They have some of the original costumes from the movie on display at the ArcLight Cinema -- including the Mr. Pirrelli costume worn by Sascha Baron Cohen (right) and a couple of Helena Bonham Carter's costumes (left).

Monday afternoon I was back in Norwalk at the Super Saver Cinema to see "Across the Universe." I even made it there on time.

Basically this is a jukebox musical that takes Beatles songs and weaves them into the story to propel it forward. The Beatles were (a little) before my time. I recognized nearly all the songs, but didn't realize they were Beatles tunes.

The story is pretty light -- Jude, from Liverpool, comes to America and falls in love.

I was checking my watch by the end of the movie, but I have to admit the ending was tremendous.

Julie Taymor -- who brought "The Lion King" to the stage -- directs the movie and, as you would expect, some of the visual images are stunning.

Plan Bee

Went to The Grove last night to see "Charlie Wilson's War." What a disappointment! I guess it proves the old adage "the Congressional appropriations process is a boring topic for a movie."

I went to the Super Saver Cinema in Norwalk with the intention of seeing "Across the Universe." But traffic was bad and I got there after the movie began, so instead I saw "The Bee Movie."

One of three movies nominated for Best Animated Feature Film, I thought it was OK. I really prefer hand drawn animation to computer animation. As, sorry, but I wasn't that impressed by Jerry Seinfeld's humor in the movie.

Company's Calling

Saturday night I saw the Celebration Theater's modern reimagination of "A Christmas Carol." They turned Scrooge into the owner of a high-fashion design firm. But he still gets visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future -- and they scare the bejezus out of him.

In the end they have a Merry Christmas -- One and All.

I'm very excited about having the time this weekend to work on my Golden Globes list.

Too bad the movies I saw Saturday weren't better.

I watched the George Clooney legal thriller "Michael Clayton" at the Culver Plaza Theater in Culver City. Too bad it wasn't very thrilling. Just a bunch of people chasing each other in cars. I paid $3.50 to see it and it was overpriced.

I rented "A Mighty Heart," the Angelina Jolie about the murder of Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan. Obviously a gruesome tale, and one I don't think is suited for being told in a movie. Lots of scenes of cellphones ringing in the dark.

Christmas Cheer

Had a great dinner last night in Rancho Cucamonga with my Mother's side of my family. We ate at Lucille's BBQ Restaurant in the ginormous Victoria Gardens shopping mall. The food was good and, as you can see, the portions are ample.

After dinner I went to the movie theater next door to work on my Golden Globes list. I caught "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story." It's a VERY funny fake documentary about a rock star tracing his rise from Springberry, Arkansas (where he accidentally chops his brother clean in half with a machete -- an unfortunate incident which haunts him throughout his life) to rock stardom to isolation on a Tennessee farm (where he decides to face his demons to perform on stage after a 20 year absence to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award).

It's definitely an adult comedy, but it's wicked good fun. And it's two more ticks on my list.

Friday morning started out with a bang -- a 7:30 a.m. (!) debate before the Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce's Government Review Committee.

Afterwards I had a chance to stop off at one of my favorite spots for breakfast -- the 24th Street Cafe. Great biscuits!

Gonna Moose the Holidays

While the rest of the country slows down to enjoy the holidays -- with 40 plus days left until the February 5 election -- we're just cranking along. Spent last night in San Luis Obispo County and tonight in Kern County.

Had a good dinner last night at McClintock's Restaurant and Saloon in Paso Robles, where the walls are lined with trophy critters.

End of another day in paradise -- sunset on Wednesday at the San Luis Obispo Airport.

Spotted this house in Templeton today. Where do you think they store all of this stuff when it's not Christmastime? I guess that's one good thing about inflatable decorations.

See Food, But No Seafood

GeezBob and I had our traditional Christmastime Dinner at Lawry's Prime Rib in Beverly Hills tonight. I like to go as close to Christmas as possible. I'm out of town tomorrow night and GeezBob is leaving for Iowa to see his parents on Thursday, so tonight was the night to go.

(I'm jealous GeezBob gets to be in Iowa right before the January 3rd caucus. I've asked him which candidate he's going to walk precincts for? Apparently none have motivated him to put his snow boots to use yet.)

Since it was raining pretty hard tonight the restaurant wasn't as packed as it normally is during the holidays.

Our waitress, from Ireland, was lots of fun to talk to. Here she adds dressing to the famous spinning bowl of salad.

When I showed her this photo she was impressed at how I perfectly framed the Christmas Tree between her arm and the stream of salad dressing. Yes, that's exactly what I was going for.

Peter the Carver is ready to plate our entree from one of the the rolling silver art deco carts.

Three Ticks

Back in the hunt to see Golden Globe nominated films I went to see "Juno" tonight -- nominated for 3.

It's a sweet and funny movie about teenage pregnancy -- not exactly a light-hearted topic.

But the writing is fresh and the characters are quirky, making for a bittersweet experience.

Extended Stay

Spent today in Crescent City, attending an Election Forum in the afternoon.

The plan was to fly home Saturday night. So I was a little surprised when I showed up and they didn't have me in the computer at the airport. Turns out I inadvertently booked my flights home for January 15, not December 15. Oopsie! Tonight's flights were all booked up so I'm spending a second night here and flying home in the morning.

The photo above is the Del Norte County Lighthouse at sunset.

The shoreline at Crescent City, California.

The Del Norte County Democratic Party had a pretty good turn out for their event today. This photo was early on. More people kept coming and they had to keep bringing out more chairs.

Before heading over to the Election Forum I had a good breakfast at the very colorful Apple Peddler Restaurant.

Go North and When You Run Out of California, You're There

Made my way to Crescent City in Del Norte County tonight for an Election Forum tomorrow.

I've been here before, but tonight was my first time at the local airport.

You know it's a small airport when you fly in on a tiny airplane and once everyone has deplaned and gone into the terminal the lobby is jam packed to capacity.

And you know the rental car operation is tiny when instead of telling you the number of the stall where your car is parked they tell you the way to find your car is to "go to the lot and push the alarm button on the key fob to find your car."

In an effort to make progress on the Golden Globes list I went to the only Cineplex in Crescent City tonight to see "Enchanted," the only movie nominated for Golden Globes (2) that I haven't seen currently playing here.

I went in with very low expectations, but have to say the movie was thoroughly entertaining. A Disney fairy princess comes to the real world (New York City) and has to learn to cope. Lots of funny scenes and some sweet moments makes this a movie worth seeing -- especially if you grew up watching Disney movie fairy tales.

The movie theater seems to be where the "bad" kids in Crescent City hang out. Lots of kids with dyed hair, body piercings and skateboards wilding on the walkway.

Like Los Angeles, the people in Crescent City like to sit behind me in the movie theater and talk. The difference is, in Crescent City, every few minutes the theater manager comes in and scowls at the talkers.

Squeaky Clean

I'm up to my eyeballs in work, but I'm also a believer in striking some sort of a life-work balance. And with the list of Golden Globe nominees out today -- www.goldenglobes.org -- it just seemed like I had to go to a movie tonight.

I watched "Atonement," nominated for seven Golden Globes. It's about a 13 year old girl in pre-WWII England who makes a bad decision and messes up several lives in the process. As you can guess from the title of the movie, she spends the rest of her life seeking to correct that mistake. The end of the movie is heartbreaking and I was surprised by how its impact snuck up on me.

Before the movie I stopped off at Hot Dog on a Stick in the Westside Pavilion. I was happy to see they still make their lemonade the old fashioned way -- by hand.

Spent Tuesday night at the Modesto Doubletree Hotel where I was thrilled to receive a complimentary upgrade to their very lovely Presidential Suite. I'm glad to see they know who I think I am.