Monkey's birthday was nice. We were both beyond tired, having been up til 4:30 that morning.

I took him to see Laurel Canyon. Lisa Cholodenko's new film is a lot like her first one, in that it is deeply flawed, but still very watchable.

She succeeds in capturing a certain floppy, boozy, California feeling, and it's such a pleasure to see a female record producer depicted in a film, especially when she's played by the wonderful Frances McDormand. There are a couple of really good lines (look out for one about Spin magazine) and some fairly hot love scenes. And Lou Barlow plays the bass player!

The music studio scenes are pure Hollywood--you woulda thought they'd try for an authentic feel, but the fakeness is disappointing. And the film's main conflict is set up so nicely and resolves so lamely that I was shaking my head in disbelief.

Nevertheless, I'd still recommend this one.

We had dinner afterwards at Smith Street Kitchen in Cobble Hill. The food was excellent. Smith Street--the actual street, not the restaurant--is my favorite place to just randomly pick a place to eat, because all those li'l bistros are great.

Do you ever wonder what Robin Lane and the Chartbusters are up to? I do!