Happy New Year!

What an amazing homage of Endings.

There's a little something for everyone!

Where's your money?

Ever heard of Where's George?

Its a tracking website for dollar bills. Here is their 'mission statement': Do you ever wonder where that paper money in your pocket has been, or where it will go next? This is the place to find out.

I had pretty much forgotten all about this site until today when I received an email letting me know that someone else has re-entered the bill I entered in June 2007.

Here is my dollar bill info:
One Dollar Bill, ---6D Series: 2003
This bill has travelled 60 Miles in 1 Yr, 247 Days, 21 Hrs, 59 Mins at an average of 0.10 Miles per day.
It is now 36 Miles from its starting location.

• Initial Entry: 26-Apr-07 09:35 PM Gilroy, CA
• My Entry: 17-Jun-07 08:19 AM Redwood City, CA 51 Days, 10 Hrs, 43 Mins 47 0.92
• Newest Entry: 29-Dec-08 06:35 PM Sunnyvale, CA 1 Yr, 196 Days, 11 Hrs, 15 Mins 13 0.02

This doesn't mean that the dollar bill that I set up for tracking hasn't been used since June '07- it only means that it's taken 1 year, 196 days, 11 hours & 15 minutes for someone else to enter it.

It's just too bad that that dollar bill isn't further away than Sunnyvale. I can't help wishing that the dollar bill was 'found' in another state or maybe somewhere on the East Coast.

Sure it's silly but at the same time it's pretty interesting to find that almost two years later that particular dollar is only 36 miles away from where I entered it so it has probably never left the Bay Area like some people who never leave the area where they grew up.

Dickens Fair 2008

Earlier this month a small group headed back in time to Victorian London for Dickens Fair. We had a grand time!

We experienced: The Siamsa Scottish Dance Show, Mad Sal's Recreational Society Ladies, Morris Dancing, the incomparable Habbi'ru, a visit to the Absinthe Bar and the no-photo's-allowed Naughty French Postcards Review.

Here are a few choice pictures from our day... Enjoy

Men in skirts (kilts) jumping ~ yum

Habbi'Ru Middle Eastern Music & Dance performances:

Mad Sal's Dockside Alehouse

Scrooge & Ghost of Christmas Present

There were a few Steampunk 'characters' roaming about

Kisses from the Dark Garden (Victorian Corsetry) Model


Absinthe Bar
Zack poured our 'group' absinthe shot (Joe drank it & we just smelled it) and was quite engaging as he explained all the nuances of absinthe


And our final stop before heading home: Fezziwig's Dance Party

National Pretend To Work Day

Yep, I'm participating today..... luckily I don't have to pretend all day, they are letting us out early

While the below 'google shearch for "pretend" images' isn't at all applicable here in my office I just had to include it because it's fantasticly funny!

Happy Holidays!

No Top 1, 5 or 10 Lists here

Instead I just want to thank Trader Joe's for supporting the gluten free folks in the world!

Trader Joe's has always been the equivalent of "ready to wear" in gluten free products and they are my first stop whenever I shop for food.

This little G below is the new symbol that they are using to clearly show what products are gluten free ~ Which means that the food-stuff with this symbol are foods that I can eat!.

Hip Hip Hooray for Trader Joe's - they are awesome!!

Billie Jean needs money honey...

Yep, it's hard times out there in the world, but you really know it's bad all over when Michael Jackson is selling his stuff at a garage sale.... Just kidding! The recluse has decided to make some money by organizing an auction in April 2009.

According to reports the famous glove will be among a another 2,000 items that will be auctioned along with the "Glove".

PS: I do need to mention that some of the auction proceeds will go to MusiCares, a charity aimed at helping musicians in need ~ 'cause it would be mean to presume he's broke after dealing with that Bahraini prince who wanted his money back after giving Michael all those gifts / advance payments (???)

The iconic glittery white glove seen in Jackson’s 1983 “Billie Jean” music video

Bangers

and mash. (get your mind out of the gutter!)

Yes, it's just a couple days away.... The Dickens Fair in San Francisco.

I'm really looking forward to some hot cider-rum, hanging out in Mad Sal's Dockside Alehouse, and watching all the fantastically dressed ladies and gents waltz ~ makes me dizzy just to watch.

Really though the best thing about going to Dicken's Fair is that it's a fun way to immerse yourself into Victorian London for the day. The costumes, the store fronts, it's all there for you to see, touch and smell (luckily this is a more controlled environment so the smelling part isn't too bad). And you can go one of two ways - as a character to play along or as an observe just watching but still playing along.

I've honestly never played a character at Dickens I go to observe and have a good time and plan to do just that - have a good time!

Here are a couple pics from last year:

Can-Can Girls at Mad Sal's

Waltzing at Fezziwig's Warehouse

Express Thyself!

This may not be new to you but it's new to me! And I want to share it with you all... Some-e-cards is an email card service that is making my day!

Some cards are bittersweet, pointless, nicely-mean, as well as all the normal day-to-day topics

Like they say these e cards are suggestedfor friends, family, coworkers, loved ones, liked ones, and anyone else with fingers.

Here are a couple of examples:

SNL it's making a very slight dent in my DVR

These days Saturday Night Live is barely making the grade... Thanks to Tina Fey they made it back on the map this season but otherwise it's 20% On Point and 80% Crap. Occasionally there are a few standout skits that make it worth recording (so I can fast-forward through all the crap as quickly as possible).

This is the most recent SNL Digital Short that made me LOL! seriously

Practically everyone came out for Prop 8 the Musical

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Wine vs Water

Holiday Weekend ~ Thankfullness

What a weekend! Of course I'm completely brain dead (and running payroll today wasn't helping!) but heading in for a full day... ACK. All day Thursday and Friday I kept feeling like I needed to wake up and go to work and then Saturday and Sunday rushed past like they didn't happen - how does that work?!


Thanksgiving - was Great!! My mom & dad had a group over for Thanksgiving. It was very informal and was fun with really great food and wine!! Rachel, who's about 18 or 19 months old, stole the show first with her squeaky shoes (once the squeakers were removed it was way less bothersome) and then with her aqua-doodle (a fantastic invention for kids that lets them draw with water so nothing can be destroyed! not walls, not clothes yours or hers, etc. It was great and fun to play with since Rachel liked us to draw with her = she shares well at this age).

With so many of the attendees having allergies (me included) my mom pulled out all the stops and made 3, yes THREE, different stuffing's (normal with cornbread/wheat, without wheat, and a rice stuffing without cornbread). There were nut free options for those that would die upon contact. Luckily, there weren't any vegetarians so we didn't need any tofu-turkey or anything like that.

Black Friday - I avoided the mall and stores on Friday, instead opting to head to the Gem and Jewelry show. It's actually been ages since I had been to the practically quarterly traveling jewelry show, but I was finally in town when it was here and I wanted to avoid it on Sat and Sun to take advantage of everyone else being at the mall. I didn't really need anything but wanted to get some earrings and found a pair in silver for only $20.00, who could pass that up? I also bought some rhinestone stuff for bellydancing, but overall I didn't go crazy since I didn't need anything.

Memory Lane - my friend Dina, who I met in college when we randomly became roommates on campus, was in town for the holiday. It's been ages since we've seen each other. She lives in Denver and though I went there once to visit it was winter and I'll NEVER do that again (hello, I live in CA for a reason!), I think it was around 2 or 3 years ago that she was in the Bay Area and we drove to Napa for dinner.... No matter, it was too long.

We met in San Francisco for dinner with her friends and she was going to spend the night there before heading back to her mom's in the morning. We met for Sushi and then back to their apartment where we reminisced about SFSU: the roommates we hated, the Jay Leno reported "Foot Licker" while we lived on campus, and all the rest... It was so great to just hang out and catch up.


TV Addiction- this weekend my TV had control of me when I was home... I just couldn't help myself, all those mini-projects that I was going to work on were pushed to the wayside because the TV had control.

Sadly got caught up with a few episodes of The Pickup Artist on VH1 including the finale - the nerds weren't bad looking but some of the 'opening' lines (of a set) were LAME! "What movie is this line from?: Nobody puts Baby in the corner" OR the other popular "My friends and I completed a caper and we are celebrating like it's the end of Oceans Eleven". Really, didn't the King of the Geeks, that guy named Mystery, teach them any other new lines to use?! And was he referring to Sinatra's Ocean's 11 or George Clooney's? What am I thinking, how would those girls even know who Frank Sinatra is?!?! (wow, I just outed myself & just proves I'm old now)

TV SIDEBAR: This weekend while TV watching I sat with the laptop and confirmed that Sophomore Show Pushing Daisies wasn't "picked up" (fancy word for canceled - though ABC refuses to use the word canceled) for next season. I find this very sad since Pushing Daisies is a really good show. I wasn't too sure about it after they handed out hundreds of slices of pie at Comic-Con without any utensils! Also, on the un-picked up list includes Dirty Sexy Money (also a good show), Eli Stone (never watched it)

Baby Free Time - Rachel's mom and I went out without Rachel on Sunday. I'm really not certain if Rachel cried the whole time with the babysitter, and if she did cry the whole time, I feel bad for the babysitter!, but when we left she was in tears and when I dropped mom off Rachel still had red-red cheeks and looked so sad. Next time I think Rachel won't let me take mom out without her....

World Aids Campaign

Upcoming Chick-Flick

with a good cast:

He's Just Not That Into You trailer in HD

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving

I am looking forward to being with my Family and Friends today!

And Then There Were Three...

Tonight is the finale of the 11th Cycle of ANTM

They are down to three fairly strong contenders, but the dreaded Cover Girl commercial is ahead of them followed by the final runway!

My 'pick' Lauren Brie went a few weeks ago, so my new favorite to win is Sam. She started off as this "I'm going to the Mall" girl

who would have thought that she'd rise to these heights?

I really love this shot

Samantha has a really great personality, although her personal style is slightly still 'Mall Girl' but she has personality to spare!!! And she's been taking some amazing photos!

However, in last weeks ep. Sam let her nerves get the better of her but luckily for her she pulled this photo out to keep her in the competition and go on the finals... (not that I really thought that Marjorie would get to finals due to her uncontrolled nervous behavior day after day)

Broke - Down - Hot - Mess

I honestly think that McKey may be the run away winner of this cycle.... After her hair cut she really started to pull out some amazing shots!

Also, McKey has a definite personal style that she shows week to week in the judging panel. That personal style combined with the amazing photos she's been taking have given her a very solid place in the competition so far.

Work those chains girl!

Or will it be Analeigh... She isn't as tall as a model aught to be, but she has a lovely TV personality and takes beautiful photographs:

She's jumping for joy to be in Holland...

Can't wait to see what really goes down, since the actual commercial can equal death to a good candidate on this show...

Bond Trailer Expectations....

I was totally expecting a Watchman trailer before the Bond movie, but it wasn't there. There were a few movie trailers and I kept waiting in anticipation but nope no Watchman trailer....

But then there was this - the newest Star Trek trailer and it made up for the anticipation of the other trailer....



And to whet your appetite here are a few stills to hold you over until May 2008...

Bond: Quantum of Solace

So this weekend a small group of us headed to the theater to see James Bond: Quantum of Solace.

All the reviews are mixed ~ some absolutely love it and some hate it extremely... Me? I liked it!

When the Bourne Identity movies came out the reviews commented that Bourne had found the missing equation that the Bond movies had been missing, and now it's the complete opposite as the complaints are that the Bond movies are now too much the Bourne movies. The way I see it is that this is not the suave and campy Bond that I grew up with. Daniel Craig is a Bond in turmoil with a vendetta. Of course there are a couple girls but really he doesn't have much time for them what with his emo-brooding....


The action scenes were very exciting but these days the way that action shots are filmed and cut it's hard to actually focus on all that was going on. So much happened in the first 15 minutes of the movie it's still a bit of a blur. Discussion about seeing it again to try to catch all the bits and pieces came up afterward. There was a slow part in the middle, and overall there was a slightly confusing story line: bad guy: oil / water? Why haven't we heard about these bad guys before? Etc...

Another big downside of the movie was that there weren't enough less dressed shots of Daniel Craig

Even all messed up Craig is still a total package (love those khaki's!)

R.I.P. MTV

MTV may stand for Music Television but they must forget that concept every time the MTV staff schedule another reality show. I remember an MTV when there were only music videos on. Then there was the show Remote Control but it was at least a music trivia game show so it made sense. Now shows on MTV have very little to do with music: The Hills, My Sweet 16, Real World/Road Rules/Challenges, etc, etc.

I guess MTV has decided to make it up to all of us, for not showing videos anymore by making pretty much every video ever aired available on their website.

Take Me On

This video by A-Ha was extremely cutting edge at the time

And now TRL, which I think is the only music related show left on MTV, is now ending. This Sunday Carson Daly (the original Total Request host) is back to bid it farewell...



Really we should be bidding farewell to Music Videos not necessarily MTV because MTV is sticking around. Granted there just isn't any music content to support the name but the channel isn't going anywhere.

NTBSGM (aka Futuristic Next Top Model)

Next Top Battlestar Galactica Model

In a distant part of the universe humans and the cybernetic race known as the Cylons were at war, went to space to find Earth and ultimately then found Earth. Now living together Cylons and Humans compete together in common reality shows. Of all the popular reality shows it's NTBSGM that has risen to become the most popular reality show.

The show is hosted by former Commander Adama who now serves as the head judge and producer of the show.


The winner of NTBSGM will receive a contract with Millennium Model Management, a six-page spread in 1700 Magazine, and a 500K Cubits contract with MarzGirl cosmetics.

Let's meet the other Judges:

Runway Diva Extraordinaire Ms. C. : Centurion

Your favorite Cylon stylist and ours: Lucifer



The universally noted fashion photographer best known for his extreme behavior, and a direct descendant of Janice Dickinson the first self determined Supermodel: Baltar

And we are pleased to have Xenidou the well known designer joining us. She is well known for her retro clothing styles.

We’ve narrowed it down to the highlight photo-shoots, so the universe can vote for their favorite to help us determine the Next Top Battlestar Galactica Model.

In these group shots we were looking at who would stand out from the other ladies

Roslin stood out in this photo

But it was this photo where Number Six was in ultimate command of the group shot

During another episode we took the models outside to enjoy a bit of the Earth's fresh air.

Kara's cycle shot won the judges over

While Sharon wowed them with this shot

Dressed up or Dressed down this photo shoot was geared to show the flexibility of the Next Top BSG Model

Six looks sexy in red

The beautiful casualness of this photo really made Anastasia Dualla's beautiful bone structure pop for the judges

Kara looks commanding and alluring

This episode was to showcase the physiques of our male competitors

Anders makes a nap look most desireable

Helo worked his fierceness and his arms

The sports gear photo shoot of Starbuck and Boomer reflected the retro styles as well as some nice musclature

Apollo's strategically placed towel nicely framed his amazing torso

On NTBSGM there was an episode where the photo shoot focus was on how suits looked on our contestants.

Admiral Adama was a strong contender with his regal pose and self assurance

Gaius' casual appearance was praised by the judges

But it was Apollo that stole the show with this photo

Cylon was just barely kept in the competition for being so shiny in this photo shoot

The episode when Xenidou was a guest judge we choose a Retro Specific photo shoot for our contestants.

Lee's smile and personality shines through


The judges liked Starbuck's intensity in this action shot

Boomer, Athena and Sheba all showed off their retro looks

***Many thanks to everyone in the universe for making this show so popular. Please cast your votes for the Next Top BSG Model***