Odds And Sods From Hollywood...

***The Artist has been a busy boy the past few weeks with a combination of auditions, school and his social life.

His auditions have included:

1. TV commercials.

2. A film about an abused altar boy.

3. Having to dance Gangnam Style for a video game spot. The Gangnam Style audition was funny because there were no lines to learn, no character motivation and no back story to learn before the audition. The only thing Zach had to do was prove he knew how to perform the worldwide dance craze.

***School has been moving at a normal pace. He’s working on his math units at the moment. He has five units to finish and each unit is 70 pages! I have the feeling he’ll been working on math for the rest of the month (and maybe part of December).

***Halloween night was the most memorable trick-or-treat night I've experienced as an adult. We went to Toluca Lake because all of the families we're friends with told us it's "the place to be on Halloween". We decided to trust them and took Zach to the neighborhood. The place was crawling with kids and adults dressed in costume and enjoying the amazing Halloween displays. The houses I can remember at the moment featured:

1. A yellow brick road (driveway) leading to the garage of a home with an image of The Great & Powerful Oz projected on the garage door. "The Wizard" was out of sight but he was on a loud speaker asking the children to grab some candy and then go home and get some rest. "The Wicked Witch" was in a tree by the driveway telling everyone to ignore "The Wizard" and keep gathering candy.

2. One family turned their home into a 3-D Maze.

3. A police car crashed into one yard and medics were working on helping the victims. A zombie would leap out of the trash can to scare kids. The windows of the home featured scenes of ghoulish families.

4. A monster dance party in one front yard with not-so-scary music and dancing zombies.

5. A creepy home featured a hillbilly theme and two guys playing the banjos. (Yes. it was "Dueling Banjos")

Toluca Lake is the home of many current Hollywood stars and some old Hollywood money. They're not afraid to spend their money on making sure Halloween is fun for families of all ages.

***He also took part in a Red Carpet Event on Hollywood Blvd. to benefit "The Shoe Crew". They donate new shoes to needy kids and their families. It was a Halloween Red Carpet Event so he teamed with a buddy to go as The Blues Brothers. Zach was Jake while his partner was Elwood. They got to walk the Red Carpet on a Saturday night in Hollywood. It was great fun to watch the faces of every kid at the event because for that moment they were Hollywood superstars at an event near the Hollywood Stars Walk Of Fame.

***The Artist spent a recent Saturday morning playing kickball for a new film. It's funny to think of the various jobs everyone has to do in order to make a living. I'm not sure if anyone would even think of getting paid to play kickball as a real career option.

He spent three hours kicking the ball, trying to throw out opposing players and running the bases. I'm always happy when his bookings also involve a good amount of exercise.

We went to lunch with one of his fellow actors after the shoot. Dana and I had to move to another table when their conversation turned to cheat codes and Halo 4 game strategies. I'm okay with video games but I don't want to discuss ways to find hidden power and weapons. I just want to play the game!

***For the moment, that's the latest from Hollywood. Have a great week!