Open Letter to Ryan Di Lello

Dude...button your shirt.

Mamma Mia!

I'm 50 minutes into the movie version of Mamma Mia! and I'm not sure I can finish it. Oh my goodness it's terrible. Had the film version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat had half the budget of this movie, it would have been fantastic.

First, the singing...TERRIBLE. If I wanted to hear people without vocal training singing, I'd drive around alone in my car singing to the radio more often.

Second, the cast..way TOO many people. How does Donna employ so many people and having 50 hot 20-something women attend a Hen Night on a small island? It's just too much. Not to mention the scene with the guys dancing on the pier. The pier was just lousy with buff young men in flippers.

Third, the green screen...checking imdb.com I can see they actually filmed parts of the movie in Greece, why so much green screen then?

The stage musical isn't the most fantastic thing I've ever seen. The first time I saw it was great fun, the next viewing was not at much fun but still entertaining. The story is just too weak for the music to carry it more than once. And it certainly hasn't translated well to the silver screen. The fun of Mamma Mia!, in my opinion, is you feeling as though you are enveloped by ABBA...because who doesn't have a bit of Muriel in them that wishes their life were an ABBA song?

Oh my...Pierce Brosnan just started sining. It makes all of the other singing not quite so bad.

At 71 minutes it has just gone from being completely unwatchable to so bad I can't stop watching in anticipation of more terribleness.

The good about the movie: The actor that plays Sky is not ugly. And: Colin Firth.

Just about enough...

Super excited about the new season of SYTYCD...but I have had just about enough with all of the contemporary dancers. Let's get some variety.

And I'm thankful I've got my thumbs.

":("

Things to Do in Seattle When It's Hot

It is unbearably hot here. UNBEARABLY. Over 100º. In Seattle. Where the average temperature in July and August is 75º. That's 25º over normal. That, in and of itself, is enough to make a body boil. Add to that the fact that air conditioning is not the norm here and most apartments and homes do not come with any sort of air conditioning. It is so hot that ALL of the hotels in the Seattle area are booked solid with locals trying to escape the heat. AND...there are no air conditioners or fans available in the entire Pacific Northwest.

The long and the short of it is that I got home tonight at a little after 8:30 pm and it was 94º in my apartment and 96º outside. At 11:13 pm it is now 83º. How am I supposed to sleep in that heat when I'm used to a low of 57º at night?

Well here's how:

I use the freezer, some water and A LOT of gallon ziploc bags.
Right before bed I take a super cold shower then eat a cherry popscicle.
I then take the ice pack and put it on my stomach or chest.
A frozen pillow case goes around my neck.
I take a frozen sheet and wrap it around my body.
Then I sleep for about 2 hours.

I get up and repeat.
Except I replace the ice pack and trade it for the melted bag o'ice.

Here's what my freezer looks like.

I have just about as much frozen linens in my freezer as I have frozen food.

When I'm not sleeping and not at work, I'm trying to accomplish things whilst in my apartment. Blogging, doing the dishes, doing laundry, talking on the phone, etc. How do I cope with the heat then? Well I take a body pillowcase out of the freezer.

After it's unwrapped, it goes around my neck for about an hour. I also have a fan pointing right at me.

So if you ever find yourself in Seattle when it's hot...I suggest you have a lot of extra bed linens and room in your freezer. Better yet, get an air conditioner before Summer sets in.

Oh puh-leez!

2 things made me roll my eyes in disbelief tonight.

First, I've never really thought about Katie Holmes. I knew of her, of course. I never watched Dawson's Creek, but those Pacey and Joey commercials were ubiquetous (though I still don't know which one was Joey and which was Pacey). And then when Tom Cruise went crazy she was the cause...or he has always been crazy and everyone finally noticed. Jury's still out. But Cat Deeley has been promoting her appearance on SYTYCD for what seems like 3 seasons now. Katie Holmes did a fine enough job on Eli Stone, so I was mildly interested to see what dance she would do with the Season 5 team. I figured it would be Broadway-something-or-other cause she did some show on Broadway and if I recall correctly the Eli Stone number was Broadway-ish, no?

How disappointing was that "performance?" She wasn't actually on the show. She taped a segment with Cat and then they ran film of her routine. I know I'm new to SYTYCD, but has that ever happened before? A canned performance like that, I mean besides the musical guests on Thursday nights that may or may not be lip syncing? I was looking more for something similar to last season when both Mary and Nigel danced with contestants or guests...on the stage...before the live studio audience. It was a let down and a complete waste of SYTYCD time. I would have rather seen The Door or one of the other Emmy nominated dances.

What I did like, however, was her skirt. I'm a sucker for pleats. And patent leather, which doesn't apply here, but still.

Second, the local news had a segment about a "Top Secret" Starbucks. They teasted it during SYTYCD so I recorded the news. I had visions of a VIP Starbucks that only people with a Black Card could get into or something super interesting like that. Gold plated coffee collars, beluga caviar in the pastry display, or Juan Valdez as barista. But no...turns out Starbucks is opening a new shop in Seattle under a different name...15th Avenue Coffee and Tea. And the people on the news were all up in arms that Starbucks is being so secretive. Saying the new shop was copying decor from neighboring stores, deceiving people being generally angry about the whole thing. I was amazed it was a news story. I mean, couldn't they have found something about Michael Jackson...that would have been more interesting...and I think I already know all I want to know about MJ. So a huge company is trying to diversify? Who cares? They already have a bit...it's called Seattle's Best Coffee. I don't understand why everyone is acting as if they've been betrayed or are so angry about it. Not just the people on the street interviews, but the anchors were even offended and the reporter confronted the Starbucks employees in such an accusatory manner that one would have thought they were serving baby penguins on the menu. Seriously?

Best thing I saw on TV tonight? Sean Puffy P. Diddy John Combs trying to explain what Malaria is "If you get Malaria it's not really good." and if it can be cured "We gotta get the nets." Go to MalariaNoMore.org or .com. Totally a HomeStarRunner moment. "It's dot com."

Top Gear

I've found a wonderful British show that I completely love. A few weeks ago I was up late working and whatever show I was watching on my Comcast DVR ended and the box switched over to whatever channel I was watching before, which turned out to be BBC America. I just let the TV play for noise while I continued working on the lappy and found myself laughing quite often.

Top Gear is the name of the show and it is about cars. Now I like a nice car as much as anybody else, I imagine, but I'm not so much into cars that I'd actually watch a show about them. But this show is hilarious. The three presenters crack me up. And the thing that got me laughing so hard and loud I thought my neighbors were going to come upstairs and ask me to be quiet was this bit with Mark Wahlberg. I've since learned that the show has a segment called Star in a Reasonably Priced Car where they have a star drive around their test track in a reasonably priced car as they are timed then ranked against all other stars that drove the test track in that same reasonably priced car.

The segment is about 10 minutes long, but the bit that got me hooked on the show as right around the 5:45 mark. (Be forewarned: there is beeped out swearing and a bit of off color humor, so if you'd like to skip that, just queue it up to the 5:45 mark and watch for about a minute.)

"We attend different churches"...I thought that was Marky Mark's way of saying: Come on you git, not all famous people know each other. And then when he busted out with: "I'm at the one with Jesus baby." Oh my gosh! That was so politically incorrect and absolutely hilarious.

Which apparently is what the show is all about. Their race from Switzerland to Northern England on one tank of gas was a hoot that I didn't think they could top...then this weekend I saw them race across Botswana. Not only did they show the beautiful sunsets but they then showed two of the presenters putting a cows head into the trunk of one of the other presenters so he'd have to endure flies bothering him during his entire drive. It's just useless drivel really, but it certainly is entertaining. I wonder if it would be possible to find an Oliver of my very own.

The Birds

Every Sunday morning I'm awaken at dawn by the sound of crows fighting over the garbage other residents have failed to actually put in the dumpster. I lie in bed half asleep trying to decide if I should get up and close the window or turn the TV on and hope it'll drown out the sound of the 30 or so crows that are keeping me awake.

At least I thought there were 30 of them. They were loud enough to be 30 of them. Turns out there were only 3 of them. Loud little buggers. They must be related to each other...cause they sure bickered a lot.

An Honest Mistake

A few weeks ago Kellye and I went to see Green Day. The Bravery opened the show. I remembered that I liked The Bravery. Turns out I only really like one song of theirs, the opener. The rest of the songs were enyah. I did entertain myself with trying to figure out why the bassist was wearing a devil's mask. And not just a face mask, but a full head Strong Bad style mask. Wasn't he hot? Was he recovering from some plastic surgery? Was it his attempt at making amends for previously exposing himself at concerts? Who knows.

The Green Day part of the concert was actually pretty incredible. I don't count myself among Green Day's fans and probably wouldn't have attended this show had Kellye not asked me to go with her...but man do they put on one great show.

Billy Joe swore entirely too much and I was only familiar with about 1/2 of the songs...knew the actual lyrics to 2 songs (Basket Case and Good Riddance). But even with that, it was one of my top 5 arena concerts. Billy Joe brought a little kid up on stage at the beginning of the show...totally made his day. And he didn't stop there. He brought several other people up to sing and dance then inviting them to jump off the stage and crowd surf. He borrowed audience member's sunglasses and when a 16 year old kid asked Billy Joe if he could play his guitar, Billy Joe let him, and the kid rocked it.

There were fireworks and actual fire. A huge video screen behind them that displayed lots of different things throughout the the show. Crazy antics throughout and an ending of millions of pieces of confetti being shot into the air. And the tickets were only $50. Why other artists charge upwards of $150 for a show ticket is beyond me...I'm looking at you U2.

Craggy Tree

Went on a walk tonight around dusk and saw this lone craggy tree on the top of one of the Newcastle Hills. It's a good 8 feet taller than the rest of the trees around it. Standing proud and Charlie Brown-ish for all to see. Good for you craggy tree...good for you!

Free Slurpee Day

Hooray for Free Slurpee Day!

A Pamplona hemos de ir...

Con una bota, con una bota

A Pamplona hemos de ir

Con una bota y un calcetín.

Let the running of the bulls week begin!

I should never have doubted you Taush

Tausha has been trying to get me to watch So You Think You Can Dance since the second season. I resisted until almost the end of last season, only because Taush was visiting me and I'd recorded the show for her to watch while she was here. I sat down and watched it with her and totally loved it. Joshua and Katee were my favorites. But I loved most all of the dancers I saw and there were so many excellent dances...

I again resisted, this time because there was no way it could compare to how wonderful last season was. Boy was I wrong...again! I'm a few episodes behind and have just watched the Top 20 dance episode and just adored it. There is no other show on TV that makes me smile throughout and finds me clapping at what I'm seeing. Not only that but there is some fantastic music on this show. And I learn something when I watch. This week? Pas de deux. I couldn't dance my way out of a paper bag and these people make dancing look so effortless. It is such a joy to watch this show. Hooray for it being on TV!

Real Parking Ticket

When I was home in Boise a few weeks ago I had quite the time trying to get my haircut.  I had to reschedule my appointment 4 times for various reasons.  And when I finally made it to my appointment I was completely focused on whether or not I was going to be able to explain to my hairstylist how I wanted my haircut that I parked Dad's car and walked into the salon without feeding the parking meter.  

It didn't even occur to me to pay the meter until I was walking out of the salon about an hour later.  And as I walked to the car I said to myself, gosh, I hope I didn't get a ticket.   But, of course I did.

And I put it to great use later that day cleaning out the snare drum for my nephew's graduation display.  Parking should be free.  Always.

White Trash like me...

I've upgraded both my TV and my DVR to HD...there are many things I like about the HD and the HD DVR (the picture size and quality, for two) and there are things I don't like about it (the DVR is difficult to program for one).  But I think my favorite thing is that after over 5 hours of on and off trouble shooting my remotes and DVR with and without the help of Comcast, I turned to my old friend the Internet and after searching through forum after forum I found that the problem was that my TV has a sensor in it that detects the light in the room and adjusts the picture quality which interferes somehow with the ability for my particular HD DVR model to receive the infrared signal from the remote.  The fix?

Place an empty CD case in front of the HD DVR's IR receiver.  And since I'm not exactly sure where that is, I've just placed it in front of the entire thing.  If that's not White Trash, I'm not sure what is.  

The amazing thing is...it totally works.  The remote now controls the HD DVR, where as without the CD case there, it won't.  Amazing.

Thanks the Internet.

So Rude!

As it has come time for one of my nieces or nephews to get a cell phone, I sit each of them down and give them a few Dos and Don'ts of cell phone usage.  The hugest thing for me is:  If you're spending time with someone and your cell phone rings...make it quick or don't answer it.  Unfortunately someone didn't tell the gentleman I saw on Saturday.

I was meeting a friend for lunch at Olive Garden on Saturday.  I arrived a bit early and she was running a bit late, so I was sitting alone at our table for a bit...with nothing really to do besides listen to other's conversations and surf the Internet on my phone.  And for a good 15 minutes this older gentleman was on the phone with someone from "back home."  He was talking about the weather here, how the hotel was and many other inane things...while his wife sat across the table pretending there was still food on her plate for her to pick at.

He was at a restaurant.  With his wife.  Put the phone down and talk to your wife or leave the restaurant and have your conversation.  

Please...some people's grandparents!

When did I move to a SoCal movie set?

Went to the Home Depot the other day to buy a fan before it gets unbearable here again.  (What they say about not needing air conditioning in Seattle is bogus...it can get HOT here.)  And what did I see?  A whole mess load of Latinos...just standing around the entrances.  

At first I thought they might be protesting something.  But no one had signs.  Then I realized they were standing around waiting for someone to drive by and offer them some work.  Why did I know this?  Because I saw it in a movie once, maybe twice.  I don't care what Denis Leary and Alec Baldwin say about TV rotting your brain, it sure makes me smarter...

Thoughts on the Tonys...

I wish I could see more Broadway plays...I wish they were not quite so expensive to see.

What is the deal with the sound?  This is an awards show celebrating live performance.  But the show can't get the mics to work properly.  They should've hired the sound guy from one of the nominated shows.

Apparently Next to Normal is about a woman dealing with depression.  If I broke into song with my family when I was depressed, I don't think I'd be depressed any longer.  I'd probably be laughing about how many times I changed keys during my solo.  

Carrie Fischer's weight makes me feel not so bad about mine.  And the heavier she gets the more she looks like her mom.  

Lauren Graham's dress...I think I liked it.  I liked the color, I liked the way it gathers below the waist but I'm not so fond of the bow.  Never really been fond of off-gift bows.  

Though I do quite enjoy my new TV and DVR...I do wish that it either had a 30 second skip button or automatic commercial skip.

It's late...will have to finish watching the Tony's later.  

Lee is my Joseph!

For the past few weeks I've been rather invested in the Any Dream Will Do series on BBC America.  I don't really watch American Idol, but these shows that are casting stunts for Broadway/West End shows I totally watch.  Because I love Broadway musicals.  Especially Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Such a great show.  In fact, I knew that once I started watching the show I would need to listen to my Joseph CD... but I couldn't find it anywhere.  So before I watched the first episode I had to order a new CD from amazon.  I then listened to it non-stop for weeks.  

And watched every episode of Any Dream will Do every week.  Debbie was watching it as well, so we'd discuss it.  In fact, on the way to McCall over Memorial Day weekend, we discussed it so much in the car that Lynda watched it the next week.  Which was the week I found out...

Andrew Lloyd Webber kept saving one of the singers, Lewis.  He was consistently getting the least amount of votes from the British public, and yet Andrew kept saving him EVERY week.  And finally, last week, I'd had enough.  I thought Lewis looked like too much like Barbie and sang too much like me (from the top of my throat, no real depth to my voice) to be Joseph.  I decided that though the show was happening in the UK, there had to be a way for me to vote online or via text message or something.  Lewis was NOT going to be my Joseph.  I preferred Lee, but Keith would do as well.  Just not Lewis.  I was very serious about it.  

A quick search of the Internet revealed that even though I was completely invested in this show, anticipating it every Sunday, anxious for the singers each week and crying with them when they cried (except for Lewis, because he cried ALL. THE. TIME.) and very serious about finding a way to vote for Lee, it didn't really matter.  Because the show originally aired in the UK in 2007.  Lee had indeed won, he was not only my Joseph, but apparently most of the voter's Joseph as well.  Not only that, he had already completed his West End contract as Joseph and had recently married won of the judges from Any Dream Will Do.  

I thought the knowledge of who had won would have tainted my viewing of the last episode tonight.  But it didn't.  Debbie called me to tell me that Lee had won when I had just begun watching the episode and I almost chided her for telling me who had won since I hadn't gotten there yet.  When I remembered that I already knew.  So kudos to BBC for making me forget what I thought I knew and drawing me in again for one last week of Joseph.

Yay Lee! 

July 1985

...was the first time I was at the mall in downtown Denver. I don't remember the name of the mall, but I do remember that it went over the street or that it was above the street or somewhere-else-a-rabbit-could-go the street. It used to have fancy metal artwork on the outside, but it is no longer there. And it now houses a Cheesecake Factory, where we went for Julia's birthday on Wednesday night. Happy birthday Julia!

This is the clock tower like tower with a clock in it. It's near the mall...or could be part of the mall. I just liked the purple lights.

Went to dinner with the Kilborn's tonight. What fun! It was so fun to finally meet the people Brad talks about so often.

Tomorrow it's work and then playing with Julia, Josie and Trenton. I'll try to post pics of them tomorrow.

HA!

Let's just complete the Amelie game

Today I found something else that I like an awful lot.

Isn't this dinnerware just perfect? I mean, it doesn't have red in it, but not everything has to. It's just so...bubbly. I think I need it.

Combine the dinnerware with the park and the tangram below we've got 3 things I like listed, I thought I might complete the Amelie game and list 3 dislikes:

Lima Beans

Lima Beans taste like chalk. They are gross and though I haven't eaten them since I was 10 years old, I am sure they have not improved with age. Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck!

Spitting

Spitting is very rarely necessary and should just not be done in public. Period.

Seat warmers

Seat warmers in cars are just wrong! If my bum is warm and the rest of my body isn't I think I've wet my pants. How can that be a good feeling? Not to mention recent studies show that sperm get cooked and killed from seat warmers. Not that I've got sperm to worry about, but it's just evidence that nothing good comes from seat warmers, especially if one is male and one and one's wife are trying to get pregnant.

A few of my...

When the boys were here a few weeks ago we went to the Wallingford Dick's for burgers and saw a park(Meridian Playground) on the fake TomTom and decided to give it a go...see if they had picnic tables or something similar. What we found was the funnest park I've been to in quite a while. The swings are always my favorite but there was all sorts of amazing equipment. And then there are the sculptures from children's storybooks. I think this one is from Madeline. She lived with nuns or went to school with nuns or something, right? I'm thinking I might want to move to Wallingford, if I can find a great deal on an apartment and a good bus schedule that'll get me to work easily.

I may have known about Tangrams when I was younger, but I don't think I really knew about them. Because now...with the advent of this wonderful G1 application, I have been completely addicted to tangrams. I play for what seems like minutes but ends up being hours before bed. I solved all of the puzzles on the Lite version then paid 99 cents for the Pro version. Solved those puzzles in about a week. I keep checking back for the promised update. No luck. Bummer. On the plus side, I have been getting more sleep.

If you're gonna spew...

The first time it happened I was driving to work. I had grabbed a slice of bread for breakfast and was eating it while driving to work. I was suddenly choking and spewed the bread. Then I could breathe.

The next time I was eating steak and eggs for dinner. I felt a piece of steak stuck in my throat. I tried to swallow but no luck, still there. I tried to drink some water to force it down and then I couldn't breathe. I ended up calling Katherine who took me to the hospital. They gave me some medicine that was supposed to relax my throat. No luck. So they had to put me under anesthesia and call a surgeon. The surgeon stuck some long tweezers down my throat and grabbed the steak. All better.

It's called esophageal stricture. The surgeon said it's caused some narrowing in my throat that causes food not to go down and that I should get that fixed. That was a few years ago. I've not really had a problem since. Until last weekend...

I was eating some carrots while directing Lynda toward a gas station in Seattle. I felt my throat tighten up and tried to swallow hard. Nothing. Lynda was trying to drive in unfamiliar Seattle. Debbie was on the phone in the back seat with Collin and Hunter. Drink lots of water to force the carrots down. Nope. Then I couldn't breathe. So I started coughing which made all of the water and chewed up carrots spew out of my mouth.

Lynda was saying, "Oh my gosh Ranee!" and Debbie suddenly flung a library book bag over the seat and onto my chest. And I just kept looking like the Stand By Me guy. My nice periwinkle blue sweater was now pocked with orange and soaking wet.

So gross...but kind of funny.

Yeah...yeah...I hear you Mom, I should get the esophogus thing checked.

There are 3 flowers in a vase...

At work we have Trivia Tuesday. It really ends up being Trivia whatever-day-I-have-time-to-get-it-out-day. For the winners of the Trivia we have some traveling trophies. The latest version of the traveling trophy is Find it. It is the frustratingly addictive game pictured below. The object is to find the items on the list within the plastic beady things in the tube. The majority of the items are easy enough to find. But there are about 15 - 20 items that are VERY good at hiding.

On Thursday I decided that I would take a few minutes every few hours and find all of the items on the list. By Thursday end of day, I was completely frustrated. I still had the screw, pin, nail, washer and wing nut to find. And I was shaking that thing like a Polaroid picture has never been shaken.

This afternoon Agnes, my cube-neighbor found the nail and the wing nut. I eventually happened upon the nail myself, but still no wing nut, screw, washer or pin.

...KHAAAAAAN!

I want my TV

No disrespect to President Obama, but the biggest change I've seen since he's taken office is that he is constantly on my TV.  At first I was understanding that every time I turned on the TV or even looked at the TV he was on it...what with it being the first 100 days and all.  It was mostly the news anyway, so I could just not watch the news on TV or fast forward through the coverage of him signing yet another bill with 16 different pens.  

But now...now he's on my Primetime TV and pushing my TV shows to later times or different days which then messes with my recording schedule.  

If I wanted to see a man this often I'd be married.

Boundary Issues

While I was in Boise last week, Desi and I stopped by Edwards 9 to take in a cheesy chick-flick. It was appropriately cheesy and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Prior to heading into the theater, Desi decided I needed to see the Urban Outfitters store. I had never been in. Half the things in the store made me blush. A bunch made me laugh. And these babies...these wonderful parking tickets? They just about made me wet my pants. I purchased three booklets of them. And three of the Unmentionables (see below).

And the even more wonderful thing is that after leaving the theater and heading to the parking garage we found a parked car that clearly needed a parking ticket. Had I not been so giddy to actually leave a rude parking ticket on the offending vehicle, I probably would have taken an actual photo of the parking job, but I was just too thrilled to think of it.

The Unmentionables are just as funny. Here's one I often want to give out, but could also be the recipient of most of the time as well.


This one here? This one I could give to my entire family.

Happy Hump Day!