Conaw Is Coming!

July Round-up - 2010

July was great. July was terrible.

July was great because I spent another vacation in Palm Springs with the gals. Once again we stayed at the Chase Hotel. Once again it was a totally fabulous and relaxing week.

July terrible because a week after I returned from vacation, Tori got very, very sick, and I had to have her put down. She deserves a separate post, but I still feel really sad about it, and miss her terribly, and just haven't been able to write that post yet. But I will...

So, let's look back on some of July's happier moments instead.

Movies Seen: Ten, with none in a theater. The best was a small movie from Ireland called "The Eclipse." It's a spooky movie, but I think it's best to not know much more than that going into it. Have to say, though, that it genuinely startled me more than once, which is something not many movies are able to do to me these days.

The absolute worst was "Remember Me," the non-vampire movie starring Robert Pattinson. It's supposed to be a tragic love story, but the ending is SO shameless, and exploitative, that all I could do was scream, "You have GOT TO BE KIDDING!" as I was watching it.

Books Read: Six. Most of my lounging-by-the-pool time was spent reading.

I read Chuck Klosterman's "Fargo Rock City" before I actually left for vacation, but it was a quick read. It was in the remainder pile at the bookstore, and being that it's the only (non-fiction) book of his that I haven't read, I figured I'd pick it up. Who knew there was enough to be said about 1980s heavy metal music to fill up a 200+ page book?

As has become tradition while in Palm Springs, I also read some Sookie Stackhouse books, this time "From Dead To Worse" and "Dead and Gone." That leaves just one more to read come next vacation, unless Charlaine Harris writes another between now and then...

I read Priscilla Beaulieu Presley's autobiography "Elvis and Me" in about one day. Key take-away: Elvis was creepy.

And finally, when all my vacation books were done, and I found myself with nothing to read, I bought a copy of "Valley of the Dolls" which, shockingly, I had never actually read before. It was the perfect poolside book. Which isn't to say it's good. God, it's badly written! I just couldn't get past how EVERY time there was a conversation in the book, the characters would address each other by name. People do not do this!

"Neely, you have to stop taking pills with liquor. That's dangerous!"

"Oh, Anne. You're so square. They work faster that way!"

"But Neely, you've already taken three!"

"Anne, you don't understand, I need to sparkle in the morning!"

[Insert name here], the key to good writing is trusting your reader can follow a conversation without constantly being reminded who is talking to whom.

Finally, I got "The Carrie Diaries," Candace Bushnell's young adult prequel to "Sex and the City," from the library when I got back into town, and plowed straight through that one in about a day. I think anyone who's a fan of the show would probably enjoy it. It's not great, but I have to say I absolutely LOVED the ending, specifically, the final line in the book...

Fancy Dinners Out: I'm going to say five, but most were down in Palm Springs.

The S.F. dinner was at Town Hall for Chuck's birthday. Once again, it was a fabulous meal.

In Palm Springs, we basically went to the same places we go every year. We're like that. It included Citron at the Viceroy, and I can't remember what I ate because the cocktails were so good; and a steak at the Falls, along with some smoking martinis.

We also had some good bar eats at the Ace Hotel, and went to Las Casuelas Terraza twice. Truthfully, I could eat their chicken ranchero every damn night and be happy; still looking for a a place in the city that serves something similar...

Live Shows Seen: Just the daily entertainment that unfolded at the pool.

Shoes Bought: Two pairs. One pair of really ugly Grasshoppers, suitable for retirement home living, but they were only 10 bucks. And one pair of red cork platform sandals by Nine West for 20 bucks. Both bought at the Cabazon outlets.

While at the outlets, I also got two handbags--one Kate Spade, one Cole Haan--for waaaaaaaay cheap. I mean, these were ridiculously priced originally--about 300 bucks each, and I got them for about 50 each. I love Palm Springs!

It's BALL, Not Balls. That Would Just Be Gross.

I went to the Lady Gaga show, AKA, the Monster Ball, on Monday, and wrote a review, which you can read over on the SF Appeal. Read it! DO IT!

A few things not mentioned in the review:

* I totally missed my exit once I got to San Jose, but was able to drive directly to the Pavilion, despite a total lack of signs leading the way, and despite the fact that I have only driven there once before. Do not doubt my sense of direction, yo!

* I took my 17-year-old cousin to the show, and she couldn't get over how many old people were in the audience. Aside from me.

* There were lots of girls wearing yellow CAUTION tape (ala the Telephone video) wrapped around their bodies, but there was also one girl wearing yellow CAUTION WET PAINT tape, which is either really sad, or totally awesome.

* One of the most memorable aspects of the show, to me, was hearing Gaga's heavy breathing during rare moments of quiet in between songs. Hearing the amplified sound of someone catching their breathe in an arena filled with thousands was a new for me. You'll never hear Madonna trying to catch her breathe during her shows, (since she's superhuman), or Britney at hers (since she doesn't actually sing). It was oddly humanizing....

* I left the parking lot at the HP Pavilion in San Jose at 11:45pm and arrived in San Francisco at 12:20am. That's driving, son! (Also, it was a sad reminder of the horrors of rush hour traffic, as sometimes my shuttle ride home from Sunnyvale, which is not too far from San Jose, can take two hours.)

June Round-Up - 2010

July was kind of a rough month for me, so let's look back on June, which was a little more light-hearted.

Movies Seen: Eleven, with one in a theater. That one was "Toy Story 3," which I loved. Of course. Pixar continues to hit it out of the park, and cause me to laugh and sob in the company of strangers.

None of the DVDs I watched were very memorable. I re-watched "Shutter Island," and found it was actually a more interesting movie this time around. It's definitely a different experience watching it a second time, so to anyone who didn't like it much on first viewing, I do recommend seeing it again...

The most disappointing movie was definitely Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland." I suppose I am not surprised I didn't like it; I've been nothing but disappointed by Tim Burton's movies for years now. I was just a little shocked at how pedestrian the story was. How can you take something as wonderfully wacky as the "Alice" books and turn them into something so cliched? I will admit I laughed a few times at Helena Bonham Carter's Queen, but really, she was the only source of merriment in the entire bleak and depressing thing.

Books Read: Three. Most of the month was devoted to finally getting around to reading Stephen King's "Under the Dome." I'm a veteran when it comes to gigantic King books. The first time I read "The Stand," I think it took me four days. And I read "It" in a weekend. Alas, this one took me longer to finish than the timeline of the book itself. (Yes, the huge tome spans only one week!) Ultimately, I did enjoy it, but I kind of wished he'd avoided an explanation for the dome that covers the small town, (I suppose any kind of explanation would have seemed preposterous, but what he went with was particularly silly), and if you're wondering if this one ends like many King books do, with a huge explosion or fire of some kind, the answer would be yes.

Also, reading this book was the only time I've even considered reading an e-book instead, because it was the hardback version, and as I mentioned, it's big. It's a bitch to lug around, and I do carry a book with me almost all the time, especially to and from work, as I read on the shuttle. So, I was prepared to buy the e-version for my iPod, just for those commuting moments, only to find Amazon was charging more for the e-book than I paid for the actual book. Why, oh why, do they not offer an e-book for free--or at least at a discount--if you've purchased an actual real version of said book already? Someone get on that, OK?

I also read Molly Ringwald's "Getting the Pretty Back." SHUT UP!

And finally, I read Daniel Clowes's "Wilson," which I found kind of...confusing. I liked it, laughed several times, and ultimately found it poignant. But his decision to do each comic in a different drawing style--that does not really have anything to do with the content of the comic itself--kind of baffled me...

Fancy Dinners Out: Four. Dine About Town happened again, so I took advantage of that a few times. Once at the Big Four restaurant, which I recommend, because it seemed a really good bargain compared to their usual menu prices, and the portions were huge. The other was at LarkCreek Steak, which was also very tasty, although the menu choices seemed a little limited.

As for the non-Dine About Town meals, one was at Baker and Banker, where I had a sweet corn bisque that I can remember liking, and something else that I remember liking, but can't remember what it was. I think it was a salad? The other was a Father's Day dinner at Town Hall. Once again, a fab meal was had there, and, once again, I got the jalepeno cream ham and egg app as my entree, but we also had their version of barbecue shrimp as an appetizer, and man, that was GOOOOD.

Live Shows Seen: One. Goldfrapp at the Fox. This was the first time I kind of regretted getting balcony seats (which I tend to prefer because I am old), because it just felt weird sitting there and watching when what she was performing was mostly dance music. But we did get up and boogie a few times, as much as that could be done up there. I thought the show was great, and it pleases me to no end that she is older than I am, and so utterly awesome.

Shoes Bought: One pair, these sandals, in turquoise, which I bought for the sole purpose of wearing during my Palm Springs vacation in July. They were selected because I liked the color, and also because they weren't designed like thongs. I can't abide thongs or thong-like sandals for a variety of reasons, but the main one is I cannot stand having something wedged between my toes. Drives me NUTS. So these were nice and kind of plain, and worked out well on my trip...

We Interrupt This Vacation to Bring You This Ridiculous Message

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Ha!

HA HA HA!

Strike Her!

In my post about "Little Darlings," I talked about how the movie came out in 1980, and how that meant, if I saw it the year of its release, I was only 10 at the time. Now the Internet is talking about the 30th anniversary of the movie "Airplane!" and I know for a fact I saw that in a theater when it came out, and I was with friends. I can even remember the theater: It was the Royal on Polk Street, and we sat in the balcony. (Alas, the theater is gone now, which is sadly the case with almost all of the movie theaters of my youth.) I think we may have stayed and watched it twice. And it may not have been the first time I had seen it either, as I recall seeing it with my parents as well.

I don't have a point, really, except to say that yes, indeed, I did go to the movies with friends, unaccompanied by adults, at the age of ten. Which I think is pretty awesome. Also, it's an excuse to include this compilation clip featuring my favorite "Airplane!" character.

Sweet Summer Sweat

Speaking of summer movies, and summer camp movies in particular, I saw that "Wet Hot American Summer" is playing at the Roxie this Sunday, along with "One Crazy Summer" for a double feature they are, of course, calling "One Crazy Wet Hot American Summer." Sounds like a good way to spend the Fourth...

"Wet Hot American Summer" is one of those movies I appreciated more than I liked. I adore what it was trying to do, and it spoke directly to my nostalgia. But it just wasn't as funny as I had hoped it would be. The opening credits though? Five stars.

May Round-Up - 2010

You know, I can't really believe June is over, because it really, really feels like the stuff I did in May just happened. Before I know it, my vacation will be over, and it hasn't even begun yet. Oh, time!

Movies Seen: Eleven, with one in a theater. That one was "Sex and the City 2," which I discussed here. Of the DVDs I watched I was most pleasantly surprised with "It's Complicated." Sure, it's not exactly a deep movie, but I found it quite funny. Meryl Streep has one line in it that had me laughing so hard I had to pause the movie until I'd stopped...

The worst was probably "Nine," the musical. It reaffirmed why I don't like most musicals, and was just so damn dumb that I couldn't believe that the talent involved didn't have at least ten other better things they could have spent their time on.

Books Read: Three. The first was "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank. I had read it in school, as everyone seems to be required to, but it was the shorter "abridged" version, so I finally got around to reading the longer, uncensored version. I am sure there is still some stuff that was left out, but it's definitely a different book than the one I knew. But it is no less heartbreaking.

One might think moving from the diary of a girl who basically starved to death, (that wasn't the official cause of death, but it was a contributing factor, all things considered), to the memoir of a woman who almost starved to death to become a model, to be a bit...tacky. But whatever. "Hungry" by Crystal Renn was a quick and entertaining read for anyone with a morbid fascination with eating disorders and the world of modeling. Plus Renn is a pretty good writer.

And it was purely by accident that the next book I read was "Women Food and God" by Geneen Roth. When you have books on reserve at the library, you read them when they come in, not by choice, really. The thing is, I have no idea why I had put this on my reserve list in the first place. I must have read something favorable somewhere and compulsively added it. So it was kind of alarming when the day after I started reading it, the author was on "Oprah" to discuss the book. Oprah loves it. I did not. Perhaps if I felt I had some of the food issues that were addressed in the book, I would have found it enlightening. But for me, the issue is simple: I love food. I eat too much of it. So now I try to eat less of it, and try to exercise more. It's a simple thing, really. Now, I acknowledge for some women it is a much bigger issue than that (see Renn, Chrystal, above), but the touchy feely approach in the book really did nothing for me...

Fancy Dinners Out: One, in Santa Cruz, at the restaurant Aquarius, which is in the Dream Inn hotel off of the Boardwalk. I highly recommend it. The place itself is lovely, with amazing views of the beach and the ocean, and the food was delicious. We were there for lunch, and it was reasonably priced for what you got. I had a seafood Louie salad, which was dressed perfectly, and full of really tasty crab. I think the hotel would probably be a fab place to stay as well, as they say all the rooms have an ocean front view, and the decor is a play on mid-century modern.

Live Shows Seen: None, although I did go to a high school graduation and a baseball game. Do those count?

Shoes Bought: One, a pair of these Ballsox flats, in green, on sale at Nordstrom. They're the perfect shoe to be stuffed into a purse in case of blister emergencies.

Don't Let the Name Fool You

I rewatched "Little Darlings" a few weeks back and realized something: It is a fucking great movie.

How I came about rewatching it involved reading about a potential remake, and then wanting to see the original movie again, but only in its 2.35:1 widescreen format, which seemed to be near impossible since it hasn't been released on DVD, most likely because of music rights. (VHS copies don't, for instance, include John Lennon's great "Oh My Love," and replace it with some generic crap.) But Amazon has it available as a VOD, so I downloaded it to my TiVo in the hopes it would be widescreen, and have the original songs. And it does! Alas, it is only available as a 24-hour rental, and it's copy protected, so I couldn't burn a DVD copy for myself. Sad face.

The movie was released in 1980, and I know I saw it in a theater with some friends. I can hardly believe I was only ten years old when I saw it, but no other scenario makes sense to me...I have memories of the theater being on Clement street, so perhaps it was a revival house and it was few years later?

ANYHOO, I know I loved it at the time, and would watch it again and again for years whenever it was on cable. Perhaps some would scoff at the idea of a preteen watching a movie about girls competing to loose their virginity, but the great thing about the movie is that while the subject matter is salacious, there's really nothing overtly sexual in it. There's no female nudity, for one thing, and that's a clear indication that the movie had no intention of being a titillating teen sex comedy. (There is a brief--and entirely unrealistic--bit of male nudity, seen from afar, when the girls spy on the boys camp and find a big group of them skinny dipping. Because boys love to swim naked together? I guess?)

I was also kind of shocked to realize how good Kristy McNicol is in it. There's a moment near the end where she tries to hold back tears, and fails, that is really some high-caliber stuff for a movie like this. I'm including it here, but be warned, it contains major spoilers. (Stay tuned after the scene for some bonus footage featuring Miranda Hobbes herself!)



Roger Ebert speaks of some of the film's phoniness, in particular the food fight scene, which he calls "awkwardly forced." But in watching the movie again, I genuinely laughed at that scene because, ironically, it felt so real. Yes, the scene itself is pretty contrived, but it is so obvious the two actresses are truly laughing in the moment, and few things makes me laugh harder than watching other people try to stifle their own laughter...



There will always be a special place in my heart for the summertime-set movies of my youth, but I think this one holds up better than something like, say, "Meatballs," (which, don't get me wrong, I loved to death when I was a kid), because there's some actual depth in there. It might seem silly to call something like "Little Darlings" a work of feminist cinema, but damn it, I'm gonna! It's about young women taking control of their own sexuality, for better or worse, and the movie itself is not about exploiting the actresses. Like I said, it's a fucking great movie.

Also? Young Matt Dillon. Enough said.

Sure....Dolls Are Fun...

A week ago I was talking with a mom about Barbie dolls and whether she'd try to keep them away from her daughter once she got to the doll-playing age. Indeed there are issues with all things Barbie, especially surrounding body image, and it reminded me that as a kid I had what I thought was a Barbie-brand doll that had skin that would tan if you left her in the sun. Awesome! Teach girls that they should be impossibly skinny AND lay out in the sun for hours at a time!

But damn I loved that doll. I researched and found out it wasn't a Barbie, but some kind of knock off called the Tuesday Taylor doll. Here's an early commercial featuring her sister Dodi (!). Try repeating the last line the narrator says ten times fast...



I think there were far worse things than Barbie that screwed up my self-esteem as a youth, but I do think this Barbie commercial is, for some reason, incredibly creepy--even with the presence of Marcia Brady herself--and would most likely have given me nightmares if I ever watched it as a kid.

Bad-Assass

I was not the only person pissed by that Biggest Bad-Ass Award...

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I wonder if the dozen or so follow requests I get on Twitter EVERY DAY (seriously, every single day) are just people thinking Korean Pop Sensation Rain has a Twitter feed that's pink and focuses on television. I wonder if he'd give me a million bucks for my account? (Call me, Rain. That's the starting price.) Then he can deal with all the @ messages telling us to fuck off (people complaining about the weather) or telling us they are partying inside us (people saying they are at the Rain nightclub in Vegas). It's tough being an icon.

You Might Want To Watch the MTV Movie Awards Sunday

Just sayin'...

April Round-Up - 2010

Movies Seen: Ten, with five in a theater. Five! That's mainly because of the San Francisco International Film Festival, some of which I covered for the San Francisco Appeal. Those movies were (click links to read my coverage): "Gainsbourg (Je t'aime...mois non plus)," "Cairo Time," and "Get Low." I also attended a talk by Walter Murch.

The other two theater going experiences were "Hot Tub Time Machine," which I liked just fine, and a 1977 horror movie from Japan called "Hausu." THAT was insane. I had first heard about the movie via Rich Juzwiak's fourfour blog, and after reading that (I highly recommend you do, too), I knew I just had to see it. Luckily, it arrived in San Francisco for a one night showing at the Castro, and I'm glad I caught it there, because it was a lot of fun seeing it with a crowd. The collective "OMGWTF!!" reaction was a hoot. The minute this comes out on DVD, I am buying the hell out of it.

As for my DVD watching, none of those were really worth mentioning.

Books Read: Four. First was "The Likeness" by Tana French, a sequel to "In the Woods," which I read last year. Alas, I did not like this one as much as that one, mainly because the central premise is so absolutely preposterous that I just couldn't get over it. I kept hoping there would be a logical explanation, but--and I am trying not to be spoilery here, although this may count as one--there isn't. And that kind of tarnished the whole book for me...

I got Dave Eggers's "The Wild Things," which is basically Eggers's novelization of the movie version of "Where the Wild Things Are," as a Christmas present, and have to say, it's the best feeling book I've ever read, as it's covered in fake fur. I almost slept on it as a pillow. The book itself is OK. I waited to read it until after I had seen the movie, and it's pretty close to it, but of course goes deeper in Max's mind, and the personalities of the Wild Things. But the movie is probably better.

Another present, this time for my birthday, was A.J. Jacob's "The Guinea Pig Diaries." In his other books, ("The Know-It-All," and "The Year Of Living Biblically"), Jacobs spends a year undertaking respective "experiments," but in this one, he spends at most a few months doing such things as living according to George Washington's personal rules, outsourcing as much of his daily routine as possible to a team in India, and doing everything his wife tells him to. (And believe me, she earned that one.) His books are always fun, and this is probably a good introduction to his stuff to anyone interested in reading him.

And I finally read Carrie Fisher's "Wishful Drinking," which took about two hours to finish, which is probably the same amount of time it would take to see her stage version of the book. I am not sure which would be funnier, though...

Fancy Dinners Out: One, at Town Hall. Mmmmmm....Town Hall. I had the fried chicken, but I envied my friend's smoked pork chop, and really should have gotten that. I now know to never pass up the chance to eat smoked pork.

Live Shows Seen: None, although I did go to WonderCon, which is always quite a show. And the aforementioned Film Festival stuff as well....

Shoes Bought: None, that I can remember. And if I have shoes I don't remember buying, that's probably a bad thing...Oh! I did buy a pair of slippers! I have a cat, so I always have to wear something on my feet in my apartment (because of litter, mainly, but also because of other surprises she leaves around the place), and I usually wear slip-ons. But I was getting so tired of litter getting into the slippers (nothing worse) that I decided to get some slippers that were snugger and offered more foot coverage. Thus: these Isotoners. No more litter slippers!

Sexteen Percent

First off, get a grip people. "Sex and the City 2" is not the worst movie ever made. It's not even the worst "Sex and the City" movie ever made. It seems many critics, both professional and non, have taken a dislike of the movie as an excuse to vomit bile all over the entire franchise, aging women, and the aging women who would dare to love the franchise. From the reviews I've read about how vain, vapid, and offensive the movie is, I was expecting to see the four friends arrive in Abu Dhabi, slap people in the face with their designer bags, and immediately expose their vaginas to the entire country. That doesn't happen. Nothing remotely like that happens. What the movie is, is a nice romp, expressly aimed at women, that is about as realistic as any of the black-and-white, high society-set, Depression-era movies Big loves to watch while curled up on his $10,000 couch. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Now, I am not an apologist. I really, really didn't like the first movie, but that was mainly because of the story it chose to tell, not because the characters are materialistic, self-centered, or unrealistic. If you're looking for realism from a show about a newspaper columnist who lives in a New York brownstone with a walk-in closet, you are looking in the wrong place. "Sex and the City" has always been fantasy; a modern-day fairytale filled with emotional truth. And it's straight up for women. I have deep respect for any guys who watched and liked the show, but I realize they are few and far between. And that's OK. They have an entire summer of movie choices filled with fantasies tailored for them. S0, if there are any critics out there left who have not seen the movie, and were not fans of the show, please, don't bother. The movie is not for you.

So yes, the crowd tonight was predominantly female, and many chose to dress up, (though not as many as I had thought would), and they all seemed to have a great time. I know I enjoyed the opportunity to hang out with three of my best girlfriends, and be pleasantly surprised by something we were all told was going to be a total disaster. The only disappointment: how the restaurants in the Westfield Mall didn't choose to stay open a little late, knowing they were going to have hoards of women coming out of the theater all night, in desperate want of a Cosmopolitan. There's a reason "Sex and the City" is set in New York: LATE NIGHT DINING.

March Round-Up - 2010

Oh man, this is late. In fact, I'm going to fib and say it's April 30th, when we all know it ain't...

Movies Seen: Thirteen, with none in a theater. My two faves of the bunch were technically "kid's movies": "Ponyo" and "Where the Wild Things Are."

I know it's probably heresy to say it, but I've never been as enraptured by Miyazaki movies as a lot of movie lovers seem to be. Maybe you have to have an inherent fascination with Japanese folklore to really get his movies, or maybe I just don't dig the style that is anime. But "Ponyo" I totally loved. Check out this post on fourfour and you'll get an idea why.

As for "Where the Wild Things Are," it left me cold through most of the movie, but then I got to the end, started crying, and totally got it.

The worst movie was "New Moon." Sorry, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon." I am going to see all the "Twilight" movies, not because I like them, but because I don't, if that makes any sense. Anyway, the point where the movie totally lost me and just started to piss me off was when Bella is with Jacob, the best friend who turns out to be a werewolf, and he's telling her he can never be her boyfriend because he's afraid of what he might do to her, since he can't control his werewolf rage. And she tells him it DOESN'T MATTER. So, basically, she's got two guys in her life who could kill her with the flick of a wrist, tell her it's just too dangerous for them to be together, and shes' all "Oh, but I love you, it doesn't matter." NICE.

Books Read: Three. First was "Lit," Mary Karr's latest memoir. I've read "The Liar's Club" but not her second memoir, "Cherry," but I don't think you need to read either of those to read "Lit," since she kind of goes over what was covered in those books a bit. The main story is about her getting sober. She's an amazing writer, so even if stories about drunks finding God aren't you're bag, it manages to engross.

The second was "Eating the Dinosaur" by Chuck Klosterman because I have to read everything he writes. Except anything about sports, which means there were parts of "Dinosaur" that I just skipped. And speaking of skipping over stuff, much of "Shelf Discovery" was skipped over, too. The book is a series of essays about classic young adult novels. You know, stuff by Judy Blume, Lois Duncan, and Louise Fitzhugh. I didn't have much interest in reading about books I hadn't actually read, so that's why some of the book was skipped over. But I was surprised by how many books I had read were covered in it. It was a nice trip down memory book lane.

Fancy Dinners Out: None. Not really. One birthday dinner for my dad at La Traviata, and one grilled ham and cheese at The Big 4.

Live Shows Seen: None.

Shoes Bought: None!