Celebrating One of Life’s Rotten Bumps

So there I was at the Viper Room basking in the afterglow of an Otep performance when promoter Dayle Gloria says to me, “Go meet Johnny Rotten.” Without missing a beat, I sauntered up to the thin white kook and told him I read his book and was saddened he couldn’t see the good that punk hath wrought. He told me, “Get ooover it. I did.” I looked him square in the eye and said, “Bollocks, Johnny!” Well, that lit up his face like a fire-starter on Fourth of July. He shook my hand, gave me a hug and we even did the bump. Two times. Hey, it’s not every night you can disco with a Sex Pistol. Gitchi gitchi ya ya da da. . . .

Good thing I strapped on my mental helmet when I crashed Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman’s birthday party at the Key Club last Thursday, cuz I ran headfirst into my two favorite Vandals, David Quackenbush and Joe Escalante; Sublime/Long Beach Dub All-Star drummer Bud Gaugh; and Pennywise’s Fletcher Dragge. Dragge let me loiter in the studio a couple days later while he and the boys put the finishing touches on their latest opus, “Land of the Free.” I heard it, and lemme just tell you, it’s real and it’s spectacular. . . . Rode shotgun with Mario Andretti for British TV last week. I was chatting with Dominick’s owner Jon Sidel, when Andretti arrived at the party, a swell soiree debuting his latest passion, winemaking. In walked scenester Nico Golfar with a U.K. camera crew, so I made like Lois Lane and asked Andretti if his Italian relatives are proud of his new venture. In a classic tough guy voice, he says, “Shur, why not, maybe I should send ‘em a few boxes. Waddya dink?” Judging by the merlot, I’d have to say, “Si.”

Club Make-Up’s Cleopatra bash on Saturday at the El Rey Theatre was the monthly glam club’s best show ever, and I can’t wait for May’s Andy Warhol Factory theme and June’s Marilyn Monroe gala. Oo la la. . . . Checked out the scene at Beauty Bar, which was hosting yet another party for “Blow” on Thursday. While there, I saw a chum looking glum. He was bummed at the ad campaign’s glamorization of cocaine. I told him I was right there with him and asked him what bothered him the most about it. “My mom died of a cocaine overdose,” he said. For once, I was at a loss for words.