Flashback Friday - Amy Winehouse - "Just Friends"

One of my favorites.



Buon Weekend.

"Are you married?"

The following conversation took place this morning at my local supermeracto. Translated as best I can from Italian:

Cold cuts counter man after he gave me my salami di Napoli order: "Are you married?"

Me: "No."

CCM: "No?! How is that possible?"

Me: "We talked about this last year."

CCM: "Well, I thought maybe things had changed. We should go out."

Me: "I have a boyfriend." (I don't)

CCM: Looks confused as if my reply is completely irrelevant to our conversation. After a beat he says, "Oh, okay, well then you let me know when you want to go out. Understand?"

Me: "Uhmmm" (He spoke so quickly. I wasn't sure what he said.)

CCM: "Yes, you say, 'Francesco (not his name) let's go out.' Okay? Understand?"

Me: "Oooh Okay, have a nice day."

CCM: "You too, beautiful."


Trust me, this NEVER happened to me at Gelsons, or Bristol Farms supermarkets in L.A. Last year Francesco gave his number, after I told him I had a boyfriend. He said we could still practice Italian. Bwahahah

I thought it would be awkward to go back to my favorite supermarket when I didn't call him. But, he was perfectly professional.

I was caught off guard this morning. A year later and Francesco is still trying to get his mack on? Living here cracks me up.

Day Trip: Amazing Spaghetti con Vongole in Santa Marinella

A few weeks ago I took a much needed break and went to Santa Marinella. I work up at 5:00 a.m. to make sure I wrote 2000 words before getting on the train.

The beach is north of Rome. The water is not as nice as Sperlonga's (which is a Blue Flag Beach), but it's much nicer than Ostia's.

It's closer than Sperlonga, just 40 minutes or so on the train. A round trip ticket from Trastevere station is only 7 euros.

My friend Erica had recommended eating lunch at La Piazzette, Piazza Trieste, 13a, (39) 392-891-5356.

Mamma Mia! Their Spaghetti con Vongole was some of the best I've had in my life. The pasta was perfectly al dente.

The town itself is pretty small. There is a cute boardwalk with shops and a few cafes. I went during a weekday. It was very quiet. I'm sure during a summer weekend, the place is packed.

It was good to get out and the smell fresh sea air. I hope someday I will be able to have a house not too far from the sea/ocean. In the meantime, I will try to go to the beach at least once a month. It's so close.


I was sitting under a red umbrella. That's why the pasta looks pinkish. The restaurant has outdoor seating on small piazza. They gave me too much wine.


Fried calamari. Mi piacciono!


Perhaps the owner of this boat is a STAR WARS fan.


There was a friendly older local gentleman standing next to me as I took pictures of this fruit stand. He was probably wonder why the heck I was taking photos of something so ordinary. I thought the fruit was beautiful.


The sea.


Maybe later next month I will return and rent a chair and an umbrella for the day.

RIP Amy Winehouse

I saw her once at the Soho Grand in NYC. She was so petite. A big voice and talent is gone at only 27. Sad.

I was watching CNN Int'l. They interrupted the program with breaking news. I thought it was going to be more news about Norway. When they announced Amy was dead, I couldn't believe it. I read she had been struggling lately. I was hoping she would make it.

Norway

I can't even begin to wrap my head around this tragedy.

Flashback Friday - Larry Hagman and Diana Ross - Yes, really

This has got to be one of the most random pairings of all times. I know it was done in the early '80s, but still.

Buon weekend!

The new trailer for Jersey Shore reminds me of the drunk idiots I see every night in Campo

Mamma mia. Drama.

I still don't know why MTV decided to go to Florence. There's no beach.

Judging from the trailer, Season 4 is going to be a big hit. I wonder what the Italian press will make of the show.

Will the phone hacking scandal spread to the US?

Everyday it seems there's another layer to this NEW OF THE WORLD phone hacking scandal.

Now the whistleblower, Sean Hoare, was found dead yesterday. At this point, his death is unexplained, but not suspicious. Strange timing.

The head of the Metropolitan Police just stepped down.

Meanwhile, there are rumblings about a phone hacking scandal regarding 9/11 victims in America. Murdoch's News Corp stock has hit a six month low.

It's incredible that at this late age Rupert Murdoch finds himself in this situation. What did he know? Did his son or Rebekah Brooks know about/encourage the hacking?

I have a deadline, so not sure how much I will be able to see of their testimony today in front of Parliament.

I want to know who was the reporter or reporters who hacked into Milly Dowler's phone. Why would they do such a thing? That's low, even for a tabloid.

Flashback Friday - Carmageddon - "Speed"

I wish my friends in Los Angeles a lot of luck this weekend dealing with Carmageddon.

The 405 is a nightmare even during the best of circumstances. I cannot imagine what the traffic on the Westside is going to be like this weekend when parts of the 405 are shut down in order to demolish the Mulholland Bridge.

I liked the movie SPEED (aka DIE HARD on a bus) when it came out in 1994. One thing that made me laugh was all my Los Angeles friends saying there was no way anyone would be able to drive about 50 mph in L.A. traffic.

The movie put Ms. Bullock on the map.

Have a great weekend!

This is why the Internet was invented - Cat videos

This remix of the infamous E Harmony "I Love Cats" video is beyond ridiculous and yet I laughed my ass off.

Bongos Cat might be my favorite part.

Jumping The Broom Mondays - DVD & Blu-Ray drop August 9th in North America.

Thanks again to everyone who went to see JUMPING THE BROOM. The box office total in America is 37 million. The film's budget was only 6.5 million.

Our movie will be out on DVD/Blu-ray next month in the United States and Canada.

The DVD market has completely imploded thanks to privacy. Hopefully, JTB's DVD sales will avoid this trend.

The movie will available for rental on Netflix, and other places. You can buy the DVD on Amazon.com, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Blockbuster, Target, Wal-Mart, any official retailer.

Please do not buy bootlegs. They are killing our market. One of the main reasons the studios are not making more films like JTB is because of the bootlegging.

I got into a big fight with a friend of a friend. He told another friend to not worry about downloading music for free because "those people" make a lot of money. When I disagreed with him, he couldn't understand why a screenwriter would take issue with his comments.

He said he was a writer too. This man works full time for a huge multi-national and make a very good salary. He writes short stories sometimes. Writing's a hobby for him. I assume that's the reason he felt he could be so dismissive about what I was saying.

Sure Lady Gaga and Beyonce are not crying over missed royalties. However, most writers, singers, and actors are not in the top 2%. The majority of people in my industry are unemployed. The reason you hear about big script sales and large book advances is because they are rare.

I'm not sure why people who would never shoplift from a store think it's okay to download first-run movies or those that are on DVD. I get watching certain American TV shows when you live aboard, as not all of them are available on iTunes.

I do think at some point how the studios release movies is going to open up and change. Of course movie theater owners are very resistant to the idea of releasing a film theatrically and on a platform like iTunes, or the studio's website on the same day. It won't happen tomorrow, but as technology improves, the window between the theatrical release and the DVD/Internet release is going to continue to shrink. We can't put our heads in the sand like the music industry did.

There will be special features on the JTB DVD, including commentary with director Salim Akil and actress Paula Patton.

Flashback Friday - TLC - "No Scrubs"

There were a bunch of videos in the early - mid 90's that had the same look as this video. Silver background, fish-eyed lens, etc.

It's a shame the members of TLC went through so much drama. Just as Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes was getting her life back on track, she died in a car accident during a family retreat in Honduras.

I thought of this song the other day when some random dude sitting in the passenger seat of a car tried to holla at me. His lines were weak. No scrubs! heh

Have a great weekend.

Lo shopping: Saldi, Saldi, Saldi!

The big July sales started in Rome on Saturday.

Unfortunately, there will be no shopping for this ragazza.

What the heck is up with the dollar?!! You would think with the Greek financial crisis the American dollar would be able to gain against the euro. Come on Congress, get your act together and figure out this debt ceiling situation.

Despite the horrible exchange rate and lack of funds, I'm tempted to partake in some retail therapy. I must be strong. It will be difficult, but I think I can do it.

Flashback Friday - New Kids On The Block - "Please Don't Go Girl"

Am I the last person in America to know NKOTB is teaming up with BSB for an album and a tour?

It seems we don't have any boy bands out there now. Are the Jonas Brothers still recording? This is a sad situation.

While no boy band in history will EVER top the Jackson 5 or the Osmond Brothers, I thought NKOTB, New Edition, BSB and N'Sync had some great pop hits.

I haven't seen this video in years. I forgot Rebecca Romijn was in it.

Happy 4th of July to those of you Stateside. Buon weekend.