Housewife in Hollywood - housewifeinhollywood.com

This is my first Monday Smiles post. It won’t happen every Monday because that would be annoying but every once in awhile when the mood is right I’ll be posting something to take the manic out of Monday and replace it with that sunshine day feeling. Click sunshine day if you aren’t offended by retro Brady Bunch clips.

I came across a not so recent video circulating the net of Johnny Depp in Japan while he was promoting Pirates 3. I’ve seen it before, but I had to post this for people who haven’t seen it already and for those of you in need of a few Monday Smiles.

The little girls in this clip are not only adorable they are scary talented. Johnny Depp is impressed by their performing abilities, yet in some moments he appears a tad terrified. You’ll see what I mean if you watch this Japanese television clip. Even if you aren’t a Depp fan, you’ll appreciate the originality and talent of these little performers. I would also like to find out what these kids eat for breakfast. With energy like that I could clean up the whole house in a matter of minutes.

For the viewers out there unaware of Johnny Depp’s appreciative attitude towards fans you can see it in this video. The way he shakes each girl’s hand, and looks them right in the eye to say thank you is how he greets every fan he meets no matter what country, state, or city he’s in.

I’m not trying to inflict anyone else with JDOCD, it will happen eventually whether you like or not.

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My plan was to see Juliette Lewis and her band at the Viper Room on Friday night but the housewife part of my life took precedence. Instead of rocking out in Hollywood I cleaned the house while listening to their album Four on the Floor.

Many of you might know Juliette Lewis from her acting career. She played Gilbert’s love interest in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, starred in Cape Fear, Natural Born Killers, Kalifornia, and The Other Sister. That’s just a handful of projects she’s completed. Juliette’s a little gal with a hefty filmography list.

Although she’s best known for big screen performances, her focus has shifted to pop-rock with Juliette & the Licks. When she’s rocking it on stage, I’m reminded of a young Mick Jagger, if he was a girl, minus his infamous lips. She has beautiful lips mind you, but no one can contort their lips the way Mick can. Her voice is reminiscent of the soulful wanting of Janice Joplin.

While watching a few Youtube interviews with Juliette I can see how she can perform with such intense creativity. She seems to tap into that crazy that many artists use to fuel them beyond the common place.

I’m still a bit downhearted that I wasn’t feeling like a rock star at The Viper Room Friday night but there will be other chances. Sometimes not doing what we thought we should do can lead us to some other form of enlightenment. For me, listening to Four on the Floor while sweeping the tile reminds me to let that crazy out when I can. There’s enough time for the common place in our lives.

Here’s Juliette & the Licks performing Sticky Honey. You can really see some Mick Jagger style moves in this video.

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With summer officially here bazillions will be visiting the happiest place on earth. When I was a kid I agreed with this title bestowed on the theme park but now that I’m a grown up with a kiddo of my own I’m not always chipper when I’m paying big bucks for a soda and waiting for an hour to get a picture with Cinderella.

Even with sensory overload, and an empty wallet I still leave happy when I’m able to experience a few of my favorite attractions. Here are 5 of my favorite rides and shows from Disneyland.

Pirates of the Caribbean

This would be at the top of my list, any true Captain Jack follower can’t get enough of this ride. I was a POTC adventurer long before there was talk about making a film. Disney and his amazing team of imagineers, artists, and craftsmen created an altered reality into the pirate realm with musty smells, candlelit caverns, flickering fire, glittering treasure, and of course those sometimes scary, yet always comical pirates. POTC is a feast for the senses. Here’s a great tribute fan site called Tell No Tales. How cool is that?

Haunted Mansion

This ride is silly scary but I didn’t make it all the way through until I was about 8, and that was just waiting in the massive line to get in.

Once I did get into this haunted mansion I didn’t want to leave. Sitting in the turning buggie car, blasting 60’s style eerie music into my ears and being surprised by ghosts popping up from tombstones, I loved that scared silly feeling.

There’s so much history and trivia over this attraction you need to explore doombuggies.com to find out more.

Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room

Thanks to youtube, I’ll let Walt talk about this one:

The Country Bear Jamboree

Oh I miss this show, thank goodness I still have my old record complete with photos from the attraction to help me remember. Nowadays In Disneyland, where this show once was is a tribute to Winnie the Pooh which is a bit blasmephous for a retro Disneyland lover like me. Fortunately we can still see this show at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. I’d like to see Bunny, Bubbles and Beulah perform this little number:

“Every time I meet a guy who gets me shook,
all I ever get from him’s a dirty look.
It’s the same way everywhere I’ve found…
all the guys who turn me on turn me down!”

Splash Mountain

If you like getting wet, and you like deep drops into briar patches you’ll love Splash Mountain. This was the ride that brought Magic Mountain visitors back to the park for a second chance. It’s not a colossal roller coaster but it’s got a big splash at the end that everyone wants to experience. Everyone except people who don’t like getting wet and deep drops into briar patches.
If you don’t know what a briar patch is, you might not be aware of the stories and movie behind Splash Mountain. This water ride is based on Disney’s first live action movie, Song of the South, released in 1946. It was magically mixed with animated characters like Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, and Brer Fox.

The audio-animatronic cast members sing tunes from the movie, along with set up scenes and quick dialogue from the storyline. Many of the animatronic cast was taken from one of my old time favorite Disneyland shows, called America Sings. Anyone else remember that one?

Mark Davis sketch of Counry Bears, and other Disneyland attraction pictures used for informational purpsoses only.

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Direct from John Cusack’s War, Inc. team:

WAR, INC. is opening in some new theaters this FRIDAY JUNE 27, 2008. if you haven’t seen it …. go see it. if you have… go see it again. let’s keep this amazing piece of work alive.

Click the title for my review— War, Inc. 

Click the badge for showtimes in your area.

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This housewife has way too much junk in her trunk, and that’s not just in my mini-van. So to rid myself of the excess baggage around my midsection I’ve upped my work out schedule. Normally this would be a grueling task worse than 10 loads of laundry but I’m equipped with the endorphin pumping playlist of The Chemical Brothers.

Many of you have probably known about The Chemical Brothers for years but I just heard about them about two years ago when my younger brother had their song Do It Again on his Myspace profile.

I’ve never been one to sweat to the oldies. I love vintage, retro music, but it does nothing to motivate me into burning off calories. The Chemical Brothers alone can fuel your work outs. Their electronic music with pulsing beats help to keep me pushing on past my fatigue level. This is one of my favorite songs and music videos. The message is great too, Get Yourself High:

I’ve heard their live acts are amazing with strobe lights, psychedelic imagery and lasers that project over the crowd. If only I could find an aerobics class like that I’d burn off 1000 calories a day! Too bad we didn’t already have Star Trek like holodecks where we could submerge ourselves into a dance club effect without ordering fattening, and unhealthy beverages. Of course that could always be used the wrong way and we could spend our time goofing around like Captain Piccard, Data, and Riker.
What a waste of technology!

What’s on your playlist; what music gets your body moving?

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Thanks to Gilbert’s Girl on The Johnny Depp Zone for the heads up about this awards ceremony tonight. I think there must be an entertainment awards tribute every day of the year. A housewife like me just can’t keep up with all the fancy to-do’s.

One of my favorite movies, Sweeney Todd, has 8 nominations at The 34th Annual Saturn Awards.

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films has been in existence since 1972. Its origin came from The Count Dracula Society, and founder Dr. Donald A. Reed 10 years before. The Count Dracula Society, who knew?

For all you Pirates of the Caribbean fans out there, At World’s End is up for Best Fantasy Film. It goes against Enchanted, The Golden Compass, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Spider-Man 3, and Stardust.

The Best Actor nominations include a few of my favorite actors: Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd, John Cusack for 1408, and Viggo Mortenson for Eastern Promises.
I hope Helena Bonham Carter receives the Best Actress award. She was bloody brilliant as Mrs. Lovett.

According to their official website, “The Academy has chosen to give The Service Award to Fred Barton for his efforts in manufacturing and promoting world-famous robots. Some of the robots which he currently puts on public display include: Robby (the Robot), Robert B-9 (from “Lost in Space”), and Gort (from “The Day the Earth Stood Still”).”

Danger Will Robinson Danger! On lostinspacerobot.com, you can even purchase your very own Lost in Space Robot B-9 for the price of $24, 500.

I’ve been investigating the internet for some sort of broadcast information but unless you’re a nominee or invited to the ceremony I think you’ve got to read the news tomorrow to find out who won.
The more I learn about this ceremony the more I want to see a broadcast. The closest I’ve found was a retro clip via youtube from fuzzymemories.tv of William Shatner “singing” Rocketman at the 1978 ceremony.

I’ll have to get a press pass for the 35th Annual Saturn Awards. With all the retro junkie, pirate loving, horror flick watching viewers I have, it’s certainly worth getting all dolled up and taking a ride to Hollyweird.

The image of the Saturn Award is used to illustrate the subject of this post The Saturn Awards.

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I’m finding myself sad this morning about the passing of a man I don’t even know. I know of him, or I should say of his work. George Carlin permanently left the building yesterday, June 22, 2008.

His brilliant wit, remarkable memory, and ability to spew prose like a poet always fascinated me. The unique comedic ideas that were so far from what the mainstream comics would dare speak of was refreshing and for many, a bit shocking. This is when stand-up comedy crosses over from entertainment to enlightenment. When a comic can make you laugh and make you wonder about your universe, that’s called comedic art.

Carlin isn’t for everyone, because not everyone will understand what he was talking about. Many don’t even want to, or are too afraid if they did.

George Carlin’s official website

TIME magazine Interview’s Carlin

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I was cruising the internet late Saturday night and stopped by moviefone.com. Since this is the first official weekend of summer I found their Summer Movie Guide and had fun checking out lists dedicated to the sun and fun season. From summer comedies to summer chick flicks, and an info packed roll call of The Biggest Summer Openings, I soaked up the movie trailers, photos, and box office earnings information.
With trivial overload my mind was jolted into wondering what my personal favorite summer movie of all time is. Since I can never pick just one of anything, here are a few of my favorites:

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

So this was the film that gave me JDOCD, otherwise known as Johnny Depp Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The merging of my favorite Disneyland park ride with the charisma of Captain Jack Sparrow was too much for my system to handle. Like so many in the world, I was altered by this amazing merger and very happy because of it. Of course I like the last two Pirates movies, but the novelty of the first one can’t be beat. Captain Jack Sparrow coming into port on his sinking ship, I mean boat, is probably the best scene of any summer adventure.

Jurassic Park

I remember the hype and excitement about this film in 1993. How time flies, aye? Fifteen years ago I was nice and cool in the comfort of a movie theater, devouring artificially buttered popcorn and Cherry Coke. This was the perfect summer blockbuster for the big screen. Action, comedy, landmark computer generated animation, special effects and being directed by Steven Spielberg helped add this one to my summer favorites. How many summer hits can one man create?
There are rumors buzzing that 2009 might bring with it a Jurassic Park IV. For those of you involved in the making of this film try to grab some DNA from the original and make sure Jeff Goldblum is in it too. What is Jeff Goldblum up to these days? I’ll leave that for another insightful blog post.

Jaws

According to Wikipedia, Jaws is regarded as a watershed film in motion picture history, the father of the summer blockbuster movie and one of the first “high concept” films.

I was only five years old when this movie hit the screen and I watched with my eyes closed and hands over my ears for more than half the film. I wasn’t nice and cool in a movie theater for this one, instead I was wearing my footed jammies, all cuddled up in the family station wagon at the Drive-In theater. Ahh, the days of snack bar intermissions and the real Coca Cola! Good times!

So what’s your favorite summer movie of all time? Okay, you don’t have to pick only one. What are a few of your favorite summer movies?

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The Greatest American Dog

12 teams of dogs and owners compete for $250,000. From pageant canines to trained at home pooches they will live together and compete for the grand prize. That’s a lot of dog bones! If there aren’t any squabbles between dogs there is sure to be at least one or two cat fights between owners.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Wipeout

This thrilling new concept premieres June 24th at 8 pm.
24 contestants compete in an intense course of obstacles created with the audience’s barbaric hunger for crashes, bashes and wipeouts. Don’t feel too sorry for these contenders though because they are risking major neck injuries for the chance at $50,000 bucks! That’s much less than the Greatest American Dogs earnings. Hmmm?

Here’s a youtube video, check out these ordinary people nailing it! Now that’s all American.

The Factory

The pilot for this show airs June 29th on Spike TV.
Actors will improvise from an outline and everyone is going to know the storyline beforehand compared to most “reality shows” that claim otherwise. This is one of those unreality shows pretending to be a reality show. It’s getting confusing isn’t it?

According to what I’ve gathered via the web, which is not too much no matter how many sites I searched, the four guys grew up together, drink a lot of beer and now they work at the same factory together in a small town in Illinois. Obviously the trained actors were hired to make this whole scenario funny.

Celebrity Family Feud

Al Roker, the Today Show co-host is the ring leader for this circus. Oh wait that’s another show about celebs looking for a day job. Like most celebrity centered shows these family feuders will be competing for big bucks towards their favorite charities. Game 1 will be a face off between Ice T’s and Joan River’s clan. I read some place that Hugh Hefner’s ménage will be competing in one of the future episodes. I am referring to the word ménage meaning family according to the Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus, for those of you thinking otherwise.

This show is becoming more and more interesting to me as I type this. The premiere of this innovative spin on an old classic is June 24th.

The Two Coreys

June 22nd, A&E brings back The Two Corey’s. This amazes me because I don’t know of one person who watched an entire season and liked it. I like reality shows, and I know there is really no such thing as a reality show, they are all manufactured by creative writers, producers and casting directors. This one takes it to a new level of unreality when you know the two Corey’s are straining their eyes reading off lines from a giant cue card. Bad reality show acting at it’s best. I’ll be tuning in though because I’m curious like that.

You can face off with The Two Corey’s on A&E’s Corey vs. Corey game. Yeah this is real life drama people! Which Corey do you want to be?

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The trailer for this movie really doesn’t motivate me to do much of anything. There is no laugh out loud moment for me. I don’t blink an eye at the blowing up, falling down, bang em up scenes. I sort of just watch in a daze.

I like Steve Carell, I mean he’s a funny guy in movies like Bruce Almighty, Little Miss Sunshine, Evan Almighty and of course the television show The Office, that I’ve heard so much about but have never watched. Actually, I’ve heard much more about the British version but that’s beside the point. The point being that Steve Carrell is an award winning actor, comedian, producer and writer. How can people be all those things? You would think such a comedic guy would make me want to get on Fandango and order tickets right now. Instead I find myself wanting to buy the DVD set on Amazon of the original Get Smart.

Maxwell Smart from the original 1960’s spy parody show was great. As a kid I loved the intro to the series and thought Agent 99 could easily be good friends with The Bionic Woman. Agent 99 was played by Barbara Feldon. She was the only surviving cast member by 2006 when she provided audio commentaries for the long-awaited Get Smart DVD set. Actor Don Adams, (Agent 86) died in 2005 at the age of 82.

If you’ve got about 7 minutes to spare, enjoy this youtube video I found of bloopers from the original series. I just love bloopers, don’t you?

Maybe the movie trailers are just not so hot, could be they’re not showing the true essence of the film. I was hoping that watching the unscripted interview between Anne Hathaway and Steve Carell on Moviefone would spark my interest but once again I found myself without a laugh out loud moment. Check out this question and answer between the two actors. Try to contain your excitement. I’m warning you!

Is it just me? Anyone else out there excited about this movie coming out this Friday, June 20th? How about all you original Get Smart fans? Are you gonna go Get Smart this weekend?

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