Resolutions, do they accomplish anything?

While most people are looking forward to their resolutions for 2014, I have to wonder what did I actually get accomplished in 2013?  Did I keep any of my 2013 New Years resolutions?  I looked, I couldn't find that I made any resolutions last year.  Was my 2012 resolution to not have any?  I'm super goal oriented so not making any resolutions doesn't mean I didn't accomplish things and move forward, I just didn't treat them as resolutions of "this will be different in 2013" because my goals didn't really change that much from the year before.

The biggest thing I accomplished in 2013 was I finished my last semester to get a degree in Technical Theater from Georgia Perimeter College.  This was a goal, but not a specific 2013 goal, I started going back to school while I was working at the law firm back in Spring of 2008 before I was laid off and then I started again once I was eligible for a Pell Grant in Fall of 2011.  Much more of a long term goal then one of a resolution for 2013, but since it happened in 2013 does it count?  I worked for a long time to keep up the straight As I got from Fall of 2011 through my final semester.

I did get to do my first professional (paid) lighting design for Lady Lay at 7 Stages Theater.  This is why I've been going to school.  So I would have enough skills to keep myself employed regardless of what the job openings were.  Stage Manager, Costumer, and now Lighting Designer.  I was also thrilled to add Production Manager to this list this year as well.  The only way to stay employed in theater is to be able to do ANYTHING so they can use you regardless of what they have available.  Make yourself invaluable and they can't help but want to keep you!

Syrens of the South lost a venue and then found a new monthly home at The Shelter and 7 Stages.  We had two super successful show at 7 Stages with Syrens celebrating its 6th birthday (we're now in our 7th season) and a SOLD OUT 7th Annual Tits for Toys for Tots show.  We ran a wonderful monthly show at The Shelter from May through Dec that brought together the community a great deal with helping fund Southern Fried Burlesque Fest as well as an outlet for performers new and old to test out new acts and get videos of performances.  Sadly, as of tonight the Shelter is closing but it has been very good to us over the past 4 years as we've performed there MANY times since they opened as guests, features and sometimes just because we were getting rowdy as customers.  But notice that it's a 4 year relationship with The Shelter and our 7th Anniversary.  We moved to 7 Stages because I started working there in 2012 and that relationship is what led to our shows being there, again not a 2013 only decision.

Southern Fried Burlesque Fest, I launched a Kickstarter to pay off the 2013 festivals bills and raise the money for the down payment for the 2014 festival and it was successful.  I was shocked, we even went a little over so we were able to pay off the SFBF credit card as well which was amazing.  We've actually already been able to pay $4000 of the $8500 we have to pay for the hotel space (not including air fare, hotels rooms, performance fees, etc...) which is a huge leap from where we normally are.  The Kickstarter may be the only thing that was thought of and executed in 2013, but Southern Fried has been my baby since 2010 when I began working on the 1st one that took place in 2011.

In January I began working at Studio Burlesque which later became The Atlanta School of Burlesque under Ursula Undress' leadership.  Not my first time teaching (obviously since Ursula was once a student of the Syrens of the South ABCs and 123s of Burlesque back in the day) but my first time having it be a main source of income and a steady job with a schedule.  A nice evolution of things I have been working towards since I started teaching in 2007.  (WOW, has it been that long already?)

So these were my big life changing things in 2013 which all happened due to YEARS of hard work rather than a major change in 365 days.  Maybe that's the point of this post, these things don't happen over night, they don't happen in the span of a year, everything we do leads us to our future and those are years in the making.  I think it is good to have goals, I like lists to check off to have a feeling of accomplishment when I am working on things.  Everyday we make choices, those choices pile up into our futures.  Instead of trying to change over night make one choice each day that makes you better than the day before and eventually you'll be the person your resolutions say you are.

And on that note, I guess I should have some resolutions that are doable.

1. Exercise for at least one hour three days a week.  I actually am usually pretty good about this and seeing as a teach two 45 minute classes per week this is a pretty easy goal.  I would like to get my yoga DVD back on my schedule and I think not having an 8:30am class will definitely help with that.  Also, I like short, easily accomplished goals so me and the 30 day challenges are going to probably become friends again.

2. Eat more vegetables.  I actually really like vegetables, my problem has been I have been super busy and my eating habits have been kinda crap.  I just generally need to pay more attention to what I put in my body.  I am not giving up anything or denying myself anything, I just need to add some healthy things in there as well.

3. See my friends more.  I have been so busy with work and school many of my personal relationships have suffered.  Even if I just go hang out once a week with someone I'll be doing infinitely better than I have been able to do.

4. Do more things...I need more adventures.  I need to say yes to more things instead of being weird about wandering out by myself or feeling silly.  Silly feels awesome and should be embraced more.

5. Organize my existence more.  I need structure to get things done, that's what being in school has taught me.  I work best with a schedule.  All of my other goals will be more easily accomplished if I do this one thing.

5 resolutions seems like a nice number so I'll stop there.  Am curious as to what other people's resolutions are/will be and how many other people accomplished from the year before.

2013-12-15 RIP Peter O'Toole

Peter O'Toole passed away today at age 81.  I am sure that most people will be talking about his Academy Award nominated performance in Lawrence of Arabia , his triumphs as Hamlet on the British stage before he was discovered, or his final Academy Award nomination for Venus.  However, those aren't the things that made me adore him as an actor and spending the rest of my life excited when I saw his name associated with a project.  No, I discovered Peter O'Toole through one of my favorite movies, High Spirits.

You know the moment I said the title of that movie you paused, remembered it fondly and smiled, or maybe even chuckled just a little bit.  The story of the drunken family failure Peter Plunkett trying to save his ancestral castle by creating fake ghosts and high jinx in-sue when the actual ghosts decide to give him more than he bargained for.  It's amazing, it's cheesy and it's fun.  That was how I first discovered Peter O'Toole and that is always the character I will first think of whenever his name comes up and it is always a fond memory that makes me smile.  I was 9 when that movie came out, so that will always be with me as part of my childhood.

You grow up and discover that he was also in Caligula with Malcolm McDowell who is one of my favorite actors.   He was the Pope in the television show The Tudors which was an amazing series, but I have to say that I loved him as the voice of Anton Ego in Ratatouille.  The hardened food critic whose heart was soften by a cooking rat and a boy who finds his confidence.  I bring up these particular roles to show the insane amount of versatility that he had as an actor.  If you look at his IMDB page there is never really a gap in his resume, he was constantly working and bringing his art and flair to all of his projects.  I am saddened by this loss, but I am grateful for the years of entertainment and joy that he brought into my life as an artist.

RIP Shelter: End of an Era...

Syrens of the South has been performing off and on at The Shelter since it opened 4 years ago and since May we have been doing a monthly Tease Tuesday show as a fundraiser for Southern Fried Burlesque Fest.  New Year's Eve, December 31, 2013, will be The Shelter's last night open.  Sadly, it is not that the club failed, that it wasn't popular or that it had fallen out of fashion, it is for reasons out of the club owners control...stupid plumbing and the owners of the building will have to gut everything to fix it which is why we're loosing our home.  I guess it's better to go out the hero than stick around long enough to become the villain.  The Shelter is definitely going out the hero! 

This past Tuesday, Dec 10th, was our final Tease Tuesday there.  It was a fairly packed house, especially for a Tuesday, and we had a great last show.  Many of us are planning on spending out New Year's Eve at The Shelter so we can be surrounded by our friends in one of our favorite places one last time.

We are pleased to let everyone know that Tease Tuesdays aren't dying.  Syrens of the South will be at Red Light Cafe on January 14th with special guest Paco Fish headlining.  This will continue to be a fundraiser for the Southern Fried Burlesque Fest March 20-23, 2014.  We hope to see you there and see if Red Light Cafe can be our new home for our monthly endeavors!

Discount Dance Shoes

 So Ursula Undress gave me this magical website called Lightinthebox.com that had discounted ball room dance shoes.  I couldn't resist the lure of cheap shoes!  Especially since you could pick the color, heel height, etc...

So I decided to purchase two pairs of shoes.  The very shiny rhinestone pair on the left for only $39.99 and the strappy purple on the right for only $29.99. The black came as is, but I was able to get the purple with a lower heel for rehearsal purposed.  This seemed like an amazing deal as with shipping it was less than $90.00 which considering most ball room dance shoes are $150 per pair, I was pretty happy to get two pair at almost half price.  Plus, you get reward points back for purchases on the website and if you have eBates (which I do) you also get 6% cash back that will later be deposited into your Paypal account!

They were supposed to ship in 4-5 weeks, to my happy surprise it only took like 2 weeks to get both pairs of shoes.  I was very excited about getting them since I have a show this weekend.  They gave me tons of tracking alerts and were very easy to stalk on the DHL website.

I was a little disappointed by the rhinestoned ones as one entire row of rhinestones on one of the straps came off.  (see picture)  However they were still cheaper then what I would have spent on the stones and then a pair of shoes and then taking the time to rhinestone them, so it's a small fix for a reasonable price and since I have all the stones that came off and a bag of extra stones that came with the shoes I will make it work!  The purple ones are awesome and I love them, period the end!  Glad I ordered the lower heels for rehearsal and teaching as I wanted something comfortable and pretty.  Totally an excuse to wear all the purple!

So in conclusion, I probably won't order a pair with stones again unless I'm just feeling moderately lazy since there's a good chance I would have to repair the stones, but I will definitely order some other pairs for stage and rehearsal.  They have a huge selection of dance shoes including ballet, jazz, modern, etc... So this will probably be a regular thing for me.  I, in fact, already have my next two pairs picked out!

Pallookaville: From cart, to truck, to brick and mortar!

If you live in Atlanta and ever leave your house to take in one of the bazillion festivals around town through out the year you've probably at least heard of Pallookaville.  Famous for it's gourmet corn dogs, (as seen below on The Tonight Show) Pallookaville started as a converted vintage hot dog cart before evolving into an old US Mail truck that was given a new life as a food truck.   The star of the dogs was the Fryinstein Monster: part 100% beef frank, part Polish kielbasa, and part Italian Sausage dipped in Cornbread with your choice of pepper or cheese...seriously, this is a thing and it is amazing!

Whether or not you've actually gotten to eat this amazing food depends on your luck and/or dedication as it often found with a line around the block because the food is that good.  A once special occasion food can now be a part of your regular diet!  The most recent step in Pallookaville's evolution includes an actual brick and mortar restaurant!  No longer do you have to wait for a festival to get these delicious items and they've expanded their menu as well.  The menu of gourmet carnival food includes Reubens, foot long hot dogs, burgers, poutined fries, specialty syrups for amazing drink concoctions and boozy milkshakes known as Shaketails!

I sadly wasn't able to go to the soft opening on Halloween night since I was working at Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse, but you better believe I was there for opening day on November 4th.  I drug a few friends from school with me for lunch around 1pm and it was hopping!  We put our name on the list and after a surprisingly short wait we were seated and on our way to deliciousness!

After scoping out the menu Martha and I got Black Cherry sodas while Justin braved the Tiger's Blood.  (I say braved because we really weren't sure what Tiger's Blood was, but it sounded cool so he ordered it.)  For food: I got the Fryinstein Monster and Poutined Fries (Poutined is gravy and cheese curds), Martha got the 100% beef frank and cheese fries (she's boring and only eats 3 things ever so the fact that there was something she wanted was pretty amazing!), and Justin joined me in Fryinstein goodness!  (Funnily enough, Justin had already eaten lunch when I text him to go to Pallookaville, but he could not resist the siren call!)

Tiger's Blood turned out to be a fruit punch type flavor (who knew) and the Black Cherry sodas were delicious!  The food came out really quickly, which was impressive with how busy they were.  Everything was delicious, but I admit I was defeated by the fries and corn dog and had to take half of it to go.  I went to school right after and gave the left overs to Xander because he is Canadian and nothing makes him happier than Poutined Fries, seriously you would have thought I gave him a brick of gold he was so happy!

The staff was great, it does help me feel comfortable that I knew quite a few people that work there, however I did not know our waitress and she was super awesome.  They asked if we wanted to separate our checks when we went up to pay, that's so rare that somewhere will ask rather than you having to ask them.  Seriously, that little extra touch of awesome customer service already sets this amazing place ahead of many others.  Not to mention the super amazing atmosphere that is a cross between the old soda shops of the 1950s and the best carnival parts of Coney Island which includes lots of autographed photos up on the wall from many of Jim Stacy's amazing life experiences.  From his amazing hidden eatery show Get Delicious, to being a previous partner in the Star Bar and the Starlight Drive-In, Jim has always been ahead of the curve on what's hot just by being true to himself and what he enjoys doing.

So yeah, that was last Monday and I have a lunch date there with my bestie on Wednesday.  At about 2 miles from my apartment, I think that Pallookaville will be a regular stop on my culinary rotation.  Once I've tried everything on the menu maybe I'll do an update.  Did I mention there are seasonal items as well?

UPDATE 11/13/2013: Went to lunch there today and had the Pastrami Reuben, poutined fries (I may have a pouitne problem) and a Butterscotch Soda.  My bestie Andy had the B. Franklin with swiss fries and a butterscotch soda and Martha again had her hot dog and cheddar cheese fries with a coke.  The Reuben was AMAZING, with the fries I could only eat half of my sandwich  since it's a HALF POUND OF MEAT!  I traded a bite of my sandwich for a bite of the B. Franklin, it was also wonderfully delicious.  Everything is so much food, at well over 6 feet tall I can only assume that everything there is Jim sized!  Andy is the only one of us that made it to the clean plate club today.

2013-08-03 RIP Dixie Evans, the Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque

Dixie Evans, The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque, press photo.

Dixie Evans, The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque, passed away yesterday morning, she was 86.  Dixie was an amazing burlesque performer and performed Marilyn Monroe tribute routines due to her very similar look.  However, even though her career as a headliner was very impressive, what she did in her retirement would inspire generations of performers.

After Jennie Lee's passing, Dixie took over the Goat Farm and created the Miss Exotic World competition which would later become the Burlesque Hall of Fame.  The museum, the legend shows and panels, classes and sense of family that these events have brought to the burlesque community through out the world is because of Dixie.  I have learned more about the history of burlesque by sitting in panels, drinking at bars, and just being around the amazing legends that this weekend draws each year.

Myself, Dixie Evans, Talloolah Love and Siren Santina at BHoF 2008.

Dixie, herself, was a petite woman who was a class act all the way.  She was gracious whenever she met anyone, always willing to pose for a picture.  She wanted to meet everyone and was always encouraging newer performers to express themselves and make their act their own burlesque.  Dixie loved burlesque and the fact that it was evolving into something new, a cross between the classic elements and the influence of modern times.  I encourage everyone to read Jo Weldon Interviews Dixie Evans.  It is an amazing article from how she got into burlesque, becoming the Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque and the evolution of the Museum.

Thanks to Dixie keeping the art alive and available to future generations I will always know exactly where I was when I heard the news, I was at the Syrens of the South 6 year anniversary show.  The show I produce has been running for 6 years, it can now go to kindergarten.  With out Dixie's inspiration and love of burlesque we may never have even known about burlesque.  Burlesque has given me some of my most amazing memories, stories I will definitely be repeating while I'm in the old folks home, and friendships that will last a life time.  It is this amazing part of my existence and I have Dixie Evans to thank for that.

When Dixie suffered her stroke a few months ago the entire burlesque community came together from around the world to create Dixie Evans Week.  Syrens of the South's show is scheduled for August 27th at The Shelter in Atlanta.  We will still be doing that show in her honor because that's what she would have wanted.  There is discussion of having a legend's fund to help the burlesque legends with medical bills and such or it will be donated to the Burlesque Hall of Fame to keep her dream and what she started alive.

On a side not, Marilyn Monroe passed away on August 5, 1962.  Dixie Evans, the Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque, passed away on August 3, 2013 during Marilyn Memorial Weekend.  We got an addition 51 years of Dixie.  I know it's just a coincidence, but I prefer to think of it as dedication to her art, she stayed in character until the end because that's what class acts do!  We love you Dixie!

2013-07-28 RIP Eileen Brennan

Eileen Brennan will always be Mrs. Peacock to me.  Clue has been one of my favorite movies since I first saw it in the theater.  We must have gone to go see it a dozen times in the theater trying to track down the brilliance of the alternate endings that were sent out to different theaters.  It is one of the best ensemble cast movies ever made and there isn't a weak link in the entire cast.  Mrs. Peacock was the eccentric ditz whose mismatched wardrobe walked the fine line between rich and crazy cat lady which only made you love her more.

Her career was more than this one amazing role, she was the Drill Sargent in Private Benjamin with Goldie Hawn and won an Emmy when she reprised that role for the TV series.  She was also in The Sting with Robert Redford and Paul Newman and The Last Picture Show. She was a Broadway star, she was the original Irene Malloy in Hello Dolly, and turned movie and television actress.  She was on almost ever major television show during the past 30 year from Murder She Wrote to Blossom to Taxi to Tales From the Crypt.  She was even the crotchety voice for many children's cartoon characters including the cartoon Dennis the Menace.  Eileen Brennan was amazing actress has moved on due to losing her battle with bladder cancer at a hospice in Burbank, CA.  She was 80 years old.
 

Babies are great....I just can't eat a whole one

If you type "Royal Baby" into Google you get "About 2,100,000,000 results (0.30 seconds)".  It is a headlining story on ABC, CBS, NBC, USA Today, Washington Post, etc...  Everyone is royal baby crazy.  My friend Kells Hildebrandt had one of the best reactions that I have seen:

"I mean, I know it's exciting when people have babies, but are we really celebrating that a university educated woman gave up a career to become a welfare recipient, and spend the rest of her life dependent on public criticism of what she wears and what offspring her uterus produces? Indeed, let's fucking reinforce the patriarchy a little more. And also, we should wait with baited breath until the baby's name is released after christening, a tradition that dates back to days when individuals actually didn't have names until the Church recorded them. What century are we in?"

Yet, as we are judging and wondering why it's all over the news and why people care, we're talking about it too.  Sure, I really don't care what the name is, unless it's something crazy like Obadiah, Ishmael, or Eleazar...really there are any number of awesome old Biblical boys names that would be interesting.  However, I think that we as America care about the Royal Family because there's part of this country that will always be connected to England because it wasn't that long ago that we were a colony and it was part of our culture.  We're barely over 200 years old as a country, we're young.  We moved out of the house and we're living on our own, but as a country we still not really adults yet.  It's like we're occasionally calling home to hear what the old gang is up to while we're finding ourselves at college.

We don't have a royal family in America.  We've elevated celebrities to this status because we want to believe that there are people out there who are better and more interesting than we are and traditionally this role was filled by the monarchy.  It's in our nature to want to believe that there is something better and that getting a glimpse of it makes us connected to the objects of our obsession.  And yes, I just called people objects because that's what we turn them into when we believe we have the right to know every detail of their lives and to judge them for it, because the rest of us are obviously perfect.  We relate through faults because it makes us feel like the people we idolize for their talents are just as human as the rest of us.  We judge and make fun of them because we're jealous that they're lives seem better then ours.  If we were secure and happy in our lives we'd leave them alone, but we're not.  No one is contented and that's why we watch Jerry Springer, why we read tabloids, why we care that a woman that we have never met, thousands of miles away has just had a baby just like thousands of other women did at the exact same time, but since this one's going to be a Prince and may someday be King, we care.

Me, I'm just going to keep reading the only tabloid I ever had a subscription to, Weekly World News!

Moving into the 21st century!

I am so very angry at Comcast. We need to have internet access because if I do not have internet I will murder everyone not be able to do my homework and for a little bit extra we got basic cable.  Basic cable means we get the bare minimum, sure no HB-Ho, Skinamax, or Show-me-time, but also no FX so I can't watch Archer or American Horror Story, no bunches of other channels that I didn't realize were fancy and most recently they just took away TBS.  I live in Atlanta, the home of Turner, and we don't have Turner Broadcasting Station...seriously, that's really messed up.  What am I going to watch when the History Channel isn't running a marathon of serial killer documentaries, cult docudramas, specials about zombies, Caligula and giant snakes?  (And that marathon is seriously how I spent this past Saturday, everything mentioned was played all day!)
I have an ancient 32 inch TV that I bought when I first moved to Atlanta.  It was bought for a Superbowl party at the Gothic Halfway House(TM).  The TV was too big for the entertainment center so we twist tied a a jug of water to the back of it to keep it from toppling out.  It was a wonderful engineering design of those in their early twenties.  I eventually got an entertainment center that the giant TV fit on and it's been a faithful TV for many years.  The last few years the picture started flickering, the sound occasionally bounces off and on so I starting thinking that when it dies I should get a new TV. So almost 2 years ago I inherited a 50 inch flat screen TV.  For almost 2 years it has been sitting on the floor of my junk area dining room just taking up space and blocking my ability to get to the bottom shelves of my bookcase waiting for the 32 inch TV to die so I can replace it with a beautiful 50 inch flat screen modern technology.  However, the loss of TBS (among other channels) prompted me to want to rearrange the everything I do from eat to use the computer to do homework and work living room to make room for the giant 50 inch tribute to modern technology and have it close enough to the router so I could hook up the internet to the Blu-Ray player.  I always said that once we rearranged the the living room to accommodate the internet I'd get Netflix...turns out I may not have to!
So I plug everything into the internet and it asks me if I want to sign into my Amazon account.  I have Amazon Prime because it's cheaper then all of the shipping I would have to pay with all of my school books I have to order each semester.  Turns out that along with free two day shipping I get a bunch of movies and TV shows live streaming for FREE!  I am a cheap ass bitch and love getting things for free.  Finally I will be able to watch Downton Abbey which I have been missing since it started because I don't have a DVR and I'm never home when it's on.  Tonight, I watched American Horror Story for the first time.  It was awesome, the entire first season is free!  Sure, I may be behind, but at least I can catch up rather than not get to see it at all.  I realize that this is old news to most people, but I am excited about getting to watch television shows that I haven't been able to.  Maybe now I will quit threatening to cut a bitch if they tell me how a series is going to end because I may actually already know for a change.

**EDIT**  Add TNT to the list of channels they just took away...

Dementia Juice at Dad's Garage June 21 - July 27

So one of the perks of working at a theater is sometimes you get free tickets to other theaters, that whole professional courtesy thing.  In this case it was, "hey, come help take the 7 Stages Youth Creates program to Dad's Garage to see a play" ...so for the rest of this review please keep in mind we had around 32 children ages 9-19, six of them from Holland and three of them from Israel with us in the audience.  (Explaining some of the phrases that didn't quite translate was both awkward and awesome)

If you are unfamiliar with the amazing experience that is Dad's Garage, it has been one of my favorite theater's since I moved to Atlanta.  With productions like Debbie Does Dallas the Musical, Reefer Madness the Musical, drunken midnight puppet slams, classes and amazing improv workshops and shows it has one of the most active and creative theaters in town.  If you're going to/have make/made it as an actor in Atlanta Dad's Garage is somewhere on your resume.  And in August, Dad's Garage is moving into 7 Stages because they've lost their lease so these two amazing forces will be combining for a ton of awesome!  However, this means that Dementia Juice is the last show that will ever be in the current Dad's Garage space.  It's change and it's kinda sad.  The first show I ever stage managed in Atlanta was at Dad's Garage so it hold a special place in my heart.

• Rodrigo (Lucky Yates, left), Helena (Amber Nash), and Daniel (Tom Rittenhouse)

So, Dementia Juice...the write up for press states, "When you meet your girlfriend’s parents for the first time, you want to make a good impression, right? Unfortunately that’s pretty hard to do when the walls are melting, everyone’s faces keep swapping, and her dad catches on fire right in front of your eyes. Either you just walked into a Dali painting or you’re on a serious acid trip."  A young scientist who may have found the cure for dementia gets ready to meet his beautiful fiance's eccentric parents and shows that there's a fine line between being insane and being on drugs.  This show is a combination of puppets, live acting, the best use of the main stage space and curtain system I have ever seen there and a custom toilet that you have to see to believe.  Sure, there's partial nudity, incest, Polyamourous Satanic Masons and a little plant sex, but that's what I've come to expect from Dad's Garage over the years.  There were so many moments during the show I was laughing out loud, a few times I was laughing so hard I was in tears.  It's a little bit like Animaniacs and Evil Dead II got drunk during a vintage horror convention and this was the result...did I mention there's an awkward dance number?

Written and directed by Kevin Gillese, the Artistic Director of Dad's Garage and Michael Haverty, the Associate Artistic Director of 7 Stages, I hope that this is a sign of the amazing things to come when the two theaters share a home for a while.  Also, if you're into the show Archer, Helena is played by Amber Nash (voice of Pam Poovy) and demented/dementia ridden Rodrigo is played by Lucky Yates (voice of Doctor Krieger) and they do a wonderful job as the in-laws-to-be.  Their zany hi jinx was a wonderful balance to the young scientist Daniel (played by Tom Rittenhouse) who has a great journey from mousy scientist to acid tripping defender of love along with his baseball referencing fiance Rachel (played by Perry Frost) as the semi-straight men in this show.  This is an amazing high note for the building to go out on...I am sure that the weird energy of Dad's Garage will be a legacy in the condos they will be building on it's rubble.  

Dementia Juice Through July 27. $7-$21. Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m. Dad's Garage Theatre, 280 Elizabeth St. 404-523-3141. www.dadsgarage.com.

Why I haven't added you on Facebook...

1a) We've never met. You randomly sent me a friend request and I have no idea who you are or why you're adding me.  You didn't send me a message or anything introducing yourself and we have no mutual friends.  You do not need to know that I OBSESSIVELY CHECK IN ON FOURSQUARE to make it easier for you to stalk my ass.  You also don't need to hear all my personal thoughts about stupid crap that is too lame for me to even post here.  Seriously...if you think this shit is trivial you would think I had too much time on my hands, and sometimes that's the case.

1b)We've never met, yet we have a lot of mutual friends.  I usually notice that you live far away, like Timbuktu, and yet we have like 50 mutual friends...they're all other burlesque performers.  I'm going to assume that you're a fan and though I appreciate your enthusiasm for my art it's my personal profile my family is also on and I don't want someone going all fan boy talking about how awesome my tits or ass is IN FRONT OF MY DAD.  Thanks for the compliment but really, go add my Katherine Lashe Fan Page so my family doesn't have to read that shit.

2) I have too many friends all ready.  This sounds really vain, but in all seriousness I am not on line enough to be able to read everything everyone posts.  I miss stuff all the time, in some cases important things like I was out of town last week and I miss the fact that MY DAD WAS ROBBED until almost a week later.  Yeah, maybe it's weird that we keep up with each other on Facebook, but we do because I have a crazy schedule with all of the theater stuff and he sometimes stays awake for 36 hours and then sleeps for 12 and I don't know at what time he's awake because he's retired and living on a crazy schedule because he can.  I actually artificially kept my friends list to 666 people because I thought that shit was funny.  Ooooh...evil number of friends!  Really, it was just a random number but it was pretty funny for a minute when other people realized I always had exactly 666 people on my friends list.

3) We've met, but you don't have a pic of you up.  You have something cute for your profile picture or no profile pic which means I can't see what you look like and I am super bad with names.  What does this mean? I HAVE NO CLUE WHO YOU ARE, we might as well have never met.  If I can't look at your picture and know who you are I probably won't add you.  And posting a baby picture doesn't count because frankly I don't talk to anyone I knew as a baby outside of my family and I'm already friends with all of them.

4) We've met only once in passing.  Again, PERSONAL PROFILE, so again, I don't really know you so I'm not very likely to add you on my Facebook page.  There are casual acquaintances I have kind of known for years I haven't added, don't be offended that we met for five seconds once and I didn't immediately go out and add you.  You don't need to know that I had a shitty day and am wanting to vent about how I am cranky because I haven't been able to get my toes did or because I ate some shit that didn't agree with me and I am dying and why won't my friends bring me Taco Bell and Ginger Ale to make me feel better.

5) I don't want to.  Yeah...that's about it, I may just not really want to.  Sometimes I'm a bitch like that.  I'm only allowed 5,000 friends on Facebook and I plan to choose each and everyone of them VERY CAREFULLY.  It may be nothing you did, it could be one of the other reasons listed above or it could just be that for what ever reason I don't feel comfortable letting you have access to all the crap that dribbles out of my fingers from my insane brain because I don't want strangers or respected members of my community to think that I am bat shit crazy.

It's not you, it's me.  Seriously, I'm crazy, neurotic and I have moved passed issues to volumes.  So yeah, please don't be super offended if I haven't added you.  I have almost 200 people waiting for me to add them and this is after I just deleted a bunch of them a a few months ago and I just started breaking the 666 rule.  Have a nice day!

Tease Tuesdays with Syrens of the South at The Shelter

So this past Tuesday Syrens of the South descended upon The Shelter in an effort to raise money for the Southern Fried Burlesque Fest.  There were 10 amazing performances for only $10, there's not a better way to spend an otherwise dull Tuesday night.  All of the performers donated their performances that evening in an effort to help pay off the remaining of the past 2013 SFBF bills.  The amazing performers included the Students from my (Katherine Lashe) Wednesday night Beginning Burlesque Class at Studio Burlesque, Talloolah Love, Edie Akimbo, Rob Thompson of the Little Five Point Rock Star Orchestra, Tru Bliss, Persephone Phoenix, Tora Torrid, Bourgeois Betty, Nipsy Tussle of Knoxville's Salome Cabaret, and the 2013 Southern Fried Burlesque Queen, Atlanta's own Lola le Soleil!  We also had two raffles, one for some amazing prizes including a BHoF shirt, a variety of Starbucks Coffee, autographed pictures, a beauty basket, a 5 class pass from Studio Burlesque and a weekend pass for SFBF2014.  The second raffle was a 50/50 raffle where the winner splits the money with SFBF so each gets 50% of the amount put into the raffle.  The winner decided to donate the money back to SFBF which was very sweet of her.

It went so well that we're going to do it again on June 11th, in fact it will now be the second Tuesday of each month.  Each show will have 10 amazing acts for only a $10 cover.  Doors will be at 9pm and the show will be at 9:30pm so we'll be done before midnight, plenty of time for everyone to get home at a decent hour since it's a school night.  Some performers have opted to donate their performances for future shows as well and for that we're super grateful since SFBF is a very expensive event to put on and having the support of the Atlanta Burlesque community is amazing and very helpful!  We'll continue to bring an amazing variety of burlesque, musicians, magicians, aerialists, comedy skits, etc... to the Tease Tuesday shows so you'll never know what kind of show it will be!

Southern Fried, Lady Lay, Taste, and other things that will amaze you!

After Southern Fried Burlesque Fest...which was amazing and I cannot say enough good things about everyone that was involved.  Frankly though it deserves it's own post, but I just am so far behind that's just not going to happen for me.  Our special guests: Roxie D'Lite, Russell Bruner, Toni Elling, Juith Stein, Orchid Mei, Talloolah Love, Kisa von Teasa and all of our amazing performers in all the showcase and the competitors for the crown.  So proud that Atlanta's own Lola le Soleil won the Southern Fried Queen.  It's our first time keeping the crown in state!  The hotel was amazing and we will be going back next year, our dates are March 20-23, 2014 and we hope that you will all save the date.  In lieu of the fact that I'm so far behind, go see the pretty pictures that StunGun Photography took, you can click the link and see their awesome show shots.  They were also nice enough to take some studio shots as well.

So why have I been so far behind?  Well, as I started to say before I got distracted...after Southern Fried Burlesque Fest I immediately started working as Lighting Designer for an awesome production over at 7 Stages called Lady Lay.  This was moderately terrifying as I had never designed a full show before, especially of this magnitude.  There's stuff flying in from all over the place, crashing all around and ruining all of my standard sites lines and creating shadows.  So that was what I had to work around.  Did I also mention that the last two weeks of tech were on top of my finals for school?  Yeah, that was fun.  So I get the show open, finish up my finals and then there are more events!

Taste of Theater is 7 Stages annual fundraiser which somehow, during all of this craziness, I agreed to help out with by booking and wrangling performers, helping herd cats (aka stage manage), costume about 15 people and make sure everything was loaded out at the end of the night.  Lady Lay opened on April 27th, my last final was on May 2nd, Taste of Theater was on May 3rd.  It was a lot of fun and we raised some money for the theater and everything was amazing.  There were performers from Musee de Couer, The Imperial Opa Circus and many Syrens of the South alumni.  The thing I love the most about Syrens not being a troupe is that we get to work with everyone.

So yeah, that's been my past month.  Coming up?  Tonight I am going to a fundraiser for Southern Fried Burlesque Fest...oh yeah, I'm producing it so add that to the list of things that I've been working on the past month.  We still have a few bills to pay off from 2013 so we need to get those straightened out ASAP.  $3000 and then we need $2000 to get the deposit for next year, total of $5000.  I sadly just can't do out of pocket any more so here's hoping that everyone has really enjoyed the past 3 years so we can raise the money to keep it going.  It costs around $15000 to put on the festival, it's a lot of money but it's a lot of fun too.  Sure, I don't get paid for it, none of us do,  and the fest owes me a little over $10,000 for the past four years of work, but we have a great time and it's the most expensive b-day party I could possibly have!

Hopefully things will be calmed down enough for a minute that I can get caught up on life.  So many people I haven't gotten to see, more theater gigs coming up, more burlesque shows and teaching more classes at Studio Burlesque.  It's crazy and it's busy and moderately insane, but I love it and it makes me happy.  If I could seriously just get paid to be in a theater all the time and make a living that way I would.  Someday....but until then I'm going to continue being insane and having a great time doing it.

Evil Dead

I was lucky enough to get free preview passes for Evil Dead last Tuesday before it was released to the public.  I have been a huge fan of the original Evil Dead series for years and have the collector Necronomicon versions of ED 1 & 2, the 1st one is even autographed by Bruce Campbell!  I saw Army of Darkness in the theater with my dad back in 1992 when it was released.  I have t-shirts, mash-up tees, action figures, etc... So yeah, I'm a fan.  I knew walking into it that it was not going to be in the same story arc as the original.  It's set in modern times, there is no Ash, and it's not supposed to be funny.  I like to think that 20 years later someone not quiet as awesome as Ash found the book and this is what happened.  So treat it as a new story line and let it stand on it's own.

Let me start by pointing out they had a lot to live up to.  Every die hard fine knew that this was supposed to be a legitimate horror movie and most of the die hard fans are also rabid horror movie watchers, so not only did they have to live up to the Evil Dead franchise, they were going to be compared to every other horror movie ever made!  I really enjoyed the over all story arc, it was true to the already established universe and still managed to stand on its own.  There were some wonderfully done special effects, one of my favorites was something you couldn't yet see, you just heard it for a good 30-40 seconds before you saw what was happening.  You knew what you were about to see, but the anticipation and hearing the wet sticky sawing as the camera creeped closer into the flickering darkness...yeah, it was a great moment.  There were a couple of great moments, some were gory, some just creepy and some were laugh out loud funny.  There are some amazing tributes to the original series in both some of the cinematography as well as little things like a beloved prop or two and some very familiar injuries as well as a special moment for die hard fans at the end so stay through the credits...all of them.

I really enjoyed the movie and it's already set up for a sequel...this makes me happy.  I'm probably going to go see it again because it was fun and I like a horror movie to be scary.  Everyone keeps trying to make vampires sparkle, werewolves be brooding boys next door, and zombies to have a heart that they're not trying to eat.  It was nice to see the monsters be monsters; manipulative, vicious, and evil.  Nothing sparkled or wanted to talk about feelings, thank God.  So to wrap: go and enjoy; you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll scream!

Wow am I far behind....Playing Catch-up!

So when last we left our hero she was about to go and perform for the debut show of The Jewel Box Review!  Nestled in the down stars of Elliot St Pub, now known as "Club 51", it's a very intimate venue with only around 50 seats so everything is front row, but for the creme da la creme you can get a VIP table for four at only $150 that includes champagne and an up close and personal view of the talent.  Fonda Lingue knows how to put on an amazing show with some incredible talent from the burlesque and drag communities.  It was a wonderful mix of talents that kept the sold out audience completely entertained!  I think this is going to be an amazing adventure for Fonda and I was so honored to be a part of it!  The next one will be on May 18th so keep your eyes peeled for the amazingness and hope to see you there!  (Maybe I'll get to come back and play again soon)  PS.  Elliot St Pub as some of the most amazing sandwiches and a full bar in addition to some amazingly delicious ginger beer!

 So next on the docket.....

Devin Liquor won the Mr. Georgia USofA MI Classic, let's face, Devin's one of the greatest drag kings out there, and earned that title.  However, getting to the big event in Oklahoma City takes money, so on March 3rd a bevy of burlesque beauties and some of the most talented drag performers I have ever seen took the stage at Friends on Ponce for a fund raiser.  There were performances, raffles for some of Devin's personal belongings, tips being thrown, and a silent auction so you could have a piece of awesome to take with you for your help.  Johnny No Thumbs donated his time and ran sound for the event, I ended up helping with props and stage kittening.  It was so much fun and for such a great cause.  The Jello shots were flowing in Vodka and Champagne flavors.  It was a lot of fun for a Sunday night...almost too much fun when everyone had to go to work the next day.  So glad I got to go and enjoy an amazing show for a great cause!

And then.....

Prentice Suspensions had booked their March 4th show at The Five Spot back in January.  The hookers and the strippers got a long so well during Atlanta Xmas Apocolypse at 7 Stages that we decided to come play with them for this Monday night show.  So it was Prentice Suspensions, Syrens of the South, Little 5 Points Rockstar Orchestra playing selections from Dracula The Rock Opera and Ledfoot Messiah closing out the line-up.  It was going to be a small show, but then we got news...The owners of The Five Spot had decided to sell and this was going to be the last show before the doors closed under the management that we knew and loved and went to the new owners.  So this small show became a farewell to all the amazing people who have helped us, Prentice Suspensions, L5PRO, as we've all had a home there and we needed to give them an awesome farewell!  It was an amazing show and I am going to miss all the amazing times we spent there and look forward to meeting the new owners and hopefully they will be just as awesome!

Finally...

Southern Fried Burlesque Fest....yeah, that one's gonna get it's own post...

2013-02-22 Topher Payne's Angry Fags

As many of you already know, I've been on team 7 Stages since I was hired to be the stage manager for Dracula: The Rock Opera almost a year ago.  Since then I have been honored to work with some amazing Atlanta artists and gotten to see some amazing shows.  This past weekend was the World Premiere of Angry Fags written by Topher Payne.  Yes, it deals with some very serious issues such as terrorism, equality and what it means to start a revolution.  It also deals with love, compassion, revenge, bath house fluffing, Steal Magnolia's and the importance of Julia Sugarbaker.  Everything you would expect and love from the Atlanta gay community.  They're here, they're queer and they're not going to take it anymore!

Topher Payne's script was amazingly well written.  The comedy was gold and the emotions were intense.  The inappropriate humor secured this play as being one of my new favorite black comedies.  There were multiple moments during the show that the words were so at odds with what was happening, these times made it seem darker and more real.  The nervous chuckle you accidentally let slip as the body count climbs and shivers stroll down your spine to keep you in the moment, it's that awkwardness that we have all felt when you have tried to not laugh during a moment of silence or cracked a joke at a funeral.  It constantly walked the line of good taste and occasionally blurred it in way that made you safely uncomfortable so you could really understand the message of the play, we're all people and we all deserve to be happy.

Jacob York gave an amazing performance as Bennett Riggs, the political savvy executive with a job as a political speech writer for the first lesbian state senator.  It is the lead, and hardest, role in the show with a full gambit of emotional trials and tribulations.  The most touching scene was in the hospital room, I don't want to give too much away, but the soliloquy he gave was heart felt, touching and chilling to the bone with it's love, sadness and sincerity. Bennett was often the straight man for Cooper Harlow, Bennett's flamboyant and fabulous roommate.  Cooper, played by Johnny Drago, was the stereotype gone commando.  Cooper was full of life, dreams and a rage that is beyond the average bitchy queen.  Cooper embodies the anger of the oppressed who only want to be looked at as equals and are stick of fighting to be treated like real people.  The entire cast was amazing; you hate who you're supposed to, love who you're supposed to and have mixed feelings at all the right moments.  The set was this amazing, modular alter to media that showed the importantance of political spin during what should be personal, intimate periods.  It was a series of amazing moments which kept me on the edge of my seat and I often found myself alternatively holding my breathe with concern and gasping for air between laughs.  The show runs through March 17th, I HIGHLY recommend everyone go to see Angry Fags before it disappears.

2013-02-09 Vixen's Valentease Burlesque Show

Each year Syrens of the South's two biggest shows are our Toys for Tots show and our St. Valentine's Day show.  I get the Toys for Tots show, it's the holidays, you don't have to be around your family and you get to help bring joy to children who would other wise not get anything for Christmas.  Valentine's Day, you're dragging your date out to watch other people get naked...I feel like we're either a preview for their evening or acting as a fluffer to help get them in the mood.  It's the most intimate I feel with our audience every year, either way I'm involved in the naughtiness that may be going on later in the evening.

Each show we pick a charity, this show's charity was Good Mews.  Good Mews is a no kill animal shelter that takes in cats and either cares for them there, finds them foster homes or permanent families.  They have been around for 25 years and have found homes for almost 7,000 cats.  A friend had told me that they had just lost their ability to get free litter for the cats so that was what we decided to have people bring to get in for half price, cat litter.  Sounds weird, right?  Well it kind of was, but it was for a good cause.  

The show itself was amazing!  I am so thankful to have so many amazing performers willing to come get naked with me on a Saturday night!  Special thanks to The Five Spot, out MC Cutty McGill, my Stage Kittens Victoria Rose and Sarah Femme, Lah Lah Luscious, Tru Bliss, Chad Sanborn, Edie Akimbo, Post Modern Collapse, Sally Strumpet, Evelyn Harleen Cassidy, Vivian Kyle, Secret City Burlesque, Moxie Minx, Sadie Hawkins, Persephone Phoenix, Sham Wow, Fonda Lingue, Lola LeSoleil, and The Gentlemen Callers.  All of these amazing people put together an amazing show to a sold out, standing room only audience.  We were able to fill up our Good Mews volunteer's car full of kitty litter to help them with their amazing efforts.

It is so amazing to be in the six season of Syrens of the South shows.  Hard to believe how time has flown by, here's to another six!

2013-02-02 PinUp Girl Cosmetics Photoshoot

So back in January, Pinup Girl Cosmetics was offering a special Valentine's photo shoot for only $150.  The $150 included hair, make-up and eyelashes, styling, props, 2 edited photos plus champagne and tasty snacks which would normally have been over $200 and you wouldn't normally get snacks!  Did I mention there was cheese and shrimp?  SHRIMP!!!!  Sorry, I don't eat shrimp very often because of the cholesterol so I get excited!  So yes, with my Christmas money, I bought the package so I could have some new pin-up/burlesque publicity photos since my last ones were done in Jan of 2011 when Ursula Undress and I did the cover of Pin Curl Magazine.  I love that thanks to burlesque these are BUSINESS EXPENSES!!!  There are perks to everything!  It was as if the stars were aligning to help me out for the shoot, Secrets in Lace was having a 30% off all their clearance items which is wear the amazing out fit I am wearing in the photos came from.

So day of photoshoot, I get up super early (9am) so I can dye my hair to make sure that my color is even, bright, shiny and new!  I get done dying my hair JUST IN TIME to jump in the car and haul butt over to Studio Burlesque so I can teach my 11am Go-Go Shimmy Shimmy class, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to teach.  You should come see me for it sometime, it's silly!  Anyway, after class I fly back to the apartment to gather up my clothing choices for the shoot.  I had a few ideas in mind, but then realized that I couldn't remember what the back ground color was going to be and the last thing I wanted to do was clash or blend in, so I just packed everything.  Everything consisted of: 2 bullet bras, 3 garter belts, 2 demi cup bras, 3 pairs of stockings, 4 pairs of shoes, 3 pairs of opera length gloves, and 6 pairs of panties....all by Secrets in Lace because I have a love of pretty lingerie and honestly I was packing light, that is what happens when you are unsure of what you're walking into.

After the packing it was time for the nail salon!  I know a lot of people have mixed feelings about acrylic nails, myself included, but I am going to explain why they're important.  My world, 90% of the time, consists of school and work.  Neither of those things requires, or even encourages me to have long beautifully painted nails.  However, look at the top picture, look how well my nails pop against the white on the garter belt.  The picture at the bottom, it would look weird if my piggies weren't painted with those open toed shoes, even with the stockings on.  If you're going to go for a look you should go all the way; especially, as in my case, since these are professional publicity photos.  So yes, I got a mani/pedi, a foot and leg mud wrap, a full set of acrylics and an eyebrow wax, it takes a lot of money to look this cheap!  Finally, I was ready to go have my picture taken!

Pinup Girl Cosmetics is a well oiled machine.  One girl was having her pictures taken as another had just finished hair and was going to go get in costume so I could plop myself directly in the chair of hair goodness.  Kellyn, the owner, is the Hair Whisperer.  If you see a picture of me with amazing hair it's either Lee Press On Hair (what I call my wigs and pony falls) or Kellyn did it!  She got me in curlers and then sent me to make-up.  Gina did my make-up, she was super sweet and very efficient!  After make-up I was sent back to Kellyn so she could finish my hair and then I scampered off to change.  I was being a bit indecisive  Kellyn helped me pick out my outfit and then loaned me the necklace and earrings since I had forgotten accessories in my rush.  I went from off the street to a fully realized pin-up in around an hour.  Seriously, they have the transformation down to a science!  One of the things I loved is that the other girls and I all looked like individuals.  We were not all done the same way, we had hair and make-up that showed our personalities and that was flattering to each of us as individuals.  To be that efficient and still keep each girl fresh is what was truly impressive.  My shoot itself was about an hour of well directed poses to make sure that I was comfortable.  I got to do some with and with out my gloves and some with and with out the super awesome gold antique phone they had.  It was fun, relaxing and they took requests!  This was my third photo shoot with Pinup Girl Cosmetics and I highly recommend them.

I was chatting with everyone after my shoot since the girls scheduled after me were running behind and they had a moment.  There are approximately 200 pictures taken for each girl.  200!!  You are given the choice of a proof sheet or trusting Kellyn to pick out which ones she thinks are best.  I always let Kellyn pic, she's never let me down.  The photo shoot came with two (the ones posted here) and in a few weeks I'll have the additional 3 images on a disc with the ones shown for a total of five.  It was only an extra $25 and I feel it's worth getting the extra 3 pictures.  You've already gone through all the hair, make-up and costuming, you might as well get the extra shots.   They do a few special shoots like the Valentine's one I did with them a few times per year so keep a look out to get the extra bang for your buck.  If you're super lucky you'll find a Groupon on Living Social deal which some of my students bought for me a while back which is how I got my Dracula photo shoot I did back in October.  So keep your eyes peeled and let them make you look and feel like a princess...and maybe eat some shrimp and drink some champagne while you're at it!

2013-01-30 RIP Patty Andrews, The Last Andrews Sister

Patty Andrews was the last surviving member of The Andrews Sisters.  She passed away at age 94 in her home in Los Angeles.  She was the lead singer of The Andrews Sisters.  They recorded over 400 songs and sold more than 80 million records during their long career. You can check out a lot of their amazingness in The Best of the Andrews Sisters.  Known mostly for their work with the USO and entertaining troops over seas, they held a special place in the hearts of many of the service men they entertained and brought hope to during those dark times during World War II.  They were the first sister act to break away from being huddled around a microphone singing to dancing to the music during breaks in the songs which really brought up the energy and made it more of a stage show which put them ahead of the other acts of that time period.  They were also recorded with popular bands of the time period, such as Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller.  Patty was preceded in death by her husband and both of her sisters. LaVerne Andrews died in 1967 of cancer and Maxene Andrews died in 1995 of a heart attack.

I was always a big fan of the Andrew Sisters thanks to my grandmother's love of music.  When I first started doing burlesque I was in a period themed troupe and I tried to track down everything I could as far as music from the 1940s.  Every single compilation or box set I could find was full of their hits.  The Andrew Sisters were everywhere and had songs that ranged from up beat messages of hope to slow sad ballads that were full of longing to be at home with your loved ones.  Each beautiful song held meaning and frozen moments of time for a war where so many passed away and would never see their loved ones again.  They spread their songs from base camp to base camp helping bring a little piece of home to all of those soldiers over seas.  It's a sad day that the last piece of history and American Patriotism that was The Andrews Sisters is now gone, hopefully they're doing beautiful trios in the afterlife.

Warm Bodies

One of the perks of working for Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse is that sometimes through out the year you hear about cool things like screenings and get to see movies for free on the big screen before they're released to the public.  Warm Bodies, being about zombies, was right up AZA's alley.

I went to the movie expecting it to be kind of campy and it totally could have gone that way, but it was actually very well done, really fun and I was pleasantly surprised.  I loved that they didn't explain where zombies came from, in the first five minutes they go over that it could have been an engineered virus, a disease, a monkey bite or the gates of hell; all the traditional reasons for zombies, but no one knows and it doesn't matter.  Zombies exist and that's just a fact that you have to accept to move on.  I like that the zombies have a little mystery.  I am a huge fan of zombie movies and there are so many different zombie-verses each with it's own explanation as to where zombies came from.  Sometimes it's nice for the film to be about the undead instead of why the undead exist.  I really loved the explanation of why zombies eat brains.  I'm not going to give it away, you'll just have to go see the movie, but I thought it was a very nice touch.  That's the one thing most zombie movies don't bother to explain so I'm glad they took the time to make it more interesting instead of just mindlessly wanting brains for no specific reason.

The idea of a zombie/human love story had a nice blend of eeew and awe.  You know he's dead, but you're still rooting for him to get the girl!  There were some really great one liners and a very coherent story arch.  I, and the rest of the audience, laughed out loud many times through out the film.  There were also some very touching moments that made you care and really relate to the characters.  It was a little, oh by the way in case you didn't get the message of the film, we're going to spell it out for you at the end, but it was very brief and didn't take away from the fun of the story so I'm willing to forgive it.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to everyone!

Warm Bodies is based on Warm Bodies: A Novel by Isaac Marion.  I had never heard of it before seeing the movie, but if the book is just as clever then it's one I'm probably going to have to pick up.  I do recommend going to the Official Warm Bodies Movie Website as it has some really fun features, a game to see if your boyfriend is a zombie, zombie acting tips and more.  Warm Bodies opens this Friday, February 1st.  It's worth seeing it on the big screen and it would be an amazing date night at the drive-in.  I checked and starting this Friday it's going to be showing at the Starlight Six Drive-In here in Atlanta so there you go, right in time for Valentine's Day!