Greetings, friends! Apologies for ending that title with a preposition…

Do you listen to Fleet Foxes? Santogold? The Wailers? Well, apparently, these are all bands. Popular bands, according to my staff. I’ve never heard of them. Whatever happened to calling it like it is, like the days Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin? What’s the world coming to? What I do know is that the next line of musicians and bands that just might make it big will be on-hand this week at the Hollywood Music Awards, right next to us at The Highlands Hollywood.

This award-show, celebrating the best in new independent music, is coming to the Hollywood & Highland Center on Thursday, November 20th – yes, this week. You can still actually buy tickets to the event here and see it live. The show is hosted by comedian Russell Peters, and features a number of great musical performances by tomorrow’s hottest bands. (I got $5 for writing that!) During the show, I’ll be backstage, just mingling and schmoozing, using my VIP pass to hang around the cool kids. I may play “Stairway” if there’s a spare Strat sitting around.

And the best part of being located right next to a major awards venue (we host the big Oscar parties in February, remember?) is we’re going to be hosting a bunch of the nominees at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa. That means they have to hang out with me. Ha!

EDIT: I’ve been informed that, due to my contract rider, which the show’s management deemed “ridiculous and possibly illegal,” my VIP pass has been revoked. Really, is it that hard to have fifteen bowls of M&Ms with all the yellow ones picked out ready for me at my arrival?

This is Bruce, signing off.

Uh-oh, the holidays are coming! I just got my first holiday card. It was from the King of England. He and I, we go back. The wild stories we have from Prohibition! Sadly, the last King of England hasn’t been around for more than fifty years. Pity the English postal system…

Still, it’s November and Thanksgiving is coming up – another holiday the Brits are not particularly fond of. And December is the home of such illustrious holidays as Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, as well as other slightly less well-known holidays as National Cookie Day (December 4th), Human Rights Day (December 10th), and Poinsettia Day (December 12th). Yes, the fabulous poinsettia gets its own holiday. Don’t you feel smarter knowing this?

All this is a roundabout way of getting to the important point: the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa, the delightful home of yours truly, is offering a special rate for all those people out there looking for a place to stay this cold winter season. And by cold, I mean under 60° F. Any colder and I get frostbite through my silk undergarments.

The hotel is offering a very low rate of $229 per night for one of our amazing guestrooms and, if you’re really really special and have an Elephant Card from the Hollywood & Highland Center, you can get an even more-special rate of $199 per night. Now, here’s the secret: I’m going to tell you exactly where to get this fabled Elephant Card. Go to Visitors Information on Level 1 of the H&H Center and tell them Bruce sent you. They promised me they would take care of you, my beloved audience. I trust them; you should too. Supposedly you can also get these cards mailed to you by visiting www.hollywoodandhighland.com but who trusts these intertubes anyway?

Now, go forth, and celebrate! Today, November 14, is National American Teddy Bear Day. I thought you should know that.

This is Bruce, signing off.

Goodness gracious, I’m exhausted! Have you been following the election? Congratulations to both Barack Obama and John McCain. It was a long, long campaign and good for us: we still have a working democracy. But oh my, it’s tiring. I haven’t slept a wink in days and I’m finally getting back to updating this blog. We’re going to have more regular updates here in the future.

First, I would like to welcome a new member to our Hollywood family: Dan Shaughnessy. He is our new Director of Sales & Marketing. While he’s new in Hollywood (sorry, ladies, he’s married), he’s a veteran in our industry, with over 20 years of experience in hospitality at hotels and resorts in Rancho Las Palmas, Phoenix, and Marina Del Rey. Most recently, he was Director of Sales for the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa.

Fun facts about Dan: his mother, Ilene Woods, was the voice of Cinderella in Disney’s classic 1950 film and his father, Ed, was the drummer on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show. A big show-biz background for our newest director… sounds like he’s going to be right at home in Hollywood after all. We just announced his appointment to the media, and I wanted to share this money quote:

“We’re very happy to add Dan to our team,” says General Manager Bruce Gorelick. “His wealth of experience will be a great addition to our current operation and his marketing and sales record really speaks for itself.”

What a dashing young man that Bruce is, even in print… So well-spoken, so articulate. Like a young Abe Lincoln, but more handsome and athletic. Anyhow, I wanted to congratulate Dan on his appointment. I really look forward to working with him.

Finally, I would like to extend hearty congratulations to our former Director of Sales & Marketing, the dear Chris Orr, who is moving on to Baltimore. Good luck, Chris! We’ll miss you!