Month: October 2021

The witching hour shall be upon us soon with children dancing door to door requesting treats.   Many of the houses where I live are decorated to the highest level.  Pumpkins are popping up outside every doorway. There is one particular house that I have to stop by and enjoy for at least a few minutes whilst walking Buzz and Finn.

Besides the 20-foot inflatable ghost, the front room is like a Halloween shopfront on Grafton Street.   The entire area is decorated with Halloween paraphernalia.

But my favorite feature is the non-stop video playing in the top bedroom window.   It features skeletons ballroom dancing and playing instruments in a band.  There are witches and cauldrons and dinosaurs and werewolves.

Buzz and Finn just stand by my feet waiting patiently until I have had my nightly Halloween fix.   The only downside is the fireworks and the bangers.   Like many dogs Finn cowers with fright when he hears them and has begun to try to hide under cars.   Or when at home he will go under the table. Unfortunately, they started about two weeks ago and I can only hope that they will not carry on for another few weeks following Halloween.

When I was younger, I enjoyed watching scary movies. Particularly Halloween with Jamie Lee Curtis. Then I watched The Exorcist and as it scared the living daylights out of me, I have never been able to watch horror movies again.

Now, where did I put my popcorn? Maybe I will give Scary Movie a try.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

https://www.tiktok.com/@gma/video/6977399227768966405?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id7010808282940409350

Watching this clip brings me such peace. I love elephants.  But I could never eat a whole one. I had never imagined that elephants sleep together in a group like this. Or maybe they don’t?  It could just be a one-off massive slumber party?

They must have been a bit peeved by the aircraft flying above them making this video whilst they were trying to send up some elephant z’s.

I wonder what they dream of?  Giant muddy lakes and no seasons so that there can be food in abundance.  They must never get lost as ‘an elephant never forgets’.  Is it possible for them to be mortified if they forget considering the high standards that they place on their memory?  Research claims that they remember places for food and water as well as friends and enemies.

WPA-Woeful pun alert- ‘Tusk tusk’ I hear you mutter as you sigh at my mindless meanderings.  Some may even suggest that this blog be truncated (really sorry about that one. It’s bad.  Even by my standards) but for ivory (every) protestation about my unsolicited use of woeful puns I shall persist regardless.

I am now off to dream about elephants wandering through the Serengeti seeking out giant muddy ponds and juicy delicious trees.

Here is a cute video for your perusal. The first baby elephant looks like he is attempting parkour on the tree trunk.

https://youtu.be/SNggmeilXDQ

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

Yesterday I received a lovely surprise. The postman came.  I knew this because Buzz and Finn became feral upon his arrival. Normally the letter is chewed by the time I get to it.

I believe their act is known in canine terms as ‘positive action’.   In that they bark at the intrusion of a postman’s hand through my front door in the hope that he will go away.  And guess what?  He does go away.

If I ever decide to open the front door and invite the postman in Buzz and Finn wouldn’t know what to do.   Anyhoo, I went to the door and to my surprise there was nothing there.  After a few minutes, I went into my bedroom and found a lovely letter on my bed.  Buzz or Finn must have delivered it.

Later in the day I went swimming. Just before we got in two guys who had completed their swim were standing on the rocks and noticed two seals in the sea.   We had never seen seals in the bay before.

When we got in, we were hoping that they might swim up to us but unfortunately, they did not.  When we got out another friend had been standing with the two guys and overheard them saying -I wouldn’t like to have my black wetsuit on and have my back to a seal. When we heard this, we creased up as we imagined the visual.  Maybe they will return. Here is hoping.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

Yay. I have completed one year of daily blogging.   It was a great exercise and thoroughly enjoyable. From here on I have decided to blog weekly to keep up the discipline of writing as well as the enjoyment that I derive from it.

It has also served as a journal on more than one occasion. I know that I can look back on them over the years and smile as I recall what I was thinking about at that stage in my life or what I was doing.

Buzz and Finn have featured heavily. So much so that I shall write a book where they are featured.  Their antics and shenanigans keep me entertained. I hope that I have entertained you throughout the year. And made you smile.

That was and still is my ultimate objective. Any day without a giggle or a smile is not a great day in my book.  I have loved featuring all of the comedy videos from TikTok and YouTube. They are all my favs. Whenever I need to cheer up, I know that I can go back and look at them. Thank you for reading my blog.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

Billy Porter Oliver Star Entrance

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8e5tkQf/

I just adore this guy.  Not only for his fashion sense but his sense of humor, singing and his obvious acting chops.  He was enough of a sensation in 2013 playing Lola in Kinky Boots that he won a Tony award.

The fact that he started off playing Fagan in high school only adds to his magnificence in my eyes.  I saw Oliver in the West End in 2000 and was blown away by the production.  Ever since then I have measured every musical against it and they have all failed to live up to the standard of Oliver.

So much so that I have decided to stop going to musicals to prevent being disappointed. Even The Lion King 4 years ago in the Bord Gais theatre in Dublin was a woeful disappointment for me.

I have decided to stick to plays and I cannot wait until I can go to The Gate Theatre in Dublin to watch a play.  The two best plays that I have seen over the last many years are ‘Quiet’ which I saw in The Gate theatre and ‘The Risen People’ which I saw in the Abbey.  I am being greedy when I say that I cannot wait to see a band in a venue or go to a music festival also. Bring it on.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

This is my kind of evening date.  A tall dark and handsome accomplice to curl up with on the sofa and watch TV.  No arguing over which TV show to watch or who has finished off the pringles.

The drool might become a problem, and the hair shedding, Oh, and the doggy farts but apart from that doggy dates are such an amazing experience.

No one to complain about me wondering whether the plot twists are too complicated.  I went for the short, dark and handsome and just to be greedy the small, blonde and handsome.  Call it a canine menage a trois if you will.

This way I get to cuddle them on my lap as opposed to breaking my knees like the giant gorgeous super dog in the picture.   Buzz and Finn provide all the entertainment I require on a daily basis.

Their playful antics are a joy to behold. The barking. Not so much.  Buzz loves his growling. If somebody walks past my window that Buzz does not like the look of, they get growled at. If they are wearing the wrong color socks. They get growled at. If they are walking their dog they get barked at.

My latest gadget to stop the barking is ‘Pet Gentle’. A sonar gizmo that emits a silent high frequency signal that stops them barking.  Unfortunately, Finn hates it and hides beneath the table whilst Buzz is still figuring out if he can withstand the sound and still get his barking in.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

She met her third husband Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Arthur Miller on a movie set in 1951.  Their attraction was short lived as he later wrote in his diary-which Marilyn found- that he was both disappointed by her and embarrassed.  Her mental health had always been friable and she attempted suicide at least once in her life.

Miller said of their relationship that she was a super sensitive instrument to be around and that it was exciting until she began to self-destruct.  He then wrote the play The Misfits where she played the lead role but this character was clearly based on her own personality.

Marilyn found this to be disconcerting.  A month after filing for divorce from Miller she signed herself into a psychiatric hospital for insomnia and much needed rest.

She died in 1962.  Her death was deemed suicide from an overdose of barbiturates.  She was almost 36 when she died.  Miller never attended her funeral. DiMaggio had roses delivered to her crypt three times a week for the next 20 years following her death. The conspiracy theories abound as to whether the mafia or the Kennedys had anything to do with it.

Marilyn was 33 when she starred in Some Like it Hot.   Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis co-starred.  To me this movie is pure perfection.  From the story line to the plot twists to the comedy.  Never mind the hilarious crossdressing.

In my drinking days our line was ‘Some like a shot’ before we would order a round. We would then begin to recite some of the lines from the train scene while we were waiting for the barman to complete our order.  So much fun.  So many shots.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

In the beginning Marilyn took every job she was offered for five years and often read the classics between takes in a bid to shake off her dumb blonde reputation.

She studied her photos and always asked photographers for feedback whilst also befriending studio reporters to give her a publicity boost. Stage fright hampered her career even though she took acting classes at the famous Lee Strasberg school of acting.

Later in life she walked out of her contract due to being given demeaning roles. She found her own production studio which she named after herself. Despite her acting classes she suffered from dreadful stage fright.

Hugh Hefner became obsessed with Marilyn Munroe even though he never met her. When she died, he bought the casket next to her for $75,000. Maybe his obsession with blondes was that he was perhaps looking for likenesses to Marilyn in every blonde girl that he met.

In 1952 Joe DiMaggio met Marilyn and they married in 1954.  Monroe famously said that they were drawn together by a need for stability.  DiMaggio disliked Monroe’s sex symbol status.

It was rumored that he often beat her up.  Following watching Monroe shoot the famous grate scene for the movie The Seven Year Itch DiMaggio became incensed with jealousy.  They had a violent fight and Monroe then filed for divorce citing mental cruelty.  They later became friends and he tried to help her with her mental health and addiction issues.

 

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen prefer blondes

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM81FQQAf/

What a magnificent duo.  Apparently, they were very close friends. Jane was a devout Christian and brought Marilyn to one of her services during the making of Gentlemen prefer Blondes.  Marilyn declined further invitations as religion was not for her. However,they remained friends for the rest of Marilyn’s short-lived life.

Jane Russell was a singer as well as an actress. Howard Hughes became obsessed with her beauty and physique and produced her in many films. She resented being typecast and exploited for her looks but was unable to establish herself as a serious actress.

Her relationship with Bob Waterfield was her most successful and she adopted three children. Later she founded the World Adoption International Agency allowing American citizens to adopt children from around the world.

Jane was an alcoholic for most of her life entering rehab at the age of seventy-nine.  She died in 2011 at 89 years of age from a respiratory illness. She was found in her home by her old friend Howard Hughes.

Marilyn Monroe was born in 1926. Her life was not a simple rags to riches story. She had a very strong work ethic and commitment to acting which can often be overlooked.

Marilyn lived with 12 different families as a child and on one occasion was sexually abused by a lodger. Her mother had a history of mental illness and spent her entire life in and out of psychiatric institutions. Against all these odds she went on to become a mega star.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

The Office Parkour

https://youtu.be/0Kvw2BPKjz0

This video cracks me up.  Parkour was featured in a Bond film as it became a worldwide phenomenon in 2004. Steve Carell and the writers did such a great job with this parody. The object is to get from A to B in a creative fashion. Such as tumbling, jumping, and or swinging.

I have tried the tumbling in my living room but Buzz and Finn went mental. Which is fair enough I suppose if I had to witness myself tumbling about with the grace of Nelly the Elephant, I would have gone a bit nuts too.

Dogs have their own version of parkour. It is the zoomies. This is when they race from one end of a room to another in a manic fashion to expend energy and excitement. A bit like how I was in my heyday dancing my ass off in Discos.

They can also spin and tumble if the notion takes them. Buzz performs his zoomies following a bath. As he doesn’t particularly like them and I guess he is just shaking himself dry and to try to forget the experience. Here is a compilation clip of a zoomies.

https://youtu.be/uqCQQkOPAi0

I am off to tumble from my chair into the kitchen. Why? Just because I can. I might throw in a few sneaky yoga poses to mix things up a bit. I’m all about livin on the edge.

Here is some lovely Panda Parkour to make you smile.

Panda Parkour

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM81FX16L/

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele