Last night I attended the Steve Allen Theater event at Hollywood Forever, where scads of finely clad Art Deco folk gathered to drink very expensive shots of absinthe in the cathedral, in the presence of myriad crypts and larger-than-life-size religious statues. The utterly adorable Janet Klein and her 1920s-style band sang old sweet but “naughty” tunes as we stood in vast lines for the green fairy. Although the lines were ridiculously long, I managed to have an amazing time with my friends, the Devi Ant and her husband Indiana Jones.
Lounging amongst the crypts with a glass of French absinthe in hand, I spoke to a friend of theirs who it turns out works for a labor union. I asked him, “Why is it that all of my friends are for Prop 2, but some of the major Democratic leaders are against it?” He explained that the bill itself was penned by right-wingers whose goal is not to save the chickens but to instead drive a wedge between environmentalists and labor, since a lot of jobs will be lost, he says, with this bill. “It’s very clever,” he said, shrugging. “It’s already working.”
So, I’m a bit torn on this issue. I very, very much want to speak for the animals who need to be treated humanely, but if this bill really was penned by conservative bastards to keep environmentalists and labor pitted against each other instead of creating unity — which is a powerful thing — then that’s something that needs to be considered. I don’t understand exactly how jobs will be lost. That warrants more research.
Oh, incidentally, parking at the event sucked butt if you wanted to park in the cemetery. I chose to park across the street from the cemetery. And on our way out, a couple of sweet guys with a golf cart who worked there gave me and my pals a lift to the front gate. Sweet! Because I’m tellin’ ya, after all that dancing and gabbing, my toots were toast.