Monday, June 30, 2008

As the world turns

Seems that they are building a moving skyscraper in Dubai. I think the "idea" of a spinning building is cool, but not sure that I'd enjoy living in one.

They'll probably have to put dramamine in the water.

Drunks might also have trouble living in a room that is already spinning before they start drinking.

Guess I'll have to stick to renting non-moving apartments....

Friday, June 27, 2008

International Boogie



This guy, Matt, traveled to 42 countries over the course of 13 months and filmed himself doing his silly dance in each location with a variety of locals. He managed to do it with a sponsorship from Strid gum.

His "Where the Hell is Matt" site with info on how it all started is a lot of fun to read.

I wonder if Cap'n Crunch would sponsor me to do a Crunch Berry dance around the world.

Hmmm.....

Thursday, June 26, 2008

D-list Mardi Gras

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Tonight's episode of "My Life on the D-list" is the one where Kathy Griffin hosted the Pink Flight from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia for the Gay Mardi Gras. I was on that flight , as many of you know.

I'm not sure if I'm on camera anywhere in this particular episode. I tried to avoid them...but you never know.

Should be interesting....

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Will kissin' Dave

Will Smith was on Letterman recently and was his usual charming self. However, on this particular visit to the show, he and Dave seemed to get along particularly well....



I can't wait to see Will's new movie, "Hancock" in July.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Saved by the bra

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I guess I'll be packing one more item next time I decide to go on a hike into the mountains...

An American hiker stranded in the Bavarian Alps for nearly three days was rescued after using her sports bra as a signal, police in southern Germany said Monday.

Berchtesgaden police officer Lorenz Rasp said that he helped lift 24-year-old Jessica Bruinsma of Colorado to safety by helicopter on Thursday after she attracted the attention of lumberjacks by attaching her sports bra to a cable used to move timber down the mountain.

Rasp said the cable was only within reach because the timber transport system was out of service. When a repairman restored the line on Thursday, the cable car started moving up the mountain and Bruinsma's bra reached the worker at the base. He knew of the missing hiker and immediately called police.

Hopefully she was wearing clean underwear too.

Although, contrary to what moms all over the world would have you believe, I think lumberjacks probably wouldn't care one way or the other.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Super Mario

Maybe it's the 111 degree heat AGAIN today, but after I poured myself out of the car, got the mail and went into the house....I noticed something that took my mind off of the awfulness outside.

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The cover of the new People magazine and the header "Mario Lopez Bares All".

Hmmm...I needed some inspiration and was certain that it was a humanitarian story of his struggle making it as a latino actor in the model-eat-model city of Los Angeles.

I was right...

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The story begins with his challenging upbringing on a deserted island with Brooke Shields.

After swimming for 3 weeks in the open sea, he managed to be rescued by a Monk in a passing boat and brought to the U.S.

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It described his days as an assistant stylist to the stars...

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Then working as Richard Gere's stunt double in "American Gigolo" to pay the bills....

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Then, his life in Vegas working at Cesar's Palace as a gladiator greeter to the masses...

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To better days as a Corona spokesperson.

It was really inspiring, I have to tell you.

Now, if he would only just work out a little bit, get some facial reconstruction surgery and a new set of teeth....

I really think he could make it.

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It's all about what's INSIDE that counts and, with his average looks and body, I have a feeling he has a lot going on inside.

Update: Photobucket deleted my original top photo of Mario in the famous Burt Reynolds pose on the rug (his naughty bits were covered). Me thinks they are a tad bit too quick to decide what is inappropriate...

Thursday, June 19, 2008

I hate this weather SO much...

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It is 111 degrees today and it feels as if you'll just burst into flames the moment you step outside. Honestly, it's too early in the summer for this kind of heat. If this is a preview of things to come, I may need to take a summer trip to Alaska very soon.

The heat made me think of Madeline Kahn's confession speech in the movie "Clue", mainly the part where she talks about how much she hated Yvette, the maid (before killing her)...



God, I miss her!

She was one of the funniest character actresses of her time. And that movie, as cheesy as it is, has some hilarious stuff in it and another of my favorite actresses, Eileen Brennan (also hilarious as Mrs. Peacock).

I also happened upon a Web site that used to sell "Mrs. White Flames" tshirts. It says they're sold out, but I'm gonna email them anyway and see if I can arrange to get one now.

How could you not?

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

That's HOT

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This visual just might explain why it's so #%##@!! hot here today. It was 106 degrees today when I got out of my car....

ONE HUNDRED AND SIX!

What a world....I'm melting...I'm melting....

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Focusing on a different kind of heat, it appears that Mario Lopez has recreated his own version of a famous Marky Mark ad for Calvin Klein underwear. I don't like to choose favorites, so I'll just wait until they have the hot oil wrestle-off, then make my decision.

Have I mentioned it's hot today?



Seems to be some heat in this kitchen too. I read this article today on JoeMyGod about the new Heinz ad that begins airing in the UK soon.

Heinz is set to challenge some viewer expectations with a light-hearted TV campaign that features two men sharing a kiss. The TV commercial, which promotes a new range of dressing called Heinz Deli Mayo, breaks tonight and will be supported by a press campaign. Heinz' new ad opens with a family on a normal morning routine with a young boy and girl getting ready for school and their father preparing for the office.

All I could think about while watching this commercial, besides how cute it is, was how lucky those kids are to have someone to make them a sandwich and wish them a good day.

I really need to learn to cook...or win the lottery so that I can hire a full-time chef.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my usual Fruity Pebbles and Cap'n Crunch...but having a meal with actual nutritional value once in a while, would be a nice change for me and my digestive system.

And finally, wrapping up my "Mabel, is the heat on?" entry, check out this clip of Olivia Newton-John singing "Burn, Baby, Burn" from the upcoming LOGO TV series "Sordid Lives: The Series" that starts airing next month. It looks pretty funny and has many of the original cast members from the movie, including my favorite, Leslie "Beverly Leslie" Jordan.



She looks great (can you believe she's 59?!) and still has one of the best singing voices around.

Of course, she sang "Xanadu"...so she'll always hold a special place in my heart.



Xanadu....uuuuuu....UUUUUU!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Blowin' in the wind

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"I'm just gonna look outside and see what the weather is like...."

I just read about this amazing photo, taken last Tuesday in Iowa. I'll bet it wasn't exactly what she expected when she went to check the weather that afternoon....

When the weather turned violent and stormy on Tuesday evening, Lori Mehmen, who lives in the small farming town of Orchard in northeastern Iowa, looked out her front door and saw a funnel cloud bearing down — and evidently had the presence of mind to grab her digital camera and capture this shot before taking cover.

As deadly as tornados can be, I've always been fascinated by them. Growing up in Ohio, we were certainly used to regular tornado warnings over the years. Fortunately, we never had one actually touch down near our home.

If I ever looked out my front window and saw THAT image...I'm pretty sure that it would be time for a Depends change.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Happy Birthday Frank

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I just realized that today is Frank's birthday....the first one since he passed away in March while I was traveling.

It's been such an odd thing to have him just.....gone, since my return. After 17 years of caring for him, almost full time in the past year, and having him be such a huge part of my life, it's been weird adjusting to the fact that he's just not physically here now, like he was before I left.

Usually, people experience a death, then go to the funeral, then grieve until life eventually takes over.

But, since it happened while I was gone, it feels more like he just disappeared.

Sad.

Well, wherever you are Frank, I hope you're happy and at peace. And, if they have horse racing in heaven, I hope you have a front row seat at every event!

You are missed.

Fishues

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Our last day in Houston was spent searching for sights that featured air-conditioning, so we ended up at the Houston Aquarium. Now, I'm not a big fan of things that swim in the ocean, hence my resistance to scuba diving, eating seafood (unless it's deep fried enough to let me imagine it's anything else) and such. I'd be just as uncomfortable having sea creatures roaming the aisles at my local Ralphs (Is that Lance Bass?), so I try to avoid floating around their natural habitats too.

However, I'm fine visiting places where I can view what is out there, without me actually having to brush up against them.

Yes, I have fishues.

After spending a good deal of time roaming the halls of the aquarium, here are some great examples of creatures that keep me land-locked...

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I prefer Smuckers jelly, instead of jelly fish.

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One doesn't encounter these kinds of creatures in a public swimming pool, which is fine by me.

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Piranhas anyone? No thanks...I don't care if they are gold-plated.

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The Wayland Flowers fish, although pretty, is not something I'd like to encounter while snorkeling or re-enacting scenes from "The Blue Lagoon".

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The Ed Sullivan fish must have been feeling blue on this particular day.

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This Lidsville fish is also nice, but better off in the ocean and not fluttering by my little piggies.

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Surprisingly, this aquarium also had four white tigers on display. I didn't realize that they spent any time in the water, but they are beautiful to look at behind VERY thick plexiglass.

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Nice kitty.

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They also had a ginormous boa constrictor on display...sweet dreams.

I didn't get a picture of the Bird-eating Tarantula for two reasons....one, its habitat was all fogged up, so difficult to get a good shot. Two...I couldn't stop twitching from the idea that this big, hairy spider can actually eat a bird...so, buh-bye birdy!

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They also had this Boo Berry Shark floating over us during the "Shark Experience" (which wasn't much of an experience after all). It has a face that looks like the Ghost of Fishmas Past.

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After leaving the aquarium, we just wandered the city a bit more before heading back to the apartment to nap.

Houston is a nice, clean city with a variety of unusual odors floating around (we must have missed the giant litter box art sculpture that I am sure was there somewhere). It's way too hot and muggy for me to consider ever living there.

But, it might be worth a trip back in the fall sometime...

Or not.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Drama day

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Who's that pretty lady?

We went to see "The Happening" yesterday with Kerry. She worked a few days on the film last year and we were looking forward to seeing how it all turned out. They had featured her scene in one of the trailers, so we hoped that meant the scene actually stayed in the final cut (sometimes, as the release date gets closer, scenes get cut at the last minute). Thankfully, her big scene was very much there and one of the most effective/dramatic scenes in the whole film.

As far as the film itself....well, Kerry's scene was great, there were a few very disturbing visual scenes early on and Betty Buckley's (the mom from "Eight is Enough" for you TV kids) scenes added some much needed tension.

Overall...did I mention that Kerry's scene was great and that Betty Buckley was in it?

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After stopping by a local crepe place for an after-movie snack, we headed back to the apartment so Kerry could get ready for her performance at the theater a few hours later. It would be the first time I've seen her in a play and I was really looking forward to it. I've heard her sing a bit around the apartment (my favorite improved song she did was "I get too many bills in the mail"), but hearing someone in a big show is often very different.

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She was GREAT and the show was a lot of fun! I have always admired people who can sing a song so effortlessly and with so much emotion. My shower singing has that too, I'm sure, but dogs howling is not the same as an audience of people cheering and applauding.

The show is chock a' block full of fun songs, dancing and energy. Her co-star in the show, Harry Groener, was good (and besides his many credits, will forever be known to me as "the mayor" on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") and another of her co-stars, Meredith Patterson, is quite famous recently to all of us "Boston Legal" fans as Missy Tiggs, the annoyingly cute singing ex-fiance of Tom Selleck this past year. Such a funny character...

After the show, we had dinner with a few of her castmates, then came home to catch up, then get some sleep.

Also, as some of you know from my recent travels abroad, I have a "wee" bit of an issue with large spiders. For the past few nights, I've noticed this spider hanging in a web between a nearby tree and Kerry's balcony. It's been far enough away for me to still sleep soundly and, since it was dark, I couldn't really get a good look at it.

So, last night I saw it again in the same place and decided to try and get a picture of it. After a few trys, here is what I got...

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What the ass kind of spider is that?

Geez!!!!????

Wow Houston, look at the time....gotta go soon.

Friday, June 13, 2008

A happening day

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Not enjoying the heat so much...

It's been in the upper 90's since I got here and, I have to admit, its kinda ass. The thing about heat is that, with it, there seems to be an extreme lack of cool. When it's too cold, you can always put on more clothes to get warm. When it's hot, you can only get so naked and then...you're still hot.

And the police tend to try to arrest you....again.

Luckily, Houston has this cool (literally and figuratively) underground walkway system that connects most of the downtown buildings for just this reason. It allows you to get from place to place without being "above" in the sweltering heat. It's also very clean and bright and without the smell of urine and mouth that I was expecting to experience. As a result, the sidewalks in the city look almost empty most of the day.

Enjoyable.

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The city has a variety of interesting art pieces scattered about...very modern and colorful. I'm not a big arty person, but I can appreciate most of it for what it is.

Well....most of it.

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This particular piece looks like something my little niece threw together for her kinder-care class. It's a somewhat famous project and is featured prominently in one of the big buildings in the middle of the city. Hmmmm...

I should have kept all of my pathetic shop class projects. If I had known that they could be considered "art" in Houston, I could have moved here and lived a life of luxury and fame.

You live and you learn...

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We're going to see Kerry's play tonight, which is very exciting. She is playing THE American in Paris, so I think she'll have a pretty big part in the show. We stopped by the theater yesterday for a few minutes and she took me backstage to see where all the magic occurs.

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I got to see her dressing room, which was fun. It took all of my willpower to NOT sit down in one of the chairs and put on some of the fun costumes and such in the room. However, I do believe I've found my outfit for the show tonight...

I think I'll wear this hat...

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Unless it's too hot (I don't want the fruit to go bad), then I'll wear this hat (if Cher can part with it for the night)...

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And this outfit...

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They're subtle, but formal enough to fit into the bustling Houston theater crowd.

I'd hate to stand out.

Oh, we're also going to see the new movie "The Happening" this afternoon. Kerry has a small part in it too (she plays a mother who gets a disturbing call from her daughter), so that should be fun. I suggest seeing her movie over that Hulk this weekend.

Didn't the Hulk come out about 5 years ago anyway?

Do we really need another one with not one, but TWO badly CGI'd Hulks?

Me thinks not...

Thursday, June 12, 2008

First night out

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I had a great time with Kerry's gays and other cast members last night. We all ate at a great restaurant, Hugos...we ate a LOT. The food was good, the company was fun and I enjoy any restaurant with cobalt blue glassware. It'll be fun to see this wacky crew of kids in the show tomorrow night. If it's anywhere near as witty as their own personalities...it's gonna be a hoot!

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Considering it's not in the Alps and isn't really a chateau...my guess is that the inside provides a variety of "pleasures" for the active adult. Things like this...

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I'm not ready to book my pleasure party just yet....but at least when I am, I know who to call.

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I might need to go into this store to buy a volcano light or to see if Wilmer Valderamma is working behind the counter. A person can dream, right?

Kerry and I are off to do some errands in this "wonderful" heat. Hopefully it'll help me sweat out the late night scrambled eggs with chili....and waffle that I ate at 2:00 am last night.

My intestines are still "thanking" me for that meal.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Not Whitney Houston

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This heat is whack!

After, what seemed like a 25 minute walk from the terminal to baggage claim, I finally made it out of the Houston airport, to SuperShuttle and to my friend's lovely condo here in downtown Houston. It's about 95 degrees today and muggy...I should smell "great" later.

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First impressions of the city....seems great. Looking forward to actually seeing it, rather than driving through it.

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My friend has arranged for several of "her gays" (she's the star of her show, so she gets to have her own gays) are taking me out tonight for a tour. We're about to leave soon...so this will be short. Like the sign I saw at the airport above....I think I'll be hanging with some national and international Marys...I'll soon find out when I meet them.

Of course, I always favor the Mexican Marys (lower left of sign)....

More tomorrow....