Thursday, September 30, 2010

Tony Curtis

Bernard Schwartz aka Tony Curtis (1925–2010)

Today the film icon Tony Curtis passed away from cardiac arrest. It makes me sad that we are quickly losing classic Hollywood. If you have never seen one of his films you should try two of my favorites:

Some Like It Hot (1959)
Starring Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon
When two musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.

Operation Petticoat (1959)
Starring Tony Curtis and Cary Grant
World War II comedy about a submarine commander (Grant) who finds himself stuck with a decrepit sub, a con-man executive officer (Curtis) and a group of army nurses.


In 2002 I had the opportunity to see Tony Curtis perform live in a touring production of Some Like It Hot but this time around he was Osgood Fielding III and not the young romantic lead.

Goodbye Tony Curtis, I will miss your beautiful blue eyes.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Book Him Danno

Looking at the new fall line up I was very excited to see that they were bringing back Hawaii Five-0. Of course I was familiar with the classic that starred Jack Lord and James MacArthur (ah, the oldest son from Swiss Family Robinson the main reason I watched the show) so I didn’t know if I was going to like the remake. My verdict- love it. The chemistry between Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan is perfect. Add Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park and you have a great team. Action and humor, you got me hooked. Kudos for keeping the classic theme song.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Roller Derby

Last night AJ, AMM and I went to our very first roller derby. What I knew about the sport was from the film Whip It and one episode of Psych. Maybe because it was flat track and not a rink, but there was less fighting and no hitting the wall (since there was no wall) and a slower pace around the rink than the film makes you believe. In my mind I was hoping for the excitement of hockey. Plus, Sisters of No Mercy (thanks to Ashes to Ashes) pummeled the opposing team Bomber Babes so there was not that tension who is going to win. The uniforms of hot pants on women who should not be wearing hot pants also not a plus. Go girl power, but it is not my kind of sport, though I keep trying to think of a good name to go by if I did skate.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Face Lift

So I took a chance and updated my blog template, color and arrangement all by myself without asking anyone how to do it, just by playing around with it. Little things like that make me happy. So what if they are baby steps, they are my independent baby steps!

Why did I choose the mountain scene? Because there was no John Wayne. Just kidding, it was for the rain droplets. I love rain. I like nothing more than just sit outside on the porch and watch/listen to a thunder storm. I especially love the wind that comes just before the storm. I miss those here.

Making a List, Checking it Twice

I like making lists- things I need to pack, what I need at the store, and most importantly what I need to accomplish that day. In fact I have a yearly list, a monthly list, a weekly list, and a daily list of things to do. Each Sunday I evaluate my monthly list and write out my weekly list gathering all my loose notes that I have written down to do. Then each night I look at my weekly list and break down to what I have to do the next day. I like to be organized-- says the women who can not find her desk at work or does not believe in making beds (really what is the point when you are going to get back in it in just a few hours, besides I do not like my sheets tucked in).

Anyways, if it does not appear on my lists I forget to do it. That is what happened this week at work. I took on an assignment and I forgot to transfer my sticky note to my list. And guess what happens? I totally forgot. I feel like an idiot. In the back of my mind I felt like I was forgetting something but I kept reviewing my lists so I doubted my uneasiness. Then yesterday at work when I was asked about it, it dawned on me what had been nagging me and now it was too late to do anything about it. I felt like I let the team down, let alone me.

So the list system can fail with human error, but nothing is more rewarding than crossing things off that list. I will admit I will add things to the list at the end of the day I did do just so I can cross it off and feel I accomplished something. It helps me feel better when I am transferring items I keep ignoring from one list to the next.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Regional Conference

I like how Regional Conference has become a mini General Conference. It was great today to hear from Elder Snow, Sister Beck, Elder Holland, and President Packer. I learned a lot and enjoyed their talks. I wish they would publish their talks so I can have copies instead of just my notes.

I remember living back east and driving 2-3 hours to an arena to hear a general authority speak. My mother would pack a huge lunch to feed the family and the three sets of missionaries serving in our ward. Then any missionary she ran into she would make sure they had somewhere to eat and if not they would join our tailgate party. Yeah, that just does not happen here.

Utah Shakespeare Festival

Why should you go to the Utah Shakespeare Festival? To see Brian Vaughn and David Ivers. The first time I saw them perform was a few years back when they starred in the two man play Stones in His Pocket with them playing all 15 characters. I thought they did a terrific job. Since then anytime I see that they are going to perform in a play I am attending, I know I am in for a treat and this year was no exception.

The last weekend of August AJ, AMM, JR and I headed to Cedar City to the Shakespeare Festival. Just an FYI there are two Best Westerns in Cedar City (yeah, I went to go check in after waiting in line to find out I was off by a few blocks) and if you miss the overpass to get to the west side of the freeway to go eat at the elusive Café Rio you end up on the freeway heading south to Kanarraville (10 miles south) which is the next time you can turn around to head back in the right direction. So after a rushed dinner at Del Taco (order medium because I can’t even imagination how huge their large portions would be) since I took everyone on an adventure we went to the Friday evening performance of The 39 Steps, a hilarious spoof on Hitchcock films using the plot of 39 steps to deliver it.

Once again it was 4 actors playing about 30 roles it seemed with Brian Vaughn and David Ivers stealing the show once again. The best part was David making Brian forget his line because he was trying so hard not to laugh that he came out and said I forgot my line. The props were part of the spoof – the phone still ringing when it was picked up, the birds falling from the sky, everything was made out of luggage. The train chasing scene with its special effects was amazing. I am so impressed who came up with that. It really looked like Brian was on crawling below the train. I laughed so hard and enjoyed the performance so much, I have to say it ranks as one of my favorites.

After the play we headed to our hotel and slept to the noise of everyone’s toilets flushing. The plumbing was so loud you heard water continually running from all the surrounding rooms. Next morning after breakfast we explored Cedar City. We went to a furniture/jewelry/bookstore. Then we took JR to a Cedar City classic the store that has everything it is a drugstore/sporting goods/computer/jewelry/home décor/kitchenware/nick knack collectible store. JR loved it and said it was worth the trip just to go through four different stores without ever walking outside. Then we headed to a clothing store to shop the high fashions but it really lacked. Then we ate at the Pastry Pub. The food is average but the reason you is to eat the Chocolate Tiger Cake. I do not know what they put in it but it really is heaven on earth. I crave it year long.

Then we saw Much Ado About Nothing which is the second time this summer to see this production (Whole Lotta Fussin’ Over Nothin’ being the other). David once again made the performance for me. I wonder if he is just as funny in real life as he is on stage. Then we hung out around campus in a wind storm and finally gave up and decide to go eat dinner and came back for our final evening performance of Pride and Prejudice.

I could write a blog post just on the book Pride and Prejudice and one day I will but let me just get back to the play. I loved Brian’s performance as Mr. Collins. Ellen Crawford did excellent job as Mrs. Bennett as well. I thought it was funny how Mr. Darcy’s character kept ending up in the time out corner it seemed. After the performance we would have headed to the Pastry Pub for dessert but no, they were closed so no chocolate tiger cake for me.

We drove home and right when I pulled into my driveway at 2:45 am I noticed my car was smoking (really steaming) and I was leaking radiator fluid. Luckily I made it home and we were not stranded in the middle of nowhere on our journey. Until next summer, I will dream about that chocolate tiger cake since there is not a fall performance we are going down to see this year.