Five Seconds of Fame

June must be a time for auctions, because on Thursday, I attended my second auction for the month. This time, it was in connection with Public Counsel's 29th annual William O. Douglas Award Dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Century City. For those of you who don't know, Public Counsel is the largest pro bono law office in the nation and assists over 25,000 low-income children, youth, adults and families, as well as community organizations each year. Jake and I took off from work to attend the function. Our firm purchased a table at the event and it just so happened that Ingrid's firm purchased a table too.



Jake was superexcited to be there, as you can see by his face. On the drive over, in between him telling me to turn pieces of plastic into complex electronics and reciting stories of his ex-girlfriend leaving a toothbrush at his apartment, he mentioned that he was probably going to be featured on the video shown at the dinner. I couldn't wait.



Each year there's a silent auction before the dinner with plenty of things to bid on, ranging from weekend getaways to dinners to sports memorabilia. The last Public Counsel auction I attended was about three years ago and I left with a brand new TiVo and four Dugout Club tickets to a Dodgers game. If you've ever been to Dodger Stadium, Dugout Club tickets are for the seats right behind home plate. They're advertised as "seats that are closer to home plate than the pitcher" and include a dinner buffet with great food and all-you-can eat ballpark snacks served to you in your seat as you watch the game. I took my parents and brother and had an amazing time. We yelled at Beltre to stop blocking the view of home plate, ate "complimentary" Dodger Dogs and later came across a photo of my brother in the LA Times interfering with Lo Duca trying to catch a foul ball. And no, he didn't catch it. Neither did LoDuca. Needless to say, I had high hopes for winning something good this time around.



Jake and I spotted this autographed A-Rod Jersey but couldn't justify the bidding price. Both of us were, however, able to somehow justify paying exorbitant amounts for other items at the auction. For me, it was a top-of-the-line HP Media Center m7070n series computer that I really didn't need and ten tickets to the Laugh Factory, costing a total of about a grand. Wow. I clearly had a bit too much to drink, but it was, after all, for a good cause.

For Jake, on the other hand it was two Southwest Airlines tickets and,...



four tickets to the Dr. Phil show... seriously. Somebody help him... or slap him. Preferably the latter. Ladies, please don't call him and ask him if you can accompany him to the show. I think he plans to use all four tickets himself to attend four different shows. According to the bidding sheet, $125 for four tickets is a good deal because the tickets are "valueless"... ahem, I mean, "priceless."



It finally came time for dinner and we entered the dining area. Ingrid went to her firm's table and Jake and I went to ours. The place was packed with hundreds of tables and thousands of people. And the people in attendance didn't know it then, but they were all about to see Jake 's face on the big screen.



With nothing to do but wait for his shining moment, Jake took the opportunity to pour us each a glass of wine.



For a while, we thought we might be the only ones at our table, but eventually, Haley, Aline and some other attorneys from our firm joined us. Once the presentation began, the room fell silent as the audience listened to the various speakers. And then, all of a sudden, it happened...



Jake was on the big screen in front of thousands of people, speaking about his involvement with Public Counsel's Homeless Court program. Like a proud father, I clapped really loudly when Jake first appeared on the screen... and then I immedately realized that I was the only one clapping. And so I stopped. And the room got really really quiet. And then Jake and I hit our fists together in amusement. It was classic. Another classic moment was when Jake expressed concern about the camera zooming so far in on his face that it made him look fat. Ummm,... it mattered not how far in the camera zoomed, Jake.



Yes. This guy. He was just on the screen. And see that girl next to him? She's the reason that Homeless Court is such a big success at our firm. Congratulations to both of you.



After I lugged my new computer back to the car and after several people told Jake "Hey! You're that guy in the movie!" Ingrid, Jake and I headed over to Trader Vic's to chat and have some drinks.



Trader Vic's is where I used to take Ingrid for drinks when I somehow managed to transform Asian men from "invisible" in Ingrid's eyes, to "hot," according to her. Now she gets all goo-goo eyes over me if I just look her way. Go figure. Well, at least that night she can chalk up the goo-goo eyes to the Scorpion-for-three we drank.



Jake ordered a pina colada and kept insisting that the old song, "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon contained lyrics that say "I saw a werewolf drinkin' a pina colada at Trader Vic's." I knew the song and repeatedly told him throughout the night that he was wrong. Well, it turns out, he was right.