Dweezil Zappa

Frank Zappa died in December, but he's still all over the place at Joe's Garage, a funky rehearsal and recording complex in North Hollywood. A framed gold record for the 1980 album that gave the building its name hangs on a wall near the entrance. The famous '60s poster of the scowling rock iconoclast seated on a toilet dominates a small bathroom. Pillows covered in Zappa album and tour T-shirts are scattered around the window seat in the lobby.

Try this recipe for a TV series. First, take two unusual siblings: Moon Unit Zappa, whose 1982 novelty song "Valley Girl" ushered in a new wave in pop culture, and her brother, Dweezil, an outspoken metal guitarist and singer whose last album was called, "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama." Both are the offspring of cult rock star Frank Zappa. Next, cast two sane and stable TV actors as parents. Finally, call the show "Normal Life." Bizarre kids. Straight parents. Laugh a minute. Hit sitcom.

Performing, it seems, is great preparation for cooking under pressure. Dweezil Zappa and Lisa Loeb are the coolest of cooks. Neither is the least bit flummoxed that smoke rises from the roasting asparagus or that the new macaroon recipe creates what Zappa calls "alien macaroons." It's almost Hanukkah, which starts at sundown Friday, and Zappa and Loeb have invited a few friends to their Studio City house for brisket and latkes, and a few less traditional surprises.

Van Halen drew a big crowd to Mexico's Baja California for the opening of the band's new club, Cabo Wabo. Raquel Welch and Whoopi Goldberg were in the audience while Van Halen--Michael Anthony, Sammy Hager and Alex and Eddie Van Halen--were joined on stage by Dweezil Zappa and members of Ratt, Toto, Night Ranger, Cheap Trick and REO Speedwagon. MTV will broadcast the show on May 12 . . . Documents in the divorce of President Bush's daughter have been sealed from the public.

Pop Eye reported that Dweezil Zappa and Lisa Loeb would contribute a duet of "Goodbye to Romance" to an upcoming tribute recording collection of Ozzy Osbourne songs (July 2). Steve Hochman suggested they were an unlikely couple for the remake of Ozzy's duet with Lita Ford. However, those who watched Loeb's VH1 broadcast a couple of years ago witnessed her guitar player, Zappa, licking her face during one of her songs. And those channel surfers who stopped in (on occasion) at Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa's "Happy Hour" last year (on USA)

The UCLA Class of 1978, Comic Relief and Home Box Office Inc. will present "Comic Relief-L.A.," featuring performances by Bob (Bobcat) Goldthwait, Paul Rodriguez, Colin Quinn and Dweezil Zappa at 8 p.m. Friday in UCLA's Royce Hall. Proceeds from the show, which will not be taped for television, will benefit the homeless through the UCLA School of Nursing's Union Rescue Mission Clinic and the Los Angeles Homeless Health Care Project.