Year in Review: July 2010

I was looking through my calendar and my photos from July 2010 and I was happy to see that I took some time to relax.  I am really going to try and make that a priority for 2011...maybe 2/3 work and 1/3 personal. I think that is a good start since my life last year was 90% work and 10% play.  Here's to New Year's Resolutions!

1. While in Chicago for Women's Health Magazine's annual Are You Game?, I had a chance to hang with one of my favorite cousins, Michael. He's been my little buddy ever since the day he was born.  Awwww......

2.  I was invited by Lexus Dark Ride to the opening of SPiN Hollywood at the Mondrian Hotel.  It was an evening of A-listers like Susan Sarandon and an evening of D-listers like Michael Lohan who arrived at the party on the same exact day his daughter, Lindsay, went to jail.  Ponder that thought for a moment.  Anyway, I had a great night laughing until my stomach hurt with my pal, Maria.

3. On the set of one of my favorite live online shows, Stupid for Movies, hosted by Wade Major and Mark Keizer, and created by my pal, Mike Rotman.  I was lucky enough to be asked to do a guest spot where I had the opportunity to bring in a film you might have missed. Given my love for Bob Fosse, All That Jazz was my pick.  I like to think I was ahead of the latest dance movie trend.  If you love Black Swan, do yourself a favor and watch Fosse's incredible film.  Also, I will hopefully be helping out on SFM during Awards Season in 2011, but I will keep you posted about any possible upcoming appearances.

4.  You know how much I love my Prius, well, you are going to get really tired of me once the 2012 PHV Prius comes out.  Here I am at the Plug-In Conference in San Jose.

5.  The ITVFest Opening Night Gala continues to be one of the hottest parties in Web TV each summer.  Here are a few photos from my red carpet coverage where I hugged.....everyone and check out the red carpet interviews with Mingle Media TV here.

(Yes, that is James Denton of Desperate Housewives. Swoon.)

Photos 5-7:  Courtesy of Mingle Media TV

Weekly Wrap-Up

Oh, what a week it has been....ping pong, reality stars, and All That Jazz.  Here's a quick round-up of what happened this week:

Me and my pal, Maria, at the opening night of SPiN Hollywood.  We dressed up that night, but I only got a picture of our shoulder straps.  Oh well.  


1.  A visit to the opening of SPiN Hollywood courtesy of Lexus Dark Ride.  Thanks for the invite, guys!  We saw Susan and Vienna and Michael, oh my! (An Oscar winner and a couple of train wrecks all in one sentence.)

2.  It's week 6 of MoreWireLess and we take you right into High Speed Bluetooth.  Hope you're learning something, kids.  Sponsored by Broadcom:


3. Stupid for Movies:  I was lucky enough to visit the set of Stupid for Movies back in April where I interviewed Mike Rotman, Mark Keizer, and Wade Major for The Web Files.  They kindly invited me back and let me pick a movie to discuss.  So, here's the show, All That Jazz, and the story of my highly inappropriate dance routine in junior high:


4.  While I was on Stupid for Movies, I talked about a website I am obsessed with:  Cupcakes and Cashmere.  The content is definitely for the fashionista who is ultra-girly, but I am a huge fan of the site and its creator, Emily Schuman.

5.  Official Blog Roll Call:  I think I am going to start an official blog roll, so if you are interested in linking together, let me know in the comment section.

Next week, we will have a new episode of The Web Files featuring the talented and handsome, Al Thompson, of Johnny B. Homeless and Lenox Avenue.  I will be covering the Plug-In Conference up in San Jose through Wednesday and then running back down to LA to check out the red carpet of ITVFest.

Enjoy your weekend!  My weekend will be filled with a trunk sale at my favorite store, Roni B., my first show of the season at the Hollywood Bowl (Planet Earth!), and a little yoga to relax the mind, body, and spirit.  Let me know in the comment section what you are doing with your weekend.  See you next week at Red Carpet Closet!

Behind the Scenes of Stupid for Movies

If you follow me here or on  Twitter, you know I am a musical theatre geek.  I love the aspect of anything live--live theatre, live TV--well, that is exactly what you get with Stupid for Movies.  It takes the best of live TV by streaming on Ustream.tv each Thursday night and by offering up a live in-studio audience from the Streamin' Garage.  It allows the audience to participate on so many levels: in person, in the chat rooms, on Twitter, or via Skype.  Instead of screaming at your computer screen at home, you now have an opportunity to participate.  Oh wait, and you have homework.  Now, don't go running away.  Your homework involves watching a selected movie that will be discussed the following week.  Not bad, right?

The Web Files headed to the studios in late April to go and check out Stupid for Movies and we haven't stopped talking about it.  A simple concept, a movie review show, is taken to the next level with wit, intelligence, and a bit of edgy banter with Wade Major and Mark Keizer, members of the elite LA Film Critics Association.  Add a dash of Mike Rotman to the mix and you are off to the races.  Mike plays the Gelman (Live with Regis and Kelly) role by keeping the show flow smooth, helping with transitions, and sometimes offering up his unique perspectives on a film.  

For the audience, this is where the fun begins, you can hoot, holler, or even make a snarky remark, it's all part of the show.  Chad Vader Skypes in with his movie news of the week, they read the home viewers' opinions from the chat room, and then the audience tries to stump Wade and Mark with their opinions on obscure movies in the segment "Buy, Rent, Burn".  I was blown away by their encyclopedic knowledge of film.  If you can stump them, I will be impressed.  While they probably can't be stumped on obscure movies, they might be stumped on movie quotes.  Check out the interview and see what gave the guys pause:  

Finally, I hope to be back in the Streamin Garage with my movie pick in a few weeks.  I have been sitting down with a few of my choices and I've narrowed it down to four movies.  Which one will I pick?  Stay tuned.  If you know that I am a musical theatre geek, don't be surprised to see a pick from this genre. 

Be sure to catch Stupid for Movies on Thursdays 8PM PST/11PM EST.  

Photos 1-3 Courtesy of Sandra Payne:  

This and That....

It's a week of celebrations for our friends at Movies You May Have Missed as they celebrate their one year anniversary. The Web Files was able to interview Juan Bagnell and Lee Buckley last year and it was our first crossover episode. I appeared on their show and they appeared on ours. Be sure to check out their anniversary show filled with fun clips of the last twelve months. I am thrilled to make a cameo too! Congratulations, Juan, Lee, and the muscle behind the camera, Marie Bagnell.

Although this wasn't planned, our latest episode of The Web Files also features a movie review show called Stupid for Movies. I will have a behind the scenes blog up soon, but check out the episode with Mike Rotman, Wade Major, and Mark Keizer. I hope you enjoy the episode as much as I enjoyed filming it.




Web Series Today also wrote a nice feature on our latest episode. (And uh....a "feature" on my T-shirt.) Be sure to stop by, the site has had some great discussions and debates about the current web space lately.

From entertainment to fuel cell, I am always thrilled when I have the opportunity to represent the Advanced Technologies team at Toyota, so my two days at the National Hydrogen Association Expo was no exception. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped by the Toyota area to check out the latest concept in fuel cell, the FCHV-adv. He is constantly followed by a crowd of photographers and cameras, so it was a wild scene. I gave him the highlights of the technology and he asked some great questions. Then he posed by the Power Control Unit, a great photo op for Toyota and the Governor knows exactly what he is doing in those photos. He is a master at publicity....oh, and he smells good too. (He joins the Wayans Brothers as some of the best smelling celebs in Hollywood. Is it weird to notice these things?)

The master of the perfect publicity shot......Governor Schwarzenegger. However, I look like I am praying he will love the vehicle.  Photo courtesy of The Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

Me talking to the Governor about the FCHV-adv. Photo courtesy of Stephen Carr, The Long Beach Press-Telegram

Finally, for the musical theatre geek out there:  check out Every Little Step.  It follows the casting of the Broadway revival of the legendary musical, A Chorus Line.  The documentary will make your heart soar and bring you to tears all in 93 minutes.  Watch it, talk to me about it, and bring out your inner geek!  I promise it will inspire you.