Beverly Hills, that roiling pot of hyper-consumerism, was a pop-culture blast this morning. With another 80-degree day washing the street in bright light, we saw Mercedes after Porsche after Rolls Royce after Jaguar until we got bored with anything but a Bentley. And what a beautiful Bentley Azure roadster we saw parked on Rodeo Drive with the top down, exposing its burled-wood dashboard and drawing stares from even jaded car-watchers. Turns out the intensely yellow machine is owned by the designer bijan, whose store it was parked in front of.

Rodeo Drive shoppers bear bags from exclusive stores as personal statements of taste and/or available credit, elevating paper with handles to new fashion heights. And an extraordinary number of Beverly Hills strollers have sprouted a new appendage linking ear to hand - the cell phone. It's hard to imagine what they did B.C.P. (Before Cell Phone). Be alone with their thoughts while they walk?

There's a panoply of funky people to watch on Rodeo. We saw Ali, an international book designer, sitting at an outdoor cafe with her Chinese crested dog . . . a young couple wearing all-black outfits riding in an all-white Mercedes . . . a bleached-blonde 60-something woman wearing a body stocking.

(From top to bottom: Designer Bijon's Bentley parked in Beverly Hills; women with shopping bags; diagonal street crossing sign in Beverly Hills; and International book designer Ali Lurie and her chinese crested dog.)

More postcards:
Dec. 28: Westard ho!
Dec. 28: Thawing out
Dec. 28: LA scene
Dec. 29: Old Pasadena
Dec. 29: Roses HQ
Dec. 29: Petal pushers
Dec. 30: 90210
Dec. 30: 90210, cont'd
Dec. 30: A sea of red
Dec. 31: Venice Beach
Jan. 1: Rose Parade
Jan. 1: The Game
Jan. 1: The Game, cont'd
Jan. 2: P.S.

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Photos by Jeff Miller, text by Jeff Iseminger.