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Showing posts from October, 2008

The Leaves Have Taken Over!!

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The leaves are falling too fast for me to keep up with them! They have taken over the front yard!! And yet, the branches of the trees above me are still mostly green and still holding LOTS of leaves!! Looks like I have a date with the rake! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy Halloween!!

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FROM DAISY THE HALLOWEEN CAT!!

Happy Halloween!!

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Happy Halloween!

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Yes, that's me (or a pretty good likeness, anyway). I'm cooking up a cauldron of brussels sprouts for all the kiddies. Bwhahahaha!

Fried Pork Chops and Brussels Sprouts

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Oh, I know. Half of you (maybe more) are scrunching up your nose, saying "Brussels Sprouts...ewww!" That's okay. I remember a time when I didn't like them either. The important thing is to try, try again. I found some really, really thin pork chops today and thought that sounded good for dinner! Here's my favorite way to cook the sprouts. I think you'll like them! Trim the stem end of the sprouts and pull of a few of the little leaves from the bottom. Put them in a colander and give them a bath. Cut them in half. Now, boil them gently in water until they're tender. In the meantime, season some flour for the pork chops. Use whatever you like... I used parsley, black pepper, Tony Chachere's Seasoning, and some granulated garlic. Dredge the chops in the flour and shake off the excess. You just want a tiny bit of flour sticking to those bad boys. Put them on a rather hot griddle and fry until they're golden brown. Back to the sprouts... when they&#

Watching DVDs: Blood Ties Season One

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Watching DVDs: Blood Ties Season One. From the Tanya Huff books. Maybe I read the books too recently. Am a bit disappointed. I like the leads: Christina Cox & Kyle Schmid.

Watching DVDs: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

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Watching DVDs: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season One. Takes place after Terminator 2 . I once supervised a very interesting MA dissertation about the Terminator movies (Hi CM). Series:OK. The actor who plays John (Thomas Dekker -- who was in Heroes ) has made a movie that sounds really interesting: Whore (2008). They manage to allude to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and The Wizard of Oz in one sentence. The android is called Cameron, ha ha.

Watching TV: Dirty Sexy Money Season One

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Watching TV: Dirty Sexy Money Season One. Tremendous. Plus, finally a transgendered person played by a transgendered person! From IMDB: "Candis Cayne was born as Brendan McDaniel in Hawaii. Brendan transformed himself into Candis Cayne and became one of the United States' most popular and sought-after female impersonators. Candis first made a name for herself at the famed NYC gay hot-spot "Boy Bar," where her performances drew raves. A classically trained dancer, Candis has thrilled audiences from coast-to-coast with her amazing gift for dance, choreography and glamour. Candis can be seen in the hit ABC series Dirty Sexy Money where she plays actor Billy Baldwin's (Patrick) transgender love interest Carmelita. Candis is the first transgender actress to have a recurring role on a prime-time series." From WIKIPEDIA: "Candis Cayne is an American actress and performer best known for her appearances in the New York City club scene. Nationally, she appeared

Spitting image

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Spitting Image . Has anyone else realized that Winona Ryder, Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley are really one and the same person? Probably an immortal ubiquitous alien.

Went to see Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

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Went to see Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (Guillermo del Toro, 2008). Brilliant. Wonderful. Who else (apart from Tarantino and Rodriguez) actually manages to shoot an auteur film that's also an action movie? He's the best. Remember Mimic, El espinazo del diablo, Blade 2, Hellboy, El laberinto del fauno ? All Guillermo del Toro. Can't wait for his Hobbit . This movie is all that and it's a tremendous adaptation of the interesting comic book (thank you Dark Horse and Mike Mignola), it's science fiction, it's a fairy tale, etc. Impeccable dosage of comic relief, love interest, you name it. Lots of tremendous influences, beside the hackneyed Celtic ones: Arabic, Asian... Visually stunning.

Your Opinions Please?

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My fourteen year old son (on the right in the picture above) wants to buy a moped. I told him, "No." He is not happy with my decision, and we have been "discussing" it. He feels my decision is unfair and unreasonable. So much so, in fact, that there is a good chance I will be nominated for meanest mom of the year as a result. He wanted me to ask my blogging "peeps" what they think about the situation. (Peeps is his word not mine. To me, peeps are those little sugar-coated marshmallow chicks you get at Easter time. Like this: Or maybe like this: since it is now Halloween time, but I digress.) I told him that it didn't matter what my "peeps" thought because I wasn't going to change my mind. He, however, thought it was worth a try, thinking you all could sway my opinion in his favor. So here is the situation. His side of the "discussion": He is a responsible individual. He will be a careful and safe driver and will fo

Celebrities and Their Unforgettable Shoes

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Everyday we see our favorite stars in their latest fashion get-up. Their taste in fashion were unveiled right before our eyes as we watch them on tv or read them in the papers. With all their photos, we can't really seem to remember who's looks hit or miss last week or even last month. People.com compiled a slideshow of celebrities wearing their unforgettable shoes. Can you walk with their shoes? Left: Victoria Beckham wore a tall Antonio Berardi boots with no heels while launching her perfume in N.Y.C. Right: Madonna in her pistol-heeled Chanel pumps that she wore to her directorial debut in N.Y.C. Left: Beyonce opted for Rainbow Brite Balenciaga sandals at the American Music Awards. Right: Rihanna wore woven Balenciaga gladiator boots while shopping. Left: Mary Kate Olsen grabs the knee-high Givenchy by Ricardo Tisci gladiator sandals straight from runway. Right: Mischa Barton felt like she was a celestial goddess that's why so she took the moon boots while walkin

Where to fight counts for a lot. But there's nothing like having your friends show up with lotsa guns.

No 274 - Sin City Director - Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino . This film is so quotey that it was very hard to pick the line that would be used as my title. Other contenders would have been: The Valkyrie at my side is shouting and laughing with the pure, hateful, bloodthirsty joy of the slaughter... and so am I. These are the old days, the bad days, the all-or-nothing days. They're back! There's no choice left. And I'm ready for war. Recognize my voice, Hartigan ? Recognize my voice, you piece-of-shit cop? I look different, but I bet you can recognize my voice! etc etc.... This is an introduction to my first point for this film, because it is stylised, beautifully beautifully stylised. This is the the antithesis of comic book films such as the new Batman series, a comic book film that revels in the medium it originated from. Shots are recreated exactly as they appear in the comics and offer the the now iconic visual style, which echoes the monochromatic

James Piatt's Fashionably Weird/Violent Bags

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When you visit James Piatt 's website, you can see his handbag creations that will surely caught you by surprise. Let me tell you something about them. Tinkerbell bag was based on Paris Hilton's discarded pet. According to the site, the design of the bag capitalizes on the trend of carrying a small dog as a fashion accessory but as we can see it looks like a dead Chihuahua. The PeaceKeeper 400 bag offers you a handy self-defense gadget for $85. It is manufactured with a soft polyurethane handle that looks like a brass knuckle. Definitely, you can handle terror attacks in a fashionable way. The Pursuader bag comes in the form of a machine gun. It features a handy cell phone compartment in the clip. With this bag, you can create a fashionable war-freak look. The Chesterton is an everyday bag with a large compartment for carrying many items and an internal pocket for portable electronics. This $220 bag is styled with a polygon shape that looks like a pyramid that was cut in a half

Valentino Garavani: The Last (Fashion) Emperor

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Valentino's fahion house is among the world's most famous haute couture and ready-to-wear fashion empires. For almost 45 years, he created some of the most sophisticated dresses to be seen and worn in the glamorous world of fashion. Valentino became known for his red dresses, popularly called "Valentino red" in the fashion industry. Valentino: The Last Emperor was produced and directed by Matt Tyrnauer and documents the colorful personal life and career of Valentino. The film also tackled about the special relationship between Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti, his business partner and companion for 50 years. The filmmakers shot over 250 hours of footage with exclusive, unprecedented access to Valentino and his entourage from June 2005 to July 2007. The film spans between Valentino's seventieth birthday and his final couture show Source