The Art of a Tourist Photo

A friend of mine recently posted this photo with the caption "This is what happens when you ask a stranger to take your photo in front of the Statue of Liberty!" 

I couldn't help but crack up from it.  This is one of my pet peeves!  (That and the other one where they actually can't figure your phone camera out and just close the app instead of taking the pic.)  Why is it so difficult to get a stranger to take a decent photo?  It's hard enough just to get the stranger in the first place so when you realize they took a bad photo and want another, they are on the move and you need to start all over again!  Then you have to wait til they are out of sight so you don't offend them, and you come off as anal to the next do-gooder because you don't want to repeat the whole process again!  Oy, it's exhausting!  

Tourists, this is my solution - We live in a digital age.  This gives you the luxury of taking a bunch of photos and selecting the best.  Therefore, just take a bunch of different ones and ask yourself, would I like this photo for myself?  And keep in mind, chances are if you are in front of a landmark, you'd want to include that in the photo too.  Why is this such a hard skill for some?    

Not the same person.

 Believe it or not, this girl does not play the Game of Thrones Dragon Princess. 

Pasadena Chalk Festival

This is from the 20th Annual Chalk Festival.  Really cool work and even a proposal!

The Great Gatsby Trailer

Here it is, the Baz Luhrman trailer for the 3-D version of The Great Gatsby.  I know what movie will be following my Chinese food Christmas dinner! 

The Great Googa Mooga

Originally I was not attending since the ticket situation to start off with was obnoxious as ever and I did not get my free tickets.  That said, a friend couldn't make it and let me have his Sunday passes.    

Apparently Saturday was a shitshow.  The only problem besides no cell service I had was that the beer tent volunteer was bitchy.  She refused to even read the tap to tell me what kind of beer it was.  I know you are not a beer connoisseur but you could have read the label instead of flat our saying no twice.  But anyway...  

I never waited for a bathroom, the longest I waited for food or drinks was 10 minutes (although as it got more crowded, about 3PM, the lines did get longer & certain things started to run out around 5:30, so I hear...a vast improvement from the day before though), and the entertainment was OK.  I spent $50 total on a beer and the following:

What I ate: Dinosaur BBQ - A deliciously soft and melty Pulled Pork Sandwich/Kutcher's Smoked Corned Beef - the hint of smokiness was the perfect touch. /Boahouse General Loko's - Overall my favorite thing I ate. /Crif Dogs  - A hot dog wrapped in bacon with avocado & sour cream. I also tried some Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken Wings and they were fantastic.  

It was ALL delicious!!! Tip for the future: divide and conquer.  Share food with a friend and wait on different lines at the same time. 

A cool side note, I tweeted about it later and got a response from a chef:  

What I saw: Some drunk girls dancing rather convincingly to Hall and Oates.

In the end, for a "free" event on a gorgeous pre-summer afternoon, I had a great time with some great people and food.  Looking forward to it next year. 

Bravo Boobs!

Lea Michelle's boobs were on Letterman last night.  The second I saw her walk out in this dress, I knew it would be in the news.  My initial thought was "NO!" but from a PR perspective I thought a little more about it and I have to say, well done Lea! What do you think?

Barb v. Jenny

Man vs. Man

Bear Grylls / Bradley Cooper 

Up In Flames

Some things just really get me heated and this is one of them.  I had avoided reading about this story because I just knew it would aggravate me.  Story goes that this women who is "tanorexic" allegedly brought her five year old into a tanning booth.  Couple points if I may -

• This woman needs help regardless of if she brought the child in or not.  Obviously she has issues and needs to address that immediately.  
• She says she's "not dumb" but clearly she is if your face looks like that.  
• Just like I believe a bartender should not allow a known alcoholic into their bar to be an enabler, a tanning salon owner should not allow someone like this into their salon.  You are going to let this woman kill herself so you can make $99? (That's how much she pays for her monthly membership.)
• You're addicted to tans?!  People in this world are worried about where they will get their next meal from, stuck in bunkers hiding from bombings, and you're worried about if your skin looks dark enough?  America, get a grip! Lady, take that $99 and send it to charity. 
• I enjoyed this from the New York Post:   “As crazy as she looks, you think she would put her daughter in the booth — to take time away from herself?” joked John D., who was picking his high-school age daughter up from the salon.

Casting Fifty Shades of Grey

My thoughts on who will play the main characters in what will inevitably be the movie version of Fifty Shades of Grey...

In no particular order, the person I see as the 27 year old, copper haired, grey eyed, billionaire CEO & Domineer, Christian Grey?  Chace Crawford, Jeff Buckley or Christopher Pine.

And the awkward,  submissive, Anastasia Steele?  Elizabeth Olsen, Emma Watson or Shenae Grimes.