Down Doobee Doo Down Down

I lost 1.6 this week kids. I am officially 1.2 pounds away from my goal!!

HOME STRETCH!!!

Rainbows

Who doesn't love Judy Garland? She was the first performer I remember watching as a child. Dorothy Gale and her ruby slippers were a staple in our house. I would love to think that her and I have some commonalities. We are both short, both singers, both started singing as babies (my song of choice was "My Life" by Billy Joel, hers was Jingle Bells), both have Mickey Rooney's in our life (my wonderfully sweet Grandpa is a Mickey look a like), both love to eat, and we both love to "make our own fun" as Lou puts it. :)

I have been watching Me and My Shadows with Judy Davis, almost religiously (thanks to my pal Johnny Fredo). I am slightly obsessed with it. The movie is sad, but also strangely uplifting. At one point in the film, Lorna Luft, Judy's daughter, refers to being in the midst of audience applause for the first time. In that applause, she knew everything was going to be ok. What performer doesn't feel that at some point? No matter how shitty your day was, that sound surrounds you. It consumes you. It makes you smile.

Judy Garland's life was a roller coaster. She always said that she was born at the age of 12 on the MGM movie lot. Not as Frances Gumm, but as Judy Garland. She never knew where her voice came from, so in that sense she was afraid that one day she was going to forget how to use it. I found some really great quotes of hers, and these are some of my favorites:

"Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else."

"As for my feelings toward 'Over the Rainbow,' it's become part of my life. It is so symbolic of all my dreams and wishes that I'm sure that's why people sometimes get tears in their eyes when they hear it."

"Behind every cloud is another cloud."

"How strange when an illusion dies. It's as though you've lost a child."

"I try to bring the audience's own drama - tears and laughter they know about, to them."

"If I am a legend, then why am I so lonely?"

"I can live without money, but I cannot live without love."

"We cast away priceless time in dreams, born of imagination, fed upon illusion, and put to death by reality."

"I wanted to believe and I tried my damndest to believe in the rainbow that I tried to get over and couldn't. So what? Lots of people can't."

"You are never so alone as when you are ill on stage. The most nightmarish feeling in the world is suddenly to feel like throwing up in front of four thousand people."

It would be amazing to play her one day, although the thought also terrifies me. She was, after all, beloved. And, who in this town, besides Joe Boo and my Grandpa is short enough to play Mickey Rooney??

At the end of Me and My Shadows, Lorna Luft (narrated by Cynthia Gibb) talks about her Mother and her life as the daughter of Judy Garland. I think it is a great philosphy to carry with you.

"When people refer to my family's life as a tragedy, they completely miss the point. Mama never saw herself as tragic. She never lost her optimism. That level of joy and carrying on, no matter what the obstacles was something she made every audience feel and believe. It's why people love her. If i've learned anything from her along the way, it's that everyone's show must go on. And it's up to us to make it a good one."

For Your Consideration

Let's go see this movie!!





GOD I LOVE HER!!!!

GOOD MORNING!!

Todd has an ancient scale that, FIRST of all, sounds like it is breaking when you step on it (not a good ego booster), and SECOND, gives you a different weight every time you step on it. Last month or so I got onto it and on 3 separate occasions, one right after another, I weighed 126, 132 then 136. Because I quit WW and started a new program I went out and got Todd a new scale. This one measures your body fat and water weight also! I just weighed myself on this new scale with ALL my clothes on....

DOWN 4.2????? YIKES!

I am SURE that the WW scales are very similar to the Dr.'s office scales BUT REALLY?

TODAY I will smile at the victory, because TOMORROW I will be eating 1.2 pounds of turkey, 1.5 pounds of stuffing, 1 pound of mashed potatoes, and the rest will be gravy and butter. Sigh.

Blonde's do NOT have more fun, unless your name is KATHY!!

Here are some shots that my good friend Chris took from the show I am doing:

Kathy Weese, Bobby Cooke and Eric Rawlski

Kathy Weese

The Cast (sans Kathy)

The Pink Ladies of Leader of the Pack

SOME boys make pretty girls.

Ok, so in between shows on Saturday we have a lot of time on our hands. The show is only an hour and a half long, so we tend to get a little bored. Soooo, someone came up with the idea to make-over the boys from top to bottom... like women. Last week I made over Bobby and Elizabeth made over Andy. Liza and Bethany were the result:

This week, I got Andy, Elizabeth got Marc, and Nicole got Bobby. We decided to make it a beauty contest. Kathy, Kelly and Lorraine were the judges. Here are some GLAMOUR shots!

JUDGEMENT TIME!!!!

Couple Number 1: The LOVELY Bobby and NICOLE?

Couple Number 2: The SASSY Sacco and Elizabeth?

Or Couple Number 3: The GORGEOUS ANDREW and ME?!!

AND THE WINNER IS:

ANDREW AND MICHELE!!

We won a pen, and a box of tissues. We were overjoyed.

OH! Next week, the boys are going to make the girls up to look like drag queens. I am afraid the outcome won't be far off from what I do every day. Pictures to come!!

HYSTERICAL!

I saw this movie last night and it is incredibly funny. There are parts to the movie where you don't know whether to laugh or be in complete and utter shock. Before every giggle, laugh, or plain old cackle in the audience you always heard an "Oh My God!"

A step in the right direction...

I couldn't go in to Weight Watchers tomorrow, so I went today:

I LOST 1.6 POUNDS!!!!

Thanks to my sweet, and VERY skinny friend Charmagne, I have found something that REALLY works. It is motivating, easy and keeps me on track. It is My Food Diary. It keeps a close watch on my calories, fat, sugar, sodium, and other things that love to attach themselves to my ass.

For those of you who know me, I salt EVERYTHING. I am humiliated to say this... but I even salt my spaghetti. I KNOW, I KNOW!!! However, if you have too much sodium, a sad frown face appears on your diary to let you know. With that said, I am proud to state that I have not salted ONE DAMN thing all week. That is right. NOT ONE THING. AND, I have stayed below my recommended sodium daily intake (2400 mg) every day but one. I want as many smiling faces on my diary as possible. I do not want my new friend, MFD to be frowning.

I am going to say goodbye to my faithful friend Weight Watchers for now. We have been together for 5 years, but it is time for a change. Don't cry WW. It's not you, it's me.

4 pounds down. 7 more pounds to GO!!

Fool me once, shame on... you


You fool me, you can't get fooled again!

Urban Legends

WHICH ONES ARE TRUE? Check these out:

An elderly woman, in an attempt to dry her just-bathed miniature poodle faster, put him in the microwave and pressed the defrost button.

FALSE

The "Poodle in the Microwave" or "Microwaved Pet" myth, in which a person puts a wet pet in the microwave to dry (with tragically explosive results for the animal), was widely circulated in the mid-1970s. It was probably a reaction to somewhat mysterious new technologies such as microwave ovens. Although this legend usually has a befuddled elderly woman making the fatal error, the manner in which the pet gets wet, as well as the type of pet, has sometimes varied. And it goes without saying (we hope!) that while this story isn't true, you should never microwave your pet.

That little bit of crunch in Fig Newtons could be due to the bugs that inadvertently get into the fig paste.

TRUE!!!!

The Food and Drug Administration allows for fig paste to have up to 13 insect heads per 100 grams. Because the fig bears its flowers inside the fruit and relies upon wasps to crawl inside to pollinate them, many wasps end up harvested along with the figs. Even with rigorous cleaning and sorting of the figs, it would be nearly impossible to remove every single wasp from inside the figs. So, the crunch is mostly from the fig's seeds, but there may be a wasp head or two in the paste as well.

A young boy died from eating a fatal combination of six bags of Pop Rocks and a six-pack of Coca-Cola. The combination apparently caused the Pop Rocks to explode in his stomach, killing him instantly.

FALSE

This urban legend scared parents and kids alike for some time, especially when the story evolved and it was supposedly "Mikey," the freckle-faced little boy in the Life Cereal commercials of the 1970s, who died from eating too many Pop Rocks and chasing them with a six-pack of Coca-Cola. However, Pop Rocks do not contain enough gas to cause anything worse than a belch, and chasing them with a can of soda certainly won't cause an explosion. When Kraft bought the product rights in 1983, Pop Rocks were marketed under a different name, leading to the rumor that they were taken off the shelves because they were so dangerous. These days, they are back on the market again as Pop Rocks and are still available in your favorite candy aisle.


A drugged tourist awoke in his hotel room's ice-filled bathtub, and realized that he had undergone surgery on his lower-left groin. Doctors who examined him confirmed that he was yet another victim of a kidney robbery.

FALSE

The urban legend of a traveler waking up robbed of his kidneys by a gang of highly skilled organ thieves was seen by thousands in 1997 via a well-circulated e-mail with the subject line, "Travelers Beware!" In fact, the story had been around since at least 1991. According to Snopes.com, the National Kidney Foundation has asked any individuals who had their kidneys illegally removed to contact them. So far, no one has.

Kopi Luwak, the world's most expensive coffee at U.S. $75 per quarter pound, is harvested from the partially digested coffee beans found in the feces of the palm civet, a distant cousin of the mongoose.

TRUE!!!

The exotic gourmet coffee Kopi Luwak--a combination of the Indonesian word for coffee and a local name of the palm civet--is harvested from the partially digested coffee beans found in the feces of the civet, a distant cousin of the mongoose. Known for its distinctly rich taste and aroma, the excreted coffee is produced in Indonesia and Vietnam, and is gaining in popularity among coffee connoisseurs. It is believed that the enzymes in the civet's stomach partially break down the proteins in the coffee beans, removing the bitter taste and enhancing the coffee's flavor. Still, many deride this beverage as "cat poop coffee" or "monkey poo coffee.

While demonstrating the safety of the windows in a skyscraper, a lawyer fell to his death when the window he was pushing on gave way.

TRUE!!!

Sadly, the story of a lawyer falling to his death from a skyscraper window was all too real for Garry Hoy. As he was demonstrating the safety of the windows in the building for some visiting law students, Toronto lawyer Hoy fell 24 stories to his death in 1993 when the window popped out and he fell through, to the horror of several witnesses.

Could have been worse...

Up 0.4 pounds this week. Fucker Mother. Any bets for next week? I will say... down 1.2!

Long LONG things

I heard about this website today, and I took a gander. VERY interesting stuff. The website is all about LONG things. Actually, the LONGEST things. For example:

The Longest Album Title: Fiona Apple

The album title contains 90 words and here it is:

When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing 'Fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right.

The Longest Beard: Hans Langseth of Norway

When he died in 1927, the beard was measured at 17 1/2 feet. Hans Langseth's beard can now be seen at the Smithsonian Institution. (EW)

The Longest Beard for a FEMALE?: Vivian Wheeler of Illinois

With the longest hair in her beard measuring 11 inches - 27.9 cm., she is blessed with having the longest beard for a female. Her father insisted she start shaving at the age of 7.

The Longest Curtain Call: Placido Domingo

Just imagine, 101 curtain calls, 80 minutes of solid clapping and one encore after another! That is exactly what the world famous tenor got after his performance as the Moor of Venice in Othello on July 30th 1991 at Vienna, making it the longest applause ever recorded!

The Longest Boxing Match: Andy Bowen & Jack Burke to fight in New Orleans.

The date: April 6 1893.
The time: 9:00 PM.
The rules: Fight to the finish.
The prize: $2,500.00 USD.
The result: After 7 hours and 19 minutes spanning 110 round the boxers are to pooped to punch and the match is declared 'no contest' which was later changed to a draw.

The Longest Ear Hair: Radhakant Bajpai of India

This is one record we would never want to break and gladly leave it to this guy. One of Radhakant Bajpai's hair measures an amazing 13.2 cm. or 5.19 inches.

The Longest Crab: The Giant Japanese Spider Crab

If you are like us and enjoy nothing more than a good crab for dinner then this record is for you.
The world's longest crab, is a member of the snow crab group. The body of the giant Japanese spider crab reaches 15 inches in length and the leg span, a tasty 12 feet, providing about 50 pounds of dining pleasure. Hungry? Eager to go catch one? First you'll need a ticket to Japan as they are found off the Pacific coast of Japan and second, you'll need to be able to dive down to 150 -1000 feet to find them. Bon appétit.

I wanted to upload a TON more pictures, but for some reason Blogger was mad at me today. So take a look at the website here. (and check out the long LONG website name)

Weigh In # 1

Moment of truth:

I lost 2.4!

I have gotten up every morning for the past 3 days at 5 am, and have gone to the gym. I have my own personal trainer now (Joe, the gentle giant) and he is kicking the shit out of me, but I love it. I am sore from head to toe, but I think it is going to be SO worth it in the end. At least it better be.