My Chance Meeting with the Original "Frenchy" from the novie GREASE!!!

A few weeks ago my mom told me about a small tag sale at the Beth Ann Temple right around the corner from my condo. I went with no expectations but found in the 5 minutes I was there the musical album of "Grease" the movie.  I think I paid a dollar for it. Little did I know I would get a random call from one of my friends that the actress Didi Conn, "Frenchy" from the original movie was going to be at a showing of Grease at a local library. I jumped at the chance to meet her in person!!

I knew her better in Grease but I watched Shining Time Station with the Thomas the tank engine for years. George Carlin (R.I.P) used to be the conductor. I hopped into my car last Friday and jetted to Piermont, NY with my album hoping I might get her to sign it. Ohhh was I hoping!!

 

I arrived to a sea of people and everyone seemed so cool, calm and collective. I was a lil shocked. I asked if Frenchy was coming and they were like, "Didi? Oh yeah she's coming. You never met her? Ohhh she is a doll. I'm sure she'll sign your album!" I got a seat and then the clapping started. This smiling lady ran in to the full room with her Pink Lady jacket on! She still has her original jacket. hehe. Everyone she sounds EXACTLY the way she did in the movie!! She said her favorite part of the movie was the Frankie Avalon scene. She loved the wig. She said that John Travolta took them all to see a private showing of Saturday Night Fever before it hit theaters. She also said that alot of the movie was improv because they would walk around all day "in character" to get into the role! It was really nice hearing the lil details!! =)

Then the gentleman next to me raised his hand and said I had the album and she signed it immediately!! She said it hadn't seen one of these in years! I was so beyond happy!

"To Melanie, With Lots of love Didi Conn <3 "Frenchy" 8-5-11"

We all sat and watched the movie and then she came back for pictures! It was awesome!

She was such a nice lady to take our questions!

She still has the JACKET!!!

I didn't even realize I wore Pink! Frenchy and me!

What a fun night! I'm so glad I bought that album because now I have a great Grease memento! =) Thanks Didi!! =)

R.I.P Jeff Conway(Kenickie) & R.I.P Annette Charles (Cha Cha DiGregorio)

Move Review: Sucker Punch: A + for Effort…C for Everything Else

I wanted to fall in love with this movie and just rant and rave how AMAZING it was, but I can do that for only part of it. Zack Snyder’s new creation, Sucker Punch, was a lil bit of a mess. He’s the guy who did 300 and Watchmen if you didn’t know. Yes it is cool to throw the viewer for a loop and keep them guessing about key things but this…was a wee bit too much. It lures you in with Kickass music, unbelievably digitally mastered cool graphics but your left like, “What the hell was that?”.

Snyder loves showing you Amazing larger than the life detail even down to a button twirling around on the floor like a dancer. You feel like you are right there like a virtual reality video game. The ladies of the movie were also very awesome and each one had a distinct character so it wasn’t just a blob of flying skirts. It was nice to see Vanessa Hudgens out of a Disney Movie and unexpected to see Jena Malone, Gretchen from Donnie Darko, in a main-stream big movie. You start to feel sympathy for them and you want them to get out of the mental hospital/stripper/dancer club place. You really do.

But then the plot came into play for this movie and messed it all up. These captive girls are stuck in a place your not quite sure where and are trying to escape because the main girl, Baby Doll, is going to have a lobotomy or have to sleep with a high-roller or was having the lobotomy and this is what happened after or she really is just a messed up girl who doesn’t know what is going on, but the girls are call-girls who give services or they are working in a kitchen or they are dancers or…um…I’m pretty sure I’ve lost you and don’t worry this is what I felt in the movie.

It couldn’t quite hold on to any a pathway of understanding and it was too much with all the graphics going on. I’m really happy Cj and I didn’t pay the ridiculous amount of money to see it in Imax and caught a matinee.

OH and another thing. I think Synder COMPLETELY UNDER-USED the talents of John Hamm of Mad Men and Carla Gugino of Sin City & Watchmen. John Hamm is so hot, dreamy, and talented with his sexy voice and I think he uttered 2 lines in the whole picture totally about less than a minute screen time. Carla Gugino usually gets so into her role and is not afraid to play a raw dominant character but she was barely utilized as a dance teacher/doctor(I think). It was a shame.

If your looking a movie with too much plot going on that comes to too little at the end go see it or just watch it for the graphics make sure you hit up a matinee. Sorry Zack. I wanted to love this but couldn’t. C+.

Stolen Moments Have Taken Tuesday Hostage!!

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Every week I started doing a Stolen Moments post on Sunday of Weekend Moments I never want to forget. It has taken Tuesday hostage and is not bargaining. Oh well I’ll just have to let it take over…=)

Here were my Weekend Stolen Moments…

~ Girls vs. Boys Bowling Night…CJ and I actually combined the couples we hang out with and it was a SUCCESS!!! Sometimes combining unlike people doesn’t turn out so good. It was a relief that it worked! Also going bowling was pretty awesome when you haven’t done it in a while. ~

~CJ telling me he was so proud of me with trying so hard to get a new job and he was proud to have me as his girlfriend. I’m proud of him too. ~

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~I got to see my friend Danielle who I hadn’t seen in OVER A YEAR! She gave me a mug with the best quote ever:

"Good friends are like Stars, you don't always see them, but you know they are always there."

Totally true! It was awesome to catch up and reminiscence about old times! I miss her so much!~

~I saw The Adjustment Bureau with CJ on Sunday afternoon! I liked it!! It wasn’t ground-breaking but you were eager to see each next scene. It’s about fate, choices, and love. If your looking for a light date movie with a lil action/suspense I recommend it! Emily Blunt danced beautifully in it.~

~ I fell in love once again. This time with a machine that makes my coffee in 40 seconds. My Keurig is my new best toy ever!!! =) ~

~ Oh yeah I picked up “Water for Elephants” by Sarah Gruen. It’s very good! I’m about a 100 pages in and enjoying it immensely. I’m just past where all the characters are developed so I’m looking forward to seeing how the story pans out before the movie!! ~

What were your Stolen Moments this Weekend?

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I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Seen these Movies!! I Need to Fix this ASAP!!

It’s dawned on me lately that there is tons of movies I HAVEN’T seen and they are the important ones that everyone should see at some point. For example, I’ve never seen “The Princess Bride”. I know, guilty as charged. *Hanging my head down low*. I’ve also never seen even a moment of “Breakfast with Tiffanys”, even though I bought it for my mom for Christmas. I guess these movies are just not on TV enough or I just missed them.

Now I’ve seen a lot of the usual “MUST SEE” movies: Edward Scissorhands, Clerks, Donnie Darko, Gone with the Wind, High Fidelity, Grease, When Harry Met Sally, Steel Magnolias, Sophie’s Choice, Westside Story, The Godfather Triology...etc.

BUT others like Empire Records, Amelie, Annie Hall, Rebel without a cause, From Here to Eternity, Dr. Zhivago, An Affair to Remember…have escaped my viewing pleasure.

I’ve decided that each week I’m going to watch a Classic movie that I haven’t seen. Whether it be recent or old-age cinema I need to see these films because I feel like I’m honestly missing out. This is where YOU come in:

What is your top 5 “MUST SEE” movies?

I’d love to hear.

What should I watch first?

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I might also do a poll on the my sidebar each week to pick next week’s Movie! I’m really excited about this so after I watch the movie I’ll do a small review in case you too haven’t seen it! Okay let’s get the movie rolling… Take 2: “ACTION”

What an Education...

It's back again or rather it never left...It's been snowing now the whole entire day here in lower New York...so what have I been doing? Cleaning, playing video games, and watching the movie, "An Education". The movie is not about the typical girl getting an education in school movie overcoming adveristy yada yada but an education in life. Meeting an older man & seeing a possible life ahead of her full of romance, music, fashion, status quo, and alot more. STAY IN SCHOOL btw readers under 18, but just know that sometimes your life begins after you've graduated high school & a complete different yet ever so real education will then begin.

It's so hard to pin point one or two things I've learned past high school but I began to truly live after it. My life did a 360 and who I really was broke free. I've gotten an education in how to really be there for a friend, how to survive a heartache, how to change a tire, how to save up enough money to finally live on your own, how to walk into a hospital fearless & know your going to be okay, how to pick up the phone to a long lost friend, how to fall in love with the right man, how to know when to leave a situation with a shred of dignity left, and learned how to decorate a cupcake. Just to name a few...

I don't know where I'd be without learning a few things along the road. But ohhh the things I have yet to learn. How to be a wife, how to be a mother, how to do the Apache, how to make a lemon meringue pie, or maybe how to drive a stick shift? Who knows who I'll become...

I do know one thing that if it doesn't stop snowing I'm going to go pretty stir crazy. Not Shining crazy but you can only clean your counter top so many times. hehe. We are supposed to get anywhere from 6 inches to 14 inches. At least it's almost the end of the week. I'm going to finish watching An Education. I really like it so far...

What Education besides school are you happy you learned? 

I'd love to hear...

P.S.

THANK YOU so much everyone for your birthday wishes to CJ! I showed him the post and he was so moved! He loved it!! He said it was one hell of an awesome day! =)

What If I Go After My Dream Job? The 25 Club...

I wish it was to be Disney World's Jessica Rabbit but I don't think they have her walking around. Do they? Hmmm I imagine that red dress isn't exactly PG. I wish tho I could be an actress. That is my dream job. I know I know I went to school for Engineering & Mathematics however I always have had that dream of being on the big screen. I used to be in my ex's short comedy skits a long time ago but I doubt that will ever see the outside of his computer.

Last year I went to a modeling agency to see if maybe just maybe I could get a bid for something. I was very disappointed that it wound up being a scam. Thankfully I didn't put any money up for it. If I ever want to do it I'm going to have to be careful. Craigslist isn't always the most honest of places either to look for like a casting call or something but you never know. I'm so close to NYC that I really should take advantage of it. hmmm...this might be a pipe dream but who knows. I'm going to keep my eyes open for that one in a million chance.

In reality tho I should have started years & years ago & be born to movie star parents because that's like THE way to get into show bizz. I'm a lil old for it even at 25 to start. It's okay tho. I can still dream.

However I got curious how many famous stars today are actually ONLY 25 YEARS OLD! Here's what I came up with:

Carey Mulligan

Amanda Seyfried

Kiera Knightley

Raven Symone

Michelle Trachtenberg

Kaley Cuoco

I was shocked that Raven Symone is only 25 & Michelle Trachtenberg. They have been around FOREVER! Did you know these famous ladies were so young?

I gotta finish my work day but I thought it was really cool how much they have all done in so few years. Good for them. Maybe I'll be a star one day...hmmm dreaming...

Stolen Moments Sunday...

Here is another edition of my New Feature. Stolen Moments Sunday I'm so glad I'm sticking with this. This weekend turned out so nice I couldn’t have planned it better myself. The shock of finally owning my place has worn off & now I’m reveling in it. I had a couple over with Cj on Saturday night & I made dip, we played Rock Band, I put out bowls of yummy snacks out, & I felt like it was a total success!! I wasn’t overwhelmed or frazzled. I still tho have to do something with my naked walls. It’s too much white. I will paint probably in the spring but right now I need something on them. Hmmm…Anywho…

The weekend was full of Awesome Moments & some questionable ones…I’ll explain. =)

 ~Making cupcakes for my friend Debra’s Annual Soup Party! Yeah I know that’s new to people’s ears. Soup Party?!?  She thought it would be a new quirky tradition to start. Each person/couple brings a different type of soup. She made this tomato, rosemary, garlic soup from a Williams Sonoma book that was DELICIOUS!! The winner of the Best Soup got a golden Ladle. A lil strange but it was a great Sunday activity. ~

~The new refrigerator was supposed to come on Friday during the snow storm. Yeahhh it didn’t. My Mom & I shoveled the walk way for it but alas no show. I called and they said it was a mix-up & that they were sorry. Dented fridge & False Call for Delivery…Thanks Loews, you sorta suck. ~

~CJ & I planning a mini vacation for April. We are going somewhere tropical. I’m soo excited. ~

~Green Day Rock Band. KICKASS GAME!! Seriously, they have almost every song you can think of. It was so much to rock out to it! Also The Beatles Rock Band. A lot fun for all ages. I recommend it. =)~

~Cj stayed over on Saturday night & I had written “I <3 CJ” on my lil dry erase board. I didn’t tell him I did that but when I looked at the board at some point I saw beneath it… “He <3’s Melababe.” That's his nickname for me. It was too cute. ~ 

~Ohh yeah PASS on the movie, “Dinner for Schmucks”. THANK GOD we only rented it from a Red Box for like a $1. If I had paid money in the theaters I would have been pissed. The movie went too far & it was awful. ~

~Hearing a miraculous story about a homeless man who is now the announcer for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese & has a God given voice. Good for you Ted Williams!~ 

~One last thing. Finding a TV channel called Logo that plays Buffy the Vampire Slayer re-runs! Hell Yeah!~

Well those are my stolen Moments. Good luck everybody in the New Week!

What were your Stolen Moments this Weekend? =)

 

How do I get out of this Labyrinth??

That is exactly how my brain feels right now. Just a maze of thoughts & I keep hitting dead ends. My ADD is also on complete an utter Overdrive.

So today I'll ANSWER  ANY QUESTION you want!

 May it be G-rated or R-rated, pick your poison. I'm all ears & will answer all.

For now I'll be dancing in a dream world in my head awaiting all the answers in my life I need desperately to recieve.

Every time I visit A Cup of Jo & she talks about her sweet baby Toby it makes me want to watch Labyrinth. It's my favorite movie. =) I'm probably going to watch it tonight!



In a year....

Tonight I went to see “Eat Pray Love” with my Mom & Omg I loved it. I didn’t read the book so I was going into it fresh & I thought it was wonderfully done. It made you smile, cry, laugh, & think about yourself. In a year this lady goes to Italy, India, & Bali and wow it was an adventure. I’m so jealous of Julia Roberts right now because she got to go to all these places & experience marvels not many people have. She changed her life in a year… It seems a year’s time is very important. Someone can transform into someone completely different with one lil push forward.


Another of my favorite movies was “Julie & Julia” where the main character Julie also transformed her life by cooking her way through Julia Child’s cookbook in oh wait…a year. These movies got me thinking how much I’ve changed in a year’s time. I’m a way different person than I was when I started this blog a year ago. My real intention for this blog was something to do while waiting for my Mess Ex to come back to me. He did for a lil but for the better left me to live my life without him. It’s probably been one of the best things that has happened in my life. I emerged from the twisted cage & started to live again. In a year….my world has been turned upside down, twirled, & then I was right side up. Wow the things I’ve done.

In a year I have:

- Bought my own condo
- Traveled to 3 states I’ve never been too; Illinois, Massachusetts, & Rhode Island
- One man broke my heart & now another man ironically with the same name is putting back the pieces.
- Built strong friendships with some of my best friends & lost a best friend
- Remembered to smile.
- Learned to cook more than just prepare
- Had 2 surgeries for health reasons & got through it: gall bladder & fibroids
- My mom told me she was a proud of me.
- Finally went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Began writing my zombie novel.
- Ah yes…I didn’t give up when I thought it was the only option. I pushed forward.


Who knows where I’lll wind up in another year? I think I’m finally headed in the right direction. I took some wrong forks in the road but there is no GPS system of life. You have to make mistakes to know what’s right. You have to hurt to heal & ohhh it can hurt. But you can land on your feet. I feel so motivated from that movie. I want to do more in this next year & just keep growing… Catch me if you can. =)

What things have you done in the last year of your life that your proud of or things that have made you a lil more who you are?
I’d love to hear.

Let's all go to the movies: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" & "The Girl who played with Fire"

Hey everyone! I know the world has talked about the “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” book & series by the late Stieg Larsson but I’m going to talk about the Movies. I promise there will be NO SPOILERS in this post. I love movies, all types. I especially have a soft spot for foreign films because they do everything. No stone is unturned & sometimes American movies are exactly the same movie done over & over again with different actors but similar plot. Well “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is one of the most original movies I have ever seen.


There are so many plot twists in this movie & surprisingly even with subtitles there isn’t any moment where your like “Huh? Wait hold on a minute that makes no sense?” It’s very easy to follow the turns & you just hold on for the ride. The basic set up of the story is that a girl disappeared for 40 years & her uncle before he dies wants to find out what happened to her. He hires a man named Michael Blomkvist, a journalist to help him solve this case. The girl with the dragon tattoo’s name is Lisbeth Salander. She is a fact checker with a past who had been doing research on Blomkvist & gets thrown into this investigation as well. Not going to lie there are a few parts in the movie, for example a rape scene, which is very raw & brutal to watch, but it all adds to the story. Every scene in the movie has a purpose. There is no marshmallow filler scenes to drag out the content too. Also what’s really cool is that you think you figured it out & BAM nope. It’s a lil like Shutter Island, but way cooler. You are pretty much on the edge of your seat the whole movie waiting for each new scene because you want to know so badly. Her dragon tattoo is also really fucking cool! I give it an A++!!


I luckily enough got to see the 2nd movie too! There is a theater by me that will get those random obscure foreign films that are usually only played in NYC. It makes me happy. I went to see, “The Girl who played with Fire” last week and honestly I liked the first one better, but it was a very successful sequel. The story continued pretty much where the other one left off & what was really cool was it was the same actors as the first. The girl who plays Lisbeth Salander, a Ms. Noomi Rapage, is so badass & just freaking awesome. She is tough & smart & Oooo the twists of this movie will have you go “Omg I totally did NOT think that’s where it was going.” I give it a B+.

I will admit that there are some confusing parts of the second movie. The first one is very easy to follow but the second one they do throw a lot of names at you & a lot of the male characters look EXACTLY the same so it’s slightly all over the place. You really have to pay attention but by the end you know what’s going on. Now….do I read the books?

Of course the movie is going to change some things from the book & the books will of course go into more detail. Life has been so busy lately I have no idea when I’m going to get the time to read these books but it’s definitely on my list! I hope the American version of these movies does butcher the hell out of it or water some of it down too much. Daniel Craig might do a good job as Blomkvist but the girl? Hmmm…she’s got some big shoes to fill. I’m crossing my fingers!


Okay, hope that review was helpful! Later everyone!