An actor, a director, and an imaginary friend.

The publicity machine for Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland is getting into high gear in preparation for the movie's release.  I personally am very excited about this.  Even if it wasn't involving Burton and Depp I'd still want to see it.  

These guys are so cool.  They seem to bring out the creativity in each other.  When they do interviews together they totally crack me up.  What a great team.

  

And this guy... how does he do this?  How can anybody be this good looking?  And, how can he look this good in such strange/ excellent combinations of clothing?  Everything he wears looks old, lived in, and really comfy.  I wonder if he and Brad shop at the same thrift store, and if so, can it be the one I buy my clothes at?  I think that would be right on.

If I remember correctly, I used to wear a plaid blazer like that in high school.  He looks dashing and different and casually comfortable.  I looked like a little kid wearing somebody else's coat.  

Yep, giving the big "Screw You" to the unspoken laws of formal wear.  That's our Johnny.

I have an new character in my head.  He's the hero, in his own messed up anti-hero way, of my new book.  

I don't often start a new story with anybody real taking on any of the character's roles. My imagination can invent entirely new people, so why picture an actor or relative or friend?  This time, my new imaginary friend has a few similarities with Favourite Actor here.  He's not a big tall guy, he's brown eyed and square jawed, and feels normal when wearing plaid.  His hair is usually messed up and some days he can't be bothered to shave.  

His name is Dale.  He drinks too much.  He's got a new job: help his elderly auntie clean up her crumbling old house.  Forty years worth of everything she's ever possessed... all there for him to get through.

He's quite perplexed about the whole thing.  This is what his life has come to: wading through piles of newspapers and old clothes.  Oh, and supposedly not getting drunk.  How did it go this way?

Poor guy.  He'll be busy for a looong time.

(Might make a good movie... I can dream...)

Happy weekend, folks.  

I'm goin' to the Oscars! No, wait. I'm gonna WATCH the Oscars!

I do this for you, so that you don't have to.  You're welcome.  Monday at something o'clock I'll have my big ol' Oscar report on my other blog.  

As usual, I haven't forked out enough cash or effort to actually see most of the movies up for awards.  Also, my kids are at that strange age when "kiddie movies" aren't cool anymore, but I really don't feel like R rated movies are okay, so we're sort of in the PG 13 kind of world.  Mostly comedies.  Usually featuring Will Ferrell, and often making me cringe at some part because of something dirrrrrty.  Having said that, I believe that dick jokes are always better than dismemberment scenes.  But that's just me.

Aaaaaanyways.  I think Brad Pitt will get his Oscar this time.  No reason, other than it was nice of him to take me grocery shopping in my dreams.  I haven't seen "Benjamin Button" but that's mostly because nobody wants to sit in a movie theatre for darn near three hours.  I suffered through it for Johnny's Capt Jack.  

I do want to cheer on Bad Brad but first I have to clear my calendar and make a date with my daughter, since she's the only person who will go with me. This movie is based on an F Scott Fitzgerald book. Curious?


You know, you just know, that The Academy looooves to reward a good make-up/ acting job.

An' yer lookin' good, ol man! Just check you out!  

BUT.  Everybody's talking about "The Wrestler."  Ol' Mickey Rourke has been giving some pretty good interviews.  

Also, I'm going to say it, and it has nothing to do with his tragic departure:  Heath Ledger deserves the award.  Okay fine, I haven't seen the others, okay.  I just can't imagine anybody else putting in a better performance.  This is despite RDJ's presence.  Plus Philip Seymour Hoffman already has one.  Let's not get greedy.

I'd kind of like it if Anne Hathaway got an Oscar.  Three out of five actresses already have one.  I'd like to see if the girl known for playing a Princess Secret Agent Bride can nail down a Big Dramatic Role.  Maybe I'll even rent the movie.  Help me out here: was this girl named after Shakespeare's wife???

Supporting acress?  I have no idea.  Surprise me.

I'm always on the lookout for surprises.  I'm looking for the gorgeous gown, the hideous gown, the fumbled speech, the humble speech, and of course, the montage.  Things develop in a montage.  Of course I'll have to wait about three and a half hours to get it all watched, but at least there are bathroom breaks and snack breaks!

See you on the red carpet.  Haha.

Fun on Friday

I'm actually in a bit of a foul mood today, but I'm going to try to forget all the crap in my head and cheer myself up with some of my favourite things.

MY HORSE
I just love him. You all know by now what a character he is: arrogant, stubborn, and pushy. Everything you don't want in a husband, and that makes these qualities okay to have in a horse. But he's also good with the kids. And he knows what a camera is. He does. It's hard to take a bad picture of this horse!


ROCK STARS There has been much talk around my house lately about the new Audioslave single and how we are going to buy this album when it drops. I'm surprised at this new song because it's kind of upbeat and good-times-bonfire-truck-tailgate which are all good things! but just not what I expected. But of course, me being a loser for a handsome man with a mic, I'm looking forward to More Chris Cornell.

He blew my mind about 15 years ago with this whole shirtless Seattle long haired thing, with the wailing voice and the flames and all that. I'm hopeless.



Honestly those guys are so talented it wipes me out.







Also we're still pigging out on Red Hot Chili Peppers. Some of us just about can't get enough. I'm totally despondent that I couldn't get tickets for their September Toronto shows.

This morning I picked up new ones from AFI and Wolfmother. (I probably have clothes older than these kids.)

I'm taking a big chance here; I only know one single from each. I plan to listen intently for a few days. I'll get back to you!

THE PUG
He gives me a reason to get out of the house. I'm so sick of the streets in this subdivision but he doesn't care. He just wants to walk with me.

MY CAT

He tracks litter across the floor but makes up for it with the purring and the affection.

I GOT MY DINING ROOM TABLE CLEARED OFF

It's just beautiful. Look at the light. The negative space. So minimalist and sculptural. Brad Pitt would love this.

BRAD PITT
Ok he doesn't really cheer me up because he's bad. He dumped his wife. He got his girlfriend preggers while still legally married. He's one of those "Oh baby I will totally love your kids like they were my own" guys. But he has been one of my favourites for so long. Johnny Suede. And also because I dreamed that he took me grocery shopping and I know it was just a dream...but it was so nice of him.


MY KIDS
They're just so awesome...they amaze me constantly. For the last week they've been intricately linked with their neighbour friends here in town and I have mixed feelings about it. It's great that they have friends to play with. It's good for us parents who trade off the watching of them. It's not so great for me because I'm still not used to having all these people around me, even if they're people I like. My entire adult life has been spent in an urban place (shudder) and I still haven't adjusted to being surrounded by all these houses and other people. However, my kids are having a great summer. I hope they let me spend some of it with them!

MY GARDEN

Look at this. Yes I have a farmer mailbox. It makes me happy to look at it.

DANCING
I don't care how much my back hurts. I'm gonna dance after supper tonight.

JOHNNY
Bestest just said yesterday that she finds it funny that I fell in love with Edward Scissorhands. Her daughter KK took offense to this. Johnny can do no wrong for KK and I. This weekend I'm going to finish watching Don Juan DeMarco. I love the faked accent. I love how Marlon Brando never looks like he's acting! Most of all I love the scene at the end with the meeting full of shrinks. (Yeesh. A whole room full.)

I hope I get my horse fix this weekend. I might not. But to fill the void I'm going to dance, sing, pull weeds, and maybe even pick up the guitar again. And I'm going to force myself to keep writing this novel I'm working on. Be happy dear readers. Even if you feel like crap and the gloom settles on you while the sun is shining. Even if you want to throw yourself off a cliff. We might not be able to just shake it off so easily but I for one refuse to be ruled by it.

what Brad Pitt and I did in my dream the other night!

My Man thinks I am very weird. Other women in their dreams make crazy passionate love to the unattainable men they have crushes on. I had mine take me grocery shopping.

And let me tell you, I HATE grocery shopping. So much. Hate hate hate. I'd spend three hours cleaning out the barn, honestly. If I spend Christmas break at the farm, and I do all the chores, and my mom does all the groceries, I am happy. Truly. I have considered chewing tinfoil if that could get me out of the store. Nobody has presented that offer.

But then Brad Pitt, the Man of my Dreams, (or at least one of them) ends up in the cracker aisle with me, and did we have fun! He encouraged me not to be so cheap because he could afford to buy me good food. He kept taking the cheap crap out of my cart, then told me what the heck, leave my cart, we can just fill up his.

Then Brad and I realized how great this could be if there were any photographers hinding behind the halloween candy display. Because he knows that they'll do that, he's been snapped at the grocery store already. We pictured the headlines on the tabloids: "Brad Pitt takes mystery women to Sobey's!" And Brad and I giggled all the way to the meat aisle!

Brad would take my hand and give it a little squeeze, then crack a few jokes, wink at me when people thought they recognized him, and then he snickered at all my subversive and naughty comments. We talked with sideways mouths and smirks.

As we pushed our heavily laden grocery cart to the checkout, he said, "I like you Heidi." And I said, "Well I like you too Brad." We were just best buds.

At the checkout we stood with our arms around each other's waists, me leaning my head on his shoulder. I whispered to him how great this would look in the paper tomorrow. And we laughed about it!

Ah...good times.

Jethro is convinced that the antidepressants have killed my libido to the point that a trip to buy food is as erotic as it gets. Well? Welcome to my sad sad life! And he is wrong about one thing. There is nothing about the gorcery store that's any kind of turn on for me. EXCEPT if Brad Pitt is handing me a box of name brand Shreddies.

Maybe some time I'll tell you one of my Johnny Depp dreams. Johnny and I may have been separated at birth, eight years apart. I'm not sayin' or anything. I'm just sayin'.