Our Man in LA has been away from the blog for a good long while. Sorry to all those folks out there who check in from time to time, only to get nothing more for their troubles than an entry that dates back months (and a pretty political one, at that).

Basically, things have been crazy out here in the City of Angels, and I’ve had barely a moment to update anything. And, the way Our Man in LA figures it, he cannot be forced into a writing a nothing post just to keep the blog updated.

But apparently he can be shamed.

Yeah, it seems that Reggie Newton, official pal of Our Man in LA, called me out last week for being less than an exemplary blogger. That’s right – the same Reggie Newton who had a “Happy Hanukkah” posting up on his blog for 378 straight days.

But he’s right. I’ve been less than faithful. Mostly because after years of collecting the benefits of the move to California, the Karma Credit Bill has come due, and it’s time for me to pay back – by being busier than . . . well, than something that is extremely busy.

So what’s up? In a litany of bullets, my days include:

• The premiere of FREEDOM BOUND, the new show from City at Peace – Los Angeles, directed by Our Woman in LA, and featuring the acting, singing and dancing talents of 45 kids from all over the LA area. The show premieres this weekend – running June 1st through 3rd at the Nate Holden Theatre. An online flier is above for those of you who might be out here in the land of sun and fun over the next few days. Our Man in LA is on the board of advisors for City at Peace – Los Angeles (wonder how he got that gig?), so everyone here at Casa Wieland is excited to see the show come to fruition.
  



• Work, work, work. A lot of travel over the past few months – a trip to Washington and Baltimore that ended with an intense stomach flu. A couple of trips to the Windy City. A trip to Portland, home of Doc Noel and likely base of operations for either Kevin Durant or Greg Oden. Not to mention a couple of new responsibilities that have crept out of the woodwork.
  



• A couple of scripts – one for a short film I’ll be directing over the summer, the other for the manager.
  



• In-laws descending on the City of Angels this weekend for the aforementioned showing of FREEDOM BOUND. That’s right. All the in-laws.

And so on.

Look, we all know how these things go. Generally, I take a hiatus from the blog, and then I come back with a head of steam and for a few weeks, I’m blogging like a house afire. And then I burn out again.

So I’m not making any promises here on what’s coming tomorrow. But I will say that in days to come, I’ll bring back my top and bottom lists; I’ll explain why Veronica Mars might even be better than Buffy the Vampire Slayer; I’ll talk about DC Comics’ 52 and Countdown series, not to mention the death of Captain America; I’ll talk about the movies I’ve seen this summer, both on TV and in the theatre . . . and we’ll go from there.

But folks, I understand that a big reason that people tune into Our Man in LA is to get a little bit of insight into those crazy people who dwell on the left coast. To hear about fires and earthquakes and celebrity murder trials.

Now I’ll admit that fires are losing their uniqueness. Georgia’s got them now, too. But we had a bunch up in Griffith Park a few weeks back, and fear of the blaze spreading to Our Man in LA’s Los Feliz neighborhood scared a lot of the rich people who live on the hills out of their palatial mansions.

This little tidbit from the LA Times fire blog spells out everything you need to know about life in SoCal. It is, if you will, and Jon Stewart permitting, our Los Angeles moment of zen:

Returning to a burned landscape
Stephen Halbert swept ash from his brick patio this morning, trying to clear it before his wife returned to the 1926 house on Aberdeen Avenue they have lived in for seven years. Halbert had been standing outside his home at 8 p.m. Tuesday watching the glow of the fire grow closer and redder when neighbor Kirstie Alley drove up and told him to leave. He grabbed his cats and his computer and jumped in his black Prius.
Halbert's wife spent the night with friends in the San Fernando Valley, where she had been rehearsing a play. He spent the night of his 57th birthday in his car at a nearby Albertson's parking lot with a handful of other evacuees. He was too wired to sleep and wanted to stay up to listen to the radio. Besides, he'd left his wallet in his house.
Returning just after 6 a.m. today, Halbert was grateful to the firefighters but saddened at the loss of so much parkland, where he and his wife hike. But the movie sound man found something to be optimistic about. He'd never heard so many birds singing, he said.
-Mary Engel

That’s right. Mansions, Kirstie Alley, fires, laptops, cats, and a Prius. Take that, Karma Credit Bill! Our Man in LA delivers!