A marvelous little party in Pasadena was the order of the day, in honour of our friend's impending sprog. Ahhh. The house was breathtaking, indeed it had a plaque on the wall indicating its status as a National Historic Monument. Blimey! And I used the loo, three times - felt very honoured. The assembled company was wonderful, very warm and friendly. The many kids played and ran around while the grown-ups chatted away about all sorts of things but mostly the 'industry', the vast majority of the attendees hailing from one of the world's biggest animation companies (local, of course)... not Mickey Mouse's lot, the other one. Met lots of nice people, including quite a few Brits who seems to thrive in the warm environment of Southern California! Met a writer who has a fully funded (live action, i.e. not animated) feature due for filming up in Canada. He's been plugging away to get funding, I think he said, for four years which is, about par for the course. I subtly put my name forward, of course, but really not making anything of it, this being a non-networking social function and my strong sense of integrity (and the strong sense of not wanting to be branded as an 'inappropriate actor chap') not allowing me to talk shop. He and his wife gave me their email so I'll drop 'em a note. Nice people.
West Hollywood on Emmy night was, of course, a little busy. Not just the roads either. The skies were like 'Nam, I counted four helicopters either hovering above a posh party or doing tight circles in the sky.
The only thing I have to say about the Emmys is congratulations fellow Brit thesps... Dame Helen, Kelly Macdonald (nice surprise, not for the Yanks, of course!) and Jeremy Irons. Presenting kudos to Hugh Laurie and (cough) Simon Cowell. Nice job, luvvies.