Sunny and 79 degrees

Yeah, we're here. And yeah, it's beautiful. Sunny with temperatures approaching 80 degrees. Pictured above is my pasty white Midwestern self standing in front of CBS Television City, the place where Dave and I hope to be attending a taping of "The Price Is Right" just over 24 hours from now.

I'm coming to you live from the air-conditioned comfort of Room 118 of the Farmer's Daughter Hotel. Let's throw out some random notes and observations:

* The audience holding area for "The Price Is Right" is just across Fairfax Blvd. from our hotel, which I gotta tell you is pretty handy. Dave and I went over to scope it out, and everywhere you looked there were people wearing "Price Is Right" t-shirts. I assume these are people who will be attending tomorrow's taping with us, since the audience for today's show is presumably already in the studio. It's fun to read the different t-shirts, the vast majority of which mention Bob Barker or feature his photo.

* So many "Price Is Right" contestants stay here at the Farmer's Daughter that they hold a nightly clinic at 10:25 p.m. on what to expect when attending the show, how to maximize your chances of getting on, etc. In the lobby are Polaroid pictures of the many Farmer's Daughter guests who have won big on TPIR over the last few years. They include a number of showcase winners and people who walked away with brand new cars. Very inspiring, actually.

* The flight from Cleveland to L.A. was a pretty uneventual, 4 1/2-hour experience. Watched a movie, did some reading, listed to the iPod. The standard stuff. Dave actually sat eight rows behind me, so once we boarded in Cleveland we didn't see each other again until we deplaned at LAX (where - did I mention? - it's sunny and 79 degrees).

* We took a harrowing taxi ride down L.A.'s famed 405 Freeway -- our driver was in quite a hurry, let me tell you -- to the hotel, but we got here so early that our room wasn't yet ready. So we walked around a bit before stopping at the Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill for a nice lunch and conversation. I would never admit ths publicly, because guys simply don't do this, but Dave is an extremely cool travel companion and a great person with which to share this experience. Again, though, don't tell him I said that, or else I could be sentenced to a series of noogies and shoulder punches by the International Man Court.

* During that drive down the 405, we saw the reknowned "Hollywood" sign off in the distance. Too cool.

* Number of famous people seen in L.A. so far: Zero. Number of Cleveland-area minor celebrities seen this morning at Hopkins: Three (Kellen Winslow Jr. of the Browns, Plain Dealer television critic Mark Dawidziak, and Cavs VP and former Lumberjacks hockey executive Kerry Bubholz).

* LOTS of Ohio State gear to be seen at the airport in Cleveland this morning, and even some on the flight to L.A. We're about three hours from kickoff right now, and Dave and I are pumped. We're going to order in a pizza and watch the game in our room. It starts at 5 p.m. local time.

* Speaking of time, there was a tip sheet for "Price Is Right" contestants at the front desk, and among the items was a recommendation that would-be audience members get into line no later than 4 a.m. Yes, that's right - NO LATER than 4 a.m. We had planned on getting over there at 4:30, but now we'll probably set the alarm for 3 a.m., walk out onto our balcony and check out the line (we can see it outside of our room), and decide whether we should hurry over right away or go back to bed for an hour. Considering how little sleep we got last night -- me because of Jack's most recent ear infection, Dave because he kept dreaming about being on Contestants Row (really) -- that ought to be interesting.

* In case you care at all, my plan is to blog at least once more before the taping, probably between the time we get our priority numbers tomorrow and the time we're instructed to go back to the studio (which I'm guessing should be between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern time). After that, the next thing you'll read on here is how the taping went. That one could be posted as early as 7 p.m. Eastern, but might be a bit later if we decide to get dinner as soon as the taping ends. We'll see.

* Oh, and once again, go Bucks.