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?