Is this how Liz Smith got started?

Just got back from a night out on the town. In Beverly Hills, Reason magazine was celebrating the publication of two books, Choice: The Best Of Reason (a compendium) and Reason-scribe Brian Doherty's This Is Burning Man. Brian has been at ten consecutive Burning Man festivals. I asked him if he's become a celebrity there. "Yes," he replied. I saw Editor-in-Chief and old pal Nick Gillespie, fresh from an appearance on the lively but little-watched Dennis Miller show on CNBC (it's a real channel--you probably even have it). Alas, the show was aired during the event. Speaking of which, the finger food was free, but watch out for that cash bar!

Other bloggers were in attendance. The lovely Jill Stewart was there, still getting a good chuckle out of Dan Rather's travails. Matt Welch, who just started working at Reason full-time, was talking about baseball (L.A. fan) and torture (against it). I think I caught sight of Moxie, but she can be so elusive. And no event would be complete without man-about-town Mickey Kaus--all day long he's so busy giving his opinions that he rarely gets to post on his blog until the wee hours.

I would have loved to stick around but I had to rush to Arclight in Hollywood for the Silver Lake Film Festival. In particular I was there to catch the intellectual thriller Nightingale In A Music Box, written, directed and edited by my old pal Hurt McDermott. The audience was rapt. Afterward, I spoke to lead Kelly Hazen. We've worked together before, and she was wonderful, as always.