Red Red Wine, You Make Me Feel So Fine
(According to the Journal of Substance Abuse)

*Wine drinkers are college educated and drink in moderation, usually with meals.

*Beer drinkers have limited educations. They usually drink at times other than meal time.

*Whiskey drinkers hang out at bars.

*Wine cooler drinkers are usually single and have limited educations

*Wine drinkers are at lower risk for developing tummy pooch, while hard-liquor drinkers have the highest risk.

Phew, I'm very glad my favorite drink is red wine. Cheers!

Hey Big Spenders
We all tip, well, at least I hope we all do. But do you know what TIP stands for?
I never knew and now that I do, I thought I'd share the fun tidbit with ya'll.
TIP = To Insure Promptness.
After paying the tip and NYC sales tax my money is gone, and it's another week before I can dine out again :-/ Although the $12 cocktails might have something to do with it too, since they usually cost more than my food. Damn pricey New York!

Rain Rain Go Away
It's been raining so much lately that I was afraid I'd have to start building an arc. It's funny though, living in New York City, I never have to check the weather forcast because the street vendors always seem to miraculously appear an hour before it rains, ready to sell umbrellas at exorbitant prices. When I see there umbrella racks out, I know I need to bring mine along too because sure enough it always rains then. It's like they have a special radar or something or ... they simply watch The Weather Channel unlike me.

NYT Article of the Day: Christian Conservatives Press Issues in Statehouses

T	Timeless
A	Ambitious
R	Relaxed
A	Astounding

Name:

Beyond the Sea
Now Playing: Mack the Knife
I just saw an advanced screening of Beyond the Sea, a film about singer Bobby Darin's life. However, it might as well have been Kevin Spacey's story, since Spacey not only stars in the film but directs and produces it, as well as sings each Darin song and beautifully so at that. They say he waited 5 years to make this film so he could train his voice and get it up to par.

I don't have to tell you that Academy Award winner Spacey acted well, that's obvious he always does a great job. But they also did a good casting job by picking Kate Bosworth to play Sandra Dee. I had just watched the Gidget movie on TCM the week before and was impressed at how much Bosworth looked and acted like the wholesome teen idol.

The film started a bit weird with flashbacks but the camera angles and shots are impressive. Also at first it was odd that Darrin interacts with his younger self in certain scenes, but it became cute. The writing often pokes fun at the era and the industry, which is amusing. At times the film felt like a Broadway play, mostly because of the occasional showy dancing numbers, which is why I reccomend seeing it on the big screen. Overall I enjoyed it a lot and it was better than the similar fare, DeLovely.

When leaving the theater a few said that Spacey sang too many songs, but that didn't bother me, mainly because I like that era of music. It's amazing how much Spacey sounds like Darrin, but you can also hear him too, it's a nice combination.

I knew that Dee (made famous for a new generation with the song "Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee" in Grease) and Darrin were a hot Hollywood couple of the time, but I knew little about their lives.

Here are some facts about Bobby Darrin:
* Had a weak heart and was told by doctors that he would not live pass the age of 15.
* Campaigned for Robert Kennedy, was against the Vietnam war, became a hippie and participated in a 1965 Civil Rights march to Alabama.
* Scored his first hit at age 22 with "Splish Splash." Had many other chart toppers like "Beyond the Sea" and "Dream Lover."
* Acted in 13 films, won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar.

A major fact that the film glossed over was that Dee and Darrin legally seperated and he remarried for a few months in 1973. However, at the end there is a caption that reads: "Dee loves him to this day."

BTW- John Goodman also stars, and like usual the supporting cast helped make the film, especially Bob Hoskins and Caroline Aaron playing Darrin's Aunt and Uncle.

To view a trailer and get more info on the film, visit www.beyondtheseathemovie.com


I already ordered the CD for my mom (of course I'll be copying it to my ipod first):


PS: At an after party at APT Lounge on W13th ST, I met PC Magazine freelancer Matt Sarrel whose blog is Nina and Sonja Blog!

PPS: My b-day is in 5 mins. Dinner tomorrow at Sushi Samba!

It's a small blog world after all
Last Thursday, my Media Ethics class had a guest speaker, Jeff Jarvis who has a journalism career that's beyond impressive. He was a TV critic for People, TV Guide, had a column in San Francisco and now is a famous blogger, www.buzzmachine.com

Although I was captivated by his very animated lecture on blogging and the media, especially since I just started this blog, all I could think about while he was talking was "I think he was in Moonlighting." Of course I couldn't ask him if he was or not in class when all of my classmates were asking such intelligent questions about the FCC and niches.

Yes, I know the show aired back in 1986, but I remembered an episode during the highpoint of the TV series, which starred Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepard, that featured Jarvis as himself a TV Critic introducing the show and making fun of it. It was great, lol.

Every time he did a certain hand gesture I'd be like it's him, it's him! But since we didn't even talk about his experience as a TV critic, I knew it would be coming way out of left field if I asked him if he guest-starred on an 80s TV detective show. Yet, I was really dying to do just that, but it would be weird enough if I had asked the question never mind If I was wrong. I would have had to explain that there is someone who looked like him and why I was even thinking about the show in class in the first place, lol.

Anywho, I looked it up and it was indeed he, check the episode guide description HERE

Now here's the even funnier part--the famous blogger has blogged about the class and me, and I'm now blogging about it on my blog. Read Jarvis' post: Their tomorrow

As for his discussion, like I said it was animated. I liked his view that blogs are like an open conversation and discussion and that it's all about linking to related articles and blogs for more information.

Joke of the Day
The President, the First Lady and Dick Cheney are flying on Air Force One.

George looks at Laura, chuckles and says, "You know, I could throw a $1,000.00 bill out the window right now and make somebody very happy."

Laura shrugs her shoulders and says, "Well, I could throw ten $100.00 bills out the window and make 10 people very happy."

Cheney says, "Of course then, I could throw one-hundred $10.00 bills out the window and make a hundred people very happy."

The pilot rolls his eyes, looks at all of them and says to his co-pilot, "Such big shots back there..... hell, I could throw all of them out the window and make 56 million people very happy." :p

Who were you in your last life?
Find out on the following HTML generator http://www.thebigview.com/pastlife/

Apparently I was a female in my last earthly incarnation (phew!) and was born somewhere in the territory of modern North New Zealand around the year 1200. My profession was that of a seaman or cook. Well, cook makes sense since my dad was a chef and most of my uncles and aunts are.

It also says: A natural talent in psychology, you knew how to use your opportunities. Cold-blooded and calm in any situation. Your task is to learn, to love and to trust the universe. You are bound to think, study, reflect, and to develop inner wisdom. That's a pretty cool task!

Band(s) of Brothers?

This summer it seemed as if the every wrist on the subway had a yellow Lance Armstrong band around it. Men, women, children, both straight-laced, athletes and students all had them. But there might be a few new color plastic bands around now.

A recent Newsweek article The Pen-Pal Platoon discusses the new red bands supporting the soldiers that people adopted to send letters and care packages to.

Army Sgt. Juan Salas, 23, and Manhattanville College student started the My Soldier program and as an incentive to writing letters, participants get a red wrist band similar to the Yellow Livestrong ones, to show support for your adopted soldier oversees.

To sign up, click on the graphic:


I used to write letters to my friend's husband. Luckily now after a year-and-a-half he is finally home in time for the holidays. His men really loved the little toys, CDs, magazines and hand wipes I'd send. Most would even write thank you notes back.

It seems these plastic bands are definitely becoming a popular trend. I know I've been looking for the pink breast cancer bands for awhile now. I had liked the yellow bracelets that the whole city, my friends, John Kerry, and even my boss was wearing, but I didn't really follow Armstrong and his cycling career, so I felt it would be weird if I sported one.

But Breast Cancer research is a charity I'm constantly supporting and on a superficial note, the pink bands are prettier, after all like they say pink is the new black. However, these pink bands are selling on eBay for 5$ each plus shipping, instead of the original $1 cost. I don't mind spending the extra money but the terrible thing is the charity the bracelets are supporting are not getting the extra dough. :( Instead, greedy ebayers are pocketing the donation cash. tsk tsk!

It also appears that knock-off and counterfiet yellow bands have been spotted in the Boston area.

LINK: Yellow LIVESTRONG Bracelets Spark Charity Fad