What now?

Weekend goings on...

2011-11-06T22:04:00.001-08:00

Well, I'm wrapping up a busy weekend and preparing for a new week.

Friday night in San Francisco I attended An Evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer with Rebecca. Not knowing what to expect it felt like an adventure.

All I knew was this:

starting halloween night, amanda palmer & neil gaiman will be tearing up through the west coast of north america on a mini-tour.

we'll have a piano, a ukulele, and maybe some other weird instruments, as well as some unpublished and uncollected Neil Gaiman stories and poems. we'll both probably switch up what we're presenting from night to night. we'll be taking questions from the audience, chat-style, and trying to do special things in each venue, busting out a few surprises

From kickstarter website

Rebecca and I await for the show to start

The lobby was filled with anticipation - you could just feel it. Some were wearing ears, hats with feathers, skirts and tutu's. Regardless if some had attended the "2nd SF Night" on Wednesday everyone seemed giddy in anticipation.

We were treated to three hours of songs, poetry, stories and a Q&A with Neil and Amanda.

The Q&A box where anyone could ask a question to be (possibly) read during the night

There was an easy flow to the evening. You could tell that there was a skeletal structure with flexibility to flow allowing for some last minute changes including audience suggestions for songs, and Neil changing his story just before his reading to keep with the 'vibe' in the room.

Here are a few of my pictures - the lighting was low so the pictures are a bit grainy

Considering this was only the third show and there are four more for them to go it appears that this will be a 'new' show each and every night, which is pretty great. This will make all the attendees feel like this show is special just for them.

Bellydance show in Los Altos, CA

The very next day I, along with three other lovely lady's, we held a belly dance event in Los Altos. It was a long day but it was a really great day and event!

Here are a few pictures:

Festival dancing started at 1pm

We had a packed house

Stasha was the opening act of our Featured Dancers portion of the event. She was a great start to the show.

Adriana was another of the Featured Dancers

Natika was the final dancer of the evening

The Show Must Go On

2011-08-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

So.... how do you give life to a dying blog?? Many other bloggers out there must know how to keep the show going but I'm not quite sure what to do....

So I've been thinking about what's going on in my life and aside from the basics of work which is a daily grind, of course there is my bellydance life/hobby. And there is also my passion for photography. Recently I've merged these two passions and I have begun to take photographs for Davina's projects and online mag articles. Here is a recent article by Davina with my photographs: click here to see the article on the webzine Gilded Serpent, Belly Dance News & Events.

In 2009 my D&A Tour of the UK produced some really lovely photographs (in my humble opinion). Here are a couple of my favorites:

Trio of berries in York at morning sunrise

Lamppost in York, December 2009

The most recent D&A adventure was this summer in the LA area. Over three days we went to three museums: Huntington, LACMA & Getty Villa. Here are just a few of my favs:

Ceiling shot in one of the LACMA buildings

we came across a photo shoot on the beach

One of the many gardens at Huntington

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do going forward with this blog.... hopefully I can revitalize it... Untill I know for sure thanks for hanging in there.

Enjoy!

Bye bye 2010

2011-01-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

Day 1, 2011

While this might be the appropriate time to welcome the new year I've been in more of a "look back" mood..... 2010 overall has been a good year to me, but due to the recent stressful weeks I've been experiencing all I have wanted to say to 2010 is: GTFO!

However, I feel like I need to acknowledge the good parts of 2010 out weighted the 'bad' of 2010 (which just might fine tune my own perspective which has become skewed of late).

After my trip to the UK in Dec 2009 I was still riding high on that wonderful, though fraught with problems (storms prevented a trip to Scotland, lack of heating in our London Hostel), it was such an enjoyable trip and it's completed reignited my desire to travel more outside of the USA. Next planned excursion is going to be back to the UK for the Summer Olympics in 2012. Its a bit of a wait but it'll be here before I know it.

Clear December afternoon on the London Eye
(Won't be getting Dawn back on this contraption in 2012)

Most don't think about their work when looking back at their year, unless they own their own company or have invented something cool, but I'm happy to still be employed, and at a company that's is bouncing back very nicely from the recent economic desperation. I've got nothing to complain about really, and I'm luckily enough happy to be working with people that are good and I enjoy being around basically, not everyone has that luxury.

In 2010 I planned a few really great Belly Dance events (SF/BA MECDA). We started with the Swap Meet Style Extravaganza in April, a really fun Flea Market in October and in November we held our annual Gala Show & Festival (see Gala photos here). Quite the accomplishment and well attended events! Soon I will have access to the video of my November performance, which I hope to get posted online.

In the fall I took up a new hobby (like I needed a new /another hobby): Billiards. Yep, I'm not only a card carrying member (literally) but I even purchased my very own pool cue.... now I'm a pool shark in training.... supposedly. All those years of playing pool in bars just doesn't measure up to a game with actual rules, but I'm having a good time and hopefully getting better.

In the end of it all, I'm most definitely grateful for my family and friends! So I wish them all a wonderful & prosperous new year.

So now I look ahead to 2011, though just started, hopefully will be full of fun and excitement ~ heck, most of January is already booked up so all is good & normal.

Oh NO! what to do???

2010-09-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

Where do you go when Facebook is down?!? Seriously!I so very much want to update my status with a freakout that FB is down but can't.... because it's down....

Whoops!

Todays Laugh Out Loud moment

2010-08-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

MANY thanks to Tom & Lorenzo http://projectrungay.blogspot.com/

We just love the "oxygen mask" pose. Beauty queens and gay men at surprise parties. That's where you're most likely to see this. As if sudden emotional responses are triggered by poison gas or something.

Sure I was there but don't ask me about it

2010-08-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

July 21 to July 25th, 2010 marks the days when San Diego becomes a Hollywood / Pop Culture /Comic Book Mecca.

125,000+ people travel to San Diego to attend this amazingly huge convention. They line up the night before to get into the room/hall they most desire to be in, so they can get the coveted front row seats to be just that most closer to those that they admire the most. Don't believe me look online for pictures of those that sleep out waiting to get in first...

In this video this guy is completely surprised that there were people in line the prior night - Hey Dude, what were you thinking?!?

There was an Anti-Nerd Church protest.... 'Little did Fred Phelps and his minions from the Westboro Baptist Church were not ready for the cosplay action that awaited them at Comic-Con.'

Check out blogger favorite Tea With Lemon for a great recap of the protest here...

& finally, yes, most of you heard there was a pen stabbing over a seat in the coveted Hall H
CNN Video here

Nope I wasn't anywhere near by when this 'went down'... but of course there were stories and though I KNOW it didn't happen, when I hear that there was a HAZMAT team I kept imagining them repelling from the ceiling like ninja's (yeah, I'm weird)

Other than the above, which I heard about via word of mouth, I only saw two, 2, panels: *NBC's Community & ABC's Castle* - Both were FANTASTIC & I was so happy to see them!!

Everything else I've seen about SDCC10 has been found on youtube.com, so I invite you to do the same and let me know what I should look up!

That's a real nice i-thing you got there

2010-06-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

Don't get me wrong I'm not completely unaware of new technology, however I have to admit I don't currently own any technology that starts with an i.... not yet anyway.

So while I'm 'out of step' with the rest of the world [that needs to be plugged into the inter-web at all times, oh wait, I already do that while I work at a computer all day long ... ], I am aware of a lot of the cool stuff out there.

Recently I've been made aware of the Hipstamatic iPhone app which I think is pretty cool and kinda wish I could use it myself...

The Hipstamatic for iPhone is an application that brings back the look, feel, unpredictable beauty, and fun of plastic toy cameras from the past

Since I can't use this app myself I'm instead supporting, and really enjoying, the photos my friend who is using it. & now she has submitted a few pictures in a Hipstamatic contest:

I just love this pic

click here if you like it too and want to vote for it

You can check out the other photo's that she's submitted here and here - take a look and vote if you like them because in her own words I'm just trying to help her: 'Harness the power of social networking for a misfit mom to get a 4" print of her pic in a micro gallery in NYC! Thanks!!!'

My life "The Musical"

2010-04-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

Music is my life.... but recently I've been a cappella'd out.

Spot the Octopus (don't ya just love the name?!?) had a show last week, and though I wasn't there personally I got to see the video of the show and really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the original "Sorry".

Then I was treated, via a friends post on facebook, to this fantastic Lady Gaga Bad Romance Medley by Univ of Oregon a capella group

Topping off 'my life the musical' this morning I received a 6 degrees of separation kinda way email letting me know that Glee (bestest show on TV today) was accepting online auditions.....

Max Crumm was the winner of Grease: Your The One That I Want TV show (2006), and oddly enough soon after I sort of met Max's mom. Anyhoo, it now turns out he's trying to get a vote by the public on Myspace so here is the link and if you like what you see cast your vote...

& remember turn on your TV tomorrow night at 9pm to watch Glee on Fox. Enjoy!

Awesomeness....

2010-04-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

If you haven't hear (seen) The Key of Awesome video's on You Tube "welcome to the club". While you might not join up, so to speak, I do hope you enjoy.

My #1 favorite is still Twilight Sucks! Emo Vampire Song

This weekend I heard about the Telephone Parody and I gotta say I like it.

And to round this quick blog off here is the Adam Lambert Parody:

enjoy.

File Under: That was more than I thought it would be....

2010-03-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

While tonight marks the day to wear green for most everyone (I'm wearing purple, so there - but my scarf has some green in it), drink green beer, etc.... I'm doing something so opposite of green beer and food. Instead I going out for Tapas with some friends to celebrate their accomplishment of passing an exam we studied for together at the end of 2009.

While I studied hard with them, I chose to take the more *senior* version of the HR exam - hence the title of this blog - and didn't pass it. I am however, determined to persevere and I'm back in a longer class (12 weeks) over the cram it all in at once 4 day-8 hours per day class I took in October. I'm also utilizing an awesome - incredibly knowledgeable resource: my friend Dawn.

Dawn is helping me study in a more grad-student kind of way - definitely a new to me way to study. Mind you, I completed college in 1992 so it's been some time to wrap my mind around actually studying... workshops and seminars don't really count as those are more experiential and don't involve a 4 hour test at the end of the daylong or few hour seminar.

So tonight I'll be raising a class of sangria to my friends success and the expectation of my own success this spring when I take the senior level test again and hopefully! pass.

Food Porn - British Version

2010-02-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

This has been sitting on the back burner for some time now.... This is partially for Tea with Lemon who appreciates a good meal now and then & its partially for Dawn and myself as we had lovely meals while we were on vacation which we couldn't help but photograph.

Actually, before we began our trip the concept of blogging about our meals was a topic we kept coming back to, so here are the fruits of our labor.... however it never felt laborious to enjoy these amazing (and some normal) meals.

Hope you don't get too hungry while viewing my pictures.

Cambridge Markets

Our first real day in Cambridge started with a bus ride into town and a short walk to the Art & Craft Market. After that and a jacket potato for lunch we walked around the Cambridge Market where there were stalls with so many different things (food, flowers, clothing, plants, etc). I just loved the vibrancy of the veg at this stall.

St Martin in the Fields, London

Our first meal in London was at the Crypt Cafe where we had lunch after our London Eye adventure and before we headed to the National Gallery

Crypt Cafe - Whether enjoying a full English breakfast, a hot or cold lunch, traditional afternoon tea or value for money evening dinner,diners can enjoy their meal sitting under the brick-vaulted ceiling and over the historic gravestones lining the crypt floor.

As it was so close to Christmas they were serving a Christmas Dinner which consisted of Turkey, stuffing, potatoes and veg and a bacon wrapped sausage.

Harrods, London: Food Hall - The Iberico Ham House

Walking through the Food Hall's with Dawn and (our Cambridge host) Neil we were drawn in, fixated, watching the man below expertly shave delicate slices of Iberico jamon (Spanish Ham, but if you've never had it before believe me that its SO much more than just ham).

Before we knew it, we were seated an ordering a small feast for three

Two servings of jamon - shoulder and leg and a cheese tray (which included Stilton cheese, lol)

close up of one of the plates... everything was drizzled in olive oil

& for dessert we all shared a frozen sangria 'drink'

Boxwood Cafe * The Berkley Hotel, London

While we were in the UK we couldn't get into the Gordon Ramsay's F Wood restaurant so instead we made our way to Boxwood Cafe for lunch during day trips to London.

I ordered the Prix Fixe meal but also got this tiny teacup size butternut squash soup as the pre-starter
Dawn ordered the full size soup - her soup included porcini mushrooms

Chicory, Stilton and walnut salad with poached pear

The entree was butter roasted hangar steak with spring onion mash. The steak just melted in my mouth.

The tea service included salted caramel chocolates

York - The reason we were on vacation in the UK ~ the Wedding of Tim and Grace.

The night before the wedding, we attended the wedding rehearsal and then went to the dinner for family and out of town guests at Bishopthorpe Palace

It was a casual evening...

Tasty homemade Thai Chicken Curry was served by Grace's mother who cooked the curry herself (below are are the stock pots that held the curry and rice).This was a palace without a doubt.... the room we were in had amazing portraits.

& in case we felt that the casualness of the evening overlooked that we were in a palace this signed picture of the King & Queen in the foyer wiped that idea right out the door!

Wedding Day Reception Dinner - Though I didn't get any photos of the dinner I want to mention that the father of the bride and his staff were busy cooking the meal for all the guests before and right after the wedding.

Below is a photo of the wedding cake prior to all the tiers being stacked up to make a beautiful wedding cake. The book cake is the brides cake (the grooms cake, which you can't see, was in the shape of a computer mouse).

The Streets of York

Travel plans changed - we had to bypass our trip to Scotland due to weather, etc so we stayed in York and extra day providing us an opportunity to walk around downtown and see all the food stalls

Death by Candy

Death by smoked meats

Lo Spuntino, York

After leaving a pretty mantastic pub, we escaped the snow by stopping for an Italian dinner

My chicken was stuffed with sundried tomatoes, ham and in a rich cream sauce

Dawn's carbonara pasta was so good

Sadly these vegetables were just gross...

31 Castlegate, York

Before leaving York to head back to London Dawn and I spent the morning walking through York and found our way to 31 Castlegate for tea and breakfast

Traditional English Breakfast - egg, beans, bacon, black-pudding, grilled tomato & mushrooms & of course toast

Donut cart found while walking around York - though we didn't try any donuts, the cart just had to be photographed

Dawn happily sipping Filtered Coffee. Not being a coffee drinker myself I had no idea how HARD it was to find filtered coffee in a country that lives off of french press coffee

Back in London Dinner

We thought we were ordering a big serving of hot mozzarella with ham wrapped around it but instead we got this lovely salad with ham wrapped mozzarella

I had sausage and fava beans w/ a small slice of polenta (it was good but I wish there had been more polenta)

Dawn's Risotto (risotto was definitely an ongoing trend during our trip)

Bloomsbury Bowl, London

We hoped for a bar where we could have a drink and watch people bowling... Who knew we were going to stumble upon a free Punk Concert?! - there were about 4 bands, some were okay and one was REALLY good. It was a great night of people watching and hanging out.

London Breakfast near the Generator Hostel We found a cafe nearby which served a nice English Breakfast at a VERY reasonable cost. It was a nice way to start each day while we were unexpectedly in London for those extra days.

British Museum, London - Court Restaurant

The Red Snapper was off the Aztec Exhibition Menu
The potatoes were like tiny mountains topped with guacamole

Chili Chocolate Mousse with Tequila Sorbet - it was a piece of art

Ha Ha Bar & Grill, London

Before going to see La Cage aux Folles Dawn and I had dinner at the Ha Ha Bar & Grill which was just a few blocks away from the theater

Dawn enjoyed a glass of Italian sparkling wine with her fish and chips

My risotto with shrimp and greenbeans

The first Ice Tea I had had in two weeks - the waitress said they could make the ice tea for me when I originally asked for hot tea with a glass of ice so I could just make my own at the table

Trio of desserts - lemon tart, chocolate fondant cake and a berry mousse

Criterion Restaurant, London

After an afternoon of shopping at Liberty we were ready for a nice meal. We enjoyed a leisurely relaxing drink while we waited for dinner and soaked in the amazing ambiance.

Criterion History: The name alone conjures up visions of a glorious past. As you sit and lose yourself in the opulence of the neo-Byzantine architecture, it's easy to believe the building is soaked in a fascinating history. With its gold and marble shimmering alongside the mosaics, mirrors and plaques, the restaurant has an almost celestial air.

If the walls could talk, they would surely whisper to you their secrets... They would tell of when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first imagined the meeting between Dr. Watson and the enigmatic Sherlock Holmes, in the Criterion Long Bar.

More recently, they would describe the epic Hollywood production of 'Batman: The Dark Knight', as well as the magnetic presence of Russell Crowe as he filmed scenes for 'A Good Year'.

Drinks in the bar before dinner
My starter was carpaccio with a salad

Dawn's pasta had truffle shavings, she was nice enough to share a bite with me

My Chicken Supreme entree with celery foam and spinich

My dessert was a chocolate hazelnut cake with berries on top

Dawn's dessert - pumpkin mousse was as yummie as it was artistic

Fortnum & Mason, London Piccadilly since 1707

Dawn & I had lunch at the Fountain Restaurant

They had a very nice tea service

Dawn had the risotto - if I remember correctly it had butternut squash in it.

Lunch special for the day was Stuffed Saddle of Lamb with Rosemary Fondant Potatoes and it was delish!

Harrod's, London

MMMMM.... Candy

I like the flowers but why would anyone want candy oxford shoes?

Marzipan fruit

I have NO idea what Red Velvet Whoopie is but I just loved the name

Drinks On A Plane (on our way home)

Almost home.... it was the longest Christmas Day ever (lasted almost 40 hours by the time I got home and tried to stay up to start combating jetlag, unfortunately it didn't really work I was jetlagged for about a week)

Bonus Blog ~ Snacks

We found lots of gluten-free items at Sainsbury's

I don't really like vinegar and salt crisps but the balsamic flavor was really good - wish I could find these here at home

These really tasted like bacon and had the consistency of something that kinda wanted to be a corn chip

One late evening I needed to eat badly - badly enough to eat something that actually promises not to kill you. (Loved this label)

Things in the hotel:

Instant coffee ~supposedly...

What is it about Europe and their unrefrigerated milk.... ick

Finally here was my favorite tea while we were on vacation.... it's yummy 'everyday'

Oh yes, I'm White & Nerdy

2010-01-26T21:17:00.000-08:00

Did you know that Bubble Wrap just turned 50 years old? & this week marked the 10th Annual Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day... how in the world did I miss that????

Well to make up for the missed anniversary here's my tribute to bubble wrap because its both fun and a stress relief.

I've had this site (which as been here on the sidebar of my blog) for a quick stress relief - while the sound is VERY satisfying I'm way more tactile and ultimately miss the actual popping of the bubble wrap but in a pinch it's most definitely a go to.

Here is more info than you probably ever wanted to know about Bubble Wrap:

& for an extra bit of tribute here is the White & Nerdy video by "Weird Al" Yankovic. (if you forward to the 2.00 minute mark you'll get quickly to the bubble wrap reference)

Enjoy.

Instant Gratification

2010-01-11T21:58:00.000-08:00

This week's TV is about to make up for the upcoming end of Dollhouse (destined to end as FOX has never really supported Joss) and the fact that we have to wait a few months for Glee to return.

First is Southland on Tuesday night this week ~ Southland was picked up by TNT when NBC let them go to save the time spot for the never-gonna-watch-it Jay Leno show (sure, go ahead and ask my what I really think).

So set your DVR to TNT @ 10pm tomorrow night because they are showing the first eps (with unshown footage), so even if you didn't watch it the first time round you can catch up now.

*~*

Then on Thursday Project Runway returns for Season 7 (back in NYC!).... I expect that Lifetime is putting it all on the line since they really effed up season 6 by moving it to LA and having revolving guest judges because Michael Kors and Nina Garcia were in NY doing their jobs.

I'm quite interested to see what characters they've picked this time round.... especially this Anthony guy because the current clip of him makes him totally stand out (I hope the TV clips aren't like a bad movie where ALL the good stuff is in the trailer).

My December.....

2009-12-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

This is what I'll be doing this month (unfortunately it's December so it won't look this warm)

London Eye (we'll wait for a clear day to do this)

The Tube

Harrods

Hasty Edit

We are also going to stay in Cambridge for the first half of our trip:
King's College Chapel, Cambridge UK

Lovely outdoor Cambridge - again NOT what it'll look like in December

V&A Museum

York Cathedral (for the wedding we are attending!)

Pubs

Edinburgh Castle

What I do in my "spare" time

2009-11-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

My *other* job is as a board member of a non-profit dance organization where we host and organize bellydance events for the bay area dance community. Next Saturday we are hosting a full day bellydance festival and fundraiser in Palo Alto:

SF/BA MECDA Presents
Gala Show & Fundraiser
for Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence
Saturday November 14, 2009
11 am - 9 pm
Festival Dancing ~ Three Featured Showcases ~ Gala Show ~ Vendors ~ Food ~ Raffle

A portion of the proceeds for this event are donated to Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence

http://sfbamecda.org/

Visit our website http://sfbamecda.org/ to get a copy of the discount coupon @ $8 per person. If you only want to print just one page print the BACK page with the coupon and directions. Print as many copies as you need - one coupon is needed per person. Feel free to forward this to friends and family that you think might be interested in a full day event with live dance performances and vendors, and at $8 for the full day how can you beat that in this economy?!?

Also, I will be performing during the 6 -7 pm hour during in one of the Event Promoter Showcase (my performance name is Zemira).

Where is Snuffleupagus?

2009-11-04T20:44:00.000-08:00

After 40 years Snuffleupagus is still an underrated character even though he finally became a 'visible' to everyone on the street (show)......

Poor Snuffles...... he wasn't part of the google doodles of the day

10/28/2009

2009-10-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

High winds caused a steel crossbeam and two steel tie rods to snap off the Bay Bridge's eastern span and fall to the upper deck, Caltrans officials said today as commuters unable to drive over the closed bridge jammed alternative routes and crowded onto BART in record numbers.

Click here to read more

photos from www.sfgate.com

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas

2009-10-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

Unless, of course, you blog about it.....

First, I have a big shout out to my mom because she is the one that gave me the free trip to Vegas. Two nights, three days quite a nice getaway from work and everything else.....

After arriving and settling into the hotel we went to check out the new Palazzo Shoppes. We had to make a stop in the Christian Louboutin store where they had the shoes that Scarlett Johansson wore at ComicCon.

Later that night we traveled out to Green Valley Ranch to see Yellow Brick Road the most amazing Classic Rock Tribute band in Vegas. You should really go and check them out if you like a good rock show check out their website here.

Somehow after leaving GVR, checking out the new hotel M we headed out to Fremont Street.

Guess it shouldn't have been so surprising that there was no one there ... it was 2:30 am-ish and it was still midweek

The next day after a relaxing day at the spa we were ready for our night out.

So just to explain the next couple pictures.... a few years ago I thought that I'd really like to have an 'unbridal party' for myself in Vegas with some friends. Think of all those gals that go to Vegas to have their bridal party at Chippendale's or Thunder Down Under with their girlfriends - well this was the "I'm not getting married" party version.

So instead of wearing a white veil I had an amazing one of a kind veil by Wicked Smileys that was way more appropriate for the celebration

In the glass elevator from our floor - it's blurry but the strip is in the background

This cute boy walked into the elevator with his girl and I just grabbed him to snuggle in for a photo (I have no idea if his girl was irritated or not, I didn't really notice her, LOL)

Then this couple got on the elevator - they were VERY surprised that I wanted a pic with them.

No idea what you call a group of pimps (geese are a gaggle... maybe it would be swarm, like a swarm of ants).... anyhoo, a swarm of pimps showed up (oh and there were some ho's too....)

This pimp stopped to take a couple pics with me, but he wouldn't stop talking or moving around so he's all a blur.....

Here is the whole group of pimps and ho's - yes they were on their way to a wedding

Davina and I pose briefly before heading to Thunder Down Under (nope no pics from there.... not allowed)

After the show we headed to Mandalay Bay and saw our third Rock Band during our trip... Aquarius was really good and Nikki was a hot lead singer.

No such thing as strangers

Davina doesn't know a stranger..... while we waited in the airport to head home she strikes up conversation with some men who proceeded to share why they were in Vegas. They were here to sell snow. Not imported snow, or snow maker machines.... Instead they make/sell instant snow.

After buying a bottle of water he proceeds to demonstrate the snow:

Step 1: take a small scoop of product

Step 2: add a couple ounces of water

Step 3: watch it 'foam' up into snow

Step 4: go ahead and touch it! It's cool and feels pretty much like real snow

Step 5: giggle with glee and amazement because you are holding snow in the Las Vegas airport and the temp outside is around 90

Step 6: put your snow into a ziplock bag, get on the plane to head home, hope no one stops you because they think you have something illegal in your bag

Bonus Vegas-Style-FAIL Blog

#1
While waaayy off the strip for the spa deal of the year, Davina and I noticed something odd in the below picture.... do you notice anything?

The odd item in the picture is the below close up of the Cellphone tower-FAIL. It just made Davina and I crack up.... so I had to take a picture.

Here is the close up

& this is what a non-fail cell phone tree is supposed to look like!

#2
My Brain hurts.... OH NO! don't you dare take me into that weird building!

Found this on a website about the institute:

Frank Gehry, he of Guggenheim / Bilbao fame, is at it again. This time its the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute in Las Vegas. Like many of the famous architect’s recent buildings, the LRBI is decidedly not rectilinear, and could be described as naif and primitive, but not in a bad way.

The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute is intended to treat those with Alzheimer, Huntington, Parkinson and ALS diseases – while the architect himself describes the building as comforting, others suggest that patients with those afflictions might find the unusual shapes to be disorienting.

This statement "others suggest that patients with those afflictions might find the unusual shapes to be disorienting." is EXACTLY what I was thinking!!!

I want to say that I love buildings by Frank Gehry but this building for this medical focus just seems wrong!

While I may not think it's brain institute appropriate, I can't wait to see it when it's finished.

Newest blog on the block

2009-10-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that every day a new blog is created.... somewhere out there....

Many of them just disappear into the 'interweb' but some make their mark and work their way into our hearts.

I remember when I found and fell in love with Cake Wrecks. Cake Wrecks is so popular they are currently and a world-ish tour where fans are recreating the best of the worst.

Then there was F U Penguin - too funny and much too wrong and is guaranteed to be a laugh out loud experience (this site might not be work appropriate if you shouldn't be abruptly laughing at random quiet moments)

As always there are the adorable LOL catz which also houses the FAIL blog, Engrish blog, etc.... (I'm sure you know all about this site so photos are not needed)

More recently I was acquainted with Awkward Family Photos which is fun and awkward as promised

Now for the newest contender. I'm not entirely sold on it but here is Crappy Taxidermy for your viewing pleasure (or disgust, you decide)....

Samples of what I found on the site:

This camel is for Davina ~ & yes it's just wrong!

I'm pretty disturbed by this deer in plaid with shotgun.... makes me worry that if he comes back to life he's got a plan

This is a big WTF that I can't even begin to imagine what it is or means

Vegas vodka revealed

2009-10-02T17:39:00.000-07:00

While in Vegas last week the mini-market in our hotel had this bottle of vodka in a crystal skull. The price was high, as you would expect for Vegas, and while the bottle looked neat I didn't think that much about it again....until this afternoon.

I've just learned that this Vodka is more than just expensive...

It's more than just in a bottle the shape of a *real* human skull....

According to their website it has something to do with Mayans (and therefore it's related to that not so great recent Indiana Jones movie)

Here is what the website has to say:

Thousands of years ago, thirteen crystal heads were scattered across the earth – and they are greater and more powerful than anything we have the ability to manufacture today. Their workmanship is perfect: they contain no tool marks and have been cut against the natural axis of the crystal, defying the laws of physics. Some say they are artifacts from the lost civilization of Atlantis, some say they date back to the Mayans, still others say they were created by a higher intelligence.

Brought together, the Crystal Heads are said to contain vast knowledge and enlightenment capable of unlocking our most enigmatic ancient mysteries. Alone, each is believed to house radiant psychic energy, which has magical powers and healing properties.

And finally I learned that it's being promoted (funded?) by Dan Aykroyd.

What you do with this is info up to you, I just wanted to share. Thanx

Heading out for a mini-vacay!!!!

2009-09-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

(guess where I'm going?)

Summer Vacation

2009-09-08T14:15:00.000-07:00

I hope you enjoy this brief pictorial of my summer vacation in San Diego and Tijuana (& considering the actual number of photos I took this is brief)

Comic Con San Diego

Anything goes at Con..... I guess

While I was on my way to work at Comic Con this funeral precession greeted me... It seems it was a 'publicity stunt' for Chris Angel. After watching it for a minute or two I headed into the con and was behind a guy who commented to his friend: 'Chris Angel was a nerd' due to that procession. I thought it was funny that a ComicCon attendee was thinking that Chris Angel was a nerd.... ComicCon is full of nerds of all ages & sizes~ what makes one nerd better than another?

This is the reason I'll never ever stay at the Hard Rock Hotel - just couldn't stand the constant noise.

Noise in the lobby, in the hallways and on the patio, etc... (Supposedly this was Daughtry, or someone....)

Comic Con Exhibitor floor - from above and below....

TRT Dinner on Sunday.... when it was all over

This picture speaks for itself

Hanging out at the Dead Dog

Trip to Mexico

Davina blending in with the locals.....

Our Hotel ~ They had a lovely spa with the Agua Caliente Waters

We went to the 'famous' Sombrero Restaurant for our midday meal

We had a really nice lunch

It was this guys birthday and after singing they brought out this tiny pinata for him to hit with the little stick

Revolution Avenue ~ Car Show, Mariachi's & Margarita's

Mariachi Guy on Break

Revolution Avenue

We were quite entertained by this Mariachi band while we waited for our two for one Margartia special

Two for One special....... two for me and two for Davina.

Our server wouldn't get out of the way for these pictures

Another Mariachi Band came round to serenade us

Street entertainment

Trip to the Circus - Mexico Style

Under the big tent like any other circus

We went to the early show at 6pm, so it wasn't very busy

The bleachers we were seated on were basically jimmied together

This was the oldest, but happiest, elephant I've ever seen

This is one half of the Mentalist Act - they were like the Sigfried and Roy of Mind Reading

There was a parade of random animals

As one of the circus 'acts' they brought out this Monster Truck that carried all the little nino's and nina's once around the ring ?????!

There was an unexpected 'intermission' while they prepared the cannon (see below) and it was absolute chaos with everyone walking around and doing who knows what.....

They shot an actual man from a cannon

This was the other half of the Mentalist Act. He came out into the stands to 'read palms' and for a small $ donation he gave us a sealed envelope that had something or another to do with us / our life. It's all in Spanish so I have NO idea what it says. LOL

Davina noticed that the Tiger wasn't in a cage.... at all. & other than the yellow rope he was pretty much free to come and go as he liked. Luckily he seemed to be VERY content so he just did his show without any problems.

The Mentalist stopped us on our way out ~ I think if he didn't have another circus show to do he'd have come out with us

Mariachi Show at the Camino Real Hotel

After the circus we headed to the Camino Real Hotel in hopes of finding some kind of entertainment in the Cantina and to have a drink and snack.

Duck tacos with a tamarind sauce - really good!

Davina's chicken tortilla soup

These Mariachi guys were lots of fun!

Tour of Tijuana

Our tour guide.... (Judy kept flirting with him ;) )

Famous Tijuana Zonkey

The tour bus took us to all these stops

This police / military convoy was as close as we got to the 'drug wars' in Mexico

The Caliente casino and dog race was pretty nice inside and out

Notice the flamingo's in the Caliente "pond"

During the mexicoach tour we were taken to the boarder to see how busy it was

When we left we took a bus which took us directly to the boarder crossing and we walked back home (into the USA that is...)

Making it work

2009-09-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

Tim Gunn is now everyone's hero.... seriously!!!

The Project Runway star is now a crimefighter against bad fashion!

I might actually have to get this when it's released......

Can't wait for Saturday!!!!

2009-08-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

Golden Gate Park is completely being taken over with Outside Lands show...

For the love of .... vampires

2009-08-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

Geesh! So I'm not a pop-culture hermit by any means, but I'm too old to be digging the Twilight Fads that are seeping into everything these days.

My opinion of the first Twilight movie was that it just didn't have enough sex or violence in it (being that I'm an adult and not a teenage girl that's weepy and full of longing that makes sense doesn't it? Actually, I don't recall ever being that girl when I was in my teens).

A recent trip to Boarders opened my eyes to the marketing world that is Twilight. I'm not just talking about the books and the movies, I'm talking about all the crap for sale!

While just browsing the store I happened upon a Twilight themed table that had book bags, picture frames, little jewelery boxes with Edwards picture on it. A lot of the stuff was made of plastic and was priced upwards of $9.99. OMGWTF?!

In my teens I remember purchasing lots of magazines. I would trade magazine pictures with my BFF ~ she wanted all the Duran Duran and I wanted her Adam Ant and Billy Idol....

Kiefer was the Lost Boys 'Billy Idol'

Sure I collected pins (actually I still have my pin collection - a few choice items get to go onto my ComicCon badge each year): Berlin, Madness, Depeche Mode, Adam Ant, heck even Boy George... if it was New Wave Music related, most likely I had it!

I expect and understand Twilight calendars and a few t-shirts even but a whole line at Nordstroms?

Am I just too old to understand and appreciate this phenomenon?

Back in the day I obtained my pop-culture-vulture goodies at the record store. Don't know what records are - google it. Warehouse and Tower Records were the stores you could regularly find me buying cassettes (again, google it), posters and pins after school. An occasional trip to SF or Berkeley would direct me to Amoeba Records or Rasputin or Telegraph Ave in Berkeley where there were soooo many stores to pick from back then.

Does one really have to choose a team? Edward Bella or Jacob....whatever

I will choose Griffindor if I have my choice -& wait didn't Edward/Robert Patterson technically start at Ravenclaw or was it Hufflepuff?

My Vampire team is Spike. Don't get me wrong, I liked Angel, and I liked good-Angel with Buffy, but really it was the bad boy (as always) that won me over! His British accent, amazing bone structure and hot bod (you know which season really had Spike practically bearing all....) yum. Nothing more to say really....

Neil Patrick Harris is my Hero

2009-08-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

I actually enjoyed the Doogie Houser character and show back in the day, but never gave Neil Patrick Harris much of a second thought until he showed up in Harold & Kumar go to White Castle

NPH plays "himself" - but as a psycho drugie, womanizer self.... it was very funny! He was the sleeper hit in that film.

There was a sequel but I haven't watched it.

Not too long after that the TV show How I Met Your Mother showed up. As a Whedon-Fan I tuned in to see Allison Hannagan but I really fell for NPH’s character Barney

NPH as Barneyjust makes me laugh!

So many Barney related quotes have shown up thanks the show

& Barney's Bro Code is without a doubt legen.... wait for it.... dary!!!!

NPH showed up to ComicCon for Dr Horrible – I HIGHLY recommend you watch Dr Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog if you haven’t already watched it like 50 times (oh, maybe that’s just me….)

I have to say it was pretty cool to be escorting NPH AND Nathan (the hammer is my penis) Fillion when they came to ComicCon. Ah, to be in the presence of NPH.... who could ask for more.

He recently hosted the Tony Awards… & though I didn't watch the full show his ending song /performance was just fantastic!!!

Really NPH is hot-hot-hot right now and he was even a guest judge on the recent Top Chef promoting not only his love of food but also his love of Magic (which I won't hold against him, though it's not my 'thing')

I had, as usual, no intention of watching American Idol this fall. And now that crazy Paula is gone it gave me even less reason to tune in till the end and there is so much news on the finalists (yep that’s my American Idol MO: ignore, ignore and then tune in at the end via my DVR so I can totally fastfoward)

Here is NPH with Ted Dannon - I think this was at last seasons show, which makes sense... 'cause I'm guessing NPH was rooting for Adam Lambert

BUT, I’ll definitely be watching the Dallas Auditions of American Idol because NPH is going to be a host judge.

BTW, I like NPH tons, but I’m not crazy…. I did, however find this on the web:

for more pics of NPH and who knows who else go to www.fanpop.com

Don't call it the Antique Roadshow.... there is an s!

2009-08-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Months back my mom had my father and I apply up for the Antiques Roadshow tour. In the end my mom was picked from the lottery and I was the lucky one to go with her!

Saturday, August 15th - One day only the Antiques Roadshow took over the San Jose Convention Center. I was anticipating long lines outside of the building but the convention center is huge so the lines were inside and the lobby was practically empty.

The rules for Antiques Roadshow are: One person per ticket, and only two items for appraisal per person.

Here are our tickets:
and here are some of the goodies we were taking in to have appraised

So the rules are 2 items per person and yes you see more than 2 things here... more about that later.

My mom was taking this bowl with matching plates along with another dish set.

Here are some of the long, long lines I foolishly thought would be outside of the building.

I enjoyed looking at what other people were bringing

As we got closer to the actual check in there was this sign letting everyone know that no photography was allowed....

I was still near the above sign when I took the below picture.

Below these people are getting their '2 tickets' so they can get in line

This couple had an old metal kids bike - I have no idea what else they brought with them

Breakin' the Law... (the Antiques Roadshow law that is)

So here is where I was sneaking out the camera when no one was looking..

This was the line we waited in outside of the 'appraisal area'.

As we got closer you can see the walls that surround the Antiques Roadshow 'corral' . They only let us in, small groups at a time, so it always looks busy behind the two filming areas.

I realized once inside you could get into another line before you leave the area - so with my little box of goodies in hand after having the jewelery appraised I casually got into the Silver line and had my Victorian mesh purse appraised (more breaking the AR law I know).

And here is my best 'breakin the law photo'.

I think, but am not certain, that this is J. Michael Flanigan. I thought the "mullet" outfit he was wearring was just too over the top not to sneak a picture. (mullet outfit: business on top, and party on the bottom!)

While taking this photo I was caught! Really! I wasn't kicked out or anything but I was noticed and was approached with a motion to put the camera away.... which I did.

Let's take a closer look - notice the man on the Right, he definitely saw me with my camera

At the end after all the sneaky pictures and getting in an extra line I was not a millionaire but I got some neat news about my Victorian purse - it's value is WAY more than I spent on it.

There was just one last stop before leaving - the Feedback Area. This is where it's you in front of a camera and you get to say whatever you like about your experience in less than 2 minutes. So I went in and talked about the purse and maybe, just maybe, I'll end up as a quick clip on the show broadcast in 2010. You know I'll be recording the San Jose tour dates - it's my understanding that there will be three 1 hour shows from the one day.... so I'll let you know if I end up on TV (I really hope my hair looked good!)

Just for YOU!

2009-08-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

After getting a bunch of feedback from you, and you know who YOU are, I'm taking the time to provide more of a wrap up on Comic Con a couple weeks back. (PS sorry you weren't satisfied with the Tea with Lemon blog)

Right, so starting with the beginning ~ this year my CCI job changed a bit, rather than traipsing around with the groups this time my job was to manage the room so to speak.... The upshot of not running around was that I got to see everyone that came into the room. I have to admit though, that this was a real job and there were times that in the process of doing my *job* I missed someone that was there. And like my previous post I didn't see Johnny Depp, I just saw his very nervous (freaked out) behavior on YouTube like everyone else did.

Day One was the day that *supposedly* ruined so many con attendees con.....

Yep, Twilight was there on Thursday. On Wednesday people were lined up overnight to get into Hall H for the Twilight panel scheduled. Robert Patterson was looking sloppy but cute

and the other two main stars were there. Kristen Stewart is currently filming The Runaways - and she's playing Joan Jett, hence the hair cut and tomboy look...

I told someone at my work that Kristen Stewart walked up to the desk where I was working and asked me something or another (I really don't remember what she asked ~ it may have been asking where the bathroom was…. Can’t recall) but she was so excited that she had her own 6 degree-type-experience through me, so I thought I’d tell you as well. I have to say that Kristen Stewart is teeny tiny!!!! She’s size uber-small and petite.

That day I also saw Andy Sanberg, Zoe Salanda (she’s SO beautiful!!!)

I also unexpectedly bonded with Vern Troyer –he was at Comic Con for the The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus film - he / his people needed a favor so I did ‘what I could’. Before he left he actually drove up (on his little cart thing) near me to thank me ~ we’re now BFF’s clearly! ;) I really wanted to see Terry Gilliam but didn’t see him anywhere….

Day Two – Warner Bros. day

Okay so Warner Bros. day had loads of stars attending their 2 ½ hour panel. Where the Wild Things Are, Book of Eli, the newest Nightmare on Elm St film, The Box, Jonah Hex, Sherlock Holmes and Robert Rodriguez’ Shorts. What a morning!!!! Seriously.

Entertainment Weekly was meeting with anyone who’s anyone and going to Comic Con over at the Hard Rock hotel before they came over to the convention center. You can view the EW photos here. So after posing for the camera they made their way to the con.

Robert Downey Jr came with Rachel McAdams for Sherlock Holmes (can’t wait for that movie!). Notice RDJ’s outfit – he’s very dressed to the nines and ended up being very coordinated the whole weekend.

Book of Eli cast was full of heavy HEAVY hitters – Gary Oldman, & Denzel Washington. It was just awesome to be in the same room!

Cameron Diaz, James Marsters and Josh Brolen were there too….

Megan Fox was at the Con for Johna Hex, and while I know from two WonderCon’s ago she is amazingly beautiful – but she should fire her current stylist! She looked like a bad goth girl and was not stunning or pretty…

Paul Bettany and Tyrese were there and both were SMOKIN’ Hot!

An unexpected treat for me, I was needed to help out with talent escorting in the afternoon. So while my post was covered I went down to the secret drop off area and had the pleasure of greeting Emily Deschanel of TV Show Bones (which I watch and love). Emily was polite and beautiful said hi and shook my hand. She is truly a ‘natural’ beauty.

I missed the panel itself so I’ll have to wait for the fall season but it was a joy to have had the "meet & greet" experience!

Day Three – Lost & Stark

Lost, the cast, made an appearance at Comic Con (as they have been doing for years now). I must say Nestor Carbonell was pretty amazing to see in person cause he’s hot on TV and it just gets better in real life. The panel was pretty funny and if you look for it on YouTube I’m sure you’ll find video of Jorge Garcia asking a question of the creators in the audience question line…. Pretty funny!

Zombieland was premiered and Woody Harrelson was there along with other cast members.

My unusual Woody moment was when I looked over and from somewhere Woody was all of a sudden holding a corn on the cob and was chowing down. I couldn’t tell if it was cooked or not but there’s no way it was warm and it definitely didn’t come from the convention center catering! LOL

Robert Downey Jr was back on Saturday for Iron Man with cast members. Again looking dapper he arrived on scene with Don Cheadle (SO love him!), Sam Rockwell, and drum roll please…… Scarlett Johansson! Yes the bombshell was there to rock the socks off of the fan boys camped out in Hall H. And rock them she did. She rocked me that’s for sure!!! She is Stunning!!!

Seriously, she’s feminine, curvy and beautiful….

And check out those shoes! I almost gave myself whiplash trying to get a good look at those shoes! Whew!

Day Four – winding down….

Sunday is the beginning of the end when you are at Comic Con. Hall H is closed and we all start to feel a bit more relaxed.

While working with the Paper Heart group I had an unexpected run in with David Tennant, from Doctor Who. He was waiting to do press but Paper Heart wasn’t done yet.

As you can see from the below pic he’s wearing this great stormtrooper shirt

When he showed up I just blurted out “I love your shirt!” He had the biggest smile and the cutest accent when he thanked me and told me that ‘it seemed the best choice for the day’.

So nice that in the end of it all I had a nice unexpected run in with someone that I’m a fan of….

Right, so there you go that’s my wrap up. Thanks for your time!

Noooooooooooo!

2009-08-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

Sadly No concert for me tonight.

Who's going to pick up the Teen Angst torch?

2009-08-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

Sixteen Candles

Weird Science

Pretty in Pink

Ferris Bueller's Day Off 'Buller?' 'Buller?...'

The Breakfast Club

Sad, sad news! I just heard that director John Hughs passed away today. His were some of my favorite movies from the 80's and while there have been some other very good/fun teen flicks he really found the right pulse. Makes me want to watch The Breakfast Club tonight.

The LA Times has posted this article:
R.I.P John Hughs: The Tolstoy of American teenagers is gone but not forgotten

Only in San Francisco....

2009-08-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well, not exactly only in San Francisco, but you know what I mean...

Yesterday 100 skydivers descended upon San Francisco as part of a T-Mobile related 'stunt'

and today Radio Shack (well, the 'Shack' as they now want to be called) have set up a HUGE laptop in SF and in NY...

Why you ask? Um, I'm not sure why..... but they have.

Not that I have any intention of heading to check out the huge laptop connection to New York ~ I've already got too many plans for this weekend to be bothered. But now you know, so maybe you'll go and check it out and tell me what you think.

On Vacation and Recuperating from Comic Con

2009-07-29T12:04:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I'm on vacation so blogging post Comic Con really isn't on my agenda.... however I'll invite you to visit my daily blog fix: Tea with Lemon to see his wrap up of our long LONG days working at Comic Con. This particular post is an overview of the stars that were paraded past us to their panels.

Remember, I'm on the job and can look (but not directly - no oogoling allowed!) but can't touch!

I'm also going to include this YouTube clip because this is how I too watched the Johnny Depp arrival and departure from the HIGHLY anticipated (well highly anticipated by ME) movie Alice In Wonderland. According to the very few that were there - he waited sequestered in a car until it was time to rush onto stage, arrived on stage - slightly freaked out by the response to his arrival (watch the clip, you'll see), and left. Toot-Sweet. In and gone.....

To The Moon!

2009-07-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

Today marks the 40th anniversary of America's trip to the Moon.

There has been a small amount of fanfair sprinkled in the news here and there. And for those of you that still don't believe we ever made it to the moon you can check with the Mythbuster guys and decide for yourself.

What this 40 year anniversary reminds me most is that there are no flying cars, no voice activated homes, no replicators to make my "earl grey hot" (yes, my geek flag flies!) or transporters. Instead we have cell phones / smart phones, bluetooth on our ears and in our cars, and Internet porn.

So when do we go to Mars?

That Guy

2009-07-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

At some point everyone seems to have encountered the 'that guy' who makes you cringe and smirk all at the same time.

Recently the 'that guy' was highlighted in the sleeper hit The Hangover. Zach Galifianakis' character in this movie was an extreme version and he was the 'he was there because he was the to-be brother-in-law and if you've seen the movie you already know what his role in their Vegas trip was....

Anyhoo, enough about Zach!

On Friday I went to an 80's Retro concert where Berlin and ABC were the bands I was there to see ~ yes there were a couple more but I just won't mention them since we stayed at the bar and grill waiting for them to finish.

Because we waited for the 'opening acts' to end we only found our seats just before Berlin took the stage. Once settled we noticed that the row directly in front of us was four couples but interestingly the 4 women were huddled together and the men were together right in front of our seats. We took note of the separation and then once the band was ready to hit the stage we figured out why the women weren't sitting with "their" men -there was ONE 'that guy' in the bunch. He was loud, overly friendly with both his friends and those of us sitting around him, he definitely thought he was the life of the party.

I will admit that he was funny - but not in the way he thought. Judy and I tried to keep our laughs to ourselves but it was nearly impossible! As he jumped around, kissed the cheeks of his guy friends, sang loudly with everyone around him, he kept trying to high-five everyone, etc, etc....

At the end of the row was the one guy who wasn't actually participating with the 'that guy' in the group, he had a buffer of another man between him that 'TG' - he took the time to turn around and assure us that 'TG' was harmless and when he told us that 'TG' was his brother-in-law I laughed out loud because it meant that 'TG' really WAS the guy from The Hangover!! HAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!

The show was wonderful. Berlin put on a PG-13 show, which though very unlike them, was really good. Teri made use of her wireless mic and made her way into to audience and even came up to the second tier where we were seated. (what was funny about Teri coming into the audience was that all four couples left to go to the bar and they missed her entirely - I can only imagine what 'TG' would have done if they had been there). ABC also put on a very good show. Judy and I would have preferred Berlin to have been the headliner but we both realized that ABC was more of a mainstream band with more crossover appeal.

Next concert on the calendar is Depeche Mode which will most likely have a different audience…. I just hope we don’t get seated next to another ‘That Guy’.

My Summer Must List

2009-07-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

Inspired by a recent Entertainment Weekly here is my Summer Must List....

Television

I get my weekly Soup fix with Joel McHale and I just couldn’t do without it.
Of course, So You Think You Can Dance is a necessity in my life….
I am also enjoying the ‘current’ last year season of The F Word with Gordon Ramsey. (it's from 2008 but it's new to us on this side of the pond)

Above all, I’m eagerly awaiting Project Runway!

Though it’s now on Lifetime it seems as if nothing has changed, same judges, Heidi and the most definitely needed Tim Gunn… it’s not Project Runway without Tim!!!

And my true guilty pleasure is Tori & Dean on Oxygen

~ I can’t stomach the new 90210 but I was a fan of the original and though Donna wasn’t my favorite character I really enjoy watching her now with her family being what seems to be a “real person”.

Movies

Sadly I’ve fallen behind in my movie watching… I only just finally saw Hangover which was a blast! It’s definitely the ‘what not to do in Vegas’ guideline to follow for all future trips to Vegas.

I’m so behind that I haven’t seen Up yet but REALLY really want to!
I will, however, make time to go see Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince opening weekend!! Can’t wait!

Music / Concerts

My summer concerts will begin this week with the Regeneration Tour: 80’s ‘reduex’ with Berlin (who I can’t wait to see again) and ABC as the headlining band. Sadly, Heaven 17 did not make it... which is sad since I was really looking forward to them!
There is a very good chance that I will end my summer with Outside Lands with DMB.

Martin Fry of ABC

But before Outside Lands happens, I’m most looking forward to Depeche Mode. Depeche Mode is my absolute "Must" band.

The Depeche Mode concert will be the day after my birthday so we'll be celebrating for sure! Also, DM was my first ever concert back in 1985 and this year I’ll be seeing them with the same BFF I saw them with then, so it's like I'm turning back the hands of time, however now we are clearly old enough to buy drinks!

I’m not sure I’ll be buying any DM stuff, in ‘85 the tix only cost $13.50 and T-shirts were *expensive* at $20 each. Now buttons are gonna be $10, and T-shirts will be $50…sheesh..

Vacation

After exhausting myself at ComicCon later this month I’m really looking forward to staying down in San Diego the following week to actually take vacation time during my vacation time. There is a plan in the works to head to Mexico for a overnight trip which will also be fun since the last time I was in Mexico was ’87 and I was only in Tijuana for an afternoon with a couple girlfriends. This time I have checked the crystal ball and hopefully a trip to the spa is in my future while we are there.

Then it’ll be back to the real world and work but thank goodness for the above things on my must list, as they will keep me going and I’m certain my DVR will be full by the time I’m home.

The Cat's Meow

2009-06-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

I love So You Think You Can Dance. I just love it.

Aside from the amazing dancers I've come to love Nigel Lithgoe and Mary Murphy as the main judges, but I've also come to love Cat Deeley the uber-cute host.

If you've ever watched a reality TV show you know how important it is to have a good host (think Jeff Probst on Survivor the hosts of all hosts).

Cat is not only beautiful, she's got a totally cute British accent

She really bonds with the contestants on the show and isn't she hot?

I've just learned that this season Cat is her own stylist and thank goodness for that. If this red dress is a sign of what she'll pick out for herselfthen we'll not have to worry about another dreadful dress like this awful one...

Cat must have had a stylist that was truly out to get her. This brown-monstrosity of a dress was from the Season 3 Finale (I think it was season 3) and I had difficulty focusing on the finale dancers when she was on stage due to this dress-mess...

Cat, you go rocking your bad self with your hot outfits and I'll continue to eagerly await your fantastic hosting, along with all the GREAT dance performances!

Alice In Wonderland ~ photo's released

2009-06-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

Tim Burton is twisted....

This isn't new to anyone not living under a rock, but today he released photo's from the 2010 Alice In Wonderland movie and I'm pretty blown away. However, the only photo with Alice is the one let down you'll see when you get there...

The Mad Hatter

The Red Queen

The White Queen

supposedly Alice is in this pic....

To Make Or Not To Make

2009-06-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest I didn't exactly know what Maker Faire was or what it would be like. I knew some friends were going and it sounded interesting so I decided to tag along.

How to explain Maker Faire? Hmmmmm.... think Burning Man meets Suburbia.... maybe?! High Tech, Low Tech, Steampunk, and everything inbetweeen that was Maker Faire.

Overall, I will say I confirmed that I am NOT a 'maker'. I rely those that make so I can buy their stuff.... So for all you makers: Thank you!

Enjoy my experience at Maker Faire below.

**********

Sadly, the Neverwas Haul had a line that was just too long to wait in to go inside...

Neverwas Haul is a self-propelled 3-story Victorian house. I was stationary at Maker Faire but I'm sure it's pretty cool to see it moving about....

The Swap-O-Rama-Rama was interesting. You bring your clothing donation and then you can look through the other donations and find what you want.

Here you see them rummaging through clothes

The Swap-O-Rama-Rama was also set up with sewing machines for those creative enough to modify what they have found. There were also people there to help those that found something neat but aren't creative enough to do the sewing themselves.

Like Moths to a Flame we found Bellydancers! The Boiler Bar Theater had a couple dancers for the bit of time that we were there watching.

This is Denzel

& this is Mitara

Inside the Expo Hall there was a little bit of everything.

This was in the Applied Kinetic Art area:

Hanging from the ceiling it moved up and down slightly and looked like it was 'waving'

& as you can see its made of plastic soda bottles. I was pretty awesome!

I think that this very large gear is part of the Clock of the Long Now... but I'm not 100% certain

Here is my mobile/auto section and I'll start with the kitty-cat bike that whizzed by

There were quite few art-cars and this one caught my eye because of all the pinwheels attached

but I didn't get why there were squirrels on it... and I really have no idea why this squirrel is wearing a teeny-tiny hat.

The Shark Truck was really cool

I have absolutely NO idea what this was exactly....

This Obama-Vehicle was pretty interesting.

This was interesting - it combined music into works of art that you could play

Steampunk

If you want to know more about Steampunk look here or here

This amazing pedal-powered riding thing was pretty cool and with him all dressed up I had to make him pose (funny he didn't expect to be photographed with his 'invention' but too bad: stand there and pose I said)

Again Bellydancers... in the Steampunk area. She's performing with a the acoustic-ish version of Abney Park

I liked her tattoo

This is the Steampunk Snail-Car

And this Steampunk keyboard is ready for your computer at home

Later on in the afternoon we saw the pedal-powered thing go by. If I remember correctly there were about 4 people having to pedal and there was one or two just there for the ride.

steampunk mask-things

Maker Faire Rides

Pedal powered 'carousel' for two people (of course you're only seeing the one on top in this pic)

As the kid cycled the guitars went round and were 'played' kind of...

The cupcakes rode around the fair grounds.... they were really neat!

Random Dragon like thing I took a picture of.

Barbie - who knew what could be done to a barbie doll....

The most unexpected thing occurred when we chose to get out of the heat and away from the crowds by heading to the screening room. The goal being to get into a cool dark place to rest, turned into my really getting interested in this movie: Mousetrap to Mars.

Okay, so, I've never heard of Rube Goldberg, much less the Rube Goldberg Machine Building Competition... but all of a sudden I was hooked, I even cheered for the Ferris State team, being the underdogs that they were - I guess.

Maker Faire was quite the experience. Here is a video to give you the feel of what it was:

Thank you Joel!!!!

2009-06-12T23:49:00.000-07:00

No one could escape Speidi in the jungle - it was everywhere!!! And though they never got lost or eaten (as I had hoped!) this scenario from The Soup is the next best thing.

Bad Girl in W Mag

2009-06-09T15:48:00.000-07:00

This post is a two fold gratuitous just-because kind of thing.

Because I really love Ginnifer Goodwin as an actress (I loved her the most of all the characters in Mona Lisa Smile)
& because these photos are HOT!!!

While at my hair stylist's last week I noticed this hot W magazine cover and then when I took a good look I realized it was Ginnifer.

Here is the article

I got so wrapped up in the bad girl photo spread that I almost didn't get to the actual article....

Whether you choose to read up about her or not, do enjoy the few photos I was able to find online....

Enjoy.

Are we surprised?

2009-06-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not remotely surprised.

Adam Lambert is officially coming out..... via this weeks issue of Rolling Stones.

read article here

Considering that there were many photos on the web of Adam sucking face with other men, I'm surprised that there has even been any degree of controversy around this at all.

Well, good for Adam!

Now I'm just waiting to hear about his first album, cause I think it'll be interesting to see what style of music he'll be embodying.

Please leave them there!

2009-05-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

I will not be watching I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! ~ not even if you paid me…. I’ve got much better things to do with my time.

I am however hoping for a true life tragedy that would involve Spencer Pratt and “His Creepy Flesh-Colored Beard”

while they are dropped into the jungle for (what some ridiculous NBC Rep calls) the ‘ultimate Swiss Family Robinson’ experience….

In April when it was reported on Pop Sugar that Spencer was definitely interested in pursuing a political career I started secretly praying for a tragic accident to happen to this fool.

"Don't know if I'll be getting elected any time in the next century or so, but definitely going after mayor of L.A. and at least governor," he tells celebrity blog Pop Sugar. "I'll probably stop at Governor."

And now is the opportunity!

Costa Rica is home to approximately 150 species of amphibians and more than 200 species of reptiles, half of them snakes.

If they are really going to be dropped into the Costa Rica jungle there must be a predatory animal that will think Pratt is snack worthy, or at least not know better .

PS Don't fret, Heidi will survive without Spencer & she'll make for a very attractive widow

Breaking Onion News.... Star Trek Film Review

2009-05-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

Power of the Geek-T

2009-05-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

Last summer at Comic Con I scored a few T-shirts. One of the shirts was the below Homer Simpson in Japanese t-shirt:

For me t-shirts are saved for hanging out at home, doing my gardening and gym workouts. So that's what I was off to do last week when I donned this t-shirt, I was off to the gym after work. But before getting to the gym I made a quick stop at the local Nob Hill for a couple things.

Quick Note: my work is right next to the Global Headquarters for Electronic Arts. As I drove across the street to the grocery store I noticed a car full of gamer boys behind me, they too were headed to Nob Hill, probably for dinner or a snack ~ if you know a Professional Gamer or IT Engineer you know the kind of weird hours they keep....

Anyhoo, on my way out of my car and into the store one of they guys from the other car gets my attention and tells me that he thinks my Geek-T is really cool, and proceeds to ‘Superman style’ unzip his members-only-looking jacket to point out his SpiderPig t-shirt! As if we had bonded via t-shirt!

LOL & OMG – all at once!

I walk to and from that grocery store all the time without any notice for the most part but with the power of the Geek-T it's an overwhelming draw for the inner geek, clearly.

I have another t-shirt from Comic Con two years ago that gets a fun response when I wear it to the gym. The shirt has Skeletor on the front, and that t-shirt usually gets a few “cool” comments but nothing to the degree of the Uber Geek-T that I was sporting.

At the gym I went mostly unnoticed with the t-shirt which was fine by me since I try to get in there and out as quickly as possible. However, a quick stop at Trader Joe’s before getting home resulted in another Geek-T experience but at least this time it was with the guy checking out my purchases not some random walkby. He excitedly asked me where I got the Geek-T and if I knew what it said…. In the brief minutes it took to ring up my couple things he told me that there had been a Simpson’s episode where they were in Japan and that the Geek-T must be based on that. I told him I hadn't seen that and maybe I'd look it up (which of course I haven't cause really who cares...?)

I'm not sure if I have the strength to be responsible for this much Geek-T Power.... I may need to hold off on wearing it a lot and just save it for special occasions. I think that "One Geek-T to Rule Them All" will be my new theme when I wear the Geek-T out in public next time.

Metal Heads Converge

2009-05-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

In San Carlos, CA of all places.....

Saturday night out with the girls was the plan. Head out a bit early to get a table and watch some local cover band sing who knows what and have a good time having drinks and chatting it up with men.

Except when we arrived we found there was very little parking which seemed unusual. Once we found parking you could hear the Metallica song loud and clear as we crossed the street to the entrance. *You may remember that I'm a Metallica fan and was excited about the CD they released back in August so I was intrigued and excited to see what was going on inside*

Once inside we saw every single metal head in the Bay Area was at this bar. Seriously! Who knew that there was going to an Annual Metal Tribute Concert that night!?!??

They started at 2pm, there were two stages, one inside and one outside on the patio, Jagermeister girls were selling cheep shots and handing out glowing button things... Unbelievable how many metal heads were gathered in one place. The male to female ratio was 10 guys to every gal and everyone was pretty much friendly and non-pretentious, which was refreshing. I would have loved to see the Chili Pepper tribute band, but they were on before we got there. We caught the Metallica, Tesla, Megadeath and Ozzy / Iron Maiden tribute bands. The bands were really good, we enjoyed the music & the scenery ~ especially since there were so many guys there.

To give you a little peek at the scenery we experienced (remember this was a tribute concert so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to see guys physically emulating / in tribute of their idols):

I swear that Joey Ramone was there.

And there was a guy that was completely living the Mark Wahlberg Rock Star look. There was also dude that completely looked like Slash minus the top hat (which made me remember that Slash is the guest mentor on this weeks ‘Rock Week’ on American Idol – yes I’ve become hooked into AI this season and while I don’t think Adam Lambert will win it’ll probably be in his best interest to be 2nd or 3rd)
Some of the other looks on display was a very goth metal head look, ala Hot Topic, that was an interesting compilation of the two themes… To this very day I thank Metallica for making it okay to be a metal head with short hair, because sometimes that long stringy look is just not attractive!

While the music was good, and the male scenery was good, or at least entertaining, I was really surprised to find that there are a lot of short metal head dudes. Really. Who knew... I knew it was a shorter than normal crowd when I could stand up back at the bar and actually see the band over the head of the crowd, that’s hardly ever the case since I’m only 5’5”. HA HA HA!!! *Remember hot and short is better than tall and fugly*

I'm thinking that I'll jot this annual event down for my 2010 calendar..... ya never know.

Dear Facebook

2009-04-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

I resisted you and then you became the next best thing to sliced bread so I jumped on board. At first it was all fun and games and then I really truly believed that you were indeed the next best thing to sliced bread when my best friend from HS who I hadn’t been in touch with for 15-ish years found me (wrote about that here).

At that time I realized that she found me on FB because I hadn’t gotten married and changed my name. Since then I’ve been reconnected with other long lost friends – who knew I’d reconnect with the folks I lived with in Israel with on Kibbutz Mishmar Haemek? Laura who I celebrated my 18th birthday with in Greece? Fellow CIT campers from Camp Swig (from, ahem, 25 years ago)? All of the people I lost touch with because back then there wasn’t an Internet or cell phones…. ( I was clearly too lazy to keep up sending letters, but I wasn’t alone in that)

But now we have this incredibly fancy Internet and you can online-chat with people from all over the world, in different time zones, and you’d never know that they weren’t just down the street from you.

While back in April I pondered that it was a good thing that I hadn’t changed from my maiden name I’m now realizing that there is much more to it than that. While I’m now try to search for VERY long lost contacts – childhood / elementary school friends – I realize that anyone I want to reconnect with if she's female my chance of finding her has decreased 80% due to the likelihood that she's now married and has changed her last name. So while they can look me up easily enough, if I were to type in ‘Jane Smith’ thousands show up, but in reality Smith may no longer be her last name any more….

Typing in just a first name is useless – my name which I always thought was unusual (couldn’t ever find personalized trinkets with my specific spelling growing up!) when I search it on FB it comes up with pages and pages of women with my name and my exact spelling. *who knew?*

I don’t want to use a reunion service to find someone that most likely also hasn’t joined (cause it's not free), but I wish that Facebook would have a maiden name field or something for all those that are no longer "Ms Smith". I don’t know who to talk to about that, or what difference my request/wish will make, so I hope that by sending my 'reconnection wish' out into the universe makes someone think about looking me up in FB, cause for right now I’m pretty easy to find.

What I'm Watching

2009-04-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

Recently I was having difficulty with my Cable Company Issue DVR so I had to trade it in....

The unexpected difficulty I had with trading it in for another DVR is that I had all kinds of shows that I was behind in watching. After too many weekends away last month I really got behind in my TV watching so I had to try and cram as much in as I could.

However I did have to make some choices ..... and in the 'world of TV' they kinda felt like hard choices...

What to Watch & What to Forget:

Watch: America's Next Top Model
Forget: Lost - it's on On Demand so I can catch them there
Watch: The F Word - I've got quite a crush on Gordon Ramsey these days
Forget: a couple KQED Masterpiece Theater shows I recorded at some time
Watch: The Coco Chanel Movie w/ Shirely McLaine - good movie by the way!
Forget: The Bridge - kinda thought the subject matter was just too heavy

In the end I've now only got the few shows that I started recording, but I actually have a sense of freedom. Freedom from my DVR and the shows that I recorded months back but never made the time for. The weekly guilty pleasure TV shows that I always made time for never sat and festered on the DVR, but the others just sat and sat getting lower and lower on the list.

For now with my 4 saved shows (as of yesterday) I'll easily catch up with them and stay on top of the shows and while I doubt I'll change my ways, for now I can try to stay on top of my DVR recordings ... but we'll see.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bonus TV Post:

I was very happy to learn that a few of the recently canceled ABC shows will return this summer showing the remaining episodes never shown:

Pushing Daisies: May 30 - June 13 @ 10pm

Dirty Sexy Money: July 18 - Aug 8 @ 10pm

(and though I never watched this one Eli Stone: June 20 - July 11 also at 10pm

Halleluiah!!!

2009-04-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Project Runway is IN!

The Bravo - Lifetime dispute is finally finished!

Considering the most recent season (#6) has already been filmed: the show at New York Fashion Week is done, and the poor designers were cloistered away unable to show their face – I’m happy that they can finally come out of the sewing closet (so to speak!).

Though I hardly ever watch Lifetime, I'm looking forward to enjoying a new season with Heidi and Tim "Make It Work" Gunn!

Double air kiss to Bravo… Auf Wiedersehen

The Onion makes me laugh

2009-03-31T22:04:00.000-07:00

This is the best Onion article I've read in a long time.... but if you aren't a fan of the recently ended Battlestar Galactica you might miss the why it's funny point.

Obama Depressed, Distant Since 'Battlestar Galactica' Series Finale

WASHINGTON—According to sources in the White House, President Barack Obama has been uncharacteristically distant and withdrawn ever since last month's two-hour series finale of Battlestar Galactica.

Since the end of the series, Obama has reportedly brushed off key budgetary decisions, ignored his wife and children, and neglected his daily workouts, claiming that he no longer cares if he lets himself go "just like Lee did before the rescue on New Caprica."

Sure it's not a Satan's Scrapbook original, but I just wanted to share it out loud.

When bored.....

2009-03-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

Today Netdisaster came into my life, right when I needed something fun to distract me from my mundane work day. ;)

Now I mean no harm to Tea With Lemon as it's a daily fix that I eagerly look forward to, however when I went for a visit I found that the promised Pointless Drivel Updated Daily wasn't updated - so I decided to try out Netdisaster there.

Here are a few screen shots of my fun:

Oops spilled some coffee!

I love that the Demonstraters were holding signs with photos and text from TwL's postings!

But the most fun was the Dinosaur stomping all over the place.

Definitely a time killer and probably guaranteed to bring a smile to your face if you are feeling a bit burdened by life.

Got the Munchies?

2009-03-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

As we all now know Kellogg's dropped Michael Phelps as a product spokesman and took the cereal boxes off the shelves.

Want to know where they went?

The SF Food Bank has them!

Or you can go to ebay and win your very own box....

Love me a man in a skirt

2009-03-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

Today while reading my local paper at lunch I noticed that the Dear Abby section reflected some follow-up ‘letters’ in regards to a “Joe in Pennsylvania” who wrote about how he prefers to wear a skirt a home, on errands and at church.

Personally, I love a man in a skirt! Quick caveat: well, that is I love it most of the time: Last weekend in Vegas we went to see the Wayne Brady show and while that man has quite the tasty body waist up - nice arms & shoulders - his chicken legs left something to be desired….

FYI: I google'd this pic online (I followed the rules and did not take photos during the show)

The Dear Abby letters supported the man’s choice and made a few recommendations for sarongs and kilts, which immediately made me think of my favorite men in skirts pictures. I can't get this off my mind, so now I’m sharing my daydreams with you...

Liam Neeson in Rob Roy

Marc Jacobs rocks the kilt all year long

Gerry Butler in a kilt is always tasty!

I even like the skinned knee he's sporting

Ewan McGregor looks so young in this pic

It's an 'Adam Ant meets a Kilt look' sported by Ed Quinn

Billy Boyd enjoys a drink on his deck....

“The hammer is my penis” Nate Fillion

Sweet Dreams......

Lap of Luxury

2009-03-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

Dina's Birthday ~ Vegas Style

An opportunity to travel to Las Vegas is always a treat but this weekend it was an even bigger treat! My friend Dina, who I met at SFSU when we became roommates, was celebrating her birthday and invited many people for the four day celebration. I arrived on Friday afternoon and had no idea how the night would progress well in the early morning.... Here are pictures from the weekend celebration.

Here are pics of the suite at the Mirage hotel:

Walking in there is a huge couch, big dining table and the two rooms in the back.

The dining table and bar area are shown here and below.

The 'guest room' was the room to the right and it had two beds a desk area and bathroom.

Here is the Master Bedroom

At the foot of the bed was the TV hidden in the cabinet. While it made me think of the Tea with Lemon blog about the TV of his dreams this one wasn't quite as amazing, but it was really cool!

The piece de resistance was the Master Bath

This whirlpool tub was just awesome!

View from the room by day...

and by night.

Friday night after dinner at a restaurant at the Venetian Hotel we went to see the Wayne Brady "Making *#it Up" show. While at dinner reservations were made at Shobu for a private Karaoke room.

A little history - when Dina and I last lived together in SF we lived around the corner from a bar that had Karaoke on the weekends. Dina and I would go there often and Dina really became a Karaoke regular.

Shobu was hard to find for the cab driver to find, but we finally found it.

Here is Bill, he's the one who came up with the idea for the private Karaoke room. (Dina and I met Bill at SFSU when we were all going to college)

This small room accommodated us fine, however there was NO air flow in the room at all. I can't even imagine what that place would be like during the desert summers....

Notice the weird background - it was like that all night with all the odd home videos and or European tour videos

then in between lyrics this kind of screen would pop up

And at the end of every song a score screen would show up always OO to OO

The boys sing it up!

Marisol, Dina (birthday girl) and Bill jam

Dina blows out the birthday candles on the green tea ice cream

Dina ended the night with a song and we were asked to leave - it was 3 am and they wanted to close up for the night.

Once back at the hotel Chris crashes on the couch and Bill called room service for a few snacks

and then THIS spread showed up! Eight, yep eight, dishes of snacks arrived. I was told after the fact that I shouldn't have let Bill call the order in on his own...

Saturday day is still a blur - in bed after 5 am and up around 10:30... a group met for lunch, Dina and I gambled a bit and then we went up to the room for a nap. Then a large group met for dinner. Afterward everyone came up to the suite for birthday cake & drinks.

Dina shows off the bedroom TV

Family and friends hanging out at the suite party

Sunday came much too soon (don't forget we lost an hour due to Daylight savings....) and I headed home in the early evening..... Ah the posh life it came and went so quickly.

Another San Francisco Landmark Disappearing?

2009-03-03T19:48:00.000-08:00

NOTE: Around February 25th I started to prepare this blog but didn't have a chance to post it. Then over the weekend I had the unexpected opportunity to go to Tonga Room on Saturday night.

Unfortunately, it was not an dining experience as I had expected and I don't have any great photos to add to this post. Interested in knowing why I don't have anything to add to this post? Well.... after a 30 minute wait for table for a party of 6 we left the restaurant.

There was a Hose-Beast of a Hostess, who was so unpleasant and rude, that after we waited and waited we took the only tables available which meant the 6 of us not sitting together. We weren't soooo far apart but still 4 were at one table and 2 were at another but the tables weren't right next to one another. When we spotted a couple sitting in the bar lounge area at a small round table that would accommodate 6 and we thought maybe they would change places with us so we could all sit together ~ instead when we asked the couple they didn't want to get yelled at again by the Hose-Beast Hostess. All we could do was shake our head...and after a quick vote at the table of 4 it was decided that we leave. In the end we went to Sushi Rock and had a great meal with the fun "Sake Sake Sake Boom!" Sake Bombs.

While it's been some time since I've been to the Tonga Room I was saddened to hear that the Tonga Room may be just become a tiki ghost.

The Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco is the home of the Tonga Room a tiki bar that has become a San Francisco icon. The indoor swimming pool is the center piece to float the band that occasionally plays through the evening. The tropical setting includes a rain storm and fantastic over the top cocktails.

There hasn't been a actual statement stating that the Tonga Room is being destroyed, plans for the Fairmont makeover don't include this landmark bar (at this time).

If you want further info ~ aside from these fun pics ~ you can read the Hotel History here.

After a great deal of searching I found these great retro cocktail menus from the Tonga Room

“New York Paper Airplane Flight”

2009-02-24T22:17:00.000-08:00

Sam Fuller had a straightforward idea: Toss a paper airplane from the 31st floor of a New York City office building just to see what would happen.

Flying from Sam Fuller on Vimeo.

Pish Posh the Oscar's ~ Tonight it's time for the Drag Race!

2009-02-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

Last night, thanks to my DVR, I watched the Oscars in less time than it took them to broadcast -whew!

Tonight I get to revel in those truly costumed on television - the fabulous Drag Queen's on RuPaul's Drag Race. Seriously I just can't get enough!!!

While channeling the inner 'Oprah~Diva', supposedly in every Drag Queen, each contestant had to read off a teleprompter, 'sell' a product and conduct an interview with Tori Spelling and her hubby Dean.

Nina, still my favorite, hawks a product.... looks like she's channeling a more 'BJ' look than Oprah

Shannel was a hot mess in this over the top outfit and "I can do no wrong" attitude

Bebe was hecka fierce in both the challenge and on the Runway!

Nina looked like a BETTER Madonna when working it out on the Runway.

Akaisha fell to the floor two steps out on the runway - and she may have twisted it into a more graceful 'you didn't just see that mess' but we did see her fall, RIGHT on her badonkadonk.

And then there was the most over the top outfit of the evening

Shannel pulled out the snakes for this crazy Medusa look....

She had a serious costume malfunction but it saved her butt

I'm truly hooked on this show and I can't wait for tonight!

& for those waiting for Top Model we only have another week to wait....

2009-02-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

You Better Work!!!

2009-02-08T12:56:00.000-08:00

While America's Next Top Model is about to start this month, RuPaul's Drag Race made it out of the gate first!

The first episode: Drag on a Dime delivered - the girls are beyond over the top (you definitely won't see these type of photo shoots on ANTM!). I read in a review of the first ep, where the reviewer compaired RuPaul in pinstripes to Tim Gunn, but I have to say that get Ru in a gown a she's a hair tossing Hot Tranny-Tyrant Tyra Style (but better then Tyra).

These photo shoots are definitely a far off shot from Tyra's Next Top Model expectations:

In Drag on a Dime RuPaul mixed Project Runway with Next Top Model requiring the contestants to make their costumes from finding from a local 'goodwill'.

Unlike ANTM these girls do their own make up and ready for the runway show.

Nina Flowers (my favorite so far) does up her hair

Each show there will be a runway show and then the bottom two will need to "lipsynch for their life!"

So set your DVR now - the next episode is on Monday: 10 pm on Logo

Jane Austin = Zombies

2009-02-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't have believed it after hearing it on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me yesterday.......

But I googled it and there it was....

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action.

Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy.

Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead.

Exactly what I thought Pride and Prejudice was always missing = Zombies! Sorry you'll have to wait until April 15, 2009 for the release date

I really love this Dance Crew!!

2009-02-05T22:59:00.000-08:00

Quest Crew:

Click here to watch their performance from last night's show (sorry, I couldn't get the stupid embedded video to work!) . It's pretty awesome that Quest Crew can take the uber lame and twist it about into a very awesome performance! The challenge: to take a old school dance crew and bring a brand new style to it.

Quick shout out to Tea w/ Lemon ~ can't wait to see your moves! You should start watching ABDC to supplement your hip hop class!!