Surviving Hannah

It's been nearly a week since our daughter's Hannah Montana Birthday Extravaganza (or hereafter known as HMBE). We hosted 18 rock-n-roll stylin' girls aged 8 and 9 in our home for singing, dancing and fun.

As each kid arrived, they received a customized "backstage pass to Hannah's concert" and an autograph book to capture each other's pop persona autographs.

They played games like "race for the tickets", where we did relay races for fake tickets to the "concert" that could be turned in for cool prizes. They also did a lot of freeze dancing for prizes. Each girl had a chance to do High School Musical Sing It karaoke.
Everyone glittered their hair, their faces, their clothes, the entire house! Everyone had a rockin' good time! I would highly recommend this theme for this age group of girls and it's easy to do at home. And we already had the Wii thanks to

Tim winning it from PayPerPost last year!

Hannah Montana 3D Movie a Big Hit!

Well.........

I wrote some time back that we had tix to the new 3D Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus movie. We just got back from our excursion with my two daughters and one of their friends. It was the closest thing to attending a Hannah concert and probably even better. First, although we had pre-purchased our tickets, when we arrived, we had to wait in a long line outside the theatre for our show. There were kids in Hannah wigs, shirts and every other marketing item marked with Hannah.

When we got in, I have to say I was quite impressed. Yes, Disney is making a solid mint here, but it was entertaining! I love the digital 3-D movie effects, it really was better than being crammed into a live arena. Great sound, great cuts and and a tight movie. Yes, it wasn't as long as a concert, but they kept in the best parts.

The three girls were wowed and enjoyed every minute. I would highly recommend it to any Hannah fan of any age! Now go enjoy!

A Flash into the Past - INXS in the 1980's

All this Hannah Montana stuff got me thinking and talking about my rock and roll past (if you can call the current teen craze rock n roll). I mentioned to my kids that I've attended at least 30 of the top concerts by the all time greats. They rolled their eyes and said who? I first mentioned the Rolling Stones and Billy Joel and got "who are they?"

There is definitely now a generation gap.

I regaled them with my MTV-like moment of times long ago...in a land far away....Gainesville, FL, I can't remember the date though.....too far away and long ago.........This was my dream come true.....

I got to have an all-access backstage pass to see INXS, my then fav Aussie band of the 1980's...not today's remade INXS with J D Fortune, there will only ever be one front man and that's Michael Hutchence. Through the good fortune of having a sister with friends who had connections, I was given the opportunity to arrive early at the arena, I was actually on the "list" and waived through by security. I had time to talk with various band members at the pre-concert food and drink fest back stage. I went with their manager to pick up the rest of the band at the hotel and bring them to the show and then got to watch from side stage for the concert! Then post concert - backstage drinks, photos and autographs! The next week the MTV contest was just what I had done! To this day, I never had such good fortune ever come my way! It was the lottery of the day!

Juno is a Wonderful Intelligent Movie!

My husband and I took a little away time last evening to go out to dinner and a movie. We decided to see Juno and boy, are we glad we did.

Juno is the freshest comedy that I've seen in years. Not to mention - teen comedy. This is no American Pie, thankfully. Ellen Page is spot on as Juno, a teenaged girl facing the grown-up and daunting tasks of pregnancy and giving her child up for adoption. Every character is realistic and the movie's character development is moving, every actor perfect. It's easy to see why it is up for four Academy Awards. This is the kind of movie that when you see it, makes you realize how formulaic and underdone almost every movie out there is. Go and enjoy a refreshing new look at how comedies can really be done to perfection.

We Got Hannah Montana Tickets......

Yes, we finally got tickets to a Hannah Montana concert....her movie! Can you believe the kids made me stay up until midnight on Friday to assure them of seats for a concert movie that won't play until February 1st? Yes, and it cost as much for four seats as it did for me to see the last concert I attended...hmmm that probably says too much about my age....but it was a lot for movie tix. This better be good, since we are frozen out of the live performances. Go check out my husbands blog to see how he is handling the family Hannah fetish.

We do enjoy Hannah, not that there's anything wrong with that!

Johnny Depp - The Best Actor of Our Generation!

Let me start by saying that I have always loved Johnny Depp! It's really hard to say which one of his movie moments are his best, because the roles have been so different and versatile. I'd have to say that two of my favorites have to be 1) Captain Jack Sparrow from the original Pirates of the Caribbean - Curse of the Black Pearl, and reaching a few years back, 2) Roux from Chocolat.

Fans all love Captain Jack, but I love the way Johnny plays him. Who can resist the swaggering pirate. He certainly channeled Keith Richard. My favorite scene is Jack's movie entrance when he is coming into the harbor and his ship sinks beneath him as it comes into port. I believe this entrance sets the whole humorous undertone for the movie and his character - the scheming, but lovable Jack. And it's done mostly through non-verbal acting. Jack Sparrow is a great character who will stand the time in movie history.

In Chocolat, Johnny Depp plays Roux, an Irish gypsy who falls for the eccentric, but charming, French chocolatier. His performance as the romantic lead made me swoon. I guess you'd say Roux is a similar character to Jack, in that he is on the fringe of society and that is one reason he captivates Vianne, the lead. She is a rogue too, in trying to change the way the town looks at life's pleasures. I think this was a subtle performance and he also showed off his musical talents.

Even though Johnny's Jack Sparrow character will always be my favorite, I look forward to seeing his new characters develop. I'm looking forward to seeing how the singing Sweeney Todd comes to life under Johnny's guidance. I've never seen the stage musical, but I did know what it was about. It sounds very macabre and interesting and Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton have never gone wrong when it comes to presenting a great story. You can visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site where they have great information on the cast, the musical and wonderful snippets to whet your Johnny Depp appetite. You can also visit Sweeney Todd on MySpace to see more about Johnny's latest creation! I'm looking forward to seeing Johnny Depp sing!

Dads Pimp Themselves for Hannah Montana

Whoa, I wish I could have entered Tim in this contest! 150 dads actually donned high heels to try to win tickets to a Hannah Montana contest. I wish there were better ways to actually get tickets. They also mentioned that Disney is trying help the fans out by filming a 3-D film of her concert with plans to feature it in movie theatres in February 2008! We'll be there for sure! The children are still disappointed that they won't be going to a live concert due to lack of available tickets (damn you, robots).

Hannah Montana Concert Tickets Too Hot to Buy

I've updated this post to include this new link that says that Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus are aware of this scalping and thus far don't seem to know what to do about it. Disney also seems quite mute on how to fix it. Here's what I said before:

My daughters would love to go to a Hannah Montana concert, just like about every girl (and boy) in America. Unfortunately the power-moguls-that-be have made that impossible. Apparently, the tickets are selling out within just a few minutes of going on sale. Then the scalpers and ticket sellers are marking them up, in some cases over $2000 per ticket, according to my friend, MaryAnn, who lives near Tampa.

Her daughter's birthday is coming up and she had hoped to take her and friends to the Tampa, FL show for one of the big gifts. She and four of friends were logged in for the recent ticket sale and she said ALL the tix were gone in 3 minutes! I smell a robot!

Disney, wake up! Don't disenfranchise the people who keep you going! Do something to stop this! You too, Miley Cyrus (and Billy Ray!)

What Time is IT? - Time for High School Musical II!

Tick, tock...tick tock...only a few more hours til the marketing blitz ends...or does it really just begin then? I don't know about you but we already have back to school lunchboxes, notebooks and folders covered with..............High School Musical!!!
The Disney wunderkind of 2006 is reprising itself tonight at 8pm ET on Disney Channel with High School Musical II. Welllllll.......I'm not ashamed to admit it - I LOVE IT!

I think the original story was a great way for kids to discuss cliques and their problems - interwoven with a great music, a winning and cute cast and fun dancing! We are planning a little pizza party for our little pre-tweens and maybe a few friends to enjoy the premiere. My 5 year old is suddenly taken with Sharpay. No, not Sharpei. Ashley Tisdale's character. I hope this doesn't fortell more regarding our last post about her and her sizzle factor. Sharpay is quite a (censored for the kids) most of the time, so I am not sure I like dd2 liking her so much.

Anyway, I believe the High School Musical II Soundtrack will soon supplant our Hannah Montana CD in the SUV tomorrow. Poor Miley - her starpower will now flag! (update - it just did...and we are really enjoying it - it's very good!)

At least I'm enjoying my kids' music and stuff for now. I'm feeling like the mom of a friend of mine I had in junior high. Remember junior high? She chaperoned us at a Styx concert and was standing up and having a good time, when some stoner behind her said loudly, " hey look, that old lady can dance". She stopped having such a fun time. Well, that ain't going to happen to me - I'll tell the little (censored for the kids) to shut up, cause I'm gonna dance!

Is Tina Fey Still Cool?

Well, apparently Tina's glasses still are setting a style trend. I went to the optician yesterday to do my "once every ten years" glasses purchase. I normally wear contact lenses most of the day and my glasses are my night reading wear. So they don't really wear out, they get scratched. Also, I rarely leave the house in glasses unless I have to. I still get flashbacks from fifth grade when someone pushed me into the bushes saying "you're just a geeky glasses gifted girl" or something to that effect. So glasses still can make me feel weird.

The whole wall was Tina Fey style glasses. I found only two pair that were even slightly rounded. The rest were all some version of squared off, funky-like stuff. The woman who assisted me was at least 60 years old and when I picked up the round pair, she said, "no, no, no....you want to be cool, don't you?" Well, I don't want to be geekier than the 60-somethings, so I let her show me the styles.

I ended up picking (or she helped me pick) a cool pair of obviously squarish, red, rimless bottomed Tina Feys. She commented that maybe now I would leave the house in glasses, cause I looked so cool. Man, she knows how to sell and market! So I will post a pic of me in them when they come in. But here's a pic of what model I think I ordered.......keep in mind that I had eye dilation going on....Have you ever had some weird glasses experiences in your life? Let me know.