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.