The Talented Friends of Panthergirl

As I was driving home from work the other day (did I mention that it takes me an hour and twenty minutes now? Yeah, I thought I had.) it occurred to me how many incredibly talented friends I have.

I am still reading The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boyby Robert Leleux, whom I met at the wedding of my friend Nadia. (I introduced her to my friend Rich and they got married two years ago...too cool.)



Nadia is an incredibly talented and gorgeous singer/songwriter, and if you live in or near NYC be sure and try to see her. Her gigs are always posted on her website (the site itself is great!).

Two other singer/songwriter friends of mine I met right here in the blogosphere.


Deni Bonet, whom many of you know as the Last Girl on Earth, is truly one of the coolest people I know. AND we actually got to meet a few years ago in NYC, and she was as great in real life as she is here on the web. She's an amazingly talented rock violinist (has played with Cyndy Lauper, Sara McLachlan and Corinne Bailey Rae (on SNL!) and her original songs are so much fun. (and how great is that dress??)

Bud Buckley has a brand new CD out! He's got a Dylan-esque flair, but really a style that is all his own. Check him out before he gets too famous. We can say "we knew him when." And you get two for the price of one, because Deni plays violin on Bud's CD! One of my personal Bud favorites is "Let Me Go".

My dear friend Joy Masoff, mentioned previously for her fabulous and popular book, Oh Yuck!, is working on another sequel that I'll write about when it's done!

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Kelso update:

OK, you won't believe this (I still don't) but the day after Kelso had his stitches removed he banged his right rear foot into a piece of furniture and split his nail right down the middle...the long way. OUCH. Back to the vet we went, and now he's got a big bandage and a boot on that foot. Someone suggested that I need to encase him in bubble wrap, and I think that may be the way to go.

What I Learned This Week

- If you want to make it in the music business, become a prostitute. It's good practice for BEING IN the music business.

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- Marion Cotillard is a terrific actress. La Vie en Rose is not a terrific film.

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- The justice system is really screwed up. I'm still astounded by this 60 Minutes story.

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- I can get into the whole "brackets" thing without watching one basketball game. Check out Fafarazzi.

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- Driving 35 minutes to and from work is a nice commute. Driving an hour and 20 minutes to and from work is horrible.

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- When you're reading a really good book, you could finish it in one day but you don't want to.

Client 9 from Outer Space

My god. I never particularly liked Eliot Spitzer, but what planet does this guy live on? How could he possibly think he could hire a prostitute and not be found out? (and it's not just the prostitute that is causing him problems...it's when you get into things like money laundering that you're TRULY fucked.)

At least our boy Bill Clinton never pretended to be an altar boy. This guy, on the other hand, was "squeaky clean" and held himself up as the arbiter of ethics. Yes, what Bill did was dumb (I've always said, why blow the president unless you can tell someone about it?) but what Spitzer did was indicative, to me, of an enormous amount of arrogance and ego that led him to believe he would never be caught.

Sheesh.

Photo Friday: Surreal

OK, I didn't take the photo. But it's my grandparents, taken in their native hillside town of Calitri outside Naples, Italy. I still can't figure out how my grandmother is staying on that donkey, but if that's not surreal I don't know what is!

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Kelso update: After having torn out all five staples, he's now in the Mork from Ork hard plastic collar from hell, with SIX brand new staples.

Idol Boys

My favorite American Idol performances last night were from
David Cook


(taking a putrid Lionel Richie song and turning it into a growling rock anthem? You're my hero!)


and Jason Castro


Love that kid. Vinnie Barbarino meets Bob Marley. Bobarino. If he never has to speak to anyone he'll be a big star.

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat, Er Collar

Postscript to the Kelso story:

His legs are so long that the current collar does not keep him from getting at the injury. So, I'm on my way back to the vet to pick up an even more humiliating accessory for him.

Lucas thinks we should rent him out as a satellite dish.

Adding Insult to Injury

First, the injury:



Laptop slides from the bed and lands on Kelso's leg. OUCH. We tried using our "greyhound repair kit" but it soon became apparent that the cut needed medical attention. Five staples later, he was on the mend.




Then, the insult:


They call it the Elizabethan collar, meant to keep the dog from licking or biting the wound. That's a rather optimistically regal term for something that makes him look less like Queen Elizabeth and more like Pagliacci in the petunia patch.

Marge Madness

Just got back from 10 days on the road. Lucas, my SO and I drove from NY to Florida... first to Orlando where we visited my mother, spent four nights at the timeshare (see below) and then went down to West Palm Beach for the weekend before driving back.

As many of you already know, my mother is... how you say... "different". The first night of our visit, the four of us sat around her dining room table. At one point, she said something like "Our family doesn't change jobs a lot, and doesn't move around a lot." I chuckled and said something like "Speak for yourself", meaning that I have had several jobs and have lived in several different places since moving out of the house where I grew up.

Thankfully, the SO in question has known me for a long time and is aware of my marital history (and not bothered by it), because she immediately looked at him and said "Well.... her and all of her husbands! Elizabeth Taylor over there!" Ay yi yi... I'm sure my son really appreciated that too. We laughed about it later, but seriously... how did she know that this isn't a sensitive topic for us? Or doesn't she care?



Xanax and Pepto Bismol got me through the 24 hours or so that we spent with her. My son stayed for a few days and they had a great time together. She taught him bridge (he knew the basics from a Marx Brothers movie), they played golf and did crossword puzzles. He doesn't have the same history with her, but by Thursday he was ready to go as well.

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Other notes from the road:



- When you go to Universal Studios in Orlando, and you're told to put all of your loose belongings in a locker prior to boarding The Revenge of the Mummy ride, there's a reason for that. (between the Mommy and the Mummy, this was a traumatic trip!)

- The Xpress Pass is totally worth it. We didn't wait more than 2 minutes for anything. The normal wait time for most attractions was 40-50 minutes.

- Going to a theme park without kids is more fun. I'm just sayin'.

- The GPS isn't always right.

- When you need to stop for gas in Washington DC, don't go to the gas station where the guy inside is protected by bulletproof glass.

- Playing Trivial Pursuit on a long drive makes it go really fast.

- Having my son reading the questions makes it go even faster, particularly when he reads "mastectomy" as "malestectomy", and "Wild Bill Hickok" as "Wild Bill High-cock".

- A week of warmth in February is a recharge for the soul.

Let It Snow

This is where I've been this past week, considering a timeshare purchase with Marriott. Seems like a great way to vacation, and I'd love to hear from anyone who's done it (particularly with Marriott).

Now we're in West Palm Beach, heading back North tomorrow. It's a LONG drive, but we'll take our time and hopefully the snow will have melted by the time we're back on Monday night!

Happy C-Day

It was funny enough listening to Meredith Viera talk about The Vagina Monologues on The Today Show, but when Jane Fonda let loose, with the c-word, it was a priceless TV moment. Thanks, Jane!

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We're heading down to Florida tomorrow with a pitstop in Gaithersburg MD for a few days. I'll try and post from time to time!

Crazy Love

Er, whose choice is it, anyway?
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A Valentine for every occasion indeed.
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Stalkers need love too.
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I [cough] love [cough] you [hack].
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There's nothing to say. This is the creepiest Valentine ever, hands down.

Hope yours is filled with lurve.

Panthergirl's DVD of the Week

Watched "Across the Universe" on DVD last night (with two of my favorite people, and you know who you are). My other favorite person was here on Thursday and Friday and that was great, too.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the film. There are a few distracting elements, namely (no pun intended) the fact that all the characters have names like Jude, Prudence, Maxwell and Sadie. Oh and Lucy. Of course. And some supremely silly moments like when Prudence "came in through the bathroom window", and when Jude ate a Granny Smith apple, dutifully cut down the middle. Thankfully, there were no appearances by Rocky the Raccoon, no one had Rubber Soles on their shoes, and no one's life went on, bra.

But otherwise, it was visually beautiful, incorporated the Beatles' music nicely, and the covers were excellent. Bono's cameo is perfect, and Joe Cocker's is scary. Never a "looker", per se, he now looks like a less-attractive cross between Willie Nelson and Nick Nolte's mug shot.

It's a politically relevant look back at 1968, with some parallels that should scare the pants off us now. It also reminds us of how passionate people become in the face of a draft. Sad that it requires that kind of personal threat in order to get us riled up.

My favorite scene: the Army induction center, Rhythm-Nation-inspired dance routine. Loved it.

Super Duper Pooper Scooper Grouper Trooper Cooper Snooper Tuesday

OK, I did it. I voted for Obama. Why didn't someone tell me that there was going to be a string of delegate names on the ballot that I guess I was suppose to vote for, too? I was so discombobulated in the booth that I finally just flicked the lever for Obama and left. Then I looked at the printout (that I should have seen BEFORE I voted) and saw those delegate names. What's up with that?

Anyway, here's what swung my vote from Hillary to Obama: Too many people telling me that if she gets the nomination they will vote Republican for the first time in their lives. I don't get it, but I'm not willing to take that chance. To those folks I ask this question: if Obama is her running mate, will you still vote for McCain? (I'm assuming that's the Republican you'd vote for, and not one of those other kooks. I find McCain distasteful as well, but at least he's not planning to incinerate the Constitution. Hopefully.)

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I love Michael Strahan. His Howard Dean impersonation was dead-on:


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Is it just me, or is Nip/Tuck particularly creepy this season? I mean the kooky slasher season was creepy, but this year.... woof. I keep forgetting NOT to watch it right before I go to sleep. Last night I pulled the covers over my head so I wouldn't see the last scene. That Sharon Gless character is waaaaaaaaaaaaay scary. It's also been quite funny in places, and I still really love the show, but I just need to TiVO it and watch the next day. Preferably a bright and sunny day.

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Don't know which audition city that was from, but I fear for the judges when someone like this shows up. Still, her penchant for malapropisms make it fun to watch. ("Simon was so SNUG..")

Can we just get to Hollywood week already?

There Will Be Ticker Tape

Two things that made me go "wow" yesterday:

The Giants!



and Daniel Day Lewis.


Great game, great film. Great company, great guacamole. Tomorrow ought to be interesting, in Manhattan. Ticker tape parade on primary election day. Thankfully I vote here in the 'burbs. Still don't know what I'm going to do, but hopefully I'll figure it out when I'm behind the curtain.

Best Super Bowl evah, but definitely not the best Super Bowl commercials. The one that made me laugh out loud was the Tide Talking Stain one. Otherwise, meh.

The film is long, very long, but riveting nonetheless and the performance by DDL is amazing. I'm still pulling for Javier Bardem who deserves the Oscar just for sporting that doofy haircut for three months. But if DDL gets it, I won't be upset. He was fantastic.

No Googling Allowed

As promised, here are the fifty questions that were on the Jeopardy! online test for East Coast viewers on Tuesday night.

Now remember: We had 15 seconds to read the clue, think and type the answers. NOT easy. See how many you can blow through and I'll post the answers tomorrow. Where the category is less obvious, I've posted it right above the clue:

1. This Bravo series is hosted by Heidi Klum.

2. North Dakota's capital was named for this man.

3. His "Nude Descending a Staircase" caused a scandal at the 1913 Armory Show.

4. His "Innocents Abroad" started as a series of travel letters about his trip to Europe.

5. Marie-Louise, this man's second wife, married him by proxy in 1810.

6. This is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world.

7. Helium, argon and neon are all classified as these types of gases.

8. This former minister played bass guitar on the "Tonight Show" in January 2008.

9. This country's traditional dishes include meekrob and nasi goreng.

10. Jhumpa Lahiri wrote this 2003 novel about a Hindu family's transition to life in Massachusetts.

11. This actor-turned-director directed the 2007 film "Into the Wild."

12. This play begins on a ship carrying the wedding party of Alonso's daughter Claribel.

13. His record-setting baseball was branded with an asterisk before being sent to the hall of fame.

BEGINS WITH "R"
14. 4-letter term for a horse with a reddish coat sprinkled with white.

15. This New Zealand capital is the southernmost capital in the world.

16. After losing the presidential race to Lincoln, he was chosen to be secretary of state.

17. His only opera was "Fidelio."

18. In 1953 the Lenin Peace Prize went to this Chilean poet and diplomat.

19. Mangabey, Rhesus, Proboscis

RHYME TIME
20. Donor of a hepatic organ.

21. Christine Ebersole won a 2007 Tony for playing 2 Edies in this play based on a documentary film.

22. The third of Henry VIII's wives, she died while giving birth to his son Edward.

23. This reaction ocurrs in the choloroplasts, the oval-shaped, green organelles in plants.

24. Collective term for the "costs" involved in transferring real estate from a seller to a buyer.

25. 19 year-old Bilawal was chosen as a successor for this leader's party.

26. Born in 1800, he believed God had chosen him to leave his fellow black slaves to freedom.

27. Cygnets are the young of this animal.

28. From the Latin angere, "to torment," it's defined as the anticipation of danger or problems.

29. This color of the Libyan flag is also a symbol of devotion in Islam.

30. It's the first book in the New Testament.

31. This rapper received 8 2008 Grammy nominations, including album of the year for "Graduation."

32. He was the only bachelor president for his entire term.

33. This Riviera city has a museum devoted to the works of artist Henri Matisse, who spent his last years there.

34. Usually symbolized by a letter, a changing quantity in algebra is called this.

35. Raila Odinga, who claims to be Barack Obama's cousin, is the opposition leader in this country.

36. Johann Eck debated this noted Protestant in 1519 and helped get him excommunicated in 1521.

37. Mary Ann Evans wrote "Silas Marner" and many other novels using this pen name.

38. This Atlantic "sea" is named for the seaweed that can be seen there.

BEGINS WITH "A"
39. It's the food of the gods.

"PER" WORDS
40. Two lines, at right angles to each other.

41. Sara Gruen's "Water for" these animals explored the circus life during the Great Depression.

42. Famous for his chairs, in 1946 this designer had the first one-man furniture exhibit at MoMA.

43. In 2002, she became the first African American to win the Oscar for Best Actress.

44. This Jane Austen novel begins, "The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex."

45. The first presidential trip out of the US was Teddy Roosevelt's 1906 inspection of this project.

46. Vinson Massif is the highest point on this continent.

47. He's credited with writing "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey."

48. Rhonda Byrne wrote this 2007 blockbuster which had everyone helping themselves through positive thinking.

49. In English, this verb form usually starts with "to", as in "to go" or "to be"

50. The original author's last story about this detective was "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place."



I think I got about half of them right, and if I had 3 more seconds I would have done a lot better. It was just SO fast!!

To Tip or Not To Tip

Tipping. I've come to learn that tipping is an American phenomenon, or at least have been led to believe this. Several years ago, a friend was visiting from Australia and did so much complaining about our tipping practices that I finally said "Look. This is how it works here, so just deal with it. Ok?" His position was that restaurant owners, salon owners and cab companies should simply pay people enough money rather than relying on us to supplement their income.

I agree with that to a point. I've never understood the fact that restaurants are allowed to pay servers LESS than the minimum wage. Thanks to the "beloved" Ronald Reagan, these same servers now have to pay taxes on their tips...whether they receive them or not! The tips are estimated based on the receipts for the day, assuming that every patron left 15%. Craziness. As a result, the level of service in many establishments has suffered, because there is no direct correlation between the quality of service and what your server is credited for in tips. Still, I always leave at least 20% for good service because it does send an immediate message of appreciation.

But I digress. In this country, we not only tip wait-staff but we also tip cab drivers, hairdressers, manicurists, waxers, masseuses, delivery people, doormen, red caps, and on and on.

We don't tip people who work retail, although a person working in a bookstore or The Gap is making a crap salary too. Why is that?

My problem is often not whether to tip (although sometimes it is: if I'm paying a delivery charge for my groceries, do I also have to tip the guy? If I don't, will he spit in my peanut butter next time?), but how much.

I'm having a sofa delivered today. What am I supposed to give these guys? Dilemmas about tipping cause me a great deal of anxiety. I'll probably give them too much simply because I have fear of bad karma. Help!

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A sidenote here: The Jeopardy! test was WAY hard. Fifty questions, but you had only 15 seconds to read and type your answer (thankfully NOT in the form of a question). I think I did ok, although in some cases I thought of the correct answer about 45 seconds too late. A transcript will be posted online later today so maybe I'll post it here, so you can see how well you would have done. But remember that it's a lot easier when you have a lot of time to read, think and then type. Whew!

Barack, I Hardly Know Ye

Update: Check this out. Very helpful tool to compare the candidates.

Argh. I'm so confused. Six days ago I posted that I was going to support Hillary for the nomination and gave what I felt were pretty solid reasons why. I don't particularly like her (not the way I liked Bill) but thought she was the best candidate to actually do what we need done in this country and who had a chance to get elected.

Since then, in the past six days, she has really turned me off. And my boy Bill is getting a little loopy I think. It also offends my feminist sensibilities for him to be her front man in the campaign. I'd rather see her do it without him (unrealistic, I know).

In the meantime, I've read plenty about Obama, mostly from people I admire greatly. My cousin Mary and today, Caroline Kennedy's Op Ed piece in the NY Times. I totally get the inspirational aspect of him, and when he first arrived on the scene I was very excited that he might be a dynamic solution for our country. I get a good sense of him as a person, I think he's smart and classy and honorable. But about a month ago I saw him on Russert and instead of being riveted by him, I was bored. I kept waiting for something, anything, to make me want to support him... and it just wasn't there. As I've said before, words like "hope" and "promise" worry me. I sort of equate them with "prayer". In my world, praying and hoping doesn't make anything happen. Action does.

Barack, I want to jump on your bandwagon. I want to be able to pull for someone who will make an historical difference for this country that so desperately needs leadership. And leadership that won't embarrass us as a nation like what we've had for the past eight years.

I still have a gnawing fear that the red states will not vote for either a woman or a black man. Regardless of what people would like to think, both racism and sexism are very much alive and well. One poll I saw this morning said that 54% of Americans are ready for neither a woman or black man to lead the country. That is both sad and frightening.

I have to vote in the NY Primary next week and I honestly don't know what the heck I'm going to do. Between now and then I'm going to read. A lot. I'm going to try and look past the likeability factor and figure out whom I really think can beat the pants off the Republicans (or heck, beat them by one vote if necessary).

Unfortunately the candidate that I really like the most, John Edwards, probably doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting the nom. But maybe whomever does get it will take him as a running mate.



Obama supporters: Convince me. Please.

"I'll Take Potpourri for $200, Alex!"

It's been another wacky week, so rather than bore you to death with details I'll just post some random thoughts today:



1. I'm taking the online Jeopardy! test on Tuesday. Really psyched about that, although the chances of EVER winding up on the show are miniscule. And if I do wind up on the show, I have to hope there are no History or Bible categories.




2. Update on the bullying situation: Met with an attorney (he is just crazy enough to be a good lawyer when he's on your side. He's a civil rights guy who once worked for Gerry Spence. I don't need to say much more than that). Not sure what exactly he can do, but he connected very well to Lucas (he, too, lost his dad at a young age) and without taking any money from us wrote to the Youth Officer at school. A few hours later I got a call saying that a mini-bus will be sent to pick up and drop off Lucas in front of our door, starting next week. Coincidence? I don't think so.

3. Make Me a Supermodel on BRAVO is a much better show than America's Next Top Model. Way edgier.

4. Our living room is currently empty. We're getting a new sofa/loveseat/chaise sectional thing on Wednesday so we gave all of our current stuff away on Freecycle.




5. I love "The Biggest Loser", but the product placement is SO obnoxious that I start to feel as though I'm in The Truman Show.

Contestant:"I'm hungry all the time."
Trainer, holding up a pack of "Extra" gum: "Well, try chewing gum. MY FAVORITE IS EXTRA, BECAUSE THE FLAVOR LASTS A LONG LONG TIME. " (ok, that's not exactly what she said but it's close)

Argh! People are not stupid about this stuff anymore. They realize that with the rampant use of TiVO and DVRs, advertisers have to find ways to enter our psyches that we can't fast-forward through.

The most disheartening moment for me recently wasn't on The Biggest Loser, though. It was on the otherwise brilliant Ugly Betty. When Betty "offhandedly" mentioned that she couldn't wait to go see "27 Dresses" (moments after an actual commercial break for the same film), I nearly reached through the screen and grabbed her by her blue braces. I don't mind seeing Carrie Bradshaw at her Apple laptop, or seeing Wisk detergent on Tony Soprano's laundry room shelf. But the fourth wall is broken for me when characters start hawking product.

6. Water at the gym should cost either one dollar or two dollars. Not $1.50, which leaves me trying to figure out where to put the change while I work out.





7. Why is my dog shedding like it's June? There are tumbleweeds everywhere in this house, and hair all over our clothes. I'm afraid I'm going to be spray-painted by PETA the next time I walk out the door. "It's not a fur coat! I swear!"




8. Note to my daughter and my liberal cousins: I want to support Obama, I really really do. I don't love Hillary. I just want to make sure we beat the Reps in November, and that the new Prez can get the job done. He hasn't convinced me yet. But there's time.



9. My lease is up early next year on my RAV4 and I'm going to lease a Prius. The 2009 will have a plug-in option, upping the MPG to over 70 (or so they are saying).

10. At the end of February, my commute to work is going from 35 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes each way... without traffic. See item #9.

11. I paid $3.59 for a gallon of gas on Tuesday. See item #9.

12. The coolest new game for the Wii is called Endless Ocean. It's a scuba-diving adventure game and it's way cool. I may never get my TV back.

13. My four Netflix DVDs at the moment are: Superbad, The Lives of Others, The Magdalene Sisters and disc one of The Tudors. What should I watch first?

14. If I read another account of how Heath Ledger's masseuse didn't call 911 first when she found him, I'll spit. When my daughter had her first seizure at 13 months old, I was so scared that I was freaking out. She had had her MMR shot the week before, and I thought she was brain damaged from the vaccine. She was in a full "tonic-clonic" seizure and it wasn't stopping. The first person I called was my friend Susan who lived a few blocks away. I asked HER to call 911 for me because I knew I was too upset to speak clearly to them. This is one of those "walk in her shoes" moments. Unfortunately she is not only having to deal with the trauma of finding her client dead, but apparently is unlicensed and getting nailed for that.

15. And while we're on the subject of Heath Ledger, I want to clobber those stupid papparazzo who are sticking their flashing cameras in the faces of Michelle Williams and little Matilda. Having dealt with what she's going through, if I had the extra bonus of being stalked by idiots with cameras when Tony died, particularly when trying to help a young child through that, I don't know what I would have done. It's good to be a nobody.

R.I.P. Heath Ledger ... So Sad

Got to the gym tonight at 5, turned on the TV and the "breaking news" was about Heath Ledger, found dead in his Soho apartment this afternoon. At 28. With a 2 year old daughter who will not remember him. Absolutely heartbreaking.

As a wee tribute, I thought I'd repost my mini-review of Brokeback Mountain. Original post date was 1/21/06... almost 2 years ago to the day. All of the original comments are intact.

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Brokeback Mountain. Just got back from seeing it. What an amazing, amazing film. One of those that leaves you feeling like you did something very strenuous for three hours...I am drained. A must see and I wouldn't wait for the DVD. It's gorgeous on screen. (Although Anne Hathaway's lips and eyes nearly chew up every scene she's in. Yikes. She'll be perfect in "The Liza Minnelli Story".)

Anyway, Anne aside...(and she's quite good in her role, don't get me wrong)...it's a perfect piece of cinema.

Why I'm Choosing Hillary

I like John Edwards, I really do. I just don't think he's going to be able to get the kind of support that will get him the nomination. I'm also thinking that his wife's illness may derail his campaign.

I liked Obama a lot at first, but the more I hear him speak (and I'm watching the debate right now) the less I believe he's capable of doing this job. Good guy, smart guy, might be right in a few years, but words like "hope" do nothing for me. It just all sounds like vaporware. There is no "hope". We need someone with specific ideas and the experience to implement them (as much as any president can).

Hillary probably isn't someone I'd love to have over for dinner. (Bill, on the other hand, I'd love to chit-chat with) But I honestly and truthfully feel she could hit the ground running and make shit happen. She's a doer. She takes no prisoners. She knows what she's talking about. And I think she could beat any of the Republicans.

The biggest reason, however, may be that all of her skeletons are completely out of the closet. Obama, not so much. I'm fearful that in October, the Karl Roves of the world will pull out some scandalous info about him (you know, like he has enjoyed a good BJ from time to time or something horrible like that). And as a result, we'll wind up with Reverend President Huckabee and all the non-Christians will be rounded up and forcibly baptized on Inauguration Day.

I know she can do the job. Let's hope that America's fear of strong women doesn't keep her from beating the old boys.

Catching Up

So.... what the heck have I been doing the past two weeks instead of blogging?




~ Dealing with bullies. Do you know that if two 12 year old punks harass your child, throw him to the ground, put him in a choke hold and expose themselves to him and it's not on school grounds or on the school bus, there is nothing that can be done about it? They have to either turn 16 or they have to physically injure your kid to be charged with anything. This has been going on since August (at least) and I'm still trying to figure out how I can protect my son from these assholes and their asshole parents.



~ Working a lot. Had to host two women from Hamburg this past week who needed to learn about how we do what we do in our US office. Luckily they were really nice, but it's still tiring to spend every waking hour with people for a week, including lunches and dinners, and then deal with things like Item #1 when you get home. Anyway, I'll be doing the same to them in the Spring, if I can figure out an arrangement for Lucas while I'm gone. Have never been to Germany, so it might be nice!



~ Watching Project Runway, Make Me a Supermodel, The Biggest Loser Couples, and lots of other mindless stuff late at night.

~ Planning a trip to Florida via Maryland for President's Week.

~ Working out again. So cliché for January, but what can you do?

~ Seeing "Sweeney Todd". Johnny Depp was great, but as a huge fan of the original I think that Tim Burton overdid the blood. Unnecessary. And the Ballad of Sweeney Todd should have been used during the opening and closing credits!

~ Seeing "The Farnsworth Invention" on Broadway. Fascinating play, starring Hank Azaria, about the invention of television.

~ Watching "Who Killed the Electric Car?" on DVD. Don't miss it.


~ Watching "3:10 to Yuma" on DVD. Loved it.

~ Sending books to soldiers in Iraq via Books for Soldiers.



~ Becoming a Guitar Hero on the Wii. I am proud to say that I was the first in my house to beat the game (on Easy, but STILL!!!)


~ Thinking about a zillion things I want to write about here... need about a month off from work in order to do it!

What is the Opposite of Writer's Block?

The reason I haven't written much over the past few weeks is because there is TOO much to write about, rather than not enough. I'm hoping to get some time to spill it all here, but until then...enjoy this comic book cover. I used to love "The Rifleman" as a kid. Apparently he loved us too!

What Primaries? What Golden Globes?

You need to get out there and post your nominations for the 2008 Bloggies! Nomination ballots close on Friday!

Make some lucky blogger cry!

More Effective Than a Picket Line

Support the WGA.... or you'll wind up with this:

Let's Du-et: Panthergirl's Entertainment Report

In theaters:



Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is not for everyone. There were only four people in the theater when I saw it (including me and my equally-deranged movie partner). But all four of us were laughing until we cried. I loved films like Team America:World Police, The 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. I hate films like the various Adam Sandler messes, or the Rob Schneider collection. But this is smart, gross, patently offensive and reminiscent of films like Airplane!, more than Talledega Nights. John C. Reilly is a hugely talented actor with a theatrical voice that enables him to take Dewey through a musical evolution that a lesser actor could not have pulled off. The soundtrack contains a track called "Dear Mr. President" that was omitted from the film, but is possibly the best one on the CD. I think the film would have done better in the summer, but hopefully now that we're past the family-oriented Christmas week, twisted filmgoers like me will get out and see this one.

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Juno. Not good. Great. The first 20 minutes feel a little bit like a film that I'm too old to really enjoy. But stick with it, and this is a beautifully written "dramedy" where every time I thought I knew what was going to happen, I was wrong.

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On DVD:


Eastern Promises. For some reason, I bought the art-house hype of this film but knowing I probably wouldn't make it to the art-house, I stuck it on my Netflix queue when it came out, and sure enough it was available on DVD soon after. I love Naomi Watts, and The Painted Veil was one of my favorite films this past year. But this one was a big "eh" for me. If I ever mention wanting to see another David Cronenberg film, please kick me in the ribs and remind me that this film and A History of Violence were both a huge disappointment. If you have a burning desire to see Viggo Mortensen's junk, then by all means run out and rent this one. Otherwise, it's a predictable, formula gangster film with a few grossly ridiculous plot twists that almost make it feel like "Walk Hard: The Sonny Corleone story".

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On the other hand, The Namesake is a beautiful little film that follows a traditional Indian couple to the United States in the 1970s, and the tug-of-war between their deep cultural roots and the immersion into American ways... for them and for their children. The film spans decades and does it well. Spurred some interesting message board sparring on IMDB as well.

The Best 2007 Retrospective Yet

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