Vicki

Well, okay, I’m not really spending the day at the spa. I’m spending an hour at the massage therapist’s this afternoon. I know it won’t fix all my problems in one visit, but it should help. Though I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it doesn’t also hurt. Hurt so good? I’m sure there’s a John Cougar Mellencamp song in there somewhere… LOL!

On this date in 1922, future Tarzan actor and Olympic medalist (he won five gold and one bronze) Johnny Weissmuller broke the world swimming record for the 100 meters freestyle with a time of 58.6 seconds.

Tonight for our TV viewing pleasure, we have new episodes of Burn Notice and Royal Pains.

Got another page written last night.

Reading: Finished up Santa Clawed and am now enjoying the genius of Terry Pratchett by reading Making Money. Moist von Lipwig from Going Postal makes a return appearance. This time around the Patrician wants Moist to take over the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork and the Royal Mint. Moist is more than a little reluctant to do this. But he’s more worried about not taking the job.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

Had a horrible night last night. I could not get comfortable. Finally managed to get to sleep about 5:30 this morning. Woke up a quarter to noon. I hate waking up so late, though I’m glad I managed to get six hours of sleep. That’s rare in itself. But it makes my whole day feel like I’m playing catch-up.

Got a fun thing in the mail today. Two vouchers from Dish Network for free pay-per-view movies! So, do I want to watch Push or Inkheart or do I want to wait until I see what they show next? I do want to watch the latter for sure, though. I’d like to see how it compares to the book. At any rate, I have until the end of September to decide.

Loved Warehouse 13! If you missed it, it repeats tonight at 11:00 Central Time. But I still can’t figure out why they didn’t pair it with Eureka. They seem to be an ideal duo. Then again, these are the Powers That Be that came up with that stupid new name.

Tonight is the season premiere of Ghost Hunters International. And we also have a new episode of Wipeout which is always guaranteed for a few laughs.

Wrote a little over a page last night. Fun stuff, too. Always a plus. *g*

Reading: Finished up The Laughter of Dead Kings which had an ending that actually surprised me. Now I’m reading a new (to me, at least) Mrs. Murphy mystery, Santa Clawed by Rita Mae Brown which is good as always.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

On this date in 1899, Academy Award-winning film director George Cukor was born. He directed many famous movies, including The Philadelphia Story, A Star Is Born (the original, not the one with Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand), and My Fair Lady. He passed away in 1983.

On this date in 1928, the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri produced the first commercially-available sliced bread which revolutionized the bread industry. And gave birth to the phrase “the greatest thing since sliced bread”.

And on this date in 1930, work began on Hoover Dam (aka Boulder Dam), though the actual construction didn’t begin until 1931. It was completed in 1936.

Tonight is the series premiere of the much-awaited (by me, at any rate ) Warehouse 13 on the revamped Sci Fi Channel (which I refuse to call by its stupid new name). There’s also a new show on The History Channel (who don’t seem to mind not being able to trademark the word “history”!) called That’s Impossible which looks interesting.

I eased back into the writing groove last night with a page and a quarter (or a third, not sure which).

Reading: Still reading The Laughter of Dead Kings. I’d forgotten how much I love the Vicky Bliss series.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

It seems Rupert Grint who plays Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies was ordered off the set of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows after being diagnosed with the infamous swine flu. He’s recovered now, thank goodness.

And from the Department of Extreme Silliness, the Sci Fi Channel officially becomes SyFy (which I refuse to call them because it’s just such a stupid name) tomorrow when the new show Warehouse 13 premieres. That looks like a really fun show but I can’t figure out why they don’t pair it up with Eureka which has its season premiere on Friday.

On this date in 1919, a British dirigible crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the first time and landed at New York’s Roosevelt Field.

On this date in 1933, the first major league All-Star baseball game was played at Comiskey Park in Chicago. And for those who care the American League beat the National League 4-2.

This was a busy date in history. In 1944, a fire in the big top at the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus killed 167 people, most of them children. 682 others were injured.

And in 1957, 15-year-old Paul McCartney met 16-year-old John Lennon at a church picnic where Lennon’s band was playing. By the end of the day, McCartney had joined the group. And musical history was born.

Had an appointment this morning with one of my doctors (the diabetes dude that I usually call Dr. Annoying) for a check-up. Thankfully, he wasn’t quite as annoying as usual. I was not well-pleased with the scales, however. Must find some kind of exercise I can do that won’t put a lot of pressure on my ankle which really hasn’t fully recovered from being the Broken Ankle from Hell, despite that being two years ago.

Anyway. I’d like to give a shout-out to Barb at Sisters in Sync for her kind words about my blog. Thanks, sweetie!

As far as I can tell, there isn’t a thing on tonight I care to watch. So it’s back to recorded shows. Which is fine. I need to clean out some stuff anyway.

Back to writing tonight after my week-long break. Hope I can get back into the story groove without any trouble.

Reading: Finished up Scent of Danger by Doranna Durgin last night and started—barely—The Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters. This is the new (well, it was new last year but I haven’t read it yet) Vicky Bliss book which we waited 14 years (hey, the same length of time I’ve been working on that one fantasy of mine!) to read.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

Or not enough sleep. I can’t think of a single, solitary thing to blog about today. Sad.

But on the plus side, we got a half bushel of peaches yesterday. Mom’ll be making peach cobbler soon. Yum!

Tonight on TV, we have Merlin, The Bourne Supremacy, Expedition Africa and Masterpiece Mystery with a new Miss Marple. That last one has a new actress this season. I wonder if they’ll set the books in the appropriate time periods this season. That’s one thing that bugged me last time around.

Reading: Now I’m reading Scent of Danger by Doranna Durgin.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

Happy birthday, America!!! 233 years ago, we sent those greedy, tax-happy Brits packing. *g* Hah! I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday.

On this date in 1847, James Bailey of Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus fame was born.

On this date in 1885, movie mogul Louis B. Mayer was born. He was the co-founder of MGM.

And on this date in 1914, director D. W. Griffith began work on his extremely controversial film Birth of a Nation. This movie introduced new filmmaking techniques and was considered Hollywood’s first “blockbuster”.

We’re going on a little jaunt up into Missouri here in a bit in search of peaches. Should be fun.

Tonight, I’m not sure what I’ll be watching.

Reading: Now I’m reading Death Walked In by Carolyn Hart. This is the next to most recent Death on Demand book.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

Read an interesting article this morning. ABC plans to have a tie-in novel by “Richard Castle” for a little added oomph to the show Castle. Wonder who will be ghost writing it?

On this date in 1928, John Logie Baird of London achieved the first color television transmission. Amazing! I mean, movies were only beginning to have sound at this point. It’s hard to believe anybody could send out a color broadcast of any kind.

It’s also the birthday of actor George Sanders who would have been 103 if he hadn’t committed suicide in 1972 (or died of natural causes before now, of course). He won an Academy Award as a supporting actor for his role in All About Eve in 1950. But my favorite works of his were the Saint and Falcon movies. None of which, annoyingly, have been released on DVD. Sanders was also one of Zsa Zsa Gabor’s numerous husbands.

Tonight on TV, I will be watching The Bourne Identity on USA. I’ve never seen it. I’m trying to watch all the fun action/adventure movies I’ve missed, for one reason or another, over the last several years.

Reading: Now I’m reading Cat in a Sapphire Slipper by Carole Nelson Douglas. I love this series, but there is one aspect of the subplot that’s been going through several books that’s starting to bother me. I don’t want to be any less vague than that, however. Just that I’m hoping things will improve to my preferences by the end of the series, which should, I think, be seven books from now. Last I heard Ms. Douglas has it planned to run through the letter Z.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

On this date in 1934, six-year-old Shirley Temple signed a contract with the Fox Film Corp. which launched her career as one of the biggest stars of ’30s.

And on this date in 1937, aviatrix Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during their attempt to fly around the world. Which launched one of the biggest mysteries of all time.

We also have another nifty archaeology story.

Not much else going on around here. And nothing on TV as far as I can see.

Reading: Got to the library yesterday so I have new books to read. Right now, I’m reading Black Ship by Carola Dunn. This is the most recent Daisy Dalrymple mystery which is one of my favorite series.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

Do you ever get inspiration for your writing from music? Not necessarily as musical accompaniment or theme music for your book, but story ideas from songs and/or their videos?

For instance, I started a fantasy years ago. Its working title is Secrets Rising. Now I began calling this book by this title about 14 years ago. Long before Suzanne wrote hers. But, hey a good title never goes to waste, right? I don’t remember the song that inspired the title, but it had something to do with secrets rising from the deep. I’ve tried Googling the phrase but came up with way more hits than I feel like reading. I do wish I could remember the song, though.

Then there’s the book which formerly began life as Zorro fan fiction. Lots of gypsy flamenco music for that one. Maybe this is one reason why I enjoy the Latin dances (except for the rumba) on Dancing with the Stars. Olé!

I really should be listening to more 1920s music when working on the 1920s murder mystery.

And then there’s Bella who’s a boot scootin’, Honky Tonk Badonkadonk type of girl. She has an opera-attending, classical music hero named Quinn.

But it occurs to me the book I’m working on right now (even though I’m taking a short break from it) has no musical theme whatsoever. I wonder why that is?

On this date in 1941, NBC aired the first FCC-sanctioned commercial. During a baseball game between the Dodgers & the Phillies, Bulova paid a whopping nine dollars for the spot. The times have sure changed!

All that’s on tonight is reruns. And much more expensive commercials.

Reading: Finished up Quincey Morris, Vampire. Then started re-reading The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Another of my favorites. But I’m hitting the library this afternoon, so I’ll soon have new reading material.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

We haven’t had anything from the world of archaeology lately, so for your entertainment, we have this story about bones found at Stirling Castle. Pretty cool, huh?

On a happy note, no celebrities have died since Sunday!

The weather has finally improved here. Or at least it had yesterday. The humidity was quite a bit lower. It’s higher this morning. Oh well. The Weather Channel is predicting highs in the 80s starting on Thursday. Probably because they’re also predicting rain. *g*

There isn’t a thing on again tonight. So you know what that means. More. Recorded. Shows!

Reading: Finished up Dead Sexy and now I’m reading Quincey Morris, Vampire by P. N. Elrod. This is a fun “sequel” to Bram Stoker’s Dracula which I didn’t enjoy nearly as much. I’ve only read Dracula once. I found it really dull. LOL!

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

He wasn’t as well known as the three people we lost last week, but infomercial pitchman Billy Mays (he’s the guy who always shouted no matter what product he was pitching) was found dead in his home yesterday morning.

And TV sitcom pioneer Gale Storm died on Saturday. Her acting and singing talents earned her three stars on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. She was 87.

UPDATE: I just learned (thanks, Brandy!) that comedian Fred Travalena died yesterday, as well. He was 66.

Not a good time to be a celebrity.

On this date in 1933, silent film star Fatty Arbuckle died while in the midst of preparing a comeback. His career was derailed after the 1921 death of starlet Virginia Rappe when Arbuckle was accused of her death. Though eventually acquitted of the crime (and getting an apology from the jury!), his career had been ruined by the publicity. He was 46 at the time of his death.

There isn’t a thing on tonight so I’ll be catching up on recorded stuff. And I’m going to take a short break from writing. Recharge the batteries, as it were.

Reading: Now I’m reading Dead Sexy by Tate Hallaway. This is the second Garnet Lacey book. I find them fun.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

Not a lot going on. Downloading podcasts this morning while I listen to Celtic music on the university radio station. Fun stuff. Jack Benny, Mystery Theater, Red Skelton, Radio Detective Story Hour, and other assorted old radio programs.

Then tonight on TV, we have another Poirot mystery on Masterpiece Mystery and the movie Hostile Makeover which is based on the book of the same name by Ellen Byerrum. We also have a new episode of Expedition Africa.

I finally have a lead on a massage therapist. Friend of a friend. Or something like that. Yesterday Mom was talking to a woman here in town who asked how I was doing. Mom mentioned my search for a massage therapist and the woman said she knew of someone. So she got the info for me. I plan to call or drop by tomorrow.

Reading: I finished up my library books last night, so I hope to get to the library tomorrow, too. I’m now back to reading Tall, Dark and Dead.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

So, Mom and I have been discussing my bedroom. Yet again. Frankly, I’m tired of living in limbo. I have so many ideas of what I want to do in here but have yet to actually implement any of them. It’s frustrating. Anyway, we’ve been talking about window treatments. So I’ve been trying to find styles I like and just for kicks did a search on Amazon for “pink”. You would be amazed at the products that come in pink these days! Kitchen appliances, gardening tools (even garden hoses!), in addition to the usual sheets & towels. Anyway, I think I found a style of curtains I like which Mom should be able to make easily with sheets. But what I’m really searching for on Amazon is pink laptop cases. *g*

Tonight on TV, we have a new episode of Primeval which I’ll be recording because I’ve fallen behind on the series. Plus we have a new Doctor Who expanded episode (75 minutes vs 60).

Wrote about one page last night. Whew! I’m glad I managed to write that much.

Reading: Finished up The Wizard of London and now I’m reading Cat Breaking Free by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. I’ve read books before where cats are main characters (the Midnight Louie series and the Mrs. Murphy series). In these, the cats do talk to each other and to other animals. But this series has cats that actually talk in human speech! They’re Very Special cats. I was kind of startled when I first realized that. But now it’s kind of fun.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

I gave up watching CSI: Miami for various reasons. Now I may have to start watching again. Eddie Cibrian is apparently joining the cast. I love him. But I am so sick of the show. Oh well. I’ll just have to bite the bullet.

On this date in 1939, film censors gave the green light to Gone With the Wind but they fined producer David O. Selznick $5000 for “objectionable language” in Rhett Butler’s famous closing line. How the times have changed!

And on this date in 1945, the FCC allocated airwaves for 13—count ‘em, 13!—commercial TV stations.

Not a lot on tonight on any of the hundreds of TV stations we have nowadays. There is a movie on Fox I may watch called Virtuality which might be good. We shall see.

Wrote just a few sentences last night. *sigh*

Reading: Still reading The Wizard of London.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

It was reported a little over an hour ago and has now been confirmed that pop icon Michael Jackson went into cardiac arrest this afternoon and has since died. He was only 50. I loved his music back in the day. But his life sure turned into a freak show in later years.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

So, there’s this email scam going around where some guy claiming to be a hitman says you have a contract out on your life. But if you pay him more than whoever took out the contract, he’ll let you live. Now, honestly, if I got an email like that, I’d be calling the cops so fast it would make people’s heads spin. But apparently there are people out there stupid enough to actually pay the scammer!!! Sheesh!

On this date in 1951, CBS aired the first color broadcast. Despite the fact that nobody owned a color TV at the time.

UPDATE: I just learned that Farrah Fawcett lost her battle with cancer. She was only 62.

Rumor has it we’ll have temps next week in the upper 80s!!! I’ll have to break out the parka. *g*

Tonight on TV we have Burn Notice (will Fiona eat anything besides yogurt this week?) and Royal Pains (will we see more of the mysterious German prince Boris?).

Wrote a little over a page last night. My witness finally spilled the beans about what he knows which was a huge relief to me and my detectives.

Reading: Finished up Six Geese A-Slaying. Now I’m reading The Wizard of London by Mercedes Lackey.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

Well, my dad drove me over to the place that supposedly had $30/hour massages. Went in to see if they had a brochure. The only person available to talk to was a hair stylist who didn’t know much about the massage side of the business. But the signs inside had higher rates than were listed outside. Hmm. That makes me kind of suspicious. Then I realized that the massage therapist there was male. I’ve only ever gone to female MTs. I’m not too sure I’m comfortable with the idea of letting a strange man work on me. So, now I’m back to square one on the MT front. Guess I’ll have to call around to the other places.

But after that, Dad dropped me off at the library. This is a bigger and vastly better branch of our little library system. I’d never been there before but they’re my new favorite place to go. Lots and lots of new-to-me books to read! And their a/c actually cools the building off. What a concept! (It’s always hot in the branch I usually visit.) Unfortunately, I didn’t have my list with me of books I want to read, so I had to make do with just four books that I managed to remember.

Tonight on TV we have reruns of Ghost Hunters and Leverage. I’ll also be watching Wipeout I’m rather ashamed to say. The announcers crack me up. And we all need a good laugh.

Wrote about half a page last night.

Reading: Since I got library books yesterday, I set Tall, Dark and Dead aside for a bit. Last night read Cockatiels at Seven by Donna Andrews in its entirety, then started Six Geese a Slaying which is the next book in the series. Good stuff, Maynard!

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

It’s already up to 95 degrees with a heat index of 109. And I really need to get out this afternoon and check out that massage therapy place. *fanning* Wish it wasn’t so dang hot!

In other news, TV host Ed McMahon passed away overnight. He was 86.

I’m drawing a blank on anything entertaining to talk about today. I blame the heat. It’s melted my brain even though I’m not out in it.

The only thing on tonight is Life After People which I’ll be recording. Last night I watched Poirot. Good stuff.

Wrote about half a page last night.

Reading: I switched gears a bit after finishing Carpe Demon and am now re-reading Tall, Dark and Dead by Tate Hallaway.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

This meme is making the rounds.

The instructions: Just copy the list of 100 accomplishments, highlight the ones you’ve achieved in bold, and elaborate as desired. Be forewarned, this is a long meme: a marathon to read; just about as long to write.

Since it’s so long, I’m going to put it behind the cut.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.

And by “Dark Side” I mean the world of podcasts. I had this bright idea to see what they were all about. Now I’ve begun subscribing/downloading all kinds of stuff I’ll probably never listen to unless I’m really, really bored. But there’s such cool stuff out there! Old radio shows from the 40s! Audio books! Musical programs!

But, hey! The heat index this morning is a mere 97 degrees! Yeah, I know that has nothing to do with podcasts. Unless…. I wonder if the Weather Channel has a podcast… LOL!

I thought once yesterday my back was better, but it’s still kind of twingy. Must bear the heat this week and find a massage therapist!

Tonight is the new movie Killer Hair on Lifetime Movie Channel. It’s based on the book of the same name by Ellen Byerrum. We also have a new Masterpiece Mystery. This time around it’s David Suchet reprising his role as Hercule Poirot who I’ve always thought was the perfect Poirot. There’s also a new episode of Expedition Africa.

Reading: Finished up Damsel Under Stress and have now moved on to Don’t Hex With Texas. Love that title! But I may love it more than some since I used to live in Texas and am all too familiar with the anti-littering campaign of “Don’t Mess with Texas”. I still really wish the publisher had deigned to buy & publish the final book in the series. I know this ended it on a fairly good note. But there are still plenty of loose ends to tie up. I wish I had the money to buy a bunch of spare copies of each book in the series to give to friends, family, the library.

Mirrored from Hollywoodland.