Paris 2010

Paris 2010
Garden at Versailles

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Let Hong Kong Whisk You Away

Hong Kong is one of my favorite places in the world to visit.  Since my husband, Jackson, is from there I have been three times.  My first visit was in 1980, the year we got married, then back again in 1996.  That time we also went to China (the Great Wall was the highlight of that trip) on a tour.  Then for our 25th anniversary, we went again and stayed in a five-star hotel called The Kowloon Shangri-La. Here's their website -
http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/hongkong/kowloonshangrila

I don't have any of our photos from these trips loaded on this computer yet or I would post some.  Here is a good recent article about Hong Kong -

http://www.imakenews.com/bmwnorthwest/e_article001938350.cfm?x=bhTdm2W,bgvtDlQK

Hong Kong reminds me of London in many ways.  But it is truly unique and a one of a kind destination!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Beautiful Photos

Here are some gorgeous photos my mother emailed to me today -












Next books...

I picked up two books at the library today.  I'm reading The Liars' Club, a memoir by Mary Karr with my online reading group friends.  It's been on my list for a long time.  

I also got the new book from The Daily Show With Jon Stewart called Earth (the book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race.  It's sure to be entertaining -

The eagerly awaited new book from the Emmy-winning, Oscar-hosting, Daily Show-anchoring Jon Stewart--the man behind the megaseller America (The Book).  Where do we come from? Who created us? Why are we here? These questions have puzzled us since the dawn of time, but when it became apparent to Jon Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show that the world was about to end, they embarked on a massive mission to write a book that summed up the human race: What we looked like; what we accomplished; our achievements in society, government, religion, science and culture -- all in a tome of approximately 304 pages with lots of color photos, graphs and charts.

I'll let you know what I think once I've gotten into these books.  And may I just add - Libraries are to be cherished!!  I love mine!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

A British Christmas

I was just thinking about our trip to London and wishing we could be there for Christmas.  Wouldn't that be a fun place to spend the holidays?  I hear they have a ton of snow right now though. 

Westminster Abbey
It's exciting that there will be a royal wedding next year when Prince William gets married at Westminster Abbey.  We spent quite a bit of time looking around there and it's just as beautiful as you would imagine. 

Pop Culture's All-Star One-Man Band

According to the Dallas Morning News, "Jon Hamm didn't just lead the reigning best-show-on-television, Mad Men, through its best season. He also continued his cameo-comic greatness on 30 Rock and he hosted Saturday Night Live twice. Not to mention his great performance in The Town.  His greatest feat: being that smart, funny, handsome, talented, successful and yet you still can't bring yourself to hate him."

Jon comes across as such a genuinely nice guy in the interviews I've seen him give.  I can't wait to see what he does next!

Here's a roundup of some more Mad Men news for all you Maddicts out there -

http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2010/12/press-roundup-1224.php

"Are you crying? There's no crying! There's no crying in baseball!"

That memorable quote was from manager Jimmy Dugan (played by the always wonderful Tom Hanks) to Evelyn, one of the Georgia Peaches, in the classic 1992 film A League of Their Own.  By the way, Evelyn is played by Bitty Schram who starred as Sharona, Monk's first assistant on the USA show Monk.  It was fun to see her playing a different role.  Anyway, the movie is a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girl's Professional Baseball Team which started in 1943. 

This wonderful movie was directed by Penny Marshall and stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell.  Madonna really did a great job and the movie was perfectly cast.  It's touching, funny, moving and entertaining and if you haven't seen it, you really shouldn't miss it!

You Light Up My Life

Debbie Boone was on Oprah recently and she sang her huge hit song You Light Up My Life.  The song was written for the 1977 movie of the same name.  It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.  When she sang the song on Oprah, it brought tears to my eyes and it sounds better than ever.  Debbie looks great too!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

What if the first Christmas was this year?

My friend Sue sent me this today and it's so clever I am posting it here -



Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 20, 2010

River

Robert Downey Jr. is one of my favorite actors.  I really enjoyed him on Ally McBeal, one of my favorite shows from the 90's.  Anyway, did you know he could sing?  This video from Ally is about his character wishing he could be with his son on Christmas.  The song is called River and was originally sung by Joni Mitchell.  I love this version -

Friday, December 17, 2010

68th Golden Globes

The Golden Globes are generally more fun to watch than the Oscars.  Maybe it's because they give awards to both movies and TV shows.  Ricky Gervais is set to host again this year and he's really funny.

Here are the television nominations and my picks for the winners -

Best Television Series Drama

Boardwalk
The Good Wife
Dexter
The Good Wife
The Walking Dead
Mad Men - there is no doubt in my mind that Mad Men should win!

Best Performance by an Actor in a Drama

Steve Buscemi - Boardwalk Empire
Brian Cranston - Breaking Bad
Hugh Laurie - House
Michael C. Hall - Dexter
Jon Hamm - while I'm a big fan of Michael C. Hall, Jon Hamm deserves it more!

Best Performance by an Actress in a Drama

Juliana Margulies - The Good Wife
Piper Perabo - Covert Affairs
Katey Sagal - Son's of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer
Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men - these two are my favorites but Elisabeth was really outstanding so I'd vote for her

Best Television Series Comedy

30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
The Big C
Glee
Nurse Jackie
Modern Family - 30 Rock wins a lot, Nurse Jackie is great but not really a comedy

That's all the time I have for right now.  The Golden Globes will air on Sunday, January 16th on NBC.  Here's the official website - http://www.goldenglobes.org/

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The Town

I finally went to the theater to see The Town, a crime drama starring, co-written and directed by Ben Affleck.  I had heard great reviews of the movie but I must admit that I was especially motivated to see it on the big screen because Jon Hamm is in it! 

Ben Affleck plays Doug MacRay, the leader of a Boston gang of bank robbers.  They are actually from Charlestown, a tough Boston neighborhood where over 300 bank robberies occur every year.  Jon Hamm plays the lead FBI agent who pursues the team of criminals. 

Doug finds himself falling in love with the bank manager (played by Rebecca Hall) who was briefly taken hostage by the gang in their first heist in the movie.  She helps Doug realize that he wants out of this life of crime and out of town.

Jon Hamm does a great job with his supporting role and I hope this performance leads to many more movies for him.  I'm really impressed with Ben Affleck's direction and performance in this movie.  He was in virtually every scene and the movie is really well done.  The DVD will be out soon.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Next book...

I just picked up a book from the library today.  It's called Keep the Change by Steve Dublanica.  On the cover it says A Clueless Tipper's Quest to Become the Guru of the Gratuity.  I read Dublanica's first book called Waiter Rant last year and really enjoyed it.  Waiter Rant was about Steve's experiences working as a waiter in an upscale restaurant outside New York City.  It reminded me of Anthony Bourdain's bestseller Kitchen Confidential except it's about the waiter's experiences rather than the chef's. 

Here is the description of Keep the Change from Goodreads:

In America, tipping is (usually) avoidable, but not thinking about voluntary gratuities is completely impossible. Every day, we are confronted with awkward decisions about who to tip, how much to pay for different services, and even how to share our loot. There is no doubt that we succumb: Each year, we Americans spend $66 billion on tips, but as Waiter Rant author and blog keeper Steve Dublanica knows from hard experience, tipping behavior ranges widely from patron to patron and from profession to profession. To test the waters, or more specifically the outstretched palms, Dublanica traveled the continent, inquiring about handout habits everywhere he went. The venues fit almost every description; from working class bars and family restaurants to barbershops, beauty salons, public bathrooms and strip clubs. A fascinating book about a much-discussed topic that touches us all.

I hope I enjoy Keep the Change as much as Waiter Rant.  I may end up thinking twice the next time I have to leave a tip!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

A Christmas Story

One of my favorite Christmas movies is the classic family film A Christmas Story from 1983.  The story takes place in Indiana in the 1940's and revolves around nine-year-old Ralphie Parker and his little brother Randy and their parents.  Ralphie's only wish for Christmas is to receive an official Red Ryder air rifle (BB gun) but is constantly told, "You'll put your eye out!"   

The film was written by Jean Shepherd based on his book In God we Trust, all others Pay Cash and the movie perfectly captured all the fun of a family Christmas.  Jean Shepherd narrates the movie from the perspective of the adult Ralphie.  Peter Billingsley is wonderful and adorable as Ralphie and Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillion are so great as the parents.  By the way, Peter Billingsley plays an elf in the movie Elf.

This is one Christmas movie I never get tired of seeing.  If by some chance you haven't seen it, TBS runs a marathon of the movie every Christmas Eve. There is now a stage play of the movie called A Christmas Story: The Musical.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Songs from Elf

One of my favorite Christmas movies is Elf starring Will Ferrell in the charming role of Buddy the Elf who grew up at the North Pole.  His adopted elf father (Bob Newhart) tells him that his real father is Walter Hobbs (James Caan) who lives in New York with his wife and son.  Buddy finds his father and meets a great girl named Jovie played by Zooey Deschanel.  This fun, heartwarming movie from 2003 is sure to be a Christmas classic.

Here is a clip from the movie with Jovie and Buddy singing Baby, it's Cold Outside.

Some Good Quotes

"A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you."
— Elbert Hubbard
 
 
"That which does not kill us makes us stronger."
— Friedrich Nietzsche
 
 
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
— Oscar Wilde
 
 
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."
— Groucho Marx (The Essential Groucho)
 
 
"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."
— Charles M. Schulz

Monday, December 6, 2010

You're Still You

You're Still You is one of my favorite songs by Josh Groban.  I remember him singing this song on an episode of Ally McBeal.  I really liked Ally McBeal which was a quirky comedy/drama from David E. Kelley.  Every season is on DVD.

Here's Josh Groban singing the beautiful song You're Still You -

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Stephen King's Best Movies of 2010

Here are author Stephen King's picks for the best films this year -

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20446799,00.html?xid=email-top25-today-Stephen+King%3A+Top+10+films+of+%2710

I have to admit I haven't seen any of these yet.  The Town and The Social Network are the two at the top of my list.

Quote of the Day

"The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope."

— Barack Obama




Men of a Certain Age

Tomorrow, December 6th is the second season premier of the TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age.  The show stars Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula as three best friends approaching age 50.  The three life-long friends, Joe, Owen and Terry deal with their own challenges. Joe (Ray Romano) is separated with two kids who wanted to be a pro golfer but now owns a party supply store and has a gambling problem.  Owen (Andre Braugher) is a married father of three dealing with diabetes who works for his father at a car dealership.  Terry (Scott Bakula) is a single, struggling actor working temp jobs and dating much younger women.

Men of a Certain Age is unique in dealing with the problems of men friends of this age group.  I enjoyed the first season last year and I'm glad it's coming back again.  The show follows The Closer, the award winning crime drama set in Los Angeles starring Kyra Sedgwick which is a great show.  It's one of the shows Jackson and I always watch together.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Quote of the Day

Today's quote from Robert Browning is a favorite of mine -

The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-sides dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in his Heaven;
All's right with the world!

More Puns

The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Comference.
He acquired his size from too much pi.


I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.


She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.


A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.


No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.


A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.


A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.


Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.


A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.


Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'


I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.


A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab centre said: 'Keep off the Grass.'


The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.


A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.'


Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.


Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.












The 10 Most Over-Used Movie Catchphrases

According to http://www.moviefone.com/ these are the most over-used movie catchphrases.  See if you agree!

http://blog.moviefone.com/2010/04/08/most-over-used-movie-catchphrases/
 

Monday, November 29, 2010

Oh, Girl

I've always liked the song Oh, Girl by the soul group the Chi-Lites from the 70's.  There are quite a few videos of this song but I like this one the best -

Sunday, November 28, 2010

London facts

I bought a bookmark in London with some facts about the city.  Here are some of them -

London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom.  London is the most populous city in the European Union with a population of 7.5 million and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million.  Its population is very cosmopolitan, drawing from a wide range of peoples, cultures and religions speaking over 300 different languages.  People born in London or who wish to associate themselves with London refer to themselves as Londoners.

London is a major tourist destination, with iconic landmarks including the Houses of Parliament with Big Ben, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and St.Paul's Cathedral among its many attractions.  We visited all of those places on our trip. 

London has 3,800 pubs, 233 nightclubs and 6,128 licensed restaurants that include menus from more than 50 major country cuisines.  The city has over 40,000 shops and 80 individual markets.  There are almost 21,000 licensed taxis in London named "Black Cabs."


Prince Albert  Memorial, Hyde Park

Friday, November 26, 2010

Que Sera Sera

The song for today is Que Sera Sera sung by Doris Day and was featured in the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock classic The Man Who Knew Too Much.  This suspense film stars Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day.  Que Sera Sera means Whatever will be, Will be and won the Academy Award for Best Song. 

Doris Day was in a ton of movies but I think Pillow Talk with Rock Hudson and Tony Randall is my favorite.  She is 88 years old now.

Here is Que Sera Sera -

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Fun Puns

Here are some clever puns -

Those who jump off a bridge in Paris are in Seine.


A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.

Dijon vu - the same mustard as before.


Practice safe eating - always use condiments.


Shotgun wedding - A case of wife or death.


A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.


A hangover is the wrath of grapes.


Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.


Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?


Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.


Reading while sunbathing makes you well red.


When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.


A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two tired.


What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead give away.)


Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.


In democracy your vote counts. In feudalism your count votes.


She was engaged to a boyfriend with a wooden leg but broke it off.


A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.


If you don't pay your exorcist, you get repossessed.


With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.


The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.


You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.


Local Area Network in Australia - the LAN down under.


Every calendar's days are numbered.


A lot of money is tainted - Taint yours and taint mine.


A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.


He had a photographic memory that was never developed.


A midget fortune-teller who escapes from prison is a small medium at large.


Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.


Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis.


Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.


Acupuncture is a jab well done.
 

Son of a Preacher Man

Here is another good song from the soundtrack of Pulp Fiction.  Son of a Preacher Man is sung by Dusty Springfield.

Winter has arrived

The Seattle area was hit with our first snowstorm of the winter yesterday.  The snow and cold was not the worst part though.  At around 7:00 last night, we lost electricity probably due to high winds.  I was just about to cook dinner so we had to go to bed without dinner.  We sat in the dark and read by candlelight until it was time to go to bed.  I think the power came back on around midnight.  I think it's going to be a bad winter around here this year!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Quote of the Day

Today's quote is from Woody Allen -

"I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens."

I'm a big fan of Woody Allen.  My favorite movie of his is the classic comedy Annie Hall from 1977.  It is one of the few comedies to have won the Academy Award for Best Picture.  Woody also received the Oscar for Best Director and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.  Diane Keaton won the Best Actress Oscar for her wonderful performance.  Evidently Woody wrote the part of Annie for Diane.  Her real name is Diane Hall.

Another favorite Woody Allen movie is the lesser known film Love and Death from 1975.  It's a satirical take on Russian epic novels.  I remember seeing it in the theater when I was in high school and recently watched it on DVD.  It's really funny and unique.  Here is a funny quote from the film -

"To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be happy one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness."

I recommend both Annie Hall and Love and Death highly if you haven't seen them.


Sexiest Man Alive update

I just noticed that Jon Hamm is included in People magazine's Sexiest Man issue even though he didn't make the cover.  At 39, he is included with the Sexy Men at Every Age group.  They refer to him as "swoon-worthy" and a one woman kind of guy.  They say that Jon Hamm is one of the hot guys who prove that sex appeal is ageless.  Maybe they'll put him on the cover next year!

Book talk

I'm reading two books right now and they are both good.  I'm glad since I didn't enjoy the last book I read at all.  The first one is called Case Histories by Kate Atkinson.  It's one in a series of books with a private investigator called Jackson Brodie.  This is the first in the series and I have already read the third one.  It's called When Will There be Good News.  I actually read it last year and really liked it.  When I bought Case Histories I thought the Jackson Brodie character sounded familiar but I didn't make the connection until someone at Goodreads mentioned that it was one of a series.  One Good Turn is the second book in the series and I plan to read it as well.  Anyway, Case Histories is set in Cambridge and there are three mystery cases from the past that Jackson Brodie is hired to investigate.  I'm about halfway through the book and it's very well written.

The other book I'm reading is called Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes written by Elizabeth Bard.  It's a memoir of her experiences living in Paris.  She had gone to Paris for a weekend visit and met a Frenchman who she ended up marrying and then moved to Paris to live with him.  There are recipes at the end of each chapter as she falls in love with French cuisine.  It reminds me of all the good food we had during our visit to Paris.  The croissants there are so delicious and much flakier and better than any you can find here.  I usually enjoy memoirs and this one is no exception.

When I started to read Lunch in Paris I used the bookmark I bought in the famous Paris bookstore called Shakespeare and Company.  This was a place on my list of must-visit attractions while in Paris.  Shakespeare and Company was opened in 1951 and is located on the Left Bank opposite Notre-Dame Cathedral in the Latin Quarter.  It's not a big store but is crowded with books and has hardwood floors and lots of charm.  On the bookmark it says they have a reading every week, a festival every two years and the bookshop is open all year round.  It has a neat website - http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/index.php where you can sign up for a newsletter and see which authors will be appearing for book signings.  On the website it says "Be Not Inhospitable to Strangers Lest they be Angels in Disguise."

I spent quite a lot of time browsing in the store (they have new and used books) but I didn't buy anything.  I was looking for a copy of the classic book The Bell Jar by Sylvia Path but they told me they were out of it at the time.  It's a book that's been on my list for a long time.  I'm sure I can get it from the library.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Amsterdam canals and bridges

Here are some photos of the Amsterdam canals and bridges.  Jackson liked to stop and watch them.







Friday, November 19, 2010

Quote of the Day

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.

- Ferris Bueller's Day Off

One of my favorite John Hughes movies by the way.  Planes, Trains and Automobiles is my other favorite of his.  Sad that he passed away so young and John Candy died too young as well.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Quote of the Day

Women love a self-confident bald man. Anyone can be confident with a full head of hair. But a confident bald man -- there's your diamond in the rough.
- Larry David

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Fabulous Baker Boys

One of my favorite movies is The Fabulous Baker Boys from 1989.  This movie stars real life brothers Beau and Jeff Bridges as two struggling brothers who are longtime lounge jazz pianists in Seattle.  To improve their act they hire a gorgeous singer played by Michelle Pfeiffer in the role that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.  In addition to being a great actress, Michelle can really sing!  She plays Susie Diamond, a former escort who shakes up the Baker boys dull career.  The movie is filmed on location in Seattle which is another big plus.

Here is Michelle singing More Than You Know, which was her audition song in the movie -



You've probably heard her sexy rendition of Makin' Whoopee on New Year's Eve -

Quote of the Day

Here is a cute quote from actor James Garner -

Marriage is like the Army; everyone complains, but you'd be surprised at the large number of people who re-enlist.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Sexiest Man Alive 2010

On Wednesday, November 17, Kim Kardashian will host 25 Years of Sexy: People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive on ABC.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, my choice would be Jon Hamm.  According to online gossips blogs, he is the number one choice!  It sounds like a fun special and I'll be tuning in to see if Jon Hamm gets the honor this year!  He will, if there's any justice!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

O Brother, Where Art Thou is an underrated Coen brothers movie from 2004.  It stars George Clooney and is a modern satire loosely based on Homer's Odyssey.  Here is a clip from the movie with the cast singing the song "Man of Constant Sorrow" (dubbed into the movie by the bluegrass band The Foggy Mountain Boys.)  In the movie, the group comprised of the three main characters, is called The Soggy Bottom Boys.

Turkey day

This is a really cute video that my friend Sue sent me for Thanksgiving -

Friday, November 12, 2010

Another lovely song

The Darling family, composed of musically-inclined hillbillies, appeared occasionally on The Andy Griffith Show.  The Darling boys were played by a bluegrass group called The Dillards.  Here is a pretty song they did with Charlene Darling (played by Maggie Peterson), the daughter of the family.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Rumpole of the Bailey

You may have heard of the British TV series Rumpole of the Bailey starring Leo McKern.  It's about a British barrister from London who defends all manner of clients and never pleads guilty.  Rumpole is such a fun and interesting character that a series of books followed the show which was created by John Mortimer, who was an actual barrister.  I haven't read any of the books yet but we did enjoy the first season of the TV series which takes place from 1978 and 1992.  Leo McKern is a great actor and Horace Rumpole is a fun character. He refers to himself as "the Old Bailey hack."  In the show Rumpole always refers to his wife as "She Who Must be Obeyed"!

The Old Bailey is the name of the the Central Criminal Court of England which is located in London.  It's called the Old Bailey because of the street on which it stands.  The public is allowed in to observe the trials which can be major criminal cases.  The judges still wear those powered wigs as shown in the Rumpole series. 

When we were in London we thought we would go to the Old Bailey to see if there were any interesting trials going on.  It took us awhile to find the place and when we arrived it was almost time for lunch so they said we should come back.  We didn't have a chance to do that but I did have my picture taken in front of the Old Bailey.

The Old Bailey

Monday, November 8, 2010

Visit to Versailles

We took a day trip to the palace of Versailles by train.  The town of Versailles is a half hour southwest of Paris.  Rick Steves' guidebook had the warning, "Assume pickpockets are working the tourist crowds."  Of course we did not expect to have personal experience with this but we did.  After we got off the train, we had to go through the turnstiles.  I guess we thought we needed to put the ticket in to get through but we had some trouble.  Soon a couple of people tried to help us.  While they were distracting me, one of them had managed to unzip my bag that Jackson was holding.  He felt some tugging and saw that the bag was unzipped but they did not have the chance to actually remove anything.  At first we thought they got our camera but everything was still there.  It was a shocking thing to have happened but it could have been worse.  Needless to say, I was careful with the way I held my bag for the rest of the trip. 

We had to stand in line for quite awhile before we got into the palace.  There was a guy behind us who read a guidebook to his friend in Italian the whole time.  It was a nice sunny day though.  It is quite a beautiful palace and the gardens are just gorgeous.  I have already posted quite a few pictures but here are some more.















The song for today is...

Nobody Knows it But Me by Babyface.  This is a nice video to go with this beautiful, melancholy song -

Sunday, November 7, 2010

More Music

I didn't intend to have so many music videos on this blog but it's been fun to look for my favorites on YouTube.  Here is my favorite Tina Turner song (we have this one on her concert DVD Live from Amsterdam).  Enjoy!

I'll Be There

This is a beautiful version of the Michael Jackson song I'll Be There sung by Mariah Carey -

I started reading...

I just picked up Star Island, the latest novel by Carl Hiaasen.  This is the first book I've read by the Florida based author.  It's about a twenty-two-year-old troubled pop singer known as Cherry Pye, who is heading for rehab again.  The singer has a double named Ann DeLusia whose main job is to distract the paparazzi hot on Cherry's trail.  I'm not very far into it so I'm not sure how I feel about it.  I'll post an update when I'm farther into the story.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Don Draper Says "What?"

This is for all you Mad Men fans out there!  This clip from YouTube is hilarious if you watch the show!  I never realized how much Don says, "What?"  I bet Jon Hamm and gang from Mad Men would get a kick out of this!

Doing the twist at Jack Rabbit Slim's

One of my favorite John Travolta films is Pulp Fiction.  This crime drama from 1994 garnered John his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of hitman Vincent Vega.  His first nomination was for his leading role in another favorite of mine - Saturday Night Fever from back in 1977.  Director Quentin Tarantino is credited with reviving Travolta's stalled career by casting him in this role. 

Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson were also nominated for Oscars.  The movie was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.  It received the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.  I love the rich, unique dialogue in the film and it's mixture of humor and violence.  We have Pulp Fiction in our DVD collection and I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it. 

John Travolta gets to show off his considerable dancing skills in this movie.  Here is his famous dance scene with Uma Thurman -

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Roseanne

Another one of my favorite shows is Roseanne starring Roseanne, John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf.  This classic show ran from 1988 to 1997 and can now be seen on TV Land.  Here is a clip from one of my favorite episodes from the first season called "Death and Stuff".  It's the one where Roseanne lets a tired door to door salesman in the house for a glass of water and he dies in the kitchen.

Lovely song

Michael Bolton was recently a contestant on Dancing with the Stars and didn't do very well.  But he remains a great singer.  One my favorite songs of his is "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" -



This beautiful song was originally recorded by Laura Branigan and her version is great as well -



Sadly, Laura died in 2004 of a brain aneurysm.  I also loved her song "Gloria", which was featured in the 1983 film Flashdance, a favorite movie of mine.

Monday, November 1, 2010

What I'm reading...

I just started a good book called Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So.  This is a memoir by Mark Vonnegut, the famous author Kurt Vonnegut's son.  The book details his experience dealing with mental health issues, namely bipolar disorder.  He is now a successful pediatrician with three children.

It's kept my interest so far.  I'm a big fan of memoirs as I think one can learn something from every one's life stories.

Mad about Don Draper

In my continuing quest to encourage everyone to watch Mad Men, I offer this clip -



Here is a hilarious bit spoofing Don Draper that Jon Hamm did the first time he hosted Saturday Night Live -

Spirit in the Sky

The song Spirit in the Sky was sung by Norman Greenbaum and released in 1969.  I like the lyrics and I think this is a nice video.

I was reminded of this song when it played at the end of the movie Sunshine Cleaning, a movie from 2008 starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin.  It's about two sisters who start a crime scene clean-up business.  It's a good movie worth checking out.


Sunday, October 31, 2010

My viewers

This blog keeps track of how many people view my blog and what countries they are from.  Most of the people come from the United States but people from the following countries have also taken a look -

France, Canada, United Kingdom, Lithuania, S. Korea, Iraq, Spain, Brazil, S. Africa, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Cyprus. 

Interesting, right?  I wonder how they happened to find me?  Welcome one and all!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Paris Museums

One of the best museums we visited in Paris was the Musee d'Orsay (Museum d'Orsay).  This museum is in a beautiful former train station in the heart of Paris along the Seine.  The museum itself is a work of art.  The museum houses the largest collection of Impressionist art in Europe, featuring artists such as Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh and Cezanne.  I love Impressionist art.  You will also see works from such artists as Gauguin, Seurat and Toulouse-Lautrec.  The famous painting Portrait of the Artist's Mother (Whistler's Mother) is also at the d'Orsay but I don't remember seeing it.

Another favorite museum in Paris is the Musee de l'Orangerie which houses Monet's Water Lilies on eight hugh curved panels in four rooms.  The water lilies are in the pond at Monet's famous garden in Giverney.










Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The Wonder Years

The classic TV show The Wonder Years is another great family show that ran from 1988 to 1993.  The show was told from the point of view of 12 year old Kevin Arnold played by Fred Savage.  The Wonder Years is known for the voice-over narration of the adult Kevin by actor Daniel Stern.  I was a regular viewer of this show and I remember it fondly.  Here is the opening theme by Joe Cocker -

Beautiful song

This is my favorite Celine Dion song.  I love the words...

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Random trip memories

Here are some memories of our European vacation that I don't think I've mentioned (excuse me if I have!)

Hotels generally don't look as good in person as they do on their websites.  Although our hotel in London came close.  It's called The Park City Hotel and is located in the royal Kensington and Chelsea district of London.  Here's their website:
http://www.theparkcity.com/

Our hotel in Paris was recommended in Rick Steves' guidebook but it failed to impress.  The room was so small it barely contained a bed and little table.  But the good thing about it was that we could see the top half of the Eiffel Tower from the bathroom!  The elevator was really tiny too.  It was only big enough for the two of us and after riding in it once, I opted to take the stairs.  They did have a laptop in the lobby that was free.

Our hotel in Bruges was good.  It's called The Walwyck Hotel Brugge.  They had a huge bell you could ring at the front desk (one of those bells a teacher has on her desk).  We forgot to take a picture of it but they gave us a postcard of the bell.  The innkeepers were very friendly and gave us good restaurant recommendations.  They had a flat screen TV in the room that we watched Enemy of the State on and enjoyed the commercials.  The floors were quite squeaky though. 

We stayed at a nice B&B in Amsterdam called Tulips.  The owners, Karen and Paul, were very nice.  I had told them it was our 30th anniversary so they had a small bottle of champagne in a silver bucket and a napkin with champagne glasses on it.  They included a note that said Many Congratulations! From Paul and Karen.  They also had a bottle of cherry liqueur on the table with 2 little glasses and they put chocolates on our pillows at night.  We had great bagels at a place called Bagels and Beans.

Here is a photo of me outside the B&B -



The museums were great in every city but the ones in London were excellent and free except for special shows like the Grace Kelly one I wrote about earlier.  The Louvre was beautiful but it was extremely overcrowded, hot and noisy.  It was hard to see the Mona Lisa with the huge crowd in the room and the painting is behind glass.

Lots of people ride motorcycles in Paris.  Nobody wore helmets while riding their bikes in Amsterdam.  The tram system is great in Amsterdam.  We saw some guys break dancing in Amsterdam which drew a big crowd.

Well, I have to stop for now.  I'll write more memories later.  Oh, while I'm thinking of it, actor Jeremy Irons does the narration on the headphones for the Westminster Abbey tour and he says, "God bless you," at the end in that deep wonderful voice of his!

Doors to the Westminster Abbey

All Through The Night

You may have noticed that The Sopranos is on my favorite TV shows list.  It is truly a brilliant show.  Here is a clip from the ending of Season 3 where Soprano daughter Meadow and her friend Hunter sing a solo with their school choir -



By the way, edited reruns can be seen on A & E.  I recommend seeing it uncut on DVD though.

Build Me Up Buttercup

Since I lost the video of the movie Something About Mary with this song, I found another one showing the group that recorded the it, The Foundations -

Monday, October 25, 2010

Family Ties

See if you remember this lovely theme song -



Family Ties was a great family show that ran from 1982 to 1989 and made a huge star of Michael J. Fox.  It's such a cute show with former-hippie parents Elyse and Steven Keaton, their young Republican son Alex and sisters Mallory and Jennifer.  They just don't make shows like this anymore!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Up Where We Belong

I mentioned in an earlier post that one of my favorite movies is An Officer and a Gentleman starring Richard Gere from 1982.  This great movie is about Zack Mayo (Gere) who tries to put his life on a better path by joining the Navy as an Officer's candidate.  He faces many challenges including dealing with a tough Drill Instructor played by Louis Gossett, Jr. in his Academy Awarding winning role for Best Supporting Actor.  One of their best and most moving scenes is when Sgt. Foley is trying to get Zack to quit but Zack won't give up and finally tells Foley that he has nowhere else to go and he has nothing else in his life.

Zack meets a factory worker named Paula played by Debra Winger at a dance hosted by the Navy.  She becomes very important to him and his life changes as a result of knowing her.  Their love scenes and onscreen chemistry is beautiful and they are a great couple in spite of the fact that Debra and Richard reportedly didn't get along very well. 

I still get choked up every time I see Zack come into the factory where Paula works and sweeps her off her feet in the end.  It is a shame that Richard Gere didn't at least get an Oscar nomination because I think it's his best work.  David Keith also gives a memorable performance as Zack's best friend Sid.  David Caruso has a small part as well.  There is much more to the story but I don't want to give anything away.  Do yourself a favor and watch this movie if you haven't seen it yet!  I own the DVD and it has an insightful director's commentary by Taylor Hackford plus other special features.

Here is a video with scenes from the movie and the beautiful theme song by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes called "Up Where We Belong".



The movie was filmed on location at Fort Worden and Port Townsend, WA.  We have been there twice and the second time we stayed at The Tides Inn where the characters stayed.  The room used for the film has a plaque outside stating that this was the room used for the love scenes.  We didn't stay there but we got the key so we could look inside.  It looked much smaller than in the movie.  We also went to Fort Worden.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Another oldie but goodie

This song by Edison Lighthouse called Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes, is in the soundtrack of the movie Shallow Hal starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black.  Another fun movie to check out if you missed it!

Build Me Up Buttercup

I'm in a musical mood tonight.  Here's a random song that came to mind.  It's by a group called The Foundations and it was featured in the hilarious movie called There's Something About Mary from 1998.  Here's the video and I hope you enjoy it!

Hero

I'm feeling a little blue today.  I remembered this song and it made me feel better...

Thursday, October 21, 2010

New window on the world

We are having some remodeling done this week.  We have to replace the siding in the back of the house so we thought it would be a good time to get new windows and French doors installed too.  The work started yesterday and three of the windows are in place.  They look great so far.  There are always little unforeseen problems that occur but I'm sure they will all be ironed out in the end.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

We lost another great TV parent

Tom Bosley, best known as Richie Cunningham's father on Happy Days, died yesterday at the age of 83.  Howard Cunningham (or Mr. C. as Richie's friends called him) was one of the all-time great TV dads but he was especially lovable. 

It's sad to lose great actors but at least they will live on forever on television and in the hearts of all the fans who love them. 

Monday, October 18, 2010

Goodbye Mrs. Cleaver

You have probably heard that the lovely actress Barbara Billingsley died at the age of 94.  She is of course most well known as June Cleaver, the mother of Beaver and Wally Cleaver on the classic family show from the 60's called Leave it to Beaver.  I remember her always wearing a dress and pearls and dealing with all the mishaps her boys went through.

I also think of her in the 1980 classic comedy movie Airplane where she helps the stewardess who doesn't speak jive!



That is priceless!  Rest in peace Barbara Billingsley.

Friday, October 15, 2010

I forgot one!

I cannot believe I forgot to put Monk in my Top Ten Favorite TV Show List!  I think it should be number 2.  What was I thinking?  I just adore Monk!

My Top Ten Favorite TV Shows

Here is the list of my all-time favorite shows:

1)  Seinfeld

2)  Mad Men

3)  The Sopranos

4)  Cheers

5)  Moonlighting

6)  Bewitched

7)  Sex and the City

8)  The Mary Tyler Moore Show

9)  The Andy Griffith Show

10) All in the Family

It's hard to stop at ten since there are many more shows I enjoy.  But I will never get tired of watching any of these!

Here is the wonderful theme song for Moonlighting sung by Al Jarreau -

Garden

Garden
Versailles

The Louvre

The Louvre
Paris

Paris

Paris
The Seine

Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe
Paris

Paris in May

Paris in May
Paris

The Louvre

The Louvre
Paris

Chihuly glass sculpture

Chihuly glass sculpture
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Monet's Water Lilies

Monet's Water Lilies
Orangerie Museum, Paris

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey
London

Bruges

Bruges
View from our hotel window

Amsterdam

Amsterdam
canal

Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe
Paris

Lilacs in London

Lilacs in London
St. Paul's Cathedral

The Royal Guard

The Royal Guard
London

Music man

Music man
Bruges

Joy at the Palace

Joy at the Palace
London

Guard

Guard
Tower of London

Jackson in Bruges

Jackson in Bruges
Belgium

Canal bridge

Canal bridge
Amsterdam

Houseboat

Houseboat
Amsterdam

British police

British police
London

Oscar Wilde's Grave

Oscar Wilde's Grave
Paris

Rhododendrons in the park

Rhododendrons in the park
Amsterdam

Versailles

Versailles
Joy in the palace

Winter scene

Winter scene
wow!

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year
dragon

Sweet peas

Sweet peas
love 'em

Pretty bouquet

Pretty bouquet

Princess Diana Fountain

Princess Diana Fountain
Hyde Park

Gardens

Gardens
Versailles

End of summer daisies

End of summer daisies
Our yard

Cool art

Cool art
Tate Modern, London

Penguin party

Penguin party
penguins

Pretty kitty

Pretty kitty
My sister's cat

Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm
Is he a great looking guy or what?

Mad about Don

Mad about Don
Mad Men

Love Monk!!

Love Monk!!
Love To Tony

January and Jon

January and Jon
Beautiful people

Jon and January

Jon and January
Mad Men actors

Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa
The Louvre

Royal Crescent

Royal Crescent
Bath

British phone booth

British phone booth
London

Harrod's Department Store

Harrod's Department Store
London

Versailles

Versailles
bedroom

Trafalger Square

Trafalger Square
London

Tower of London

Tower of London
London

Seattle Public Library

Seattle Public Library
Seattle

Lavender

Lavender

Lighthouse

Lighthouse

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas
beautiful

Coffee love

Coffee love
yummy