Archive for the 'In the News' Category

May 5, 2009 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",A Whole Latte Trouble,Book Stuff,Book Two,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,How coolio is THAT?,In the News,Life in General,Movie Queue,Revision Heaven,School Daze,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up,Writing Movements

Oops, I did it again. I took another short break from the blogosphere. My Financial Aid finally came thru and I got a little immersed in the whole school thing. And I don’t even start until September, but it finally hit me that I HAVE TO CREATE MY OWN SCHOOL PROGRAM. I kept thinking that there were going to be structured classes, buuuut….not really. There’s a reason why it’s called “self-directed.” Hah. So okay, moving on.

Seen a lot of movies over the past couple of weekends:

17 AGAIN – That Zac Efron sure is growing up handsome. Really liked this movie. The guy that plays his best friend is hilarious. The dude was a major Star Wars fan. Major funny: Pod Racer bed. That’s all I’m gonna say.

DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION - I was ready for Mr. Maul to dislike this movie because he was kinda baggin’ on it when he heard it was coming out. Surprisingly, he liked it. I was shocked. He said it was pretty close to the cartoon storyline, so kudos to the director. I wasn’t a big fan of the cartoon, but Mr. Maul was. I watched a few of the episodes with him, actually, so I was familiar with the characters in the movie. James Marsters always seems to play the bad guy. The first nice role I saw him in, and it was more of a supporting-supporting role was P.S. I LOVE YOU. But he made a good Piccolo.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE – You do know that they had the premiere here in my hometown, right? I don’t live in Tempe–although it’s only about a 15 min ride–but this was our very first movie premiere. So cool. They really need to do that more often. LA and New York always get the premieres. They need to start taking these things to the little people. Mr. Maul and I loved it. We’ve always been fans of the X-Men movies, and I’ve always been a fan of the cartoon. It was good to finally see Logan’s history. I’m wondering if this is going to open the door for other “Origins” type movies for the other characters. I was so happy to see Gambit, too! Taylor Kitsch totally rocked the role, although I would’ve liked more Cajun drawl. And to see more of his powers in action.

A friend and I checked out an Underground Publishers event on the previous Saturday. Just wanted to see what other local, underground stuff was out there. Then went to this Spring Special Event at Dillard’s dept store. They were doing make-overs, had games, food, a DJ and gift basket giveaways. It was $35 for a “ticket”–this ticket was a Dillard’s gift card that you could spend anywhere in the store. So basically, you spent $35 only to spend it again on merchandise. Needless to say, that was the longest time I’ve ever spent at a mall. We were there for 3 frickin’ hours! They didn’t do the drawing for gift baskets until 9. And no, I didn’t win anything. To me, it just seemed like you had to jump thru a lot of hoops to get stuff. If you bought this perfume, then you’d get that free item and a chance to spin a wheel and get another free item. Hoops. But it worked because there was a big turnout.

I’ve had some good writing movement over the past couple of weeks. I’ve started revisions for DA Book Two and the deadline to finish is May 30th. I’ve also decided to jump into the Volunteer Pool. I went to the Volunteer Orientation at Free Arts AZ last night. I’m hoping to get on because they use arts as a way to help at-risk youth. I’m looking forward to serving in my community.

That’s all for now. I’m feeling a little lackluster, so if there was more, I don’t remember it all. So, how was your weekend?

Technorati Tags: 17 AGAIN, Zac Efron, DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION, James Marsters, P.S. I LOVE YOU, X-Men, Gambit, Taylor Kitsch, Dillard’s, Free Arts AZ

April 1, 2009 | Boob Tube,In the News

My co-worker emailed this MSN article:

ANGEL was one of my many favorite shows and I’m still pissed that it ended so abruptly. Without closure. Thanks Joss.

Lorne wasn’t exactly a favorite for me, but I loved all the scenes he was in. I loved it when he made Angel sing karaoke. Hi-larious. His uncomfortableness was palpable.

But I didn’t realize the actor was so young!!! Maybe it was the make-up, but for some reason I thought he was older.

RIP, Andy Hallett. You were a fabtastic addition to the ANGEL crew.

Technorati Tags: ANGEL, Andy Hallett

January 8, 2009 | Family Portrait,In the News,Life in General

Seeing as how I’m a pet lover, I had to post about this article. My cat’s name wasn’t on the Most Popular List or the Most Unusual List. That second list was hysterical. My favorite was Snoop Kitty Kitty. And you have to check out the comments, too, if you click over.

My first cat was named Tabitha, because she was a tabby cat. Real original, I know. Well, hey, we were kids. What would you expect?

My second cat (another tabby received as a gift) was named Moneypenny. James Bond fan. Right here.

Our current kitty (who is also a tabby…are you seeing a pattern? It wasn’t intentional)

is named Sweet Pea (as in Popeye and Olive Oyl’s baby). We have many nicknames for her: Mamas, Sweetest of Peas, Peabod, and Dude-a-kins. Mr. Maul was going through a Sweetest of Urines phase for a little while (y’know, pea, sounds like pee?), but he hasn’t used that one in a while. I’m the one that calls her Mamas all the time and she actually responds to it. Go figure.

So, I wanna know. Is your pet’s name on the Popular List? Does your pet have an unusual name?

Technorati Tags: Moneypenny, James Bond, Popeye, Olive Oyl’s

January 6, 2009 | How coolio is THAT?,In the News,Life in General,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up

CLICK ON ALL PICS FOR LARGER VIEW

I’m a little late with this, but better late than never, right? So, Mr. Maul and I rang in the new year at the San Carlos Hotel. For $30/ per person you got dinner and a champagne toast. Some friends of ours have a band called One Kitty Gone. They were playing there and we hadn’t seen them perform since one of the members left. We thought it was a good opportunity to how the songs sound with only one female lead instead of two. They were fabulous, in case you were wondering. It was a USO theme, so there were a lot of people there with 40’s hair styles and the music was rockabilly/swing. The other band there, the Jump Back Brothers, were really good, too. Mr. Maul liked them.

The Rockabelly USO Troop (about 6 girls? And a guy), were truly unimpressive. The girls did some lame dance routine and then proceeded to “sing along” to 40’s type song. “Sing along” as in karaoke. When they had technical difficulties during The Andrews Sisters’ “Bugle Boy” and had to belt out a portion of the song without “backup”…O.M.G. Let’s just say that part of their show could’ve been left out. The guy had an ok voice, but then the girls would get up there and “try” to be backup singers and/or dancers and it just made them look foolish. And one girl performed a weak belly dance that would’ve made real bellydancers hide their faces in shame. I just cringed every time they got up there. While the real professionals went on break for an hour we were forced to sit through their craptacular performances. I ignored them as best as I knew how and just made conversation with our tablemates. The only good thing about their gig was one of the girls sang a cappella. She had the best singing voice out of the whole group and she didn’t have to sing along! Now that’s talent. Anyhow, we still had a good time (even though the champagne was nasty). HERE are some pics.

Saturday, about 50-60 Star Wars geeks marched in the Fiesta Bowl Parade.

It was televised, so I don’t know if any of you watched it. If you saw Darth Maul (the guy in red and black paint) that was my hubby. It was 1.5 miles and though I wanted to hit up a massage parlor when we were done, we had fun. The reaction from the crowd was fantastic! Everyone went nuts over Chewbacca. And mistook Queen Amidala for Princess Leia, but what the hell. We all had a great time. There were a couple of bands that went nuts with the camera-taking. Texas was one of them.

I don’t know how many pics they got with those kids, but it was like being stalked by the paparazzi. For about an hr! LOL. It was my first—and possibly last—time marching in a parade. It was definitely an experience and I’m glad we got a chance to do it. Mr. Maul didn’t want to at first, but I talked to him into it. Turns out he had a good time, too. LOL. Who knew?

These are some of us ISO ladies.

This is another ISO photo, but with the banner we carried during the parade.

This is a group shot of the AZ 501st Dune Sea Garrison

Sunday, we did absolutely nothing. My intention had been to wash a load or two of laundry, but I didn’t want to move. Out of bed. So I didn’t. I watched TV and read. In bed. Didn’t move from there except to eat and pee. My legs didn’t hurt as bad as I thought they would, but I dreaded wearing shoes. Which is why I didn’t want to go anywhere. LOL.

I have a feeling this weekend is going to be pretty tame. I hope. So, how was your weekend?

Technorati Tags: San Carlos Hotel, One Kitty Gone, Jump Back Brothers, Rockabelly USO Troop, Star Wars, Fiesta Bowl Parade, Chewbacca, Queen Amidala, Princess Leia, AZ 501st Dune Sea Garrison

January 2, 2009 | In the News,Life in General

I send my deepest and heartfelt condolences to the John Travolta and his family. How tragic is this? I’d forgotten how old he was because you never see their kids in the limelight. I cannot imagine what it must be like to lose a child. And I never will.

Reason #5,605 why we don’t we have kids.

Technorati Tags: John Travolta