Channing Tatum: New Best Hottie

image source: peoplepets.com

I realize I am jumping on a bandwagon that has been running for a long time here.  But I never paid much attention to Mr. Tatum until recently.  To me he was just that beefcake from the STEP UP movies, and that's all I really needed to know.

But then, a few months ago, I saw 21 JUMP STREET and all that changed.  If you didn't make it out to the the theaters for this one - shame on you (just kidding) - here's the NSFW extended trailer:

Dude is hilarious, right??!!  The roommates and I were just discussing how much we'd like to watch this movie again and that we might buy the DVD.

So you can imagine how excited I am for MAGIC MIKE, which I will be seeing in 6 hours and 43 minutes (I may or may not be counting down).  I've always been a Soderbergh fan generally speaking, and am currently working on the Liberace project he's doing with HBO (so exciting!). (Perhaps this is the point where I need to say that though I am an employee of HBO, all these opinions are mine and mine alone, and are not representative of the company whatsoever.  Also, HBO and Warner Bros., the studio distributing MAGIC MIKE are both owned by Time Warner.)  ANYWAY, I'm looking forward to seeing his take on this *ahem* titillating subject matter.  Here's the trailer for your viewing pleasure:

HOLY HOTNESS BATMAN - and I heard it's actually really good too!!  As the Variety review said, "Tatum, Soderbergh and team appreciate the real reason audiences showed up, and the film provides just enough character and plot to validate the plentiful pecs and abundant buns that serve as its main attraction."


So to Mr. Tatum: I apologize for taking so long to appreciate you, but now that I have rest assured I will be showing up to all your films (provided that you promise either hilarity or shirtlessness ensues).


PS. Boyfriend, if you're reading this, I love you the most.

I CAN'T STOP WATCHING THE PUPPY CAM

In cast you were not aware, the Shiba Inu Puppy Cam is back.  My boss has been out of town this week, and while I have actually been pretty productive, every spare moment has been spent watching these adorable furballs. Good thing they sleep a lot or else I wouldn't have gotten anything done.  Here's the link, but I should warn you:  PUPPY WATCHING IS HIGHLY ADDICTIVE - CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK!

I imagine I've now lost most of my readers to the Puppy Cam.  I don't blame them.  But for those of you still reading this blog post, you shall be rewarded with a somewhat random, but hopefully highly delightful, collection of videos, pictures, and posts of the heartwarming and/or adorable and/or funny and/or beautiful and/or sexy varieties (trust me, just read on - and open the links in new tabs/windows so you can check 'em all out).

Let us begin with heartwarming and adorable, shall we?

First up: humans.  Shocking, I know, but I dare you not to smile and/or tear up a little over these two collections:

1.  Barack Obama Being Adorable With Children:
http://alexleo.tumblr.com/post/23423626498/barackobamacutekids




2.  21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/pictures-that-will-restore-your-faith-in-humanity




Next, we move on to animals.  I give you "HUG ALL THE GOATS", which absolutely could have been me as a child (and probably still as an adult):

I want to hug all the animals too!


And also "KITTEN VS. BUNNY", or

Котик vs Кролика

I love how fearless that bunny is!


And as we transition into funny, check out this hilariously guilty cat:

Speaking of cats, have you ever seen such a GINORMOUS FLUFFMONSTER???:

This is no fat cat.  This is just a very large Maine Coon.  I LOVE IT!!!


Here are a couple more collections of unintentionally hilarious animals:

1.  7 Super Excited "Ermhagerd" Animals
http://www.buzzfeed.com/samimain/only-7-ermahgerd-animals-on-the-internet-5pfv




2. 14 Of The Most Fabulous Animals In The Kingdom
http://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/14-of-the-most-fabulous-animals-in-the-kingdom




OK, to be honest, I don't have a good segue here, but I will now be moving on to beautiful with Vanity Fair's  Hitchcock Classics (re-imagined) - be sure to click through!
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/03/hitchcock_stills200803#slide=1




And finally, thanks to Tumblr, I recently stumbled on these two collections of beautiful, sexy men wearing purple.  You're welcome:
http://purpleashess.tumblr.com/post/25157993727/purple-shirt-of-sex-part-i



AND  http://purpleashess.tumblr.com/post/25357491591/purple-shirt-of-sex-part-ii




HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYBODY!!

My Best LA Things

Remember that article circulating around the internets about Los Angeles vs. New York City?  (my apologies, but I can't seem to track it down at the moment, but I will post it in the comments if I ever find it) The problem with that article is that it barely scratched the surface of what's great (and also what's not so great) about LA.  Everyone knows the traffic sucks, everyone knows the weather is wonderful.  How about some actual unique-to-LA examples?  Having lived here for 7 1/2 years, I've certainly had time to discover (or avoid) a lot of these "LA things".  Here are a few of my best, worst, and yet-to-experience "LA Things":

Five "LA Things" that I have never done and never intend to do:

- Go to Coachella
- Eat a bacon-wrapped hot dog
- Get a DUI
- Patronize Santa Anita Park / Hollywood Park / any animal-racing track
- Visit Madame Tussaud's or the Ripley Museum on Hollywood Blvd.

image source: blog.nastygal.com

Five "LA Things" I'm a little embarrassed to have done, but will chalk it up to being 21 / new to the city:

- Took a picture with one of the characters on Hollywood Blvd.
- Visited the Hollywood Museum
- Brought out-of-town guests to CityWalk
- Waited in line to get into Hollywood clubs, none of which still have the same names that they did at the time
- Drove through Beverly Hills with a star map looking for celebrity homes

immediately regretting that decision

Five "LA Things" I've done once (and am glad I did), but will probably not do again, or at least not do again for a while:

- Evening at the Magic Castle (overwhelmingly claustrophobic)
- Angels Flight Railway (somewhat anti-climactic)
- Ice-skating in Pershing Square (well, we attempted, but it was so packed we would've had to buy tickets for 3 hours later)
- Shop at Santee Alley
- Page museum / walking around by the tar pits (I think it was probably just a coincidence that I got sick, but I can't deal with the smell of the tar)

Angels Flight

Five "LA Things" I've never done and would really like to do:

- Eat at Providence (#1 on a list of about 50 restaurants I really want to try)
- Visit the Museum of Jurassic Technology
- See the Hollyhock House and Watts Towers (see below)
- Attend the Oscars (preferably as a nominee ;-) )
- Monday night supper at Little Dom's

image source: domicileid.blogspot.com

z

image source: flickriver.com

And finally, here is a list of 20 "LA Things" that I can't get enough of, and would gladly do over and over:

- Spending the day at Point Dume in Malibu
- Visiting the Griffith Observatory
- High Tea (and photo-taking) at the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena or Jin Patisserie in Venice
- Concerts at The Hollywood Bowl
- Movies at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
- Bootie LA
- Riding bikes along the Ballona Creek Path and out to the ocean
- Brunch & shopping at the Farmers' Market at the Grove in particular, or any farmers' market
- Hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains
- Dancing & drinks at the Edison downtown
- Sunset drinks at High Lounge in Venice
- Ordering off the "secret" menu at In-N-Out
- Getting sushi at Katsu-ya in Studio City
- Weekend jaunts to Vegas with the girls, or Wine Country with Boyfriend, or San Diego with the fam,
Joshua Tree with friends, Lake Arrowhead with the "cabin" crew, etc.
- Zumba overlooking the ocean
- Diddy Riese!
- Horseback riding at Sunset Ranch (would like to go elsewhere sometime!)
- Getting massages at The Massage Garage
- Spending time with my cousins in The Valley, particularly over the High Holidays when it's still so hot out that we can enjoy the pool
- Attending PaleyFest & other panels/screenings

Point Dume in Malibu

Griffith Observatory

Beck / Spoon / MGMT @ the Hollywood Bowl

BootieLA!

hiking

Diddy Riese!

There are so many more interesting places and activities LA has to offer that didn't make this list.  To name just a few, the Getty Center and LACMA are huge attractions,  Universal Studios and Disneyland can be very fun - albeit expensive - full-day activities, the Venice canals make for a lovely stroll, Union Station and the Bradbury building are beautiful examples of LA architecture.

Disneyland

LACMA

What did I miss fellow Angelinos?  What are your favorites?  Where will you never step foot again?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

Woo-Vegas, baby, Woo-Vegaaaaas!!

OK, you know the drill, what happens is Vegas blah blah blah.  (And in case you DIDN'T know the drill, just fly Spirit to Las Vegas and you'll learn fast.)  But I had such a good time with my girlfriends on our Memorial Day trip, that I had to mention a few highlights:

After a stressful, traffic-riddled ride to the airport followed by the rowdiest flight EVER (the pilot led the passengers in a group-chug because it was time to land and everyone needed to finish their drinks), we finally landed in Vegas on Friday afternoon.  We were greeted at baggage claim by Myrna, who, at 75 years old, offered to help us with our bags (awww Myrna) (don't worry, we didn't let her) and led us to our GOLD limo which took us to our hotel...

Sane people would've made reservations weeks in advance, but we decided to call up L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon (the less fancy/pricey of two Michelin star-rated Robuchon restaurants at the MGM) as we were getting ready for the evening.  What the hell, right?  Miraculously, they managed to fit us in.

There are more pictures of the incredible food somewhere, but I don't have them.  So in the meantime, as Kristen Wiig once said, I'M READYYYYYYYYYY TO PARRRRRRRRRRRTYYYYYYYYYYYY

We had a good time checking out the various bars & lounges in the hotel after dinner.  We even found one with a "woo" drink on the menu...

My friends call themselves the "Woo" girls, which comes from "How I Met Your Mother".  I'm not sure if I'm officially a Woo yet, but I think this weekend at least made me "Honorary Woo".  (P.S. here's the clip from HIMYM: http://fliiby.com/file/124875/35932da1l8.html and a photo:

We might enjoy a group drink & cheer, but clearly, we're a way happier bunch.)

The rest of the evening shall remain in Vegas ;-)



This, and the adjoining lazy river, is where we spent our time during the days.  Heaven...

Nothing like a patriotic jello shot for your first drink of the day.

Mmmmmm, bloody Mary's.

Romy & Michele?

For night # 2 we made arrangements in advance to go to Casa di Amore for dinner.  It's about as old-school Vegas/Italian as you can get and it's awesome.  And as long as you call in your reservation, they'll send a limo to pick you up.  Woo!

After a delicious dinner (gnocchi, pomodoro, alfredo, oh my!) and enough cannolis and creme brules to feed an army (they came with free t-shirts and we all wanted the shirts), we had the limo take us to The Cosmopolitan.  Probably the scene-y-ist hotel on the strip, there we came across so many slarmies (slut armies) and bachelorette parties that I lost count.  Apparently the new trend is to wear dresses so tight and so short that your butt cheeks hang out.  Huzzah!

The Chandelier bar was gorgeous... but freezing... as was almost everywhere we went EXCEPT:

Again, the rest of the night shall remain in Vegas, but yay, the girls finally got their snacks!



Night # 3 started with sushi dinner at Shibuya (yummmm), and was followed by some impromptu meeting up with high school friends and running around.  And more gorgeous dresses.  And more hot shoes.

Natalie got to spend some time with her junior prom date and adorable neighbor Brian.  And then my high school buddies, Erik & Jen, took us to one of the sickest bars I've been to EVER.  It was off the strip in a hotel called The Artisan.  When we rolled up, I immediately thought of The Night Circus.  Everything was black and white and lit with old-school filament bulbs.  But when we walked in, it was like stepping into a living game of Clue.  For my LA friends, the decor was kind of a cross between the Magic Castle and The Edison but with a Gothic splash.  There was a DJ spinning in the bar/lounge and the clientele was mostly locals.  There were dudes with 12-inch mohawks and others with Pauly-D blowouts.  The female bartender was wearing a corset so tight and was so busty that we were worried she was going to topple over.  It felt like the kind of place Stefon would mention on Weekend Update but without the Furkles, Jewpids, human bathmats, Teddy Graham people, and Gizblow the Coked-Up Gremlin.

White Fang and Crazy Face/Arms

Beachwood reunion with Erik & Jen!!

The details of rest of the night shall, for the last time, remain in Vegas.  Suffice it to say there were a couple rounds of shots, a puppy with an overbite, bottles of pink champagne (and strawberries and espresso), snacks in the form of goldfish crackers (perfection.), and a significant amount of distress/hysteria (on my part) over going to bed at 6 am (among other things).

THANK YOU SO MUCH to Shelby, Jill, Natalie, Melanie, and Dawn for a) including me in WooVegas, b) being so much fun, and c) sharing your photos with me!!!  I had such a blast!