Back For More:

=Pewaukee **
=Tick Check (Less For Ticks and More For Kicks)
=Ashwaubenon
=Meat Raffle Thursdays At The End Zone
=Menomenee Falls **
=My Favre-orite Things
=Ode to Joe Pichot

** CM Contributions

Lost "Michigan" Songs:
=Listen to Ishpeming Sing!
=Ironwood: Hanging With Hiawatha

They're getting more and more tacky with each passing day.

Movies To See:

=Corpse Bride
=Pretty Persuasion
=Pride and Prejudice
=The Baxter
=The Beat That My Heart Skipped
=Thumbsucker

The most embarrassing thing I've seen in a long while is the commerical for actor Alan Cumming's fragrance:

www.cummingthefragrance.com (Link won't work)

Look into it. I keep making people watch it and then they shake their heads and walk away with scrunched up noses.

Chris was always very kind to me. I'll miss him and the stories.

I keep checking imdb to see when the film version of the most delightfully twisted show ever, Strangers with Candy, will be released. Still no word. I cannot wait. All the regulars are back of course, including Stew. Matthew Broderick will play the science teacher (Looking very Richard Feynman, I'm sure of it. Infinity-I liked that one. I ran into my high school physics teacher, by the way, who has always reminded me of Paul Simon. That was fun. Sidetrack. Anyway.) and Justin Theroux will be the driver's ed instructor. Plus David Rakoff is in it. And Todd Oldham. Oh my word, Todd Oldham as the wood shop teacher. If anyone knows anything, let me know.

Very nervous/displeased about SFU.

I caught the tail end of an episode of Monk, the show about the detective with OCD. I've never really watched this show, partly because people always tell me I need to watch this show. I've always been somewhat doubtful about the authenticity. Well, the scene I tuned in on had Monk getting out of a cab. Any real person with OCD, I thought to myself, is not going to close the cab door with their hand, but rather do the awkward elbow slam. I was about to say ha! And then he did the awkward elbow slam. When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong. The show appears to be the genuine article. Maybe it is worth a try. Plus hand sanitizer is included with the first dvd set and I never pass that stuff up.

Song Title Suggestions for the Wisconsin album:

=Arbor Vitae: It's Alrighta
=Hurley: In the Record Books, Folks, Longest ATV Parade
=I Hear the IGA is Hiring (Concerning the Employment Situation in Iron County)
=Bingo at Odeina
=Down at Wequiock Falls
=Lac de Flambeau, Lake of the Torches
=Dilapidated Deer Stand
=Sheboygan
=Milwaukee's Finest
=Mining is a Dirty Business
=Race to the Rusty Raft at Weber Lake
=Paavo Nurmi Ran Here!
=Portage: Not Just for Serial Killers Anymore
=Wedding Reception at the Kimball Community Center, Bring a Hot-Dish
=See You at the Saxon County Fair
=Ice Fishing in Minocqua: Where Lanterns are Lit and Trucks Park on the Frozen Lake
=Muskego: Down at the Tavern
=VFW Ladies Auxilary Luncheon
=Lost in Oconomowoc
=Snowplow is Broken, Can't Go Out
=2 A.M. in De Pere
=Mercer Loon Days
=Malt Cups at Miss Smee's Store!
=Gile Flowage (Frozen! Yes! Not For Long!)

More to follow.... I'm having fun with this. I love the names of towns in Wisconsin. Please bear with me. Feel free to add to the list. And yes, I do realize many of these sound like Da Yoopers songs.

Highlights from the week that was:

Wedding Crashers- funny, but not quite as much as I had expected.

The Island- blatant product placements aside, I liked this movie alot.

Bust's current issue- Justin Theroux on the cover and a Sufjan Stevens featurette (fan of the Flannery O'Connor-yelp!!!)

-The new restaurant I tried, which was just like being in a restaurant in Hurley, WI, except for the fact that Wisconsin does not really have Mexican food. Wood paneling, friendly people, homey. The walls were covered with polaroids of past customers and comments/quips regarding their dining experience. My favorite was the one of the cute older couple with the caption that stated "thanks for a delightful lunch" in delicate, wobbly writing. Aww.

Readers, beware. I am homesick, so expect posts to be heavy on the Wisconsin references in the coming weeks.

Mom, Shy and the Sons
Originally uploaded by elaboratelies.

My Mom, my aunt Shy, my cousin Jesse and his boyfriend Dave went to Savannah, Georgia last weekend. They had a fun-filled trip with loads of alligators, spiders, roaches, creepy old cemetaries, mind-warping heat and great food. Here they are pictured with the sons from The Lady and Sons Restaurant (Paula Deen's place for the foodies out there), which was the highlight of the trip. They were quite smitten with the boys. (I think I know where I get it.) I am eagerly anticipating my pralines.

Last week's treats:

-Paul Rudd on Stella.

-Me and You and Everyone We Know
Miranda July is lovely and John Hawkes is a favorite, ever since "Milagro." Quirky.

-Sleater-Kinney- The Woods

Yep.

Las Vegas. Fun was had. I am a nightowl, so I really like the kind of place where you can decide to go and have an omelette at 4 a.m. Maybe big city living is for me. Highlights included:

-Getting down at Tangerine
-All the hotties in their Abercrombie and Fitch date-rape finest
-Did someone say mojitos?!!

Please. No, really:

Hamming it up at Tussauds-
I just love wax museums. They are creepy as hell. And kitschy for certain. This one had plenty to see and in Jon Bon Jovi's case, touch. Dorky. The one thing I did miss was the monster/creature section, like the one in Hollywood. They do have a haunted house inside the museum, which I refused to go into. I have my reasons. About the third time the attendant guy mentioned that the monsters can't touch you, but in the event that they do, it is surely a mistake, I decided to bow out. An unsettling disclaimer, if you ask me. (Can't stand crowds, sitting in the middle seats at a movie theatre or in this case, unwanted physical contact) One of them, who must have been on a break, looked like a perfect cross between Detective Vic Mackey and Fester Addams. The other one I saw was working a kind of bellhop/ghoul/Harry Dean Stanton kind of look. Pretty neat.

Mamma Mia!-
We managed (thanks to K) to get the best seats in the house for half price. Wee! Very cool.

Comedy-
We tried and tried to get tickets to Dave Attell. Sold out. Instead we opted for a comedy club at The Riviera. (The Riviera is flat out gross. In a completely irresistable way. TB!) The first comedian was a little green. I extended courtesy laughter. He could not seem to get the "wah, wah, wah" just right. Isn't that the first thing they teach you in comedy school? The second guy was alright. The third was pretty terrible. The whole experience was sort of so bad it was beyond good.

Observations:
-Elevators can be super funny and super uncomfortable
-I think the Paris hotel is cute, cute, cute
-The dealers at Imperial Palace have nifty themed costumes
-Lap dance-offs sure seem popular

Brooke and Katie were here for a little bit. Lucky me. The 4th was cool. Some pretty decent music swaps were made. We hit the old haunts: a quick trip to Santa Barbara, the Melodrama and McCarthy's. I loved how Katie was so afraid of the Ted Nugent lookalike's hair. It did come dangerously close to touching us. Silkwood shower.

Brooke and Katie have gone home now. I'll miss my pals. Mope.

x_x

With B. It was so hot I was half tempted to hop the fence and dive in. Felt the same way about the fountains at Bellagio, until Brooke and Katie described their fear of underwater mechanical parts. Temptation thwarted.

Here we are at the Bellagio. Above us are the prettiest glass flowers, adorning the ceiling. Not that they can be seen, of course.

Katie at Swatch.

At Tussauds. Tacky.

At Tussauds with the wax version of Hugh Hefner. I'm cracking up here. Feeling kinda trampy.

This childhood picture is so undeniably 80s. That's me on the far right, leaning back, wearing a damn blazer (corduroy no less!) and exhibiting an amount of confidence not seen since. I love all the dead giveaways of that time- my feathered hair, not one but two blazers, the striped shirt and Pat Benatar haircut, the geometric top and the faux fur jacket. Cracks me up. And the posters in the background. Of monkeys! And animals? Who is this person? Where did she go?

Let's leave it at that.