Dream A Little Dream Of Me

 

"A car is not just metal; it's a dream on wheels."

~Unknown

2024 Mini Cooper S EV

Yesterday I had to drop of my new Mini Cooper, to have some ceramic coating applied to the inside of the car, which was a service included with the sales price. Because it was going to take 48 hours, the dealership gave us a loaner car. And what an amazing loaner car it is, but God I can't wait for the 48 hours to up, so I return this fabulous car to the dealership! Why? Well, because quite frankly, it's scares the ever loving SHIT out of me! While I have always dreamed of owning a BMW sedan, I never figured on really owning one, or even riding in one. Which is still true. I dream of cool stuff, but I don't really aspire to own something like this, it's just not the right fit for me. I have never needed the status symbol. This car makes a big statement, and I am not the right person to deliver it! It's got amazing style, and does 0 - 60 in 3.6 - 3.7 seconds. I don't need that much power! And the inside is remarkable, but has too many bells and whistles. It truly is a daydream of a car! In my fantasies I see myself driving along the Amalfi coast, with James Bond sitting next to me, and Alan in the backseat! LOL. But back in reality, I am so afraid something will hurt it, or someone will steal it, or any of about a million things that can go wrong with a car that retails for over $100,000! Right now I am taking deep breaths. In and out. In and out. Everything is going to be fine. Right? It's moments like this that I love my Mini Cooper the most. Mini is owned by BMW, and the two brands use the same parts, so I basically own a BMW with the Mini Cooper name, which suits me fine. My Mini is quietly perfect, and friendly, and like with the purchase of my 2013 Mini, which still sits in my garage, it always puts forth a soulful vibe that lets me know, it has my back! 

Dream A Little Dream Of Me

By Cass Elliot

Ellipsis Movie Of The Week... Boogie Nights

 

"We're about to make film history,

 right here... on videotape."

~Jack Horner

 (Burt Reynolds)

Boogie Nights

View The Official Trailer On IMBD

Mark Wahlberg

Eddie From Torrance/Dirk Diggler

Paul Thomas Anderson, the producer of Boogie Nights, is one of the best! He makes movies you can climb into, and brings to life characters you can believe in. He did it with, One Battle After Another, for which he just won the Academy Award last Sunday night, and with this week's movie suggestion, Boogie Nights. The movie is set in the San Fernando valley, in the late 70's and early 80's, when Discotheques were the place to be seen, and perhaps sometimes be discovered for the movies, including for the porn industry. And that's the story of Dirk Diggler, whose real name is Eddie Addams, from Torrance. This is really good movie, although some may find it offensive due to it being a story about the porn industry. I wouldn't watch it with kiddos in the room, or tweens or teens for that matter, but if it's just the grownups, it's an interesting story, that takes a strangely romantic look at a interesting time in America's history. And easily, this is Mark Wahlberg, Dirk Diggler, and Burt Reynolds at their best! John C. is simply amazing, and Heather Graham will tear your heart out, have tissues handy. It's an extremely poignant story. It will always be one of my top 10 favorite movies!

One of my favorite songs from 1977

Andrew Gold

Lonely Boy

New York Times

Where to stream the movies Of Paul Thomas Anderson

Cooking Lessons

 

"I think every woman should own a blowtorch."

~Julia Childs

My Life In France

I love cooking, but I haven't done a lot of it since, Covid The First (Omicron), back in December of 2021. I stare at my cookbooks, and dream of popping them open and making something sinfully delicious, but I just don't do it. I don't know, I guess I'm stuck. So much has happened that hubby took over duties, and now the kitchen is pretty much his. He even makes me gourmet lurches daily. I keep saying I'll get there, but I never do. I just never do. And it's one of the things that makes me feel stuck in this depression, treatable enough, but it just sits in me, zapping my energy, as if the anemia wasn't doing a good enough job of that all on it's own. Oh well, enough of that, I am always looking for new recipes and daydreaming of the day my body and my mind finally get hungry enough to let me get on with it already and make something fabulous! In my recent travels, I came across this marvelous article in the New York Times, 20 Best Food Scenes In Movies. It's a fun read. Do you have a favorite food scene in the movies? I have many, but my very favorite might have to be the, "I'll have what she's having," scene from, When Harry Met Sally. T opening scene from, Saturday Night Fever, with John Travolta eating pizza, and strutting around Brooklyn is great, but what about the dinner scene later in the film, with his family. How wonderfully Italian it was! 

Dinner and Dessert

M

TV Guide Issue February 26th - March 3rd 1972

 

"You know what? Youve got spunk... I hate spunk!"

Lou Grant ( Ed Asner )

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Lets spend a little time, distracting from the awful day yesterday. I don't want to rant about the new developments in all the breaking news stories, like Bari Weiss over at CBS News, will be shuttering their radio news division. That was infuriating, for more than one reason. It's all political. Broadcast news, and journalism in general, is being systematically dismantled, and that keeps me up nights, but I want and need, some rest for a day or two. You can only lose so much sleep before you body begins to fight back. So, I will hand it all over to history. It's okay to lean on history, as long as we don't forget what we let go of. Americans have engaged in a good bit of political, societal, and cultural amnesia in recent years, so as you might imagine, I don't want to become one of those people.

 Instead of forgetting, I merely take respites, by climbing into an era where I felt safe. Were I could still imagine what my future would be, while planning for it with realistic goals. When I was a little girl, my love for the Mary Tyler Moore show helped me imagine my future self. Everything from Mary's wardrobe, to her bright attitude, were what most people aspire to be, so I still revisit the show when I get stressed out, just for the memories of all the plans I made. And, to be honest, to recheck my own attitudes. Back then, it was encouraged to treat others like you want to be treated, now it feels like that sentiment we grew up with, was nothing more than a unrealistic plot point.  So this post is all about Mary, and her friends, and how when things went wiggy, she set the example for reasonable solution was always available.

WJM News, from a time when things were also awful but not this awful. Can you imagine Ted Baxter delivering any of the news from this past week?

This is a really great YouTube account that you can see into the homes and apartments of your favorite TV shows. 

Marina Coates - Mockingbird Lane

Season 1 Episode 1

"Love Is All Around"

Season 5 Episode 22

"You Can't Lose 'Em All"

Sonny Curtis

"Love Is All Around"

Joan Jett And The Blackhearts

"Love Is All Around"

We can face these times, right?

Bird House Days

 

"An hour in nature, prevents a year in the hospital."

~Abhijit Naskar, 

Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown

Hubby and I got in the car, pointed it toward the Cosumnes River Preserve wetlands walk, and took a long walk around, just looking at all the birds in the tress and birdhouses, and it was glorious! Just a couple hours of listening to the sound of about 40 different birds, or so, was enough to make my achy body feel better. I unclenched my fists, and concentrated on different angles with my camera, and depth of field shots. This one is not perfect, by any stretch, it just made me happy to try to feel better. Little forward steps. But boy oh boy is that first step forward a difficult one. Depression sucks, but I know with some effort I can move past it toward light and hope. Like with this photograph, I will get perfect this shot as the year moves on, and that's a good thing to look forward to, but if I don't strive for the perfect shot, this scene with remain forever in mediocrity. Who wants that?

Living Life La Vida Tippy-Top

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;

 and I am not sure about the universe."

~ Albert Einstein

Well That Was Embarrassing!

He did it again. 

He opened his mouth, and the stupid vomited out. 

The look on, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's, face, says it all! I think this incident might just be more embarrassing then the time, Volodymry Zelenskyy, was told he wasn't grateful enough, and followed it with a rabid journalist/podcaster/whatever telling Zelenskyy he wasn't dressed appropriately for a visit to the White House!

 Sigh. 

Welcome to the first day of Spring!

"The earth laughs in flowers."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here's an article with video, which runs a bit longer.

 Read The New York Times Article Here. 

This article and video is where he uses the words,

 "tippy-top."

Spring begins at 10:46 am Eastern Time

It's The Last Full Day Of Winter

 

"Not reassuring when the weatherman say, 

'Today will be terrible, but don't worry, it won't be as terrible as tomorrow or Friday."

~Jonah Goldberg

Today is the last full day of winter. Can you believe it? As of tomorrow afternoon, it will only take one more season to get me to autumn again! All the comforts are awaiting. Cozy sweaters. Hot chocolate. Amazing holidays. The midterm elections! I am giddy thinking about it! But first I have to get through the next 6 months! The very half of the year I despise the most. Spring and Summer. Look at those temperatures! It's been super hot the last few days, which I could live without! And there is no real end in sight. We are breaking temperatures in Northern California every day! There's just something rude about Summer temperatures just walking all over Spring to deliver days so hot you can't even think. The last full day of winter should have it's last bow in peace. Don't you think?

Now That Everything's Been Said

 

"Music gives a soul to the universe,

 wings to the mind,

 flight to the imagination

 and life to everything."

~Plato

When I was a little girl, I loved the Mod Squad, and I still do to this day! I mean, how groovy were they? My neighbors lovie that show too. I can remember sitting outside, on an especially hot night in August, listening to my friend's parents discussing trivial things. Grown up trivia. But when they began talking movies and tv shows, my ears perked up! I was really curious about what they watched and why! My friend Wendy had some chic parents, at least by my reasoning as an 7 year old. Mrs. Greg lived for the Mod Squad, and she was miserable that she couldn't just survive the house to watch it. No air-conditioner, meant you toughed it out inside, or took it outside, even if it was still blistering hot at 10:00 pm! I don't why that memory is so sealed in my mind, but it is. I guess it's just one of life's mysteries, what you remember and what you don't. Anyway, years later I bought the full series on DVD for hubby, because he had never seen the show! Can you believe it? So, if you are like darling hubby and you have never seen the amazing hip coolness, of the Mod Squad, here is a particularly wonderful clip of Peggy Lipton, from 1969, singing, Now That's Everything's Been Said, by Carole King. It's truly wonderful. It's peaceful. We need that right now. I need that right now. And the nostalgic feeling and memories it brings up aren't bad either.

Carole King

Now That Everything's Been Said

Ellipsis Movie Of The Week... A Perfect Murder

 

"You steal the crown jewel of a man's soul,

 and your only excuse is some candy-ass Hallmark card sentiment?"

~Steven Taylor (Michael Douglas)

~A Perfect Murder

Here I go again. I am a purest when it comes to movies, and a remake is rarely done as well as the original, especially when the original is an Alfred Hitchcock film, but, A Perfect Murder, which is based on, Dial M For Murder, modernizes the story appropriately. That being said, there's something lacking, there's something that just doesn't resonate with me. Despite this movie's superior cast, perhaps it might be the chemistry between the actors? I am not sure, but don't get me wrong, while it seems I am being negative toward the film, I am not. I really liked this version of the classic, film. It's another great movie to curl up with on a Saturday afternoon, when all you want to do is shake off the world. I am grateful for movies like that, and you can count on me suggesting more movies that fit that bill as the year marches on. This movie has Viggo Mortenson, who makes my heart go pitty-patty with every syllable he takes. Michael Douglas who brings the sinister, and Gwyneth Paltrow, who brings more then one emotion to the story, in subtle and nuanced ways, is fun to watch, and did I mention, Viggo Mortensen? Sexy. It's worth watching for the elegance that the movie gets right, and the way it modernizes the tale, while paying respect to the original film. But worth noting, if you have never seen the original movie, give it a watch, and compare the two for yourself. I'm a picky cinephile, and even I know there's a lot like about this movie!

This film is worth watching!

Mondays, Magpies, And The DMV

 

"Hell is not other people, hell is the DMV."

~Unknown

Actually, I kinda think Hell is both other people AND the DMV. I have to be there in a little while, because it seems that my new license plates have not arrived, and it's been nearly a month! The dealership said it would be in a couple weeks. Sigh. You know how things work, it's a Monday, and I am going to the DMV so that means by the time I get home, the plates will be in the mailbox.

I will report back later on how it all went. 

In the meantime, enjoy these Yellow-billed Magpie photos!

The Swag Bag Hag

This year's Oscars Swag Bag is worth over $350,000! And I hate most of what's in it! I mean I'll take the exclusive Artic villa getaway, but what were they thinking with the Prenups? I kid you not, prenuptial agreements from, Trusted Prenups! Is that cynical or what? I'd love to have the tea and chocolate deliciousness though. I am sure this stuff comes in handy to the glamourous, like you and me, but the grateful and secure person that I am will just stay down here in the "extra's call room." On the other hand, if I could customize my dream swag bag, it would contain the following items.

My Dream Swag Bag

1. 10 days stay at the Hotel Le Negresco

With Learn French in France lessons at Centre International D' Antibes

2. A BMW 24 MA40i in San Francisco Metallic

3. Magnolia Bakery "Best Of New York" cupcakes

4. "Tiffany Hardware" watch in Tiffany Blue

5. Amish Popcorn from Williams Sonoma

6. Patricia Green Slippers 

7. 10 Days stay at the Four Seasons Hotel and Spa in Calistoga, Ca

8. !0 Days at the Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, Ca

9. Funko worth $500

10. Omaha Steaks $500

11. Z Chocolate French Macarons

12. $500 at Purr & Company

12. $500 at Ghirardelli Chocolate

13. Pumpkin Pecan Butter from Harry & David

10 Days stay at the. Royal Lancaster London

Hyde Park Suite

11. 10 Days Stay at the Hawthorn Hotel, Salem Massachusetts. 

In October

12. $2,000.00 at Barnes & Nobel

13. Dior Medium Book Tote In Green Floral

14. Christian Dior Poison Set

all versions in the Poison range

15. Lancôme Absolute Longevity Facial Cream

And that's it!

 I know, I know, it's a wee bit unreasonable. Expensive. But if I am going to get a retroactive Oscar for the two movies I starred as an extra in, or the Woody Allen movie my car starred in, then why not dream BIG! As you might gather from my choices, I need a vacation. I really wish I could just have a few days in an amazing hotel, with all the wonderful perks available, but I could settle for a stay at Extended Stay America, and all I need is Uber Eats and a book by the pool.

Maybe One Day/Someday

Okay, I got the dress. I got the snacks. I got the beverages.

I got the ballots, and I am ready to have a little fun.

Are you watching too?

You Can't Go Wrong With Valentino

 

"Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak."

~Rachel Zoe

The Oscar's Streaker, Robert Opel

April 2nd, 1974

I think I watch, The Academy Awards, as much for the fashions, as I do to see who wins the golden statue. Glamor! Pure Glamor! Oh my goodness, there have been plenty of reasons to give up on the show over the years. Politics will provide, if there is no other route to the negative, but let's face it, politics is a well paved road, easy to ride your high horse on. The fashion has also had it's moments, and even lack there of, like when a streaker ran across the stage on the live broadcast in 1972. But in the end, it's all about the clothes! Who will wear what? I love the fashion! 

Here is a great article, from Harper's Bazaar of the, 66 Best Oscar Dresses Of All Time. Personally, I think the one Julia Roberts wore in 2001, when she won for, Erin Brockovich, was just about perfect! But really, how can you go wrong with Valentino? As for the gown you see above, that's a reasonably priced gown from J J's House, that I would definitely wear if I were attending the Oscar's. It's simple, with gorgeous lines, and it's age appropriate from me. One of the worst mistakes one can make, is not dressing one's own age! Ugh... crop tops, or sheer halter dresses on a 60 year old! Sorry ladies, you can do better! Especially at the Oscar's!

Edy Williams ( 2000 )

Harper's Bazaar

The 42 Most Talked About Oscar Dresses Of All Time

About The 98th Academy Awards

"Film is dream, film is music. No art passes our conscience the way file does, and goes directly to our feelings deep down into the dark rooms of our soul."

~Ingmar Bergman

Free Sirius XM Oscar's Ballot

My pick for the performance of any category!

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

Rose Byrne

The Academy Awards is this weekend, Sunday, March 15th, so I thought it would be fun to play along. It's been years since I really did much about checking into the films up for Oscar's and to be blunt, I haven't made much attention to the awards show's in general, since the tedious histrionics of Wil Smith slapping, Chris Rock, and I got upset a couple years after that, when Treat William's was ignored after his death in 2023. The 2024 Academy Awards failed to include him in the "In Memorial" reel show that reflects and pays tribute to artists we have lost in the year prior. I can't imagine why his body of work wasn't celebrated, or good enough! So many of his films touched me, but alas, the last few years have mostly been about artists behind the scenes. And while I agree, the work of those behind the scenes is very important, but run a reel celebrating those folks apart from the Acting category. I don't know, maybe just perhaps they could include less agents for actors, and more of the film actors who become almost friends to us after a while. Anyway, I digress. It was the film, Flow, that got me excited to see if it would win for, Best Animated Feature film in 2025. I wanted it to win, very much, and it did!

So here we are. The Oscar's are on Sunday night, so here are my choices for the big night. I downloaded a free ballot from, Sirius XM, and I am ready. So many strong performances from so many actors. It was great watching the movies, and deciding who impressed me the most. I don't go to theaters anymore, it's just gotten too expensive, so thankfully most of the movies were available to stream. Okay, here we go, These are my choices!

Who do you think will when the Oscar this year?

 If you care to share with me, please leave me a comment.

 I would enjoy hearing about the performances you enjoyed the most!

Here is the fabulous, Ruth Gordon, accepting the, Best Supporting Actress, Oscar for, Rosemary's Baby, and also some key moments from the film. Minnie Castevet was an amazing character, and I think only she could have brought her life!

Patsy Kelley, Ruth Gordon, Mia Farrow

A New Bird

 

"We are nature. We are nature seeing nature. The Red-winged Blackbird flies in us."

~Susan Griffin

It felt good to get out the other day and do a little photography, unfortunately this is the only good photo I got, but I will have more opportunities coming up, so this won't be my last photo this year.

Don't you just love the beauty of the Red-winged Blackbird? And they have a lovely song too!

In Case You Need A Reason To Laugh And Or Vomit

 

New York Times 

All The President's Portraits

By Doug Mills and Larry Buchanan

"Never trust someone who claims they care nothing of what society thinks of them. Instead Of Conquering obstacles, they simple pretend they don't exist."

~Tiffany Madison

Trump's mugshot is my favorite picture of him, but if I just had to pick a different one, I guess I would have to visit the White House in order to narrow it down. There's weird portraits, in what seems like every 20 feet or so, most are merely projections of what Trump believes he is, rather than face the reality that he really isn't a tough guy, MAGA pretends he is. Once MAGA turns their backs on him, gone will be stupid renderings of him in a Superman costume, saving Gotham City from funding schools or medical research, and in will come depictions of him picking up garbage on the side of the road, or cleaning jails. Although, knowing him, he will believe they will make him look awesomely manly and tough. 

That's our hero!