Monday Movie Mash-up

Smart People

Average comedy. Dry humor… a little too “stuck-up” for its own good. Cast is average except for a stand out performance by the wacky brother, played by Ashton Holmes. -I think this one hit a little too close to home for me to be as funny as it deals with the death of a mother and her daughters coping mechanisms. Don’t expect to watch this and laugh out loud; you may actually come away from it more depressed than when you popped in this comedy!

Bloopers and Gag Reel from the movie

Mean Girls

Yes, it stars Lindsey Lohan. Yes, it’s a movie geared toward teens. Yes, it’s a little bit predictable and yes, everything turns out rainbows and puppy dogs in the end. But… alright, I loved it! It’s got a solid story, good-enough cast, and it may have been formulaic, but it’s also funny. Think Lindsey Lohan before you came to hate the name.

Mean Girls trailer re-cut, horror-flick style

Get Shorty

I know what you’re thinking, “But Get Shorty is an American classic! John Travolta at the height of his post Pulp Fiction comeback AND Danny Devito - playing mobsters!” Surely, I must have been living under a rock all these years. Well, I’ve submerged from my self imposed exile, and I don’t think I missed much with this one. Maybe it was the three glasses of wine I drank before watching it - but I was utterly confused, and not captivated enough to bother re-watching during my subsequent hang-over.

Best part of the movie? Bette Midler

Y Tu Mama Tamben

For whatever reason, this film got rave reviews, was nominated for an Oscar for best screenplay, won the Independent Spirit Awards for best foreign film, and won 32 other awards. I say it was slightly above average for an smaller budget, foreign movie. But I think this is one that you have to judge for yourself, just be sure to get the subtitled version - not the dubbed one.

Official Movie Trailer

Friday's Fun Food

Tetris Sugar Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup cooking oil
2 eggs
4 ½ cup flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream together sugars, butter and oil. Whip until “fluffy”. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and cream of tarter. Add to batter. If you plan on rolling out dough, add another ½ cup flour.
Either roll out dough or ball together a tablespoon or so of dough and flatten onto cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.



Basic frosting

¼ cup butter
¼ cup shortening
1 box confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cream (or milk)

Soften butter and shortening by microwaving for twenty seconds or so. Whip together butter and shortening till well mixed. Add sugar, vanilla, salt and milk. Cream together. Scrap sides of bowl and the whip for 2-3 minutes at high speed. Frosting should be light and fluffy.

If you like a sweeter frosting, use a higher proportion of butter to shortening.

Procrastination Organization

Call it the desire to be your own Martha Stewart, or blame it on the Container Store and Label-Maker Plus, but woman all over are getting the Organization Bug - BAD! It’s one thing to keep your kitchen pantry in order. But it’s an entirely different problem when you spend more time re-organizing the pantry shelves after making dinner than you spent cooking the meal in the first place.

Organize: To put together into any orderly, structured whole. To arrange in a desired pattern or structure

Organization: An ordered manner; orderliness by virtue of being methodical and well organized

On the surface, a well organized home is something to be proud of. I’ve walked into my neighbor’s home, the family with the four kids under six years old, and am in awe at the toy bins neatly staked and the chore lists color coded on the wall. Seems like she’s really got her life “in order”. But then I asked her about it, and the dirty little secret that so many woman carry came tumbling out.

Organization as a time-waster. Organization as a way to procrastinate. Organization to fill-up your time and mind so that you can focus on that instead of what’s really “messy” in your life.

Who would have thought that all those highlighters and labels and bins have a dark side?

It’s easier to go through the old appointment book and highlight schedules and rewrite lists than to think about all the chaos involved in maintaining your families schedules.

It’s easier to go out and spend money on all the right-sized food storage canisters and spend days organizing your pantry than to actually plan for that big party you’re hosting.

And it’s a lot easier to organize that desk covered in bank notices and IRA statements than to sit down and figure out what your financial plan is going to be in this economically uncertain time.

Looking for a new job? My job search log is highlighted. I have an excel file for each day, and then another one broken down by salaries. I have folders to bring to different interviews based on certain criteria. I spend so much time preparing and making sure everything is in order, that I forget the important part - actually getting out there and applying for positions and networking. Maybe because those two things frighten me, I instead choose to focus my attention on what I have control over - my organization.

To lead a happy life, you need balance. Having toy bins to help keep down the clutter in your home is a wonderful idea. But labeling the bins into different categories and having a check-out system for your kids toys, well, that just crosses the line. It takes the fun out of life. Having a daily schedule is great, but having three or four calendars on the refrigerator all highlighted and broken down by the hour…. That’s just too extreme.

If you find yourself making lists, or labeling everything in your bathroom, ask yourself what you really “should” be doing. In my case, it’s making more phone calls to potential employers instead of re-writing my search list for the fourth time this week.

I’ll admit that there are woman out there who are just extremely organized and can handle all the time spent organizing as well as actually being productive. But for us non-superwoman, there is a happy medium for us to find.

Buffalo ‘66 Movie Review

Before filming the infamous filatio scene Vincent Gallo is now famous for, he wrote, directed and starred in Buffalo ‘66 along side Christina Ricci.

While searching for the famous Brown Bunny scene - which I’m assuming was blocked by you tube because of the sex acts, I found this equally creepy video below. Who doesn’t like a grown man in a bunny suit getting his nasty on while crying?



At least these guys have some money behind their names. Give me enough cash and I may be able to handle the furry outfits.

ANYWAYS… back to the movie.

Did you know that Vincent Gallo is a crazy genius? This movie is amazing. Well written, great actors, amazing video editing and each and every camera shot is “just right.” To me it’s more than just a movie, it’s a work of art. And I never, ever, say that about a film. It was artsy, but not obvious like The Tracey Fragments. The film angles were clearly all thought out well in advance, but no effect was over the top. Take, for example, my favorite scene in the whole movie. Christina Ricci pole dancing anyone… See below.



So Gallo is a genius directing this movie.

How is he crazy you may ask?

Examples below, courteous of wikipedia.

1. As a teenager, Gallo was frequently arrested for petty crimes and for indecent exposure, and has reminisced in print about his compulsive teenage masturbatory habits. While living in New York, Gallo was a go-go dancer at various gay clubs and has also admitted to prostituting himself to gay clientele

2. In early 2005, Gallo made a posting on his merchandise website offering his "disease-free" sperm for $1 million. However he added that he "maintains the right to refuse sale of his sperm to those of extremely dark complexions


3. Gallo also expressed his desire to impregnate a Jewish woman, because "this connection to the Jewish faith would guarantee his offspring a better chance at good reviews and maybe even a prize at the Sundance Film Festival or an Oscar."


4. Just check out his website: http://www.vincentgallo.com
Now tell me he’s not a nut! (please don’t stalk me or kill me Mr. Gallo for writing this, as I am extremely fearful of your wraith.)

I ‘m giving it 4 ½ out of 5, or 9 out of 10, or 92 out of 100 stars. Which ever one floats your boat! I think I’ve listened to the Moonchild song a dozen times just while writing this. Kind of gets stuck in your head.

Cord Blood - Stem Cell Collection

Television commercials on storing your child’s umbilical cord blood and stem cells upon delivery are creepy. Who wants to contemplate their child becoming ill, and needing this treatment, during this monumental milestone in a families life - the delivery of their baby. But, my curiosity finally won me over, and off to investigate I went.

The most prominent of cord blood banks is CBR - Cord Blood Registry. I started with their site and compared their services to that of ViaCord and Cyro-Cell. The collection process and storage procedure is the same in all three companies. Pricing too is pretty much equal. This might be a case where customer service would really be the deciding factor.

Cord blood - or placental blood - is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta after a healthy delivery. This blood is rich in stem cells. Most medical doctors agree that this stem cells are the body’s master cells, used to create all other tissues, organs and systems in the body. These cells have yet to have any outside influence on them, no viruses attacking, no mutation due to aging. Because of this, doctors believe (and have a good amount of research to prove) that these cells are significantly more useful for use in transplants and cellular related disease.

There is a one in 20,000 chance of finding a “match” in regular stem cell banking for Caucasians. This drops to an average of about one in one hundred thousand for minorities.

Stem cells are used in transplant medicine to regenerate a patients blood or immune systems. Usually following a combined treatment of chemotherapy and radiation, the stem cells are then infused in to the body’s blood stream. From there, they migrate to bone marrow and begin to multiply, new healthy cells to replace those destroyed through chemo and radiation.

Cord blood has three main characteristics that make it a better chose than a bone marrow transplant.

1st - cord blood is easier to match. The person uses cord blood is stored is a perfect match, and 2nd and 3rd degree blood relatives are almost always a perfect match.

2nd - Cord blood is immediately available. The stem cells can be taken directly from storage and used as needed. Normal transplant procedure requires the donator to undergo surgery and then testing.

3rd - There is a lower risk of GVHD - Graft vs. Host disease. Meaning, there is less chance that the body will reject the cells.

Every year, more and more uses for stem cells are being discovered. From sickle cell anemia to chronic leukemia to brain tumors and ovarian cancer (click here for a full listing), these cells are proving to be the best, least invasive treatment for many diseases.

By this point in my research I am hooked on the idea. A little scared of what type of fees would be associated with the collection and storage of the cells, but very interested in the idea. So, I dug further.

And, surprise, surprise, not too bad!

All three big cord blood banks charge about the same. For the processing and bank fees they charge an average of $1700. Throw in a $150 courier fee and the first year storage fee and we get a grand total of $1975 for the first year. A big chunk of change, but considering what you get in return, I think the investment is well worth it. There is an annual storage fee of $125.

This safeguard of “biological resources” for a family with a high risk of cancer or other now “treatable” diseases is a must. The child’s own stem cells could be used to treat their childhood leukemia or their fathers Altimetry.

As an added bonus - the entire process is made absolutely painless.
1st - enroll by telephone or on-line
2nd - take the provided kit to hospital when labor begins
3rd - have the OB/Alzheimer’s Disease collect the blood and placenta
4th - call the 1800 number for the courier
5th - courier delivers “goods”
6th - cells stored at negative 321 degrees Fahrenheit until needed.

Done! Simple bodily flood storage.

All kidding aside, I would urge anyone planning on having children to at least research this idea. Especially if you’re going to be passing on some “not so great” genes.