Julie London sings "Daddy"

Another sultry rendition by my favorite female crooner.

Mee-Yow Thursday

Donald O'Connor admitted that he did not enjoy working with Gene Kelly on Singin' in the Rain, since Kelly was somewhat of a tyrant. O'Connor said that for the first several weeks he was terrified of making a mistake and being yelled at by Kelly.

This makes the third Mee-Yow Thursday where someone has said that Gene Kelly is difficult to work with.

Halloween is Coming!

Yep, I'm one of those. That person that thinks up next year's costume on November 1st, the one who decorates her cubicle for every holiday. Ever since I was a kid, I've loved Halloween! And you only have a little over a month to get ready for it, too. Get in the mood starting today.

M&M's has a creepy game where you must find 50 horror movie references in a very dark Renaissance painting.

See how many you can get!

The Muppets Enter the Matrix

I'm more of a Muppets fan than of the Matrix...but still, this is pretty great.

Tuesday's This & That

Man, Monday came and went... Not much to report about the weekend. Seeing as how I was going through some kind of emotional breakdown (was it because I was out of Bloody Mary mix??) Dyno and I didn't go out much. I did, however, discover that when you do your laundry, your wardrobe practically doubles in quantity -- and it smells good, too! So because of my domesticity over the weekend (did I just make that word up?) I am all about the retro housewife feel today -- although I am still not a wife! *badda-bing*

I love The Sneeze's snarky comments about the gameboard for Battleship, circa 1967. Mom and Sally do the dishes as Dad and Billy get to play world domination to their hearts' content. Scrub on, ladies. Scrub on.

And of course, the women at Retro Housewife are always good for some domestic fun. Here's a short vid on Arranging the Tea Table.

Geez, it's not THAT funny...

The new TMX Elmo. I don't think I've ever seen a doll get so hysterical after just being poked a couple times...

Classic Movie Quote of the Day

"If you're gonna catch a man, you may have to catch cold, too."

-- Esther Williams in Duchess of Idaho
encouraging her galpal to lower her neckline

Mee-Yow Thursday

Gene Kelly insulted Debbie Reynolds relentlessly while filming Singin' in the Rain. Kelly even remembers: "I was really cruel to Debbie. It's a wonder she still speaks to me."
Luckily, Fred Astaire was hanging around the set and found Reynolds crying. He encouraged her to not let Kelly bother her, and helped her practice her dance steps.

The Girl Can't Help It!

Here's Julie London singing "Cry Me a River," making Tom Ewell envision her lounging in his apartment. (The non-karaoke version.)

Thanks, Lou!

Want Water Soft as a Cloud?

Remember the 50's, when the term "modern housewife" meant a woman dressed in pearls and an apron with modern appliances to assist her in her daily tasks? Well, the Lounge can never get enough of this oxymoron.

As the AV Geeks propose:

So you've spent all this money on the latest appliances, but you still aren't happy. Perhaps it is because your water is 'old fashioned'. This film sells the housewife on buying a water softener for the home even if they already have soft water.

Watch this informative short film that will give you all the exciting info!

Thanks, Bedazzled, for --as always -- pointing us in the right direction!

Ay, Matey!

Today is Talk Like A Pirate Day! Irritate friends and family with your obsessive use of the word "Arrrr!" in every sentence.

Get Pir-attude at The Original Talk Like a Pirate Day site! (Thanks, Coco!)

Use the English-to-Pirate generator to help translate your language to Piratese.

Find out what your pirate name is!

And of course don't forget our favorite pirate, Captain Blood. Visit the official Errol Flynn website.

Avast and have ye a great day!

Should I Succumb to the Nightmare Fuel?

Ever since Lou's post the other day with the kid slipping through the thrill ride/bungee jumpy thingie, I've been having daydream-type nightmares of having an accident on a rollercoaster. Thanks a lot, Lou!

Because I'm a sick morbid person who likes to be scared $#!tless, now I'm wondering if I should rent Final Destination 3. I mean, the whole point of a horror/thriller movie is to play on our fears and enjoy them, to some extent, right? Right?? But then I found this video on YouTube...it's a scene from the movie.



I think I'll stick with Esther Williams flicks for a while.

Friday's This & That

What Would Popeye Do without Spinach? More importantly, what am I gonna do? I seriously eat this stuff outta the bag on a daily basis. (It's great sauteed with some garlic and a little extra virgin olive oil...mmmmmmm.)

Remember when Michael Jackson was black? Here's a visit from the Jackson 55 on the Carol Burnett show. [Bedazzled]

I think I'm in love... Apple came out with a new iPod - 80 gig!!! ...See? The longer I wait the better and the cheaper they get!

Thursday's This & That

I didn't know this, but they have vegetarian shoes. Being a meat-and-potatoes gal, does that mean I have to eat my stilettos? (Don't ask me how I found this picture, but I did and so there it is.)

I've been seeing stars lately... and I've been forgetting to post them up individually. So here are the ones I remember altogether: Kim Coles, Corbin Bernsen, and Michael O'Keefe.

Speaking of stars, all over the valley there are signs supporting Joey Lawrence on "Dancing With the Stars." One boutique's once-classy window has even painted "Whoa! Go Joe!" I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Tonight is the season premiere of Survivor: Cook Islands. And as you know (unless you've been under a rock) they're splitting the tribes up by race. This has caused a huge controversy, but the funniest comment was from host Jeff Probst who swears it's not a stunt. Of course it is! The whole show is a stunt! C'mon, Jeff, don't BS us. We're smarter than that. Whatever...I'm gonna watch it, so it worked.

Mee-Yow Thursday

More on the Audrey Hepburn kick...

Humphrey Bogart didn't get along with co-star William Holden, but he was particularly unhappy that Audrey Hepburn got the title role in Sabrina, because he wanted his wife, Lauren Bacall.

When asked how it was working with Hepburn, Bogie answered, "It's great, if you like taking 20 takes."
While filming the love scenes, Bogie was so stiff and cold with his performance (which is how he always performs, IMO) that director Billy Wilder was heard to have said, "One of the most beautiful women in the world and he looks like he's forcing himself to kiss her."

Classic Movie Quote of the Day

"You can either be an honest old maid or a happy liar."

-- Audrey Meadows in Touch of Mink

to Doris Day, convincing her to play games
to get Cary Grant

Breakfast at Target

While Audrey Hepburn stands idly in front of Tiffany's, eating a danish and pondering her life, I stand in front of Target and wistfully look in the window, munching on a bag of CornNuts.

This is the difference between the movies and real life.

I started watching Breakfast at Tiffany's last night (do you sense an Audrey Hepburn theme?), and it made me wonder what made Holly Golightly who she was. And I realized that I don't think I could ever be like her. Didn't she miss the simple life where she grew up? Or was she happy with her lifestyle of late-night parties, entertaining random men, and hangovers? Wait...that doesn't sound that bad.

Now I'm a little jealous of Holly. Sure, she'll never find true love. And she'll never know the value of a good, hard day's work. But she'll be rich, happy, and well-fed. Of course she'll never be too well-fed -- we're talking about Audrey Hepburn for petesake.

Audrey Hepburn falls in to The Gap

Taken from a scene in Funny Face, Hepburn boogies down in this clever ad for The Gap:

Many people don't realize she was an accomplished dancer before she rose to stardom in the film industry.

Want to see more? Here's the 60-second version from The Gap website.

Cublicle War 2006

The latest from Barats and Bereta (the same guys who brought you that hilarious Mother's Day greeting) comes Cubicle War 2006:

Must-See Movie: Born Yesterday

Born Yesterday (1950)
Judy Holliday is brilliant in this comedy-drama, opposite the delicious William Holden. Holliday plays Billie, a woman who is in a nowhere relationship with a scrap metal tycoon named Harry, played by the gruff Broderick Crawford. She doesn't know how to mingle with the rich, and she's constantly being harrangued by Harry, who thinks she's a bubblehead. Harry decides to hire Holden to be her tutor, and as the movie progresses, Billie learns a lot more than what's in the books.

Judy Holliday picked up an Oscar for this performance, and it's easy to see why. She's absolutely riveting and is able to manipulate her voice in such a comical way. She goes from airhead to genuinely intelligent, and the transformation is subtle and real. I love watching her big, expressive eyes -- almost like Betty Boop.

The best scene is when she's playing Gin Rummy with Harry. Not only does she win 4 straight games in a row -- irritating her boyfriend -- but she has a routine of shuffling and re-shuffling her cards. Then she starts to hum a tune, and she gets so in to it she says "Na na na...Bum DUM BA DUM Na na na na..."

I saw this through my Moxi by looking for William Holden, and I don't see it showing any time soon, so you have to rent it!

Friday's This & That

I still don't believe it. I watched this show on the Food Network last night and the expert says that butter is better for you than margarine. Apparently the chemicals or something in margarine are unhealthy, while the natural fats in butter are good for us. If only they could tell me smoking was good for me...

iTunes rules. I just found that selected songs from the Esther Williams' movie Bathing Beauty are now available to download. Finally -- some Ethel Smith!

Set your Moxies: Easy to Love, another movie starring Esther Williams and the divine Van Johnson will be on TCM on September 17th.

Mee-Yow Thursday

While filming "Take Me Out to The Ball Game" Gene Kelly's perfectionism and constant ribbing began to annoy Esther Williams. Director Busby Berkeley came up with an imaginative swimming number for the duo but Kelly didn't want it in the movie. He continually mocked Williams for making money from swimming films, seeing it as not too difficult a talent.

Things escalated while filming a love scene seated on a bench, mostly due to Kelly's insecurities at being an inch shorter. Between takes he kept asking Williams to slouch or sit lower so he would look taller than she. Finally Williams responded, "Why don't you just stick your foot under your ass and shut up?"

If you notice, Kelly took this advice, and during the scenes where they are seated together Kelly is sitting on his leg and foot.

Must-See Movie: What a Way to Go!

What a Way to Go! (1964)
I Moxied this and finally got to see it last night. Since it won't be on anytime soon (that I know of), you're going to have to rent it!

The star power alone is reason to watch: Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Dick Van Dyke...

MacLaine plays Louisa, a woman who wants the simple life: a little cottage in the country, true love, and maybe a couple kids. She only seeks men with meager lifestyles, but no matter what she does, she ends up with men with too much ambition and motivation!

Thinking she's cursed, she tries to get rid of the bad luck by giving a check to the IRS for all her millions. Instead of accepting it, they believe she's crazy and send her to a shrink, where we hear about her life as a black widow amongst unfortunate -- yet fortunate -- men.

Star Sighting of the Day

My sister Coco and I went to Ralph's in Brentwood and we spotted Scott Valentine of "Family Ties" fame. I actually said, "Yo, Ma-LO-REE!!" but he didn't hear me.

Most surprising was he has white hair now -- and not Billy-Idol-cool-dyed white hair. More like old-man-picking-through-produce white hair.

Days of the hot mullet are long gone, Scott. *sigh*

WTF is with the Fuzzy Brownie??

Is anyone else freaked out about the bizarre new product from Domino's Pizza? The commercial has a life-size plush brownie peddling their new dessert...but -- I'm getting disturbed just describing this -- it's a midget in a fuzzy brown box. And when the mother who answers the door pets the Fuzzy Brownie, she gets brown goo all over her. And then a little girl comes to the door and HUGS the thing and she's covered in brown goo! AAAUGGHHH!! *shudder*

There is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- appetizing about this commercial. What makes the fuzzy brownie fuzzy? Was it left in the refridgerator too long? And why does it expound goo upon being hugged and petted? And why does the fuzzy brownie have legs???

The scariest, eeriest part? Apparently this freaky brown gremlin is named "Fudgems" and you can make him DANCE -- of all things -- on the Domino's website.

We'll file this under: NIGHTMARE FUEL!!!

Romance Cheese Friday

Man, this week went by fast...with me being out Monday and Tuesday, and the offices closing early today. Whoo!

Anyway, here's another cheesy excerpt from a romance novel. Forgive the shotty Photoshop work - my stupid boss' bitch spy kept passing by while I worked on it, and she made the picture completely horrible this week. Yes, I never take blame for anything.

This one's entitled: A Woman of Ecstasy:

As their lips met, he pulled her close and let his mind and his hands wander. His digits roamed over her curvy body, feeling her delicate form, worshipping her every nuance. He felt his body relax in the comfort of being so close to her.

Wait, why's the dude relaxing?? This is no time for sleep, buddy...

Friday's This & That

This is essentially the latest crap that I've been emailed this past week:

Whenever you face an ethical dilemma of major proportions, you should think "WWUJD"? [I'll use the new mantra daily, Lou.]

I could've used this when I was a baby. I was as bald as a ping pong ball. [Thanks for the tip, Tia.]

So it's come to this...now famous caca is on display as art! As Pixie (mother of two) puts it: "I have a couple little choice 'art pieces' to add to their collection if they want." [Hm...no thanks, Pixie!]

And sex in the kitchen gets realy ugly if you don't know what you're doing... [Now I know what that burning sensation is, Charlie.]

New to my Moxi: "It Came from Outer Space" will be Moxied tonight on TCM.