No self-respecting preservationist will stoop so low as to mention dingbat in the same sentence as architects Richard Neutra, Rudolf Schindler or even Googies -- the roadside coffee shops and restaurants like Bob's Big Boy that have become treasured examples of the city's modernist past.

His best friend, Cowboy (Guillermo Diaz), is losing his band-mate/ boyfriend to drugs; Egg (Sarah Lassez) makes the fatal mistake of succumbing to the Teen Idol (Jaason Simmons of TV's Baywatch); Dingbat (Christina Applegate) has a crush on Ducky (Scott Caan), who has the hots for Alyssa (Jordan Ladd), who has eyes only for Elvis (Thyme Lewis).

Photo: Lucifer (Kathleen Robertson), left, Mel (Rachel True) and Dingbat (Christina Applegate) are a few of the sketchy, self-destructive losers who wander in and out of the main character's orbit in ``Nowhere.