The First Echo

First a BlackBerry...and now this. Folks, I've gone Mac. Swung by the Apple Store at the Grove last night and, with some friends by my side to witness the delivery, I became the proud father of a titanium 13.5-inch MacBook Pro. And a sweet bonus: I got a free iPod Classic and printer on top of the discount I got for flashing my college ID ( um, yeah. I know ). PC, please don't feel betrayed. I still use you at work. It's just...I go both ways now. H.P.M.

The billboards are everywhere here in L.A., and if you live anywhere near the actual Place , chances are you've seen at least a dozen of these declaring "Tuesday's the new humpday" or "Tuesdays are a bitch." I am eagerly awaiting the September 8 premiere even though I hear the pilot is crap. I'm really just in it for Michael and Sydney (how are they gonna explain that one? However, I do hear things improve by episode 3, albeit without the high camp factor that made Season 3 of the original series primetime soap nirvana.

So, after several months of producing shorts, whoring myself on the film festival circuit, traveling back East, dabbling in several freelance writing gigs, making deadlines, suffering from delusions of VIP grandeur and continuing to carry out my editor duties on the new and improved HotterInHollywood.com -- on top of a full-time day job -- I feel that I must apologize for neglecting my firstborn, The First Echo, and not giving it the same love and attention with which I've been showering my other projects. As expected, summer is whooshing by at the speed of light, and I -- like many of those youngin's who will soon have fresh pencils to sharpen, notebooks to crack open and overpriced textbooks to purchase -- am sad to see it go. Although some argue that summer never really ends here in Los Angeles, our collective consciousness tells us that, no matter what the climate, Fall isn't too far off with its promises of cashmere goodness, pumpkin-spiced lattes and exciting new