Sleepy Saturday

Hello Blogosphere.  Happy Saturday.  9:30am here, just trying to wake up with a cup o' joe.  Have the radio on and the windows open (it's a beautiful day in the TPA), and all that whining I did on Thursday seems unimportant at the moment.  Yes, the house is still a mess.  Who cares.  On the docket today, relaxing until noon, canoeing with Keira and the Girl Scouts 1-3:00.  Early dinner, and the Bucks game at 8.  GO BUCKS!!!

Coupla fun things to share this morning.  You know that saying, "Dance like nobody is watching"?  Well, here's a little lady who is doing just that.  Love it...


Wouldn't it be great if, just for a day, everyone broke out of their 'supposed to' routine and just expressed themselves the way they wanted to?  Okay, it might be a little chaotic and bizarre, but it would definitely be fun :)


Here's another clip from Ellen...she sends her staff through a haunted house every year, and this year it was particularly hilarious.  Here are Amy and Andy at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights...

I love that Andy literally throws Amy in front of himself for protection, and I love him yelling "stop it. stop it."  Soooo funny.

How about a song that I love, okay two?

It's three years old, but I love it...



New in August from Katy Perry and John Mayer, and I also love...




So what's happening in the world this morning?

In very cool (but a bit scary) news via NPR.com, Saudi women are protesting laws that forbid them to drive via a 'drive-in', and are posting videos on YouTube.  Many women are taking to the streets, and thousands of others have signed an online petition, which government and religious officials have spoken out against. Way to go, Ladies.  Can you imagine not being able to drive?  Me either.  I would go bonkers.  The woman in this video is changing the world, one little bit at a time.  To her and her cohorts, I say, rock the fuck on.




In EXTREMELY EXCITING Hollywood news via TMZ.com (but confirmed elsewhere, as TMZ isn't exactly where you want to get your gossip), an Entourage movie IS GOING TO HAPPEN.  This, my friends, makes me very excited.  Almost as excited as I am about the Veronica Mars movie, or the Outlander Series coming to the Starz Network next year, or the Fifty Shades movie...Wow!  I have a lot to look forward to in the next year or so.

As for my favorite Entourage character, and I've watched most episodes at least twice, I'm gonna have to say...it's a toss-up.  Love Adrian Grenier, he's so damn sexy.  Love Jeremy Piven, he's so damn slimy.



Am very excited to see how the storyline develops.  Will they be right where we left them, or three years later in their lives?



On the topic of GO BUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....former Buckeye and Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George sits down with Urban Meyer on Fox College Saturday today to discuss the possibility that his team will go undefeated AGAIN this season and not be playing for the National Championship.  Here's a clip.  LOVE me some Urban...."we may not be as sexy as some of the other teams, but we're winning games".  You go coach!!!



Okay kids, need to sign off for now and get ready for canoeing.  Whatever you are doing today, hope your day is fanfriggingtabulous. xoxo.

Throwback Thursday again...

Was pondering what to pontificate on this afternoon, and I think I'm gonna make it all about me. Haha. Also, am blogging for the first time from the iPad, so we will see how that goes.  Sooooo....what's happening with me?  Well, at the moment I'm feeling UNBELIEVABLY unmotivated, much like a bump on a log.  And in reference to Throwback Thursday, have spent the better part of the morning thinking about Retro Kerry, i.e. the 'old me', before I was old that is :)  Seriously, I can remember a point when the kids were little, when I would run around like a chicken with it's head cut off from sun-up to sundown filling my day with things.  My house was always in perfect order, laundry done, etc... There was barely time to sit down, I had so much to accomplish.  Now, whether it's the pile of laundry that's sitting there staring at me, or the Halloween decorations that never made it out of the box, I'm asking a lot of questions to myself, including "what's the point?" and "why bother?"  Is it really going to make a big difference in someone's life if their laundry isn't done today?  Okay, eventually they will run out of clothes and it will, but really???  What's the bigger picture, here?  What am I missing?

I know I blogged last week about being a stay-at-home mom and how important a job it is.  I believe that with all my heart, and this discussion wasn't meant to take away from that, I just think sometimes that there must be more to this gig than I'm getting.  Like, why don't I wake up with a huge sense of purpose and direction every morning, focused on all that needs to be done around the house and what I can do to be productive?  I just don't see the point, so I let it go.  Now, I can see EVERY good reason to sit down and spend three hours blogging...there's a finished product, even if nobody is reading it.  I made something.  I just don't get that sense of satisfaction in grocery shopping or cleaning the house.  Ya know what I think about when I'm grocery shopping?  "Well, here we go again...I'm gonna buy a ton of food, then they are going to eat it, and then I will be right back here, doing this all over again".  Isn't that terrible.  Rather than be grateful that I can fill my fridge and my kids with healthy food, I'm seeing the whole experience as a waste of time.  Somehow, the key to this must be finding joy in the mundane.  I guess I don't do that very well, I want every day to be a trip to Busch Gardens, and it just isn't.  Anyway, I'm sure of one thing.  While I can't find the motivation to keep my house the way I think I should, it won't mean a thing in a hundred years.  Haha.

It's Finally Freakin' Friday!!!

Happy Friday, Peeps!!!  Hope you're week has been fantastico.  Mine has been long -- not sure why. Especially since all I do is sit around watching talk shows and eating bonbons all day.  Ha.  Don't I wish.

On that topic, Mr. Matt Walsh's blog post from October 9th, titled Your A Stay-at-Home Mom, What Do You Do All Day? has popped up in my FB feed several times this week.  Essentially, he is upset with the general viewpoint that staying at home with the kids all day is a luxurious, even fun, gig. Again I say, HA!!!  I've been home for SIXTEEN years now, raising my children and taking care of things household related, even though Hubster will tell you (and I'll agree), I'm the worst housekeeper on the planet.  Still, all things considered, my gig may be rewarding and sometimes entertaining, but it certainly doesn't fall into the 'fun' bucket.  Would I love to jump back into the work force, bring home some bacon, find some personal satisfaction from being a necessary part of something, etc.? You bet your sweet potatoes I would.  Guess what?  Not as easy as it sounds, nor as lucrative.

You can read Matt's blog yourself via the link above, but here's my favorite part :) ...
The people who completely immerse themselves in the tiring, thankless, profoundly important job of raising children ought to be put on a pedestal. We ought to revere them and admire them like we admire rocket scientists and war heroes. These women are doing something beautiful and complicated and challenging and terrifying and painful and joyous and essential. Whatever they are doing, they ARE doing something, and our civilization DEPENDS on them doing it well. Who else can say such a thing? What other job carries with it such consequences?

Matt has had over 10,000 comments on that post...very interesting to read people's responses.  I will move on now, as it wasn't my intention to blah, blah, blah about this.  That said, I'd be lying if I said it doesn't get on my last freakin' nerve when people ask, and they do ask, what I do all day.


I haven't said word one about the government shutdown in the last few weeks, mostly because it's total bullocks and nothing more than a game of kick the can down the road.  The whole thing is a disaster, in many people's opinion a ticking timebomb, and I'd just rather stick to making fun of politicians as opposed to actually listening to a thing that they say.  Here are a group of kids that would no doubt do a better job running the country than those currently occupying those uber-important seats do:



Next.

So how's about a quick flick to the gossip of the week???  Secretly, I love this wayyyyy more than book reviews or intelligent conversations about the eventual demise of our society.  Some highlights, coming, of course, from the most respected sources in rag-mag journalism:

1.  Yesterday, Kim Kardashian, in an attempt to deflect attention from both last week's announcement that (1) Kris and Bruce are splitting AND (2) the news this week that Kylie and Kendall (both underage) were spotted in a sex-themed club in LA, has put her GINORMOUS ass out there in Instagramland for all to see.  Quite funny, actually, that she is literally trying to block the other family drama WITH HER ASS.  And did I mention?  It is BIG!  So is mine, but I don't put it on Instagram.


2. In even BIGGER news from TMZ this week, fox costumes are off the shelf this Halloween.


Stores just can't keep them stocked.  Why, you ask, as though perhaps you have been living under a rock for the last month or so?  Well, a song with about 130 million YouTube hits called What Does The Fox Say? is 100% responsible.  Have you really not seen the video?  Okay...here it is...



3.  Kristen Bell (who I love, love, love) is officially off the market.  She and Dax Shepard tied the know this week in LA at of all places, the courthouse.  They already have a beautiful baby, so this was just the next logical step.  Seriously, if I was a lesbian, I would totally marry her.  Hello???....Veronica Mars is/was/will be one of the best shows of all time!!!  Dax??? Well, he's a cutie pie in his own right.  Yes, I'll admit it, I'm happy for them.

Now I shall share with you one of my favorite Kristen Bell moments...that time when she shares with Ellen how Dax got her a sloth to play with for her birthday...



How stinkin' cute can she possibly be.  Also, for the record, the sloth is on the top-three list of animals that I want to own in my life time, along with a hedgehog and an alpaca.  A girl can dream, right?

4.  Gwen Stefani is prego with number three.  YAY!!!  Love Gwen and Gavin.  Thinking they might be one of the Hollywood couples that actually makes it.  How exciting for Kingston and Zuma that they will have a little brother or sister.  Here's a pic of them out last night, debuting the little baby bump...

Photo courtesy of Perezhilton.com


5.  Back to the Ellen Show.  Here's a clip of Ellen interviewing Miley last week.  I gotta tell ya, after seeing lots of interviews post-VMA mayhem, I have changed my tune a bit regarding Miley...


She's gotten a huge amount of flack for her performance, and everyone has seen that it's a bit over-the-top.  That said, I've watched it, and her videos for Wrecking Ball and 23, and her performance on SNL last weekend.  Yes, she's pushing the envelope, but guess what??  She has turned the music industry on it's ass for a minute and screamed LOOK AT ME!!!!  And everyone is looking.  Who's the dummy?  She isn't necessarily a tart or a slut, she is just doing what those who have come before her have done.  Think about Madonna, or Britney, or for that matter Lady Gaga.  PS. Nobody mentioned what the Gaga was wearing at the VMA's, and it was basically a thong.  Hello??

6.  On the topic of Lady Gaga, her new album drops November 11th. Yay!  Waiting patiently,

Love me some Gaga, don't care what anyone says.  She is and probably always will be one to watch.

7.  Who has come across the British band called London Grammar?  Really good stuff. Love her voice.  This doesn't really count as gossip, but I'm gonna share it anyway, and end on this note.  Hey Now!!!!

Throwback Thursday

Remember Banksy?  He's that kooky English graffiti artist who's political and social commentary has turned up on bridges, walls, and all sorts of other interesting places all over the globe.  I had the pleasure of watching his 2010 film, Exit Through The Gift Shop, which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was subsequently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary.  Great stuff, if you ever get a chance to watch it.  He's a peculiar creature, that Banksy,  but he certainly feels like he has a lot to say.

Well he is at it again, this time with a truck full of puppets.  Yes, puppets.  Making a comment on the plight of the farm animal...one can assume that specifically he is addressing factory farming...he has put together his latest installation, a moving tribute to farm animals everywhere (with a dog, and a bear or two thrown in for good measure).  Here is a YouTube clip of his meat truck, cruising the streets of The Meatpacking District in New York City...



So, out of all the 'shutdown' stories on the web this morning, why did I choose to share this one, of little or no significance, really.  To make a long story short, it took my back to my Freshman year in college, when I first encountered the topic of factory farming and the idea that as a society, we have gotten so big that we've lost touch with the source of our food.  I actually presented a paper back then on the AWFUL treatment of animals in most parts of the agricultural industry, and it really affected me.  I stopped eating beef (for some reason I've had an affinity for cows for most of my life) from the time I was 18 until I was pregnant with Riley at age 25.  To this day, I still won't touch veal, and I'll be happy to give you a hard time about it if you're sitting next to me eating it.

Something has happened to the way animals are treated in modern meat production that is a disgrace to the human spirit, and a violation of the ancient human-animal bond...

The process of rearing farm animals in the US has changed dramatically from the family farms of yesteryear. This reality, coupled with the exemption of farm animals from laws that forbid cruelty to animals, has produced a heartbreaking situation. More animals are subjected to more tortuous conditions in the US today than has ever occurred anywhere in world history.

Aside from the health consequences from eating the products of a 'factory farm', it is, for the most part, just plain inhumane.  So with that, I was happy to give Banksy his five minutes on my blog to let the world (or at least my five followers) know that the way we produce and consume meat in this country and for that matter all over the world, is not okay.

*steps down off of soapbox*

I know...that was depressing.  Sorry.  Just got a bee in my bonnet when I saw the video clip and it took off from there.  PS. For more info about factory farming and what you can do to change the way you eat, start with a trip to http://www.farmforward.com/.  Eye-opening, I tell ya.


So what's next this morning???

How about the finalists for the 2013 National Book Awards?  The finalists were announced yesterday, and the winners will be announced on November 20th.  What amazes my simple pea-brain mind is the fact that somehow the National Book Foundation can get through all of the fantastic Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature for the year, to come up with such a short list of finalists.

Books from that list that I will add to my reading list (or Keira's -- the boys just don't read) include, but are not limited to:

I. Book Of Ages

The Life And Opinions Of Jane Franklin

by Jill LePore

Summary
American History professor Jill Lepore delivers a revealing portrait of Benjamin Franklin's youngest sister, Jane, who spent much of her life cooking, cleaning and raising children. Despite obscurity and poverty, Jane shared a lot of her brother's talents: She was a passionate reader, a gifted writer and a shrewd political commentator.

II. Tenth Of December

by George Saunders

Summary
This collection of fantastical stories includes "Home," a wryly whimsical account of a soldier's return from war; "Victory Lap," a tale about an inventive abduction attempt; and the title story, in which a suicidal cancer patient saves the life of a young misfit.

Now if I could just find six hours a day with which to sit and read :)

Have You Seen This??

Well, have you?  Seen it, I mean? Haha.  Just seemed like an appropriate title for today's post, which is both 'celebrating randomness' and catching up on some hot topics in this morning's news feed.

First up, is an AH-MAZING photo posted by Bruce Lindner (whoever he is...friend of a friend) on Facebook this morning, with this caption: 

"Okay, put your brain in neutral for a second. See that teeny, tiny black rectangle to the left of the Moon? It's a nondescript region of space that NASA trained the Hubble telescope on for a look/see. It opened its shutter, and photon by individual photon, the light from distant galaxies trickled in. The image required a total of 173,000 seconds to "gel," but gel it did. Each of those tiny smudges are enormous galaxies of a hundred billion stars or more.  The Moon is there for scale only, to demonstrate the size of area examined. HUDF stands for Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Now... Don't you feel insignificant?"

Insignificant is exactly how it makes me feel, and yet I am somehow empowered or enriched by the idea that life on Earth must be such a random occurrence (there's that word again).  What a gift we are given, if only for a very short time, to sit back and experience the wonders of the Universe.  Each enormous galaxy has A HUNDRED BILLION stars OR MORE???  And we sit here in our little Milky Way, eight planets and a couple of moons, surrounded  by a bunch of ding-dong Earthlings that believe they are the center of the universe.  Jesus.  It's pretty damn funny when you get right down to it.  A shout out to my friend Marty Qualls for sharing this photo this morning, it gave me such pause for thought.  

When I really stop to think about the fact that I'm little more than a grain of sand on the beach of humanity, in fact an atom in a neutron in a grain of sand, I could go in two directions.  One, that I really am insignificant, so why not just go back to bed (I luhhhhhh-vvvvvvvve my bed)?  I mean, what's the fucking point?  Who gives a rat's ass if I'm awake or asleep, other than my children when it's time to get picked up or eat dinner, or when they need money?  On the other hand, it's such a spectacular fluke that I'm here, that life on Earth is a reality, shouldn't I be ecstatic to be part of it all? Shouldn't I want to be awake for every possible thing life tosses my way?  No, People, I'm not smoking weed today.  I'm just celebrating randomness...the idea that humanity as we know it came to be out of nothingness, and here we are.  Wow!!!!  Maybe I should be smoking weed -- the thought process would no doubt be even more revelationary. Ha

Moving randomly down the list of things I'm going to touch on today, just saw a preview this morning for a new movie called About Time, directed by Richard Curtis, the creator of movies I LOVE like Notting Hill and Love Actually.  OMG!!!!  Looks freaking fantastic.  Here's the trailer...

Who wants to go see it with me???  Hubster, poor guy, will no doubt get saddled with the job.  He's such a good sport when it comes to chick flicks.  Anyway, the reviews are in and they are, for the most part, thumbs up all the way.

The review from the Hollywood Reporter was slightly less enthusiastic, but still had this to say...
The chief digressions here from the director’s established formula are a light twist of science fiction, and a lot more somber reflection on the value of love and family. This time, Curtis seems to be reaching for the philosophical depth and emotional clout of bittersweet magic-realist classics such as Groundhog Day or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He falls short of both, but his ambition is still admirable. Not as charming as his best work, but not as cloying as his worst, About Time received a modestly warm reception at its public premiere in London on Thursday. Commercial prospects will largely depend on whether the Curtis brand still packs the same platinum-plated punch as it did in more innocent times. 

The IMDb page for the movie says it will be out in theaters on November 8th.  Can't wait!!!


Next up...the new Skittles commercial.  FRENCH THE RAINBOW???  Yuck, I say.  I saw it this morning while watching the Today Show, and I was completely repulsed.  I love a good joke, love a teetering-on-the-edge commercial just as much, but this one definitely didn't do it for me...


Not sure if it's the mouthful of skittles that puts me off, or the whole 'frenching' reference, but...well, in summary, BLEH!!!


Are Oreos as addictive as cocaine?



Apparently, according to recent studies by students at Connecticut College, when rats ate Oreos they formed an equally strong association with the cookies as when other rats were injected with cocaine or morphine. Additionally, researchers found eating the cookies activated even more neurons in the rats’ brain “pleasure centers” than the addictive drugs.

“Our research supports the theory that high-fat/ high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do,” Neuroscience Professor Joseph Schroeder said in a school press release. “It may explain why some people can’t resist these foods despite the fact that they know they are bad for them.”

The student behind the study says she wanted to explore how foods with high fat and sugar content contribute to obesity in low-income communities, and that the results are troubling.

“Even though we associate significant health hazards in taking drugs like cocaine and morphine, high-fat/ high-sugar foods may present even more of a danger because of their accessibility and affordability,” Jamie Honohun said. On a lighter note, Honohun says they also got a surprise when watching the rats eat the Oreos. “They would break it open and eat the middle first,” she said.

Now that we've addressed the sugar-filled products Skittles and Oreos, let's talk about weight loss. Haha. Here's a photo that I actually saw posted on Facebook several days ago, which was also the topic of conversation and controversy on the Today Show this morning:

What was meant to be motivational is instead being taken as offensive by mothers all over the planet. Interestingly enough, the photo was posted over a year ago, but has just recently gone viral. So what do we think about Ms. Thang, I mean Kang?  Well, first of all, she is FRIGGING hot.  Second of all, in my humble opinion, the whole thing is a bit smug, and a little too in-your-face.  Yeah, she looks great.  Do I wish I had those abs?  You bet your sweet potatoes I do.  That being said, she is a personal trainer and a former bikini model.  Hello???  It's her job to look like that.  I would be a lot more accepting of the message if it were, say, a frazzled-looking mom with a 'normal' full-time job, sporting bags under her eyes.  

In response to the "haters," Kang recently reposted the photo with what she calls a "non-apology."
"I never called you fat, I never said that you were a bad mother, I never said what's your excuse for not looking like me, I never said anything like that. I just came out and said you need to own the thoughts you put in your own head because I didn't put it there, you did," Kang said.

Ummmm...I think she still sounds a bit bitchy, but what do I know?  Maybe her photo will be motivation for thousands of women trying to get their 'after-kids' body back.  Maybe not.  Either way, she's promoting herself, and why shouldn't she? It's a free country and all that jazz???

I went back and forth on that one, didn't I?

In sad TV news this week, Glee finally said goodbye to Finn on Thursday :(



7.9 million viewers tuned in to watch.  If you didn't get a chance to see it, download, download, download...

Here is a clip of Rachel (Lea Michele) singing a heartbreaking rendition of Adele's cover of a Bob Dylan diddy, "Make You Feel My Love". Sooooooo sad.

What else happened this week?...

Geez, I can't  believe it's Friday again already.  Not sure where the days went, but they went. 

Homecoming is tomorrow, and the boys are both going.  One is looking forward to it and the other is a bit reluctant to have anything to do with it.  I, however, will be very excited to be that annoying creature that follows them around taking pictures before they go.  I remember how much I hated that, but I love looking back at those photos.  Hopefully, they will too, someday.

So....when we started talking about Homecoming several weeks back, Liam had a date, and Riley was going stag.  Now it's just the opposite.  Liam's date turned out to be a miserable flake (don't get me started) and broke things off four days after she said yes, and Riley got propositioned yesterday by one of his 'friends' while they were working on a float for the parade.  Very funny.  Have spent the better part of yesterday and today running back and forth to the mall to pick up clothes for this sacred event, as they were just to busy to actually shop with me.  No worries, all sorted.

In other devastating news this week, one of Riley's good friends on the wrestling team at school was killed by a drunk driver in a horrific car accident this past weekend.  All of the kids at school have taken it very hard, as this particular guy, Frank, was loved by all who met him.  Again, soooooo sad.

At which point, I turn to ask... if there really is a God, where the Hell was he when this kid's life was being ripped away from him?  And how could the person responsible just get up and walk away.  Devastating.  Guess we really don't want to go here, as my thoughts on God as someone who watches over us are fairly well known.  What a bunch of bullocks.  My bigger question??  How does a parent EVER recover from the loss of a child?  How could they?  I would have to be locked up for my remaining days, probably just a blubbering mess in a straight jacket until the end of time.

Enough of that depressing topic.

How about some good news?  82-year-old Alice Munro, the Canadian author famous for her mastery of the short story, has won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature.  You go, Girl!  82!!!


A blurb from the Daily Beast today about Ms. Munro...
Her short tales are always finely tuned, filled with psychological realism, swerving on a moment of epiphany that makes her the heir to Chekhov—indeed she is often considered the Canadian Chekhov—and James Joyce’s The Dubliners. She has never written a novel, but her stories are often deeper wells than many thousand-page novels. Her characters are small-town Canadian women struggling with strained relationships and moral dilemmas, and Munro penetrates those characters’ extraordinary private histories in moments of crises—she can portray the full span of a turbulent life through an event or two. Munro’s “reputation is like a good address,” the critic James Wood famously said. “Nobody bothers anymore to judge her goodness.” The latest Nobel makes her acclaim pretty much universal. She also won the Man Booker International Prize in 2009, and judges said, “To read Alice Munro is to learn something every time that you never thought of before.”

Though I haven't had the pleasure of reading any of her short stories, I just found her most recent collection, Dear Life: Stories, on Amazon for $7.99 (50% off...the Kindle edition).  Gonna put it on my wish list.




In more good news, Utah is re-opening it's National Parks, effective as early as today.  The Governor of Utah had to send Washington DC a check for $1.67 million to make it happen, but the state-funded cash infusion will get the parks up and running.   State officials estimate that tourism revenues for the state are around $100 million for the month of October alone.  That's a lot of moolah.

The National Park Service agreed to reopen Canyonlands, Natural Bridges and Glen Canyon, along with Zion, Capitol Reef, Arches and Bryce Canyon national parks, and Cedar Breaks National Monument.  I actually took a trip after college through many of thoses parks.  AH-MAZING!!!!  Not to be missed.  Just thinking about all the people who had planned vacations through that beautiful part of the country...beyond ridiculous, the whole shutdown thing.  And that's all I have to say about that.

Sorry Kids.  Got a bit distracted this week on all fronts.  My mom arrived on Tuesday (YAY!) and Hubster whisked me away for a romantic weekend on Thursday, so the blog kinda went to the wayside.  Anyway, have a few new discoveries to share with you...

I. What to watch...

First up is a British TV show called Broadchurch, which just finished airing on BBC America here in the US.  FANFRIGGINGTASTIC!!!!  It stars the wonderful David Tennant (who is also a previous Doctor on Doctor Who) and Olivia Colman as investigative detectives (isn't that a bit redundant?). The show is set in a small town on the Dorset coast.  In the first episode, a young boy's body is discovered on the beach.  It just takes off from there.  Edge of your seat stuff, folks, they keep you guessing until the very end.  That said, I did figure out whodunnit by the beginning of the last episode.

Bill and I started watching it yesterday, and finished watching ALL EIGHT EPISODES yesterday.  So well done.  I'm a Britophile anyway (my word), so I love anything and everything British, with the exception of their food. Haha.  Even if I wasn't, I would dig this.

Found a trailer on YouTube...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6U7XDxsNPk

In fact, all eight episodes are available to watch on YouTube.  Did I mention? Fantastic...


II.  Where to sleep...



Next up is a bed and breakfast in Flagler Beach, Florida (from where I am currently blogging).  Bill brought me here for three nights and four days, and I just want to stay for a month.  He is so amazing...I walked into our 'villa' and discovered fresh flowers, a jacuzzi tub covered in rose petals and candles, chocolate-covered strawberries, and a case of wine/champagne (complete with my favorite..Veuve Cliquot) with which to enjoy my surroundings.  We are on the beach, and there is a private segment of the beach that belongs to the B&B.  If you're looking for a perfect getaway, look no further.  They are actually featured in bedandbreakfast.com's Top Ten Romantic Inns for 2013.

Here is the blurb from the website...
"Get swept away with romance and relaxation at this oceanfront B&B only 30 miles from St. Augustine. The inn has its private beach, where you can take a sunset stroll or have an afternoon picnic with a basket of eats and treats created by the inn. As a guest, you get free use of bikes, beach chairs, and beach umbrellas. Every guest room features private entries, ocean views, romantic bathtubs for two, and cozy fireplaces. Buy a bottle of your favorite drink at the inn’s wine shop and watch the sunset from your private patio. Take a moonlight swim in the swimming pool or hot tub. Indulge in a couples massage under the stars or facial side-by-side, followed by a healthy spa lunch. If you’re ready to get hitched, have a beautiful wedding or elopement ceremony on the beach. The inn offers a variety of romantic packages that include goodies such as rose petals and candles lit around your tub with soft music playing in the background upon arrival, champagne on ice, and chocolate-covered strawberries."

The reviews on Trip Advisor pretty much tell you everything you need to know.  We will definitely be back.

III.  Where to Eat

Since I'm recommending some fabulous accomodations, I will go one step further and tell you where to eat while you are here.  Maggie's European Bakery and Cafe.  OMG!!!  From the pumkin-spiced latte to the amazing waffles topped with bacon to the Florentine Benedict to the bakery case chock full of evil goodies, you cannot go wrong.  It's located in a funny little purple building, and you would miss it if you blink, but inside await countless goodies, friendly service, and an all-around great atmosphere, including an ocean view.  Not to be missed.

Again, the reviews on Trip Advisor sum it up perfectly.

MDNA

Madonna released her new 17 minute short film last week, co-directed with Stephen Klein, called secretprojectrevolution.  I didn't forget my spacing, by the way, that's what it's called :)  Anyway, it is....fantastic, scary, captivating, disconcerting and, in summary, FABULOUS.  I heart Madge in a big way.  Always have.  The woman is 55 years old and she is still unstoppable.  She's an artist, a genius, a mogul, a diva, an icon...and the list continues.

The film was released alongside the launch of Art For Freedom, an online global initiative to further freedom of expression, created by Madonna, curated by VICE, and distributed by BitTorrent.  "My goal is to show by the example of secretprojectrevolution my creative commitment to inspire change in the world through artistic expression. I hope my film and other submissions to Art For Freedom will be a call-to-action and give people a place to voice their own creative expression to help fight oppression, intolerance and complacency," commented Madonna.

Art For Freedom is a global digital initiative, led by Madonna, designed to fuel free speech to respond, address and protest persecution around the world. It is an online public art project encouraging the world to express their personal meaning of freedom and revolution, in the form of video, music, poetry, and photography. Public submissions will become part of the Art For Freedom platform: contributors can join the project by uploading original artwork or tagging original posts #artforfreedom.

Art For Freedom launches with the secretprojectrevolution film distributed as a BitTorrent Bundle. The film, plus bonus content, is available to the public for free download.  Anyone can download and unlock the secretprojectrevolution bundle to receive the film, plus bonus content, for free.The 

BitTorrent Bundle is a powerful new media format that's built to move freely across the Internet. It is designed to hold any file type, and any file size. And it's designed to encourage and empower free expression, beyond the Internet.

So, with all that^^^ being said, here is a link to the film.  Watch it.  It really hit home for me...made me want to do something.  Little ole' me.  What the Hell would I do.  I'm certainly not an artist.  Can't sing, dance, or write a poem.  Maybe I can just blog about it and get other people excited about expressing what freedom means to them.  Also released on YouTube last week is a forty minute interview with Madonna by Eddy Moretti from VICE (VICE Media) to talk about the film, and the events leading up to it.  She shares the pain of injustices she has experienced personally on tour around the world, and the complacency she has experienced in this, our great nation.  It certainly makes you think, if nothing else. In my humble opinion, thinking is what we do far too little of these days.

I did, after watching both the film and the interview, download the BitTorrent Bundle.  Great stuff, including a handwritten note from Madonna and Stephen Klein, and this cool billboard pic.

Time for a good gossip post...

WHAT IN THE FREAKING WORLD IS THIS GIRL THINKING????  I keep trying to give her the benefit of the doubt.  I keep thinking that she is just trying to shed that Disney image.  But every day she seems to come up with something more horrendous to do/wear.  She's wearing pasties.  Egads, Woman!  You're making an ass of yourself.



Here's a New Funny or Die video bit with Justin Bieber and Zach Galifianakis, who does a whole series of similar spoofs with celebrities, a 'talk show' called Between Two Ferns.  Very funny.  Loves me some Zach.

Now, for the gratuitous pic of the day...
You are welcome in advance.It's one of those
'who wore it better' faceoffs.  I'm ALWAYS going
 to vote for Mr. Beckham, but Cristiano Ronaldo,
who's new underwear line is available November
1st, is lookin' pretty damn fine.

Holy hotness, Batman.

In Fashion news, Hollywood A-listers are following a
new trend for Fall,  pairing really bright colored shoes
with things that don't match at all.  I don't get it, but I'm
 a freak about my shoes matching my outfit.  I guess if
you're famous, you can pull anything off.

In Glee news...

We are just two weeks away from the Cory Monteith
tribute episode.  I'm still way back in season three, but
I will definitely tune in to watch.  So unbelievably sad
and unnecessary.



Who said Hollywood love never lasts.  Just found this
adorable pic of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell last week.
Love them.  THIRTY YEARS, folks.  And I'm sweating
bullets trying to make it to sixteen.

New couple alert!!!

Kate Upton and Maksim Chmerkovskiy (say that fast three times),
seen holding hands in NYC on Thursday.  Cute.

George Clooney (who by the way, while I'm still totally in love with him, is still very much gay) is quite the prankster these days, and his latest target is none other than the gorgeous Sandra Bullock.  Sandra appeared on Jay Leno promoting her new lost in space movie called Gravity (snooz), and shared the prank with Jay.

The top story on People.com today has absolutely no business being a top story.  Pamela Anderson is going to run the New York Marathon in November to raise funds for Haitian relief.  Bleh!  She makes me cringe.  Who cares where she's running, unless it's a long run off a short pier.  Furthermore, if she actually makes it halfway through the marathon, how is she not going to have two black eyes with those tatas flapping in her face?  Ugh...what a nightmare.

SEX!!!
Got your attention, didn't I? Haha.  I guess after my last post with interesting but not terribly exciting facts about Hungary, I can spice things up a little with some SEX.

Actually, I just added a new book to my ever-growing and rather long reading wish list.  A book called Masters of Sex, by Thomas Maier.  It's a biography that tells the story of Dr. William Masters and his research assistant Virginia Johnson, famously known as Masters and Johnson.  Their work in the 50's and 60's built on the previous work of Alfred Kinsey, and changed the way that Americans viewed sex.

I stumbled on the book after a friend introduced me to the new Showtime series, Masters of Sex.  The series stars Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan, and looks to be really good.  Not sure whether I shall read first or watch first, but thought I would share some of the reviews for the new Showtime series.  The entire first episode, which premieres this Sunday the 29th, is actually on YouTube.

Here is the official trailer...



The Hollywood Reporter says:  

The series was created by Michelle Ashford and stars Michael Sheen as Dr. William Masters and Lizzy Caplan as Virginia Johnson. The casting is impeccable. Caplan is magnetic as Johnson, the single mother struggling to survive in the '60s, getting a secretarial job and, because she’s in tune with her own sexuality, effortlessly conveying to the more uptight Masters just what a woman wants. The actress navigates her sexuality with ease and allows the mental and emotional elements of the character to stay front and center (there’s already enough nudity and sex in the surrounding environs of the show, so this is a fine choice by both Ashford and Caplan).

Sheen is equally compelling, and that’s a feat not without effort, given how unlikable Masters is when we meet him. In the two episodes sent by Showtime, Sheen manages to project Masters’ ego and drive as both his strengths and weaknesses — pushing the sex study when everyone is trying to kill it and, on the other hand, being unable to tell his wife, Libby (Caitlin Fitzgerald), that it’s his low sperm count, not an inability on her part to conceive, keeping them from having a baby – which is cruel and echoes his lack of passion for her. (It has a fine supporting cast as well, including Beau Bridges and Allison Janney.)  There appear to be myriad stories for the writers to mine in Masters of Sex, which lets the audience know that it’s not going to be a sprint from two disparate people to a couple on the cover of Timemagazine, spearheading a sexual revolution. But perhaps the best story of all is that Masters of Sexmanages, with lightning speed, to shed any preconceived notions about what type of show it will be and, in so doing, tilts the camera up from the breast to the brain.

The Washington Post says:

Liberally adapted from Thomas Maier’s thorough 2009 biography of the pioneering sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, Showtime’s provocative new drama has no problems whatsoever grabbing attention and whatever else that wants to get grabbed. The setting is the prim American ’50s, where well-respected St. Louis gynecologist Masters (Michael Sheen) is secretly exploring the greater mysteries of human sexuality, mainly by convincing prostitutes to let him spy on them through peepholes while they do their work.  What Masters doesn’t know about women could (and eventually does) fill several books, but things get interesting when a new secretary at his hospital applies to be his research assistant. She is, of course, Virginia Johnson (played by Lizzy Caplan), a single mother with a forward-thinking sensibility about her own sex life. As a science project, “Masters of Sex” is an early success; Sheen seems to relish playing the uptight doctor who is beginning to understand the way his world restricts women (in and out of the bedroom) and Caplan is instantly perfect as the woman who will both teach and enchant him.  But none of that is happening too fast. “Masters of Sex” masters the restrained narrative equivalent of seduction and foreplay, building its story in a controlled and stylish (and, yes, frankly adult-oriented) manner. This TV season has failed to arouse me, but if there’s one show that might hit the right spot on the Sunday DVR queue, it’s this one. Grade: B+

Since I started this post, I have actually watched the pilot episode.  Two thumbs up from me :)

Update: found this amazing NPR interview with the author Thomas Maier.  Not to be missed.  It's 33 minutes well spent if you have any intention of watching the show.

Happy Friday!!!  It's been a long week here at Chez McGann.  I can speak for all of us when I say, YAY, FRIDAY!

Was deciding what to write about today when it dawned on me...Hungary.  I had a Hungarian friend here this morning for coffee, and we have a Hungarian couple arriving tonight from Budapest for the weekend, so it only seems appropriate.  Most of my American friends know that we lived in Hungary for 11 years (1997-2008), but that's about all they know.  They would have a hard time finding it on a map, and always ask me right away, "what language do they speak?" or "what kind of food do they eat?" or "did you really like living there?"

Tangent here for a minute, while I stand on my soap box.  My biggest complaint about the American education system is that we don't teach our kids enough about the world they live in.  Thankfully, my kids are lucky enough to have lived abroad and traveled.  They would never have received that kind of education here.  I can remember my middle/high school courses...a year of Ohio History in 7th grade, American History in 8th grade, World History in 10th grade, American History in 11th grade, and American Government in 12th grade.  That means that one out of five years (20%) of my education in history/govenrment was spent learning about anything outside of the US.  Even now, twenty five years later, my kids might learn something about Mexico or South America, but other than elective classes (Riley is taking a class this year called AP Human Geography), they wouldn't learn a thing about the rest of the world.  When I have that conversation with Americans, often their response is "Well, America IS a really big country".  Yes, it is.  That being said, the world is a pretty damn big place too.

So, your lesson today shall include, but not be limited to, ten things you didn't know about Hungary* 

Like neighboring countries, Hungary was part of the Celtic world, then the Roman Empire. following the fall of Rome, the Huns settled in the plains of Pannonia and gave their name to Hungary.

Hungary is one of the oldest countries in Europe. It was founded in 896, before France and Germany became separate entities, and before the unification of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

Hungarian language is known as Magyar. It is the direct descendent of the language spoken by the Huns, and is therefore not an Indo-European language. It has only two related languages in Europe : Finnish (Suomi) and Estonian (Eesti keel).

One third of the 15 million Hungarian speakers live outside Hungary, mostly in Romania, but also in all adjacent countries to Hungary.

Despite the country's name and its language, DNA tests have revealed that central Asian genes represent only a tiny percentage of the Hungarian population.

Around 1000 CE, the Kingdom of Hungary was one of the largest states in Europe, bigger than France. Later, it became of the the two "eagle heads" of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Hungary was one of the first communist-era country to oppose the Soviet regime during the Cold War, notably with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix was the first Formula One race to take place behind the Iron Curtain. In 1989, Hungary was the first communist-block country to open its borders with Western Europe.

In 1946, Hungary issued banknotes of a face value of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 pengo (one quintillion pengo) - the world's highest denomination ever.

According to EU statistics, Hungary the highest death rate by cancer in Europe, and the highest female suicide rate.

Hungarian inventions include the noiseless match (János Irinyi), Rubik's cube (Erno Rubik), and the krypton electric bulb (Imre Bródy).  Several other inventions were made by Hungarians who fled the country prior to World War II, including holography (Dennis Gabor), the ballpoint pen (László Bíró), the theory of the hydrogen bomb (Edward Teller), and the BASIC programming language (John Kemeny, with Thomas E. Kurtz).

*source: www.eupedia.com 

How's that for informative? :)  I actually learned a couple of things too.

It's a place that I love dearly, and in all honesty feels more like home to me than where I live now.  They were great years, living there.  We traveled, made lots of friends, and in truth we became adults there (I was 25 when I went, but a far cry from an adult in the true sense of the word).  We drank like fish and celebrated anything there was to celebrate.  Our kids were born there and spent their formative years there.  It remains, and always will, a part of me.  With a bit of luck and my husband's ingenuity, we will return in the not so distant future for round two.

Thought I would add some pictures of Budapest, although if we are friends on FB, you probably have had  more than your share show up on your wall over the years...

The utterly amazing parliament building

Heroe's Square

A vegetable stand in the great Market Hall

The Fisherman's Bastion

Nyugati train station

Dobos Torta --- the yummiest of cakes!

So....who wants to go?  We still have a house there.  We're going in March.  Come on along!!!