Tom & Jerry's "The Night Before Christmas"

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."

Burns & Allen Holiday Special

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.

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!"

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."

Holiday Party Aftermath - Part 1

Holiday Party Aftermath - Part 2

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****."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.]

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:

Just Like Department Stores, I'm Already Thinking of Christmas

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.

Mee-Yow Thursday

Some of the things that happened behind the scenes of White Christmas (1954) were not so jolly.
For example, all of Vera-Ellen's costumes, down to her robe and sleepwear, had to be designed to cover high up her neck, as her anorexia aged the skin beyond its years. (Vera-Ellen is the woman on the right.)

...And the Winners are...

It's the end of our month-long celebration for Sweepea's Lounge 1-year Anniversary, and the contest is over. Our winners are Tink from Seattle, WA and Bill from Ottawa in Canada!

Thanks to all who entered! Unfortunately I couldn't give prizes to all ya'll.

A Different Charlie Brown Christmas Special

I usually don't get in to the political stuff, but this is just too funny to pass up. So wrong, but so funny. It's a Jihad Christmas, Charlie Brown!

May the Holidays Be With You

With Christmas fast approaching, it's time to bust out the best and the worst of the holidays. Let us begin with Exhibit A: The Star Wars Holiday Special. Broadcast in November of 1978 on CBS-TV, this special had a horrible story, worse songs (one sung by the pitchy Carrie Fisher), and cheesy effects. I like schmaltz, but this is even too much for me.

George Lucas has been quoted as saying, "If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it." It's no surprise that it has never been re-aired since 1978. Even Harrison Ford looks as if he was acting by gun blasterpoint. Anyway, here's just a snippet:

Happy Anniversary, Sweepea's Lounge

Tomorrow will be our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY, but since I'll be out of town this week due to Thanksgiving, I thought I'd post this today.

Wow!! It's been a whole year, and so much has changed! We used to be pink, and I used to be a blonde! So...taking a walk down memory lane, here's some of our momentous firsts:

First Post Eh-vah! (and first mention of Errol Flynn)
First "Va Va Voom" Star of the Day: Julie London
First Star Sighting of the Day: Sean Maguire. Now he's on that one sitcom with the guy who does that thing...
First Dumpster Drama... Act I, people!
First Must-Rent Movie: Sunset Blvd

...and as they say at the end of the birthday song: "and many more...!!" Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Romance Cheese Friday

This week's romance novel tidbit comes from The Seduction (even though it doesn't seem to be working to well for me...):

"At last," he said, his mouth moving over her. The heat in the room intensified as Jordan let his hands stroke her body.

Theresa was panting, her eyes glazed ..."I can't believe you made me wait," she managed as he thrust gently against her.

"It was necessary," he whispered between kisses. "To make me smart enough to realize I deserved you." Then he took them over the top.

...And I swear, that's the end of the chapter. "Over the top"? What's that supposed to mean? Were they driving up a hill or something? And what did he take over the top? Sometimes I think these novels are just so unclear. At least my hair looks good.

Guess the Logo! Game

You see these logos everyday...do you think you could identify the right ones? Try this fun and quick game Guess the Logo.

Commercialism Killed the Radio Star

Retrocrush has provided a list of Favorite Retro Pop Songs Ruined in Commercials:

1. Maxwell House Coffee destroys "Our House" by Madness
2. Windows XP commercial with Madonna's hit "Ray of Light"
3. Dr. Pepper destroys "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors
4. Colgate Pump uses the Madness song "Baggy Trousers"
5. Kohl's uses "In a Big Country" by Big Country
6. Levi's uses "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell
7. HP uses "Pictures of You" by the Cure
8. Swifter ruins Devo's "Whip It"
9. AT&T ruins Oasis's "All Around the World"
10. KFC uses "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
11. Kraft destroys EMF'S "Unbelievable" (this has to be the worst of them all -- "Crumbelievable"?? Pah-leeze...)

To see the other commercials, visit their site yourself, punk.

Hello, Norma Jean

I saw a Moxied episode of Quantum Leap last night entitled "Goodbye, Norma Jean," where Sam leaps into the body of Marilyn Monroe's driver. He has to get her to the set of "The Misfits" so that she can complete the movie before her alleged suicide. An odd mission, seeing as how this wasn't the last film she worked on. She went on to film "Something's Got to Give" the following year with Dean Martin but it was never completed because of her death.

Anyway, I was fascinated by the woman who plays Marilyn Monroe, named Susan Griffiths. Not only did she look like Marilyn (not just your typical big eyelashes and platinum wig) but she sounded like her, too. Looking her up on the net, I found that she has an extensive career as a Marilyn-impersonator, even being featured in big films like "Pulp Fiction."

Check out her resume and a short film reel of her work at her website.

I Married a Monster From Outer Space

The movie trailer, from 1958. Count the bullet bras.[Bedazzled!]

Pepto Abysmal

I feel this room could make me happy... if I was color blind.[Plan 59]

Dumpster Drama: Act XVII

Well, it's time for another Dumpster Drama, or what I witness outside my bedroom window at God-forsaken hours.

Some new guy has moved in to our building. This is weird in itself, seeing as how our building is being demolished in February. Why would the management company take new people? Oh yeah -- money.

Anyhoo, New Guy is still finding his bearings in the building. He's rather young, and seems a bit lost and naive. Twice I've had to lend him my laundry key because he's locked himself out from of the laundry room. But last night was what can only be called a sitcom moment.

It's 2:00 in the morning and I hear Newbie trudging into the carport area near the dumpster to throw out trash. He tosses it in, and then I hear him say an expletive. I sit up and look out the window. He's gone inside the dumpster, rummaging through it for something he mistakenly threw in. I guess he's never heard the saying, "Don't throw out the baby with the bath water."

Now curious as to what is so important as to wade through garbage and filth, I lean farther to see. He's knee deep in garbage, throwing things aside to look. A couple minutes later he steps out of the dumpster, cursing. He's brushing himself off and mumbling obscentities when his eye catches something. He bends down and picks up the object -- it's a plastic trash can lid. So that's what he was looking for! The lid to his own trashcan. But it wasn't in the dumpster that he just spent time wading through, it was on the ground the entire time.

Supremely pissed off at this point, he throws the lid across the carport and shouts out more expletives. At this point all I can do is stifle a laugh.

Poor guy.

Mee-Yow Thursday

During filming of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Marilyn Monroe kept insisting on retakes despite the director, Howard Hawks' approval of each take.

When the production company asked Hawks how work could be sped up, he retorted: "Three wonderful ideas: replace Marilyn, rewrite the script to make it shorter, and get a new director."

Classic Quote of the Day

"The public has always expected me to be a playboy, and a decent chap never lets his public down."

-- Errol Flynn

"Va Va Voom" Star of the Day

Peter Lawford
Saturday morning I fell in love. I was watching the Esther Williams' flick On An Island With You, and her leading man was a tall, tan wonderful navy pilot. His soft voice, his big puppy eyes, his thick eyebrows, and his gleaming white smile made my heart melt. And I was completely transfixed by the 1948 version of Peter Lawford. (Don't we look cute together?)

British-born, Peter's parents were un-wed when he was conceived. This caused a scandal that drove the family to the United States, where they travelled constantly. Because of his family's travels, Peter was never formally educated, and his lack of education was a sore subject. It contributed to his feelings of inadequacy later on as a member of the Kennedy family (his brother-in-law was JFK), and throughout his adult life.

Injuring his arm in a childhood accident kept Peter from entering World War II, the greatest thing that could happen to his acting career. Hollywood was infatuated with heroic Englishmen and as war movies were being churned out by the dozens. Peter Lawford was just what America was looking for.

Once he signed with MGM, his mother insisted that studio head Louis B. Mayer pay her a salary as Peter's personal assistant. Mayer declined, so Mrs. Lawford responded by claiming her son to be homosexual and that he needed to be "supervised". When Peter learned of his mother's actions their relationship was never the same.

Perhaps to prove to everyone his sexuality, Lawford had a reputation as a ladies' man, even as he was married to Patricia Kennedy. He allegedly had many affairs with famous women, including Ava Gardner, June Allyson, Lana Turner, Janet Leigh, Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Dandridge, Lucille Ball, Judy Holliday, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, Jackie O, Nancy Reagan, and Elizabeth Taylor, to name a few.

These affairs made Peter more of a celebrity than a movie star, especially when he was made member of the "Rat Pack." Later in life, Lawford fell into drug and alcohol abuse. This plus strained relationships and financial difficulties caused a great deal of stress on his increasingly fragile health. Lawford died alone in a hospital in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve 1984 of liver and kidney disease culminating in cardiac arrest at the age of 61.

Interestingly enough, none of the Rat Pack members attended the funeral. This is possibly due to a falling-out between Frank Sinatra and Lawford over Peter's involvement with Ava Gardner.

Classic Movie Quote of the Day

"Drink is the greatest wrecker of men
since women was invented."

-- Jimmy Durante
On An Island With You

Weekend Recap

I did a little house Lounge cleaning this weekend...
...I'm not sure who that guy outside was (Dyno was in Vegas all weekend), but at least my car got washed! Thanks, random stalker dude!

Anyway, I also went to play golf with Guitar Joe and his dame this weekend. These two guys were in the group behind us, and they kept laughing at me whiffing the ball. One of them was cute; he looked like Josh Lucas. After Guitar Joe made some wry comments about me and the Josh Look-a-Like laughed, I turned to him and said, "Look, I know I suck at golf." The Josh Look-a-Like said, "No, I think you're actually better than I am." Laughing, I said, "I know suckiness, and you sir, are not sucky!" He watched me hit the ball and then again I turned to him and said, "Yeah, I really suck. I could outsuck you any day!" Then I realized what I said as everyone laughed.

After my humiliation on the golf course, we went to see the Borat movie. I really didn't think I'd like the movie as much as I did. I figured it'd be funny, but not laugh-out-loud or cover-your-eyes screaming funny. If you're not overly-sensitive and realize that this guy is doing satire, you should go see it.

I also have to find a new Lounge. The building I'm currently in is being converted to condos and I have until February to find a new residence. So I did a little driving around over the weekend in various 'hoods. I'm really gonna miss my old place. Random stalker and all.

Romance Cheese Friday

Can you believe it? After such a long time I finally get my perky rear in gear and give you another romance novel exerpt.

This week's (or month's, rather) is from A Brother's Betrayal:

She felt Nicky's eyes burning in to her skin from across the table. She hesitated to look up; she didn't want to see his thoughts behind those heavy lashes. But she knew...knew what her brother-in-law was craving, knew that it was a forbidden hunger. But it made her body tingle and a warmness pass through her all the same.

One word: Ewwwwwwwwwwww!

Mee-Yow Thursday

While filming Gone With the Wind, Vivien Leigh reportedly did not like kissing Clark Gable because she said that he had excessively bad breath due to smoking.

Anniversary Contest!

On November 21st we'll be celebrating our
1-Year Anniversary...
And to celebrate, the Lounge will be giving
two lucky winners* -- one male, one female -- a FREE t-shirt!

The t-shirt will be an original design by me, Sweepea!
(I'm not sure if it's one of the designs above, but it'll be something like it!)

To enter, just email me at sweepea_bartender@yahoo.com
with the subject line "Contest."

Winners will be picked at random
and announced at the end of this month!

Fake Flower Bed Not Included

This retro-futuristic piece is quite confusing... I don't know if this is a table or a seat, but I think the aluminum siding overhang really makes it. [Plan 59]

Happy Halloween!

Classic Quote of the Day

"When a horse learns to buy martinis, I'll learn to like horses."

-- Steve McQueen