eeknight & I are very amused that our Little Man yelled back at Charlton Heston at the end of Planet of the Apes. 7 weeks old and already he's a critic!

One of my horoscopes from the city tabloid:

SAGITTARIUS, with your talent, you can afford to be audacious. You don't have to pussyfoot around in order to get your needs met. Of course, you'll find the most gentile manner in which to express your boldness.

Er, as I understand the word, it isn't even possible for me to do anything in a non-gentile manner.

In other news, Johnny Depp AND Christian Bale are one block from my office at this very moment filming that gangster movie. Must control self. Lunch hour is for eating & reading, not stalking.

I'm finally on the mend thanks to gargantuan doses of garlic via eeknight's cooking and epic naps with the furballs. Still have a cough and am feeling dizzy, tired & weak. May be home from work another day.

I wish I could say I read stacks of books, but, alas, my illness & meds left me so dull & distracted I could only sleep or stare vacantly at the TV. I watched Logan's Run (part of it anyway), the Colin Firth-Jennifer Ehle Pride & Prejudice, the Sylvestra Le Touzel-Nicholas Farrell Mansfield Park, the Zemeckis Beowulf (with Rifftrax) & Shaun of the Dead.

I started to read EEK's manuscript for Fall With Honor, but set it aside because of trouble concentrating due to aforementioned medicine head. The first four chapters I liked very much. Now that I am feeling better I think I will make myself a pot of tea and get back to Valentine's latest adventure.

One last thing. Here's a whimsical, dreamlike video that made me smile this morning: Forward Through Backwards Time.

This was movie weekend. eeknight & I watched four Pedro Almodovar films: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Matador, Law of Desire, and The Flower of My Secret. I used a soon-to-expire pass to see The Other Boylen Girl, which was okay once I turned off my brain.

I also visited Sirius Cooks, to check out the homemade, human grade pet foods they offer. I picked up one small carton of their chicken stew for cats as well as sampler packs from Tiki Cat (wild caught seafood) and Chicago's own Evanger's. Miss Luna Blu is too picky too eat such things, but so far the boy cats are fans.

I'm such a terrible procrastinator. Erika's Level 2 students are supposed to map a song for class tonight. I never got around to doing it at home, but figured that since my work computer has Windows Media I could do the map on my lunch hour. Nope: "file not compatible." Now I'll have to show up empty-handed. Go me.

So instead I spent lunch on Jezebel. Jezzie has a fun weekly column that looks back on the books American women of a certain age loved in their youth, from virtuous Laura Ingalls Wilder to slutty VC Andrews. Ah, memories.

( Books 1-58 )

( Movies 1-161 )

I won't be tracking movies for 2008. We watch a lot of movies chez eek-chats, but mostly the same movies over and over.

We're back from Springfield. EEK was Guest of Honor at I-Con, a gaming convention, and I got to enjoy several days of no obligations.

We did play tourists long enough to visit the excellent Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the lovely Wright-designed Dana-Thomas House. The rest of the time I read, napped, relaxed by the pool, and watched foreign films: Provoked (good), Cheeni Kum (okay), and Namastey London (meh). Ok, so I also indulged in a little crap TV. EEK & I are missing nothing by not having cable.

Rings Master Returns

The Science of Sleep

The first PURE rehearsal of the year was Saturday morning, but I skipped it because I had two gigs later in the day. (I felt like such a slacker though when I talked to Erika O on Sunday -> not only did she go to PURE, but she taught several classes and danced at a private party at Reza's. A private party that could have been mine if I wasn't already committed to Khyber that night. JEALOUS!)

The first gig was at the grand opening for She.Art Gallery. Three girls from the junior troupe danced at 4:30 and Gab, Veronica & I danced at 5. The performance space was on the sidewalk outside the gallery. Tough, not only because cement is very unforgiving, but also because sidewalks are very narrow and there were spectators on three sides of us. Somehow we managed to do both sword- and skirtwork though. The owner gave us gift certificates to use in the gallery, which has some really nice stuff. She also hit on me. I think. Apparently I have a very "sensual and erotic" expression in my eyes when I dance and there was no need to fill out a gift certificate for me because she'll "remember my eyes." Sorry lady, not only am I married, but I don't dig chicks.

Then I had about an hour break before Veronica & I had to be at Khyber to fill in for Hipnotic who all went to Tribal Fest in CA. I handed our CD to the head waiter and a couple minutes later he came to ask if we had another disc because the first one had cracked in half. Thankfully I had the foresight to tuck an old set CD into my bag before leaving the chateau. If I hadn't we would have been screwed as V forgot to bring her copy. At the end of the first set V whispered to me: "I'm soooooo tired." Heh, too bad we had another set to get through. But both went fine. Karla, one of Erika's former students, came to see us and said she'll be bringing some of her friends back to see me this coming Saturday.

I usually keep on old Khyber CD on hand and Saturday was not the first time I covered GQ ass. Much later after I was home and in bed I realized that I'd forgotten to ask for my CD back, which means it went home with a waiter, the sluttish thing, and I'll never see it again. Luckily when I checked Sunday morning I found three more old Khyber sets, including one from June 2003. They are now all in my dance bag. On Wednesday I'm going to yet again share the story of how Chats Saved the Gig and recommend that everyone take an old set CD to gigs, a recommendation which everyone will probably ignore yet again.

There was a minimum of three students to keep my class running for the summer and no one registered, so eeknight & I got to have a leisurely Sunday morning for the first time in months. After Erika's class, Gab came into the studio to teach Karen's basics students and told me that two of the sisters & one gal who's moved up from K's basics showed up at the studio at 9am for my class. People, WTH?! I told you to register or there would be no class! GAH!!

I did do more than dance this weekend. EEK & I went to Trader Joe's on Saturday. TJ's now has chocolate-covered sunflower seeds which apparently have become a hot snack food since Oprah mentioned them on her show or in her magazine or told her hairdresser or something. I am unimpressed. Oh, they are tasty, but "classier than M&Ms"--whatevs O. TJ's hefeweizen, however, is teh yummeh.

We also rewatched Lord of the Rings over the course of the weekend. Well, EEK watched; I watched some, read a bit, watched some more. Last night we started rewatching Pride and Prejudice--the good one with Colin Firth natch.

Making a few last minute preparations before I go to Palatine to meet up with eeknight for a short trip to Madison, WI, and OddCon. I'll be giving a mini belly dance workshop at 9:30 tonight, though as far as I know I haven't been assigned a room yet. If you'll be at the con and would like to dance, check the announcement board for further details.

The original plan was for EEK & I to head up yesterday morning, but the writing seminar he thought would be cancelled due to low enrollment suddenly got filled. He's out at Harper College teaching right now.

But I didn't take yesterday off work for nothing. No, I decided to use the gift certificate EEK gave me for xmas and spend the afternoon at Spa Constantine. First I had Le Cafe, an exfoliation treatment to remove all the dead, dry winter skin, during which I was scoured with finely-ground coffee beans (very messy), cleansed with hazelnut gel, and then covered with vanilla moisturizing lotion. Next was a 1-hour deep tissue massage that included a delicious scalp massage. Mmmmmmmmmm. (I fell asleep during this one.) I finished the day with mint manicure & pedicure. No lecture about the calluses on my feet nor any razor-wielding this time. I don't know if that means I've been taking better care of my tootsies or if this technician just isn't as thorough as the Lithuanian ladies I usually see there. As I left I made appointments for mani & pedi the day before the studio show and facial & massage after. Sadly the polish on my fingernails started to chip shortly after this morning's shower, reinforcing my belief that manicures are a waste of money for me. My cuticles need help though. Maybe next time I'll just ask for the nails to be buffed rather than polished.

Lots of movie viewing chez eek-chats: Suspicion, Rosemary's Baby, Catalina Caper (as skewered by Mystery Science Theater) & Reefer Madness. Reefer Madness had commentary by Mike Nelson. The man is hilarious. He's also done commentary for Plan 9 From Outer Space and House on Haunted Hill. Must. Watch. Them.

And now, off to Packerland. Later peeps!

I'm sure you are all just dying to know what I've been up to lately.

( Thursday: tea & bath goodies )

( Friday: teasing zombies )

( Saturday: geeking out in M'waukee )

( Sunday: dance day )

I have the feeling I'm forgetting a few things. Too busy for my own good.

After checking our tix and realizing they were for next week, eeknight and I changed into comfy clothes and lounged in front of the tv for  more MST3K.  This time Angels Revenge, with Jack Palance, Alan "Skipper" Hale, Jr., Pat "Mr. Howell" Buttram, and an apparently inebriated Peter Lawford; and The Cave-Dwellers, which had nothing to do with people living in caves, but did feature a pretty male barbarian hang-gliding.  God I miss Mystery Science Theatre.

Let's see...what else happened last night?  Oh, yes.  Our hard drive croaked.  Awesome.  On the plus side, I perplexed the cats this morning by reading in the living room instead of sitting at the computer.  Luna & Spooker kept coming in and staring at me until the stress overcame them and they had to lie down and nap.  I assume when they were not in the living room with me, they were in the office staring at the empty chair wondering why neither of the the monkeys was there. Roo sensibly stayed in bed with EEK.

GQ practice tonight AND Medusa rehearsal AND I'm planning to go to the 7pm advanced class.  Medusa has to rehearse the choreo and improv for Tribal:Pura show as well as begin work on the piece for the Tempest show. Both shows are in March.  I doubt I'll get out of the studio before 11, but what else in new?

Don't be a freak magnet: Computer Geek or Serial Killer?  I got 7 out of 10.

Start preparing for the Rapture the fun way: Left Behind, the board game.

Tea Wisdom: There's nothing that keeps its youth, so far as I know, but a tree and truth. ~ Oliver Wendall Holmes, Jr.

A weekend update on a Tuesday: shocking!!  I don't know why it seems like I have no time for LJing lately.

Friday night I went to the fourth urban beledi workshop with Karim Tonsy.  No blood blisters on my feet this time, but after two hours straight of Karim kicking my butt I walked out of the studio looking and feeling undead.  Sonya came to the workshop and I had a bit of schadenfreude seeing her not get what Karim was doing.  Oddly she brought along burlesque dancer Toots L'amour.

While I was at the studio the snowstorm the media had been screaming about for days finally arrived.  It was pretty of course, but jeez, the way the meteorologists were wailing you'd have thought we'd be getting 4 or 5 feet not inches.  Hello?  Has all the warm weather softened your brains?  Have you forgotten where we live?  Calm down weatherpersons: snow in January is normal.

Saturday eeknight  & I watched Les Invasions Barbares, a moving french-canadian film.  I still can't figure out why the marketing copy on the case and even IMDB call it a "provocative comedy about sex and friendship."  There are funny moments and the characters do talk aout sex and friendship I suppose, but it's really a story about a man with a terminal illness, his relationship with his son, and how he and his loved ones come to terms with his death.

Sunday I taught my suddenly talkative intermediate class; went to Borders with EEK for a writing session; attended Erika class; baked cookies; watched more MST3K movies; and bummed around feeling sorry for myself because the weekend was over.

Still enjoying being obligation  free on Mondays, tho I do have to start kicking my own butt since dropping Khazna's class means one less day of exercise each week.

Tonite EEK & I see Pericles at the Goodman, a gift from my brother- and sister-in-law. Ooops! Tix are for next week. Good thing we checked before leaving the chateau.

Teaching three classes back-to-back is exhausting.  And to think Gab teaches FIVE classes on Wednesdays, plus supervises a rehearsal if there's a performance coming up.  Aiyiyi!  The troupe dancers picked up the combos I brought in from the Amaya workshops amazingly fast.  It was just supposed to be for fun, but they all seemed so enthusiastic I think as least 2 or 3 new things may make it into the repertoire.  The slackers who took the night off really missed a good time.

Speaking of dance, check out DailyDancer, a software developer who shares his passion by posting a new video of himself dancing three days a week.  (Note: he says he loves to dance, not that he's a good dancer.)

My lil sis packerpooh is flying in for an xmas visit tonight.  YAY!  We'll be heading up to WI tomorrow afternoon for a stay with the fam.  Must stop by the Christkindlmarket to pick up some treats.

I think this evening eeknight & I will finish viewing the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride & Prejudice.  Missyisms & I were not exaggerating when we gushed over it after seeing the inferior Keira Knightley vehicle.

Speaking of Dear Jane, check this out Austenites: Scripted by Kevin Hood and Sarah Williams, BECOMING JANE is the true story of Jane Austen’s romantic relationship with a young Irishman and the emerging motivation which inspired her to become one of the greatest female writers of the 19th century. The film will star Anne Hathaway (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, ELLA ENCHANTED) in the lead role, with Maggie Smith and Julie Walters also starring. The film will shoot on location in the Dublin/Wicklow region with a budget of approximately 12.5 million euros. BECOMING JANE will be co-produced by Octagon Films with financing from the Irish Film Board, the UK Film Council, Bank of Ireland and Scion (UK). (Source)

Yeah, so I haven't had much time for LJing lately.

( Weekend: blisters, baking, & bad movies )

Monday night I had the second to last rehearsal for the Danza Viva shows this weekend.  Of course the staging had to change at the last minute.  You see, for this show the audience will be in three studios and the dancers will travel.  So good news: we get to perform three times for each show, rather than spending hours getting ready to dance for 4 minutes.  The bad news is how the audience will be arranged: in studio 1, it'll be in-the-round; in studio 2, they'll be on the north and west sides; and in studio 3, they'll be on the north and south sides.  So, three different formations for a choreo we've been rehearsing one way for months.  Yay.  Here's hoping we don't suck too badly.  The other gals in the group are more freaked out about it than I am, but I must admit I'm not really into the whole thing because I'll be dropping out of the performance workshop after Sunday's show.  I'm just going to go out there and dance it the best I can and move on. 

Yesterday was the office holiday party.  My secret santa gave me a gift certificate to ThinkGeek.  Ooooo, so many geeky toys to choose from!  I was an answer in the Coworker Jeopardy game; the clue was 'I don't bellydance for just anyone.'  Damn straight I don't.  I also got my crown reset, had dinner at Khyber with EEK, and spent a couple hours putting sequin trim on my costume for this weekend (hopefully I can sell it to one of the new 'shop members in January). Oh yes, and EEK & I watched the craptastic 1976 King Kong starring Jessica Lange, Charles Grodin, and Jeff Bridges

Okay, time for work.

In honor of the opening of Peter Jackson's Movie With The Giant Ape, I give you funk classic King Kong by the Jimmy Castor Bunch.

Hurrricane Wilma has finally hit Florida.  The eye passed through Naples and it looks like she's taking Alligator Alley to Miami.  FL is getting off much easier than the Yucatan: Wilma should pass by this afternoon.  Still no word from my mom & stepdad, but I'm going to assume they're all right--either still in calm waters at sea or dry in their inland home.

Busy weekend. ( the deets )

And now here I am at work.  Bah!

You've probably seen the recut trailers for The Shining (as a romantic comedy), West Side Story (zombies!), and Titanic (as a horror film) that have been making the rounds. If not, go watch them now.

Check out the recut for Parent Trap: click on Paul Lacalandra, then Ordinary Girls (via officialgaiman).

Also watch 80s Ending, a bitchin' parody of the ending of every 1980s movie you've ever seen (via cookie77).

Just spent a nice day with my father, aka deaconpat. He arrived in the early afternoon bearing a raspberry kringle from Lehmann's Bakery (nyah-nyah eeknight). We had a couple slices of kringle, then headed to downtown OP to see a movie.

I suggested March of the Penguins, which we liked very much. This documentary follows Emperor penguins in their annual struggle to mate, hatch eggs, and raise chicks in one of  the harshest, most unforgiving environments on the planet. I found the story interesting and the cinematography stunning. Yes, there are deaths--three eggs, three chicks, a "lone" penguin, and at least one mother and father by my count--but this is primarily a tale of survival. It is also a chance to thumb your nose at the Hollywood establishment.

After the movie Dad & I wandered through an art fair in Scoville Park before heading over to The Pasta Shoppe to dine al fresco: red wine, fresh gnocchi, and tartufo gelato. Yum. Also saw Meredith & Ray at the fair and again when they stopped by our table on the way to the parking garage--didn't get to chat much though.

After dinner we returned to ma petite maison where we watched Shaun of the Dead because Dad had never seen it. I swear that movie gets funnier everytime I watch it.

Now Dad has headed home and I'm entertaining the kitties. Spooker even sat on my lap. He must be missing his buddy EEK an awful lot to voluntarily seek pets & scratchies from me. Or perhaps he feels we've bonded over the Great Bat Hunt of 2005.

Work a la Calvin. Damn, I miss that strip.

( Weekend report )

At Borders I paged though a couple Phaidon books--FRUiTS and Fresh FRUiTS--about Japanese street kid fashion, worth a gander if you like colorful pictures or outlandish clothing.