De Do Do Do… August 6, 2008 ~ 7:35 pm
Posted by Julie in : Reviews , comments closedIf I told you where I was last night, you’d probably be jealous. Yeah, I’m going to tell you anyway. I was at the Elvis Costello/Police show at Jones Beach. Rick wanted to go for Elvis, I wanted to go for the Police, and it all pretty much worked out as planned except we had wanted to take the Oldest with us and couldn’t because she’s in France (the life these kids lead…it just defies belief).
But anyway, the Police outdid themselves last night. This is the third show I’ve seen on this tour, and topped not only their first MSG show last August, but the Halloween MSG show. Seriously…from Sting singing “Allison” with Elvis, to the three members of the Police who came out dressed as Elvis during “What’s So Funny” to the fun Sting, Andy, and Stewart were obviously having playing with each other, it just couldn’t get much better. And then they came out and did an encore. Where they played “Purple Haze.” Oh yeah. I was there.
Cosmopolitans for everyone June 20, 2008 ~ 2:18 pm
Posted by Julie in : About a Julz, Reviews , comments closedI saw the Sex & The City movie last night. Alas, since Lori is in West Virginia doing summer stock and Jordana is in San Francisco for the weekend, I was friendless when I went. I was the only person in that theater sitting by themselves, I kid you not. But I knew that if I didn’t go last night, I probably wasn’t going to see it while it was still in the movie theaters. And while yes, I will buy it when it comes out on DVD, I just felt like it was something I had to see in theaters.
People, I cannot rave enough about this movie. If you loved the series, you will love the movie, because it feels like a giant two-hour episode. There are good storylines for each of the four women, there is plenty of fashion to go around (even though I can’t walk in heels, I came out of the theater seriously coveting these Manolos), and the majority of the supporting cast has a reprise as well. By the end of the movie I had laughed until my sides hurt, cried more than once, and felt like I had just spent the evening with some old friends. That sounds cliche, but over the course of the series, that’s just who these characters became: I knew their faults and strengths as well as I knew my own and talked about them often with my girlfriends. Last night was just a much anticipated reunion with them.
For the record? I’m still a Miranda.
Not suitable for mass transit January 29, 2008 ~ 4:38 pm
Posted by Julie in : Reviews , comments closedLast night while cruising around iTunes, I noticed that I could download the first season of Showtime’s The Tudors. I had seen an episode during a free weekend and that in addition to my love of history meant I was on that like white on rice. I downloaded them all overnight and when I was able to find a seat on the bus this morning, took out my iPod and tuned in.
I had forgotten that 1.) this was a show about Henry VIII, and 2.) this was produced by Showtime. What that means, in case you’re not familiar with either, is that there is sex in the show. And while I certainly don’t have a problem watching tasteful Showtime sex to advance character development, I’m not so enthused by realizing that the Neanderthal squeezed in next to me is quite interested and watching it over my shoulder. At this point, I should have turned to him and said “Excuse me, this is as rude as reading over my shoulder,” but I wasn’t thinking that quickly. Instead, I put a thumb over the screen to hide the naughty bits that Henry was so intent on exposing.
They ought to put a warning on these videos. Instead of “Not Suitable for All Audiences” it should be “Not Suitable to Watch on Mass Transit if You Don’t Want to Turn and See The Guy Next to You Has a Hard-On.” Yuck.
Gotta be the writers’ strike. January 5, 2008 ~ 9:31 am
Posted by Julie in : Reviews , comments closedThe top three things that I’ve gotten really excited about in the past 24 hours are all basically reality TV. Woe is me, I have fallen in love with crap. Commercials for American Gladiators, Rock of Love II, and My Fair Brady have had me scrambling for the TiVo remote so I can get them on Season Pass.
My Fair Brady and Rock of Love II? It’s basic human nature to watch a trainwreck in the making. After watching Bret get his heart trampled on last season in Rock of Love I, I actually find myself wondering if the women can get anymore desperate, conniving, or vindictive. I also have to admire a man who admits on national TV that he’s looking at women’s boobs when he talks to them. As for My Fair Brady, hey, Peter Brady grew up to be an asshole. I watch it for the same reason I used to watch Breaking Bonaduce - it’s like catching up with old childhood pals, realizing they’re assholes, but not having to deal with the aftermath. Good times.
Now American Gladiators…I have very fond memories of watching the original series on weekends when there was nothing else on. (This was back when there were only 52 channels and nothing on rather than 1000 and nothing on, remember.) Steroid-pumping gladiators with names like Lace and Nitro beating up on ordinary people? Good times. Especially when they did that event with the pugil sticks. Add Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali as the commentators and it’s just six shades of awesome.
It’s a good thing I have TiVo. Wouldn’t want to miss out on any of this stuff.
Happy fuckin’ Halloween. November 1, 2007 ~ 9:58 pm
Posted by Julie in : Reviews , comments closedI still have a cold. I shared it with Rick, because isn’t that what colds are for? Sharing with the people you love?
Hope your Halloween was as good as mine. Mine involved this:
I only wish there were pictures of Sting’s ass in those tights to show you. Yoga is good, and the effects of it are visible even from the nosebleed seats. (For the record, Sting was a jester with a codpiece, Andy was Charlie Chaplin, and Stewart was…well, I’m not sure what the hell Stewart was, except it was replete with ghoulish makeup, a cape, and a cobra head-dress. Was he a spaceman? Was he Apophis from Stargate? We will never know.)
This concert might have topped the August one for sheer insanity. It wasn’t as loud as August, and I didn’t dance around as much (dudes, I had a major head cold by last night, standing up was a fun trick once the sound system started cranking) but I did bounce around on top of the seat a fair amount. And any event where a band comes out in costume? Bonus points. The evening also involved free masks given away at Madison Square Garden, a blow-up doll being passed around the crowd (obviously someone likes “Be My Girl” as much as I do), and the drummer of Fiction Plane (the opening act, Joe Sumner’s band) dressed up as Stewart Copeland for Halloween. Everywhere we looked there was something new to gape at. I think I’ve come around to Retro’s view: even with a cold, Halloween is the best day of the year.
Really? September 27, 2007 ~ 3:39 pm
Posted by Julie in : Random Insanity, Reviews , comments closedI just heard a promo for ER on the radio.
1.) ER is still on?
2.) How is that even possible?
3.) Didn’t everyone stop watching when George Clooney left, like I did?
4.) What the fuck season are they on? 80?
5.) Okay, who the hell let John Stamos be on this show? (Yeah, look at the very last entry under “Current” in the Main Cast section.)
Perhaps someone needs to play the role of Dr. Kevorkian and put this show out of its misery.
“Teenagers scare the living shit out of me!” September 24, 2007 ~ 9:58 am
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Reviews, Rick , comments closedRick and I spent an unholy amount of time this weekend flipping back and forth between VH1 Classic and Fuse. On VH1, we found Metal Mania, where I could relive my misspent youth. (I know he was awed that I still remember all the words to “I Remember You,” and I’m pretty sure he was impressed that I still have Warrant’s Cherry Pie on cassette. Try as I might, I could not lay hands on Poison’s Flesh and Blood. It has to be around somewhere, I would not have thrown that gem out.) On Fuse, we found a treasure trove of catchy songs and Rick learned about emo (he saw his first My Chemical Romance video). I have been alternating between singing MCR’s “Teenagers” and Killswitch Engage’s cover of “Holy Diver” all morning.
What did we learn? That music videos are still completely overblown. But now they can do the overblowing with computers and it doesn’t look like the video cost $5 to make. Ah, technology.
Season Pass, my ass. September 21, 2007 ~ 11:45 am
Posted by Julie in : Reviews, Technobabble , comments closedIs it wrong that I got excited when I was watching TiVo’d episodes of Rescue Me last night and saw a local take-out menu on Tommy’s fridge door? That place is ten blocks from me and is a total hole in the wall - how’s that for authenticity?
Also, I am pissed because the TiVo spazzed and did not actually record a full “Season Pass” and now I don’t know how the season ended.
No, I didn’t do the laundry. Why do you ask?
Rewriting my childhood September 18, 2007 ~ 10:01 am
Posted by Julie in : Reviews , comments closedMy friend Kim sent a bunch of books up for the Youngest last Christmas. Some of them went to her grandma’s house this summer to read while she was at circus camp, some stayed at my house to read when she’s here. And some of them, I have to admit, stayed at my house because I loved them when I was a kid and wanted to re-read them.
Friday night, I finally had some time to devote to them. I whipped through Judy Blume’s Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and moved onto Superfudge. Now, partway through Superfudge, I thought I saw something a little off. Fudge tells everyone that he likes watching Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. I flipped to the front pages. Copyright 1980. I have a vague memory of Nickelodeon when I was small, but Cartoon Network was that old, too? I had no idea! Huh. Learn something new every day.
I read further, and when I read the part about Fudge forcing the entire family to write letters to Santa, I knew the gig was up. Peter asks for CDs, a laptop, and an MP3 player in his letter. Back the truck up, I’m stupid, but I’m not an idiot. I also clearly remember Peter asking for albums and a Walkman. Suddenly, I felt like a part of my childhood had been rewritten. Hey, if kids could figure out what the hell saddle shoes were (which they had to in Tales, because that part wasn’t updated)? They can bloody well ask mom and dad what a Walkman was. I am not down with my childhood being revised. What’s next, the poster of Richard Gere that hangs over Steph’s bed in Just as Long as We’re Together replaced with one of Orlando Bloom? Take it back, Judy Blume! Take it back! You wrote something that is now a documentation of history. Leave it that way!
I blame Kim and Aggie. August 28, 2007 ~ 10:34 am
Posted by Julie in : Reviews , comments closedSo lately I’ve been TiVoing a show on BBC America called “How Clean Is Your House?”. I greatly enjoy my BBC America and have been sucked into it for hours at a time watching “Cash in the Attic,” “Hex,” “Robin Hood,” and “Changing Rooms,” among other things, but this show is different. Rather than making me want to lounge around on the couch in my jim-jams, “How Clean Is Your House?” makes me feel the need to clean. A lot.
See, the basic premise is that two women, Kim and Aggie, are called into clean houses that people have let go past the point of no return. We are talking years of grime and crap here. And before they clean, Aggie takes swabs of the whole house so you know exactly what kind of bacteria these people have been living with. I have learned more about bacteria since I started watching this, and frankly, it’s horrifying. Your skin just crawls. And then you look around your house and start to wonder what bacteria are living with you. And then you must clean. Or I must, at any rate.
My place is generally pretty clean. Yeah, the cats tear fur out of each other and so I have to vacuum up the fur tumbleweeds every week. But aside from the office, there isn’t a lot of clutter, mostly because I don’t like looking at it (and that explains why the office is cluttered, since it is out of sight.). But, do I dust? Um, not so much. I use my Swiffer wet jet on the kitchen and bathroom floors, but I know that’s not deep cleaning them because the floors are old and dirt gets trapped in the crevices. And so last night, I went on a cleaning tear. I vacuumed. I dusted and polished the coffee table and cleaned out all the things that have been collecting there. I dusted the end tables. I scrubbed the toilet and bathroom sink (Kim has given me nightmares about things that lurk under the rims of toilets and I couldn’t rest until I’d cleaned mine). I cleaned out the toaster oven. And then, the piece de resistance, I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the kitchen floor. With a brush and some OxiClean. I couldn’t let it soak for as long as the can recommended because Freddie was way too intrigued by the whole process and I was afraid he would play in the water and then lick it off of himself and get good and ill, but it still got a fair amount of grime up. And when I went to sleep, my muscles ached. And I had nightmares about the crusty stuff in the microwave that I hadn’t cleaned. Guess what I’ll be cleaning tonight?
