Media Monday, Oscar 2012 Edition

OK, OK.  I said I'd "be back tomorrow" a week ago, and then I disappeared into the ether again.  But I was thinking about you, my readers, my friends, my family.  I was.

My computer finally came back from the shop, and we seem to be OK for the moment.  We being my computer (which is functioning enough to post this blog) and myself.  I've been battling depression lately. (Always? No, not always. But lately.)  It's been hard to even send a text-mesage, let alone an email, let alone a full blog.  The challenge of chemical depression is that sometimes there isn't a great reason to be blue, but you're indigo and cornflower and cerulean all the same.

When I'm in such a rut, I refer back to a phrase we say commonly in our home, that I "need to fill my well."  I first learned the phrase from my mother, referring to the general ennui and emotional exhaustion when one isn't taking care of oneself (or from taking care of others and not receiving care in return.)  Tom first learned the phrase in an artistic context, from Julia Cameron - author of The Artist's Way, a favorite book of ours.  It's the same basic concept - you're running dry of resources - but in the realm of creativity, it's about needing a steady input of inspiration before you can create a steady outflow of creation.  I find that when my well is running low in one way, it's also running low the other way. 

I put myself in a dearth of self-care and inspiration.  And when I do it, I often half-heartedly attempt to fill my well.  Oh, I'll watch some dumb TV.  Oh, I'll play some silly mobile game.  Oh, I'll watch something clever but only give it part of my attention.  Instead of well-filling, it becomes further well-draining.  To truly turn myself around, I have to be conscious and mindful -- not only about my self-care, but about the creative inspiration too.

And almost never am I more mindful about entertainment than while watching the Oscar-nominated films.  Ten of which I watched this weekend! It felt good to get out and spend time with friends while watching the Oscar-nominated short films (an outing I mentioned in last week's Media Monday post.) 

The films are still playing at the NuArt in West LA.
Photo courtesy of Rochelle

It was a pretty good batch this year!  I found something to appreciate about each of the films, which is perhaps the first time that has happened.  Often in the past, we've joked that the live action films are 80% cancer- or holocaust-themed (and nearly 100% of the time, a cancer- or holocaust-themed short wins.)  But this year, I was surprised to find that none of the films were malignant or swastika-ed . The one film that included illness didn't focus on the main character being sick, but on the eccentric hobbies he indulged in during his illness.)

Of the live-action films, I am torn between several, but I probably land on "The Shore" as my favorite.

When it comes to the animated films - which I tend to prefer - I'm fond of many of the nominees, but one definitely stood out.  I highly recommend "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," a fanciful and elegant love letter to the warmth and soul-satisfaction of books.  The short brought my bibliophile friends and loved ones to mind - Rena and Audra chief among them.  The two of them ought to see it... and so should you.  And, luckily, you can -- it's available on iTunes for FREE!

A still from the film, as Mr. Lessmore enters the library for the first time.

We're big Oscar-watchers here, and as of last weekend, we've seen all 9 of the best picture nominees, all but 2 of the acting nominees, and all but 2 of the writing nominees.  Here are my picks for the winners (of the categories that matter most to me) as well as who I'd vote for, were I voting.

Best Picture
Who I think will win: The Artist
Who I'd vote for: The Artist.  I loved it.  My favorite film of the year (and my favorites are not always nominated.)

Best Director
Who I think will win: Hazanavicius for The Artist.
Who I'd vote for: Hazanavicius for The Artist.

Best Actor
Who I think will win: Jean Dujardin
Who I'd vote for: Jean Dujardin

Best Actress
Who I think will win: Viola Davis
Who I'd vote for: Viola Davis

Best Supporting Actor
Who I think will win: Christopher Plummer
Who I'd vote for: Christopher Plummer. I just saw - and LOVED - Beginners.

Best Supporting Actress
Who I think will win: Octavia Spencer
Who I'd vote for: Honestly... this is the strongest category I've ever seen.  I have a deep appreciation of every one of these performances, and I'd be perfectly happy if any of them won.  If pushed, I'd vote for Spencer.

Screenwriting, Adapted
Who I think will win: The Descendents
Who I'd vote for: Hugo, but The Descendents was also strong.

Screenwriting, Original
Who I think will win: The Artist
Who I'd vote for: The Artist, but I loved Midnight in Paris, too.

Best Song
Who I think will win: It had BETTER be "Man Or Muppet."
Who I'd vote for: I've been declaring it publicly since the day the film opened: "Man Or Muppet" needs to win the Oscar.

Best Score
Who I think will win: The Artist
Who I'd vote for: The Artist

I usually care a great deal about animation, but we couldn't see 2 of the nominees this year, so I'm not going to weigh in with a guess or a vote.

Wow!  There's usually far fewer categories where I'd vote for my predicted winner. 

It's funny to me how long this post became.  Because it's about entertainment... and as of this morning, I'm on a self-imposed entertainment diet.  I put a moratorium on passive entertainment, for one week.  As I described earlier in this post, my well-filling has been half-hearted, and I've too easily leaned on passive entertainment to distract me from self-care or active creation.  So this week, I will not be watching TV or movies, nor playing games that aren't social with someone in person.  I've tried this a few times in my life (while I was reading The Artist's Way - though Cameron's recommendation is for no reading.  Reading is not my particular vice.)

During this week, I plan to create my own entertainment.  I'll write, I'll blog, I'll photograph.  I'll clean, I'll organize, I'll call a friend.  I'll stop zoning out, and start tuning in to my surroundings.  It will give me the freedom to focus on self-care... which I'll share more about tomorrow.  Really, for-real, tomorrow.  Because I have no excuses - entertaining you will be my way of entertaining me.  That or braiding my cat's fur.  I don't know how crazy I'll be after several days without watching anything.  My hope is that when I finally turn that TV back on - for the Oscar ceremony - it'll be well-filling instead of creativity-crushing. 

I'm off to take care of me, with a prompt bedtime and some calming music. I hope that you will come back to visit here tomorrow, and that in the meanwhile, you will take care of you, too.

Bring it on, Adventure Wednesday! Or: I was a plus-sized cheerleader

Today's post is a rare Multimedia Monday and an Adventure Wednesday combination.

Tom and I are both big fans of Lin-Manuel Miranda - a Wesleyan alum whose Tony award-winning In the Heights was on near-constant rotation in our household for all of 2008.  (We saw Miranda star in it twice, once in New York, once in Los Angeles when Miranda performed with the tour as a special engagement.)

So when we found out that he was contributing to a new musical, we got excited.  And when the tour of that new musical began in Los Angeles, we knew we had to get tickets to see it.  So last Monday, we went to the Ahmanson to see Bring It On: The Musical.

Yes, that's right.  Bring It On is now a musical.  Or, rather, the franchise built around competitive cheerleading has expanded.  The play isn't adapted from the original film - it's clearly inspired by it, but it has its own characters and plot.  In this story, the preppy captain of a cheerleading team is redistricted to an urban school across the tracks - a school without any cheerleaders.





I liked the original movie.  I have a soft spot for stories about the high school experience, and Bring It On had surprising bite and humor.  (Other high school films I enjoy - aside from the obvious 80s ones - include Can't Hardly Wait and Easy A.)

But something about the musical version hit close to home.  This version features... a plus-sized cheerleader.  (Technically she starts out as a mascot, but she breaks out of her mold.)

And once upon a time, I was a plus-sized teenaged cheerleader.  (Technically, I was a pom-pon girl, but outside of former cheerleaders and pom-pon girls, who knows the difference?)

Yes, that's me.  I hardly feel like I look plus-sized in that picture, but at the time, my size-16 body seemed enormous to me in comparison with the single-digit sizes that made up the rest of my pom-pon squad.  One of the most embarrassing moments in my young life was realizing that there were no pom uniform skirts available in my size.  My mom had to take two of the small skirts to the tailor and have them made into one for me.

Maybe it was me - my own hang-ups, my own shyness - that made me feel not a part of the group, either time I was on a pom squad.  (Once in eighth grade, once in tenth.  I skipped auditioning the other years, because I wanted to focus on theater, journalism and band.)  I felt separate.  I felt "other."  Among the pom and cheer set - with a few friendly exceptions - I felt like a total weirdo.  When I was with my goofy theater friends, or editing an article for the paper, I always felt included.  My weirdness fit right in.

With many years of retrospect, I'm sure everybody feels weird - even the cheerleaders.  High school is tough.  (Maybe that's why I like watching it - or writing about it.)

So, no surprise, I enjoyed Bring It On: The Musical.  Particularly the music that seemed to come from Lin-Manuel Miranda.  The simple pop-style numbers at the preppy school didn't grab me the way that the hip-hop songs at the urban school did.  When the main character goes to the first day at her new school, a deep reverberation of the beat sounds out, accompanied by the men's voices shouting "MOOOOOOOVE!"  It rips the musical right open.  From there it grows into a celebration of personal expression, of crossing lines and being yourself.

The characters grew on me throughout the show, but none more than Bridget, the plus-sized character played by Ryann Redmond.

She's the standard equivalent of the plus-sized-best-friend character, but the writers - and Ryann - bring a lot of spunk to Bridget.  As an unconventional quirkster, she fits in better at her new school than her old school, where she joins the dance crew and develops a love interest.  It's a lot more for a plus-sized actress to try on than they usually are given, and Redmond wears it well.

It was a pleasant experience at the theater, and for awhile, I thought that might be all it was... that is, until the very end, when an unexpected moment made me cry.  The very last dance move - and the most celebratory bird-fly to conformity and coloring inside the lines - was a cheer lift.  Coming on the heels of two and a half hours of cheer lifts, that shouldn't be particularly impactful.

But it was a plus-sized cheerleader at the top of the pyramid.  And that message - you can do anything you want to do - made sixteen-year-old Heidi (and thirty-two-year-old Heidi) very happy.

The show has left LA, but it's touring across the country, starting in San Francisco and heading to big cities throughout 2012.  You should check out the website for dates.

All right.  I'll be back with another post soon.  Until then - and always - remember that you can do anything.  And remember to take care of you.

Adventure Wednesday with The Muppets!

It's time to play the music.  It's time to light the lights!  It's time to go see The Muppets, if you haven't already, because it's pretty damn good.  The best Muppet movie since the 1980s.  For today's Adventure Wednesday, I take you along on our trip to see the movie, Hollywood-style.

Having finished all of my preparation for Thanksgiving by Wednesday afternoon, Tom and I found ourselves with an uncharacteristically open night before our holiday guests arrived for dinner, so we booked tickets to see the movie opening night at the best possible viewing location -- the El Capitan. 

The El Cap marquee, all lit up

  

This turned out to be especially fun, because El Cap is in the film, as the location of "Muppet Studios."  (In real life, the Henson studios are actually on La Brea north of Sunset, in Charlie Chaplin's former studio space, but the Muppets are now owned by Disney, the owner of the El Capitan.)

The real Henson Studios has a tribute to Kermit and Chaplin - the statue of Kermit AS Chaplin.
Photo via Henson Studios

  

   We love going to the El Cap.  It's a more expensive ticket than your usual theater, but then, it has so much more to offer than your usual theater does. 

Here's the side of the theater, with the nearby Animal billboard.

It may only be a mile away from our home, but we rarely get over to the tourist district (with Grauman's Chinese among other attractions.)  There's always something strange and amusing to see there, and going to the El Cap gives us a good excuse to people-watch.  Or pet-watch.

For instance, we spotted this very recalcitrant cat being walked - or tugged - on a leash.

The El Cap is also fun because it is such a beautifully restored historical theater.  I'm a fan of old theaters, and this is one of the best restorations ever done.

Here's the ceiling above the ticket box and entryway.

 
And unlike most old theaters, it has a Wurlitzer organ that is in good working condition -- and their organist plays a set before every show!  There's nothing like seeing a movie like Pirates of the Caribbean or Lady and the Tramp or The Muppets, (all which we've seen there) and hearing its theme song pour out of the pipes before the movie even starts.

The organist at play.

  
   Plus, whatever is playing at the El Cap, Disney always brings in special displays or events that tie into the movie.  This one was no exception, and it was one of the reasons I most wanted to see The Muppets at the El Capitan.  They included a pre-show holiday sing-along with a live performance by Kermit and Piggy.

KERMIT AND PIGGY!

Now, I know - and I hope you know I know - that they aren't really people.  But... I'd never seen the puppets in action, actually being puppeted in front of me.  The holiday sing-along with them was worth the ticket price alone.

My inner two-year-old (and my outer thirty-two-year-old) was totally geeked out by the real Kermit and Piggy, in person.

After the sing-along, we enjoyed the audience's giddy reaction to the pending movie.  When the reel didn't roll right away, some fella behind us started doing a Statler/Waldorf impression.  It was spot-on and made everyone laugh.

The film was preceded with a Toy Story short that was so packed with laughs from stem to stern that I am pretty sure I need to see it again to catch everything I missed.

Finally, The Muppets began, and I was amused (and kind of moved) that there was as much cheering by our fellow adults in the audience as we'd heard from the tweens seeing Twilight.  I'm reminded, with the second coming of these felted weirdos, that I'm not alone in my love for them.

Especially when it comes to Jason Segel, the writer and star of the movie.  I was a little worried the film would be jaded and a touch ironic, as is the 'Apatow' style from which he sprung up to stardom.  But the movie was filled with real heart, and lots of funny laughs.

I'm a musical fan, and the music numbers did not disappoint.  I loved several of them, but my favorite by far was "Man or Muppet," which I hope like hell will be nominated for an Academy Award.  There's a terrific cameo for the song, which totally surprised me - I was deeply tickled by it.  I'm not spoiling it for you, and you should try to stay unspoiled.

It was fun to spot the hotel on the corner of our street, in its own cameo as Amy Adams' and Jason Segel's hotel room.  (I was hoping there would be an exterior shot, but alas, no.)

Once the credits were done rolling (you should stay for them, btw) we headed downstairs for the special exhibit of Miss Piggy's wardrobe from the film - yet another benefit of the El Cap screening.

My favorite was this Zac Posen number. He designs so well for curves!

   We didn't realize - I don't think they advertised - that there was also a photo op backdrop down there, plus the Muppet portraits from the film, and some sets and props, too!

Blissed out after the movie.

  

Tom in front of Kermit's office, complete with his "Standard Rich & Famous Contract"

      

Me with Miss Piggy's dressing room. I'm holding the Muppets popcorn bucket that came with our VIP tickets.

From there, we headed out through Disney's Soda Fountain, the combination gift shop/restaurant connected to the theater.  (You can't exit a Disney ride without exiting through the gift shop, yo.)  They had a ton of Muppet merchandise.

They had a whole display just for Animal!

They also sold Muppet Whatnot sets - and though I'd really like one, I'd rather wait until I can assemble my own
at the FAO Schwarz in New York - or if it finally comes to Disneyland, as is rumored.

   They even sold the OPI Muppet nail polish series - but I decided not to buy any, in favor of another souvenir I had my eye on.

Sporting my cozy new Kermie hat.

  
We loved the experience... and we loved the movie, which we'd like to see again while it's still in theaters.  (Having had the full El Cap experience, we'll opt for a cheaper theater this time.  Once is worth it, but once is enough.)

If you're local and you love Muppets, definitely consider checking it out at the El Capitan... and if you're not local, you should try to catch the movie in theaters.  It's a love letter to the original fans, and a cheery introduction for new ones.

OK.  I'll be back again mahna-mañana (wocka-wocka), and til then, take care of you!

Adventure Wednesday at Reagan Library

Before I start, I just want to thank all of you for your support and outreach after yesterday's post.  I have been struggling, but this week has been leaps and bounds better.  More on that in an upcoming post, because today is Wednesday, and it's time for some Adventure!

I don't really talk politics on this blog.  It's not that I don't think about politics (though when I was younger, it was more of a focus.)  But politics is a fraught topic, and this blog is about the joy of living healthfully and creatively.  They go together like peanut butter and liverwurst.  (Except if you're my brother, who actually likes that.)

For the record - though you probably already know - I'm progressive/liberal with a basic belief that we shouldn't adhere to just one school of thought (capitalism, socialism, et al) because they keep each other in check.  Plenty of my friends and family members are conservative, and that suits me just fine, because, again, we keep each other in check.  In general, one really must consider perspective.

Take, for instance, my pal Erik.   Among our group of cohorts, he's one of the more conservative.  In another group of his friends, he's the hippie-dippy liberal.  So I found it apt and amusing that he took all of us - those to the left and those to the right of him - to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library for his birthday.

We tend toward the rollicking when we're out and about, so I tried to be on my best behavior and keep the inappropriate jokes inside my head (or save them for targets who'd find them amusing) while visiting the museum that pays tribute to the 40th President of the United States: The Gipper.

Photo taken by my friend Audra

I'll admit, it was a little challenging to do that during the first multimedia presentation.  It was very much like a movie trailer.  They even said something like, "one man braved the challenges..."  One of our friends cracked, in a Don LaFontaine voice, "IN A WORLD..."

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  We met up in the front garden of the grounds, just past the entrance.  I'd never been to Simi Valley, and I didn't realize how beautiful the view from the library would be.

Vista from the meeting place.

  

It was nice to see a piece of the Berlin wall, which was donated to the museum.  Talk about symbolic contrast... the other side was totally bare except for the letter "E" (we presume for "East.")

Photo by Audra.

We started off with a little lunch at Reagan's Country, the cafe inside the library.  There was a nice range of options, including a barbecue chicken salad (with dressing on the side) which I enjoyed alongside a diet Snapple tea.
  

I don't know why my leg is pointed, but I like that we can see my cool kicks.
More on my outfit this Fashion Friday.
By the way, this, and the rest of these photos, were taken by Tom.

I spotted Reagan's favorite food quirk - jelly beans - for sale, and I couldn't resist picking up a bag for the group.  (There were jars of jellybeans tucked around the museum, and for sale in the gift shop as well.) You'll see them on the table in the photo below.

The birthday boy enjoys his lunch.  And some jellybeans.

  

I don't know what Audra is gesticulating about, but check out that VIEW!

  
The museum included a mix of Reagan's personal and political history, plus some general presidential-type fun, like a chance to stand at a podium and experience the phenomenon of teleprompting.  Did you know that teleprompters are basically a version of Pepper's Ghost, my favorite old-timey theatrical trick (and the technology behind the Haunted Mansion?) 

I take my podium seriously.

  

There were several interactive displays.  Our group got high marks on the etiquette quiz, and were very confused by the lack of explained consequences of our "break through regulations" game, in which we used a slingshot to break up things like business monopolies.  (We had video of it, but alas, it has been lost in the ether.)

 We also took a stroll through a recreation of the Reagan Oval Office.  Did you know that they redesigned it in unusual rust/coral color scheme to remind them of their southwestern ranch home?

Everything's a reproduction but the chair. The docent said after his presidency,
Reagan enjoyed coming to the library and sitting in his old chair.
Guests would commend them on their excellent Reagan impersonator.

  


The star of the exhibit, for me, was the decomissioned Air Force One, which we were able to walk through (but not photograph.)  We did get some fun shots of the outside (and some people purchased the souvenir photograph they took of us at the gate.  I'll post that in an update, later.)

The gang, admiring the tail.

  

Tom - in a bowling shirt that would come in handy later - looking dapper in front of the 27000.

  

My favorite of the batch - let's call it "View Beneath the Wing."

How often do you get to stand this close to the bottom of an airplane?
Let alone a presidential one.

From here, our camera battery gave up the ghost, so we missed photographing wonderous things like the very 1980s orange sherbet push-up pop I purchased in the Reagan "pub," plus  Nancy Reagan's Second-hand Rose outfit, and the official Just Say No Board Game (still available on eBay, people!)

Thus, we missed out on photos of our dinner at a local pizza restaurant (which had the nicest salad bar I've seen at a non-salad-bar-centric restaurant - they even had jicama!) or our post-dinner bowling... at an alley that looked very much like the one in my hometown.  One forgets just how much exercise one can get while bowling.  Especially when you're speed-bowling, which is the new sport we just invented.  (I think we invented it, anyway.)

Our time with friends was very refreshing... but I have to admit, that much time in a museum honoring a conservative president made my liberal brain feel a tad itchy.  Tom's too.  Partway through the museum, he whispered to me, "Can we do something really liberal when we're done here?"  We pondered through an amusing array of options, but finally decided that the best thing to do would be to donate to Obama's campaign.  So we did.

All right!  I think I've fulfilled my politics quota for... ever.  A big thanks to Erik for organizing our fun day with the Gipper, and to all our friends, who are awesome and amusing and supportive and fun.

And to you.  I hope you're taking good care of you.  I'll be back tomorrow to tell you about some of the ways I've been doing it this week.  'Til then!

Adventure Wednesday... Texts From (Last) Horror Night

This Adventure Wednesday post is rated H, for fans of Halloween, Horror, and Heidi's writing.

So... here's the thing.  We haven't really told many people, but Tom and I have slowly been developing a screenplay for a horror film.  Horror scripts can be a good toe-in-the-door for screenwriters writing on spec (or, for free/as writing samples) like ourselves.  We also needed a little break from the TV spec writing, and I'm close-but-not-quite-ready to finish my Yoga For Fat Girls spec screenplay.  Plus, both of us dig a really clever horror flick.  So horror it is.

Tom and I first thought about collaborating on a horror script four years ago this Monday - Halloween 2007.  I'd gotten out of work on time (for a change) and Tom came to pick me up for a date.  We had planned to head down to Disneyland to see what festivities were happening, but this was before Disney realized what a goldmine Halloween can be... and the park was closing at 8 PM.  One of us suggested we check out Universal Studios.  We'd both heard they did something called "Halloween Horror Nights," but we didn't know much about it.

When we arrived, the crowds were thick at the gate, so we sprang for a "Front-of-the-Line" ticket, like a Disney Fastpass, but for purchase (and without waiting.)  We walked through the gates... and our lives were never the same.

No, really.  We had so much fun during that first trip that we've gone back to Universal's Halloween Horror nights every year since.  And it inspired Tom - who, in turn, inspired me - to write a horror script.  Tom describes the experience as feeling like you're actually in a horror movie.  The mazes are so well-designed and executed (much like the characters, heh) that you end up feeling like a scream queen, heart pounding, eyes darting from this dark corner to that door ajar, nerves crackling with the fear of knowing that any second, something is going to burst through and scare the living dead daylights out of you.

Plus, I had a photo opportunity with Norman Bates, in front of the really-for-real Psycho house.
What could be more life-changing? He told me I looked like someone he could "bring home to mother."

This year, since we're working on the horror script, we decided to focus on our annual trip to Horror Nights for inspiration and discussion.  We had so many ideas and observations from the mazes that we started to forget some of them, so halfway through the evening, we sat down to text each other our shorthand thoughts.  Here are our Texts from (Last) Horror Night, in bold - with a bit of explanation for each.

**

Things that are inherently creepy: photos, children, churches, dolls, illness.
One of the new mazes this year, La Llorona, is based on a Mexican legend about a woman who drowns her children.  It includes so many inherently creepy visuals and concepts that I bet I'd even be spooked by it without any scare-acters.   It might be my favorite maze ever.  (It might even beat the Halloween maze from 2009, a lovingly faithful tribute to my favorite horror film.)

Misdirection.  
It's the key to surprise.  The Alice Cooper maze made great use of it, placing one gruesome duo at the end of the hallway.  I couldn't help but stare at them - after all, they were gross, and they were going to turn and scream at me or something, right?  But partway down the hall, two other scares popped out at me from either side.  All the scarier because my attention was focused elsewhere.

Big and small spaces.
Opposite use of space can be scary. Very big spaces have all kinds of nooks and crannies from which spooks can emerge... and you can't focus on all of them at once.  On the other hand, in very small spaces... if something comes at you, you have nowhere else to go.  And you're very, very aware of this.

Variation - keep 'em off balance.
For a long-form scare, there must be lots of different kinds of surprises.  For instance, silence or darkness punctuated by noise or light is most effective.  If you repeat the same kind of gag - say, guy jumps out from a door - people will start to suspect the scare and disengage.  You want to keep them engaged - and to do so, you gotta keep them on their toes.

Know your audience.
You need to calculate their fears... what they will be thinking, and how they will be reacting.  Some people might be scared by someone jumping out at them.  Some people might not... so how do you scare them?  One brilliant scare-acter realized that Tom and I were smiling at him, not scared by him.  So instead of moving on to someone else, he changed his tactic.  He walked straight up to us and stopped inches away from our noses.  We stepped to the right, and he mirrored us.  We stepped to the left, and he mirrored us without stopping.  This was actually far more unsettling than any jack-in-the-box startling.  And a good horror film should have as much "unsettling" as "startling."

A single, iconic villain.
One very creepy main antagonist will always be scarier than a variety of less-compelling ones.  The "torture porn" mazes are hardly scary at all.  Sure, bloody bodies and crazy trap-like contraptions aren't exactly Hello Kitty, but those depictions can verge on comical, and aren't scary, just gross.  Gore has its place, but it will be most effective when it follows deep emotional connection, tension, and terror.

A safe place.
The characters and the audience are always looking for a "safe place."   A spot where they know that nothing is coming to get them.  Denying them that is deeply unsettling.  Movie characters, like maze-goers, would try to move quickly from one safe space to the next, rather than at one pace.

The first scene.
What we see at the beginning of a maze (or a movie) shapes how we see the scenes that follow it.  For the very effective La Llorona maze, this starts before you even enter.  Three signs are placed within the maze line, which tell the story of La Llorona.  Then, when you step into the maze, you're in a Mexican church - a funeral, all flickering votives and memorial photos.  You're immediately drawn into the maze - and surrounded with several of the "inherently creepy" items listed above.

Emotional connection is what drives everything.
For effective horror, there needs to be some sort of emotional connection - fear of the antagonist, identification with a protagonist, witnessing things with inherent emotional content, etc - for it to really work.  In a film, it makes people a part of what's happening, not just an audience member.

**

Our night at Univeral was very well-filling, so to speak.  We've since been flush with ideas, and meeting for daily writing sessions before Tom leaves for work.  I'm having a lot of fun.  I really need to remember that I'm at my happiest - and the days that follow are most productive - when I start the day writing.

One other fun thing I noticed that night is that... I'm stronger!  I suppose it should have been obvious to me, since I work out so regularly (and so hard!) but I was still surprised when I hiked up the hill next to the Psycho house, and, for the first time ever, I made it up without stopping, and reached the top without panting.  I guess that's what comes of taking care of me!  And I hope you'll take care of you today.

If you're local, and a horror fan, definitely check out Universal Horror Nights, which runs through Halloween night.

Adventures with the Skinny Cow

I'm so behind in my posting that the Blogger interface has changed since my last post. Has it been that long? No, it hasn't, but I am indeed behind.  It's not a reflection of my journey - I've been exercising and eating healthy food and taking care of me.  It's all happy-life-stuff that has kept me distracted - work, prep for fixing the bedroom, cooking, and even planning for the next SC600!

This week's adventure was a perfect one for Finishing the Hat.  It involved fashion... low-calorie food... friend-makin'... and, of course, adventure!

A few months ago, my friend Joanne (who works out with me at Slimmons) invited me along with some of our mutual friends to join her for a Girls' Day Out, with lunch after class and a visit to a Skinny Cow event called "The Perfect Cup," offering free bra fittings (get it?) and samples of their ice cream cups.  I am a fan of lady-dates, so naturally, I accepted and secured my spot at the event ASAP.

I had a delicious and light lunch with Joanne, Mia and Alexa at Le Pain Quotidien, and then Mia headed home while the rest of us went over to the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, where the Skinny Cow event was held.

Skinny Cow - if you haven't heard of them before - is a low-calorie snack company owned by Nestle.  I regularly enjoy their ice cream sandwiches. At 140 calories, they're a tasty way to sooth my sweet tooth without being triggered to pig out.  But I hadn't tried their ice cream cups before, and I was looking forward to a sample.

It was a terrific event, and extremely well-managed.  We checked in at the entrance to the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, and each of us were handed a little remote buzzing pager (like they use at chain restaurants) which called us when our bra fitting was ready.  Then Alexa, Joanne and I stepped into the very chic-looking, pink-lit space. 

I felt immediately welcome.  There was a lovely range of ages, sizes, and ethnicities in attendance, and everyone seemed to be in a terrific mood.  The guests were being pampered, and the Skinny Cow team members were all smiles, too.  We headed for beverages while we waited for our pagers to buzz - which didn't take long.

We've arrived! With beverages in hand, and scarf on neck. That scarf played an important part in my day.
I enjoyed my white wine with mandarin oranges. (It was unexpectedly delicious.)

Alexa and Joanne recline.  Joanne's sipping fizzy water with lime.

My fitting went well - I'm nearly exactly the same size as I was the last fitting, though I'm sort of between a D and a DD now.  I was surprised to find out that we were also given a coupon for a free bra by the event sponsor, Olga's Christina.  FREE BRA!?  We had heard that there were free bras, but we'd assumed they were some poorly-constructed one-size-fits-all they handed out in swag bags.  This was an entirely better reward! I'm going to redeem mine at Macy's this weekend. 

While I was standing at one of the tall tables, a woman complimented me on my scarf.  She was adorable herself, wearing a polka-dotted retro outfit that looked like something I'd put together on Fashion Friday!  I told her so, and we struck up a conversation that lasted for, well, pretty much the rest of the event.  Cassandra and her friend Jennie also chatted away with Joanne and Alexa, and all five of us were excellent company on that unexpectedly friend-makin' Saturday.

With Jennie and Cassandra.  Aren't they cute?  Cassandra's holding one of the Skinny Cow cups.

  
Cassandra's ice cream looked yummy, so I headed to Skinny's Ice Cream Bar to snag a cup of my own.

Two good cups, indeed.

  

Even the ice cream freezers behind the bar were themed.

  
I had the strawberry cheesecake flavor, and it was surprisingly yummy - and a surprisingly large portion - for 150 calories.  Thumbs-up, Skinny Cow.

Along with the samples, beverages, and bra sizings, there were a number of other attractions, including a museum of historical bras...

I'm amused by the name of the 1930s falsies.

Plus they had raffles at regular intervals.  Cassandra won an iPod, and others won books, bags, and even makeovers.  Oddly enough, the makeup artists were often without a makeover winner.  It would've been great if they offered more of them, or even let us pay for them.

Makeover in action.

Alexa tweeted about the delightful time we were having with our new friends, and moments later, it was up on their real-time social networking screens!

It really was meant to be. 

  

The five of us even posed together with the Skinny Cow herself - accessorized for the occasion.

  
As we headed out, we received swag bags including coupons, a sample of their new candy flavors, and a t-shirt (that, unfortunately, is going to be too small for a few months. Skinny Cow, consider your audience!)

Alas, the Los Angeles event was the last on the tour, but if Skinny Cow hosts events in the future, I definitely recommend going.  The ice cream was motivation enough, but a free bra and a professional sizing? Drinks? New friends?  Far more than I expected.

All right.  I'm off to test the fifth new recipe of the day (yes, five. More on that very soon!)  Keep adventuring, and take care of you!

Supper Club 600: B-Movie BBQ at the Drive-In!

I am so happy to be writing this blog entry.  You have no idea.  I've been preparing for it for weeks!

Every so often, my Adventure Wednesday post is extra-special to me, because the adventure of the week is a gathering of friends and loved ones for a celebration of my journey.  A celebration of food and health and joy... which IS POSSIBLE.  You can combine food and health and joy.  And that is why we started Supper Club 600, a dinner party series where we teach - by example -  that you can eat healthfully and still take great delight in being a foodie.  Each SC600 meal clocks in at less than 600 calories. And each time, it's themed for maximum party pleasure.

This time it was a barbecue.  At a drive-in.  With B movies.  And it was a blast.

Tom and I have been perfecting the menu over time, starting with the jackfruit itself.  I've already shared the recipe, but for those of you who missed it, the short story of jackfruit is: it's canned, it's unripened, it shreds like pulled pork, and it's delicious.  We first served it at another SC600 BBQ gathering, but I managed not to take a single photo of that party, so we decided to throw another one!

This time, we knew we needed to make everything simple so that we could prepare it in advance and deliver it to the Mission Tiki Drive-In, where we gathered for the occasion.  Here's our menu for the evening:

I lifted the illustration from an old B-movie poster I found while gathering inspiration for the party.

I stumbled upon the theme idea after Googling "movie fabric," on the hunt for some sort of textiles I could use to decorate.  I happened upon some amazing monster movie fabric by Robert Kaufman, and I thought... of course!  B-movies are notorious at Drive-In theaters, and it was just the perfect element to tie everything together.  Kaufman's fabric had gone out of print, but I was lucky to snag just enough on eBay, so my crafty mother-in-law Jean whipped it into table runners.  And a theme was born.

Here's the Kaufman fabric runner, plus one of our centerpieces - white hydrangea "popcorn."

  

It was the THEME THAT WOULD NOT DIE.  I ended up making personalized bags for the movie snack sampler, using an array of B-movie posters I'd found online.

Mmm.  Black Lagoonlicious!
Photo courtesy of Rochelle

We even used thematic serving forks - as modeled by our new friend David.
I got these beauties at Target during Halloween season two years ago.
Photo by Rochelle

Enough with the theme.  Let's get to the party!

We set up our table before the Drive-In opened for the night - and once other guests
arrived, there was much staring.  We could read their minds. "What the hell?"

  

THERE WAS NO ESCAPING...
Our dinner spread.
Photo by Rochelle

 

THRILLS AND CHILLS!
We offered chilled zero-calorie beverages, including still water, "fuzzy" water (as it's known in my circles)
and a selection of diet sodas from the awesome Rocket Fizz in Burbank.
Photo by Rochelle

Among them, Jones Zilch Pomegranate... plus Old Philadelphia Creme Soda,
Avery's Orange, Virgil's Black Cherry, Root Beer, Cola and Dr. Better.
Man, I love that "Children of the Damned" poster.
Photo by Rochelle

   

Every single one of our lovely guests arrived early
to help set up, and soon we were ready to dig in.
Photo OF Rochelle! (And David.)

ATTACK OF THE KILLER JACKFRUIT!
Possibly our proudest moment was hearing raves about the jackfruit from a friend of ours who is a firm non-vegetarian.

   
   

The awesome Patty is about to try jackfruit for the first time!

  

A bird's eye view of dinner.
Photo by Rochelle

Time flew past, and suddenly the sun was setting on the beautiful Southern California evening.

  
But at a Drive-In, that means the party's just starting.  Our gang grabbed their treat bags and split off into three different movie doubleheaders: B-movie horror (Fright Night & Final Destination), B-movie remakes (Conan & Planet of the Apes) and comedy (30 Minutes or Less & The Change-Up.) 

Regardless of movie quality, everyone seemed to really enjoy their Drive-In adventure.  Goodness knows I did.  Thanks, from the bottom of my heart, to Frank and the team at Mission Tiki, who made this possible; to Tom, who keeps me grounded and pops excellent popcorn; to our amazing guests.  No amount of cooking or planning really makes a party great.  It's the guests who do that.

Hungry for more about the Drive-In?  You're in luck! I'll be back tomorrow with RETURN OF THE DRIVE-IN... a close-up on the recipes from this edition of Supper Club 600, and a peek inside those little treat bags.  And if that's not enough... come back for Fashion Friday: IT CAME... FROM THE DRIVE-IN! That's right, it's a B-Movie BBQ trilogy.

'Til then, I'm working hard on taking care of me.  And I hope you'll take care of you, too.