Housewife in Hollywood - housewifeinhollywood.com

There’s one YouTube channel I visit the most. It’s the Official Soul Train channel on YouTube. If I’m feeling funky I search for some Funk and Get Down with Don Cornelius and the Soul Train dancers in my living room.

I was groovin’ and movin’ with the line dancers the first time I saw the show. I must have been about 5 years old. A blond haired, blue eyed kiddo who knew she liked Soul Train way better than American Bandstand.

My dad loved The Temptations, The O’Jays, and anything R&B. He showed me my first dance moves and I caught on right away. So if you’re ever feeling a little bit funky, take the Love Train to the Soul Train station. You’ll feel groovy in no time.

Do you have a favorite Soul Train memory?

When I was growing up Winter holiday decorations and Christmas music weren’t seen or heard until the day after Thanksgiving. Between Halloween and Turkey Day there was a calm before the holiday season that created a feeling of excitement when the first fake snowflake was spotted on the local store window.

These days we can see department store workers putting up their holiday displays the same day they’re moving the Halloween items to Clearance. This makes perfect sense from a marketing perspective but from what I’ve gathered from family and friends it’s a bit annoying to the consumer.

Back in the day before DVD, YouTube, Hulu and Netflix we actually had to wait until the appropriate season to see holiday specials. These specials aren’t so special anymore because we can watch The Grinch at Halloween or The Great Pumpkin on Christmas Day.

The latest pop culture tradition might be holding out to put up the tinsel until after we’ve cleaned off the Thanksgiving table, or waiting until the week before Christmas to watch Rudolph. I’m going to break tradition with my HIH holiday image above because I’m going on a holiday hiatus. I need some time to hibernate offline.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season with or without decorations. It’s a time to get ready for the New Year, to reflect on memories, and spread love in the form of hugs, gifts and even a dollop of Cool Whip.

Happy Holidays!

Click here to learn more about one of my holiday favorites, The Snowman.

For classic Christmas specials on DVD click here.

My grandfather served in World War II and he received a purple heart. My father served in Vietnam and he went on to the National Guard as a First Sergeant of a tank division.

Dad in Vietnam

I grew up listening to stories about my dad’s time in Vietnam. How he couldn’t stand The Beatles because Yellow Submarine  played over the speakers while he was on his way to war and how his life was threatened by another soldier. He’s talked about the weather, the people, and music the soldiers listened to when they had a chance. I’ve seen pictures of him and his platoon goofing around in old photos. But my dad didn’t go off to college or tour Europe after high school. He didn’t have a choice; he was drafted.  He didn’t bring back a scrapbook, or signed photo album. It wasn’t a vacation and it wasn’t just a character building experience. It was the Vietnam War.

When he did come back from Vietnam he wasn’t called a hero or offered the best jobs in town. He had to prove himself. He had to prove his sanity to potential employers. They wanted to know the details. Did the war make him crazy? Had he killed anyone? These were the interview questions he had to answer. The things he probably thought about on his way to and from the meetings, the questions that still might come up every now and then.

When I was little and my mom would tell me to wake dad up for dinner it was a tricky task. He would jump or jolt sometimes ready for a fight when I tried to wake him up if I didn’t do it right. I learned to wake him up slowly, sort of coax him out of sleep in case he was dreaming from some foreign place away from our suburban California apartment. Decades have changed this and he wakes up slow and steady these days but I remember wondering as kid why he was so jumpy just from waking up from a nap. So many veterans that came back from wars, so many that had to answer tough questions, relive moments and carry around unpleasant memories. They were the fortunate ones, they came back.

Here’s a video I found on YouTube the other night.

I am thankful for every veteran but I like to imagine what a wonderful era it will be when we don’t have to fight. I’m not sure what my dad thinks about this song. I might ask him today.

Click here for an Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial, leave a tribute, a story or photograph about any of the 58,256 veterans killed or missing in the Vietnam War.

We went to the library the other day, and the kiddo recognized many great Americans honored in the children’s section for Black History Month.

She said, “Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington Carver, the lady that made the Underground Railroad, and my Aunt Virginia.”

Her Great Aunt Virginia is my husband’s father’s sister. She was also an award-winning author of children’s books.

Virginia Hamilton won numerous awards for literature including the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, the Coretta Scott King Award, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Her book Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush was awarded a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award.

Check out this retro Snipet from fuzzymemoriestv.TV

Many of her stories went from the printed page to other media such as her novel The House of Dies Drear  made into a film starring Moses Gunn, and Shavar Ross in 1984. She collaborated with James Earl Jones to narrate her book The People Could Fly on CD.

Newbery Medalist Virginia Hamilton tells 24 stories that kept her ancestors’ culture alive during slavery, from spirited animal trickster tales and robust tall tales to spine-chilling tales of the supernatural and moving narratives of slaves in search of freedom. Twelve of these tales are on the 78-minute CD, including the hauntingly beautiful title story, “The People Could Fly,” Booklist praised the recording as “an outstanding and most welcome production that both complements and extends the original work.”—from her official website www.virginiahamilton.com

Her stories inspire young and old to read, write and share their own stories with future generations. Virginia’s love of storytelling and the arts have been passed down to her own children. Her son Jamie Adoff is a writer, and her daughter Leigh Adoff  is an opera singer.

Virginia Hamilton left this earth on February 19th, 2002 but her stories can be found in libraries, bookstores, and inside our minds and hearts, thank you Virginia.

“The past moves me and with me, although I remove myself from it. It’s light often shines on this night traveler: and when it does, I scribble it down. Whatever pleasure is in it I need pass on. That’s happiness. That is who I am.”—Virginia Hamilton

I have to say that 2008 has been a pretty good year for Housewife in Hollywood.com

I started this zany idea in May with a birthday trip to The La Jolla Comedy Store. Since that time I’ve met many interesting people. I’ve interviewed musicians, actors, an artist, a writer, a director, a pirate queen, and the legendary Jack LaLanne.

2009 will bring extra excitement to Housewife in Hollywood.com! More interviews with talented individuals! More trivial small talk about all things pop culture! More cute videos of Chihuahuas!

Thank you to all the visitors. Thanks to all my MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter friends for your wonderful comments, support, and friendship.

Thank you to my family, friend’s offline, and the “man behind the green curtain” who is there to help when I’m clueless about techy internet stuff.

It’s time to celebrate! Hang up that disco ball, turn on the strobe lights and turn up the volume on your MP3 list! Here’s one of my favorite celebration songs from the fabulous Daft Punk.

Don’t forget to watch Dick Clark  ring in the New Year with his traditional countdown on ABC.

I’m taking a holiday break but I’ll be back soon with lots more HIH fun. Grab a hot cocoa, take a peek in my archives, and browse through my interview section.

I hope you get what’s on your holiday list, have some fun, relax a bit, laugh and share special moments with family and friends.

Happy Holidays!

With Talk Like a Pirate Day  just around the corner I’ve been feeling very “piratey” lately. Last night I took my brother, and my sister-in-law to a Pirates Press Gang Rhythm and Rum Party in Long Beach, CA at The Blue Cafe.

I usually get to bed by 10:00 and a couple of the bands I wanted to see didn’t get on stage till 11:00. This housewife is dragging a bit today but it was well worth the lack of sleep.

The evening was full of authentic looking pirates, tribal dancers, unique pirate rock music, and even some retro swing tunes thrown into the mix. Stay tuned for more about the two great bands I danced the night away with. Now I need to get back to dusting and cleaning the kitchen. Well, maybe after a little afternoon nap.

Thanks to George Davis for my new logo design. George aka GEO is a talented artist specializing in comic book, tattoo, rock band, and tiki art. He also made my alter ego look like a housewife hottie! If only I could erase and color in my real self each morning I’d have loads of fun getting all dolled up.

George is also a member of The Fairfield Fats Band.
If you’re near the San Diego, CA area on Friday the 18th stop by the Tiki House for the 8:00pm show, and tell him the Housewife in Hollywood sent you.

Find out more about George Davis, and his awesome artwork at http://www.myspace.com/tikigeo

Merchandise featuring this new design will be available soon at the Housewife in Hollywood Shop!

My plan was to see Juliette Lewis and her band at the Viper Room on Friday night but the housewife part of my life took precedence. Instead of rocking out in Hollywood I cleaned the house while listening to their album Four on the Floor.

Many of you might know Juliette Lewis from her acting career. She played Gilbert’s love interest in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, starred in Cape Fear, Natural Born Killers, Kalifornia, and The Other Sister. That’s just a handful of projects she’s completed. Juliette’s a little gal with a hefty filmography list.

Although she’s best known for big screen performances, her focus has shifted to pop-rock with Juliette & the Licks. When she’s rocking it on stage, I’m reminded of a young Mick Jagger, if he was a girl, minus his infamous lips. She has beautiful lips mind you, but no one can contort their lips the way Mick can. Her voice is reminiscent of the soulful wanting of Janice Joplin.

While watching a few Youtube interviews with Juliette I can see how she can perform with such intense creativity. She seems to tap into that crazy that many artists use to fuel them beyond the common place.

I’m still a bit downhearted that I wasn’t feeling like a rock star at The Viper Room Friday night but there will be other chances. Sometimes not doing what we thought we should do can lead us to some other form of enlightenment. For me, listening to Four on the Floor while sweeping the tile reminds me to let that crazy out when I can. There’s enough time for the common place in our lives.

Here’s Juliette & the Licks performing Sticky Honey. You can really see some Mick Jagger style moves in this video.

This housewife has way too much junk in her trunk, and that’s not just in my mini-van. So to rid myself of the excess baggage around my midsection I’ve upped my work out schedule. Normally this would be a grueling task worse than 10 loads of laundry but I’m equipped with the endorphin pumping playlist of The Chemical Brothers.

Many of you have probably known about The Chemical Brothers for years but I just heard about them about two years ago when my younger brother had their song Do It Again on his Myspace profile.

I’ve never been one to sweat to the oldies. I love vintage, retro music, but it does nothing to motivate me into burning off calories. The Chemical Brothers alone can fuel your work outs. Their electronic music with pulsing beats help to keep me pushing on past my fatigue level. This is one of my favorite songs and music videos. The message is great too, Get Yourself High:

I’ve heard their live acts are amazing with strobe lights, psychedelic imagery and lasers that project over the crowd. If only I could find an aerobics class like that I’d burn off 1000 calories a day! Too bad we didn’t already have Star Trek like holodecks where we could submerge ourselves into a dance club effect without ordering fattening, and unhealthy beverages. Of course that could always be used the wrong way and we could spend our time goofing around like Captain Piccard, Data, and Riker.
What a waste of technology!

What’s on your playlist; what music gets your body moving?