Slightly Cloudy With a Chance of I LOVE Lucy!

So it was just the 100th bday (8/6) of one of my very favorite red-heads in the biz Ms. Lucille Ball! So to celebrate this TCM Tuesday is dedicated to her!

What can I say about this woman? To me, Lucy is what I want to grow up to be. An amazing comedienne, a smart & savvy business-woman, a gorgeous red-head, full of spunk, a mama, and all around kick-ass woman! She worked her butt off for her career & home life. She pioneered sitcoms' 3 camera technique and heck just female driven sitcoms in general. She was also ballsy enough to write her pregnancy into her show and make it not taboo to celebrate & talk about it in public. Some of my very favorite Lucy films/moments are the following:

-Stage Door: a supplemental role in the film to Ginger Rogers & Katharine Hepburn, she still shines as Judith one of the actresses in the boarding house. One of her first larger roles (she was dubbed Queen of the B Movies in the 40s). The film is a look into the lives of young & struggling actresses. Those who've got it, those who don't, those with money, those without, and those who LIVE for their next role & are crushed when it doesn't come. I find this film fantastic!



-Room Service: co-starring with The Marx Brothers, Lucy plays Christine an actress caught up in the world of The Marx Brothers putting on a play to raise the money to pay off the landlord putting them up. Mayhem & silliness abound. It takes a real comedienne to keep up with those 3 and Lucy does it! So much fun & silliness, a great Marx Brothers style film.



-Du Barry Was a Lady: While not the greatest written picture it stars Lucy, Gene Kelly, and Red Skelton (beat that line up!). The hat check boy Louis (Red) is in love with nightclub star May (Lucy) but she is in love with broke dancer Alec (Gene). She wants to marry for money & when Louis wins the Irish Sweepstakes he proposes, she accepts, he hits his head & has a wild dream he's Luis XVI & she is Madame Du Barry. Pretty magical an I find it very fun. Plus Gene & Lucy-sigh!



-Meet the People: Lucy stars as Julie Hampton a big time Hollywood star opposite Dick Powell's William 'Swanee' Swanson a shipyard worker during war time who wrote a script about the very shipyard he works in. Julie agrees to do the show but she & Swanee squabble about the details. Love of course triumphs & so does the working class! I love this movie, just reminds me of my blue collar roots (my Pops was & my brothers are Ironworkers). And I love the love story that blossoms here, full of debate and spirit.




-Forever, Darling: A Lucy & Desi picture this one has Lucy's character Susan seeing an angel (played by James Mason). He guides her through saving her marriage off the rocks and back onto firmer ground. There are of course loads of silly/fun Lucy & Desi moments but the moments between Susan & her angel are quite well done too. I think it's a gem.



-Yours, Mine, Ours: stars Lucy & Henry Fonda as two widows with 18 children between them both. This classic showcases the difficulty of melding two such large families into one. It's full of some great & hilarious scenes between the children (ah sibling warfare never made you laugh so hard) and some really heartfelt and poignant moments (oldest brother leaving for war, new baby on the way, troubles in paradise for Lucy & Peter). Such a great film. And it made me feel a little better about having a million brothers & sisters! :)



-I Love Lucy: OF COURSE! This show is a treasure! So many amazing memories and silly adventures paired with heartfelt moments and a marriage that withstood oh so many trials and tribulations. They went for it every episode comedy & tugging at the old heartstrings wise. So many laughs and "awww"s from this gal & I am sure from many of you too!










All I can say is I really do love me some Lucy & hope that I grow up to have half the success she had in her life. One class act (plus she has a Barbie made in her image-LOVE that!) ;)





P.S. it's my 3 year anniversary with LA, we're still pretty smitten with this city that has become our home and I am excited for another magical year out here in SoCal! :)

Sunny With A Chance of Colonel Mustard Monday!

Colonel Mustard here to report on my week & weekend.

I went to work with Mom all last week, got my rabies booster (boo! but mom says yay!), and spent the whole weekend getting snuggled & scratched by my mom & my Aunt Natalie (mom's friend). It was the best!! They pulled out the pull-out bed and I slept on there all night & the next day while they watched Disney movies, I really liked The Fox & the Hound...made me want to go out tracking!











As you can see I work pretty hard! Hope your weeks/weekends were as great as mine!

-Colonel Mustard

&

Sunny With a Chance of NO SLEEP!!!!

Chickens! This week's schedule is off because my schedule is off! I have been filming and on-set and not really keeping normal hours so things are a bit hectic (but wonderful) 'round these parts.

I had a shoot from 2am to 2pm and another from 12am-6am! It has been crazy. So needless to say I haven't really even gotten to see my little munchkin (aka Colonel Mustard) or had time to watch and great classics! Sorry friends!!!!! :(

The great news is that I was on set, I got to hang and work with some great old friends, made some great new pals, and earned my 3 SAG vouchers! This girl is Taft-Hartley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you couldn't tell, I am kinda excited about it.

Just kinda though... :D

Hooray!

So once I get some more sleep under my belt I will back on schedule and give you a few little details about the shoot. And boy oh boy was it a great shoot! I CANNOT wait until the episodes are out of post-production!!

Hope your week's are going well chickens! Xs & Os!!

Sunny With a Chance of Sleepy

Fabulous things...Saturday!!! So my whole weekend is fabulous because of filming for my SAG-E and for the big ol' cattle call for Batman 3. And so in that vein...

the showing I'm earning my vouchers on

and

Batman Rises!

Get excited for these fabulous things with me & tell me about your fabulous things for today chickens!! :D

Sunny (again) With a Chance of SAG Vouchers!!!!

Friends I am so excited that this Theatre Thursday gets to be about great news for my acting career!

I have some pals that I worked with on a show here in LA about a year and a half ago. They wrote & produced & starred in this amazing web series Keeping Up With the Downs. Well now I get to work with them on set & earn some SAG vouchers! HOORAY!

So basically to join SAG (or the Screen Actors Guild) you need to earn 3 vouchers (or Taft-Hartley) before you can join SAG. And this project will be putting me one step closer to that (then I'll just have to pay my initiation fee). The scoop on why this is AWESOME is that SAG actors get paid more (it's now a union job when you work) and are eligible for a lot more jobs than non-union actors. You can then also join ANY other acting union-so my AEA eligible can become AEA, I can join AFTRA, etc. which again means more job opportunities that pay more. Plus I guarantee that every single one of your "favorite actors" are part of one of the professional acting unions out there.

This is so very exciting my friends & I could not be happier as I feel like I am getting just that teensy bit closer to doing what I love as my job. One day soon I am hoping to say to the world (and on my taxes) that all I do professionally is ACT!! :)

Hope your Thursday is going just amazingly chickens!!! :D

Hot With a Chance of Sweaty!!

Hello my friends! Another installment of Good For The World Wednesday-HOORAY! Today, as suggested by my sweetie, we're going to talk homemade bread. Mmm, bread...*drool*

So here it is, making your own bread not only tastes DELICIOUS but it is also great for the planet and your wallet! Here's why it's amazing for the wallet:

1) buying the ingredients for bread is literally dirt cheap. It's all bulk items or water. Seriously-a bi ol' bag of flour runs $3-20. We just a bought a HUGE bag at Smart & Final for $.

2) the second most important ingredient is water. I'm pretty sure you all have a tap. And if you're very particular you have a brita (or similar brand) filter. Enjoy that y'all. Yay for water!!!

Here is why baking your own bread is good for the planet:

1) You are not buying useless plastic. You might not think that plastic or paper wrapped-loaf within a plastic bag is a big deal but it really adds up. And plastic bags like that take about 10-20 years to break down. Help mother nature out y'all!

2) You aren't buying something that was probably made many, many miles away that took quite a bit of fuel to ship it to your grocery store. Cut out all that needless waste!

Plus this is one of the easiest things in the world to make-promise!

Here is my honey's recipe for all things bread (including hot dog & hamburger buns!):

For 1 loaf, or 8 hamburger/hot dog buns
-3 cups flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 tbsp earth balance buttery spread stick, cubed into 1/2 tbsp sizes.
-2 tsp dry yeast
-1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit)
-2 tsp sugar


Note: 2 tsp dry yeast is less than one package of yeast, which is 2.25 tsp. I doubt it makes any difference.

Combine water & sugar, then add yeast to proof for 5 minutes. A layer of foam should form, indicating the yeast is still active (alive that is!) Mix the remaining ingredients in food processor with dough blade attachment and pulse to incorporate the Earth Balance.

With machine running, slowly add water until the dough forms and peels away from the sides. Continue running to knead for 60 seconds. The dough should be slightly sticky still, but not unworkable.

Form into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel and let proof in a warm, draft free spot for 60 minutes, until the dough has doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and transfer to a lightly oiled 9" bread pan and cover again. This is the bench proofing. Let the dough proof for another 45 minutes or so, until the top overtakes the top of the pan and begins to resemble a loaf of bread. Place into a pre-heated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for at least 30 minutes, until the bread is a light golden brown.

Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes and then it should come out with no problem! Set aside to cool for 30 minutes and enjoy!

Notes: I found the bread begins to be inedible due to staleness after 3 days, despite my best efforts to keep wrapped.

To make buns, simply portion and shape into 8 pieces after the first rise. Hotdog buns are about three times as long as they are wide and hamburger buns are round of course! Bench-proof on a parchment lined baking sheet, covered with a towel as before.

That is straight from Joe (I really made him type it-you can tell by his silly side remarks, he prefers me to call them his "witty rejoinders"-NERD!). ;)

Now enjoy this deliciousness out of your own kitchen-just be sure you want to eat it up pretty quick! Have a great Wednesday chickens! :D

Sunny With a Chance of Silent Movies...

So Sunday night I convinced Joe to sit down with me and watch Metropolis. It is a silent flick from 1927 based on the novel by Thea von Harbou (who also wrote the screenplay).



The film is about "a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences".





The theme that is constantly woven throughout the movie is that "There can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator". This is played out through Freder, the son of the "brain" of Metropolis Joh Frederson. He experiences love at first sight when he see Maria bring up the children of the workers (the hands) of Metropolis to see their fellow brothers. This kicks Freder into his journey of discovery, not only of himself and love but of his father and the difference between classes. He finds his destiny along with Maria's help & love as the "heart" that joins the head & hands of Metropolis in the end.




Joe thought the movie was "meh" but for me it takes me back to high school where one of my favorite teachers used the film to show how the difference in classes has been portrayed not only through literature (it was an European Lit. class) but through film & art. I love the sets, costumes, use of make-up, the use of body language, everything that makes a Silent Film magic to me. It was a nice way to end my Sunday evening-Metropolis & Quinoa Puttanesca, what more can a vegan cinephile ask for?





Check out this epic classic listed as one of the 1,000 movies you must see before you die!

images courtesy this blog.