Drive All Night

So I was driving home last night from rehearsal and realized that, wwwhhhhoooaaaaa, I have NO gas. I worried about that and then for some reason, I thought about a book that I read when I was younger called "Al(exandra) the Great". The reason I thought about this was because the narrator (she NEVER had a name and that annoyed me a little) was talking to her little brother about how his friend put sugar in a gas tank to make the owner think he had gas but really didn't. That worried me even more but luckily, I just really didn't have gas, no sugar involved. And can you believe that I CANNOT FIND any info on this book? It certainly doesn't help that most of the things that pop up are about AlexandER the Great. Anyway...

So I turned my ipod onto shuffle to be distracted. First I listened to this.

Then this song came on. Hello 1998.

And then I made it to the gas station. It was a wild night, folks. Don't you wish you just drove around with me all the time?

Made the Big Times!

Last week, the Coyote came out with the Oscar issue- except instead of looking at movies, they vote on Best Professor, Best Class, Best Dressed, Best Administrator, Staff Member, Custodian, etc. The history department, no surprise, swept the field. They won pretty much everything, so congratulations to them. One of the awards is Biggest Party Animal and again, it's no surprise that the Biggest Male Party animal is a former student of mine...

Which brings me to the fact that I have clearly made a difference in student's lives. I've hit the big times. Here is a direct quote from my student who was asked the question: What professor would you pick as a bayroot (beer pong) parter?

"It would be a tough choice between Professor Angie Ivie and Professor Michal Yadlin. Thought I'm not sure, I'm willing to be Professor Yadlin probably played in the tournament when she went to school here, so I think she would be the most experienced professor on campus. Most experienced and I think she would be a really fun partner whether we lost or not. We would put up quite the fight. YADLIN RULES!!!!!!"

This does bring me to a favorite story of the summer, yet told on this blog. I had just come back from Nottingham and met Roni in City Centre to go to Tommy's house for a party. Just as we arrived, a beer pong game had finished and so we were recruited to be partners to play the next game. We were playing against a drunk, anti-American Royal Marine who had about three insults/put-downs that he used over and over and over again. He was the epitome of obnoxious/someone who things he's God's gift to the world. Just FYI: he is not. I'm a pretty terrible player but found that if I aimed with my left hand, I was a far better player. We finally got down to one cup each and then, for nearly eternity, we kept missing. Everyone around the table watching us just wanted the game to end, including us. This guy kept using his same three insults and we were pretty much the favorite underdogs. Finally, finally, finally, I sunk the winning shot (with my left hand!). No joke, there was pandemonium... everyone erupted in cheers and applause, we were hugged and high-fived, it was pretty incredible.

The moral of the story is:

1. at least one student wants to play bayroot with me

2. bayroot is a stupid game

3. I'm a far better bayroot player with my left instead of right hand.

The end.

Whhhhhaaaa?????

Did you know that this was a Real thing?

The Real Housewives of Israel?

From left to right: Lea, Imbar, Nicol, Dafna, Tali, and Eti

Nicol is 24 and a successful advertising agent and producer of "huge events" (by whose standards?)

Tali is the ex-wife of Eric Sinai and recently married 87-year-old billioniare Meshulam Riklis. And and she's a "dancer" from Tel Aviv.

Lea is the "pilates queen" of Herzaliya. I didn't know that was a legitimate title. She's also philanthropic and curates a private art collection.

Eti is pursuing her career as an artist and businesswoman in Savyon after divorcing her husband three years ago. She's "living the life of her dreams!" Zip-a-dee-doo-dah.

Dafna is a desirable and beautiful divorcee, former beauty queen, single mother of two and a lawyer by education. How is she a housewife?

Inbar is also a lawyer! That's all.

Wow.... I have no words, so I'll just let Etty explain...

Essentially translated as: I live such a great life and I want to give back so let me go bring this cake to the protestors in their tents. And now let's talk with them about how to change the world and also something about the prices of tomatoes. I'll also make a sign to show that I'm connecting with the "people".

Also, WHY is there an interview with Vicky Gunvalson on Israeli TV? WHY!!!!???

Women wear scarves? Dress conservatively? Not in Tel Aviv. And what is wrong with her eyes!? Ay yi yi...

But, this is hilarious.

Aquarius!

Highlights from this year's Aquarius Party.

-deliciously large nachos at Matador

- DRUNK as all get-out waitress at Piper Pub

-Trying to get Yosh and Jake (or "Josh") to sing "No Scrubs" at Shige's

-going on a walk with Becky

-taking over half of Pengillys

-debating about political and economic issues with a slightly drunk Yosh

-catching up with Abbey, Suzi and a few other people I hadn't seen in a long time

-"What are their jobs?"

"Um, barista at the Flying M, writers for the Boise Weekly, office worker, and waiter at Chili's."

"What about the blonde?"

"With the braids? Yeah, she's just Heidi."

-yummy cupcakes courtesy of Tiff

-Katie's mantra of the night "I hate Red Feather"

-"Oh I'm sorry, what did you want? I forgot to write it down."

"Coors Lite and a house Chardonnay..."

"Yeah, OK, got it....."

Ten minutes later.

"This is yours, right?"

-the Capitol building at night time, all lit up

-accidental zoomed in pictures

kate and becky at matador

katie, me and gina

tracylea and ed

frances, antonio, jake and katie

capitol buildling

abbey and me

gina, yosh and sam, after he took the camera

3/4 of the secret friendship circle, just missing mb

shots, shots, shots

me and tracylea after we dealt with the zoom fiasco

said zoom fiasco...

katie, antonio, and frances at pengilly's

me

me and kate at mulligans

one side of the table at matadors

the other side of the table

yosh feelin' fine....

Between the Wars

Thanks to Bryan for getting me to listen to this song (sorry it took so long). This just exactly what I'm studying.

I was a miner
I was a docker
I was a railway man
Between the wars
I raised a family
In times of austerity
With sweat at the foundry
Between the wars

I paid the union and as times got harder
I looked to the government to help the working man
And they brought prosperity down at the armoury
"We're arming for peace me boys"
Between the wars

I kept the faith and I kept voting
Not for the iron fist but for the helping hand
For theirs is a land with a wall around it
And mine is a faith in my fellow man
Theirs is a land of hope and glory
Mine is the green field and the factory floor
Theirs are the skies all dark with bombers
And mine is the peace we knew
Between the wars

Call up the craftsmen
Bring me the draughtsmen
Build me a path from cradle to grave
And I'll give my consent
To any government
That does not deny a man a living wage

Go find the young men never to fight again
Bring up the banners from the days gone by
Sweet moderation
Heart of this nation
Desert us not, we are
Between the wars

A Letter to Myself

Dear Michal,

Listen, I know that you love England. Everybody knows that you love England. And let's face it, England loves you. England has been very good to you. So has Scotland, Ireland and Wales. But not Waterford. That place hates you. Never go back.

That being said, it may be time for a change. I've complied a photo montage of places that you COULD be going to, if you ever decided to turn in your SNA to LGW/LHR card and maybe go else where.

You could, for example, enjoy the incredible musical heritage that one finds in both Salzburg and Vienna. You could sing "Sound of Music" and think of Mozart and Beethoven and all the other incredible composers that you love that have come through these two fair cities.

Or, you could finally venture south of the equator and hang out with Jesus up there on the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio. Plus, I hear they have some pretty incredible beaches there, as well as there's always a chance you could coordinate trips with Hadasi and Alexandre.... Just think about it.

You also know a lot of South Africans. Someone must have some family that you could stay with while you enjoyed Jo'burg and Cape Town and especially Table Mountain. And you'd be going at a time when there are no vuvuzelas. Thank heavens.

In keeping with the trend of going to the Southern Hempishere, you could go to an English-speaking place if you're worried about language, and see some incredible sights, like Alice Springs and Ayer's Rock in Australia or Mt. Cook in New Zealand. You could think about Bill Bryson and hobbits and see some vividly brilliant colors.

I suppose that if you decide you want to stay near the familiar, Barcelona is a good choice. The Gaudi Museum has some incredible architecture and if there's a chance that you could run into David Villa or Patches, well, that's never a bad thing...

Your next stop could be Berlin, which would, in fact, fit quite nicely with your thesis theme of -isms during the 20th century and the interwar period. And of all places, Berlin would be one of the most fascinating and historically relevant, especially with all the turmoil Germany went through during the 20th century

It's been awhile since you've looked at Ancient Civilizations and you know how much you enjoy the Greeks and the Romans. Remember that amazing timeline you made? Your next trip could easily take you to see the REAL Parthenon (not the Nashville one) or the Coliseum in Rome. Lots to contemplate about democracy, government and gladiators in both places.

Finally, you could always go to a place where you've wanted to go to ages and ages- the Haiga Sophia in Constantinople. This has been a dream for longer than England even (what!?), it's really about time that you went to see this.... right? Right?

So, in summation, England is awesome but there is so much more out there to see.

Love always,

Me

For Andrea...

First Celebrity Crushes

When I was in the sixth grade, we got these posters for completing DARE. Why? I have no idea. What I do know is that this spawned a massive crush on Scott Bairstow, Devon Sawa and Jonathan Taylor Thomas.

Oh man, did I love this movie. Based on the "true story" of the Stouffer brothers who did go on to film a TV show called "Wild America", all about the wild animals of the United States. Marty and Mark (Bairstow and Sawa), decide to spend their summer vacation going around the country and filming the animals that they find. Their little brother, Marshall (JTT), sneaks into the back of the truck and winds up tagging along.

Words can't express what this movie means to me- I have probably watched it fifteen million times, all between the years of 1997 and 2001. I've seen it several times since but most of my viewing were during my hormonal years as a teenager. I loved the brotherly relationship, where they loved each other but refused to admit it. Their mom was one of my favorite characters and of course, you're supposed to despise the dad until the very end, as we all do.

Some of my favorite parts of this movie include:

-Devonshire Cream, the Creamiest Cream

-when Marshall is revealed to be in the car

-when they wrote the Native American symbols on Marshall's stomach

-the moose episode

-everything about hunting the alligators, especially Creepy McCreeperson with no leg

-let's be real, pretty much most of it, except for the d-bag "best friend"

And because I can't find a trailer or anything, enjoy the first part of this amazing movie. And watch the rest on youtube. Because it's worth it.

500 Posts

I feel like I need to have a party. Or a give-away. Or something. Can you believe that a little over two years after starting my blog, I have posted 500 time? It has definitely been a wild ride these last 500 posts. I wish I could give you something fun like I have with all of the other big mile-stones but I'm still recovering from driving like seven million thousand miles these last few weeks so I'm going to post some other 500s, courtesy of typing in 500 to youtube. Enjoy the randomness of the Top 5!

While We're On the Subject....

So while we're discussing really depressing, dramatic films, I thought it would be a good time to talk about some of my favorite quirky films that I've seen lately.

Son of Rambow

Who didn't absolutely love the cheeky, sulky, hysterical Eustace Clarence Scrubb in the latest Narnia movie. I certainly did. So when I found "Son of Rambow", I decided I needed it to watch it immediately. The name of the movie is the same as the home movie made by the two little boys in the movie with a huge, old video camera and even huger ambitions. The story is told through the eyes of Will, the eldest son of a fatherless Plymouth Brethren (which made me laugh because of discussions with Katie and Tegan). Will, having grown up with the strict moral code of the Brethren, doesn't get on well in school and doesn't have any access to movies, TV, music, etc. He suddenly finds himself caught up in the imaginative, dangerous and new world of Lee Carter, the school terror and make of bizarre home movies. Lee, through manipulation and conniving-ness (is that a word? you get my drift...) manages to convince Will to be his stuntman in his home movie about Rambow's son. Hilarity, power-trips, changing roles, heartfelt sacrifice and odd stunts ensue and the ending is unexpected and incredibly touching. I don't want to say much more other than go see this movie!

I mean, just how adorable are these two?

Sixty-Six

Sixty-Six has been on my Netflix queue for quite some time and I've finally gotten a chance to see it. Bernie is the younger son whose older brother picks on him mercilessly and whose father is an uptight Jewish man overshadowed by his brother, unable to drive over 25 mph and enjoys covering all of his furniture (including the carpet) with plastic. Not only is Bernie rubbish at football during the lead up to the 1966 World Cup, but has asthma and super thick glasses. He discovers that his saving grace will be his bar-mitzvah, the one time that the "whole world" will focus on him, that God will shine a spot-light on him. He plans menus, seating charts, drinks, etc., despite the fact that his father and uncle's corner shop is going under due to the supermarket opening down the block. Bernie just takes knock after knock after knock- his bar mitzvah turns into a "family affair" with only a few people (unlike his brother's, which was attended by several hundred friends and family) and then, it turns out that the World Cup final is going to be on the same day as his bar mitzvah. Worst luck ever. So he decides to do whatever he can to keep the England team from winning- voodoo, spells, prayers, absolutely everything. I mean, I've never seen a kid with worse luck before. They cut in clips from the actual matches into this movie, which was also really fun to see. There are just so many heartbreaking, yet also hysterical and totally amusing moments in this film, especially watching everybody but poor Bernie cheer England on to an England victory. Again, I don't want to spoil the ending, so go out and get this on Netflix as well.

Other fun perks of Sixty-Six include Helena Bonham Carter as Bernie's mum, Catherine Tate as his uncle, Stephen Rea as the doctor, and Eddie Marsan as Bernie's dad.

Highly recommend you checking these great movies out! You will not regret it. And just as a little PS- I cried buckets while smiling through the last ten minutes or so of each of these movies. Just a warning...

SUNDANCE via Instgram....

So I forgot my camera (well, I remembered the batteries but forgot the camera, go figure) so Sundance today will be told via my instagram pictures.

After a short walk/run with Addy, I drove down to Salt Lake City with a big bag packed with food- what can I say, I had wayyyy too much food in the fridge and didn't want it to go to waste over the weekend.

I was a little worried about the drive because the weather had been pretty nasty during the week (lots of snow and rain and slushy conditions) but the drive was actually beautiful. And take heed, OREGON, the speed limit all the way down was a cushy 75 mph. I rocked out the whole way down.

I was greeted in SLC by my dear college roommie and, while the kid's napped and then played, we worked on E's room, dinosaur themed. Z and I played a lot of catch and played with the baby and Megan and I got to chat. For dinner that night, we went to get take-out from this legit Mexican restaurant, a la Tijuana Potter's Clay style, as Megan put it. My burrito was downright incredible. Full stop.

The next day, these two sweet munchkins, Megan, Thad and I walked, in the rain, to get some bagels and donuts. The walk required us to also eat a large cinnamon roll. Which we did.

Despite the rain, I decided to head up to Park City anyway. I started to regret my decision when I went over the pass, which was pretty snowy. There were a few moments of white-knuckling the steering wheel and wondering if I should- or even could- turn back. But in the end, with some skidding on back roads and the decision to finally just park in a supermarket parking lot, I found the shuttle to head up to Main Street.

No joke, I had been in Park City maybe two minutes when I ran into this guy.... Charlie Conway in the house, everybody! I tend to be pretty good at spotting people and the minute I saw this guy, I knew it was Joshua Jackson. He was very kind and after we crossed the street, he took a picture with me. I also told him that my sisters and I were big Mighty Ducks fans and that I had also once seen a guy in a bar in Idaho wearing a MD1 green purple and cartoon duck jersey. He loved that. Again, incredibly polite and I will always be a fan.

I spent a little time in the Filmaker's Lodge, where a panel about distribution was about to start (which I honestly didn't really care about so I got a free Nalgene and then headed back out in to the snow). It was coming pretty hard but since I was there, I was going to enjoy myself. I stopped into a few stores, saw Margaret Atwood in the bookstore, and got a free lunch (well, I had to "like" Chase Sapphire on FB) in the Sundance Channel HQ and then walked all the way back to my car, again in the snow.

Back in SLC, Megan and I changed and then headed up to Ogden in a pretty big snowstorm. We were the first ones at the Rooster but a few minutes later, the rest of the alumni crew showed up. Once again, there ended up being a kids table and an adults table and the kid's table was so much more fun. Megan and I talked with Kate and Katie and Jake and Paul were right next to us chatting as well, and the food was delicious.

Then it was into the theatre- I love the Egyptian theater in Ogden, and I love that we get our own little boxes with free popcorn and drinks. There was a really nice lady who was kind enough to find me a Diet Coke when there were no more in our area. So nice!

So now, let's talk about the movies. The first movie was called "Wish You Were Here". It's about a woman and her husband who go to Cambodia with the woman's sister and her new boyfriend, who they don't know much about other than he works in Cambodia. The four of them have a wonderful time but only three come home. The movie follows their struggles to come to terms with that happened to the boyfriend- is he dead, missing, on drugs? Nobody seems to know. The three remaining characters deal with the trauma and tragedy, as well as with the guilt and hurt of finding out that the husband and sister slept with each other (this ended up being a theme of the night....). There are flashbacks interspersed within the narrative and as you get closer and closer to the end of the movie, you find out more and more and at the end, there as a conclusion and a new hope for the future. The movie was honestly the most depressing movie I had seen in a long time. But at the same time, it did have some redemption at the end. Still would recommend it- for one viewing. It's not a feel-food movie you'd sit and watch with some chocolate. This is a movie you'd watch when you're already sad and need to eat some ice cream.

The second movie was called "Your Sister's Sister" and it started Emily Blunt, Mark Duplass (from the League) and Rosemarie DeWitt. Emily's character Iris sends Mark's character, Jack, to her dad's house on an island off the coast of Washington because he's had a rough year (his brother, Iris' ex-boyfriend) has died and he needs a place to just get his head together and recuperate. When he arrives, he finds Emily's sister, Hannah, there, played by Rosemarie. The two of them hit it off, get drunk and sleep together the first night (again, it's a theme here...). Iris shows up the next day and all soon becomes revealed, along with the revelation that Iris is possibly in love with Jack, even though she dated his brother and they are best friends. This movie is a little different in the way that they cope with all the revelations (including the big one that Hannah only slept with Jack because she wanted a baby and may be pregnant...) because they are so isolated from the modern, technological world. Jack can go out and camp and ride his bike, Hannah and Irish can go out to the lake or on long walks in the woods. They can't rely on computers, email, phones to call their friends, etc. Eventually, through time, they are all able to reconcile. Again, not necessarily an uplifting movie, but there were some hysterical moments of dialogue and facial expressions and the end, despite being abrupt and annoying, had hope as well.

In between the two movies, we went to one of the conference rooms of the Eccles Center for a little reception. Everyone introduced themselves and there was wine, beer and the most yummy cake ever. I didn't like the apple thing on the left side of the plate, but I could have no doubt eaten the entire cake all by myself. It was heavenly. Just like last year, I felt incredibly swanky and classy. It's a rare feeling :)

The next morning, I went to church with Megan and the munchkins and then got back on the road. The weather was just as perfect as Friday, which was so nice, and again, I appreciated the 75 mph. Also, the Galaxy chocolate bar that I consumed. Delicious. Sundance, 2012 definitely a success! See you next year!