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 had no clue it was once illegal. Who knew it was taboo? Speaking of who, how about The Who…

Here we go with some Pop Culture Syndrome synapses. Doesn’t Pete Townshend from The Who look a lot like Schmendrick the magician from The Last Unicorn?

I was never a pinball wizard but I wasn’t too shabby either. TILT!

If I could have any pinball machine in the world what would it be? I think I’d go with an Edward Scissorhands theme, or maybe Gilligan’s Island.

How about you? What would your ultimate pinball machine look like?

The Last Unicorn on IMDb click here.

Official website for The Who: www.thewho.com

Cool pinball machines for sale: www.thepinballcompany.com

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?

Please give your support to Haiti now, http://www.hopeforhaitinow.org

Speidi is a word taking all shapes and forms in Hollyweird. Here’s one my kiddo found from her favorite parody singer VenetianPrincess called Speidi Free:

Reality shows, plastic surgery, 15 minutes of fame, even if society becomes Speidi Free it’s inevitable Hollyweird will crank out other versions of the same idea. What do you think of all the Speidiness? Entertaining or Annoying?

Looks like Heidi is breaking away from Speidi a bit with her own music career. Check it here: http://www.myspace.com/heidimontag

Speaking of music, my brother told me about a cool production tool called Auto-Tune. It corrects pitch and just about anyone can go from their day job to pop singer quickly. I wish they had this connected to my local Karaoke Bar.

Here’s a viral vid of viral vid’s including Kanye West blasting Taylor Swift and the kiddo’s from “Charlie Bit My Finger” all Auto-Tuned so their words sound sort of like singing. What they can do with technology these days!

This makes a bit of a problem since my blog is named Housewife in Hollywood.com. My tagline is, “The housewife part is true, Hollywood is just a metaphor.”

Luckily, to me Hollywood is a state of mind, an attitude, a desire to dream, that flashy pop coolness we all have inside us. Some hide it deep down under layers of To-Do lists while others show it off daily with hip style and fun interests. I don’t mind that my interest in Hollywood is changing or that my fascination with pop culture has shifted closer to counter culture lately.

I came across this poignant South Park clip the other day.

If you got this far you might be wondering WTFunk does this have to do with anything? Not much really, except that like Kyle Broflovski I’ve been asking what am I going to do. Some days I feel like The Fonz when it comes to this site. I should jump a few buses, say Aye and keep on being cool. Other days I think ahh “success is hollow, hollow like a dead tree”. If you watched the clip this would all make more sense. Maybe.

As David Lee Roth once said, I might as well jump.

Infomercials and As Seen on TV products have been around for decades. It seems that every week there’s another fabulous product for only $19.99. Seeing these commercials & fascinating new product innovations over and over got me thinking. Maybe I’m watching way too much TV.

But wait! There’s more! No not really, but here are 5 Infomercial Inspired Ideas to ponder:

Bumpit’s

Back in the 80’s we got our hair lift from teasing and a can of Aqua Net. Sorry ozone layer! These days there’s an easier and less hazardous solution called the Bumpit. They even have a Hollywood Bumpit. Yeah baby!

Changing ones head shape with hair is nothing new. Look at Marie Antoinette or Annette Funicello. But can the Bumpit withstand a Beach Blanket Bingo?

The Big Top Cupcake

Do we really need colossal sized cupcakes? My 8 year old thinks so. These cupcakes could feed The Brady Bunch because they’re 25x bigger than a normal size cupcake. 25x BIGGER! They can be filled with all sorts of tasty stuff like pudding and ice cream. You can have a cupcake with 2 flavors in one. Get inspired with all the fun ideas in the Big Top Cupcake Gallery, click here.

Don’t eat that whole Big Top at once! You might have some wacky cupcake dreams.

The Potty Patch

This is a tempting product for our household because we adopted an adorable and neurotic little Chihuahua named Nash a few years ago. He was an outside dog before we brought him to our home and like many Chi’s he has potty issues.

Maybe I should bring in a little bit of the outside with The Potty Patch. Let’s look at what this cute little Airedale named Basil thinks about it.

The InStyler

As a housewife I’m rarely in style with anything but this amazing rotating hot iron got me thinking about actually styling my hair once and awhile. They say it “styles faster than you ever dreamed possible” so I’m thinking being in style everyday could become a reality.

Redbook bestowed their MVP Most Valuable Product of 2009 on The InStyler. Let’s take a look as these Hollywood types use the InStyler to transform Haley’s fine, limp, no-body hair to something with kick, lift and WOW!

What do you think? Are you InStyle?

The Perfect Brownie Maker

My favorite dessert just might be brownies. I could eat a whole tray full. If had a tray full of perfect brownies I might eat two!

Perfect brownies are great but special brownies can get you in some deep hot fudge. Make sure all your ingredients are safe. If not, be sure to remember how many brownies you ate before calling 911. Check out this animation via Current about the cop who had too many special brownies.

Happy 5 on Friday! Here’s a song by the group CunninLynguists you can sing all weekend long.

“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).

So far this “Follow the White Rabbit” idea has served me quite well. Of course I’m not literally chasing a white rabbit. That would be nonsense now wouldn’t it? I am following any idea that I find interesting even if it turns out different than I hoped for.

With 2010 just beginning, I hope to continue this rabbit chase whenever possible. Meanwhile I’ve been researching all things Alice, partly because of my white rabbit notion and also the fun film trailers that are out starring my favorite actor Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.

Tim Burton directs the film Alice in Wonderland coming out in March, 2010. As usual many of his own favorite actors are involved such as Helena Bonham Carter, Christopher Lee, Timothy Spall, and Alan Rickman. To see who else is on the cast list and get more info, click here for the official site of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland in 3D.

I’ve always loved Walt Disney’s animated version of Alice in Wonderland (1951). According to Burton this one will be quite different. Alice Kingsley is now 19 and finds herself chasing the rabbit once again back to Wonderland even though she has no recollection of being there before. It’s obvious from the trailer that he’ll be working his gothic magic on this film and Hot Topic has already gone merchandise crazy with everything from T-shirts to key rings. I know because I have one already myself. Thanks Aunt Diane!

All this Alice talk has me thinking of the song from Jefferson Airplane called “White Rabbit”:

Speaking of Grace Slick did you know she’s an accomplished artist? Check out her work by touring this link: http://www.areaarts.com/wonderland/tour.html

Remember what the door mouse said, “Feed your Head.”

Here’s the short version. Mork was an alien that landed in Colorado and was lucky enough to move in with Mindy a hot chick that was also super sweet and could rock overalls like nobody else. Besides all that out of this world retro nonsense I was searching for some Shazbot flashbacks the other day and found this clip that sums up my feelings about my website.

Check it!

See I don’t make money on this site. I don’t tally viewers or try to get more hits. I make friends, acquaintances, let off some creative steam and take a break from the dirty dishes. This little clip of Mork talking about workmanship made me think about my feelings towards this site and what I see happening in 2010.

I’ve been wrestling now for weeks over what to do here. I started this site as a creative endeavor and I’ve had a great time but last year it started to become somewhat of a part time job that I don’t get paid for. With housewife duties, homeschooling and general life it’s tough to fit in PR requests about George Clooney’s latest movie or the latest in organic snack products. I’m honored that so many PR companies wanted to let a little old housewife like me in on the latest happenings but it was all getting a bit much. I don’t want this site to feel like work.

Housewife in Hollywood.com is really my own personal blog, a blog that just happens to have some pretty cool interviews with fascinating people and is decorated with retro flashbacks and at least one or two Partridge Family tunes.

I inherited a great work ethic from my dad and so this site/blog will keep on keeping on but just so everyone understands I’m not keeping up with the internet Jones’s.

2010 is fast approaching. Let’s take a break and listen to ABBA sing Happy New Year, they also give us some handy advice.

Oh and Nanu Nanu to you and yours!

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.

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.

Ernestine De Soto’s narration is intertwined with notes of anthropologist John Peabody Harrington, Santa Barbara Mission records, and the research of Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History anthropologist John Johnson PhD. Performance, photos, old drawings, interviews and scenes from Santa Cruz Island standing in for prehistoric California bring us through 200 years of family stories. 

The historical and human insight that comes from storytelling makes this film a must see. Listening to Ernestine voice her ancestors’ stories helped me appreciate the past in a personal way. 

Tune in to see Six Generations airing on KCET November 12^th at 8:30.

So I wasn’t going to post about this today because I’ve already posted more than a few times about the beloved street called Sesame. Jim Henson and his team of creative people have given us so much over four decades I just had to put together a quick post. One thing I’ve loved about Sesame Street is the fun edutainment clips that are usually animated in some way that teach us something. A number, a letter, a virtue, a feeling.

Take a stroll down Sesame Street with these 5 favorite clips:

Now don’t forget… a loaf of bread, a container of milk and a stick of butter.

Don’t hate her because she’s beautiful. She’s a Martian Beauty:

Roller Disco in Central Park:

They need to add a 0 on to this 4! Get FUNky!

V is for Vaccuum! Please don’t remind me:

A friend of mine, Scarlett Harlott, is hosting a 3-day camping/ RV event in the beautiful Southern California Mojave Desert. Scarlett isn’t your ordinary kind of woman and this event isn’t either! The Road Warrior Weekend is an extraordinary 3 day experience bringing the Mad Max movies to life via creativity and costumes.

“Kind of like a post-apocalyptic Burning Man… without the hippies!”

November 20-22, 2009

The Road Warrior Weekend!

Kick Ass video by Dave Stabley “Ravage”

Vernon G. Wells “Wez” from “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior”, “Commando” and “Weird Science” will be at the event autographing, taking photos and answering your questions!

Virginia Hey “Warrior Woman” from “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior” & “Farscape” will also be at the event autographing, taking photos and answering your questions!

Five of the top Southern California DJ’s will be at this event including DJ Wolfie. Fire dancers and many other performing groups will be there for entertainment.

For more information visit http://www.myspace.com/roadwarriorevent

If you need some spooky tunes to Watusi to this Halloween then transport your soul back to my interview last year with The Ghastly Ones.

You know me and my flashbacks! Who doesn’t like leftovers and what better way to reuse a post than to revisit a fun one from a year ago?

Transport yourself back to my interview with Baron Shivers from The Ghastly Ones by clicking here.

The Ghastly Ones will be signing their brand new 7inch Vinyl EP “GEARS N GHOULFINKS”  on Sunday November 8, 2009, starting 2:00 PM at Dark Delicacies  in Burbank, CA.

“…Come meet the band and get this limited edition record signed. Master Monster Hot Rod artist, THE PIZZ, who illustrated the cover, will be signing as well! Free full color die-cut sticker from POSTERPOP for the first 50 people! Dan Moses from The Dynotones and Big Tiki Dude will be spinning CD’s! “—The Ghastly Ones website

Halloween is almost here and I’m still searching for a costume. This year I’m contemplating the idea of being myself. What will you be for Halloween? Maybe these videos will give us some ideas.

How about something retro in plastic and polyester?

There’s always the outer space theme?

Maybe 80’s Flashback Fashion? Let’s listen to Mr. T’s advice on this one.

For all you Star Trek fans out there Klingon never goes out of Halloween style, especially if you add a little hip hop.

Alright, how about something scary? A werewolf or a vampire?

Any other ideas?

Why should we be surprised by a family creating an elaborate hoax to get more publicity? This is 2009 and in the last decade the reality of reality TV has gone from good, bad and now the inevitable, an ugly helium balloon.

Reality TV seemed like a swell idea. Remember MTV’s Real World? It felt like a sociology class experiment put together in a new and artful way. Then along came the survival shows, the biggest losers, the American idols, the girls next door, wife swapping, and rockers, rappers and wannabes handing out passes to their future lovers.

We’ve watched celebs in their houses and families larger than the Brady Bunch adding on another car seat to their school bus at home. We’ve felt guilty watching the breakdown and public separation of the Gosselin family yet still we watch the scripted antics of non actors acting out unreality we call Reality TV. All this unreality in the name of reality must alter our perceptions of what happens in the name of publicity. These days 15 minutes of fame can go on for a decade.

Our television dial has already been tuned to a different channel. Another dimension in time, a bit like The Twilight Zone, things that seemed bizarre before are now common place on the boob tube. I’m reminded of Bela Lugosi’s classic scene directed by Ed Wood in the film Glen or Glenda.

“Pull the string! Pull the string! A mistake is made. A story must be told.” In this case it’s more like “Don’t pull the (expletive) string! I mean tether!”

We’re not going too far with this Friday Flashback. I thought we could take a trip through the Housewife in Hollywood.com halls.

So light those candles, gut that pumpkin and enjoy some not so scary entertainment with these Halloween themed posts from last year. Flashback to October 2008 by clicking the hyperlinks below.

My Top 5 Halloween in Hollywood Favorites:

http://housewifeinhollywood.com/my-top-5-halloween-in-hollywood-favorites/

Are You Ready for a Mad Monster Party?

http://housewifeinhollywood.com/are-you-ready-for-a-mad-monster-party/

Thurl Ravenscroft leads the “singing busts” in Grim Grinning Ghosts. Here’s a couple fun facts, he was the voice of Tony the Tiger and he sang “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch”.  

For more information about Thurl, visit http://www.allthingsthurl.com/

For another version of Grim Grinning Ghosts take a listen to the Dapper Dans riding down Disneyland’s Main Street:

Visit http://doombuggies.com/ for Walt Disney’s Haunted Mansion fun!

It’s time for a Friday Flashback. Let’s go back in time to 1970-1975. I was too young to appreciate The Odd Couple when it first aired on TV but I did enjoy reruns several years later. The Odd Couple starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison.

The Odd Couple started out as a play by Neil Simon and in 1968 the film  was made starring Jack Lemmon as Felix and Walter Matthau as Oscar.

Spending much of my childhood a few feet away from a TV, I tend to remember the TV series better. Quick synopsis: Felix Unger’s wife kicks him out and he has no one to turn to except his childhood friend Oscar Madison. Oscar takes him in and while their lifestyles are constantly at odds the storyline creates great conflict and laughs for a sitcom.

Not only was the storyline great but the characters are memorable and the laughs stand the test of decades. The question still remains, “Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?”

Taste of Trivia: Did you know that in 1973 Tony Randall and Jack Klugman recorded an album called “The Odd Couple Sings” for London Records? Roland Shaw and The London Festival Orchestra and Chorus provided the music and additional vocals. It didn’t hit the Billboard Charts but the fans must have got a kick out of it.

Listen to the songs on the album by clicking here.