My New Baby Tinks!

Menu Cover

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life Sing-Along

"Cause then she'd definitely shag me"

This scene cracks me up every time...

The Magnificent Seven

Mr. Whitey


Mr. Bandit



Miss Brownie


Mr. Boomer


Miss Bootsy Collins


Mr. Beauford


Miss Baby Jane

Michael Franti - "Say Hey (I Love You)" Live at WTMD

I just love this tune...

K T Tunstall's television debut

Awesome clip of KT performing Black Horse In The Cherry Tree on Live with Jools Holland.

Jelly Bean Mosaics

Self-proclaimed King of Jelly Bean Art, Peter Rocha and his talented nephew Roger, create impressive 4 foot high mosaics using thousands of colored jelly beans.

They spend up to six months creating these sweet masterpieces and use about 10,000 different types of jelly beans in the process. The artistic duo has created over 75 jelly bean mosaics commissioned by the Jelly Belly Candy Company.

Nessun Dorma

In the act before this aria, Calaf has correctly answered the three riddles put to all of Princess Turandot's prospective suitors. Nonetheless, she recoils at the thought of marriage to him. Calaf offers her another chance by challenging her to guess his name by dawn. (As he kneels before her, the Nessun dorma theme makes a first appearance, to his words, "Il mio nome non sai!") If she does so, she can execute him; but if she does not, she must marry him. The cruel and emotionally cold princess then decrees that none of her subjects shall sleep that night until his name is discovered. If they fail, all will be killed.

As the final act opens, it is now night. Calaf is alone in the moonlit palace gardens. In the distance, he hears Turandot's heralds proclaiming her command. His aria begins with an echo of their cry and a reflection on Princess Turandot:

"Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma! Tu pure, o Principessa, nella tua fredda stanza, guardi le stelle che tremano d'amore, e di speranza!"
("None shall sleep! None shall sleep! Even you, O Princess, in your cold bedroom, watch the stars that tremble with love and with hope!")

"Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me; il nome mio nessun saprà! No, No! Sulla tua bocca lo dirò quando la luce splenderà!"
("But my secret is hidden within me; none will know my name! No, no! On your mouth I will say it when the light shines!")

"Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio che ti fa mia!"
("And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!")

Just before the climactic end of the aria, a chorus of women is heard singing in the distance:

"Il nome suo nessun saprà... E noi dovrem, ahimè, morir, morir!"
("No one will know his name... and we will have to, alas, die, die!")

Calaf, now certain of victory, sings:

"Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!"
("Vanish, o night! Set, stars! Set, stars! At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win! ")

Life is a Highway

I wanna ride it all night long!

A Place in The Sun

The Weight

Americano

Rock on!

The big winners

In case you missed the show, (which was quite entertaining) here are the winners from a few of the main categories @ last night's Oscar Awards.

Best Picture - The Hurt Locker



Best Director - Katheryne Bigelow for The Hurt Locker

Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds



Best Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique for Precious



Best Actor - Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart



Best Actress - Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side

Tonight's the night

Catch the Oscars live tonight, Sunday March 7, 2010, on the ABC network beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern (5 p.m. Pacific). Be sure to tune in to see if your favorites are winners!

Oscar Watch: Part Five

When the previews for Invictus came out in early December of last year, I thought “Eh, just another sports movie…except it’s about a sport I know nothing about (Rugby)… and has a title which I can’t pronounce (‘cause it’s Latin), so how good can it be, really” - thus completely dismissing its relevance.

That is, until I saw that both Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon had been nominated for Oscars. Naturally, this piqued my interest, so I read some about it. When I discovered it was directed by Clint Eastwood, I was sold.

Invictus is a biographical drama based on the life of Nelson Mandela after his release from prison. The film focuses on his election as South African President and his struggles to bring about the end of apartheid.

One of his greatest successes in this struggle involved the South African National Rugby Union team, The Springboks and their participation in the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

For many years, the non-whites of South Africa rooted against their national team. They saw it as a constant reminder of racial prejudice. Despite their misgivings about keeping the team name and colors once he was elected President, Mandela convinced the powers that be not to change names and colors as that would only fuel fears, but rather change their attitudes and unite as a country to support their team.

Mandela also worked to change the attitude of the team itself, by inviting Springbok’s captain, François Pienaar (Matt Damon) to tea. He shares with Pienaar a poem by William Ernest Hensley called Invictus (which means “unconquered”), which helped sustain him during his 27 years in prison.

Pienaar too becomes inspired by the poem and in turn inspires and encourages his team to take the steps necessary to start bridging the racial gaps. The team becomes involved in the community and its youth, and in turn, the community begins supporting the team.



Invictus is a story of unity and triumph, about struggle and learning. It’s about tolerating differences and overcoming adversity. It is brilliantly portrayed and the performances by Freeman and Damon are outstanding.

I just have one question to pose… Who did Clint Eastwood tick off in the “Hollywood Establishment” to not even garner a nomination for Best Picture? So far, I have seen a few of the nominees for the category, and I must say, this film is head and shoulders above most of those. It’s a real shame it’s not getting the recognition it deserves. Hopefully, others will be intrigued by the nominations of Freeman and Damon enough to want to see this inspirational film…Those who do, will be glad they did.



Invictus

by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Oscar Watch: Part Four

Crazy Heart tells the story of down-and-out country music singer/songwriter Bad Blake. Bad, who we later find out is really named Otis, is a 57 year old alcoholic He’s had four failed marriages and is estranged from his only child. His life consists of making a modest living playing in venues like bowling alleys and small town bars, having one-night stands, eating bad food and living in cheap motels.

Until he met Jean and her son, Buddy.

Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a young reporter who interviews him. In doing so, she begins to see the man behind the musician. They soon become attracted to each other and become involved. Jean and Buddy become the catalysts for Bad getting his life together, both personally and professionally. He also renews his relationship with Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell), a successful country music star he’d once mentored.

Sadly, his relationship with Jean does not last... Jean leaves him after he loses her son in a mall because he stopped to have a drink. After losing Jean, he turns to his friend Wayne (Robert Duvall) who helps him get into Alcoholics Anonymous.

Bad, now sober, turns up on Jean’s doorstep. While she is happy that he’s gotten his life on the right track, she finds she could never forgive him for his irresponsible behavior with Buddy. Inspired by Jean, despite her turning him away, Bad begins writing songs again, most notably “The Weary Kind” (which he sells to Tommy who makes it a big hit.)



Crazy Heart is based on the 1987 novel (of the same name) by Thomas Cobb. The character of Otis “Bad” Blake is based on a combination of Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard.

While the movie itself tends to be somewhat awkward and wander off in its own directions from time to time, Jeff Bridges performance is nothing less than exceptional. Bridges does his own singing in the film and is totally believable as Bad Blake. His captivating portrayal will beg you to stick with him to the film’s completion. I think it might be the most outstanding performance of his life, and judging from his nomination as Best Actor in a Leading Role, I’m inclined to believe the Academy agrees with me.

Maggie Gyllenhaal has also been nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category, which is also well deserved. She comes across as both strong and tender, and her character is quite endearing.

Oscar Watch: Part Three

I watched Up In The Air a few weeks back, and to tell you the truth, I’m still not quite sure what I think about..one might even say my opinion about this film is still Up in the Air.

It’s the story of Ryan Bingham who makes a living traveling all over the country firing people who have bosses who are too cowardly to do it themselves. Ryan (played by George Clooney) also delivers motivational speeches to extol the virtues of a life free of relationships with people and things. He spends most of his life traveling, and collecting frequent flyer miles (his life’s ambition is to obtain 10 million frequent flyer miles).



But when a new hot shot ambitious coworker named Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) devises a plan which will allow him to do his job via web-cam over the internet, he’s suddenly is in jeopardy of losing the on-the-go unencumbered lifestyle he treasures.

Ryan convinces his boss (Jason Bateman) to allow him to take Natalie on the road with him to show her there is more to the job than just telling someone they are “fired”. Meanwhile, Ryan becomes involved in a casual relationship with fellow frequent flyer Alex (Vera Farmiga).



Over the course of their travels, Natalie discovers there is a great deal more involved in this job - it changes people’s lives forever. Ryan learns how completely empty his life really is without committed relationships with family, friends and someone to love.

This film is directed by Jason Reitman (son of famed director Ivan Reitman) and has been nominated for Best Picture and Reitman as Best Director (Reitman’s second directorial nomination).

Also nominated are: George Clooney for Best Actor in a leading role; and Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick both for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Clooney, Farmiga and Kendrick all give great, believable nomination worthy performances.

All in all (though it probably will never been one of my “I’d watch that over and over again” choices) it has a good plot, great acting and was worth (at least) a one-time viewing.

Oscar Watch: Part Two

Well I did it. I broke down today and (finally) watched Avatar. I realize how blasé that must sound – but I was not really even sure I wanted to see this film. There has been much ado about it since the week it first hit the theaters, and even much more since it was nominated for Best Picture… but Sci-Fi isn’t exactly my cup o’ tea. I’m the person who couldn’t sit through even the first ten minutes of the first Lord of the Rings movie, and may be, quite possibly, the only person on the planet who never understood the world’s fascination with that particular trilogy.

That being said, Avatar was good. As promised, both the graphics and special FX were mind boggling – truly outstanding use of technology. The sheer craftsmanship it took to put it all together into this neat little 162 minute package, simply phenomenal.

Avatar is the age-old story about one race of people wanting the precious resources another race of people has. They will do anything, including trying to exterminate an entire race of people, to get it. (Actually, it’s rather like Disney’s Pocahontas set on a futuristic planet… I’m just sayin’.)

But to me, neither the story–line nor the actor’s performances were enough to merit a nomination for Best Picture. Those were not outstanding, just “okay”.



By the same token, James Cameron has broken new ground with this film, much the same way that Orson Welles did with Citizen Kane. In Avatar, Cameron pioneered a specially designed camera built into a 6 inch boom that allowed the facial expressions of the actors to be captured and digitally recorded for later use by animators. He also used his own virtual camera system, which displays augmented reality on a monitor, placing the actor’s visual counterparts into their digital surroundings in real time, allowing the director to adjust and direct scenes just as if shooting live action. James Cameron earned his nomination for Best Director, no doubt about that.

Oh yeah nearly forgot to mention - the James Horner composed score is quite good, both haunting and powerful.

So, if you like special effects, CGI graphics and action-packed Sci–Fi, Avatar is something you’ll wanna see.

Tomato Bruschetta

Here is a great light-but-filling recipe perfect for summer – but ya don’t have to wait till then… make it anytime you need a reminder of summertime!

Tomato Bruschetta

Here’s the low-down on this easy-as-pie recipe:

You’ll need a few thick-ish slices of good rustic bread (½ inch should do the trick): something with a great crust but is still softly chewy on the inside – like French or sourdough (or any of a number of “artesian” style breads that are readily available today. Don’t be hasty in your selection though, as the bread is the key to a great bruschetta.

Next you’ll need some good extra virgin olive oil. Fry bread until light golden brown and crispy. You don’t want a soggy base to your dish. If you prefer going “lighter”, you can toast the bread in a hot oven (400°) until desired crispiness.

After frying (or toasting) rub each slice of bread with a whole clove of garlic (however much your taste buds prefer). Drizzle some good extra virgin olive oil on it at this time (if you toasted in oven) and sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cut fresh tomatoes into chunks (any variety you like it fine – I prefer a nice selection of Heirloom tomatoes, which come in a rainbow of colors now-a-days), tear fresh basil leaves into medium sized pieces (to taste, but more is better) and toss with olive oil. Let this marinate for a while (10 minutes is good) and then season with salt and pepper. (Only add salt about ½ hour before serving, as it makes the tomatoes release their juices more rapidly… you want some juiciness, just not too much.)

Now, pile your lovely tomato/basil mixture onto the crispy bread, serve and enjoy.

This dish is a snap to make, appealing to the eye, easy on the waistline and oh so Yummmmy! Enjoy this taste of summer any time of year!

Is it summer yet?

Ahhhhhhhhhh summer! Hurry pleaseeeeeeeee?!?!?!?!

Sade

Sade, English R & B band, is back on the charts after nearly 10 years. Soldier of Love was released worldwide on February 8, 2010. The title cut was release as a single in December 2009.

The group is famous for the silky smooth voice of is lead singer and name-sake Sade Abu (pronounced Shah Day, in case you didn’t know). They had major success in the 80’s with such chart toppers as Your Love Is King, Smooth Operator and The Sweetest Taboo.

Those of you who were fans then will be glad to hear this new album is just as good as their previous offerings - filled with deep, rich harmonies and soulfully sexy- sweet music.

Below are a souple of my favorite cuts from Solider of Love

For My Valentine

I Love You, Robert.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Me

The Fundamental Things Apply...

"Play it once Sam, for old time's sake.

Play it Sam... play 'As Time Goes By'."

Tuesdays with Morrie

Outwardly, this book by Mitch Albom is as small and unassuming as its namesake. But open up its plain, cream colored cover and you’ll find an amazingly incredible and inspiring story – the story of Morrie Schwartz.

Morrie was a teacher – a professor of sociology at Brandeis University for over 30 years, to be exact. He spent his life and his career molding young minds, challenging them to be the best they possibly could be. But perhaps his greatest teaching came in the final two years of his life. Morrie was “A Teacher to the Last”, his personal epitaph.

At the age of 78, Morrie Schwartz was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, a disease for which there is no cure. But instead of being bitter and wasting what time he had left, he lived out his life to the absolute fullest by doing what he did best, teaching… only this time the lesson was in how to die.

He shared his story with Nightline, being interviewed three times over the next year by Ted Koppel, at various stages of his deterioration. It was as the first of the interviews aired that Albom, one of his former students, by sheer accident while flipping through channels, found out of his illness and decided to go and see him.

What was, by Albom’s own admission, supposed to be a onetime get-in-and-out-as-quickly-as-you-possibly-can-visit, turned out to be a series of thought-provoking chats about loving, giving and sharing; of sorrow and joy; about forgiveness and responsibility; and of life, death and acceptance.

Incidentally, Tuesdays with Morrie has become the best-selling memoir of all time.

This book will make you laugh and cry. It will challenge you to think about the direction of your own life…where you have been and where you are heading. It will remind you to love and cherish what is truly important (family and friends), and not worry so much about the other stuff.

In the few short hours it takes to read this little 192 page gem, you could gain a whole new perspective on life.Do yourself a favor; read it. You’ll be thankful you did.

The following is an excerpt:

“I heard a nice little story the other day,” Morrie says. He closes his eyes for a moment and I wait.

Okay. The story is about a little wave, bobbing along in the ocean, having a grand old time. He’s enjoying the wind and the fresh air – until he notices the other waves in front of him, crashing against the shore.

‘My God, this is terrible,’ the wave says. ‘Look what’s going to happen to me!’

Then along comes another wave. It sees the first wave, looking grim, and it says to him, ‘Why do you look so sad?’

The first wave says, ‘You don’t understand! We’re all going to crash! All of us are going to be nothing! Isn’t it terrible?’

The second wave says, ‘No, you don’t understand. You’re not a wave; you’re part of the ocean.’”

I smile. Morrie closes his eyes again.

“Part of the ocean,” he says, “part of the ocean.”

GRITS

While at the library today, I happened upon a book whose title caught my eye almost as immediately as I glanced in its direction. It’s titled The Grits (Girls Raised In The South) Guide to Life by Deborah Ford And Edie Hand. Well, being a full-fledged, bona fide Grits gal, I had to check it out (both literally and figuratively).

While I think only a true Southern woman can appreciate all the books nuances, there are some gems within that even a Yankee (I’m giggling as I type that word, saying it aloud in my head as if I were Miss Scarlet O’Hara herself) could appreciate.

This "Grits Bible" contains information all Southern ladies know to be true; from what defines a true Southern Belle to understanding that football is indeed a second religion in the South: from the art of hospitality, planning the perfect party and landing a husband, to the importance of family, friendship, sisterhood, values, and traditions.

Sprinkled in amongst the sage advice is, of course, a smathering of Southern humor – which brings me to today’s funny. Please note: not all Southerners are Rednecks and not all Rednecks are located in the South… They are everywhere, darlin’.


Redneck Rules of Etiquette


• To avoid bruising wine as you decant it, make sure you tilt the paper cup.

• Your centerpiece should never be prepared by a taxidermist.

• When dating (outside the family), always offer to bait your lady’s hook, especially on the first date.

• Establish with her parents what time she is expected back. Some will say 10:00 p.m.; others might say Monday. If the latter, it is the man’s responsibility to get her to school on time.

• When attending the theater, refrain from talking to the characters on the screen. Tests have proven they can’t hear you.

• Never take a beer to a job interview.

• Always identify people in your yard before shooting at them.

• Convenient though it may be, it’s considered tacky to bring a cooler to church.

• If you have to vacuum the bed, it is time to change the sheets.

• Even if you’re certain you’re in the will, don’t drive a U-haul to the funeral home.


“The sound of laughter is contagious. It’s a verbal hug, best shared between friends and family. In today’s world, with all the pain and frustration we’ve seen, you’ve just got to laugh. Nothing else seems to make sense.
Thank the Lord there’s so much to laugh at in this world.”

And the winner is...

"That's not what your girlfriend says."


Congratulations to Drew Brees, Sean Peyton and the entire New Orleans Saints oganization for their victory in Superbowl 44! Who dat!

I am I said...

"Well, I'm New York City born and raised. But nowadays, I'm lost between two shores. LA's fine, but it ain't home, New York's home but it ain't mine no more.

I am, I said, to no one there. And no one heard at all, not even the chair. I am, I cried. I am, said I. And I am lost, and I can't even say why."

Lava Dreams

Pretty cool, huh?

Photography by Vincent K. Tylor

Yankee Dawg

"No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how."