Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Star Sighting of the Season

I was shopping over the weekend (yes, I wait until the last minute) when I spotted Hillary Duff at ValSurf in Studio City. Skinny as a stick standing in line to pay with her mother. I snuck this picture while pretending to look at watches.

The Christmas Song

It's still Christmas here in the Lounge...then again, if we had it our way, it'd be Christmas year-round. Here's the classic Nate King Cole classic "The Christmas Song."

Monday, December 18, 2006

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

My penguin pals and I will be out celebrating Christmas until next week...
So take some time to look at some of our past posts
(check out the Categories on the right)!

See you Monday!
Love, Sweepea

Sweepea-TV: "A" is for Angry?

On the door of a sushi restaurant along Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Sweepea-TV: Company Holiday Party

My company party was last night at Ca' Del Sole in Toluca Lake. For those of you not from L.A., there is no lake in Toluca Lake. So I don't really know what they named the town after -- the water runoff from the septic tank? Who knows. And actually, it wasn't at night because my company is so cheap that we didn't have a sitdown dinner, but a "cocktail reception." Here are some of the highlights:

You know the saying, "Never eat yellow snow?" Well I'm going to add, "Never eat yellow mystery balls with peas in them." Blech.At least the booze was free. I had 3 Bloody Mary's to "get my strength up" (I'm still fighting a cold), and then I moved on to Cape Cods. Very healthy of me, if I do say so myself. Here's an empty glass of mine.
Finally had to make a potty run. You open the door to the bathroom and there's a series of these doors. I thought they were all broom closets -- but nope, those are the stalls. I should do a whole photo essay of bar bathrooms in Los Angeles. Weird.
We didn't sit all afternoon - we were made to stand for 3 hours - and I hadn't eaten all day (due to stress among other things) so I was famished. I passed on the tuna sandwhich, egg salad sandwhich, cheese pizza, and pickle appetizers because I needed some MEAT!! Finally I told the servers, "I'm a strict carnivore, so anytime you have a tray with meat, please come to me first." I was known as the "Meat Girl" by the catering staff, and pretty soon I was given this bowl o' balls, made with ground turkey. Yummmm.
Of course the male co-workers had to make the testicle jokes regarding me enjoying the meatballs. (Men are obsessed with their genitalia, I swear.) I also got into this random bet with a co-worker over who could stand on one leg the longest. I could have gone all night, but my ride was leaving. So I had to end at 15 minutes, resulting in serious leg cramping. Now I have to buy the guy lunch.

Additionally, I learned that having an open bar meant leaving without any company gifts. What a ripoff.

Gift Idea: Gaylord!

Thanks to Bedazzled we are lucky enough to learn the "Gaylord" song. "Walkity walk walk!"

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Sweepea-TV: Holiday Party Swap

They say it's the thought that counts, but who are they kidding? I want to see what free loot I get this year through the company. In true holiday spirit, we did the traditional steal-the-present-game in our department. I always open up the one present that is not really crappy, but not good enough for anyone to steal. This year I got a Paint By Number Kit. Not too bad -- I like to paint. But this box held a deep, dark secret.

It looks innocent enough, right? A nice peaceful picture of the Eiffel Tower -- yours for the painting.Eight vintage masterpieces -- all mine to create, frame, hang, and impress my friends!
But what are these 8 works of art that I would create? The back of the box reveals the truth...
A CLOWN! And a scary one at that. Being a coulrophobic there was no way I could complete all 8 of these masterpieces. I would have to stop at the bowl of flowers and then dash the remains into the fireplace.

The big company party is tonight. Maybe I'll get a company umbrella like I did last year.

Vintage Christmas Vinyl

Keeping with some vintage holiday cheer is Falalalala.com! (Love the fonts, dahling. *wink*)

And thanks to PopFantastic for directing us to them.

Deja Vu: Holiday Party Aftermath

Well, today is my company holiday party. I'm hoping I won't have the same drama happen to me like last year. On that note, here's another Christmas deja vu, a.k.a. "My Holiday Party Nightmare, 2005."

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Raging Rudolph

I have a cold and I when I talk I sound like Rudolph. But you've never seen Rudolph like this.

Sweepea-TV: Saturday Night

So here's Saturday night's pictures. After a Christmas party, a group of us went to this club on Temple St. in downtown L.A. called Vertigos. We got there before it opened and I had to pee. None of the staff setting up spoke English. So I pulled out my high school AP Spanish skills right there, and busted out an authentic "Donde esta el bano, por favor?" with the right intonation and everything. I conjugated up a storm and then made my way to the lovely women's room, where I found some interesting reading material in the stall. Already in a tequila-shots-and-Coronas haze, I snapped away.

I think this said, "No, b****, you sucked f** d***." Wish I knew what prompted such a response.
This was also a pretty intellectual discussion on the other wall of the stall, that got this rejoinder: "It's okay, hater b****."

Monday, December 11, 2006

Verify This Word, Punk!

When asked to switch to the new Blogger Beta, I was asked to enter in this letter combination to verify my account.

Oh yeah? Is that how you wanna play??

Sweepea-TV: Friday Night

I went to see Casino Royale at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Being an L.A. native, I never took the time to look at the stars and famous footprints. Well, I finally did Friday night. First I got a snapshot of my favorite big band leader's star, Glenn Miller.They just gave Kevin Costner a hunk of pavement, so I had to see it. I was astonished that my Amazonian feet are almost exactly the same size as his. Then again, I'm a tall drink a'water...
Next up was ol' blue eyes, Frank Sinatra. I was like a 1940's schoolgirl, swooning at the sight of one of the greatest crooners of all time.
There's all these weird characters hanging around there...some are tourists, others are like this guy in an oversized wizard costume. Not promoting anything or handing out anything. Just staring at people when they walked by. Scared the bajeezus outta me.
I have pictures from my Saturday night, too...which will come later.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Romance Cheese Friday

From the romance novel Stranded:
"The door is frozen shut," Scott told her, "and even if it could open, it's blocked by about 10 feet of snow."

"How will we survive? We have barely any food, no heat, and no water."

"We have each other," he said, pulling her closer.

Breathless, she gave in to him, feeling his body permeate with fervor and sensuality. They would nourish each other.
Um...no, sorry, I call no way. You need a piece of bread, some water, something. You can't survive in a cabin in the middle of nowhere by cuddling. They're not penguins, for petesake.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Star Sighting of the Day


Mike Starr
lunch at Jerry's Deli

Sweepea-TV: Skybar

Last night some girlfriends and I set out to hit the Sunset strip. After having dinner at Katana, we walked across the street to Skybar. Mind you, it's Wednesday night and there's not a single person standing in line at the door. Here's an account of our conversation that proceeded with the dick doorman:
Doorman: Do you have a reservation?
Friend 1: It's a Wednesday. There's no line. It's just us!
Doorman: Yeah, I know what day it is. I saw it on my calendar this morning.
Friend 2: So can we go in?
Sweepea: Let's just go, this guy's being a pr&#$.
Doorman: No matter what day it is, you should really make a reservation.
Friend 1 to me: Is this guy kidding me with this?
Doorman: If you'd let me finish --
Sweepea: Oh jeez.
Doorman: -- I was going to say if it's only you four then you may come in.
(we walk past him and go down the corridor to the bar)
Friend 1: Oh thank you for letting us little peons into your almighty establishment, s#!&-for-brains.
Sweepea: What a little b&%$#.
We go inside and it's completely empty, short of two waitresses and a couple making out on a bed. Just another example of the pretension and arrogance in Hollywood. Oh well... the mojitos were good...and so was the view.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Santa vs. the Devil

This movie Santa Claus from 1959 is not your normal Christmas story. With the aid of Merlin, Santa Claus must defeat the evil plans of the devil to ruin Christmas. Originally filmed in Spanish and then redubbed in English. Just a tidbit, as it's only part one of many...But maybe we'll see this whole thing through, if we can stand it.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Sweepea-TV: Murder Mystery Dinner

Thanks to my new spiffy camera-phone, I can share with you the very exciting happenings of my life in full color! Take Saturday night...My sister Coco and I went to a Murder Mystery Dinner, and it was really fun. We were first in line at the door, but we couldn't enter...yet!
We each got a nametag, where we could put any name and be any character. I decided to be "Kay Starr." I told everyone I was a 40's big band singer that had to retire because of a partial thyroidectomy that ruined my vocal chords. I had traveled from the past to see what the future's musical industry was like, and I was disappointed. (My character turned out to be more elaborate than the dinner theater actors'.) Coco decided to be "Luna Lovegood" -- a character from Harry Potter, although I thought it sounded like a porn star.

During cocktail hour, we grew suspicious of everyone. We had to question all the party-goers. I really took this seriously, approaching strangers and asking them in-depth questions about their lives. They should make mystery dinners for singles' nights -- it's a great way to talk to people. I guess suspicion helps us lose our inhibitions. (And I'm sure my $5 mai tai helped.)
Someone was murdered after the salad course! Conveniently she died right where the chalk outline was. So who did it?
These two chatty cathy's at our table warranted a glare or two from the detective. They didn't seem to take the murder seriously.Of course, Coco and I did. Together we solved the crime and took home the grand prize: a dinner certificate for two, a bottle of wine, and some Alfred Hitchcock DVD's!

[Plan your own night out of mystery at The Dinner Detective.]

Friday, December 01, 2006

Romance Cheese Friday

Holiday-inspired Naughty or Nice gives us this scrumptious exerpt:
It was a simple thing to unbutton her dress. She even helped him, offering her nakedness to him as she twined her arms around his neck and pressed her heart against his. He lay on top of her, pleased by how wonderfully her tiny body fit against his.
Why are women in romance novels always petite? Why can't they be tall, round, leggy, or ....like me??

Deja Vu: Just Like Department Stores...

I'll be hitting up a lot of past posts during this holiday season, seeing as how last year barely anyone was reading this blog. (Not like it's swarming today, but nonetheless...) I'll be calling these "Deja Vu" posts of Christmas Past. Our first is:

Bing Crosby sings "White Christmas"

Following up from yesterday...Although listed as a "video" of the song, this video is from a clip of the film "Holiday Inn," where Bing Crosby first sang the tune.