Comfort In Your Own Skin...

Aside from an encyclopedic knowledge of Judy Garland, classic movies, and music, I'm known for my obsession with skin care. I've been experimenting for years to find the perfect regimen and I don't think I'll ever stop.

Even though I've always been concerned about the health of my skin and it's appearance, it really kicked into full gear after a round of Accutane (an acne medication) that dried my skin out for life. Even though it has permanent damaging side effects, not only on your skin, but on your stomach, heart, mind, etc... I'm glad I did it because it got rid of my acne. However, it's painful just to exist with the skin I'm left with. But you'd never know it! Why? GOOD SKIN CARE PRODUCTS!

Even though I'm always trying new things and have my favorite staple products, over the last month or so, I've been embarking on a sort of research quest, trying to find some new products to try to return myself to human form...or something close to it.

Now, since there are SO many things to discuss and SO many products to talk about, I'm going to leave you tonight with one of my newest and greatest discoveries:

KORRES 3 in 1 Milk Proteins Cleansing Emulsion is a cleanser, toner, and eye makeup remover. It's extremely gentle on your skin and what I love about it (aside from the fact that it does everything it says it does) is that you don't need water to use it! Even though, I always splash ice cold water on my face to close my pores, I realize some people can't stand that (especially in the winter). So, this is my new standard cleanser, recommended to me by my Sephora girl, Lindsey, who you'll be hearing a lot about in these skin care and makeup posts! It sells at Sephora for $21 and it's a pretty decent size!

My Latest and Greatest Rings! :)

As I mentioned in my last post, Liza Minnelli has just launched her line on HSN. She designed this marvelous dome ring that I simply had to have! So, around the same time I saw the ring, Andrew came to spend a few days with me and I showed it to him. He also found it to be fabulous! The next day, he went into work at American Eagle. In the meantime, i was having a terrible day! It was just one of those one thing after another days where nothing went right.

Anyway, when he got home, he gave me a hug and out of his pocket, he pulled a gorgeous gold dome ring, similar to Liza's that he brought me from A.E.! It made my entire day and I wear it all the time! It's big, dramatic, and screams my name! Andrew instinctively knows these things. That's why he's my best friend. I wear it all the time and get lots of compliments on it! And since the original one was a bit small, I wear it on my pinky and a few days later, he gave me one for my ring finger! So, I now have two of them gracing my jewelry box and I love them! Thank you, My Little Love! <3

I did eventually get the Liza ring as a gift from my Aunt Linda as a late birthday present. It really is a sight to behold! The picture doesn't really do it justice. You have to see it sparkle in person to really appreciate it! the way the stones are placed and clustered really makes it something unique and versatile! It goes with everything! And it's very comfortable to wear! Great job, Liza!

Liza's New Photo Shoot!

Liza May has been all over the place lately! She never stops moving and she's been really successful with one triumph after another starting with her 3rd Tony win for "Liza's At The Palace" last year, which I was lucky enough to see with my best friend, Andrew! It was a life-altering experience and I'd give anything to relive it! Her cameo in "Sex & The City 2" was also a huge hit and absolutely fabulous, not to mention hilarious! She has a new line of clothing and jewelry, "The Liza Collection" on HSN. I actually bought a wonderful dome ring that she designed. These are some recent studio portraits that were just released, probably for promotions for her album, "Confessions", which is coming out in September. So Lovely...

Jennifer Aniston as Barbra Streisand in Harper's Bazaar this month...

Jennifer Aniston recently posed in a photo shoot for Harper's Bazzar as Barbra. I think the pictures are absolutely gorgeous! Especially the one recreating my favorite scene from "Funny Lady" where she hits the overhead light after singing "How Lucky Can You Get?". Even Barbra liked the photos! Here's what she had to say....

"I was very flattered that Jennifer Aniston chose to interpret my style with the photos in Harper's Bazaar. She's a delightful person, and I think she did a wonderful job. If only she had a bump on her nose."

"The September Issue"

I first saw "The September Issue" when it was released in theatres last year. It's a documentary about Anna Wintour and the making of the September issue of Vogue, which is the kick-off to the fashion year. Nearly everybody has an opinion about Anna. She's been called a "Snow Queen", "Dragon lady", "Sadist"... the list goes on. She was also the basis for the character of Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada" which was written by one of Anna's former assistants. I found none of the stigmas attached to her to be true. Is she warm and friendly? No. However, she does her job, she does it better than anyone before or since and she does it while under constant scrutiny and ridicule from jealous people who have no idea what they're talking about. I have a tremendous amount of respect for this woman. She has what I consider to be probably the most difficult job in the world and she's arguably the most powerful woman in the world. To be a woman in that position opens you up to a lifetime of problems. The way she keeps going on and looking ahead is very inspirational and incredibly brave. You get a real sense of the hard work that goes into turning out a single issue and how many jobs and people are at steak during the process. It is a business not just a silly hobby to pass time. Fashion effects all of our lives weather we admit it or not and Anna calls all the shots.

While the documentary is supposed to focus more on Anna, it actually focuses just as much on Grace Coddington who's been there exactly as long as Anna has. Grace has a fascinating story to tell and she's also very strong and extremely creative. If you liked "The Devil Wears Prada", if you're interested in fashion, business, or honestly if you want to be entertained, you should check this out. I can't imagine anyone seeing this movie and not having a much deeper appreciation for the fashion industry and all the hard work that goes into it.

"The Wizard Of Oz" 70th Anniversary Hi-Def Edition

Every few years (and most certainly for every anniversary) there seems to be a new improved version of "The Wizard Of Oz" available. I, personally, own every release since the late 70's. However, I must say that this latest Blu-Ray/DVD release puts everything we've seen before it to shame. The detail you see in this version is incredible! They've scanned it in 8K resolution and I'm sure it looks even better than it did in 1939. The sound is superb and it really is like watching it for the first time.

The real treasure of this latest box set, of course are the extras (all of which I have listed below). It has all the extras on the previous 2005 release plus a lot more. The crown jewel for me, though in this whole thing, is the inclusion of the 1992 Television movie, "The Dreamer Of Oz" starring John Ritter as L. Frank Baum. When i was a kid, I used to watch it literally every day. I never found out what happened to my video tape of it and searched for it for years. It's a wonderful movie and a great look at the man who I consider to be the most important author of the 20th century. He single-handedly defined it. "The Wizard of Oz" is actually a part of our language. There's no minimizing it's impact on American culture. Even if you own an old copy, pick this one up on blu-ray or dvd. You won't be disappointed! It's available in several single and double disc packages, but for the die-hard Oz fan, this is the one you should take home!

Special Features:

Disc 1 includes:

• BD-Live is included on this release which requires the user to be on a “Profile 2.0” internet capable Blu-ray Disc Player. This allows you to access Warner‘s BD-Live portal where you can have community screenings with friends, create your own “My WB Commentary” track and even download content such as trailers for upcoming Warner films. Sadly at time of writing this, no title (movie) specific content was available.
• Audio Commentary by Historian John Fricke with Barbara Freed-Saltzman, Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, John Lahr, Jane Lahr, Hamilton Meserve, Dona Massin, William Tuttle, Buddy Ebsen, Mervyn LeRoy and Jerry Maren
• Options Music and Effects Only Audio allows you to listen to just the music and sound effects section of the mix This just like the Mono mix is presented in Dolby Digital 1.0 @192kbps sound quality.
• “Jukebox” (70:04) features the audio to all of the songs from the film selectable from a menu with their titles and even some stuff is unreleased like voice tests, rehearsals and such. This is a very nice feature, especially for those who love the musical aspect of the film. These are presented in Dolby Digital 1.0 @96kbps audio quality.
• “Leo Is on the Air Radio Promo” (12:26) is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @192kbps sound quality.
• “Good News of 1939 Radio Show” (71:02) is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @192kbps sound quality.
• “12/25/1950 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast” (60:49) is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @192kbps sound quality.
• “Dolby 5.1 Sing-Along Feature” allows you to sing along with all the songs from the film such as “Somewhere Over the Rainbow“.
• “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic” (50:49)
• “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook: Read by Angela Lansbury” (10:27) This has Lansbury from “Murder She Wrote” fame reading which is definitely a cool feature to see included and that homage is paid to the original book itself which varies slightly from the motion picture.
• “Prettier Than Ever: The Restoration of Oz” (11:27) takes a look at mainly the video restoration done in 4K but it also takes a look at the new 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and Digital mixes made from the original mono source material, plus the original musical and sound effects tracks. This proves to be very informative and I’m glad to see this was included.
• “We Haven’t Really Met Properly… Supporting Cast Profile Gallery” (21:23) takes a look at the other folks in the film aside from the star Judy Garland.
• “Memories of Oz” (27:39) originally aired on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) channel.
• “The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz” (29:45)
• “Because of the Wonder Thing It Does: The Legacy of Oz” (25:05)
• “Harold Arlen’s Home Movies” (4:40) come from the composer of the film’s music.
• “Outtakes and Deleted Scenes” include:
“If I Only Had a Brain” (4:37)
“If I Only Had a Heart” (1:36)
“Triumphal Return to Emerald City” (1:54)
“Over the Rainbow” (2:08)
“The Jitterbug” (4:05)
• “It’s a Twister! It’s a Twister! The Tornado Tests” (8:17)
• “Cavalcade of the Academy Awards Excerpt” (2:14)
• “Another Romance of Celluloid: Electrical Power” (10:31)
• “Stills Gallery” is very, very thorough and sure to leave fans pleased.
• “Theatrical Trailer Gallery” includes the following:
“1939 What Is Oz? Teaser” (0:32)
“1940 Loews Cairo Theater Trailer” (1:59)
“1949 Reissue Trailer” (2:50)
“1949 Grownup Reissue Trailer” (2:22)
“1970 Children’s Matinee Reissue Trailer” (1:35)
“1998 Warner Bros. Reissue Trailer” (2:05)
• “Off to See The Wizard Excerpts” (3:57)
• “Texas Contest Winners” (1:26) in autumn of 1938 they made this little short film about lucky contest winners.

Disc 2 (a BD-25) features:

• “Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman” (34:08) is very informative and definitely worth the watch if you enjoyedFleming‘s other 1939 classic “Gone With the Wind” and/or didn’t know much about his other works and career.
• “L. Frank Baum: The Man Behind the Curtain” (27:45) takes a look at the author of the original book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” from which the film is based on.
• “Hollywood Celebrates It’s Biggest Little Stars!” (10:23)
• “1990 The Dreamer of Oz” (92:48) is a documentary about L. Frank Baum. It’s not in very good video quality but if you’re interested in the man behind the story — it’s worth a watch. In fact, the late, great John Ritter plays him in the documentary.
• “1910 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” (13:18) is a silent film.
• “1933 The Wizard of Oz” (8:13) is a cartoon short in Technicolor done by animator Ted Eshbaugh based on the first ‘Oz‘ book.
• “1914 His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz” (59:07) is a silent film written and directed by the author L. Frank Baumhimself.
• “1914 The Magic Cloak of Oz” (43:15) is yet another silent film.
• “1914 The Patchwork Girl of Oz” (50:43) yet again, another silent film.
• “1925 The Wizard of Oz” (71:53) is yet another silent film.

Disc 3 (a DVD) contains:

• “MGM: When the Lion Roars” 6-hour documentary on a double-sided DVD in Standard Definition video.

Disc 4 (a DVD-ROM) contains:

• Digital Copy of the film is included which is compatible with both iTunes and Windows Media — Mac & PC as well as portable devices. As with all digital copies, this will only last 1 year after release date, meaning it will expire on September 29th, 2010.

"The Making Of The Wizard Of Oz" By: Aljean Harmetz

As most of you know, I'm a "Wizard Of Oz" fanatic! There's very little I don't know and I've been studying and collecting my entire life. I read this when I was about ten and recently re-read it around the time of the movie's 70th Anniversary. It's a really marvelous look not only at the movie itself and what went into making it, but the time period and the way the studio system worked in the late 30's. It's a great Hollywood history lesson!

The author covers every single aspect of film making. The initial script ideas are particularly interesting, for instance, early on in production, The Wicked Witch Of The West had a son who she wanted to place on the throne of Oz. The chapter on special effects is a great learning experience as well. It's amazing how much imagination it took to accomplish those things back when they didn't know they couldn't do it, so they did! Everything was manual. No computer generated special effects.

There are some priceless interviews with the cast members and crew who worked on the film and a Preface about the auctioning of the Ruby Slippers and other MGM artifacts as well as a brief biography of L. Frank Baum.

All in all, this is one of the most well-researched accounts of the making of a movie I've ever read and I'd strongly recommend giving it a gander!