Back in the day (at the end of March), I stumbled across a pretty cool opportunity at work. Mallory had managed to get tickets to a special advance screening of "I Love You Man" because she knew someone who knew someone at Paramount (gotta love connections). The screening was the day before the film was set to be released (actually the night before... our screening was at 7 and the film was released at midnight). So we left work a few minutes early to get to the Paramount Theatre at the Grove, where the screening was being held.

I had never been to any sort of special screening of a film before, but it was much different than your typical moviegoing experience. The most obvious difference was the lack of previews at the beginning of the film. There were none. Instead, we just started 15 minutes late, as if we had already watched the previews. There were guys in suits standing around with super-cool night vision goggles to make sure that nobody was filming or photographing the movie. And there were special "reserved" seats in the theater for Paramount VIPs. Fancy stuff.

The movie turned out to be pretty funny, and seemed to get a pretty good response from the audience. We grabbed some Pinkberry on our way home, feeling happy that we saw the movie a whole four hours before the rest of the world. And that was it.

But don't be fooled, this isn't the only exciting thing that has happened in Los Angeles recently. In other news...

• ICLA-ers Sarie Drake and Mike Citera were contestants on "The Price is Right" when there was a group trip to one of the tapings (I, sadly, wasn't there. I'm planning on going to the next one, though!)
• I got a chance to check out the impressive artwork and the even-more-impressive views at the Getty, one of L.A.'s most famous museums.
• We had a Nicholas Cage movie night, which was nothing short of pure ridiculousness.
• I went to a club in Hollywood with some friends. Pros: good music & cool lights. Cons: high prices & girls with obnoxiously tiny articles of clothing (seriously, just respect yourself).
• I took some friends to Manhattan Beach. We went home sunburn-free!
• I watched "Casablanca" for the first time this week.

I'll keep you informed of more excitement as it happens. This weekend is bound to be full of crazy stories. Saturday is our semester-ly volleyball tournament. Or as I'm calling it, the "ICLA Volleyball Tournament of Champions and BBQ Fun Fiesta" (ICLAVTOCABBQFF). Also on Saturday is International Pillow Fight Day, which means a huge group of people is gathering in L.A. to have a massive pillow fight. I am debating stopping by to check out the action, but it will be taking place around the same time as the ICLAVTOCABBQFF. I'll let you know if I make it there!