Congratulations Bean-towners!!!
10 years ago, there was NO World Series(strike).

4 years ago, NYC was split between the Yankees & the Mets.

Here's hoping that this clear, quick victory is a sign of things to come.

Chinquapin

RedSox Sweep During Lunar Eclipse-1st sign of the Apocalypse?
Mood:  don't ask
Is this what GWB is hearing in his left ear from God?

Catch y'all'll after the game.

Chinquapin

It's raining like a Raymond Chandler novel
I rented The Big Sleep on DVD over the weekend- my 1st full weekend in a few weeks. About 15 minutes in, I heard rain outside my window. Rain is a very unexpected sound in mid-October in southern California.

I love The Big Sleep, I've seen it many times and I wanted to see the "original" cut. I had a bad disc, and the 1945/46 comparison section had been marred on both sides of the disc(PISS!). Anyway, I always thought it was strange that it rained, and rained hard early in the story. I'd never been west of the Mississippi until '78, and never in SoCal except to drive through Needles, CA. Who knew about El Ninos if you didn't live out here?

I think I'll read some Chandler(love those Devil Winds)this month. I've read the Hammett novels a few times, they're great, but not LA based. I wish somebody would shoot a faithful version of Red Harvest.

And so, the following is dedicated to MtAnnie, while we wait to hear from the Bravo network.

A "statement" from Raymond Chandler...
On attending the Academy Awards for the first (and last) time, c. 1941: "If you can get past those awful idiot faces on the bleachers outside the theater without a sense of the collapse of human intelligence; and if you can go out into the night and see half the police force of Los Angeles gathered to protect the golden ones from the mob in the free seats, but not from the awful moaning sound they give out, like destiny whistling through a hollow shell; if you can do these things and still feel the next morning that the picture business is worth the attention of one single, intelligent, artistic mind, then in the picture business you certainly belong because this sort of vulgarity, the very vulgarity from which the Oscars are made, is the inevitable price that Hollywood exacts from each of its serfs."

Ouch.

Tonight's specials(check out The Big Sleep):
Brandy... in a glass
Rye... in a paper cup
Bourbon... water back(watched Out Of Sight too.)

Chinquapin
(tonight's password is... trenchcoat)

***********************************************************
I'm thinking about painting this Chandler jem along the hallway to the patio/pier.

"I'm an occational drinker, the kind of guy who goes out for a beer and wakes up in Singapore with a full beard." --"The King in Yellow"

Wonder where I can get ahold of the Powers Boothe "Philip Marlowe" series? What a great voice over voice. Come-on HBO, or ITC, or who ever.

Chinquapin

Now I'm embarrassed
The Nut House is like that old high school friend you keep meaning to call, but the longer you put it off, the harder it is to pick up the phone.

This is the first weekend in about a month that I've had a full day to relax. Nice and rainy last night, it's so strange to have to get used to the sound of rain every autumn. At least I got to sleep in this morning.

I'm going to check out/catch up on my blog-munity, then I'll check back here.

Chinquapin

Happy Birthday to Me
Mood:  not sure
I'm such a bad hostess. I'm going out with some girl-friends to celebrate another year of life(for me and one of the other girls). I'll try & get inspired by the swanky(I hope it's still swanky)"bar", and liven things up at The Nut House this week.

Mr.Man is going OOT again, this time for a 3 week job(yea-money comin' in). As long as the computer doesn't crash(again), I should be a much better hostess.

As for the birthday, no big deal. Right now I feel like the Tennessee Ernie Ford song "...another day older & deeper in debt.", so another year older ain't no thing. This is the 2nd year without a grandparent phone call, although I did get 3 singing & one(dad)loud well wishing calls. Queenie, you've got YEARS of calls to go if my life is any indication. You'll miss those goofy calls once they stop.

Oh well, got to get ready. I go out so infrequently that it's hard not to make too much of a big deal out of getting a little dressed up. Now if I could find some cute, cheap, comfy flats, this would be a day to remember.

Viva la Libra.

Chinquapin
(the password is... Balance)

Happy Equinox!
Ok, 2nd attempt at this.

I am Beat. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things this weekend. Did anyone make it to the Yucatan , or balance an egg today? How about a lego Stonehenge?

Chinquapin
(the password is... Do Over)

Ants, Computers and Red Carpets
Mood:  don't ask
Where shall I start?

The ant invasion continues. Every 2-3 days we have to move the cats' food because those boogers(what do you call basically sexless animals that don't have sex?) are coming through every outside wall.

Next, I finished my script and decided to print it up the next day... WRONG. The computer crashed while being turned on, and even though I'd saved the script on every drive & a floppy, Mr.Man couldn't find the softwear to load onto the "edit" computer. After 3 hellish hours(and a unnecessary new power supply), he did manage to put the hard drive into the "edit" computer and I got the script printed & my other submission elements out just before THAT computer died. It was comforting to see someone else at the post office with their envelope at 4:55pm Saturday afternoon(It had to have yesterday's postmark).

What's next... The Emmy's. The arrivals have begun, but because of the time delay for the west coast, I'll know who won what before the show starts out here. So of course, that puts the focus on who's wearing what. Mt.Annie & I will be paying special attention as we may be attending the 2006 Emmy's after one of us wins the Bravo contest(got to think positive).

So, that's what's going on, aside from my car getting a new transmission(OUCH)and prepping for Sunday Afternoon Tea. What cocktails should be on special tonight? What would be appropriate for the Emmy's?

Cosmos- in honor of the last of Sex And The City.
Irish Coffee- in honor of the last Friends.
A really fine Brandy- in honor of the last Frasier.

Let me know if any of you have an "Emmy" drink, and we'll make it a permanent part of the menu(if it's any good).

Chinquapin
(the password is...Manolos)

Hello, I'm Back...
The Nut House will be back in full swing this weekend. Mr.Man is back, and the best thing I can say about the whole Bro-in-law experience is that atleast his body didn't get lost in transit between FLA and the home "fly-over" state(thank you Francis).

I've got so much catching-up in the blog-o-sphere, and there's that cleaning up of my Bravo Sitcom script(congrats Mt.Annie), so I'll be starting back with baby steps.

It's finally cooled off here, so it's off to bed with a hot toddy for me. Thanks for all of your kind thoughts.

Chinquapin

Guest Host from NYC
The following is from my sister in NYC. I'd asked her to Guest Host during the RNC, but she had company and just got this to me. Just a little slice of her life from last week(sorry about the format).

My New York (Aug 28 - Sep 2)

The Republicans were coming, but I had more important things to do. I had to get things together after having just painted my apartment (including some major spackling, caulking and sanding) and having a friend (VRK) visiting for the US Open.

I live about 25 blocks north of the George Washington
Bridge and the choppers were already circling. VRK arrived on time and beat me to Port Authority. Once we got settled we started to hit the NYC type stuff on her list. Both of us were hungry so first stop 2nd Avenue Deli. V's Hot Pastrami was fantastic and although it had about 3-4 servings of meat for a regular sandwich, she was starving and polished it off - and meat is your friend if you are on the South Beach diet (we would overload on carbs later).

Now I am not much of a red meat eater and I love cheese, so a kosher deli is not a regular stop for me, but I had a tasty turkey sandwich, We were
planning to walk and it was hot so I couldn't take the 2 servings of meat I had left over with me. 2nd Ave Deli for me is good quality, but a little pricey.

Off to China Town - I needed a new $10 watch. In less than an hour V was fading fast. The cheapest flight took her to Atlanta to change. A two-hour
journey took 5 hours plus the hour on each end of ground transportation. She left her house at 4:30 am and had not slept the previous night. So we
jumped an A train changed at 59th Street for a 1 and embarked upon the Upper West Side to grab supplies for the next morning's repast. 80th and Broadway
is Zabars where we bought some yummy apple danishes and the across to H & H Bagels. It would be great to live around here and enjoy all the amenities of the upper west side, however I have an upper Manhattan budget.

We took a leisurely stroll to the park (Central that is) enjoying a couple of ice-cold pops (I only say "pop" on occasion when a Midwestern friend is
visiting). Hopped a C train switched to the A at 125th street and arrived at my little walk up pad by early evening. V seemed pleased, after a brief recovery from the 4-flight climb, with the apartment makeover. She drifted off twice over the next few hours and we were both asleep for good by midnight on a Saturday night. Ahh the New York high life.

Sunday morning we enjoyed our yummy apple danishes -worth the upper West side price and headed down for a lottery shot at discount matinee tickets. Instead
of waiting in line for hours and hours like a bunch of dead-head fans many shows have a lottery that requires a limited amount of time two hour
before the show. Your name in a bin, spin the bowel and if you get picked you get a discount seat.

At the 42nd Street stop the police were assembling en
mass underground. I have never really seen that many cops together up close. I had forgotten about the big protest march past Madison Square Garden
and up 8th Avenue. We arrived at "Avenue Q", the south Park meets Sesame Street Tony winner, to find it canceled. I don't know if it was the republicans
(Ave Q was not one of the recommended shows for the uptight conservatives. Too bad, Up With People on Broadway has never been an option) or perhaps the
protester march that was coming up 8th Avenue scared off the producers or maybe the cast was part of the march, I just don't know. I thought of the next best show that I knew had a lottery and V might enjoy, HAIRSPRAY. Everybody with a name in the bin got tickets thanks to the republicans scaring
off the locals and many tourists. We killed time for a few hours at the American Girl Doll store and the NBA store (both on 5th Avenue) as well as the Times Square Toys R Us. We actually rode the Ferris Wheel - yes two grown women with no child. We shunned the Barbie car and went for the Tonka truck.
There was a nice AC breeze and I have to admit it was a little fun, but I am a thrifty gal (yeah that's right I'm cheap) and $3 seemed a little much.

We enjoyed the show and after clawing our way through Times Square - more protest stuff we headed for the grand finale of our day . . .. Amy Ruth's.
Good Homecookin'. We got off the 2 train at 116th and Lennox, the line - there is always a line- was short and we were seated in 15 minutes. We had done
full dinners last fall on V's last visit, so this time it was Chicken & Waffles (I did Bacon). A side of Collards and candied yams. Ooh let
me tell you, THE best waffle I have ever had and I love those yams. V rounded hers off with a little sweet tea and that was some meal.

It was still early so we strolled through Harlem to 125th Street. Just east of the Apollo Theatre was
a vendor selling old music videos and had a sample showing on a 13" set. The Jackson 5 (sans Jermain and plus Randy) in the white glitter suits.
Dancin' Machine! Ah Michael, with only one nose job under his belt. Ooh bop diddy-bop. There's little Janet in the audience on a break from Good Times.
We headed home.

Monday morning. The morning session was sold out. We took a dry run out to Flushing to pick up our tickets for the evening. The #7 was a smooth
ride but we were opposite the rush our and no express trains were running so I was a bit impatient with all the local stops (as it turned out we would
always be traveling against the rush so we never got to ride an express train). The next to last stop on the 7 and you either go to Shea Stadium or the Tennis
stadium - you never have to hit the street. I love seeing the world's fair globe that is part of the park and tennis grounds. Lots of lines and security, but it wasn't very clear where you went to get the tickets. V had been a little bothered by the gruff and not very helpful responses to
our questions, but we found it and got what we needed. We decided not to try getting any scalper's tickets and headed back to Manhattan. We were
debating whether to hang out in a nice air conditioned movie house, but I explained that once inside the Magic Johnson Theatre in Harlem it was just like being in the suburbs. Also I was not really up for a Tom Cruise movie - not my favorite actor under any circumstance. Besides we were both hungry, having had our H7H bagels a few hours ago. I chose my favorite West side restaurant
"Vnyl". On 9th Ave and 54th Street we chose from our record album cover menus (Sinatra & Rondstadt) Delicious Sesame Chicken and Chicken Veg Stir Fry with a spring roll appetizer. It was delicious all around. The Sesame Chicken fad a slightly citrus flavor that I hadn't had before. New recipe yum. We
ordered out desserts off the Motown 45 dessert menus to go and headed to the A train.

We caught Jennifer Capriati's 1st round match on TV (one of the must sees on V's list) had a quick nap, ate our take out treats, changed clothes and back
to Flushing. Now I'm not a huge tennis fan but IU have to admit it was pretty cool being there. We found our seats up in the stands and prepared for
Serena Williams - what would she be wearing? At 7:00 we were ready but the opening ceremony was not. Finally the Afro-Latin ensemble form Jazz at Lincoln
Center started playing - delightful of course - actor Live Schreiber made some introductions and then the Bush's came to officially stat the open.
There were boos from the crowd and I have to admit I was doing it too until I realized it was Bush 41 w/ Babs - I stopped - wrong Bush (but I didn't clap
either). Just before 8 pm the players hit the court, Serena in a denim skirt and these patent leather looking Nike boots up to her knees - After the
warm up the top part of the boots came off leaving just the sneaker part. She won quickly in two sets and we awaited the next match. The evening was
beautiful - rain had been a threat all day but never happened and now the evening breeze was quite refreshing. Half way through the Agassi match they
gave out courtside passes for people to move down (I guess they wanted seat fillers for the TV cameras after some people started to leave). V saw a guy
ask a couple if they wanted to move court side and she yelled, "Hey, what about us. I'm from Cincinnati!" I'm not sure what the Ohio connection
was good for, but we got them and took off for courtside. You have to exit the stands level run down two levels and re-enter. We got two seats in the second level up from the end of the court. I was ready to settle in, but V was coping out for better spots. You have to move when the ball is not in
play so we waited for the end of one game and took off. We got to a space facing the side court and stood to wait for the next break in play, then scrambled down to 4hth row right on the net - woo hoo! And for this near-sighted girl I have to
say closer is better. Agassi won in 3 sets and V got some great pictures. We followed the crowd, ran to get on the 7 and headed back to Manhattan.
Once there we changed to the A (local by now after 11pm) arriving at my place about 1:15am. The temperature was cooling, but the humidity was still going strong, so we cranked the AC back on and settled in.

Morning came quickly and I opted out of the neighborhood diner breakfast for a bit more sleep. We got some Dunkin' Donuts mediocre breakfast and
headed out for a full day of Tennis. Some of the information folks were much more helpful this time - although I noticed some southern and Midwestern
accents -not locals. V found the clothing souvenir from a very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful Nike worker (Midwesterner) and when informed that the top
had matching pants she was hooked. She was unsure of the size and the friendly Wisconsin lady told her she could try them on anytime today and exchange the
size later. We caught a few matches in the Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadiums (I still have to find out what connection Louis has with tennis in
Flushing) and forgive me if I don't know all the players, and moved around to some of the smaller courts for a set here and a set there. had a bad
soft pretzel - very dry, V had a pretty good hot dog. . V saw a client that she knew would be there and she was in the president's box in the Ashe stadium, but we weren't allowed near it. I berated V for not having her # and calIing to set up a meeting, but oh well. The main attraction for us that day was Venus Williams - 4th up in the Armstrong stadium. Well match #1 went to 5 sets and when we checked in with match # 3, knowing that the popular Venus might fill the stadium and wanting to get a good seat, we found
that this was a long match too Zep and Hinedman. We were hot and tired from a long morning in the sun - I got a little sunburn, which is rare for me, so
we found seats in the shady part. I drifted off to sleep a bit. After an hour we thought we would chance it and get some dinner. I was delighted to
find a make your own salad stand - I would not have to have burgers, fries or Pizza yeah! V had a not so great hamburger. People were arriving for the evening session and Venus had yet to play. We had day tickets and got back in the Armstrong and found good seats. The match was still going on. Hindman
a seeded player was really getting a challenge from Zep. By now many fans had switched to cheering for Zeb.. After 4 hours and 5 sets Hindman pulled it out.

Now it was Venus time. Just before they entered, V took off, "there she is." I thought she was going for some close-ups of Venus, but when she returned it
was the client that she had seen. She had courtside seats and some of her colleagues were leaving soon and we could join her. The match began and Venus
was doing well. At the end of the first set we got over to the courtside seats and the FRONT ROW. When Venus was on our end we were 10 feet from her.
The client friend, her sister and I all giggled to see V' excitement. Well Venus won the match all to quickly and we moved on over to the Ashe stadium
only because we had the evening session tickets. Roddick, Ruddick, Reddick(sorry I always get it wrong) was playing a 17 year old new kid Jenkins
who could barely keep his serve. He won a few sets and did return a few good ones even got 1 ace. The crowd was rooting for him because they knew what
he was up against. We left in the 3rd set and headed for the train. It was a super and long day.

Wednesday morning we had one more food stop, The Pink Teacup, a Greenwich Village soul food place. We had been before on a Sunday on V's last visits.
Today it was empty no waiting outside. We had a delicious breakfast (I now like grits) and ahead of schedule we spent a bit of time in the lovely
now not humid and sunny morning in Washington Square Park. The Gate that had been around the arch for a few years is down now and the graffiti is gone too.
Time for a last picture by the fountain and off to port authority for the bus to Newark airport.

Time for me to get back to normal, I stopped at the actors equity office to check what I'd been missing for the last few days then headed home for
a nap. Then I had a 6:30 audition for a play festival. - Btw -I think I just got offered that job. V made it home safe and sound many hours later.

I might have been protesting if V had not come, but I did the NYC thing instead. Thursday when I left my temp job some motorcade of cop cars and those black suv's had disrupted 23rd street so I walked across town to my A line and later that night watched W's speech hoping that he might flub up like he does, but alas he did not ad lib the well rehearsed and formal
speech. I did yell back at him a few times especially when he started talking about health care and education (I haven't heard a word for months about such things)and I saw that 60 minutes repeat about how the Houston schools when Bush was Governor that pretty much faked, flubbed, fixed and LIED about there drop out rates and test scores. It was all LIES - LIAR!!!!!!!

One final bit of indignation when I realized that the national news carried Bush's speech and the little after party picture op until well after 11:15pm
So the Bushies got more air time that the Democrats did Grrrrrrrr.

Now they are gone - or leaving. I won't hear any more choppers over my apartment - until the next highway or code orange incident occurs, my streets
will be clear, well, ok that's a relative statement. I missed the whole tax-free week and didn't get to buy any clothes. I love my city. NYC and we can go back to out numbering the republicans 5-1 or whatever it is.

Closed Due To Death
The Nut House will be closed for the next few days. Mr.Man's Bro-in-law passed away as Frances approached FLA. He was 84 and had lived a rich life.

I had jokingly commented to Nessa that I'd never seen anyone ignore God's call so strongly, that a hurricane was sent to "bring them home". He squeezed every moment out of the bit of life that I witnessed.

R.I.P.

Chinquapin
(P.S. My sister will Guest Host one day next week.)