It was a slow day (ha-ha-ha) at The Source Weekly, so after discovering where the new la Madeleine French Bakery (one of my personal favorite places) is supposed to be located in LJ, we were discussing what restaurants/clubs had been in that same shopping center in past years. With the help of several people, including ALL the girls at State Farm, the name of Chevy’s came to light. Our discussion then led to La Brisa, Uncle Al’s (Al Kuvet) which led us to American Savings and Loan, then back to Banjo’s (Robert Faickney and George Franklin), Café Laredo (Leonard Botello), Brockmans, Bodiddles (Lois Ann Murphy) and Shaddocks Grocery(which was originally across the street from us), then we got back to work.What a fun trip down memory lane. Hope you enjoyed it and can add your own thoughts to these memories at the dinner table tonight.
Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to. Bill Vaughn
Amazon is trying to break Alexa away from the robotic monotone in order to make her sound excited or disappointed and more engaging. They are also trying to extend the listening ability so Alexa can detect when users are frustrated with a botched response to a music-related command.I’m not quite ready for Alexa to live at my house. They’re just gathering information.
I’m going to lose weight. I’m going to exercise everyday. I’m going on a diet and stick to it…is that cake?
Olivia Newton-John auctioned off the black leather jacket that she wore in the 1978 musical Grease. The winning bid was from an unnamed buyer for $405,700. This is nearly twice what they expected – $243,200 for the jacket and $162,500 for the pants which were made in the 50’s, had a broken zipper, so she had to be sewn into them for the film. The proceeds went to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre in Australia. The gentleman that bought the jacket turned around and gave it back to her saying that she was the rightful owner. Ahhh. There is so much nice in the world. HBO Max has a new series titled Grease: Rydell High, based on the musical and featuring characters, Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson, plus they will introduce some new ones. It is set to launch March 2020.
Zoe Kravitz is cast to portray Catwoman opposite Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne in the upcoming film, The Batman. She joins Halle Berry, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, Eartha Kitt, Camren Bicondova and Anne Hathaway who have played Catwoman throughout the years.
Old news but new to me: In 2014, two men were convicted of selling DuPont’s secret recipe for the white pigment titanium oxide, to a state-owned Chinese firm for more than $20 million. It is my understanding that the chemical is used in all sorts of things, from paper, pigment in paint, sunscreens and plastic, to the creamy middle of an Oreo cookie.DuPont’s method of making titanium oxide is a patented process that the company was unwilling to sell to competitors in China. What’s even more interesting is how they were found out. A couple living in California had been charged with trying to steal and sell secrets about the 50-year-old DuPont technology. During an FBI search of their home, they found a safe deposit box key – and an agent who spoke Mandarin overheard the man tell his wife in Chinese to say that she didn’t know about the bank… which is where she drove right after the agents left. Good story except for the part about the pigment being used for Oreo cookies. What else are we eating that we don’t know about.
Steve Braithwaite, 59, moved to the United States in 1986 from England, to follow a woman. He bought a Ford F-150 and set to work crafting the world’s only motorized banana. It took him about 2.5 years and $25,000. He has driven across America the past two years, offering pay-what-you-can rides and sleeping on stranger’s couches, calling his road trip “The World Needs More Whimsy Grand Tour.” His license plate says SPLIT and he’s working on visiting all 50 states, hoping to eventually cross the globe.
Have you listened to Joni Mitchell lately? Her voice is still quite beautiful and so unique. I saw her about five years ago. She must have been sick because it wasn’t a good night, but she’s definitely worth a listen.
12 Legitimately Life-Improving New Year’s Resolutions you can steal from your dog. 1.Poop frequently.2.Worry less about things you can’t eat or play with. 3.Greet EVERYTHING. 4.Pick fights with shoes and pillows. 5.Smell things that look interesting. 6. Be less scared of telephones and strangers.7.Run outside and yell more. 8.Forget what you were doing and nap instead.9.Take care of your genitals. 10.Be nice to nice people. 11.Fart without shame. 12. Eat more stuff that makes you feel good.
Dear New Year’s Resolution, well, it was fun while it lasted… Sincerely, January 2nd.
We all know that eggs are healthier when hens ‘free range’ – continuous access to run free in a yard so they can eat bugs, grass, worms and stuff. That’s because plants and bugs have a higher nutritional value than commercial chicken feed. The yokes from free range have a darker color and the white isn’t so runny. According to Hobby Farms, free range eggs have less cholesterol, less saturated fat, increased vitamins A, E, & D, more omega-3 fatty acids, and more beta carotene. Now I’m reading that some commercial producers and farmers add marigolds to their feed because it makes the yokes darker, without having to ‘free range’ the chickens.
New Year resolution: Laugh a little louder, smile a little bigger, love a little deeper, and walk through life a little slower.
Fashion-plate, Celine Dion, was showing off her new footwear in front of her Christmas tree. The shoes are wearable works of art made to resemble flames and a fiery phoenix, made of strips of orange, red and yellow. They were intended to represent that both Celine Dion and a phoenix have courage, transformation and rebirth in common. Her fans and others have not been very kind. One fan said, “Work those chicken fire boots”, while another one commented,“I love the shoes! I thought it was a turkey escaping the fire (oven) but then realized it’s a phoenix rising from the flames,” he commented. “duh me :)” You would just have to see the boots!!
My New Year’s resolution is to stop hanging out with people who ask me about my New Year’s resolutions.
On a different beer note, at a recent music festival in Shiner, there were signs and billboards around the tiny town promoting “the new bock in town,” Crawford Bock, a beer launched by Karbach Brewing, a once-independent Houston brewer now owned by the big guys, Anheuser-Busch. Some bars and restaurants that feature local craft beers stopped carrying Karbach once it became part of a global empire. Evidently Anheuser-Busch has been trying to sway Shiner drinkers away for years. A battle has begun. There’s even a mention of the Battle of Gonzales in some of the news articles. You will always find Shiner Bock in my frig, my favorite beer along with some of the Saint Arnold’s Bishop’s Barrel.
As you may remember, Anne-Elisabeth and I rescued five 3-week-old kittens during Harvey and have raised two of them, Winnie and Sully, previously named Winston and Sullivan until we found out they were girls. Then, we have another ‘baby’ that a woman dumped in front of my office last Christmas. Oliver is precious and so appreciative that we gave him a home, except for the fact that he scratches EVERYTHING. My other problem child is Sully, the very curious kitty that can open cabinets. The cabinet where I store the cat food is always open when I get home. My reminder to feed them just in case I forget. 😊 Recently, Sully learned that if she jumps up, grabs a door handle lever and puts her weight against it, she can also open eight-foot doors. We knew to always lock the back door and the garage door BUT this last week she surprised me by opening the door into the attic while I was getting Christmas decorations. She also brought Oliver along as moral support. It took me an hour, a handful of treats, bribery…none of which worked because they came when they felt like it, along with an air of, “Oh, you’re still here?!?” Sigh. My kids were so much easier to raise.
In October, Anheuser-Busch alleged that a former employee, now working for longtime rival MillerCoors, somehow obtained their secret beer recipes. MillerCoors says they “respect confidential information.”
Harry Potter fans: The Suffolk, England home that appeared in the movies as Lily and James Potter’s residence is now on Airbnb so you can stay there if you want.
To me New Year’s is all about kissing someone at midnight and then spending the next two months writing the wrong date on checks and other things… if only my watch had the year on it.
The Met Gala has announced that the co-chairs for the 2020 event will be Anna Wintour, Meryl Streep, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Emma Stone and Nicolas Ghesquiere of Louis Vuitton. The theme will be “About Time: Fashion and Duration” and will trace more than a century and a half of fashion – 1870 to the present – along a disruptive timeline, as part of The Met’s 150th anniversary celebration.” In simple terms, they will look at how history repeats and modernizes itself in the world of fashion. Fun.
Life is like a book. Some chapters are sad, some happy and some exciting. But if you never turn the page, you will never know what the next chapter holds. Wishing you the best chapter yet in this coming New Year.
To those of you that knew Tom Aucoin, you may remember that he passed away earlier this year. Tom was with our Source Weekly family for around 20 years. We miss him. Every few weeks, I see or hear something that for just an instant, I think I need to remember so I can tell him, until I zone in on…he’s no longer with us. Tom always worked his fireworks stand at the Churchill bridge at 4th of July and the Christmas/New Year. He was always here at the office when we did our “Santa at the Gazebo” evening for all the kids in town. He was our own Mr. Personality, greeting kids and grownups alike, as if it had been years since he had seen them all. At our birthday luncheons, he brought the tea. One sweet and one unsweet. We drink water now. 😊 Tom, we’ve been missing you, especially lately. All of us…Connie, Tina, Pam, Hailey, Dawn, Rachelle, Janice, Ashley, Lydia and Lisa. We’ve still got your name on your office mailbox, your briefcase on standby and your picture on the refrigerator.
So, I promised a list of New Year’s resolutions. Here’s the first: Stop procrastinating so much. I’ll post the rest tomorrow or maybe the day after. Thank you so much for supporting us this year. We love you.
Lisa
