With lots of love (and chocolate! and a few cosmos! Cheers!) from The Whine Sisters.
And if you like that cake, you should check out The Cake Wrecks blog, for some cake mistakes and laughs. If you go out, scoot on past the hysterectomy cakes (I didn’t know that warranted cake? Note to self: Check out having hysterectomy as another excuse to get cake) and click on Older Posts at the bottom of the page. You could kill some serious time here. My favorite is the Space Shuttle cake that looks like it’s taking off from a, um, rather large… well just go have a look. Then come back and tell me if you’ve found a favorite.
We’ve been talking a lot about death far too much lately, all of us. Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, Billy Mays, have all captured the news media attention, and we, willing or not, have had to think about the final check out. I was already weary of it all, so it was with trepidation that I watched “The Bucket List” tonight. I needn’t have worried. Rob Reiner, as usual, directed a gem of a movie, brilliantly acted by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. As wonderful as the acting and directing was, it was the writing that captured me. The smooth transitions between laughter and tears that so impressed me. Isn’t it odd that so few screenplay writers become famous, when it is their thoughts and words that move us? So tonight I am singing the praises of Justin Zackham. Thank you for a wonderful time. I can’t wait to see what you do next.
It’s also a gentle reminder that life is short, that friendship is precious, and that we need to tell those we love that we love them. So here’s to eating dessert first and being courageous. I love you, man.
Well, it looks like I’ve got a shot at going to heaven after all. I had assumed, after decades of bad thoughts, and five years of publicly whining and serving snark (not to mention all my evil deeds), that I would be headed elsewhere. But after last Friday night, I now know I have at least a shot at hanging with St. Peter and the gang. So how did I pull off this unexpected turnaround? Well . . . all it took was going to see Andre Rieu.
Last Friday night His Majesty and I took his 89-year-old mother to see Andre Rieu and his orchestra at the Nokia Theatre in LA. Great theater, by the way, where American Idol contestants perform. Easy parking, fabulous attendants and beautiful facility. We wouldn’t have been there ourselves, but my mother-in-law, who is a very sweet person, adores Andre Rieu. She watches him whenver he’s on PBS, watches his DVDs in between shows, and listens to his CD the rest of the time. She goes every year, but never gets enough of Andre. It was quite emabarrassing, actually. We had to hold her back from throwing her panties on the stage. Thank God the way was blocked with all the walkers!
So how was it? Well, think of a cross between Lawrence Welk and October Fest and throw in a little Hee Haw. Music was mostly great, but the jokes so corny that it was at times painful. Every moment is - pardon the pun - orchestrated. Every joke, every story, was obviously well-rehearsed.
The audience, not just the blue hairs I’d expected, crossed every age and ethnic line, which was very interesting. Tons of Europeans. Quite a few kids, who were dancing in the aisles along with everyone else. Mostly, though, it was older people. Think 80s and 90s. Not our thing. His Majesty explained it best: Andre Rieu throws them a party and makes them feel young again. And the audience cannot get enough of him either. I stopped counting after eight (yes, 8) encores. Balloons from the ceiling.
Would I go again? Uh . . . no. I know it’s only rock and roll, but I like it, I like it. But, you know, I’m still hearing The Blue Danube Waltz in my head. Not a terrible way to go.
My kid sister Kristin is flying to Arizona for a little vacay, but she found this ad and almost rescheduled to fly to New Zealand instead.
Cute, right? PETA has been successful using nudity in ads for years, posing various attractive celebrities strategically with the line “I’d rather go naked than wear fur.” But now, Burger King has crossed the line with using sex to shill burgers. In the first place, sex doesn’t mix with greasy, fatty foods. (That’s right, Paris Hilton. I said it. Like you even eat Carl Jrs or wash your own car). And in the second place, the Burger King ads just go to a very icky, icky place. The “burger virgins” ad was pretty tame, but drew attention. So they went to a naked Burger King cavorting in a hot tub and shilling burger-scented body spray. That Burger King masked man is extremely creepy. And now?
Oh yes, they went there. The ad copy is even worse to add to the image, and I’m not repeating it. I don’t frequent Burger King in the first place, but now I’m tempted to start eating at McDonald’s just to help make sure BK goes away. Go away, BK! I’m disgusted. I’m so disgusted that I’m not even worried that sharing the ad will help it go viral because this kind of ad doesn’t draw customers. It pushes us away. Good work, ad firm hired by Burger King.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick welcomed twin girls Marion and Tabitha earlier this week. I’m lukewarm on the name Marion, but I love Tabitha. I had an ancestor named Tabitha way back in the family tree, proving to me that the name wasn’t made up for the baby on the TV show Bewitched. On the same side of the family, I had a great-great-great grandmother named Scarbrough Snead. I’ve always loved that one. She would fit right in with today’s crazy celebrity baby names.
Recent celebrity baby names include Bronx Mowgli Wentz, Bandit Lee Way (which is adorable for a baby, but once she hits school?), Kingston and Zuma Rossdale, Harlow Winter Kate Madden (I like that one), Honor Marie Warren (Like that, too), and Sunday Rose Kidman. These pale in comparison to Moxie Crimefighter Jillette and Pilot Inspektor Lee but manage to make Shiloh, Zahara, Maddox, Pax, Knox, and Vivienne seem perfectly normal (Vivi is pretty normal). And let’s not forget Suri Cruise, Apple and Moses Martin, Violet and Seraphina Affleck. Don’t you wonder which of these names will catch on, if any? Oh, and Matthew McConaughey is reproducing again, too! A brother or sister is coming for little Levi. Awww.
Which recent celebrity baby name is your favorite? Did I miss any good ones?
I just realized today, when Hubot informed me he’d invited his father for a Father’s Day barbeque this Sunday, that Sunday is Father’s Day. I honestly don’t know how these things escape my attention, but they do. I mean, it’s not like I’m not scouring the internet for obscure facts every day.
But it didn’t register. I was thinking NEXT weekend, not this one. So now, not only do I have to prepare for a BBQ I was not thinking of doing, I have to get Father’s Day lined up for Hubot, my father, and my stepfather. I need a stack of ties. It made me think of gifts I have given my father over the years. Golf balls, always a winner. Ties. Handmade cards. Shirts and socks. Gift cards to restaurants. But the last few years, its scratch-offs for all of them. Have you ever noticed that men LOVE scratch-offs? Seriously--I can give them to any man in my family, and they get all excited, thinking they are going to get rich quick. I have given them to my father (who told me on his birthday that’s his favorite gift), my stepfather, my husband, my brother, my brothers-in-law. They love them!
What are your plans for Father’s Day? What is the gift the father of your choice would like the best?
Last week, we had Definitely, Maybe from Netflix. I love Netflix. Definitely, Maybe is a good one for your queue (and Ghost Town, laugh out loud funny but not ridiculous). Definitely, Maybe is a delightful little romance with great female leads (Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Wiesz, and the incomparable Abigail Breslin), a sweet father-daughter relationship, and an intriguing little mystery. But there’s also a plot twist involving the book, Jane Eyre, and all I can think of since is that I really want to re-read Jane Eyre!
Then, I was talking to Julia London and she had just watched and recommended Persuasion, the 2007 version. There’s another for the Netflix queue, or to re-read. And now I have to get my copy of Pride and Prejudice out for my daughter’s summer reading, and I will probably read it again, too. And it’s currently on the Oxygen network, the Keira Knightley version, which is making me want to get out the DVD of the Colin Firth version. Sigh! And I haven’t read Wuthering Heights in years, but it really wasn’t my favorite. Oh, and E.M. Forster’s Room with a View, lovely.
Still, it doesn’t get any better than Pride and Prejudice, for me. What’s your favorite classic romance?
Phil Spector’s mug shot has been making the rounds at the protest of his wife, who complains that “They took my husband’s freedom and dignity. So why not his hair?” Oh, poor Phil baby. When you’re convicted of murder, you give up your freedom, your crazy toupees, and you go to jail (nineteen years for killing actress Lana Clarkson).
What, toupees? You mean, this wasn’t his real hair?
Or this, the later court appearance Barry Manilow-meets-Ellen Degeneres style makeover?
But surely, the re-trial look (pictured with his 28-year-old wife Rachelle “I’m not a gold digger!” Spector) was his own straggly mess of hair?
Seriously, who wears a hairpiece that looks so poorly conditioned? Apparently, Phil did. Because his newly-released pictures show what he looks like stripped of luxuries, like wigs.
But I was truly scared when I saw this because he reminds me of the Child-Catcher, the villain of the 1968 movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Wow, did that Child Catcher make my skin crawl! I used to watch the movie on TV at home with my parents- loved that movie- and I always had to crawl up to cuddle with my mother when the Child Catcher made his screen appearance, because he frightened me so much. See what I mean? Strong resemblance. Scary!
What scares you these days? (Besides the price of groceries, which we know puts a fright into Ms. Julia F. London).
I don’t understand the uproar about the “revelation” that Adam Lambert is gay. Hello! And so what? He’s a great entertainer and I imagine we’ll be seeing him and his guyliner for decades. Add him to the ranks of Elton John, Ellen de Generes, etc. Another Hello! goes to a local paper here, who just noticed that the Olsen twins are frighteningly thin (and are doing that pout thing that Sherri talked about). Those girls need a trip to In and Out for 4 X 4 Animal style burgers and new stylists. And attitudes. Not a good look. Or role models. And hey, In and Out. Describes Adam, doesn’t it? In fashion and out of the closet. This is news??
Just to keep the But We Already Knew That theme of the day going, there were reports that jobs in healthcare are a safe bet in this recession. And to top it off, that this summer might be hot. Honest. One report said that July and August might be considerably hotter than March and April. Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit. I would never have guessed that.
But there were things to add to the I Didn’t Know That list too. There are now Hannah Montana Kleenex boxes. Just think, you too can wipe your nose with a tissue from a box with Miley Cyrus on it. I cannot tell you how excited I am. Really.
Gosh, I can’t wait to see what tomorrow’s news will hold. What’s new in your neck of the woods?
I cannot believe I actually forgot about a week or so ago to wish VB a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! She is, at long last, FINALLY, as old as me! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I was checking out the daily entertainment candids at E! They had a picture of a well-dressed Gerard Butler with the caption stolen from the ZZ Top classic, Every girl’s crazy about a sharp-dressed man… only they said “sharply.” Sharply-dressed man. And it bothered me. Maybe it’s grammatically correct, sure, but that’s not how the song goes. Why mess with a classic song lyric? I’m sure the writer thought it made him/her look cute or clever, but honestly? It makes the caption writer look like a beanhead who knows nothing about pop culture. So there.
Anyway, it made me think. IS every girl crazy about a sharp(ly)-dressed man? I’m not so sure. Don’t get me wrong. I love seeing guys all dressed up. I wish more men would dress up. We don’t have enough formality these days. But, on the other hand…
I do like men in soft, comfy denim that hugs all the right places. And then again…
There’s a lot to be said for no clothes at all. So I can’t decide. Do I prefer men dressed up, dressed down, or not dressed at all? So hard to decide. What do you think?
I love this time of year. I love looking at the dresses and seeing what kids are up to and into these days. This year, the privilege cost me because it was time for my son to attend his senior prom. Tux rental, limo, prom tickets, picture money, and entertainment-- believe me, it all adds up. Lucky for my son, he had the cutest date ever, and a great group of kids.
My prom? No one asked me so I finally decided to go with a guy friend. No one went by themselves, and no one even thought about going with a member of the same sex, platonic or otherwise. Our prom was at a fancy banquet venue (unlike my mother’s prom, which was in the school gym). Instead of corsages, it was the fashion to carry small bouquets in 1986. We drove our own cars, or got driven. No one went through the expense of a limo. And my date rear-ended a car at a stop light, then panicked and sped away from the scene, causing the police to come after us. Fun!
The police allowed my date to park in the prom lot and let me out to go in by myself (and feel like a dateless dork). They hauled my date to the station and made him fill out an accident report. He returned to prom midway through dinner. We barely spoke after that. He was a kid who never got into trouble, but suddenly he was chased by police, had damaged his dad’s station wagon, and was a nervous wreck for the rest of prom night. Our song was Phil Collins Against All Odds, but there was plenty of Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, and Dead or Alive’s (You Spin Me) Right Round. Post-prom, kids partied at the Holiday Inn, but I went home early so my date could break the news to his dad about the station wagon.
My son’s prom? A few girls asked him and he finally decided on one. One girl in the group went dateless. Another went with her girlfriend. The prom was at the same fancy hotel ballroom where I had my wedding reception. Wrist corsages were all the rage. They rented a huge limo to take the nine of them to and from prom in style (and accident free!). Kids took breathalyzer tests at the door. Songs included Birthday Sex, Sugar, and Flo Rida’s version of Right Round with new lyrics I don’t care to repeat. Post-prom, most kids went to a town-sponsored, parent-chaperoned, all-night party event with tents set up, drug and alcohol check, bbq, and a DJ. Some kids went to a private party. My son and his group had a backyard bonfire and toasted marshmallows.
How was your prom night? What do you think of today’s prom style? Have you ever heard the songs Birthday Sex or Sugar, or am I spectacularly out of it these days? Do you remember what songs were big when it was time for your Senior prom?
While I’m waiting to share prom pictures from my son’s big night, a friend of mine (the former best friend of my high school prom date, actually), hooked me up to this site:
Images of mature fashionistas. So fun, and inspiring! My favorite is Elizabeth Sweetheart, the artist who only wears green for the past seven years (she even dyes her underwear!). Personal style never gets old.
I am trying to read as many books in the month of June as I can. I am finishing up Testimony by Anita Shreve this weekend. A very good book. It is opens with the headmaster of a private school in New England viewing a tape someone gave him of three of his star basketball players having sex with an underage girl. You’d think that was bad enough, but there are more little plot twists. And her style of writing is very smooth and fast-paced. If you’ve never read Anita Shreve, I highly recommend her (Pilot’s Wife and Weight of Water two classic Anita Shreve books).
But now I want something else to read. What author do you particularly like? What is the last good book you read? Or what book would you recommend?
P.S. Someone here recommended the Looking Glass Wars, which I read and really liked. Come on, give me more!
Now if you heard someone staged their own kidnapping and later was found vacationing at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, you might think it was me. I’ve threatened to run away to Disney World many times, maybe once a week, and the Grand Floridian is my favorite resort.
But it wasn’t me! It was Bonnie Sweeten, age 38, of Bucks County, PA. She claimed she was kidnapped at the scene of a car accident with her daughter Julia, thrown in the trunk of a car, and driven away to who knew where. The FBI got involved. A kidnapping in broad daylight! Then details started to emerge. Things didn’t add up. And finally, airport security caught a picture of a free and easy Bonnie boarding a plane to Florida with her daughter. Today’s news says they were arrested at the Grand Floridian, paid up through Friday, and with $12000, that might be stolen funds. Speculation is that Bonnie and her daughter were fleeing domestic problems and financial difficulties. So, hey, may as well go out in style.
Bonnie might be my new hero if only she’d gotten away with it. But, as it stands, I can’t admire her. Shoddy planning led to her early capture. She could have at least been clever enough to make it to Friday. And Disney World is a tad obvious. Going to World Showcase, lovely as it is, doesn’t actually count as having crossed International borders. It’s pretty easy to track a body down. And look at all the taxpayer money wasted in the process. Tsk, tsk, Bonnie. She should have known better. I just feel bad that little Julia didn’t get to enjoy her Disney vacation. They didn’t have nearly enough time to do it right, and they didn’t even get to stay to meet American Idol Kris Allen, who is headed there later today.
Do you have a runaway plan, just in case life gets a little too involved? Where would you go? Would you go big, like Bonnie, or slip away quietly? (I recommend quietly, considering). Who would you bring along?
Then come back and tell me if you’ve found a favorite.
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