Nerd-free video game party?

What has this world come to? In this case Los Angeles. A place where even video game enthusiasts aren't the bespectacled dough-faced boys that draw over-sexualized cartoons of you as a present. Insert awkward laughter here. They know who they are.

Shifted2u was on the scene at the Vita Hill Social Club in Santa Monica, celebrating the pre-launch of the PlayStation Vita. They threw a bash to remember, and not just because the place was filled with nerds that were...hot. Imagine lounging on leather ottomans and cheetah-skin rugs, while testing the games. The rugs were faux, PETA. Calm down. Oh, and PETA? Faux is French for fake, and the "x" is silent, thaaaaanks.

As we played the Vita, and as I unsuccessfully tried to steer my character into a fire to see the graphics, we were nourished by slices of hot pizza, 50 Cent's Street King energy shots, Guayaki Yerba Mate (which some homeless dude accosted me for later, assuming it was Four Lokos), and Kind health bars. Oh, did I mention the open bar? Open bars should get their very own sentence. As should the team of Ghostbusters that were on-site. Yep, that happened.

Props to Shifted2u for a great party, and to all those nerds, bringing sexy back to gaming. In case it was ever there in the first place.

Diego Rivera = Overrated

I don't get the deal with Diego Rivera. Everyone sings his praises, though his art was rudimentary. Plenty of Los Angeles murals outshine his, except maybe in Venice Beach, where murals go to die. It was interesting when he married the eccentric and infinitely more talented Frida Kahlo, but otherwise, holy Crayola. Was it his soul that people admired? Becasue he may have been a painter "for the people," but he was also a gluttonous philanderer shameless enough to bed Frida's sister Cristina.  He can paint all the tubby, barefoot field workers he wants, but he seemed indifferent to human suffering, considering how much he caused.

Am I being too hard on the man who shares the same last name as Geraldo? Maybe. My favorite painter is John Singer Sargent, so it may be an issue of taste. I just know that when I walked into Tinsmith, a breathtaking Mexican gallery illuminated by handcrafted tin (pictured above) I couldn't believe that Diego Rivera was the best Mexican artist we could come up with. You can find this amazing Mexican craft gallery in Old Town San Diego.

The art in Tinsmith is an ethereal mix of the camp that's Dia de los Muertos and the exquisite refinement of Renaissance art. We're so busy praising crudely painted calla lilies, that we tend to overlook this unrivaled medium. Tinsmith is definitely worth a visit.

That's what I'm talking about.

This? Yea not so much.

Save the Males

I know, I know, most guys who make reference to the times "When men were men" are usually sexists whom complain that women need to be seen, not heard. But there is something to say for, well, men who are manly.

Los Angeles is a town where men even straight men get mani-pedis and say stuff like, "Your nails say a lot about you." They swear off carbs and have twice as much hair product as their female counterparts. It's no wonder us girls pine for the type who know a bit about carpentry. Heck, even falconry doesn't seem as geeky at this point.

This doesn't mean that men should be denied the pleasures that us females enjoy. Watch Sex & the City; it's quality entertainment and priceless research for the single man. There is also no reason men should be denied of sensual pleasures, like scented candles. But now, their homes won't have to reek of sweet pea and freesia if they don't want them to. With the tag line, Candles on Testosterone, the Mandle has arrived - candles for men. Featuring scents like stogie, auto shop, whiskey and meat and potatoes, this might make up for all the Paul Mitchell business she finds in your bathroom when seeing your place for the first time to "watch a movie."

Seriously?

Universal City, CA