Outta Town

We'll be closed for a week, as I'm going out of town again. Actually, out of the country to our dear neighbor to the north, Canada. See you next week!

In to the Jungle!

With the release of Disney's The Jungle Book to DVD for it's 40th anniversary, AdRants reports that there's a promotional banana circulating grocery stores."While [it] isn't altogether new, the tie in is brilliant. The ad is for Disney's The Jungle Book DVD. Complete with image of a monkey (chimpanzee?), the ad gets points for relevancy." I agree. Brilliant!

Also remember that The Jungle Book features one of our favorite swingin' kings Louis Prima in his best movie role ever!

Gangsta Bert and Ernie

'Scuse the language, it's from Casino.

Beat-boxing Baby

Nothing beats a cute beat-boxing baby!

Friday's This & That

Alrighty, let's see what going on in the world today...

Looks like GQ named their 50 Most Stylish Men in the Past 50 Years... among them is our beloved Steve McQueen...yummy. Also making the list are Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Paul Newman, Tom Brady, Johnny Depp, and Cary Grant. Some I strongly disagree with: Woody Allen, for one! I know style is different than attractive, but gimme a break.

Also...Halloween is coming, and I think Disney is always one of the first to jump on it. Today Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure kickoff the holidays with decorations, food, and events surrounding Halloween. I'm ready for Halloween: I've already got my costume -- then again, I bought it back in February.

I'll be out on Monday coming back from a long weekend in S.F. See you on Tuesday!

Mee-Yow Thursday

The ultimate in cattiness: Rosalind Russell shines as the gossipy Sylvia Prowler-- er, Fowler -- in 1939's "The Women." Now the best scenes have been set to Pink's song "Trouble."

Happy "Talk Like a Pirate" Day!

Ahoy, me hearties! Today be Talk Like a Pirate Day, an' here arrr a few sites t' help ye out:

Learn t' speak like a pirate with this Pirate Translator. Gar!

The Official Website will keep ye abreast o' the latest news an' reports from the brig.

Get yer own Pirate Name with this handy pirate name generator.

This Talk Like a Pirate Day website helps Childhood Cancer Support, Inc., supporting children and families with cancer and leukemia.

Also take time to enjoy the best pirate movies out there: Captain Blood, the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, and Muppet Treasure Island!

Yo-ho-ho!

97 Days 'til Christmas

*hint hint*

Scenes from a Balcony: Scene 5

So last night Dyno and I were taking a drive to the grocery store when we spotted three street-walkin' ladies milling around only a block away from my apartment. What's scary is that since the last time we saw a hooker in my neighborhood, we've been seeing more and more of them around.

It got me really fired up, too. Before I moved to this hot and sticky town in the valley, I used to live in such a nice neighborhood right by the beach. A town where I could walk around at night without running in to a single whore. What has this world come to, that in a semi-decent neighborhood such as mine there are prostitutes??

Well, Dyno saw how fired up I was so he decided to call the police and have those sluts rounded up and taken outta my hood. After searching through the yellow pages and calling 411, we discovered that the only phone number for the local police is the LAPD. Apparently my large city in the valley doesn't have a local police or sheriff's station.

And worse yet, the receptionist taking the call said that due to some heavy gang activity in other parts of L.A., all of the available police were on watch, and that our street-walker problem would be put on a low-priority list.

So what's another way to get rid of neighborhood hookers?

Can't Wait...

...for "How I Met Your Mother" to come back!

Lego Art

My favorite? Han Solo frozen in carbonite, of course.

Sweepea-TV: I Want One!

When I exited the grocery store yesterday, this cute little wagging bundle of fluff was greeting me in the car next to mine. (Don't worry, he was perfectly fine in there...it was rather cool out and there were windows down.) Love the little cute eyes.

Just Because...

80 years of Women in Film

A little MySpace movie showing the transformation of women throughout history. See if you can find our favorites: Norma Shearer, Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford, Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, and Audrey Hepburn (they're all in the beginning).
Women In Film


[Thanks to SorryIGotDrunk]

Get Julie London!

Put the pitchforks and torches away, that's not what I meant! I meant, you can now download many of the wonderful Julie London's songs via the internet (all in .wav form, but iTunes will take 'em!). Check out the plentiful collection at JDHay's Crooners.

You can't beat anything that's free. And you certainly can't beat Julie London for free.

Hey, put the club away --- that's not what I meant by "beat'!

I Want One!

The dog, the pool, the waterslide, a house to hold the pool...

Star Sighting of the Day

Now with more Stalker-Zoom™!For that behind-the-bushes, extra fuzzy look, try Stalker-Zoom™!
And stalk a celeb today!

Joey Lawrence at Yen Sushi in Studio City.

WTF is with Disney and FastPass?

Disney is trying to patent a new innovation to their FastPass program. The technology would allow guests to buy FastPass tickets from outside the park through their PDA or text messaging. It also would give preferential treatment to people in higher-budget Disney resorts versus day visitors.

In addition, the patent application notes that, once someone uses their cell phone or PDA to contact the system, the system could recognize the device and track the person around the park. It sounds like a real-life 'Roller Coaster Tycoon.' Have they ever heard of 'invasion of privacy'?

The initial idea of FastPass was not to alleviate lines as much as to get consumers in to the stores and food lines, increasing profit. That's why there are no longer sit-down restaurants with wait-staff (except for one, The Blue Bayou). Instead of spending money to build more rides (which would also alleviate long ride lines) they converted every sit-down restaurant to a buffet. (Remember the chicken restaurant down Main Street near the entrance to Tomorrowland? And the Polynesian Terrace in Adventureland?) They want you in and out as fast as possible. And people waiting in long ride lines are not spending money.

I hate the FastPass idea anyway because every time I go to Disneyland, there's rude people flaunting the fact that they got a FastPass -- something that any average Joe can get for free. Oddly enough, I've had parents and children alike go "nyah nyah" when they pass me in line, even though I have a FastPass in my pocket to some other ride.

So this "new innovation" is a bad idea; it will just magnify this hierarchal feeling FastPass-users get. All in all, it seems to discriminate against people who are less financially successful. Can you imagine how bad this condescending attitude is going to get when people staying at the higher-budget hotels are getting preferential treatment?

Walt Disney wanted the park to be for everyone: it was the all-American, family experience. But that's not how it is anymore. Not it's all about the almighty buck. Even the price in tickets has increased to an astounding amount. (According to Wikipedia, in 1982 the admission price was $12.00. In September 2006 it became $63.00.)

Now we have to pay to get a good place in line? Just doesn't seem right.

Mmm...

It sounded good up to a point...

Take-out menu from Dr. Deli in Van Nuys.

Sweepea-TV: Weekend Re-cap

For Labor Day weekend, Dyno and I took the train from the sweltering heat of Los Angeles to the cool breezes of Santa Barbara. We did a lot of walking around town, and a lot of dining. For breakfast we went to Sambo's, a great breakfast joint that -- if I remember correctly -- promised the World's Largest Mimosa. Well, Dyno and I ordered 'em up, but were a bit disappointed by the size of the mimosa. Using the pepper shaker for perspective, you can see why our expectations fell a bit short.
We also did some wine tasting at some of the local wineries, the best being Kalyra.
Needless to say when it was time to head back to the train I was already tipsy. And because we sat in business class, we then got complimentary cocktails!

What's the train equivalent of "booze cruise"?