Category Archives: check it out

Universal Back Lot: A Sad Day in Hollywood History

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Universal Studios Fire @ Barham & Forest Lawn

The Universal Studio backlot is on fire. It started around 6:00AM this morning. Fire fighters were called in from all round. This must’ve been what woke the dog up this morning around 7:30. The low water pressure and ancient sets is making for a bit of a hot burn.

For the most part, the New England, New York and King Kong street scenes are gone and will need to be rebuilt. According to the LA Times, the fire destroyed “a soundstage and several sets, including the Courthouse Square seen in “Back to the Future” and the New York streetscape from the 1987 “Dragnet” film and “Bruce Almighty,” as well as structures used in the theme park’s King Kong attraction.”

It seems to have only affected the current Ghost Whisperer lot directly – must be that New England set.

Whew, What a Yesterday!

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Yesterday was my first LWL LIVE event here in Los Angeles. It was a day full of great speakers, consulting with future clients*, shopping, hanging with the ladies and well, just a full day of everything. It was held at the Dermalogica headquarters down in Carson. They have a beautiful facility, very futuristic and quite Mode/Ugly Betty-ish. Good space and good energy.

I loved hearing Dermalogica’s founder, Jan Wurwand’s story. Even more, I loved her whole “I went to beauty school, not business school” success story. Very inspiring. Daryn Kagan, formerly of CNN and now creates inspirational news stories on the web. I love how she was able to take losing her job and turning it into something beautiful. Paige Adams-Geller of Paige Premium Denim also had an empowering, love your body message that couldn’t be ignored; she wants you to be comfortable in your genes not just your jeans.

My favorite part of the whole event though, had to be the web savvy panel: the ladies from Ideal Bite, Ask Patty, Style Diary (and one more gal that writes for the Huffington Post – I didn’t get a program and the LWL site wasn’t updated with her info). I loved how they’re all web-based, yet all have different business and advertising models. But more importantly, I love who they all supported the idea of blogging, getting yourself out there on social networks, and even using blogs instead of launching an out and out site (all what I preach!).

I wished someone had thought ahead to record the speakers since I missed parts of the web gals panel. Turns out I was stuck in the body of a teenager and well, had a bit of a girlie accident. Yeah, I wore khakis and figured that since I’m an adult, I know my body and I don’t have anything to worry about. Of course, I neglected to consider the fact that I’d be sitting ALL day long – from the crack of dawn drive down until the drive back (nearly 10 hours total). Embarrassing? Oh hell yeah. But hey, at least I was in a room full of women and we’ve all been there a time or two (even if mostly only in our teens).

But it was a great day and one I’d gladly do over – with a few small adjustments 😉 Today I’ve got some Farmer’s Market time with the hubs (if it’s not too late) and book club with the gals. The author will be joining us so I’m pretty stoked!

* my biz site officially launched while I was there – so now I’m all official like.  Thanks Rachael!

Six and the City

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First and foremost, thank you Miss Attitude for posting this yesterday. It cracked me up and make my day. To get you all in the mood for Sex and the City this weekend I bring you “the girls” age six (no hype, no plot given away)…

I’ve decided that I’m going to see the first AM showing (10:25) in my area so I don’t have to worry about the hype. This will be followed by acupuncture for my (seeming) sinus issue. I felt better yesterday, but then after a nap, I couldn’t stop sneezing and my head was all fucked up again. Sigh…

Happy Weekend!

Have you Checked Out Kirtsy Yet?

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kirtsy!

kirtsy (formerly sk*rt) “is a social media platform of pure goodness. A plaza for the peachy. A portal to the pretty. A place to find cool things. To read smart scoop. To connect with fab ideas, exceptional people, useful information, excellent products. All of it. And more.”

kirtsy is kind of like an aggregator for a bunch of cool blogs on cool topics. They cover everything from arts and entertainment to politics and news, from food and home to travel and leisure, fashion and style to internet and technology. You name it, they’ve got it covered. So take a moment and check them out. Click on either the badge above or the one down in my sidebar to get there.

Wha?? Huh??

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A couple of things that came to my attention today through my email…

Starbucks now has a +Energy thingamagiggy – you can add “a blend of B vitamins, guarana, and ginseng for added energy” to that triple shot, non-fat, soy macchiato.  You know, for extra energy and all that jazz.  Just what you need with your coffee.  This should really bring those RockStar swilling teens into Starbucks now.

It’s been a while since I’ve been out clubbing.  But I wonder, as a gal, do you really need to know dance moves?  I mean how difficult is it to bump and grind all up on some guy?  But if you’ve got that bachelorette party coming up and you just need to get your groove on, check out the fine folks at Learn Club Dancing and their Night Club Dance Series.  You can learn some Sexy Moves For the Club or Girls Night Out.  Or better yet, get your guy some Hip Hop Moves For the Club and the two of you can tear up the night and party like a rockstar!

Both of these are just what I need today…more energy with my caffeine and some Paris Hilton dance moves.  Just think of all I’ll get done!

A blend of B vitamins, guarana, and ginseng for added energy

It’s Official…It’s May

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It’s amazing to me how much of the year has gone by already. I mean, really, it’s May! For us, May pretty much starts the summer season. Concert season begins and vacations happens. Our anniversary starts it all off on May 1st and in my husband’s family, it’s officially the start of the birthday season (mine is in mere days)!

But there’s still so much more May madness…A few weeks ago I posted about my friend’s YouTube video trailer for their Fun With War Crimes series. Well, it’s officially launched and ready for your viewing. Enjoy!

And now, now I must go find some allergy medicine as I seem to feel like my nose is about to explode off my face from the damn tickling. And the eyes, the burning, the watering. Man, allergy season sucks. I guess it’s May afterall.

We’re pretty booked with concerts and dinners this weekend, so I probably won’t be around much. Wishing you all a Happy Weekend!

Do You Have a Diet Soda Addiction?

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I only ask because I wonder this myself.  Shine (you know, Yahoo’s new “womens” network) did a story the other day (thanks go input from Hungry Girl and quite a few folks commented regarding their own addiction to diet sodas. I’m not sure sure I’m an “addict” as I don’t seem to show any of the “side effects” that most talk about.  To be honest, I can go days without caffeine without so much as a migraine (and I actually suffer from migraines from time to time).  But I do wonder if many of the folks leaving comments about migraines and general aches are actually talking about a diet soda addiction or something more akin to a basic caffeine addiction.

If you are thinking about kicking the diet soda habit (I do hear that it’s quite bad for you – especially the aspartame)  then let this list of alternative drinks over at Noshtopia help you out.  Kelly the Kitchen Kop also has some helpful advice.  Me, I think I’m ready to cut down (more than I already do).  I think I’ll be going back to water or iced tea as my beverages of choice when I’m out of the house – I drank far too much Coke while I was sick for me to feel comfortable with myself.

Fun With War Crimes

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My friend’s boyfriend has been hard at work creating a video series.  Help it go viral – rate it and favorite it.  Check out their trailer…

Here’s what he has to say about the series…

I’ve created a comedy web series that puts the Bush Administration on trial. It’s called “Fun With War Crimes.” You can view the first trailer for the series on YouTube. I think you will like it…

Fun With War Crimes Trailer

(Or just have people do a search on YouTube for Fun With War Crimes.)

If you’re a YouTube subscriber, rate the video, comment, make it a favorite.

The series launches on May 1st, the 5th anniversary of Bush declaring “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq. We at FWWC are reaching out to like minded people. So pass the link on to as many people as you can, and ask them to do the same. If we do our viral job right, by tomorrow, I will be in an orange jump suit in Guantanamo Bay.

But if you don’t like the trailer. If you think it makes me unpatriotic, a bad American. Please, pass the link on to everyone you think will despise it, too. We’ll take the hate views. (Does anybody know how to get a hold of Bill O’Reilly?)

Other places of Fun With War Crimes interest:

YouTube Subscribers: subscribe to the 8 part series

Our site: funwithwarcrimes.com (A teaser page. Our full site launches with the series May 1.)

MySpace: www.myspace.com/funwithwarcrimes

Thanks! And enjoy the trailer.

Blog, Blogger, Blogging

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As you may or may not know, I’ve been teaching some workshops for the LWL group on blogging basics.  For the most part, I’m working on introducing the blogosphere to these busy, start-up, business women and letting them know how blogging and commenting in blogs can help improve their business (or at least their search engine rankings).

It’s been pretty basic thus far, but I’m ready to reach out further and expand my horizons.  So in the process, I’ve been reading a lot of blogging blogs, women in business blogs, business blogs and well, tons of books on the subject as well.  I’m taking it all in wherever I can. 

So currently, I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

  • The best blogging techniques.
  • How to get traffic to your blog.
  • How to turn your blog into money.

I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.