Best Moments Of My Life in 2013
Best Moments Of My Life in 2013 |
1. The Oscars
To share that experience with my wife is great, but to bring my mom too was a partial payback for all the great parenting she and my dad did for me and my brothers. |
2. Earth Wind and Fire at the Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is my favorite music venue in the city. Earth Wind and Fire is one of the greatest groups of all time. But when you can teach your kids about great music AND see a July 4th fireworks show…life is pretty awesome. |
3. Graduation With My Cousins
Most of my family is still in the Midwest but there’s a few Hudlins holding it down on the West Coast. One of my cousins graduated from Los Angeles Community College with a degree in radiology that pretty much guaranteed him a great job. I love his parents and siblings but even though they live in LA they are too cool to make time for the corny older cousins so it was great to have a reason to spend time together. Also, LACC was the best graduation I’ve ever been to. The crowd represented to real racial make up of the city, and everyone there was so happy and proud of the graduates. I think there were a lot of “first in family” walking across the stage. |
4. Alexander at Wing Chun
I am so proud of him every week. He could ride a bike as soon as we took the training wheels off, loves art and music, and is a nice kid with a great sense of humor. And he’s got a great side kick. |
5. Helena’s Imagination
One of the big assignments my daughter had this year was to do a biographical presentation in character. She thought Michelle Obama and every idea like that was too obvious, and decide to be Walt Disney instead. She read several young people’s biographies, articles on the internet and I took her an early screening of SAVING MR BANKS. I got some tips from the always generous Tom Hanks on how to play Walt, and in her classroom presentation she killed it. She’s also great in math and is a budding thespian and writer, but the presentation said so much about who she is as a person. |
6. Simple Saturdays
I’m big on the simple pleasures. Like CHEERS, I love going place where everybody knows your name. Most Saturdays I have three places like that. Golden Apple Comics, who are my partners at Reggiesworld.com, is a great comics shop. I stop by there and buy way too many comics, then head over to Saffore’s, a great barbershop where loud and comedic debate happens on the regular, then Mo Betta Burgers, which is hands down one of the best places to eat in Los Angeles. All three places deliver a great product with wonderful customer service. |
7. Secret Project with Denys Cowan
I can’t really talk about it yet, but oh man it’s unbelievable. I can’t until the world sees it. |
8. Hawaii
Spending quality time with the family in Hawaii was great after being away so much making a movie. |
9. Movie Marathons
This summer both kids were old enough for marathon screenings of all six STAR WARS movies, the first and second MEN IN BLACK movies, and all of the Marvel Phase One films (deluxe box set shown above). Besides having a fantastic time, I learned a lot rewatching those films and seeing them through the eyes of my kids. I would not have known the second MEN IN BLACK is much better than the first. There were whole chunks of the 3rd (or 6th, depending on how you’re counting) Star Wars film I didn’t recall and enjoyed. The first Captain America film gets better with each viewing…and so on. |
10. School Tours
My wife is on the board of the California State Summer School for the Arts, a great program that brings kids from all over the state to the Cal Arts campus to study their favorite art form, be in theatre, art, music, writing, animation, etc. To recruit talented kids who might not otherwise know about the program, a group of us went to schools in South Central to encourage them to apply. While at one of the schools, I saw this cool mural painted by the kids. Had to take a picture and share it with you all. |
