BATES RATES NEWS

PO!NT©

EYE WITNESS REPORTS ON HUMAN CULTURE

PO!NT. The PO!NT is....Case In PO!NT...used to be Bates Rates News but the new name is more to the PO!NT.

My article on legendary LA artist Ed Moses and his sons Andy and Cedd is now on newstands in WESTSIDE and SOUTHBAY magazines. Or check it out at the link: http://www.lifeinthesouthbay.com/South-Bay-Magazine/Holiday-2009/The-Accidental-Rebel/

Holiday, 2009

ISSUE #90

Yeah! We finally got some rain in LA with more to come. PO!NT has been noticing the lack of good holiday parties this season, though. Charities are cutting back, boutiques are shuttering...The very rich are doing OK, but the poor are standing in longer lines these days. Still, there's fun to be had by everyone. For instance, blues man extraordianaire, Johnny Hawthorne, tore up the Cinema Bar last week. No cover and the place was too busy for anyone to hound us to buy drinks! The Dakota Lounge (formerly the Temple Bar) on Wilshire in Santa Monica celebrated it's one year anniversary recently with a munchie and wine reception. Damiani hosted a reception for Hollywood Reporter's 100 Most Important Women in Entertainment. Nice catered food and wine, and much to the photogs' chagrin, quite a few of the Not-so Important Women in Entertainment showed up. No Eva Longoria, Sharon Stone or Oprah. Could it be that the celebs don't want to appear ostentatious by attending swank jewelry events??? Jack Nicolson walked by - but hit Tiffany's instead (I still want to know where HE was the night Polanski was at his house partying with a young girl!). Suzy Williams enchanted the audience at newly opened Angel's (formerly Holly's West). Her vintage song stylings (with Brad Kay on piano) were note perfect!

Being a culture writer can be problematic. Once can be so engaged in observing and participating that finding the time to actually write about such activities (not to mention getting enough sleep to write intelligently and accurately) is almost impossible. Twittering and maintenance of social networking sites and the expectation of instant posting and blogging is stressful and time consuming. Deleting invitations to join/follow/update/download/”you have to see this”/register/login can use up a substantial part of the day and too much brain time.

This newsletter was never intended to be a blog (I am not fond of that term, by the way). Rather, it is an attempt to report on the goings on of homo sapiens – to PO!NT to the accomplishments and failures, the ups and downs, the good and bad of our species – to remind readers that we all experience the same trials and triumphs, albeit with different degrees and responses. PO!INT will be updated when enough information has been gathered to publish with forethought and honesty. The stress of meeting deadlines will be reserved for print outlets to whom I contribute.

Whew! I feel so much better now. My desire to slow things down a bit may stem from screening some new films recently that are slower paced than the usually American fare. Watching these films required abandoning the world of constant blasts of sound and images that speed through our systems so fast that they barely lodge in our memories. Each film was like a mini-vacation. Reviews are now posted on REVIEW page.

Meanwhile - check out the new event photos posted with more to come. Enjoy!

Oh, one more rant: I'm pretty weary of sports commentators right now, regarding Tiger Woods: "Hey he's not superhuman, he's just a man!"

So only superhuman men can be faithful to their wives??? P-U-H-L-E-E-Z.

PO!NT, was established in 2002 as BATES RATES NEWS by Dianne Bates, a Los Angeles-based culture journalist whose writing and/or photography has appeared on the covers of the LOS ANGELES TIMES Calendar section, FLAUNT MAGAZINE, LA Architect Magazine, and CITY AND SHORE MAGAZINE. She has also written for Variety, Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, Where LA Magazine, Malibu Magazine, RPM, Performance Plus, and Luxury Life and Style. She is the former Visual Arts Editor of the Tacoma Reporter. Dianne was one of the early Internet TV reporters on NETTHISTV.com. She served as a judge in the 2004 California Mid-State Wine Competition and associate judge in the 2006 Central Coast Wine Competition.
Dianne serves as Advisory Board Liason for the non-profit Malibu Friends of Music, established by composer/violinist Maria Newman and conductor/violist Scott Hosfeld.
She is currently co-writing a book and screenplay, CRIME AND CIRCUMSTANCE about the gay scene and record business in Hollywood from the mid-1950's through the early 1980's.

R. Crumb's illustrations of THE BOOK OF GENESIS is now showing at the Hammer/UCLA Museum in Westwood. The unlikely pairing of Crumb's bawdy images and biblical text works amazingly well. The Bible, after all, features some pretty raucous stories and Crumb didn't touch a word. A must see for fans of Crumb's four decade career!

Jerry Bruckheimer was among the attendees at the launch of Strange Invisibles' latest scent, FIRE AND CREME on Abott Kinney Blvd. in Venice. After testing many of the custom blends, I decided that Fire and Creme was the perfect fall/winter scent! http://siperfumes.com . Master perfumer Alexandra Balahoutis is a wonder!

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