough to his own eyes). He had so many stories. A lot of them! Tons! We often joked that if someone had gone to Tenerife, John might have been to Elevenerife, but in the end, it was true: he had accomplished so much, done so much, so much more than anyone I know and yet, I am sure I barely brushed the surface of his accomplishments.

John was simply a better person than most of us, one of life's true good person, one of the good guys!

He'll be missed...
I'll miss him... 

Until we meet again, Rest In Peace, my friend...

 

 

 

Pergola

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A recent visit to our local Sam's Club (aka the better Costco) saw us leaving the place proud owners of a DIY Pergola.

For those who are not familiar with the name of pergola, it is defined as a garden feature forming a shaded sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. Or a type of gazebo...

Due to the SoCal weather (Hot) and our house's exposure, we have been enjoying since we moved in our new house a great back patio that we never use, simply because it isn't covered and it is simply too hot to sit outside...

So, once we received the 2 large boxes containing all the parts of the thing, I realized that I might need to enlist some friends to build it... Emails were sent, responses were in. Some came. Some didn't (I have the names).

So Tom and Connor showed up on a bright Sunday morning and the fun began.

SomaFM blasting some Indian - Trans - Chill-out music in the background, buckets of Mountain Dew served and burgers cooked by Sarah and missing tools were the backbone of the day...

When tools were missing, left field replacement were used: need a way to fix these cross beams? Nothing beats Ethernet cables and power cords to achieve secure attachment. Need a way to bend that beam? A Toyota car jack and a couple of Peter F. Hamilton novels to the rescue! Need a Level Bar? There's an (iPhone) App for that!

And after a mere 6 hours, just as the sun was about to set, the last screw was screwed and the pergola put in place. Boys were exhausted and all went home...

Next step: Pergola warming with Tom and family!

Langres, France (part 2, "Le Cheval Blanc")

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The same way I would make sure that I come to Langres every time I come to Europe, I try to make sure I pay a visit to my old friend Yves Chevalier (and family) each and every time I visit Langres, or to be more precise, to his restaurant, "Le Cheval Blanc", taking my parents out there, enjoying some champagne and petits-fours in the petit salon, surrounded by paintings of local artists and friends (PKB, you know who you are). 

 

This trip was no exception and the tribe (4 adults and 2 kids) invaded the place for a couple of hours of culinary pleasures washed by some fantastic wines, a visit between coté mer (seaside, mainly seafood) and coté terre (inland, earthy meats and flavours). 

 

If you ever drive by Langres, you absolutely have to stop by Yves' place and tell him I said "Hi!".

LA Rising Festival

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Once again, Geoff found a way to get me to come out of Suburbia and attend some gig...

Well, this one was impossible to pass on! Rise Against, Muse AND Rage Against the Machine were to play on the same stage! Lauren Hill and a couple of other bands played there as well, but I can't really say any of us was really interested...

The gig was insane. The day, very hot. The pit, absolutely mental (including a guy crowd surfing in a wheelchair). The sound, amazing. And the drive back home a drag!

Especially knowing that I had to drop Geoff and his bro to the After Party where the little buggers boogied until the wee hours of the day with the likes of Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Dominic Howard (Muse), Matt Sorum (Guns'N Roses, Velvet Revolver) and Sebastian Bach (SkidRow).

[Personal message: Dear Kyle, you know I now have no choice but to hate you!]

That's all folks!

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I am a strong believer that if you have to do something, do it with panache, with flair. If you have to go out, go out with a bang! My final evening at Disney and the leaving drinks that happened that night were no exception to this rule!

It all started with a couple of drinks with a couple of friends at my usual waterhole, Timmy Nolan's (where else?!). The couple of drinks did turn into a large a amount of drinks soon followed  by a rapid series of shots...

Sarah kindly came to Timmy's, hoping to bring me back home at some point. Sadly, that point never truly came and Sarah went back home alone and I did stay behind... Timmy's was followed by Sardos (yes, the home of the World Famous Porn Star Karaoke) and more shots...

The rest is a blur...

Until I woke up several hours later, in our family room, fully dressed, on our sofa, after a short night of sleep...

The best was still to come!

Sarah had everything planned and a typical Full English Breakfast was soon waiting for me (grease is the best cure to hangover). At this point, I realized that I was missing a couple of things, objects, devices, such as my phone, my backpack, my wallet and few brain cells... 

Last I remember, I was trying desperately to open the gate of our community using my Disney ID... To no success... Before that... not sure!

So I sent a couple of text messages to the team, trying to piece back together parts of the evening and find if anyone had kept any of my missing items...

First text back: "I have your phone". Second text: "You had your wallet at Sardos"... It was a start.

After I finished my breakfast, Sarah decided that I wasn't fit for driving and drove me to Burbank, for my last day at the Mouse House. Once there, I was reunited with my cell phone. On that phone, I had a text from one of the owner of "Timmy Nolan's": "Hi Cyril, we have your backpack. It is in the office. Come anytime to get it". So Sarah drove to Timmy's and picked up my bag while I was at the office, preparing for my exit interview. Then Sarah went to Sardos and retrieved my wallet. Most of my belongings were found. I was just short of one article, Mister P: one of my team members was MIA and hadn't shown up at the office. I knew he was alive as he had sent me text me at some point but no one knew where he had been since! 

Finally, (way) later that morning, a grey Mr. P. showed up and admitted that he knew things were not going to be that simple (and could turn ugly) when the bouncer at Sardo's gave me a hug at the door! The rest of his night (and some other team members) involved some long conversations with the big white telephone located in the small room that locks...

Yup, I definitely think I went out with a bang!

PS: To all of you who attended that night, thank you for a cracking hangover!

Geoff can always find gigs, even in Vegas!

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For the last couple of years, Geoff has been my lifeline to rock concerts, from the usual Camp Freddy gigs to Metallica, Iron Maiden and other loud things.

But this time, while we were both attending a trade show in Las Vegas (NAB), we managed to end up at a Franky Perez (FXP) gig, at out usual position: by the stage! If you haven't heard of him before (which would not be surprising), he is amongst other thing the guitarist of Scars on Broadway, a resident guest of Camp Freddy and potentially the best voice in LA these days. We were in for a treat!

The best part of the gig was that the band was playing at home, almost for friends and family. So after having met with the father of the guitarist, we ended chatting at the end with most of the band, joking about their sound issues through the night.

All in all, a so not Vegas night out and a very good gig!