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    Friday, January 22, 2010

    Costume College 2010 - what to teach?

    Just realized that the deadline for turning in Teacher's Forms for Costume College 2010 is FAST approaching. Eek! I haven't even thought about what classes I'm interested in offering to teach.
    (Deadline to submit forms is February 6, 2010)

    Any suggestions from the Peanut Gallery?
    :)


    Classes I've taught in years Past:

    *Average American Woman of the 1860s (Lecture - Open)
    >Taught 2007 & 2008

    *Regency Ettiquette (Lecture - Open)
    [My actual title: Ettiquette, Deportment & Social Manners in Regency England]
    >Taught 2008

    *Intro to Leather Tooling (Workshop - Limited Attendance)
    >Taught 2009

    *Timeline of Costuming (Lecture - plan on revising if I do again - Open)
    >Taught 2008 (co-taught with Rebekah Metzger)

    *Civil War Reenacting Panel (Panel Discussion - Open)
    >Taught/Participated in 2007 (I put together the hand out and kinda moderated :).

    Thursday, January 21, 2010

    Impromptu Road Trip to see Tommy & the High Pilots (December Madness)

    Ok, so back in December (2009), Tommy & the High Pilots were playing a concert up in their home city of Santa Barbara (CA).

    Elizabeth had been for a while saying how she wanted to go, but the drive obviously is a bit long from Orange County (especially if she was going by herself - hubby wasn't interested in tagging along, and there was their son L to consider as well). So, didn't seem like it was going to happen after all (though it was a fun daydream idea :). I didn't even consider the possibility for myself...

    ...and then I got E's text message (which she NEVER does) on the day of the concert around 2pm asking me if I'd drive up with her to the concert. I've been pretty busy up to this point, both with Real Life (RL) & Work (especially with work - overbusy & working some Overtime to try to keep on top of workload), so it caught me in an interesting mood. I actually stopped to consider the request seriously! :) After a bit of texting & a brief phone call between us, figuring out some of the logistics (such as how long of an esstimated drive time, when I could get off work, how soon I could get over to her place after I drove in the opposite direction to get home and change ;-) for this last minute hair brianed scheme of ours, we set about putting the wheels in motion. ROAD TRIP!!! :)


    I left work about 4:30p, headed home to quickly change and get back in the car...and managed to hit the 5 fwy (northbound) around 5pm...and merge with all the traffic heading North right then through Orange County. What normally takes around 20-30 minutes took a good hour. I showed up around 6:00pm at E's door, we piled into her car...and we were off!

    No stopping for dinner on the way as we were too worried about making it to the concert by 8pm (or a bit after), when we figured that Tommy & the High Pilots would go on (doors opened at 7pm, but someone else was opening for them). Fortunately, we made it JUST in time! Yay!! :) Orange County to Santa Barbara in 2.5 hrs! Managed to arrive about 8:30pm, found parking near the Bar/Club (location for Concert)...and then found our way to Soho (the bar/club). Paid our entrance fee of $10 (and showed ID :), and to our delight, they were just starting to set up the stage for the High Pilots! We made it!!! On Time! Awesome!!
    :)

    The concert itself was rocking! Energy was high - both on stage and in the crowd. Everyone was having a blast! (You can see for yourself in some of the videos I shot :)
    Here's a few pics from the night:

    Pic of E & myself - taken with E's camera




    Some shots of the band playing away...




    At one point in the night, E (wearing a knee length skirt, mind you) knelt on the floor to get a picture of the band performing on stage...and managed to get a nice cut on her knee (possibly as a result of some broken glass - someone knocked over & broke a glass near us earlier in the concert...even though it was standing room only where we were).
    After the band finished playing, they hung out in the back with everyone (and of course they had a Merch table set up). We let some of the crowd pass before we even attempted to go and socialize. I killed a few minutes by buying their cd (I had been meaning to get a copy earlier, and even had plans in the works to get one mailed to me from the Pmo as they only sold at concerts and up till that day I didn't think I'd be at a show till they were back down in LA/OC areas in 2010, but seeing as I was now THERE at the concert I was totally in favor of supporting the band by *actually buying* their cd.) I even did the deal of 'buy a T-Shirt and CD for $20'. :)

    I then proceded to go 'round the room, talking to each of the guys (mentioning that we saw them at Rusty's in Santa Monica and that we drove all the way up from OC - which they were suitably touched/impressed by the gesture :) and got their signatures on my newly purchased cd. Yay! :)
    Unfortunately, we weren't able to hang out very long with them as it was getting late and niether of us (E or myself) had eaten any dinner that evening. We asked for a late night food spot recomendation from them (Tom, Mike, & Pmo were all nearby us at this point) since this was the band's home town - so theoretically someone might know the area/what was open this late. Mike gave us directions for a spot down the way (theoretically w/in walking distance) that could still be open, & Pmo mentioned another place nearby the one Mike mentioned, so we set off on foot (in the chilled night air) in search of food.

    However, after a number of minutes of walking in the cold breezy night air, we weren't having much luck in finding any late night eateries open (besides an expensive looking restaurant that we passed on). Eventually, we turned around and stopped in the still-open CVS Pharmacy and picked up a few snack-items to tide us over. (I got some beef jerky & some kind of nuts/berries/granola/honey bar. Turns out my bar choice was a better one than E's choice - we both decided that the one she picked was Nasty! I shared some of mine with her :)

    So, we hoofed it back to our car and set off on the long drive back to the OC. Fortunately, we came across a still open In N Out (it was only around midnight at this point :) so took advantage and got some real food for ourselves. Yay! :)
    Then we settled in for the rest of the long drive back. Fortuately, I wasn't driving, as I many of you know how I do have a tendancy to nod off when driving (if tired enough). We got to E's house around 2am, and I got home sometime around 2:30am. Good thing that when we started hatching this crazy scheme I decided to take Wednesday Morning (12/23) off from work! (Yay for Half Days :).

    And that's the end of my crazy last minute Road Trip Adventure to see Tommy & the High Pilots in Santa Barbara only days before Christmas! :)

    To see MORE Pics and Video, you can check out my Flickr Site here. You can also check out just the video on Youtube here. (If you want to catch up on all my recordings from Tommy & the High Pilot's concerts, I also have a Playlist on my account dedicated just to them :).

    Wednesday, January 20, 2010

    English History Article - "Oldest remains of English royalty unearthed"

    I've always had a soft spot for English History - don't get me started on 12th Century/the Civil War between King Stephen & Empress Matilda (hey, I admit it, I'm an Anglophile ;-), and today a friend of mine posted a link (on facebook) to an interesting article published in the Telegraph.co.uk that relates to English History.

    Score! Right up my Alley!

    "Oldest remains of English royalty unearthed"
    by: Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
    Published: 6:50AM GMT, 20 Jan 2010.


    So I've decided to share the link as well. It's neat, and maybe a few other History Buffs out there will appreciate the info. :)

    Libeled Lady - 1936 screwball Rom Com :)

    So the other night I watched a wonderful gem of a movie, Libeled Lady (1936), staring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, & Spencer Tracy. (Names listed in order of screen cap/picture below :).



    Its a Screwball Romantic Comedy as only the 1930s can produce! It has a wonderfully convoluted storyline about a rich american heiress (Myrna Loy) who has been slandered by a paper (Spencer Tracy's) and she sues the paper for $5 Million in damages. With the help of William Powell's & Jean Harlow's characters, the various characters scramble about trying to figure out a way to straighten everything out (ideally get the lawsuit dropped) and lead in to the inevitable happy ending as only the 1930s Romantic Comedies can produce.


    It was a fantastic ride that I thoroughly enjoyed. Jean Harlow was in fine form giving as good as she got, slinging back some witty lines to both Spencer Tracy & William Powell. And its always fun to see the chemistry of Powell & Loy in these romantic comedies.



    Hope you enjoy the movie as much as I did!



    Here's some online reviews I found & places to find Additional Info on the movie:


    IMDB ; Amazon.com ;

    The Daleisphere ; Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind ; Dr. Marco's High Quality Movie Scans ; The Digital Bits - Barrie Maxwell's Classic Coming Attractions ; DVD Beaver

    (I also got these pics/screen caps from the above sites :).

    Wednesday, January 13, 2010

    Mmm....malty chocolate goodness!


    Mmm....malty chocolate goodness!
    Originally uploaded by marcailgaelyn

    a personal favorite pic from the CGW Ruby's Diner & Ice Skating Christmas Party set. :)

    Pic taken on 12-20-09 at Ruby's Diner (near Seaside Ice) in Redondo Beach, CA.

    CGW goes to Ruby's & Ice Skating - pictures now online!


    Group Shot #2
    Originally uploaded by
    marcailgaelyn

    Pics from Costumer's Guild West (CGW)'s December 20th outing to Ruby's Diner & Seaside Ice, in Redondo Beach, are now online.

    It was a cosutmed event, and we also made it our Christmas/Holiday party :)

    To view the entire set on Flickr (pics & video):
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterbec/sets/72157623193885764/

    2 videos are also available on YouTube:
    http://www.youtube.com/user/MarcailGaelyn