What would Audrey do?

Is there anyone more elegant and perfectly lovely as Audrey Hepburn? She is the epitome of grace, beauty and compassion. What an amazing woman she was.
 

I recently read a book called "What Would Audrey Do?"

Though on-camera she was often cast in the role of a carefree ingénue, Audrey Hepburn’s off-camera life was marked by challenges: growing up without a father and with the Nazi threat during her youth; a demanding film career while she was a young mother; unfaithful husbands and two divorces; and constant scrutiny from the media. Yet Audrey Hepburn always epitomized beauty and grace. Bestselling author Pamela Keogh culls lessons in loveliness from a woman who survived every setback with panache.

Topics include:
• Dating and romantic advice from a woman who enjoyed romances with John F. Kennedy, William Holden, and Albert Finney
• A primer on what made Audrey the icon she is today, and how to apply her style choices to twenty-first-century clothes, makeup, and accessories
• Raising children, raising husbands, and making home life balanced in every way
• St. Audrey: Long before Angelina and Bono got all the press, Audrey Hepburn did invaluable work for UNICEF, teaching us much about extending ourselves to others.
In an era fraught with selfishness, artifice, and sensational headlines, the reality and tranquillity of Audrey is precisely what the world needs now.

Even though it's a tongue-in-cheek sort of book, it actually has a lot to offer in terms of creating a mindset of loveliness. She was an amazing woman.

Her work with UNICEF was extraordinary. She could have done anything with her life in her later years. She chose to visit places like Ethiopia, the Sudan, El Salvador, Bangladesh and Vietnam on behalf of UNICEF. She spent an enormous amount of time helping to raise funds. About her work for UNICEF, Audrey would say: 'I've been auditioning my whole life for this role, and I finally got it.' She attained everything that society today tells us is important. She had fame, beauty, succcess.  She was Givenchy's muse for 40 years, dressed in the most gorgeous clothing imaginable.  What did she do with this incredible profile she created? She used it to help children and to make the world a better place.  That is beauty.

I just adore Audrey Hepburn - truly beautiful, inside and out.

Jeff Bridges is the Dude

Jeff Bridges has starred in some of the biggest movies over the past 40 years, "The Last Picture Show, "The Fabulous Baker Boys," "Tron," "The Big Lebowski," "Crazy Heart," "True Grit," “Sea Biscuit”, “Arlington Road”, “Fearless”, “The Mirror Has Two Faces”, “The Fisher King” and to name just a few. 

I have loved Jeff Bridges long time. 

I think “The Fabulous Baker Boys” was the film that convinced me of his greatness.  He has aged magnificently too.  I am at that age where I can truly appreciate a silver fox.

This week he released an album of original country music and to support that, he’s been doing media rounds in the US.  He appeared on “The Colbert Report” and last week he did “Piers Morgan Tonight”.  The hour long interview was riveting.   He is such a cool guy; so confident and normal and sweet. 

He has been married to wife Susan for 34 years and he talked at length about how they met and how they’ve survived.


"It was, you know, the corny "love at first sight" thing, you know.  I met her on a movie set in Montana. We were making a movie called "Rancho Deluxe."  And I see this girl, gorgeous girl who's watching us. I mean, she looks like she's working there or something.  And she's just gorgeous. I could not take my eyes off her. And she busts me every time, you know, I look at her.

And it's tough asking a girl out. You know, you've got to really, you know, get the courage, you know and I said, would you like to go out tonight?  And she goes, no. It's a small town, maybe I'll see you around. I said, really? She goes, yes.


I said, OK. And her prophecy came true and maybe it might have been that night or the night after that, I saw her in a bar and we danced and, you know, that was it.

And we we cut 20 years later. So I'm married. We've got three kids. I'm sitting at my desk opening my mail. And I got a letter from the makeup man on that show. And he says, I was going through my files and I came across a photograph that might be of interest to you. It's a shot of you asking a local girl out for a date.

And I look at the thing and it's a picture of me asking my wife out for a date.”

Bridges carries the photo in his wallet and calls it his most prized possession.  “The first words that I ever spoke to my wife, asking her out, and her answer we are no.”

Asked “ Why do you think you've been able to have such a happy, sustainable marriage”

Bridges responds, “ Luck, I'm sure, has a lot to do with it. My  parents were very, I was going to say happily, but they went through, you know, unhappy times, too. And I think Sue and I, we've developed a practice of kind of leaning into those tough times, you know, and looking at those as this, oh, here's an opportunity for us to get a lot more intimate, to know a little bit more about each other.”

Lovely. Just lovely. I love the idea of "leaning into those tough times".

American Beauty - My Favourite Film

I adore "American Beauty".
I've seen it a dozen times now.


"Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation for his daughter's attractive friend." 


Kevin Spacey is utterly brilliant in it.
Chris Cooper is chillingly good.
Annette Bening is superb.
It's unforgettable.

I love this montage.


There are plenty of films I love but this film is the one I find faultless and one I can watch over and over again. The soundtrack is incredible; haunting and perfect. The final line in the film kills me everytime:


"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday."

The REAL Block!

All these renovation shows on TV lately reminds me of a great movie called "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long.  I reckon this film is closer to the truth of renovating than any of these reality shows!

I challenge you to watch this clip and NOT laugh.



This scene cracks me up everytime too.....



And the best bit of all? No Scott Cam!

The Broken Road

I’m looking down the barrel of 50.  Far out. When did I get so damned OLD?  Like everyone I guess, in my mind, I’m still 18.  It comes as a bit of shock when I look in the mirror and see those wrinkles and the sagging skin and the greying temples. 

I mean, I don’t expect to see Jessica Biel staring back at me but for goodness sakes, when did I turn into Kathleen Turner?   I'm talking “2011 Kathleen Turner” not “1980 Body Heat Kathleen Turner” by the way….  These days, I'm more Jessica Tandy than Jessica Biel.

As I approach 50, I’m not where I expected to be in my life. 

I don’t live in the house I dreamed I would.

I’m not happily married to the man I wanted to be. OK, "happily" would be an understatement.

I don’t have all the things I expected to by this age.  I don’t even own a washing machine
(that's a long story – I used to!)

What I do have though is a beautiful child who would not have come to me by any means other than the means by which she came.  Somehow, as I travelled along this twisted, broken road, making all manner of mistakes and misjudgements, I managed to find my way to her, and she to me.

I thank God every day for the blessing that she is.  The things I don’t have and the unfulfilled dreams pale into insignificance as I watch her sleeping soundly tonight.

Big Night

“Big Night” is a great movie if you haven't seen it. This is the final scene in the film and isn’t a spoiler as such.

I can’t make an omelette without thinking about this scene; beautiful and quietly powerful.

The guy who is asleep on the bench at the beginning of the scene is Mark Anthony, J-Lo’s now ex husband. And you all know who is scrambling the eggs. Just as a side note, he can scramble my eggs anytime....

More Hank Azaria.....

"You're asthmatic, you're a robot. And what is the cape for? Are we going to opera, I don't think so."



Trivia note: Hank Azaria is the voice of Moe, Chief Wiggum and Apu on "The Simpsons"!

Agador does the housework!

"The Birdcage" is a great movie. Hank Azaria as Agador Spartacus is hilarious!

This one is for all you gals with hubbies who help with the housework. Yes, I'm talking to you Aneets..... :)

Pee-Wee Herman - I know you are but what am I?

For those of you who haven't heard of Pee-Wee Herman, get ready for a kooky treat!



Pee-Wee is a comic style character created by a guy called Paul Reubens. Pee-Wee was hugely successful in the late 1980s with a television show Pee-Wee’s Playhouse and a couple of great movies including my favourite, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Unfortunately, in 1991 Paul Reubens was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor obscenity offence (don’t ask) and this marked the end of Pee-Wee. In recent times, Reubens has been rebuilding his career with Pee-Wee.

I will always love Pee-Wee Herman. He is so sweet and silly and funny plus he has a cool house!

Margin Call

This is going to be a great film!

"Margin Call offers a thoughtful examination of the lead-in to Wall Street’s most recent financial collapse – as filtered through the lens of a taut thriller with mainstream appeal."Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Simon Baker, Penn Badgley, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci and Paul Bettany - what's not to love???