Northwest bound

I know I have been a little lazy on postings lately, but just so no one thinks I have totally given up on the blog, I will be out of town Friday through Wednesday. Going to Seattle to visit Stacy and family. Surely we will get into something interesting to write about, not to mention I'll be hanging out with nearly 6-year-old twins. I'm sure they will provide good photo/story fodder.

In the meantime, go see "V for Vendetta"!

I hope they didn't eat any giant marshmallows

My friend Joe's mention of Ambien reminded me that I had been meaning to post this:


From The New York Times:

The sleeping pill Ambien seems to unlock a primitive desire to eat in some patients, according to emerging medical case studies that describe how the drug's users sometimes sleepwalk into their kitchens, claw through their refrigerators like animals and consume calories ranging into the thousands.

The next morning, the night eaters remember nothing about their foraging. But they wake up to find telltale clues -- mouthfuls of peanut butter, Tostitos in their beds, kitchen counters overflowing with flour, missing food, and even lighted ovens and stoves. Some are so embarrassed, they delay telling anyone, even as they gain weight.

"These people are hell-bent to eat," said Dr. Mark Mahowald, director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center in Minneapolis and one of the sleep experts researching the problem. He and colleagues are preparing a scientific paper based on their findings -- that a sleep-related eating disorder is one of the unusual side effects showing up with the widespread use of Ambien.

Most of the people who use Ambien say the drug puts them to sleep and that they wake up without incident. But several doctors and a number of patients say that sleep-eating is one of a variety of unusual reactions to the drug. The reactions range from fairly benign sleepwalking episodes to hallucinations, violent outbursts and, most troubling of all, driving while asleep.

From Newsweek:

Lori Cox didn’t remember ordering the ring she had just got in the mail. But her phone records said otherwise, showing she’d made a middle-of-the-night call to a home-shopping channel. She also discovered she’d made cell-phone calls to her ex-boyfriend in her sleep. And a few times, she woke up to find empty beer bottles and cracker crumbs in her kitchen -- evidence of predawn snacks she didn’t remember eating.

“It’s scary,” she says. “One side of your brain is asleep and the other side is directing you into this secret life.”

What caused the odd behavior? Cox believes she has found the answer: Ambien. Cox began taking the sleep medication a year ago, after a traumatic breakup with her longtime boyfriend kept her awake at night. Until recently, Cox thought she was alone with her odd nocturnal habits. But recent weeks have seen a spate of reports about patients blaming strange behavior on America’s most popular sleep aid.

Some patients drove in their sleep and ended up in accidents with no recollection of them the next morning. Others report eating or, like Cox, shopping in their sleep after taking the drug. Earlier this month, after interviewing a number of patients across the nation, New York City attorney Susan Chana Lask filed a class-action complaint citing clients who’d driven, shoplifted and feasted on raw eggs and uncooked vegetables in their sleep after taking Ambien.

Jakehead

I have seen only four of Jake Gyllenhaal's movies, so I suppose I have to fess up that the main reason I like him is the cuteness, puppy-dog-eye factor (and he's a fellow Sagittarius). But I have to say, his real Oscar snub wasn't "Brokeback Mountain," it was "Jarhead." We only just saw this movie in the past couple of weeks, and I can't figure out why it was shut out for statues (Michael thinks it was too political).

Worthy of Oscar nominations in numerous categories: best picture, director (Sam Mendes), editing, cinematography, supporting actor (Peter Sarsgaard; maybe even Jamie Foxx) and absolutely actor. This was Jake's Oscar role, far superior to his "Brokeback" performance.

This one's up there with my top movies of last year, along with "Crash," "Mad Hot Ballroom," "Breakfast on Pluto," "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill," "Broken Flowers" and "Batman Begins."

My husband, the columnist/novelist

Go here to read a column Michael recently wrote about the writing process for The Albuquerque Tribune. Here's an archive of some of his past columns; unfortunately, I couldn't access the one he wrote about getting married on Valentine's Day or seeing a bluegrass show in Santa Fe.

Pearls of twisted wisdom

"Pearls Before Swine," by Stephan Pastis, is my favorite part of the funnies. I had never seen it before moving to New Mexico, and my paper here carries it too. Not since "Calvin and Hobbes" have I enjoyed a comic so much (we were also carrying reruns of old "Calvin" strips, but they inexplicably quit showing up one day). "Pearls" occasionally misses the mark but for the most part is twisted humor, my favorite kind.

The stars of "Pearls" are Pig and Rat. Pig is a naive do-gooder, much to Rat's annoyance. Pig is not the smartest of swine and for this is often targeted and ridiculed by the megalomaniacal, self-centered Rat. Rat often complains about the comic strip's style and believes Bil Keane ("The Family Circus") is a better cartoonist. (This hasn't stopped the strip from poking fun at "Circus" and others. My favorite was when a week was devoted to "Circus," whose family, it turned out, was harboring Osama bin Laden. You know, the guy about whom Bush said, "I truly am not that concerned about him," six months after 9/11.)

But I digress (our administration's incompetence can do that to a person).

In the strip above, the last panel features Pig's anthropomorphic Viking action figures. Rat believes the Vikings love violence, but in reality they enjoy watching "Oprah" and "Ellen." They also enjoy styling their hair. (For more far-out hair, check out The Feathered-Back Hair Site; for more on the cast of characters of "Pearls," see the Wikipedia entry.)

While we are on the topic of comics, I just have to say there are few things I hate more than ... OK, besides him ... Calvin and Hobbes peeing stickers. You know the ones. Calvin, with an evil glint in his eye, peeing on a Ford symbol. Calvin peeing on a Chevy symbol (once I even saw Calvin peeing on a Toyota sticker on a Toyota). Then there's the even weirder Calvin alternately praying at or peeing on a cross. Anyway, Bill Watterson never marketed Calvin (aside from books of comic strip collections) for a reason, yet people have co-opted him, and it's not even in the spirit of Calvin. He was mischievous but not devious.

No feelings? Seems he has a few after all

"I miss the Sex Pistols. I miss the lot of you. But if anybody thinks it's a jolly good wheeze, it's not. It's hard work." -- John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten, appearing on the radio show of former band mate Steve Jones (top left), who used to be a hottie! (bottom)

What next?

I don't even know what to say about South Dakota. The "compassionate conservatives" are so compassionate that they would endanger women's lives. Not to mention force rape and incest victims to bear understandably unwanted children. They already have demonstrated their "compassion" toward gays. Who will be next? And how will they feel when these issues begin affecting their lives?

Will we have our perfect "culture of life" when they get their ultimate wish and Roe v. Wade is overturned and women once again die in back alleys? Two deaths for the price of one?

This country has enough problems without stripping away the right to choose. We should be dealing with poverty and health care, the environment and economy, putting a stop to the killing of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi citizens. When did priorities get so horribly out of whack?

'Crash' and a burn

I was glad to see the Oscars do right by "Crash," giving it the best-picture statue. After Ang Lee won for director, I figured "Brokeback" was gonna win.

Now here is something I don't even know how to wrap my brain around: There will be a remake next year of my beloved "Hairspray." First off, isn't it a little soon? Second, since when do John Waters movies get remakes? Now for the most horrible factoid of all: John Travolta will play Divine's role of Edna Turnblad. Tony Manero in a housedress? What is the world coming to? Nothing against the former Sweathog -- who will forever have a place in my heart thanks to "Urban Cowboy," "Pulp Fiction" and "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" (though he did star in "Battlefield Earth," which I am told was one of the worst movies ever made, and his Web site looks super-cheesy) -- but this is just wrong on so many levels! Are they actually going to try to re-create John Waters' style? No way can the movie not be camp, but there's no way anyone but the master can accomplish it. I am fine with the movie spawning a musical; it's apples and oranges. But leave the movie alone! Next thing you know, they will remake "Cry-Baby" with Nick Lachey in the Johnny Depp role. God, I shouldn't even joke about that!

Geek love

We are a day late and a dollar short (OK, more like thousands of days late) , but after having just finished watching the first and only season of "Freaks and Geeks" on DVD, I have to give props to this truly amazing show. I watched the first few episodes when it originally aired, but I'm guessing my work schedule or somesuch got in the way.

The show captures the horrors, awkwardness and occasional joys of adolescence and constantly takes surprising, endearing turns. The cast is terrific; the music is great; the opening credits are fun to watch every single time.

It's hard to believe that such a quality show didn't make it past one season, especially considering how much crap is on TV. I didn't want the final episode to come and was sad when it did. I'm sure it was a thousand times worse for the people who were hooked when it was on TV.

Next up for us is "Undeclared," involving some of the same players. I watched more episodes of it when it was on TV but don't remember a lot about it.

Speaking of projects with surprising turns, I'm crossing my fingers for "Crash," my favorite movie of last year. The only other best-picture contenders I've seen are "Brokeback Mountain" and "Good Night, and Good Luck." I thought "Brokeback" was overrated; "Good Night" was well done and worthy of the Oscar attention but is no "Crash" in my book. Still want to see "Capote" and have little interest in "Munich" but can't imagine either of them would affect me like "Crash" did.

I would also love to see Matt Dillon win; he has such a great body of work, dating back to "Over the Edge" (1979) and the sentimental favorite "Little Darlings" (1980). He's also in 1995's "To Die For," one of my all-time faves, and is over the top in "There's Something About Mary" (1998).

Jazz hands

In the continuing effort to get in shape, I've returned to the Jazzercise fold. I last did it years ago in Louisville, but, while I enjoyed it, I had too unhealthy a lifestyle at the time to make the most of it (staying up all night, sleeping all day, lots of beer and bourbon in lots of bars). Michael and I had found an affordable gym in Denver but ended up in the no-motivation-to-go trap, so we canceled. Now I'm back to Jazzercise and loving it -- even looking forward to it. Today I even went to a class at 9:30 a.m., unheard of in the past.

Many of the moves are the same (grapevine, chasse, kick ball change, jazz square, pendulum lift), so I was able to get back in the swing without much difficulty. They've added bits and pieces from pilates and kickboxing, but mostly it's all about dancing and a way to bring out my inner Jennifer Beals (or at least her "Flashdance" double).

One-hit wondering, Part 2

OK, not to beat a dead horse, but I have been obsessed in the past week with a song I hadn't heard in years. It came on the radio (oldies station; for some reason, despite being a big city, Denver is lacking in good, current radio), and I started singing along and haven't been able to get it out of my head. It was on "Believe in Music" (one of my favorite K-tel albums, along with "Sound Explosion" and "The Beat," which helped put me on the path to new wave). Go here to hear "Beautiful Sunday."

And what is up with this guy? He looks like a lecherous uncle of the Bay City Rollers. (Don't even get me started on the perv that Roller Derek Longmuir turned out to become!)

Gone to the dogs

I don't want everyone to think the blog will be about dogs from here on out. I just don't have anything to write about at the moment, and my cousin Lynyrd said she was breathlessly awaiting a new post. (OK, "breathlessly" is my embellishment.) Anyway, these photos are from a couple of weeks ago, for the dogs' Valentine's Chihuahua meetup. Michael and I were smitten with this tiny puppy, Poquita. She couldn't have weighed more than 2 pounds.



The dogs made out like bandits on their Valentine's haul. It was just like elementary school -- every dog got a bag with his/her name, plus Valentine's cards and treats. We gave each dog (there were 22 in all) one little organic dog biscuit; 95 percent of the people went all out, giving multiple treats -- some even gave Greenies, which are not cheap, and fancy-schmancy gourmet dog cookies. At top, Angus checks out the goods after arriving home; below that, you get an idea of Angus' size compared with the tiny Chi's. This one, Xena, is a "blue" Chihuahua.



Clockwise from top left, another shot of Xena; a woman holding Chi's as she fills the treat bags; yet-another dolled-up Chi. If you think we are obsessed with our dogs, you should meet some of these people.

***

OK, that's all I've got for now. We haven't done anything fun or interesting lately to write about. Gimme ideas!

You've come a long way, puppies

Yes, they are actually curled up together on the couch. Esther & Angus have become best friends and play all the time. There's an occasional "Fangus" episode if Angus is asleep or getting attention, but for the most part, they get on like gangbusters. Meanwhile, Esther is being crated when we are away for short periods, so the destruction has ceased; this came after we went to the movies Sunday and she went on her biggest tear yet. She loves her crate, where she sleeps, so she has no anxiety in there while we are away. We haven't figured out what we will do when we are gone for long stretches. We are also trying some clicker training, and it gets both dogs' attention immediately, even when they are out back terrorizing the neighbor's golden retriever.