I saw an opulent trailer, nearly as large as the Secret Stash itself, on a Burbank lot, mere feet from the twin soundstages that housed a mock mission-control center, the interior of a space shuttle, Liv Tyler, working moon rovers, a thermonuclear device, and a scale meteor surface.

And in the middle of it all, was Our Ben.

Weird to see one of your nearest and dearest in the middle of vast, event-picture, ol’ fashioned-Hollywood movie-makin’… but fuck if he doesn’t look like the mack in the middle of it! Ben’s coming to save the world this summer, kids – and he’s still the same ol’ pimp.

God, I love that guy.

I didn’t get to hang with D-Nice, though – bitches ran off to Vegas one day and Superbowled it the next. My apologies for the club mix-up, D (although you missed nothing), and I hope to see a brother in Pittsburgh.

Anyhoo, that Vanity Fair pic went off without a hitch…

Well, okay – one hitch: I broke a table.

But short of that, it went well. Annie was really nice (she saw me from across the yard, marched over and said “Now you, I know,”) and the photo’s pretty huge. Lots of director-types in it, including Atom Egoyan, Griffin Dunne, Forest Whitaker, Kasi Lemmons, Jay Roach, Daisy Von Scherler Mayer, Mimi Leder, Mary Harron, Gary Fleder, Bryan Singer, George Tillman, Boaz Yakin – the list goes on. I spoke with a few of them (Atom, Griffin, Kasi, Gary – all fans of the flick; talked to Bryan about ‘X-Men’; talked to George about the laserdisc), but the thing was over pretty quickly. I look forward to seeing the results.

Later that day, went out to dinner with Chris Rock and Jay, and Mario Joyner and Rick (“Col’ getting paid ’cause Rick says so!”) Rubin at a place called ‘Barfly’ (a rubber-necking kinda place, with Joe Pesci over here, Wilt Chamberlin over there, etc.). After dinner, I took a ride with Rock to the Comedy Store, and he did an impromptu twenty minutes of new material he wanted to test. It was great to watch (and weird, as Chris followed Willie Tyler and Lester).

Chris threw an invite the way of me and Junior Mewes for Jerry Seinfeld’s Superbowl Party. It was a hell of a gesture, but even if it was the all-nude-chicks-eating-eachother-out Superbowl party, I’d still have a hard time going, as I’m bored to tears by televised sports (alright – I’d have probably gone to the hypothetical naked chicks Superbowl party – I might’ve even gone to the no-naked-chicks, Jerry Seinfeld Superbowl party… but I was preoccupied at the time).

Met with a potential DP and costume designer (when they’re confirmed, I’ll drop names), and an A.D. as well – taking care of business as we head into the home stretch.

Saw ‘Jaws’ on the big, big, big screen at the Universal Ampitheatre, compliments of my man Dan Etheridge. New print, digital remix sound – so sweet.

Hit the offices of toy collecting mag ‘Go Figure’, thanks to writer-man Dave Harris. Me, Mewes and Ethan got to lay hands on some of the ‘Star Wars’ toys that aren’t due for months yet. Pretty sweet.

My Superbowl Sunday preoccupation? Joey Adams (first time I’d seen her in seven months, tv appearances notwith-standing). She’s doing well. It was a nice visit – actually pretty great to hang with her again.

Finally… had lunch with Mister George Carlin – something of a dream come true for this uber-Carlin junkie. Good God, is he one smart motherfucker (halfway through the meal, I recalled why I started building my vocabulary from a young age – you need it to keep up with Carlin).

And as if just hanging out with him wasn’t reward enough, he’s a fan of the script as well, and once details (like schedule and salary) are out of the way, it looks like he’ll be joining us in Pittsburgh.

As Chris so aptly put it “Now all we need is Sam…”

All in all, a productive (professionally and personally) LA trip. But I’m glad to be home…

Even if Loughran’s sicker than hell (because even sick, she’s still the cutest thing alive).