Nicki Minaj Sings 'Super Bass' with Sophia Grace

Super cute! Nicki Minaj Sings Super Bass with Sophia Grace on The Ellen Degeneres Show.

Meeting what author would make your heart beat like super bass?

YouTube.com sensations Sophia Grace and Rosie were invited to be on The Ellen Degeneres Show this week.  In a big surprise, they got to meet their music idol, Nicki Minaj! The girls received special wigs and sang a Super Bass duet with Nicki. I haven't seen fans that excited in quite a while. The studio audience was clearly moved by the girls' enthusiasm (especially Sophia Grace's parents). It got me to thinking.

What author would I be excited to meet? Who would make my heart beat like super bass?

Meeting what author would make your heart beat like super bass?

Nicki Minaj Sings 'Super Bass' with Sophia Grace (Full Version)

2011 Banned Books Week Proclamation

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and

WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one's interest examined or scrutinized by others; and

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and

WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label "controversial" views, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and

WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and

WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and

WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and

WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and

WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and

WHEREAS, the American Library Association's Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and

WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that MAD Hoydenish celebrates the American Library Association's Banned Books Week, September 24 - October 1, 2011, and be it further

RESOLVED, that MAD Hoydenish encourages all libraries and bookstores to acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society; and be it further

RESOLVED, that MAD Hoydenish encourages free people to read freely, now and forever.

---

Adopted by MAD Hoydenish 

September 24, 2011
Out in the Yard, USA

Did the movie trailer kill Mr. Fox?

I was looking at DVDs available from the library and came across Fantastic Mr. Fox. Recently, I heard someone refer to George Clooney as Mr. Fox - connecting his "foxy" looks with his film character. Clooney was the voice of Mr. Fox in the film.

I like George Clooney. I like animated films. I wondered why I hadn't seen the movie before. Then I looked up the trailer on YouTube. My first thought was, "Meeh."  Is the trailer why I didn't see it? I can't remember. In looking at the YouTube comments, folks didn't think that the trailer did the movie justice. I decided against watching it until I realized that the film was based on a book of the same name by Roald Dahl (other famous works James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG - The Big Friendly Giant, Matilda, and The Witches).

It made me wonder, did the movie trailer kill Fantastic Mr. Fox at the box office? Can a movie trailer make or break a movie?  Maybe. Movie-trailer maker Amanda Woods (played by Cameron Diaz) said in The Holiday, "That's why they pay me the big bucks."

Can you think of a movie whose trailer turned you away from watching it, even though it might have received good reviews? Roger Ebert seemed to like Fantastic Mr. Fox.



P.S. Check out Star Li's thoughts on music and movie trailers in her Women Wonder Blog post, The Music Makes the Movie: How a Trailer Can Make or Break your Film. I totally agree with her on Miami Vice.

Week One: So far, so good. [100 Push-Up Challenge]

My first week on the 100 Push-Up Challenge passed without incident. I really want to do girlie push ups for the entire 7 weeks. LOL! Maria Bee says no, I can work my way up to standard push-ups. I think that I am going to start feeling the pain next week.

At this point, doing 100 push-ups seems both possible and impossible. Keep hope alive.

Working on fabulous arms? Tweet me and use #acapcolist1fabarms!

In Search of a Copy: Hey, Guess What? Tom Hanks's S**t Smells, Too!

Since I have been meaning to read it and Doug Hutchison is in the movie adaptation, I am also gonna add The Green Mile (written by Stephen King) to my reading list.

I am also gonna watch the movie again. He played (to critical acclaim) the nasty prison guard Percy Wetmore in The Green Mile.

According ABC News (via his website), Doug Hutchison has written a 99-page memoir entitled Hey, Guess What? Tom Hanks's S**t Smells, Too! (My Adventures in the Toilet of Tinseltown). I should probably throw Mr. Hutchison a bone and read his book too.

Anybody know where I can get a copy?

What happened to Benny Mardones?

My roommates and I used to sing Into the Night together in our dorm room while listening to Delilah's radio show. Nothing like '80s music to bring folks together. My favorite version of the song is the acoustic one on Benny's A Journey Through Time album (check out the sample below).

  

I wondered what happened Benny. I mean, Into the Night is still played like crazy on the radio. I looked him up and he's living in California (after apparently getting on the straight and narrow in Syracuse, New York). According to his website, a documentary on his life entitled Into The Night: The Benny Mardones Story will be released on DVD sometime in 2011. Until then, here's a sneak peak:

P.S. Doesn't that sound like Delilah narrating the video?

Into the Night: A Hutchison & Stodden Theme Song

Don't remember (or perhaps even know) the song Into the Night by @bennymardones that I mentioned in my post, Ripped from the Headlines: Mr. and Mrs. Hutchison? You probably think that the actual title of the song is If I Could Fly. I did too for a long time. I am so bad with song titles and lyrics. It was years before I noticed that the lyrics were kinda freaky. I blame Benny. His honey-dipped voice distracted me.

Shamefully, I must admit that I clicked through @eonline's Teen Bride Wedding Album featuring pictures from Doug Hutchison & Courtney Alexis Stodden (#dontjudgeme). She's just 16 years old. SMH. Check out an Into the Night video and the song's lyrics* below and you'll see why I think that Into The Night could be their theme song.


                                                 posted on YouTube by Evo161AOR

Into the Night sung by Benny Mardones

She's just sixteen years old
Leave her alone, they say
Separated by fools
Who don't know what love is yet
But I want you to know
If I could fly
I'd pick you up
I'd take you into the night
And show you a love
Like you've never seen, ever seen
It's like having a dream
Where nobody has a heart
It's like having it all
And watching it fall apart
And I would wait till the end
Of time for you
And do it again, it's true
I can't measure my love
There's nothing to compare it to
But I want you to know
If I could fly
I'd pick you up
I'd take you into the night
And show you a love
Ooooh, if I could fly
I'd pick you up
I'd take you into the night
And show you a love
Like you've never seen, ever seen
Yeah, Ooooh....
(etc. etc.)

*The initial inspiration for the song was more innocent than the final lyrics seem. Read Carl Wiser's (Songfacts) interview with Mardones or listen to part of it here.

Ripped from the Headlines: Mr. and Mrs. Hutchison

I swear, trying to maintain variety in my choices for the 100+ Book Reading Challenge is keeping me on my toes. Some of my reading selections are the products of my Law and Order - Ally McBeal mental mashups. Book ideas are ripped from the headlines. Dun-dun. And I often hear songs when I think of them.  It's crazy, I know.

Case in point: the EOnline.com post announcing the marriage of Doug Hutchison (character actor, The Green Mile, Lost and The X-Files) to Courtney Alexis Stodden ("aspiring" pop star) on May 20, 2011 in Las Vegas. Hutchison is 51 years old and Stodden is 16 years old (she looks way older than that in the photo on E!, doesn't she?).  Dun-dun. A spokeswoman told E! the couple said,

"We're aware that our vast age difference is extremely controversial, but we're very much in love and want to get the message out there that true love can be ageless."

My first thought was, "Vast my azz. That's disgusting." I was less grossed out by the age difference and more grossed out by the fact that she is still a teenager. Eeeeww. She can't vote, drink alcohol, or get into R-rated movies without an adult. Yet, now she is a "sadie sadie married lady."

Then, the song Into the Night by Benny Mardones started playing in my head. "She's just 16 years old, Leave her alone, they said ... Separated by fools who don't know what love is yet."

I just don't understand. I'm trying not to judge their love. Really. Um ... congrats?!? I hope everything works out for the best for them both.

So, what book popped into my head? Why Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, of course. Sorry Mr. Hutchison. The book just came to mind as I was singing the song. #smh #dontjudgeme

Keepin' it honest. [100 Push-Up Challenge] Take 2

Okay. I had some minor setbacks (unrelated to the program) that threw me off track for my push up training program during the spring. I am now back on it, dog gone it.

To keep myself on track, I am going to report my progress every Monday on this blog. Public eyes will keep me honest. Maybe. Check back with me on Mondays starting July 11.

Also see my previous posts:

“I think I can. I think I can.” [100 Push-Up Challenge]

Kick Starting the Plan [100 Push-Up Challenge]

Working on fabulous arms? Tweet me and use #acapcolist1fabarms!

"There is no such thing as girlie push ups."

Maria Bee says, "There is no such thing as girlie push ups." I certainly hope so. The 100 Push-Up Challenge is gonna make a believer out of me. By the end of the seven weeks, I hope that I can crank out some push ups like Maria.

Look at her go!


Check her out at:

Website: http://www.mariabee.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MariaBeetv

YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/mariabeetv

Working on fabulous arms? Tweet me using #acapcolist1fabarms!

Music for Acapcolist #1 Can't Get Any Harder DJ Rehab

I need some motivational music for



Can't Get Any Harder DJ Rehab by Dj Rehab

Check him out on:

Twitter: @THEDJRehab  
SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/dj-rehab-1
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dj-Rehab/189684929633

SMH. The Birth of My Acapcolist Quest

During a drive to the library, I started thinking about what I wanted to accomplish for the summer. Being that this is the first week of summer and all. Just as I was about to turn off the car,  Nickelback's song, If Today Were Your Last Day (from their Dark Horse album), started playing on the radio (see the music video on YouTube.com). I started shaking my head, recalling my reaction to the "Save the Date/Return of Christ" campaign. In case you need a refresher, read The Daily News post by Kevin Modesti -  Billboards across the Valley trumpet Judgment Day.

Sadly, the sum of my reaction was essentially zero. On May 21, 2011 at 5:00 pm, I was sitting on a porch with my dad. If you'll recall, the drama was to start at 6:00 pm that day. It hit me that I hadn't prepared for the start of the end. Although I didn't believe the hype, I realized that I wasn't quite as prepared for the world's downfall if it was true.

According to Harold Camping and his Family Radio show, Judgement Day was to be on October 21, 2011. Right around the corner. I shrugged off the notion and I suggested that we go get a margarita. I actually ended up watching TV Land reruns with my mom because the trip to the restaurant was too much effort. <big sigh>

Guy Kawasaki and Steven Pressfield should have smacked my palms with rulers! Did I learn nothing from reading The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything and The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles? 

For Petey's sake and my own, I need to get right and ready in more ways than one! After recently watching 2012 and The Bucket List, I ready to commit to a program.

Stay tuned ...

All About Steve

Bringing Up Baby

Deja Vu: Bringing Up Baby vs. All About Steve

Sweet! My Free Huddle House Waffle.

On June 20, I retweeted Huddle House's one-day free waffle offer for 6/21. 

RT @HuddleHouse Who's excited for our #FREE Waffle for Facebook fans tomorrow? Get the details on our page: http://www.facebook.com/ILoveHuddleHouse

On June 21, I was at the Huddle House gettin' my waffle. Yeah baby!

Follow me on Twitter at @MadHoydenish.

Check out more of my photos on Flickr.

Dug Up: My Favorite Wife vs, The Parent Trap

YouTuber, Countrygirltori24 helped me out big time with this one! In My Favorite Wife, Nick Arden (Cary Grant) does a crazy lean to catch a glance of his long lost wife as the elevator doors close. I immediately thought, "Haven't I seen that gag before?" Yep. In The Parent Trap. 


Be sure to check out Countrygirltori24's upload explanation for more details.

"Oh, you Casanova, you."

Suite C is my favorite scene in the movie. Nick Arden discovers that his wife is alive while on his honeymoon. He rents Suite C for the "old" Mrs Arden so that they can talk things over. "Old" Mrs. Arden gives him a hard time about his new marriage and how he intends to break the news of her return to the "new" Mrs. Arden (in Suite B).

posted on YouTube by Countrygirltori24

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is 25 years old today!

"Oh, he's very popular Ed. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude."

Check out MSN's Wonderwall "then & now" photo gallery and explanation of the cast. I vote "OMG."

Home Movie Advice from Robert Benchley

Robert Benchley's vintage movie short, Home Movies, can also be found under Special Features on Turner Home Entertainment's DVD release (June 1, 2004) of My Favorite Wife starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.

I had never heard of Robert Benchley until watching this short. I was surprised  to find that he was a noted humorist (he wrote essays, newspaper writings, and drama criticism) in addition to being a film actor.

"It took me 15 years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous." - Robert Benchley

Check out Wikipedia's write up on Benchley.

Have you read or watched any of Benchley's other works? Any suggestions?

"My Favorite Wife" Adapted for Radio

Check out the Screen Director's Playhouse radio version of My Favorite Wife (courtesy of Internet Archive). The 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie was broadcast on December 7, 1950 with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne reprising their film roles.

What do you think of  radio adaptation?

P.S.
This adaptation can also be found under Special Features on Turner Home Entertainment's DVD release (June 1, 2004) of My Favorite Wife starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.

Wednesdays with Cary Grant - My Favorite Wife

Actors: Cary Grant, Irene Dunne Randolph Scott, Gail Patrick
Rated: Not Rated 
Production Studio: RKO Studios 
U.S. Movie Release Date: May 17, 1940 
DVD Release Date: June 1, 2004
Run Time: 88 minutes
Color: Black and White
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Award Nominations:

• Best Black and White Art Direction (1940) - Mark-Lee Kirk
• Best Black and White Art Direction (1940) - Van Nest Polglase
• Best Original Score (1940) - Roy Webb
• Best Original Story (1940) - Leo McCarey*
• Best Original Story (1940) - Bella Spewack* 

*The story is contains an adaptation of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem Enoch Arden. The screenplay's main characters' last name is Arden.

Wednesdays with Cary Grant - Destination Tokyo

In honor of Memorial Day -

"Clair de Lune" - Start you right at the beginning

Chapter 12 - Cassandra falls in love with Simon while listening to Claude Debussy.

From page 217:

"Simon walked along with the candle, looking for the Debussy albums.

"I suppose we ought to start you right at the beginning," he said, "but I don't believe we have anything from "The Children's Corner." I'll try "Clair de Lune" on you - and I bet you'll find you know it."

He was right - as soon as it began I remembered; a girl once played it at a school concert. It is beautiful - and the gramophone was amazing ..."

Do you recognize it? It is used in a lot of movie scores.

Play the sample or download the free MP3.

 

Scoatney Hall is the "new" Netherfield Park

“Did you think of anything when Miss Marcy said Scoatney Hall was being re-opened? I thought of the beginning of Pride and Prejudice – where Mrs. Bennett says ‘Netherfield Park is let at last.’

          And then Mr. Bennett goes over to call on the rich new owner.” [Rose]

“Mr. Bennett didn’t owe him any rent,” I said.  [Cassandra]

“Father wouldn’t go anyway." [Rose]

Which would be nicest? Smidgen of Austen or Bronte

In Chapter 2 (page 24):

[Rose] "How I wish I lived in a Jane Austen novel!"
[Cassandra] I said I'd rather be in a Charlotte Bronte.
[Rose] "Which would be nicest - Jane with a touch of Charlotte, or Charlotte with a touch of Jane?"

What do you think? 80% Austen and 20% Bronte?

I have NO clue. I have never read any of the Bronte sisters' works (unless I blocked them from high school memories). I am adding them to my TBR list. I have quite a referenced list of literature to read from this book (see I am Grigg!). SMH.


Literature
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 
As You Like It (The New Folger Library Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare
Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen
What Maisie Knew (Penguin Classics) by Henry James
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
War and Peace (Wordsworth Classics) (Wadsworth Collection) by Leo Tolstoy
The Letters of Abelard and Heloise by Peter Abelard and Heloise
Vanity Fair (Barnes & Noble Classics) by William Makepeace Thackeray
A la recherche du temps perdu (French Edition) by Marcel Proust
The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales (Signet Classics) by Edgar Allan Poe


Music
Debussy: Images 1 & 2; Children's Corner by Claude Debussy
Clair De Lune by Claude Debussy
Preludes, Book 1: No. 10. La cathedrale engloutie by Claude Debussy
Préludes, Book 2: 7. La terrasse des audiences au clair de lune by Claude Debussy
Sheep May Safely Graze by Bach

I Capture the Castle Movie Trailers

posted on YouTube by hytain

posted on YouTube by curiositykate

I Capture the Castle

Scribble Title: I Capture the Castle
Author: Dodie Smith (also author of 101 Dalmatians)
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Paperback: 352 pages
Original Publish: 1948
Genre: Fiction (diary)
Description: From the cover of the green paperback:

"I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year old Cassandra and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months to hone her writing skills She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her  journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle's walls, and her own first descent into love. By the time she pins her final entry, she has "captured the castle" - and the heart of the reader - in one of literature's most enchanting entertainments."

"This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever met."--J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series
"Dreamy and funny . . . an odd, shimmering timelessness clings to its pages. A thousand and one cheers for its reissue. A+"--Entertainment Weekly

"I Capture the Castle is finally back in print. It should be welcomed with a bouquet of roses and a brass band. Ever since I was handed a tattered copy years ago with the recommendation 'You'll love it,' it has been one of my favorite novels."--Susan Isaacs

"It is an occasion worth celebrating when a sparkling novel, a work of wit, irony, and feeling is brought back into print after an absence of many years. So uncork the champagne for I Capture the Castle."--Los Angeles Times

"A delicious, compulsively readable novel about young love and its vicissitudes. What fun!"--Erica Jong

Flick Title: I Capture the Castle
Actors: Marc Blucas, Rose Byrne, Henry Thomas, Tara Fitzgerald, Romola Garai, Bill Nighy
Rated: R

Studio: Sony Pictures

DVD Release Date: December 23, 2003

Run Time: 113 minutes

Sir Mix Alot's legacy lives on ... "Baby Got Leads"

Just because it cracks me up ...

HubSpot's original song and music video, "Baby Got Leads," about a rapping marketer's obsession with lead conversion and inbound marketing.

Milk + Honey. Be sure to check it out.

Pass the word ...

Asha May, together with her mentor Debbie Allen, Idris Elba and Lance Gross have created an excellent TV series Milk + Honey. Idris and the Brown Paper Dolls company (Chicagoans and Howard U, FAMU & Spelman, grads Dana Gills, Asha Kamali May, and Jeanette McDuffie) have been working on this series for
over 3 years. The show was created to showcase diverse images of women of color that are rarely seen on the big or small screen, and also to create more opportunities for black actors.

http://www.milkandhoneyseries.com/



milk + honey series trailer from brown paper dolls on Vimeo.

Didn't I See You Before Friday?

In His Girl Friday (1940), Bruce Baldwin is about to lose his girl to the conniving newspaper editor, Walter Burns.

Throughout the movie I kept thinking that Baldwin looked and sounded familiar. However, I could not put my finger on it. Toward the middle of the movie, Burns (Cary Grant) gives Evangeline* (Marion Martin - see Sinners in Paradise, Lady of Burlesque: The G-String Murders, Angel on My Shoulder) directions to help her identify Baldwin to prank. Burns (Grant) says, "He looks like Ralph Bellamy."  I scribbled down a note to look up Ralph Bellamy.

Lo and behold, guess who played the character Bruce Baldwin? None other than Ralph Bellamy. So of course Bruce Baldwin looks like Bellamy. LOL!

Why did Bellamy seem so familiar to me? I knew him as the character Randolph Duke from the movies Trading Places (1983) and Coming to America  (1988). Ralph Bellamy had an extremely long career!

* Evangeline was Louie's blond associate; also referenced as "the albino" by Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell).

Mr Media Interviews Dolen Perkins-Valdez, novelist, WENCH

Check out Mr. Media Interviews with Dolen Perkins-Valdez on her book.

In this interview, Perkins-Valdez discusses striking a balance between upsetting the reader and romantizing the situation (black female slave - white male owner relationships).

Do you think that she was able to achieve this balance?

The Awful Truth: Scandalous relatives can mess up your game

The Awful Truth: Scandalous relatives can mess up your game.

Just ask Elizabeth Bennet (Pride And Prejudice) or Jerry Warriner (The Awful Truth). There's is nothing like a relative making a bad impression.

In this scene, Jerry Warriner's soon-to-be ex-wife, Lucy (Irene Dunne), pretends to be his drunken sister in order to undermine his relationship with his fiancee and her family. It is my favorite scene in The Awful Truth. Lucy Warriner's dialogue is priceless! Samples:

"Saa-ayy, wait a minute. Don't anybody leave this room. I've lost my purse."

"I had three or four [drinks] before I got here, but they're beginning to wear off, and you know how that is. [Lucy to Jerry] Well, don't look at me like that. You like a little drink yourself. We call him him 'Jerry the Nipper.' He likes to sneak 'em when nobody's looking."

"[Singing] I used to dream about a cottage small, a cottage small by a waterfall, but I wound up with no home at all, my dreams have gone with the wind."

"I never could do that."

posted on YouTube by Countrygirltori24

"The Awful Truth" is awfully funny!

In Leo McCarey's 1937 screwball comedy, The Awful Truth, unresolved suspicions of affairs lead a married couple to begin divorce proceedings. During the 60 days before the finalization of the divorce, the spouses try to undermine each other's attempts remarry.

 

Next week - His Girl Friday

The Awful Truth: I'm addicted to screwball comedies.

I am addicted to screwball comedies. There. I said it. Step 1 on the road to recovery.

1. I admit I am powerless over screwball comedies—that my movie queue has become unmanageable.

See, what had happened was .... it all started with the Thin Man series ... though some would argue that it is not true screwball .... whateva.

Then I saw Bringing Up Baby which led to His Girl Friday and The Awful Truth (I ♥ Cary Grant). All of which I found odd, but captivating.

After comparing the movie descriptions, I realized that they were considered screwball comedies. To me, a screwball comedy is somewhere between a farce and a romantic comedy. And at times, kinda like sophisticated slapstick.

"What goes on?" I don't normally like slapstickish movies. I must admit that I am not really sure what keeps me watching screwball comedies. They are like train wrecks. I know what's doing to happen, but I cannot look away.  Perhaps it is the combination of:

• Clever fast-paced dialog
• Reversal of traditional gender roles
• Comedy of error (I was paying attention in literature class)
• A ridiculous/unpredictable situation
• A smidgen of slapstick

Now my movie queue is all backed up. I must watch all of the other screwball comedies. I cannot help myself. Crack (slapstick) is wack. I know. I know.

Do you like (err ... love) screwball comedies?

Thoughts on "Evenings with Cary Grant"

My Amazon.com Review

I wasn't expecting to like Evenings With Cary Grant: Recollections in His Own Words and by Those Who Knew Him Best so much. I cannot think of a lovelier "biography." To be honest, it is less of a biography and more like a collage of an amazing life as told by Grant and those who knew him (guided by Nancy Nelson's narrative hand). With a forward by Barbara (Grant's wife) and Jennifer (Grant's daughter), the book has an air of credibility that you don't often find with celebrity biographies.

A charming, troubled, generous, witty, stylish and talented actor, the "real" Cary Grant seems even more likable after finishing the book (if you can imagine that). It's rare to find a movie star that has such appeal with both men and women. The book makes you wonder what your life story would read like as told by the words you left behind and those who knew you.

Many thanks to Nancy Nelson for enabling me to snuggle up with Cary Grant for a couple of evenings. "Happy Thoughts!"

P.S.
I am curious to see what the books of Grant's daughter Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant and his ex-wife (Dyan Cannon) Dear Cary: A Memoir have to add.

Happy Birthday Audrey Hepburn!

Which of her movies is your favorite?

Out Today: Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant

Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant by Jennifer Grant

Also check out "Cary Grant: Debonair dad" from @CBSNews "Jennifer Grant writes of her cherished childhood and the iconic Hollywood star who gave up acting to raise his only daughter"

Throwback: Sizzlean Ad

"Move over Jacob, there’s something leaner!" Jake!*

Dear Grown Folks,

It appears that there is a non-kiddie alternative for werewolf fans (not that Twilight's Jacob isn't peachy keen) on the horizon. The YouTube video featuring the author uploaded by Knopfdoubleday has me very intrigued (see below).

The The Last Werewolf, by Glen Duncan will be released on July 11, 2011 on Amazon.com. Duncan talks a good game, but can his book back him up? We'll see. Bring on Jake Marlowe! Added to my To-Be-Read List - The Last Werewolf.

Waiting with bated breath, 
Tallulah

P.S.

Have you read any of Glen Duncan's other books? Any recommendations?

* Throwback to the old Sizzlean ads. Betcha The Last Werewolf will be flying out of stores like Sizzlean. 

I ♥ Megan McGlover's Weather Reports

Just because Megan McGlover's weather reports crack me up ...

On Donald Trump - "He don't even have a comb over! He got a comb around! You ain't gotta pay no attention to a man that got a comb around!"

Mrs. Bennet vs. Jay-Z: Can't Knock the Hustle

con't from yesterday -

Mrs. Bennet was an old school hustler. I just didn't see it before. There are a few key parallels with Jay-Z's Can't Knock The Hustle. 

1. hustler: (n) an ambitious person who eagerly goes after what is desired. Mrs. Bennet was definitely eager.

Mrs. Bennet:
The business of her life was to get her daughters married.

Jay-Z:
"I'm making short term goals, when the weather folds,

Just put away the leathers and put ice on gold"

2. Hustlers know stakes are high.

Mrs. Bennet:
"I do think it is the hardest thing in the world, that your estate should be entailed away from your own children."

... [Mrs. Bennet] continued to rail bitterly against the cruelty of setting an estate away from a family of five daughters, in favour of man whom nobody cared anything about.

Jay-Z:
"High stakes, I got more at stake than Philly"

3. Mrs. Bennet shamelessly bragged about Jane’s good looks while at Netherfield. Spittin' mad game to eliminate the Lucas girls from favor, in particular Charlotte Lucas. Dirty move. Hustlers aren't scared to do dirt to strengthened their games.

Mrs. Bennet:
"Oh! dear, yes; but your must own [Charlotte] is very plain. Lady Lucas herself has often said so, and envied me Jane’s beauty. I do not like to boast of my own child, but to be sure, Jane—one does not often see anybody better looking. It is what everybody says."

Jay-Z: 

"Last seen out of state where I drop my slang
I'm deep in the South kickin' up top game"

 "We do dirt like worms"

4. When she was discontented, Mrs. Bennet fancied herself nervous which made her seem a little crazy. Hustlers often seem somewhat crazy to others.

Mrs. Bennet:

She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper.

"People who suffer as I do from nervous complaints can have no great inclination for talking. Nobody can tell what I suffer! -- But it is always so. Those who do not complain are never pitied."

Jay-Z: 

"But until the late thang, I'm the one whose crazy
'Cause that's the way you're makin' me feel
I'm just trying to get mine, I don't have the time
To knock the hustle for real"

"Pops knew exactly what he did when he made me

Tried to get a nut and he got a nut. And what?
Straight bananas. Can a playa see me?"

5. Mrs. Bennet didn’t appreciate anyone trying to step to her or her peeps – even Mr. Darcy.

Mrs. Bennet:
"But I can assure you," she added, "that Lizzy does not lose much by not suiting his fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited that there was no enduring him! He walked here, and he walked there, fancying himself so very great! Not handsome enough to dance with! I wish you had been there, my dear, to have given him one of your set-downs. I quite detest the man."  (Mrs. Bennet to Mr. Bennet about Mr. Darcy)

Jay-Z:
"Your worst fear confirmed
Me and my fam roll tight like The Firm
Getting down for life, that's right, you better learn
Why play with fire, burn?
We get together like a choir to acquire what we desire"

6. Same here. When Darcy said, "In a country neighbourhood, you move in a very confined and unvarying society," Mrs. Bennet mistook it for an insult. She bragged about her 'hood.

Mrs. Bennet:
"... as to not meeting with many people in this neighborhood, I believe there are few neighborhoods larger. I know we dine with four-and-twenty families."

Jay-Z:

"I am takin out this time to give you a piece of my mind
Cause you can't knock the hustle
Who do you think you are?"

"Got the U.S. Open. Advantage Jigga
Serve like Sampras, play fake a rappers like a campus
Le Tigre, son, you're too eager 
You ain't having it? Good, me either"

7. Mrs. Bennet wasn’t letting anyone mess up her game. Mr. Collins said was interested in marrying of her daughters. He focused on Jane, as she was the oldest. She cautioned Mr Collins that Jane was likely to be very soon engaged. Seeing an opportunity to secure the family estate and marry off another daughter, Mrs Bennet hinted to Elizabeth as an alternate match.

Mrs. Bennet:

Mr. Collins had only to change from Jane to Elizabeth—and it was soon done—done while Mrs. Bennet was stirring the fire. Elizabeth, equally next to Jane in birth and beauty, succeed her of course. Mrs. Bennet treasured up the hint, and trusted that she soon might have two daugthers married.

Jay-Z:  
"I'm leaning on any playa intervenin' with the sound of my money machine-in'"

8. Mrs. Bennet told Bingley that Mr. Bennet would save all the best hunting for him. Why? Cause they had it like that.

Mrs. Bennet:

"When you have killed all your own birds, Mr. Bingley, said her [Mrs. Bennet], "I beg you will come here, and shoot as many as you please on Mr. Bennet's manor. I am sure he will be vastly happy to oblige, and will save all the best of the covies for you."

Jay-Z: 

"I got extensive hoes, with expensive clothes"

Stop hating on Mrs. Bennet!

The first time that I read Pride And Prejudice, I felt like Mrs. Bennet was a shameless nut like most people. Who would want that loon as a mother? Talk about embarrassing. After reading it again, I would add another adjective to my Mrs. Bennet Wordle box. Effective. That's right effective.

An advantageous marriage was crucial to a young woman's survival during that time. As foolish as she was, Mrs. Bennet knew the score and did what she thought was best to make sure her babies came out on top. It worked (in a roundabout way). Having three out of five daughters wed by the end of the book ain't bad.

I was listening to Jay-Z's Can't Knock The Hustle the other day and thought, "Stop hating on Mrs. Bennet. She was a hustler and you can't knock her hustle. Even if her methods were suspect." Take a listen to a jazzy version of the song below and check my next post to see my hoydenish train of thought.

Video uploaded to YouTube by sheeshmusic