A visit with Santa

For this, we HAD to bend the no-face-photos rule. On our FABULOUS ice skating/shopping NYC trip, we went to Macy's to visit Santa with Kelly. Kelly and Colleen had a fab Santa experience, but we were a little taken aback when Santa asked the three of us to sit on his lap. I, of course, declined for a better seat in front, but Di and Do hopped onto his lap, ready to tell him what they wanted.......if their minds hadn't gone blank. Santa completely mesmerized us (we want health for christmas?) and we kind of lost the ability to speak. Hopefully Santa understood. I'm sure he gets it all the time!!!!

Countdown to NYC!!!!

Yes, only two more weeks until our big TRIP!!! we're kicking off the holiday season with a pre-gingerbread house bake session, and then the buying of our Christmas tree the next day! Special guest January "Holiday" will be appearing at the bake-off. The number is short until the big trip. 13 days, everybody!!!!

Condolences to Donny

Donny Osmond's father passed away this week. George Osmond was 90 years old. This sad news is worthy of this blog as Donny was the first ever T-idol! The twins were goners the first time Donny belted out "Puppy Love" -- and have never looked back! Also noteworthy; with Jerzy in tow and in spite of the residual chicken pox marks still covering most of their t-tween bodies, our heroines proudly attended their first concert ever-- headlined by Donny and his brothers. Quite fabulous!

We honor George Osmond as the patriarch of the first family of the early seventies --- at least in t-idol history. We're sorry for your loss Donny.

Review: The Darjeeling Limited

Containing some Twin Favorites (Owen Wilson) and some Daphne favorites (Adam Brody, Jason Shwartzman), this was an all-around good movie. The plot is a little off, but it does well. Owen Wilson, after a suiside attempt, decides that it's ridiculous that he hasn't seen his brothers since their father's funeral. So he calls them all on a trip on a train in India to go on a spiritual journey. It turns out that Owen Wilson was planning a trip to see their long-gone mother at a convent near Katmandu. Don't worry; I didn't spoil it. In true Wes Anderson fashion, it's a little out of the ordinary, but who wants normal? Not exactly family-friendly (hey Natalie Portman-oh, wow), but pretty good for your money. Not exactly twin-fun but still good. Go see it if you loved other Wes Andersons, like The Royal Tennanbaums and Rushmore.

Wait Until Dark

So Robert Goulet didn't play

Sgt. Carlino, but in the spirit of our blog ground rules...a very dapper brother-in-law brought the house down with his two thumbs up performance in another brilliant Elate production. Not only is "Mr. Goulet" a talented stage performer, he can sure flip a mean burger or two when called to duty.

Congratulations on a performance well done (or is that medium rare?...sorry...bad bun, I mean pun...heh heh).

Bruce 10-30-07

Night 2 we had GA tix in hopes of a front and center eye contact opportunity in the Pit, but to our dismay, we were shut out. No worries-- Do & I recruited her ex-next door neighbor to mix it up a bit and we had a fab time tailgating in the afternoon chatting it up with other "bruce-heads" who, if it's at all possible are more nuts than we are. In the spirit of Halloween--the boys in the band started out in a

funeral procession with bruce (photo at right) being carried out in a coffin. This kicked off another hip shakin night of passion filled singing and dancing where the entire audience (even those with seats) stood the whole night to join in the fun. Not thinking that night 1 could be outdone--- the encore was close to perfection with a rare "Kitty's Back" and a powerful BTR and Dancing in the Dark that brought more than a few tears of joy and screaming ecstacy (not seen since the Beatles first crossed the Atlantic) to Do, myself and I think RH even squeezed out a few! Needless to say the two-night bruce bender was thumbs up fun....next up....a Bruce meet/cute with Daphne in tow (next concert with the twins, little D?) for round two of the tour---sure to be in the spring or summer........

Setlist:

Radio Nowhere

The Ties That Bind
Lonesome Day

Gypsy Biker

Magic

Reason to Believe

Night

She's the One

Livin' in the Future

The Promised Land

Town Called Heartbreak

Tunnel of Love

Working on the Highway

Devil's Arcade

The Rising

Last to Die

Long Walk Home

Badlands

Girls in Their Summer Clothes

Kitty's Back

Born to Run

Dancing in the Dark

American Land

Bruce 10-29-07

Do & I made it to the Promised Land and immediately upon entry--ran into Marc and his friend Lolo. Our Man didn't disappoint--second song in Do & I were on our feet with "No Surrender" and were begging for mercy as soon as "Candy's Room" and "She's the One" resonated through the joint. All in all--out of control dancing the whole night--our sweet Daphne would have been proud (or rather horrified?).

Here's the set list

Radio Nowhere,

No Surrender

Lonesome Day

Gypsy Biker

Magic

Reason to Believe

Candy's Room

She's the One

Livin' in the Future

The Promised Land

Town Called Heartbreak

Backstreets

Working on the Highway

Devil's Arcade

The Rising

Last to DieLong Walk Home

Badlands

Girls in Their Summer Clothes

Thundercrack

Born to Run

Dancing in the Dark

American Land

IS ANYONE ALIVE OUT THERE??????!!!!!

review coming soon......

Lip Synching doesn't get much better than TC!

Although Daphne lists calibur performances for the Lip Synching category...I have to add Tom Cruise in Risky Business for his "Old Time Rock and Roll" effort. It's very watchable, and easy on the eyes. This flick/actor was definitely in the top 2 for Twin Favorites in the early 80's. To consider this worthy candidate for this category..review for yourself on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiPDL9S552s . I LOVE THAT OLD TIME ROCK AND ROLL!

Johnny is super excited that "nobody puts Daphne in the corner!!" Nice work! Ditto for Serena and Liz :)

Homecoming!

I know everyone wants details (Nana and grandpa called this morning) so I'm just gonna post it. Homecoming was so much fun!!!! Serena was there, as well as Liz (famous for asking my dad if he was OK to drive after the Lithuanian festival), even though she doesn't go to our school. We danced for most of the 4 hours, even though half the songs were in Spanish. It was almost like a rave, even though it was outside; it was crowded, loud, and there were glow-sticks and fog from a machine. After a while, you weren't exactly sure who you were dancing with. I didn't even know a few people, but they were friends of friends. It was a lot of fun, except for the abrupt "get out, the dance is over" 11-o-clock ending. I spent the night as Serena's and now, even though my feet and hips hurt, I'm still glad I went. So far, out of high school experiences, homecoming was good! I'm glad I went =)

New Category!: Best Song/ Lip synching

After watching Pretty In Pink for the millionth time, I decided we needed the category. The nominees are:

Ducky "Tenderness" Pretty in Pink
Ray Charles "Shake Your Tail Feather" The Blues Brothers
Aretha Franklin "Think (About What Your Trying to Do to Me)" The Blues Brothers
Otis Day and the Knights "Shout" National Lampoon's Animal House
Cameron Diaz (Amanda Woods) "Mr. Brightside" The Holiday
Prince "Let's Go Crazy" Purple Rain

Let the voting begin!

Review: Across the Universe

Being a huge Beatles fan, of course I loved it. However, even if I look through Twin-Vision (it exists), I still think this movie is completely amazing. There actually IS a plot, which is a big step for musicals, and it's not all that bad, even if all the characters have been named after Beatles songs. Jude (Hey Jude) leaves England to find his father in the US and runs into Max (Maxwell's Silver Hammer). The two become best friends and Max takes Jude to his family's for Thanksgiving, where he meets Max's beautiful sister, Lucy (Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds). Max drops out of collage to move to New York, where they move in with a very Janis Joplin like character, Sadie (Sexy Sadie) and an emerging 1960's lesbian, Prudence (Dear Prudence). Lucy and Jude fall in love, but their world comes down when Max gets drafted. Lucy and Jude's relationship goes awry and it's tear-inducing. However, the songs are amazing and there's a cameo by Joe Cocker (who can still sing very well, despite the fact he plays a pimp and a bum) and Bono, as Dr. Walrus (I am the Walrus). Total twin flick, but not one of the more likely ones. Please View! You will love it!

Saturday at the Rink

Dreamy was rolling out his all points recruitment strategy on Saturday, targeting his easy demographic: fabulous 40 somethings unsteady on the ice looking for a steady whirl around the rink with a confident, reassuring instructor (with a quick smile and wink)....daydreaming of a darling cute-meet! Do and I took the bait and are back "in" angling for a spot in the Saturday class with all the others in that 'coveted' demographic---who keep getting promoted out of his class--yet lured back in with the promise/hope of being singled out for couples skate.

BTW: He's a marketing GENIUS!

Dreamy Report: Street

Review: Dirty Dancing

One of the all-time best twin movies, Di and I watched this together. I now know why people love Patrick Swayze. Made in the 80's, the only other movie I had seen Jennifer Grey in was Ferris Bueller's Day Off. However, I love her now as Baby and she and Johnny Castle may have earned themselves a nomination for T-Entertainment Hall of fame '08. The plot, like many 80's movies is this; rich girl goes to camp, meets poor staff boy, they fall in love, they hook up, they lose each other, big romantic finale. However, throw in a bad abortion, dirty dancing, stuck-up weirdos, and a finale that is marked as "fabulous" and you have a perfect twin movie. Patrick Swayze was to die for and is a great dancer. The romance between the characters is great, as well as the dancing (I would dance like that if Patrick Swayze was my partner). A MUST SEE for all life forms, although mature for our younger viewers a.k.a some of my cousins. It's a good date movie, a great girls night in movie and, of course a perfect twin movie. When 2008 rears it's ugly head, Hilary and Obama won't be the only people on the ballet; so will Baby and Johnny. Dirty Dancing, we salute you!!!!

P.S: Loved this? Check out the Australian comedy Strictly Ballroom. It's really good and it's a more light-hearted funnier version of this, once you get passed the accents. Look for it! It's a definite twin flick!

Review: Catch and Release

One of the more depressing twin movies, this was viewed by Daphne and Di during an impromptu sleepover after taking the parents to Hermosa Beach. Jennifer Garner isn't her usual perky self, like in 13 Going on 30 (I hated that movie, despite what the twins said about it); On the contrary, she plays Gray, a woman mourning the loss of her fiancee. She moves in with his 2 best friends (Kevin Smith is awfully heavy), who are also grieving and housing Fritz, one of their good friends from LA (the film is set in Colorado). During the movie, Gray finds out that her beloved was cheating on her and may have a young son. He was supporting the mother of his kid, but she wasn't getting money (since he was dead), so she brings the son to Colorado with her to see what was going on. In addition to her being there, Gray starts falling for Fritz, despite the fact that she was stuck in the bathroom during the funeral while he was hooking up with a caterer. This lost him many points with Di, but I still liked him. This is not one of the better twin flixs. It's good, but also depressing and kind of off. It's not that funny, but it holds interest. Worth seeing if you're in a mood for a twin movie, but not that much of a feel-good one. My mother watched 10 minutes of it (during a sad scene) and was crying. That explains the middle of the movie. Worth a rental, but not a good date movie or girls night in. 2 viewing companions tops for this one, folks.

Review: Patti Smith @ the Pier

Now, It's mostly my mom and I that are the Patti Smith fans, but Di joined us the 16th of August to see Patti Smith, along with Mark, a family friend. Even she must admit, it was totally awesome, and not just when Patti played the song she wrote with Bruce Springsteen or when Flea came on. Patti is amazing live; she's still got it. It was a free concert, standing up for about 2 hours, but it was worth it to hear 'Gloria' live. And who doesn't like Lewis Carroll and Grace Slick? 'White Rabbit' was a great song to hear as well. I'm sure Di had a blast (Do unfortunately was at home, with the cats and the parents). My mom and I got there just in time for Patti to pull out her clarinet for a rendition of 'Are You Experienced?' that was awesome. For anyone out there who's never heard of Patti pick up a copy of Horses and Twelve and look for another concert. She just finished her tour, but see if you can catch her with her 2 kids, who play in the band. BONUS: Lenny Kaye is still with her and he's worth seeing. I met Lenny Kaye at the Amoeba show. He's a great guy. BUY TICKETS!!!

He's Back....

New Album out October 2.....

I'm Back!!

There is still work to be done for 2007 Hall of Fame. I've compiled a list here but there are some categories that need more entrants...I'm sure we can come up with a few. Here are categories so far, some with finalists, some in desperate need of nominees


Best Song:

• Living on a Prayer


• Billie Jean"-Michael Jackson


• "Hollywood Swingin'"-Kool and the Gang


• "Flashlight"-Parliament


• "Super Freak"-Rick James


• "Born In The U.S.A"-Bruce Springsteen


• "Thunder Road" Bruce Springsteen


• Living La Vida Loca, Ricki Martin


• Cheeseburger in Paradise, Jimmy Buffet

Best Musical Group:

• Bon Jovi

Best Movie Scene

• The escape of the senator and his family in The Birdcage
• The Jerry McGuire scene
  

Best Dance Scene.

• The dance scene in Napoleon Dynamite
• The dance scene in Pee Wee's Big Adventure
• The last song in Purple Rain (final two songs)
  

Best Line in a movie:

Nominees: Best Twin-like scene in a movie

There are some movies that are full twin flix and some movies that just have twin scenes. Here are a few of those movies in the latter category:

The dance scene in Napoleon Dynamite (only part of the movie the twins have seen)

The escape of the senator and his family in The Birdcage

The dance scene in Pee Wee's Big Adventure

The last song in Purple Rain (not "Purple Rain" itself, but the final two songs)

Inductees!!!!!!

The winners and inductees to the T-Entertainment hall of fame are:

Best Male: Lloyd Dobler (John Cusak)












Best Female: Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald)












Congratulations to our winners! In celebration, we shall watch their movies while stuffing ourselves with kettle corn. Keep eyes out for next years candidates!!!

Honorable Mention- The Holiday

The twins took me to see this double T-rated movie with their friend from out of town, without knowing what a gold mine it is. Almost three hours (not something to watch with a guy), we were all crying during the first fifteen and last forty-five minutes of the movie. Don't let that fool you, though- it was hilarious , especially the scenes between Kate Winslet and Jack Black. Total twin movie, most straight guys would hate it, so not a good date movie. Definately worth renting with girlfriends, or even a giant box of some sort of chocolate.

After reading Daphne's worthy song nominees...I reviewed our history of T-Favs and had to add the following two... I believe these will wrap up this category and we can begin tallying votes...



Nomination 1: "Living La Vida Loca" (Many fabulous memories, including a particularly humorous April Fools day incident Daphne played on T-Do at a local restaurant when she was only 5!






Nomination 2: "Cheeseburger in Paradise" by Jimmy Buffet. Always been a T-Crowd pleaser, and certainly worthy of the inaugural spot in this category!

Bloggers....CAST YOUR VOTES!

2007 Inductees: Cast Your Final Votes

Ok, we need to make decisions for our first Hall of Fame Final Inductees. Here are my votes

Best Character- Male: Jake (although I'm torn, Lloyd is a close second)
Best Character- Female: Andie

We already unanimously voted in Grease as the movie. Any other categories we need to include in the 2007 T- Hall of Fame?


Cast your votes: Friday is the deadline!

T-Rated song nominees

Here are some songs worth inducting. Let the bloodshed begin.

"Billie Jean"-Michael Jackson

"Hollywood Swingin'"-Kool and the Gang

"Flashlight"-Parliament

"Super Freak"-Rick James

"Born In The U.S.A"-Bruce Springsteen

Fill-In post-Dreamy

For those who don't know (our blog is now public), Dreamy is the ice skating teacher the twins have adopted as a new flirting toy. He taught the beginner class they were in and it was love at first sight of backwards cap. God help us all. ( : 0 !!!!!

Dreamy Report

In the absence of Do and Daphne at skating on Saturdays, Dreamy quickly stepped in and begged Di to work on a couples routine. Ever since Di's skates were upgraded, her skills have improved exponentially and as a result Dreamy and Di are planning on taking their show on the competition circuit.

Dreamy report for Saturday, May 5th: Dreamy- not Street.

Honoree- Clueless

Hard to believe the twins have never seen this (they totally should, they'd love it), I have seen (and quoted) this movie enough for all of us. Fabulous fashion sense, the ability to talk her way out of almost anything, and terrible driving are qualities that make up Cher and all of us (the twins know which traits fits who). The twins MUST see this movie soon, it is the ideal twin movie, up there with John Hughes masterpieces and movies with awesome dance scenes. We (or I) salute Clueless for it's sheer awesomeness.

Candidate for Best Movie Scene

I dont' know if there's any other movie that had every possible element of twin-esctasy in a singular movie watching experience....here goes. Here's the setting:

Tom Cruise (pre-scientology melt-down) standing in the middle of a slightly darkened treelined street in Manhatten Beach, waiting for Renee Zelleweger--who runs up to him wearing a cute dress, barefoot, carrying her fab sandals in her hand....then, fade in music.... "Secret Garden" by Bruce..... and then they go for Mexican food at a fun restaurant with roaming Mariachis. Purrrrfect. This scene achieves what Cuba Gooding Jr. referred to in the movie as "KWON."

Honorable Mention (not induction)- Prince

The Purple One must be known as an honoree in this genre of T-rated entertainment. Not fully an inductee (he's more of MY mother's thing), but he deserves credit. No one can resist him in Purple Rain (who cares if I'm taller than he is?) and "Rasberry Beret" and "Kiss" are songs played while cruising with the windows down. We all admit the Super Bowl was a little off, but from all the other Prince experiences within the family, we know he's much more fabulous then that. So, to the magestic Purple One, we give our recognition.

T-rated tear jerkers

The Twin Flix that had us all reaching for Kleenex:

The Holiday

Pretty In Pink

Say Anything

Roll Bounce

Reign Over Me (I don't know if the twins saw it, but I was literally sobbing in the theater)

Some Kind Of Wonderful

Another obvious choice

Also, this one needs no intro--and is clearly a Twin Favorite, and will not be categorized as a unanimous nominee (inductee).... but come on....ice skating,,,,,kinda fabulous...

T-Rated Bands a must have list

Daphne and I discussed this category last night during an "AI" break and thought that this is a must have list on this blog. First person:

1 - Bon Jovi

BTW: -Daphne, I loved Blake and Phil......although I think Phil may get the boot. Poor Jordin, she just couldn't handle "Living on A Prayer"....Who did you like (besides Jon Bon Jovi! hee hee)

GREASE IS THE ONE THAT I WANT!!!

My compliments to Daphne on her marketing efforts in the nomination of GREASE. I have to admit, there is no other flick more deserving... given the multiple occurences of public displays of twin dancing and singing! I believe Daphne would admit to participating in a few public displays of dancing and singing as well! I say we close the nominations for movies and immediately vote in Grease. GREASE--- YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT!!

Top Dance Scenes That Deserve Recognition

1. "Your the One that I Want" John Travolta and Olivia Newton John--(although Donna and Stephanie had a good rendition until Donna kept forgetting she isn't Sandy)
2. Napoleon Dynamite
3. John Travolta and Uma Thurman in "Pulp Fiction
4. Any Ricky Martin Video (but more specifically "Living la Vida Loca")
5. Dianna and Stephanie--any rendition of "Cheeseburger in Paradise"
6. Ducky in record shop
7. Farmer Ted at Dance

Any others? Please weigh in, I'm sure there are more....

T-Entertainment achievement award- Grease

The 1979 movie-musical deserves serious Twin recognition as being a premier movie. Numerous times have we broken out in dance during "You're The One That I Want" or fought over who got to be Sandy while singing "Summer Nights". This movie is also one liked by more than a few other family memebers, even males, proving to be a rare gem in the collection. So, to the makers and stars of one of the best T-rated movies out there, we salute you.

Three movies that are on my list of rated T are : "The Brothers McMullen," "She's the One," and "Sidewalks of New York." Common denominator---Ed Burns. Ok- these may not make anyone else's list but I've seen them enough times for all of us. Reviews to follow....

Nominees: Female actress

Get votes in for the character and actress to be inducted in the T-Entertainment Hall of Fame:

Diane Court (Ione Skye)

Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald)

Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy)

Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson)

There are two important articles to review prior to voting for the first actor to be inducted into the T-Rated Entertainment Hall of Fame. The first is about Jake Ryan: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A41194-2004Feb13?language=printer .

The second is about Lloyd Dobler: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/13/AR2006021302411.html.

Happy reading!