Eartha Kitt

The world said goodbye on Christmas Day to the great Eartha Kitt, at the age of 81. She was an iconic figure, who always had a great sense of humour about herself, and when I heard the news, I remembered that only the day before, I had just been in a local restaurant which was playing her rendition of Santa Baby over the air. Her history is an amazing one, and she was truly the epitome of a survivor, having lived through the rigours of racism. Her talent will live on.

My Christmas 2008 indulgences

As we are a family of movie addicts, Ruth and Martin gave me several wonderful DVDs for Christmas, and I have spent Boxing Day and today, Saturday 27th December, indulging myself watching some of them. I was fascinated by “Burn After Reading” a Coen Brothers movie, starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand,  John Malkovitch, Tilda Swinton and Richard Jenkins. I was intrigued at how the characters all seemed to come from different spheres, running from physical fitness to spy tactics, to sex addiction, and it took me a little time before I could figure how they all came together in the most interesting and black comedic way. I recommend it as a good watch to anyone with a sense of humour. Brad Pitt is really funny as the dorky guy from the fitness center who gets in the middle of a plot between the CIA and the Russians.

Then on a more regal note, I received a beautiful copy of Majesty, The Royal Family at Work, which is a fabulous BBC 5 part series, covering over 4,000 official engagements, ranging from the State Opening of Parliament to visits with schoolchildren, Her Majesty’s visit with George W. Bush in the United States, and lots more footage of Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry. I watched this on Christmas Day after seeing the Queen’s Christmas Broadcast on youtube.com. Ah, the wonders of technology. Made me feel quite homesick.

I have not yet tackled the 3 series of Anthony Bourdain’s food related international travels, which will be quite a treat. We are looking forward to meeting him at an event in February 2009 when he is appearing at a UCLA related show, for which we have prepared an Internet promotional campaign. It is also a possibility that they will be serving Mrs. McCartney’s Teas at that event at a hotel in Los Angeles.

Then on a sillier side, I enjoyed Mad Money with Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes, a fun romp which also stars Ted Danson, Christopher McDonald, Roger Cross and Stephen Root. This one is all about chasing your dreams, beating the system and ultimately paying the price!

The old phrase “and so to bed” now has a new meaning for me. At the end of a busy day, my retirement to my bed includes the luxury of wonderful movies, and the warmth of my lovely golden babies, Thelma and Louise.

We have recently been adopted by a new pet – a large black and grey stripey male, whom Ruth has christened Gray Davis (because he is grey, and Gray Davis was our Governor before the Gubernator, Arnold Schwarzenegger). It has been interesting getting them to blend, (the cats, not the Governors), but we seem to have settled into a routine, where when it is night time (and pretty cold recently), Grey goes upstairs and settles under Ruth and Martin’s bed, while Thelma and Louise stay downstairs with me in the rear of the house. I have also been cat sitting for two neighbours who are on vacation, Tuffy for my friend Jeri Markwell, and Nikki for Tim and Don who are away in Puerto Vallarta. So my life is pretty heavily involved right how with cat foot, cat litter, cat toys, eye drops, medication, etc. etc. I may just qualify for my Semi-Veterinarian status in a short time.

Amazing statistics on the Internet

I have just discovered an interesting site: http://www.statbrain.com/www.onzin.com/

It can help you discover how many hits various sites are receiving, and I was very pleased to find that www.mrsmccartneysteas was doing well. It is way beyond me, how all this works, but nevertheless, it does, and I would strongly recommend any readers to take a look and see what they can find out about their sites and others of interest. Here’s looking at you kid!

Afternoon Tea in the Playa

Cantelini’s/Salerno Beach at 193 Culver Boulevard in Playa del Rey is now serving Mrs McCartney’s teas in the afternoons and early evenings. This is one of our favorite watering holes and is very close (some say too close) to our McCartney Media offices. I was delighted to deliver my second order to them recently. They display my little red English phone box cards on the tables. This is the first of what I hope will be many places to sip a cuppa, a trend which is growing by leaps and bounds in the Tea Shoppes of Southern California. It has also been my pleasure to ship out numerous packages to folks for Holiday gifts, as many of my friends and colleagues find it a novel way to ask folks to have a drink, without any danger of being breathalyzed!