A couple of Benners and a Baumann come to visit

That's right folks. Grandmom, Aunt Marge and Dad/Ray came to visit us in LA last month. Here's a slideshow of their visit, followed by some of the many highlights.


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- The first night they came, we visited the original Bob's Big Boy in Burbank, CA, where they hold classic car shows every weekend. You'll notice Dad in the photos standing with a bright yellow Charger that he just might have stolen if he weren't with his mom at the time.

- There was an obligatory stop at Rodeo Drive, where Dad stood next to a bright yellow Ferrari. Something about bright yellow cars and that man.

- Grandmom, Marge and Dad went to a taping of the Ellen show, after which Rhianwen took them on a tour of the Warner Bros. backlot. They got to see the spots where many shows and movies were filmed, including parts of Spiderman, ER and Pee Wee's Big Adventure. That's where those photos with the statues of Bugs and Daffy happened.

- Dad and I went to see the LA Dodgers play the SF Giants. We wore Phillies gear. The Dodgers fans in right field didn't really know how to deal with us. (In related news, the Phillies beat the crap out of the Dodgers last night, 7-2. Woo!)

- All of us checked out Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the famous Hollywood cinematheque where films are premiered and stars put their hands and feet in the cement. There were many interesting celeb prints, but clearly the best ones were R2D2 and C-3PO.

- Marge got to stalk her crush, George Clooney, quite a bit. Not only did she get to see his parking spot on the WB lot, we took her to his house around the corner from us and she stood in his driveway. "Oh George," she called. "I'm here for you!" We're not sure, but we think we spotted Clooney shaking his head and shutting his window blinds from the bottom of his driveway.

- Griffith Park Observatory was on our list of stops, as it's quite a landmark. It's the site of the famous knife-fight scene from James Dean's Rebel Without A Cause, and it also offers one of the best views of Los Angeles in the entire city.

- Dad didn't seem that impressed with In 'N' Out Burger, which I just don't understand.

- Grandmom was definitely impressed with that giant donut you saw up there. The thing was huge!

- The biggest celebrity we saw the entire trip was James Cromwell. That might sound a little disappointing, but it just about made Aunt Marge's life.

Thanks so much for coming to visit us in Hollywood (Note the song we sang all week together)! We had such a great time and miss you already.

Just another Sunday morning hike

We value exercise here at Rhi & Benner, Inc. Well, the idea of it anyways. In terms of actually being consistent with exercise, we try but are often swayed by laziness to watch TV instead. But one thing we do fairly regularly is go for hikes at Fryman Canyon on the weekend, like we did this morning. And we consistently see celebrities there.

A few weeks ago, you'll remember, we spotted Ray Romano and Billy Idol there. This morning, we saw Kevin Spacey.

He was wearing a similar hat to Rhi's (ha) and he was walking with a woman, muttering something about his "enemies." Seriously. He also maybe-sort-of-kinda checked out Rhianwen, who was wearing her spandex jogging pants.

Rhi's Celebrity Sightings

Here are the latest celebrity sightings from Rhi and Benner (technically just Rhi, I haven't seen any of these people). They may not be up to snub with Larry David or Bill Murray, but still exciting, right?

Johnny Galecki: He stars in "The Big Bang Theory" and works out at the Warner Bros. gym, where Rhianwen spots him on a regular basis!

Rhi's Rhimarks: He comes early in the morning, works with a trainer and is cuter in real life than on the show.

Simon Helberg: Also from "Big Bang." Rhianwen has seen him around the WB lot. I would never recognize him, but looking at his IMDB profile, he's been in a lot of stuff.

Rhi's Rhimarks: OMG, this guy is tiny. Really tiny. I did a double take! He was buying something at the news stand when I was getting lunch on the lot. I successfully didn't stare but it really was quite shocking. Not that there is anything wrong with being smaller than average at all but it's baffling because he doesn't look that small on TV. I mean, really, he is so petite! (We get it, he's small--Mike)
Angus T. Jones: The little kid from "Two and a Half Men" also works out alongside Rhianwen at the WB gym.

Rhi's Rhimarks: This is what happens when a kid's weight is teased on network television for years and years of his developing young life as this poor kid has been. The poor guy is like 1o and has a trainer. He's not overweight at all now, but I imagine they still find ways to call him fat on the show. Hopefully none of you watch it though. (Rhianwen realizes this is a bit hypocritical, seeing as how she was teasing the guy above about being short, but she's a complicated person and maintains she wasn't teasing, just genuinely shocked--Mike)

Regina King: Star of "Jerry Maguire," "Ray," and about a thousand other things from voicing cartoons to sitcoms shares Rhianwen's dentist. Just tonight, she was one chair over from Rhi getting dental work done.

Rhi's Rhimarks: There's a scene in in Jerry Maguire that is so beautiful and stands out in my mind. One of my favorite moments really. The contract just came in from the team and they offered Rod Tidwell a crappy deal. Instead of defeat, Regina King (as Marcee) turns to her husband, cups his face in her hands and says: "......Baby, this is us and we determine our worth. You're a fine, proud, surviving, splendid black man." Doesn't really jump out at you on paper, but I'm sure you all saw it anyway.

The Black Eyed Peas: These rappers also share Rhianwen's dentist and--funnily enough--they all get their teeth done at the same time (Except for Fergie). Rhianwen saw them sitting in the lobby all in a row, reading Highlights or something. I can just imagine that they all share a house and sleep in a triple bunkbed and have a chore wheel or something.

Rhi's Rhimarks: Not that exciting. I wouldn't have even recognized them but heard one of the staff commenting on it. We all need to care for our gums!

Our First Celebrity Sighting!!! (Is probably not that exciting for most of you)

As we were getting ready to move to LA, people kept asking us what celebrities we were looking forward to seeing on the street.

Being a nerd, I was only really excited to meet nerd celebrities and writers nobody has ever heard of. And Tina Fey, she being the queen of all nerd-dom. But she works in New York and I already met her there once, so the biggest name on my celebrity list had already been scratched out.

Rhianwen, on the other hand, only cared about seeing one person in LA: Larry David.


He, of course, created “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and is an all-around curmudgeonly guy. He’s a little old, doesn’t come off as very nice and is not particularly attractive in any way. Why does Rhianwen want to meet him? Other than his comedic genius, I couldn’t really tell you why she’s so interested. But does it help you to know that the other celebrity Rhianwen would die to meet lives in New York and is named Fran Drescher? There’s a definite love for the New York Jew going on there.

Anyways, Rhianwen was crossing Ventura Boulevard yesterday, minding her own business, when who should roll up in his car but Larry David. Rhi says she had to look twice to make sure it was him, but there he was, stopped at a light in a green Toyota Prius, wearing a baseball cap and with skin that she described as “craggy.”

I told her she should have cursed him off, keeping in gear with the basic motif of “Curb.” But she was too elated to utter obscenities at the moment. “Something inside me kind of squealed,” she told me later.

Now if only Fran Drescher would move to LA.