The Big Shots of Big Hollywood

Friday, June 26, 2009

RIP


I never had this poster, or t-shirt. I never watched Charlie's Angels, but I did watch her on The Six Million Dollar Man when she piloted a Command Module safely back to earth.

But you couldn't help but know who she was back in the '70s.

Just like with Farrah, I never had a copy of Thriller, or Bad, or anything else Michael Jackson did but I certainly knew who he was.

But I liked him too.

I don't have anything zippy to wrap this up into one neat little bow sorry to say.

RIP

Kurt

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Our Godforsaken Rights

I have a bone to pick with Mr. Jason Mraz. He has a bouncy, happy song out called "I'm Yours." It's a sappy, jangly, wide-open love song, which I enjoy listening to almost against my will, and I admit stays in my head for awhile. Truth is, I don't mind when a song shouts its love from the rooftops. There's not enough of that in the world, and I count on sappy songs to fill in the gap.

But.

One of the lines goes like this:

"Listen to the music of the moment people dance and sing.
We're just one big family.
And it's our godforsaken right to be loved, loved, loved...."

ExCUSE me? Godforsaken? Is it possible he's effing with me? Is the whole song ironic? I can't be the only one to have noticed this, and presumably someone along the path to getting this song produced suggested that maybe, though he keeps using that word, it does not mean what he thinks it means.

god⋅for⋅sak⋅en

–adjective (sometimes initial capital letter)
1. desolate; remote; deserted: They live in some godforsaken place 40 miles from the nearest town.
2. wretched; neglected; pitiable.

Origin:
1855–60; God + forsaken


1. bleak, dreary, lonely. 2. forlorn, miserable.

It's really cast a pall on my enjoyment of the song, frankly.

I'm Yours,
Jenny

You're a wizard, Harry

I'm inappropriately excited for the new Harry Potter.

harry

Just needed to get that off my chest.

gretch

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Has Anyone Ever Told You…?

The answer when someone asks me “you know who you look like?” is one of three women:
When I’m being ditzy and flirty it’s Drew Barrymore.
When I’m being loud and brash it’s Kristen Johnston
And when I’m just standing around being taller than everyone else it’s Laura Prepon.

Granted when we were both redheads and she was on a hit TV show I used to get the latter way more often. But even now that we’ve gone over to the blonde-side, every once and awhile I still get “has anyone ever told you that you look like the chick from That 70’s Show?” And the answer is yes, yes I’ve been told that before.

70s1

And I can’t say that I disagree entirely. She’s like the prettier, skinnier, more stylish version of myself I always dreamed was possible. She’s who I would have become if I’d been given my own television show, trainer and stylist upon moving to Hollywood. Ever since That 70’s Show premiered I’ve had a thing for Laura Prepon. I imagined what it would be like if I ran into her in the bathroom, we’d be washing our hands next to each other and slowly turn to meet a near-mirror image of ourselves. I imagined us becoming best friends and we’d stand at the edges of parties drinking jackn’cokes out of keg cups and making fun of everyone. I imagined she’d get the producers of That 70’s Show to cast me as her weirdo cousin, and I’d probably get my own spinoff and she’d come guest star every once and awhile.

Almost one out of three ain’t bad.

Yesterday, while attempting to remove the unbelievable amount of mascara-colored sleep that had accumulated in the corners of my eyes, I heard the outer bathroom door squeak open and I spun over to the paper towel dispenser because no one wants to be caught looking at herself in a public bathroom mirror because that’s just vain. As I dried my hands, a tall figure in a flowy peach dress pushed through the interior door. It was…HER. Laura Prepon adjusted one of her long blond waves in the mirror (she has no problem looking in the mirror when someone else is around, so add “more well-adjusted” to the list of traits she has on me), and smoothed down the front of her dress. I hung my head and walked out of the bathroom. Maybe if we were anywhere else besides the bathroom I would have been able to say something. Maybe if we were in the hallway outside of the bathroom I would have been able to ask her if her friends ever tell her that she looks like me (my mom’s idea, which I will totally steal if given the opportunity again). But no, we were in the bathroom. And if there’s a room where you shouldn’t fawn over a celebrity, regardless of whether or not she may be your doppelganger, it would be the bathroom.

But it’s comforting to know that when my doppelganger cross paths, the universe doesn’t collapse in on itself.

Maybe there’s still hope for my weirdo cousin spin-off.

gretch

Friday, June 19, 2009

Did they call you yet?


Last night was the draft for the new professional football league, the UFL.

I was hoping for a call. I wasn't expecting to get drafted in the first round, but maybe the 12th or 13th.

In Hollywood terms, I think that playing in the UFL would be a lot like being an extra in a movie where you have to stand under a jet engine.

...wait, I've done that.

Kurt

Thursday, June 18, 2009

An Instant Classic

I'm thinking "what in the hell do I get for my father who doesn't fish or play golf?"

Problem solved.

mcgraw
An instant classic.

This men's McGraw by Tim McGraw cologne spray has a woody, spicy fragrance that's irresistibly masculine. Perfect for any occasion.

Top notes: bergamot and nutmeg.
Middle notes: lavendar and moss.
Base notes: amber, patchouli, sandalwood and aged whiskey.

And who doesn't love an aged whisky base note?

Happy Father's Day!
gretch

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Promise to pack a punch in the face...

This woman makes me nuts:

cermak_kajon_335x120

Who is she? That’s not important…but let’s just say that she does the afternoon traffic on the NPR station housed in the basement of Santa Monica College and her name rhymes with Blajon Blermak.

If you’ve ever been in your car from the hours of 3:00p to 7:00p Monday through Friday with the station tuned to 93.3 you’ve probably heard her laughing at you for being in traffic. Hell, I’m not going to be in my car for another couple hours, I’m just sitting here at my desk, and yet when I hear her voice I have the overwhelming desire to hit my forehead against my steering wheel. I wouldn’t mind the traffic at all if it weren’t for Blajon Blermak coming in every twenty minutes with a smile in her voice and her fucking annoying catch phrases like “bummer to bummer traffic” and “pack a snack.” One day, I swear to god, she said “I’m so glad I’m not out there. hahahaha” Who cares, bitch? I don’t need your commentary, I just need to know if I should bother getting on the 10. If I end up losing my mind in the car, its not going to be because of road rage, it’ll be because of Blajon Blermak. Hey, Blajon, I’ll pack a snack if you promise to pack a punch in the face. I’ve come this close to writing an angry letter to a certain NPR station housed in the basement of Santa Monica College lots of times, but something always stops me. I don’t know that that something is, but I need to have it removed because if there’s one thing we liberals do well is write angry letters to NPR. Am I right?

I knew I shoulda taken the bus today...

gretch

The Pinch and Pull


Look, People. Public bathrooms are intrinsically disgusting. It's about all any of us can do to get out with our dignity, let alone less than one million nasty microbes. So, I'm suggesting, just to ponder, how about we all avail ourselves of the serrated toilet paper edge thingee to tear our TP? Or, failing that, we can find the perforation that was put there for this very purpose, and use that? I've been traveling lately, quite a bit, so my usual disdain for this behavior has turned into a full-blown icked-outedness. Do NOT pinch and pull. Someone is waiting on line for a filthy stall and doesn't want to wipe themselves with your hand germs.

That's all I got.

Jenny

Friday, June 12, 2009

C'mon



This stuff drives me nuts.

I was driving in my car last night and I heard Chris Dodd, the Senator from CT. say that, 3 to 4000 children a DAY start smoking.

C'mon!

A day? If I just use the lower figure of 3,000 children starting smoking a day and multiply that by 30, you get 90,000 children in the U.S. starting to smoke per month. So 90,000 times 12 equals, 1.08 million children that start to smoke a year in this country. Does he have any idea how much a pack of smokes costs right now?

C'mon!

Why didn't you just say 27,000 a day start smoking, or I have a flying car I take to work everyday that my supermodel wife flies for me.

I'll just say anything and no one will challenge me! Watch this: I have the most successful show on British Televsion and I live in a Chateau in France and I have a guest house on the Moon.

C'mon!

A while back someone who is "important" said that we had to help children everywhere in this country so that we would stop seeing children living under bridges.

C'mon!

I used to live in Pittsburgh. One thing Pittsburgh is called is "The City of Bridges". I never once saw a child living under a bridge. What are they trolls?

C'mon!

All I'm saying is your just making stuff up and I want you to stop it. And that goes for Democrats, Republicans, or Independents.

Stop it already. C'mon!

Kurt

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

The name is Jenny....Titi Jenny

Among the many things a kid can call the older members of their families, Titi is my favorite. I'm a Titi. It's a Spanish thing, maybe just Puerto Rican, but just as I have a Titi Ann and a Titi Rose, so too am I Titi Jenny to Maddie, Henry, Conor and James.

The three Noa girls are all Titis, and have been since we first got our own pets. It's awesome. I was recently lucky enough to be a non-stop caretaking sort of Titi for a whole week, and I'm pleased to tell you that I came through with flying colors, as evidenced by the hugs, cheers and even a diamonte poem. It is a "cause and effect" poem, which begins with "Titi Jenny" and ends with....wait for it..."so much fun." Never was a Titi this proud. For the kids to be not only alive but still kind of enamored of me.... Well, it's my greatest achievement. That diamonte poem will be - if she officially gives it to me - framed and hanging in my house till all I have is a semi-private room in the nursing home.

Love,

Titi Jenny

PS: Oh, and to clarify. It's pronounced tee-tee, not titty, which seems to be the go-to pronunciation when foreigners read the word. You have a nana or an auntie, right? We have Titis. Deal with it.

All You Need Is Love

I saw my first Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas this past weekend. Love. It was ah-maze-ing. No surprise here, I totally cried. I mean, it’s magical and beautiful and dangerous and…magical. I felt like a kid again. I danced in my seat and clapped like an idiot and ooo’d and aaah’d the entire time. But then again, I’m pretty much their dream audience – weepy woman with a love for costume drama and a childhood dream of being a dancer. Yeah, I’m a cream dream for Cirque du Soleil.

Who’s not a cream dream for Cirque du Soleil? Before this weekend I totally would have guessed “frat boys.” And I would have been…wrong. Just moments before start time a group of ten frat boys, not a one could have been more than 22 years-old, shuffled single-file into the row in front of us. I don’t know for certain that they were part of some university fraternal organization, but I would have been really surprised if they didn’t all have matching Greek letters tattooed on their shoulder blades. There wasn’t a girlfriend among them, it was just these ten bros being bros at a Cirque du Soleil show. Got a problem with that?

And I’ll be gawldamned if they weren’t the first ones jumping out of their seats after the finale, starting the standing ovation. The applauded and shouted with wild abandon. Walking out they slapped each other on the back, shaking their heads at the pure magic of it all. And for a moment, I was a frat boy too. Because not one of us could escape the wonder of the circus.

cirq

They were probably on mushrooms, right?

gretch

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

"... that can make me laugh."

Whenever I hear a Playboy model say she just wants a guy that can make her laugh, I say right back, "No you don't."

Just like John Mellencamp is not from a small town, girls don't want a guy that can make them laugh. I have too much emperical evidence to back that up.

There is no more need for discussion.

Kurt

For Reals

This is what is going on outside my office…for reals.
Monday, June 2nd from 1:43p-2:03

Is anyone watching The Bachelorette?
Vagina barbeque.
How’d your mom get you out?
Episiotomyepisiotomyepisiotomy.
Because you want to believe he’s straight.
They’re beards, they’re not girlfriends.
Australians are more aggressive.
Some people just like to have great sex, the trisexuals.
I don’t believe in bisexuals.
Ask the intern. Do girls make out with each other just for fun at your parties?
They found debris from that flight.
Who as the hottest go-go dancers?
What’s Jamie’s name from The Sopranos?
What was that show called? Monster Garage? I thought you liked it.
Smoked weeeed.
Every kind of woman in a window you could want.
You didn’t go to any of the sex shows or anything?
I don’t like the bread they use.
He’s androgynous, they won’t know.

403_question%20mark

Surprised by the shocking lack of F-bombs,
gretch