So, does this make me a snob?

Yeah; I was wondering as I wander aimlessly and most usually with a purpose when it comes to our 'hood, aka McKinley Park where I happened upon an old friend. Now, by no means am I Mizz North Shore La-dee-dah where I trot aimlessly and/or w/a purpose in designer clothes often...but I do have 'em. Nor am I judgemental if I happen to wear and notice Walmart, Target, etc...clothing. Actually, them there regular department stores have come a long way w/fashions. They don't last as long as say...you purchase them at Macy's or what have you...but they're nice! In fact, I found an exquisite pattern of fabric at the fabulous Jo-Ann's. It's that elastic type of top w/a decent length of fabric to just measure out, cut and sew together to make a rockin' sun dress...it's black w/huge cherries on it; V. Rockabilly, I tell ya! Anywho....It was well over $4 bones a yard...I put it into my mental file as I wandered over to Walmart who sold the EXACT SAME FABRIC for a buck .99!!!!! Groovy deal, dudes; I bought ten yards as I wish to make a mommy and me dress set for me and the wee bairn lassie...

But I digress:

So, trekking along w/the zoo I happened upon an old friend. We start yakkin' away when suddenly a couple of dudes walked up to us and were walking an enormous Neapolitan Mastiff. How do I know such details? Uh, that's Hagrid's dog from Harry Potter...anywho....the two dudes who were impressed w/my doggie knowledge and ended up being father and son were dressed......uh, how shall I say this delicately? Like a couple of homeless dudes...and they stunk. Badly....I felt like the snobbish dude at Chez Paul in the "Blues Brothers." "May we get another table from those...men? They smell. I mean...they smell...bad." That's how I felt. And the son who was well in his 20s had....no teeth, and as he spoke going on impressed with "how did you know" questions a-constant about my doggie knowledge...let's just say I just about fell over w/that stank. Whew...Now, I am NOT holding against him nor his father, who looked equally gross; but at least I go out in clean clothes; not stankin' all up and breathin' on folks! Come now; have a bit of dignity, peeps. Futhermore; the reasoning behind all this silly judgemental-ness (is that a word? Snicker....), the son had approached me on his bike last winter asking for $2 bucks or a smoke.....which I obliged (the smoke, not the moolah).

Anyway....just rambling...have a lovely day! It's going to be 85 degrees F in Chicago today....March 20th....2012. Crazy, baby!

BTW, thanks to all w/suggestions re: putting muzak on my new 'droid. Turns out our Toshiba is a chick, and was just tempermental. I had tried plugging her in....and no dice. All of a sudden she want's to cooperate.....

Perhaps she had her period.

All of us Monkee fans: we are in mourning.....

To think it was just after we moved into our fantastic new place where we were barely unpacked and at the last minute decided to go to Merrilville, Indiana to the Star Plaza Theater despite the threatening weather that lay both ahead and behind us. At the last minute, despite being financially challanged and not sure if it was really a good idea to do so, we went to take our son to see......

The Monkees.

So, with bad weather in our view either way, a dent in our pocket w/the fact that we had to rent a car to trek out to Indiana and the moolah to purchase the tickets, we went, service dog and all. The theater was incredibly accommodating for our needs, IE, our son w/his service dog and the show was just.....fantastic! Not quite from what I remember when I watched their TV show and their concert in 1997...and without the "Nez," aka Wool Hat; it was still a wonderful experience not only for me, but watching my son have an incredible time enjoying the music of the Monkees.

Why incredible? Well, I personally think despite the Star Plaza Theater is a bit small, it's seating is comparable to the Coliseum in Rome, IE, there ain't a single bad seat in the joint. Every seat in the place has a great view of the stage, accoustics aren't too loud and the seats are pretty roomy.

Plus, the fact that there were so many happy people there, having the time of their lives. You felt the joy and love the fans had still; mainly old, few young. It was like a PBS Doo-Wop special where there didn't seem to be a single person under the age of 30 there, but the joy on everyone's face was noticable. And I noticed it at this show.

And THAT'S what the show was all about! Joy. Fun. Good old fashioned clean fun. And seeing and feeling the joy of the fans; and going back in time even just for a couple of hours was amazing, IMO. Not having to worry about a single, darn thing for those couple of hours. Not even bad weather.

YES, I turn around and look around to see my surroundings or how people are reacting to a show, even in the movie theater; like Amelie.

Being a fan myself as my husband is as well since we both grew up w/the Monkees, I found us despondent over the news of Davy's death, which my husband broke to me at work on February 29th by calling me and saying "are you sitting down? I have bad news." I was shocked! I'm still shocked. No, I didn't expect him to live forever, but he's the age of my parents, so it's a shock, ok? And then having to tell our son as he's an enormously huge fan....was truly one of the hardest things to do.

And seeing his reaction? Just as difficult. He said "I'm so heartbroken." And I am too as I tear up typing, especially at my son's reaction.

I started crying watching an episode where they sing "Daydream Believer." To think that'll never be sung again by Davy. My husband made some interesting observations... funny ones too. He said with sadness, "it feels as if a bit of my childhood has died, as trite as that may sound. Plus, it's reminding me I'm getting friggin' old." He also said, "despite Whitney Houston just died, he's getting pretty much the same attention she did. So Davy's getting the "full Whitney," IE, news coverage, observations, comments, etc.. from the various gossip websites, channels, etc... They even showed some celebs reacting to his death, like Eddie Murphy, who was initially asked about his "relations" with Toni Braxton. When told Davy died, he was truly upset and shocked, saying "oh no! Davy? Seriously?" Will Smith, Al Roker, Eva Longora have tweeted about his death, stating how sad they are with Al mentioning the same thing my husband said, about losing a bit of his childhood.

???? Wow, my husband! He's funny, and very observant.

And how surprised I was to hear so many fellow minorities were into the "Monkees." In fact, funny thing is when we told younger people we went to see them their faces lit up and were excited, asking, "are you serious? That is so cool!" Such enthusiasm for such a fun band!

So, this weekend even though we do own the first season of "The Monkees" TV show, we vegged out in front of the boob tube with Antenna TV tuned to watch "The Monkees" all......day.....since Saturday afternoon. We watched every episode for both seasons and I'm about to tune in and drop out again to the movie "Head."

I wish for peace, love and light to all who know and loved Davy, especially his girls; his daughters and wife, Jessica. You're getting kind thoughts of love and peace from us and all your fans.... and hope you'll get through this with the love and respect you deserve.

Rest in peace, white knight on his steed.

And the Oscar for best picture goes to.....

Yes, being a bit biased as I've not seen the other films, but "The Help" is by far...one of the best adaptations of a movie from a book I've seen in a long time and I really want it to win Best Picture. It's been a really long times since I've seen a good much less an amazing adaption from book to film; save the "Harry Potter" flicks. But again, I'm biased! LOL!

"The Help" is about life in the south during the turbulant pre-civil right's era of the early 1960s. It touches on hardship negro maids and their over-indulged and "Scarlett O'Hara-esque" white employers as well as historical happenings, IE, the assassinations of Kennedy and Medgar Evers to name a few. The movie makes it a point not to overtly shove the segregation of the races during that time... yet makes it's point, thus not giving you the "oh good grief! Another sappy anti-racism messege." It's insightful, it's realistic, and it's beautifully done.

But it ain't like the book! The book is AMAZING! I laughed out loud, I cried..yes! I straight-up cried. And I could not put the darn thing down! Had to read it twice actually. And for obvious reasons re: movie production costs, time limits, etc...a lot of the book wasn't in the movie. So you just have to get thee to your local bookstore and get it! It's very well worth it and an amazing fact the author Kathryn Stockett was rejected by almost every publishing house she approached. But finally, just like JK Rowling, someone gave her a break...and a wonderful break it is for this first time novel.

Read "The Help," and watch "The Help" and enjoy it! I know you will!

The UBIQUITOUS telling of Jane Eyre....

Interesting thing is the story of Jane Eyre and the repeated amount of times it's been made into a movie...almost as bad as Jane Austen books made into movies, ad nauseum. Funnily enough, I've had the pleasure of watching various versions of both, including the more recent Jane Eyre, which missed a lot from the book, thus not including the parakeet (see King of Queens, "Educationg Dougie," on youtube). So from my experience I've compiled a small list of the best and worse versions of Jane Eyre. Of course, this is entirely my opinion:


1983 Jane Eyre
Timothy Dalton as silly Rochester
Zelah Clark as bored Jane
11 part series(Yes, 11!), and it was unfortunately boring or as I like to say, as exciting as watching paint dry, which is unfortunate as I adore Mr. Dalton and hated he only hade a very minut bit of time in the Johnny Depp/Angelina Jolie fun flick "The Tourist." Dull, dull......OY dull.

1996 Jane Eyre
William Hurt as Rochester. William acted bored, uninterested and not willing to give his all for the roll which made him do a Kevin Kostner ala Robin Hood IE: losing his English accent here and there.
Charlotte Gainsbourg as Jane; she seemed perpetually bored, exhausted, unwilling to give a bit of passion as....well, Jane did become passionate about Mr. Rochester and the parakeet (kidding....just watch that episode of King of Queens).
Zeffirelli’s version is pretty & has the cutest Adele, but lacks passion. The poster is the most passionate thing about it. Skip it.

1997 Jane Eyre
Ciaran Hinds as Rochester. Loud, boisterous, his mustache was a bit too "meh" and reminded me of Dale Earnhardt for some reason
Samantha Morton as Jane who, IMO over-acted the part. Another dull one, IMO.

Crazy coupon lady on the loose brought back to earth!

So, this weekend we made a pilgrimage to our local big SUPER store that matches prices. For the past week starting last Saturday, I've been on Extreme Coupon Planet as I clipped and saved coupons, organizing them according to what we needed, PLUS as our local ads come in the mail on Tuesdays/Wednesdays, I waited w/bated breath as they came in and I made my list for what I needed w/the ads(which I brought to my SUPER store despite they stated they didn't need them. Uh, yeah; they claim they don't need them there ads, but I brought 'em anyway). So, w/kids in tow and two carts, we did our shopping. It was late, the kids were cranky, sleepy, punchy, hungry despite we had just fed them half off fast food goodies. They were just being kids. We used two carts; one for match-ups and one for just stuff we needed. This was a great idea as you can have the cashier ring up one cart or the other, whichever you want to get finished up first. I chose to have the match-ups last to show the ads, etc... What took so long in regard to getting the coupons together and what gave me a flippin' headache all week and made me an incredibly cranky, crabby mommy ( and it wasn't even "moon time" for me!) was I put together a general list, then made ANOTHER list to coincide w/the match-up products and attached them to the coinciding ad. This, IMO ended up being a bit of a waste of time; hindsight. Anyway, what I did then was store the coupons w/the coinciding product on each ad; and I took about four ads. Glad I did because I had to prove it regardless of the fact the SUPER store said their match policy doesn't require this. What I believe would help and make things not soooo insane is this(which I plan on using next time): Make a list, period! Keep products and coupons listed together according to product type, (IE, "health/beauty" coupons, "laundry" coupons, etc...). If you have coupons for some items, then seperate them from your list by either listing them seperately or putting a big "C" next to the name of the product. Be sure to research your ads if you're planning on having them matched at your SUPER store, but distinguish them by putting next to the product name where the ad is from, page number and the price per item w/size. Example? Peanut Butter Grocery Store J, ad page 3. 3/$5 {3-C/.50 off} I have the "C" noted as I have 3 coupons for this item. Use a highlighter too if that'll help. Then, have your coupons together in the order of your list. Be sure to put how many coupons you have and the price. This will make things easier to keep track at the check-out. Then type up on your computer or write up a final list, put it w/your coupons and ads. Be sure to bring every ad you want matched as this makes things go so much faster and you won't have a cranky cashier, whom you want on your side. I understand certain stores mention they don't require the ads, but it will save you and the cashier aggravation in the long run. Also, use a seperate cart for your matched ad items. This too will make things easier so have the cashier ring up the "regular" stuff first, then pull out the "matched-ad" stuff and mention that to your cashier and have the ads and your list at the ready to prove your weight in gold, so to speak. If your cashier makes a mistake, gently and very nicely inform them of this and point out the error. I usually am very nice and extra sweet, cordial, etc...as I'm spending a lot of time w/these ladies/gentlemen. Plus, you want them on your side. Being a cashier ain't easy work, yo! W/all that repatitive hand motion ringing stuff all day, cashiers can develop arm/hand injuries that may require surgery. Trust me, I've had surgery for such "injury." I also have had extremely rude cashiers and what I've even done was grabbed my merchandise and marched up to "Customer Service," asked for a manager and told them of the rude dude/dudette. Believe me, these retailers do NOT want to piss us off but they too need the mutual respect to be bestowed upon a fellow human being. Customer service is a tedious, difficult and at times a soul draining job, but when we (me in the past tense) would get that customer who was chatty, funny, attentive, nice, etc...it made the job worthwhile. And...that's pretty much it! Let me know if any of these tips are useful and if you've done so. My back still kinda aches which is most likely due to my bad posture as I lurched above my laptop and ads on our dining room table for a few hours a day for over a week.....but my headache is finally gone..well, it actually went away as soon as I sat in the passenger seat of our rental and pulled out of the parking lot. I felt I had accomplished so much! I felt wonderful! Like that proverbial weight being lifted off not only your shoulders but your head, butt, etc... NOW I KNOW why cashiers mention to me how nice I am and how some coupon chicks are actually quite...bitchy. This is a time consuming, tedious task....BUT in the long run it is worth it. And applying the "golden rule," it makes it even more enjoyable! BTW, what did I end up saving at the SUPER store? Well, including dog food, a cute black hat for my son that resembled Mickey Dolenz's hat from the Monkees 2011 tour we went this summer, about six jars of great pasta sauce, and other accoutrements: W/coupons and matched ads I purchased $582.27 and only paid $231.11. That is over half off my grocery/accroutrement bill even at the cheapest grocery store. Put THAT in your folder and save it

"Close your eyes and I'll kiss you...." Yes, we saw Paul McCartney here on 8/1/11

Yes! My wonderful husband relented but not too unwilling as he took me to see Paul McCartney on August 1st for the 4th time(well, 4th time for me, 1st for him, IE, he was a Macca concert virgin). It was almost 20 years ago to the date I saw him last at Soldier Field, which blew me away despite I had just seen him in December of 1989. My husband was completely starstruck as soon as Paul sang, I was in awe as usual despite this was "old hat" and the first time I saw him as an adult I cried like a child as I saw him first as a child, and cried like a baby as Wings Over America thrilled me and my aunt and a boyfriend of hers to see him at the old Chicago Stadium, aka the place where the Blackhawks and Bulls USED to play.

So, we trekked from one baseball field(the good one) to the other one(the "not-so-good one") via CTA's Red Line and were smashed between Macca fans and Yankee/White Sox fans as the Sox played the Yanks that night as well. It was sweltering outside; yes, hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk if you like your eggs that way. After meandering around the Wrigleyville area trying to get our butts in after I indulged in a coffee shake, we finally made it in, still sweating like a couple of Hebrew slaves waiting for Moses to make his appearance and of course to closest thing to being with God was having the most heavenly voice of former Beatle, aka my favorite Beatle.

Walking up to our seats we noticed the pre-concert music was an amazing mix of Wings/Macca and Beatles' tunes set to various styles of music, especially club-esque style which was actually pretty cool. They also had a slide show of sorts showing Paul in various eras, IE, pre-Beatles, Wings, solo, WITH the Beatles, with his family, etc...very lovely and I really wanted to dance to some of the tunes.

After the show and getting a kick out of the incredibly happy and slightly intoxicated patrons who showed not a single bit of aggression whatsoever as...well, it's one of the happiest places on earth....as Paul McCartney concert is literally like being in heaven; everyone is joyous, happy, thrilled and just full of love for this wonderful human being who has brought so much happiness to many all over the universe(yes, I believe in ET's and know they listen to Paul and the Beatles), we made our way to get a quick bite and took our happy yet incredibly exhausted booties back on the CTA Red Line toward Dan Ryan/95th only to find out at the last minute the 35th Street bus stops running after 12 midnight.

?????

Yeah, so we finally walked about 2 1/2 miles to get home, happy yet extremely exhausted, literally sleepy and slightly scared at the heinous odor that emitted from the south branch of the Chicago River, aka "Bubbly Creek," which smelled like rotting meat...it was so pungent my eyes teared up and we both had our gag reflex kick in, thus waking our sleep-walking butts right up, boy-howdy!(Tejana comes out in me occasionally, bear w/me please, y'all).

So, please enjoy the vid of the best song of the show, and the loudest....and bless your hearts if you were there(HEY! I hear ya!), and I'm so sorry if you couldn't go but if he tours again, get thee out there and see this man!!!!! He's 69, he's still cute and yes, he STILL can jam!!!! Look out Mick!!! He's giving ya a run for your money.



I guess it does pay to eat veggie.

First song of the set...one I kinda go "meh" when I hear it on the radio actually made me giddy, as it did my husband who was COMPLETELY star struck! LOVED IT~! Too cute....so, yeah...he did sing a great amount of his hits from both Beatles and Wings, he played for over 3 hours and did TWO encores, including "Golden Slumbers" which was his actual finally. The man is 69, he's still a cutie, and he can still get it on.....on stage(weeell, I'm certain he can otherwise...UH! Vulgarity rearing it's ugly head!)

Divorcing....Jack?

So, yes my fellow Jason Isaac junkies; I have FINALLY sat down...and watched....

"Divorcing Jack."

Based on the book by Colin Bateman, who wrote the screenplay as well, it's a crazy trip to Northern Ireland with a drunken columnist who happens to cheat on his wife with a young girl who happens to be related to a politician who knows the current elect prime minister of NI. After spending his second night with the young girl who gave him a "D" tape as a present from the collection of classical music tapes from A to Z her father sent early for her birthday, Dan Starkey(like Ringo, btw and played incredibly by the amazing David Thewlis) returns after getting junk food to find his lover murdered. As she tells him in her dying breath, the words that Dan gets is "divorcing.....Jack" as she gurgles on her blood.

Uh, euw.

Dan realizes his wife had caught him with his lover, so he assumed she did it but she only tossed a handful of potaotes into her window. As Dan is speaking to his wife on the phone asking why she murdered the girl Dan's wife Patricia is suddenly kidnapped by IRA thugs, their leader being Patrick Keegan, aka Jason Isaacs who plays the bad guy/thug part quite well. Uh, watch "Brotherhood" if you don't believe me. So, basically, poor Dan then goes on this wild goose chase trying to figure out who would murder his lover Margaret and why she said "divorcing Jack" which...is not what she meant to say as well as trying to avoid the police, IRA thugs w/one of them looking like a reject from the extra actors off the "Sopranos" as well as trying to entertain a Boston Globe reporter named Charlie Parker who was there covering the so-called Belfast "peace talks" and getting a bit of help from a nun, who isn't quite what she seems.

This is basically a black romantic comedy that pokes a bit of fun at all things Irish, and in particular, all things in Northern Ireland, IE, the so-called "peace talks" and the contradiction of their politicians, the usual Irish drinking, Catholics and Protestants against each other and is just overall completely ridiculously yet extremely funny and entertaining. It reminds me of a Guy Richie movie and I would not be surprised at all if Guy got a bit of his filming influence from Colin. You can also see a bit of the Monty Python influence here with it's slapstick, it's off the wall bit and just overall silly British humour. I added a "u" to humor for the mood of this article. Whatchya think?

Now I want to read the book!

You can rent "Divorcing Jack" at Joe's "Video Strip" on Archer Avenue, or via Netflicks, or you can watch it on Comcast "OnDemand" under the "Encore" channel selection.

By the way....this is most certainly not a flick for the kiddies. Get them to bed, have a couple of cocktails and munchies and hang w/your adult sig. other or buds and have a great laugh! You may want the subtitles up to get what the Irish/English actors are saying as it's a bit tricky to figure their accent out if you're not privy to an Irish brogue or an English accent.