ODDS AND ENDS

January has gotten into full swing, with awards shows kicking into full gear, the football play-offs getting underway this past weekend, and my birthday coming up on the 14th, (in two days—oh my!,) we have so many little things to discuss. So I’m putting a few of them together, or gathering them, all here right now.

So let’s get them going:

1) In case you’re curious about this, my “strokiversary” calls are going well. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, where have you been for the past three months??? That was when I started celebrating being alive for a decade after suffering a serious mini-stroke in 2015.

So, since then, I’ve tried hard to call one friend, either an old one or a current one I haven’t been in touch with for a while, a different one every day, and catch-up with them. It’s been tons of fun for all of us, but I just haven’t had time to do it every day during the holidays. I’m planning on making sure I do every day now, but since this is my bday week, I want to wait and see just which pals call me! I’ll keep you posted on it all. (Yes, I have been taking notes! Of course.) [Note: If you’re a real friend of mine, please make sure I have your current phone number, by email or Facebook message, so I can call you soon.]

2) Many foodies in LA, especially in Culver City, were sad to learn that famous longtime restaurant, Akasha, closed recently. Even though I had not visited them in quite awhile, having reviewed the eatery a couple of times several years ago, during my tenure as the Restaurant Critic for The Culver City News, I understand the feeling.

But, if you were a fan of Akasha’s cooking, do not despair. You can always still buy her cookbook, which features over one hundred and fifty recipes.

3) I recently noticed something really weird in the world of television, which I don’t think has ever occurred before. Or at least not a lot. And that is: Why are so many major events, which are all televised and important-ish, being booked on the same day or night this year??? It’s insane.

The Super Bowl will take place on the same day and time as the second day of competition at the Winter Olympics! That will torture sports fans, such as yours truly! I always watch not just the actual Super Bowl game, but the all-day coverage, including all the after-shows. (How else can I tweet about it all?) On the other hand, I watch the Olympics coverage almost twenty-four hours a day! So I’m already tearing my hair out over that conundrum. (And to add to the confusion, they’re both on NBC!!!)

And then, just three weeks later, the Grammys and Actor Awards, (which is the new name of the former SAGs,) are on the same night and time frame. What if someone, or their spouse, is in both worlds??? (For example, Timothee Chalamet is actually nominated for both awards, which is a major big deal! And, just as a possible guest, there is Lalisa Manobol, who is Lisa from the singing group Blackpink and is also in the much-nominated show The White Lotus.) What are they supposed to do? There are many available industry planning calendars that come out a year or two before, which should be plenty of time for all of these event organizers to figure-out how to avoid such tricky situations!

4) The Actor Awards nominations came out last week, with few surprises. And this year, it seems that not many care about them, especially after that dumb and pretentious name change. I used to be so excited about all the screenings I was invited to, but this go-round, I haven’t accepted any, even one with a reception at my favorite real theatre, the Wallis, which would have been fascinating.

It’s actually all I can do to even force myself to watch the nominated performances on my own big screen TV, the links to which we SAG members receive.  (If you missed my first batch of Mini Movie Reviews on Friday, here’s the link: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2026-part-i.)

5) I have never been a major fan of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, but I do love their crazy commercials. And I am totally impressed with their amazing record so far this season. Right now they have thirty-three wins to only seven losses, which is possibly a record. But it was even better early on—at one point, (on December 10th,) they were twenty-four and one! Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.

6) Those previous musings are all well and good, even the slightly negative ones. But now I have to spare a thought about how sad this world has become, mostly driven by the insane power-crazy Orange Hitler. I always wonder how all of this evil could have happened, even a little bit.

But now, the murder of that woman in Minnesota by an ICE agent, sent by Trump, of course, has got me, and all normal citizens, in a special kind of rage. So much so that I can’t even find the necessary words to express my supreme disgust and fear, for us all. I’ll leave it at that for now, because the topic needs a much longer, and more thoughtful, column of its own down the line.

7) To bring the room back up, let me end this column on a happy note. A friend of mine, fellow writer Libby Slate, recently said my favorite thing anyone has ever said to me in my entire life!

I was telling her that when I was checking into a show biz event a few years ago, a PR person who was a fan of my former TV show told me that I was on the “Celebrity” list, as opposed to the “Press” one. I told Libby that it turned-out that I was correct—I was on that perhaps lesser list. And she replied with the beautiful, “But you’re the only press person who ever entertained Johnny Carson!!!” I swear, in all these years, I never thought of my Tonight Show appearances in that light; I always think in terms of just being on the show, which was impressive enough to me. But to realize that, yeah, I did entertain Johnny, make those experiences sooo much better, which I wouldn’t have even thought possible! So, thank you to Libby for that!

I just realized—that brings us full-circle in this article to my strokiversary calls! I hope that I’ll have as good a time talking with the rest of my pals going forward as I did with Libby. So, if you’ve ever been in my orb, get ready for some fun phone time!