You go ( ahem ) girl!

Noxeema Jackson, at your service
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I'm ending my birthday post week ( and weekend ) with Wesley Snipes. He turns 43 today.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Snipes. ( I promise to cut back on the birthday posts too....okay, maybe. )

I like Wesley Snipes. He's got a list of decent movies under his belt: New Jack City, Jungle Fever, Murder at 1600, The Fan, White Men Can't Jump, Blade ( okay, I've never seen Blade...but a lot of people did...right? ) and I always thought he could hold his own. My personal favorite of his is To Wong Foo: With Love, From Julie Newmar. I'm a sucker for a drag queen and I think he did an AWESOME job as Noxeema Jackson.

So, for his birthday, I'm gonna put down a few tracks from some of his movies.
Check em out...

from "Waiting To Exhale"
Chaka Khan - My Funny Valentine.mp3
Mary J. Blige - Not Gon' Cry.mp3
from "To Wong Foo: With Love, From Julie Newmar"
Salt 'N Pepa - I Am The Body Beautiful.mp3
from "Blade II"
Ice Cube & Paul Oakenfeld - Right Here, Right Now.mp3
from "Jungle Fever"
Stevie Wonder - Jungle Fever.mp3

"We're cloudbusting, Daddy."

Kate Bush
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First, I would like to wish Kate Bush a very happy 46th birthday.

I LOVE KATE BUSH!!
So unique, creative, passionate, beautiful, haunting….
There is nobody like her – yet many ladies try to emulate her
style as much as they can. I think she is in my top 3 for female singers.
Definitely. She howls, whispers, seduces, croons, loves, aches all at once.

I owe my love for Kate Bush to my high school art teacher. He was in his early 30’s when I was in his class, and he quickly tuned into the more "arty-weird" kids and took them under his wing. He had screen prints and photos of her up in his art room, and he would discuss her with energy and enthusiasm. One day, he gave me a few cassette tapes and said:
"I want you to listen to these. REALLY listen to these. I think you will like her."

He was right. Not only was I beside myself that my art teacher ( oh yeah, for the record, I was totally hot for the guy ) singled me out for this musical journey – but now I would have something that he and I could share ( that many other students did not! ) I became hooked on Kate Bush in 1986. Unfortunately, due to her being terrified of flying – she never – and I mean NEVER – comes to the US. I maaaaaybe had a chance to see her live in the 80’s, but now? Forget it. You can rent/buy some old concert footage though, and to quote her:
"Wow wow wow wow woooooow…unbelieeeeevable!"

Dancer-singer-performance artist-muse. She was so ahead of her time at such a young age ( recording "Wuthering Heights" at 17. ) I could go to many websites and cut and paste her "history" so you could get a better understanding of who she is – but to me – it’s best just to listen…..

Kate Bush - Babooshka.mp3
Kate Bush - This Womans Work.mp3
Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill.mp3
Kate Bush - And Dream Of Sheep.mp3
Kate Bush - The Man With The Child In His Eyes.mp3
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights.mp3

Don't worry

I'm still here.
Gonna close out the month with 3 birthday posts in a row starting tomorrow ( with lots of great tunes as well. )

Will keep the songs up for an extra week for everyone's listening pleasure ( since I usually yank everything down at the end of the month.) It would be kinda cruel to have stuff up for ONE day and then "See ya!!"

Aren't I nice?

The suspense is killing you, isn't it.....

Happy Birthday Mr. Brownstone

Slash from GNR
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Today, Slash from Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver turns 40.
I'll bet many people took bets that he would never see this age.
Quite a party rep the boy has!

Am I a Slash fan? In a nutshell, yeah. Sure. I think he's a talented guitarist.
Am I a Guns N' Roses fan? In a nutshell, sort of. I like "Appetite for Destruction" and
that's it. To me, that's the only album I will listen to by them. All the drawn out, overindulgent ballad bullshit they created on later albums makes me want to puke ( don't even get me started about that song "Civil War" or "November Rain". ) I hated all the Stones/Zeppelin covers they've ever done, and I think Axl Rose is a wiry psycho douchebag.
NICE EXTENSIONS BUDDY!!!!

ps - I don't even have an opinion about Velvet Revolver. They have some notoriety and people enjoy them - but I say "Whatever."

That being said, I still want to wish a Happy Birthday to Slash. Let see if you can keep rockin for another 40 ( hahaha! yeah, I know.... )
Guns 'N Roses - My Michelle.mp3
Guns 'N Roses - It's So Easy.mp3

A sandwich is a sandwich.....

Mmmmm.....Manwich-y
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....BUT A MANWICH IS A MEAL!!!!!

Are you down with the Manwich?

It's a pretty smart concept. Take sauce, dump on meat, stir, VOILA! Dinner.

Again, that's if you are into the whole sloppy joe thing.

I didn't like Manwiches and/or sloppy joes as a kid. I have no fond memories of the Lunch Lady serving up hot piles of slop on a bun ( I was more a "swedish meatballs" kinda girl. ) It wasn't until I was an adult that the joy of Manwich lured me in.

Hunt's Manwich Sauce is definitely a food product that I can recall being pimped on tv when I was a kid, then teenager, then in my 20's, and so on. That's impressive, to have that kind of longevity. We break out the Manwich action at my house on occasion. I think I'm having a slight aversion to it while I'm pregnant though. It juuuust doesn't taste the same. They have also added more flavors to the Manwich roster as well ( besides the tried and true original.)

Now they have a BBQ flavor, and a garlic one I believe? Maybe even something else...

Oh Manwich! What a sandwich!

Beat Box Boys - Yum Yum Eat 'Em Up.mp3

"Once upon a time....."

I'm a nostalgia junkie.
I love finding & collecting toys, movies, games, books, etc etc etc from my youth.
Just yesterday, I went berzerk because I found out that GNIP GNOP was getting re-made for the masses ( for those that have never heard of it - check out this: http://www.feelingretro.com ) I owned and loved this game ( but I seem to recall getting my knuckles bashed apart on the game. ) Anyone else have this problem?

Inchworm, Milky The Marvelous Milking Cow, Vincent Price's Shrunken Apple Head kit, Creepy Crawlers thingmaker, Digger the Dog, Sweet April dolls ( that cry real tears! ) Baby Alive, Romper Stompers, Smack It!, Patches McGee ( "Patches! Patches McGee! That lil' ragamuffin filled with lots of love and stuffin!" - I think that's how the jingle went. ) The Joey Stivic doll, The Sunshine Family, Slime....the list is endless. And that's just toys!!

Now that I have kid(s) of my own, I'm always thinking about things from MY youth that I could pass onto them. I do have a large container filled with some of my collectibles that I will share and save for them - but what comes to my mind most are the BOOKS of my childhood. My husband and I are big readers - LOVE the books - and lately I've been hunting down my favorites from the past to either read again ( nostalgia phase ) or save for the kiddies.
These are the books that I loved the most:

"Ginnie and Geneva" - by Catherine Woolley (released in 1948 - the tale of 2 girls that meet and become best friends. It's so squeaky clean and fun. I would get lost in this book in the 5th grade - wanting to have the bond that they did. There are a few other G&G books - a cookbook even, which is rare and pricy and I'm DYING to get it - but this is my favorite. )

"The Adventures of Patrick the Mouse" - by Katja Beskow ( A story of a little mouse that lives in Sweden, with his mom and dad and 17 other brothers and sisters. Feeling a little cramped in his house and too curious for his own good, his wandering off gets him lost and caught up in an amazing worldwide adventure. )

"The Great Brain" - by John Fitzgerald ( Takes place in "turn of the century Utah". The story of Tom, and his brothers/family. There is a Tom Sawyer kind of feel to it. I love the many tales within the book: Basil the greek kid with the Erector set, being quarantined while having the mumps, the first indoor flush toilet, etc etc. There is a series of these books, and I read them all.
In fact, some of you may recall that Jimmy Osmond and the Osmond clan actually turned the book into a movie. )

"Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret"/ "Blubber"/ "Starring Sally J. Friedman as herself"/ "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing"....... - by Judy Blume ( I'm a little bummed that I am/will be the mother of 2 boys, only because I really wanted to share all the girly Judy Blume books with my imaginary daughters one day. These books, to me, are essential for every 10-12 year old girl. They may be dated in some ways, but they are still so great to read. Judy did make many "boyish" books as well - and frankly, I would love if it my boys wanted to read the chick ones too. )

I don't want this post to get TOO huge, and I'm finding it's starting to spreeeaaaaaad, so I'm just gonna list the other books I wanted to mention ( without giving a brief description. )
Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Lorax, The Phantom Tollbooth, Ramona The Brave - and other Ramona stories, Where The Wild Things Are, oooh I could go on and on.....

I love the stuff of my youth. I get fueled by images of 70's and 80's memorabilia.
Here's a couple tunes that bring me back to "that time". ( if only I had FREE TO BE YOU AND ME on cd and not vinyl....sigh )

"Spiderman Theme" ( by Will Power ) from THE ELECTRIC COMPANY ( I wish they would show reruns of this show on PBS. The Electric Company was THE SHIT!!! )Spiderman theme.mp3

"S.W.A.T. Theme" ( by Rhythm Heritage ) In the 70's, S.W.A.T. was a hit tv show - which then became a Samuel L. Jackson flick a few years ago. Me and many friends would get together and "play SWAT" - I always wanted to be Hondo - and we would put on this 45rpm and BLAST it from my babysitter's house.
S.W.A.T. theme.mp3

BOW WOW WOW Yippy Yo Yippy Yay

Australian Cattle Dog puppy = aaaaaw!
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Well, I made my obiligatory blog post about my cats - giving them praise and what for. But mostly, I did it so I wouldn't feel guilty about THIS post ( which I had been planning. )

I'm a dog girl! Love them! More than cats. Way more. Dogs rule! All about the dogs!!

I've graduated from a dog grooming school. I watch Westminster every year with a pad and paper, listing my favorties and doing my own judging from the couch ( and any other dog show I can find on tv. ) I've helped out with a Texas Dog Walk for the past 2 years ( mc'ing this year. ) I've attended small dog shows, I try to catch Fly Ball challenges on ESPN2.
I LOOOOOVE DOGS!!!!!

I grew up never owning a dog ( small apartment, landlord didn't allow. ) so I always took a fancy to my friend's dogs. I never actually "owned" ( in this case, "co-owned" ) a dog until I was 25. A rottweiller. A wonderful experience. And unfortunately, with 3 crazy cats - a 3 year old son - and another baby on the way....we won't be getting a dog in this house any time soon. But trust me on this, we WILL have dogs. We WIIIIILL get dogs some day. Luckily, my husband is also a dog lover. We discuss our future dogs pets. We take joy on our family member's dogs. There is something about a dog. I relate to them. I feel like I understand them. I know some people that had bad dog experiences as a kid, and it's made them timid and skeptical around them. I was attacked viciously by a dog on our street, but it never stopped me from loving them and wanting to own a flock. WOMAN'S best friend.

Do I love ALL dogs? Yes and no. I mean, I'm a lover of the dog, per se. But, not every breed floats my boat. I'm not too big on the ankle biters, except for Chihuahuas. I don't care for the foofee poofee yapping hairballs ( that would look like a dustmop if you put a pole in it's butt. ) Shih Tzu's, Lhasa Apsos, Pekingnese, etc etc. Yes, I have met some GREAT dogs of those particular breeds...but, they don't do it for me.
And while it's hard for me to pick a TOP 5 - I'm gonna try to right here:

MY TOP 5 FAVORITE DOG BREEDS:
1. Australian Cattle Dog ( who is pictured up top )
2. Greyhound
3. French Bulldog
4. Carolina Dog
5. Coon Hound

Okay, I would probably add another 5 more breeds in there - but I'll stick to those. My husband loves German Shepherds ( I do too. ) My mother in law owns a beautiful and sweet Great Pyrenees ( love them too. ) Rhodesian Ridgebacks are great. Scottish Wolfhounds. Belgian Malinois. Great Danes. Welsh Corgis. German Shorthaired Pointers.....see? It's hard! But, I will say this: I USED to like Cocker Spaniels. That is, until I started grooming them. I quickly learned how UN-CUTE and NASTY these little things can be. I've met more that were evil than friendly, and it turned me off on the breed. Same with Airdale Terriers ( one of the owners of the school had 6 insane ones that she would bring in and they would bark ALL day and terrorize the other doggie patrons. ) So, I'm totally over them. I could ramble on and on about dogs...but I'll stop here.

If you have a dog, give them a big hug for me.
Adam & The Ants - Dog Eat Dog.mp3
George Clinton - Atomic Dog.mp3
AC/DC - Givin' The Dog A Bone.mp3

9021-OOOOOH!

Brian Austin Green cools off by the pool
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First, we must say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Brian Austin Green ( aka David Silver ) for he is 32 years old today! Wooohooooo!

I will tell anyone. I LOVED "BEVERLY HILLS 90210". I remember who I was with and where I was when I caught the premiere episode in 1990 ( I was 21. ) It wasn't shocking or too provocative or depressing. It was just this somewhat trendy nighttime teen soap opera that was SO fun to get hooked on. The pilot is one big commercial for California almost. Namedropping this store and this boutique and this fashion statement and this "cool" band ( ie: David Silver wearing a New Order shirt. ) It was laughable and the characters were snooty 2 dimensional paper dolls. However, the writers did their best ( and achieved I think ) to turn these cookie cutter kids into individuals with depth and quirks and heart. Well, MOST of them.

It was a blast to watch. I lived with 5 guys in 1991-92 and they would RACE home on time ( with a case of beer ) to catch it. It wasn't just a show for the teenybop girl crowd. My 20-something rocker party crowd enjoyed it too. I knew people that had 90210 Nights ( complete with the Brenda Bitch drinking game. ) Anytime Brenda said something bitchy, you drank. So, you got hammered a lot.

They tried to stay current with their topics. Brenda's pregnancy scare. Racism. Etc etc.
The best episodes revolved around all the "addiction" and "drug/booze use" that occurred on the show. It all started with Brandon crashing his car after downing some of Steve's lethal punch at a party ( quick trivia question: What was the name of Brandon's car? MONDALE! )
The way the writers ( and Mr. & Mrs. Walsh ) treated that moment in future discussions, you'd think Brandon was Bukowski. Let's see, then Donna gets drunk at the prom. Kelly gets hooked on diet pills during her modeling phase. Brandon's wild girlfriend, Emily Valentine slips "Euphoria" into their drinks ( nice ecstasy cover. ) David gets hooked on crystal meth. Valerie is a pothead. Kelly becomes a coke fiend. Donna goes on a painkiller binge because of her back. David is now a manic depressive and must go on psychiatric medication. Noah is a lush. Valerie gets slipped a roofie. And of course, Dylan becomes a heroin addict.

COME ON!!! HOW COULD ANYONE NOT LOVE THAT SHOW!?!?!?!
( they should have made Andrea a glue sniffer or something. )

The last few years sucked. No question. But, I'll stand by the first 6 years easily.
I want them to come out with a dvd box set of the series - but it would be huge in size - seeing that it was on for 10 years.

While trying to find a fitting popular 90's tune to pay homage to the show, I came across this ditty and I think it says it all....

Madonna - Take A Bow.mp3

Anger is an energy! Anger is an energy!

Johnny Lydon, sans spots.
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The Independant Film Channel ( aka IFC ) has been celebrating "Punk Month" by showing lots of old school punk documentaries ( The Filth and The Fury ) and various punk-inspired movies ( SLC Punk!, Sid & Nancy ) - so of course The Sex Pistols are discussed quite a bit ( and I'm a Pistols fan ) which in turn gets me to thinking about Public Image Limited ( aka PIL ) and it makes me say "Damn. They were good." ( phew...what a rambling sentence.... )

For those that don't know, PIL was the band Johnny (Rotten) Lydon formed after the crumbling of the Sex Pistols. I don't really want to get into a lengthy bio of the band. Feeling too lazy for that at the moment. I just want to say that they have A LOT of great albums and some really memorable, rocking songs. That's all.

And here are a few of them!

If this stuff new to you - look them up and find out more!

Public Image Limited - Rise.mp3

Public Image Limited - This Is Not A Love Song.mp3

Public Image Limited - Public Image.mp3

Public Image Limited - Disappointed.mp3

Public Image Limited - The Body.mp3

Mama got a new set o' wheels

That's a fiiiiine automobile...
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Okay, that's NOT the car that we got ( but damn, that's pretty sweet, huh? ) I imagine Prince or Barney driving around in that thing.

We got ourselves a 2004 Toyota Corolla S ( the sporty sedan ) in dark metallic gray.
In a word: it's FABULOUS!!!

I have never owned a nice car. A new car. Mine have always been a couple steps past "running", and that's it. They've been about 10 years old, and what most folks affectionately called a beater. When my husband and I got married, I also married into his vehicle - the Toyota 4Runner. Now, this is a TROOPER of a vehicle. It's got 200k on it now ( engine has 125k ) and it's stiiiiiiiill going. Gotta appreciate that. But, it too is now 11 years old ( 94 ) and I didn't even start to drive it until it already had 5 years under it's belt.

But now....we have the SMOOOOOOOOOTH driving 2004 Toyota Corolla.
It's so nice. Sleek. Dependable. Not a gas guzzler. I'm giddy over it, and I'm totally not a "CAR GIRL". I took it on a 60 mile ( to and from ) roadtrip today just so I could enjoy how comfortable and quiet it is. I heart you, Corolla.

I know - not the best comeback post - but it's valid.
Got some good "car inspired" tunes for y'all to enjoy though!!

Depeche Mode - Behind The Wheel.mp3
Melissa Etheridge w/ kd lang - Sleep While I Drive (live).mp3
Gary Numan - Cars.mp3
Audioslave - Gasoline.mp3
The Clash - Brand New Cadillac.mp3

IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!!!

Yeah! It's working now! Woohoo!!

There will be a glorious post ( chock full of tasty tunes ) within the next 24 hours.
You've all been so patient ( you probably didn't even notice )

As Patsy Stone would say:

"Cheers. Thanks a lot."

PLEASE STAND BY

Due to a domain transfer, I can't update my site ( or fix the momentary glitches ) at the present moment. This will be rectified in a few days though - so don't fret!! Just waiting for the transfer to complete.

Temporary setback. Please talk amongst yourselves.
Back soon!

Long weekends kick my ass

**Having domain provider difficulties - changed companies - have to transfer over - background and mp3's are down for the moment - will fix ASAP**

I love a long weekend.
It means my husband gets an extra day off. More time home with me and our son. Usually it revolves around a "holiday" of some sort, so lots of my new married-into family gets together and it's a lot of fun. We do have a great time together. But, it also means 3-4 days of nonstop activity, people, eating, going, doing, playing, eating, moving, playing, driving, people, doing, going, eating - lather, rinse, repeat.

I'm wiped out.
Okay, I'm also 7 months pregnant in the grueling TX heat. It was 100-102 ALL weekend ( and it's supposed to hit 103 today. ) That can beat down a cowboy, let alone a fragile knocked up Yankee heat pussy like myself.

So, I'm sorta worthless at the moment. Gotta get my mind back into the 'blogosphere' ( if you will ) and give you something of SOME worth. I'll be back soon with guns blazing, but, for today...I can only muster up this:

Beatles - I'm So Tired.mp3

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......