Bring Home the Movie House

What you need to maneuver the L.A. scene: Watching TV has become much more plush than simply curling up on the sofa with a big bag of Cheetos and the remote. The TV room is being converted into the Video Screening Room, complete with complex sound and projection systems and luxurious theater-style seats. Since THX sound systems for the home debuted two years ago it’s been a big seller at places like Laser’s Edge in Woodland Hills (the full-on THX package is about $13,500). But you don’t have to have a house on the scale of Aaron and Candy Spellings’ megamansion to do this; more middle-class families are designing their own screening rooms, figuring that in the long run, upgrading the video equipment is cheaper than taking the family out to the movies. Of course, we’ll all miss that buttery flavoring on the popcorn . . .

Dreaming of Comic Books

It’s not that lines on Melrose Avenue on a Saturday are unique, but a 4-hour one does stand out. That it was for a book signing makes it even more unusual. The typical Melrosite might stand in line for a Dr. Martens shoe sale, but generally not for reading material.

What drew the patient crowd was a personal appearance at the Golden Apple comic book store by writer Neil Gaiman and illustrator Kelley Jones of the Sandman series of comics. An abbreviated description of the books would be they take a hip, Tim Burtonesque look at death and dreams.

What Social Climes liked most was the description of the waiting fans by a store employee. “It’s a little more literary crowd than usual,” he said. “These people have actually read the comic rather than just collecting it.”

Kind of gives you the feeling that the standards for joining the literati are dropping.