And the winner is...

Well not our dear Little Pig – not even best smile or best legs (which we all know he has)… then again, maybe he did and I am just a bad pageant mum, because Aunty Alia and I got hungry and therefore missed the crowning (woops!).

That being said, what a spectacular day we had! I first peeled Little Pig out of bed at 8:30am (remember, he usually does not rise before noon) and packed him into Alfie the Mini. We then drove off to pick up Aunty Alia in Brentwood. After a quick caffeine stop at Starbucks, we were off to Seal Beach for the annual Bulldog Beauty Contest (yes – that was not  a typo, there is in fact an annual Bulldog Beauty contest). 

It is actually a fund raiser for dog shelters and adoption NGO’s, and over the years it has grown so large that they average around 400 bulldogs entering for 3 coveted prizes – overall beauty, best smile and best legs (all of whom win a years worth of food and treats).

As cute, funny, so ugly they are cute the dogs were, the owners were just as amazing to watch! A lot of them wore matching outfits to their dogs (AMAZING!) and then others just had fab outfits… if only there had been a way for me to snap secret pics of them…

Litte Pig kissing a friend

Little Pig cleaning out a friends ear (eww!)

We ran into my friend Morgan and some of her friends wich was great (I had not seen Morgan since we wrapped Inception) and then it was time for Little Pig to do his “Walk” across the stage and impress the judges. 

The Pageant was judged by Mrs. Long Beach and other beauty pageant winners!

They also had plenty of doggie spectators!

Unfortunately, he was sandwiched between the two cutest frenchie puppies (agh), 

Sooooo cute!

it was tough competition but I still have no doubt that he should have (maybe he did??!) won best legs…

After all that excitement, Little Pig was pretty much falling asleep on his feet so we hopped in the car and came back home! 

Other doggies were exhausted as well...

He is now sitting next to me having lovely puppy dreams (and being a lot more appreciative of his pageant mum, as she does not dress hi up in weird costumes…)!

ummmmm...

My mother called me today to warn me of the end of the world that was coming my way (aka the tsunami warnings, which in fact I had no idea bout!). 

Then she followed that up with “Why have you not updated your blog – ahem”! Well there are two reasons for this. The first that I have genuinely been busy this week, and then secondly, I feel a little self-righteous continuing with a blog about my life when in fact there is really nothing going on…

Therefore I take this opportunity to apologize to all who read this for film and arts news and are now being bombarded with what I ate and what time I went to bed. Feel free to take an “Aya Adventure” hiatus and I can let you all know when you should tune in next (if ever!).

With that out of the way, let me tell you what I have been up to mum!

The last time I wrote I believe I was getting my ass in gear thanks to Tom and his dictator like powers over me. Thank god he has been summoned to Iowa or some god-forsaken place by his boss and has therefore left me to continue eating my way through Los Angeles!

Wednesday was a busy day in that I was prepping and shooting scenes for a little side project I am working on. I had wanted my friend Helen’s mother to be in it but she was having none of it. Then for some reason, she had a change of heart so I jetted over there and took advantage of her opening her home to me (hurrah)! She was so great and also insisted that I stay for dinner (yum!).

Thursday was spent getting all the footage logged and putting the finishing touches on my application for the Disney/ ABC DGA Directors Fellowship – for some reason this REALLY stressed me out and when I went to mail it, the lady at the post office told me that there are 2 guys in the neighborhood who put their applications in for the same fellowship every year (they have been doing it for over 5)… how depressing (fingers crossed everyone – what a shame it is not chosen by votes eh!).

In the evening my work husband Carlo and I went to dinner and to see my friend Norman perform his one-man show at the Noho Arts Center. 

It was so great to catch up with Carlo and we were even able to share food as whilst in NZ I discovered that I actually now like Beetroot (which is one of Carlo’s favorites) – yum yum!

Our Yummy Beets salad with pesto and arugula 

The show was really touching; it was a solo act in which Norman wrote all the music etc. I know Norman from the bookshop on Larchmont and had NO IDEA that he was such a great performer! 

This was his “coming out” so to speak and every night he is sold out (bravo indeed)! I am so proud of him!

Then on Friday it was back to editing, but not without a lunch break with my good friend Callie. Callie is on her way to Chicago today to start work on a new FOX TV pilot but will be back in 2 months. Little Pig has a HUGE crush on her and was so delighted to see her…

Today I would not have left the house if it were not to take pig out to pee. Seriously – it is now 7pm and I am still in my pajamas editing (sigh). It is not at all how I want it to be and not having money, a crew, postproduction facilities etc is rather sad (waaa). All the more reason to make it to the top…

Anyhow, tomorrow is another big day as Little Pig is entered into the Long Beach, International Bulldog Beauty Pageant (that right – he is running for Mr. Los Angeles). They have about 400 bulldogs in competition and all the money raised goes to animal rescue and shelters. Should be a laugh so will be sure to post photos tomorrow!

Sweet As is on line!

That’s right folks - "Sweet As" (my baby) is finally up on line for you to all ogle at and give feedback

www.your-big-break.com

is where you will find it along with the 4 other finalist’s films. To be honest, its going to be a tough decision for Peter Jackson as they are all so different but it will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

Speaking of which, it has been quite depressing sitting here with no mandatory work to distract me from the impeding winner decision. My friends have been really great at filling up my dance card and therefore I have had quite the time catching up with everyone since my return.

Tom pointing to where he is going to make hike too...

Yesterday I was hijacked by Tom (a dear friend from way back in the day). I had suggested that we go get food; he suggested that I get my ass in shape and therefore made me go on a hike. I always HATE going on hikes and then once I am on them I love it and wonder why I don’t take advantage of all the trails that surround my place more often...

Trying not to pass out!

We then went back to Tom's place to watch a short movie his friend has just made. It’s called "Summer Solstice" and is fantastic (though super depressing). I can’t remember the director’s name (will have to ask Tom) but it is worth checking out (though not sure where one rents/ gets short films - really is a sin)!

 Then today, it was off to Clio's for lunch. Clio is by far the best cook I know - she just "throws" things together and they are delicious. She has her sister in law Korisa and Korisa's 9-month-old baby Bella staying with her so it was a little girlie get together.

Clio and Chiara

Chiara and Pig playing in the new veggie garden boxes Clio had made!

Clio made a delicious omelet, lemonade and an orange, vanilla cake with orange blossom syrup - aghhhh SOOOOOOO yummy!!

 While I was at Clio's I was also lucky enough to get a mail from none other than Barrie Osborne with a recommendation letter attached! I had asked him for one last week but had not heard back so thought that was that but low and behold there it was! I am so chuffed!

With that, I am now prepping to go and start shooting my mini documentary on Mrs. Kim (my BFF Helen Kim's mum) tomorrow - I am both excited and nervous as tomorrow will determine weather or not I will have what I need to cut together my short for next week (eeek)!

Fingers crossed!!

PS feel free to leave all your comments and feedback (good and bad) for "Sweet As" here, via e mail (aya_tanimura@phobicfilms.com) or on the Your Big Break site!!

Shudder Island?

Yup - I went to see Shutter Island (or as I have re named it "Shudder Island") last night. The good part? I was able to catch up with my BFF's Jay Bender (who is one of the best editors I know and did such wonders as the trailers for Avatar and those damn Twilight movies)...

Jay and I back in the day at Coachella!

and Tim Zimmer (another fierce editor who refuses to be in photos!). We had not seen each other in quite some time so it was great to catch up...

Bad part? Well the movie really - don't want to go into too much detail for those who have yet to see it, however the ending was way too easy and obvious and I just thought that they could have made what ended up being a mediocre movie, a really great one with a little more effort. That being said, I did shriek in a few parts and I thought that Leo did a great job so it was not a total waste of time...

Last but not least it was raining so Little Pig refused to go for a walk (nothing new there) but we did manage to go to the tennis courts and on the way home I discovered a grapefruit tree in an abandoned lot so decided to help myself - delicious!

 Who said nothing in life is free eh (watch me get arrested today)!

Last but not least... to round up what I can only describe as the most riveting blog post ever was that Ryan and I made one of those "Crystal Tree's" (did anyone else do these as kids?). 

Maybe it is our lack of cable TV or our need to get a life, but we were most excited to discover later that evening that the tree had grown - how exciting!

At this juncture I am really open to anything and everything that will get my mind off the impeding Peter Jackson judgement!

Lazy Saturday...

And Lazy it was indeed! Little Pig and I slept in until 11:30am (yup – I am not ashamed to admit that I channeled my inner teen and slept past a respectable hour… people keep telling me that I will hit 30 and I will no longer be able to sleep past 9am but I will have to see that to believe it – I LOVE TO SLEEP!).

Ryan was up before us and started work on one of his papers. He was supposed to do school work all day, so I thought that this was a great excuse for me to stay in and work on some of my own projects.

Ryan and I are really not great at working together as we are great at finding reasons that we have to abandoned what we are working on and do something else. Therefore at around 2pm, I decided we both needed some fresh air and therefore totted on over to Larchmont for a coffee…

There is nothing like a little Coffee Bean to make you feel happy to be in Los Angeles (ahhhh)…

It was then off to the bank to yell at them for allowing people to siphon thousands of dollars from our accounts (we got new cards, changed pin numbers, lowered daily limits etc) and then it was a quick stop at Chevalier Books and home again…

We worked some more and then I cooked Soba for dinner (I had green onions that were about to turn and it was the only dish I could think of that uses a lot of them!).

My chopped green onions in the bowl I made at pottery class with Helen last year!

It was really yummy and even little Pig got in on the fun…

It was then time to take the pig for his evening romp at the Hancock Park tennis club, but sadly it was not as long as it usually is as he seemed to hurt his little paw (eek)!

Lets hope that he can sleep this one of eh!

I am going to get back to the drawing board as just started trying to put my initial idea for this short movie together and it is TOTALLY not working (grrrr) – really keeping my fingers crossed that Mrs. Kim changes her mind and wants me to make a mini doc on her!! HINT HINT HELEN’s MUM – please to be saving me and helping me become a famous, credible director!!!

How can you say "no" to a face like this?

Freaky Friday

Ok ok, so it was not freaky at all - just sounds more exciting to start it off that way.

Actually, to be honest, I had to check that it was in fact Friday as I have lost track of days!

Today started off with a trip to the Valley (Burbank to be precise). I had asked my good friend Helen yesterday if I could do a mini documentary on her mum (her mum was having non of it) but we did realize that we both had nothing to do today so decided a trip to IKEA was in order (I needed candles and she needed curtains). 

Viet finding bargains on Craigslist - he has mad skills!

 Helens boyfriend Viet lives in Burbank so we met at his place and then walked over to IKEA where I saw this gem in a window...

and started our day with a hearty 99c breakfast of Swedish pancakes with elderberry sauce (or as Helen called is Legoberry!) - YUM!

Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberry Sauce and Elderflower Water (YUM!)

 Sadly they did not have the curtains Helen wanted, but I scored well in the candle department (being the good friend Helen is, she talked me out of purchasing a throne for Little Pig that I was convinced I needed)!

From there I hopped back in the car to go home and meet Alia and Sabrina. They came over were we hung out before walking over to Larchmont get some food (our favorite past time and apparently what I do all day long... hmmmm).

We went to the Larchmont Bungalow (out regular hang out) and were fortunate enough to meet one of the cooks there who I jokingly pretended to be disgruntled with over the fact that they never have a vegetarian soup option. He then said, "well what do you want?" to which I said "tomato soup". Low and behold about 15 minutes later 3 large bowls (and by large bowls I can only describe as "buckets") arrived with the most delicious tomato soup! 

People kept passing on the street and asking what it was and wanted to order it but were denied (he he he). He then tried to send out free dessert but we were already having a tough time getting up off the bench so politely declined and walked over to Chevalier Books.

 Little Pig got his treats (which looked suspiciously like human cookies - so much so that Norman who works there thought they were and helped himself to some??!!). Speaking of Norman, he has what looks to be an AWESOME one-man show coming up on February 25th - 28th at the Noho Arts Center (becomingnorman.tix.com). Anyhow we completely lost track of time so what was originally going to lead to a trip to Target soon became a hightail back home so that Sabrina could go do some volunteer work!

I dabbled at some short film ideas before cooking Yakisoba for Ryan and I (why is everything I write about food??!!)...

 oxoxo

Aya

PS can we talk about the fact that I am going TOTALLY insane with analyzing my short movie? Wondering what is going to happen, what movie Peter Jackson is going to choose, why he will choose that one bla bla bla... need to be able to turn my damn brain off!! agh!

Me on my bed watching "Sweet As" for the ?? time!