EXTRA “CARERS” – all jailed
Martha Stewart
Snookie
James Brown
Dennis Rodman
Mel Gibson

And there you have it! another riveting adventure of the Bad Boy and Girls Book Club! Sara, a fabulous and beautiful dinner and thanks to Craig for supplying the photos and to everyone for rigging up the Skype for me to join in!
I’ll be emailing every one with this years “OFFICIAL BOOK CLUB SCHEDULE” so be on the look out! Meanwhile, the next book is Craig’s book meeting on SUNDAY MARCH 4th: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.
Until then, we remain the Bad Boy and Girls Book Club!

I’m pretty sure these Vodka shots would have helped make it a fun read- Nostroyva!!!

Yup, it seems as though “fun read” was the fictitious part! Although I didn’t hate this book by any means I had a helluva time just getting through it and couldn’t wait to be finished ! (hate that, such a waste of valuable time!!!!) I just didn’t care about any of the characters although the book did get better in the halfway mark but that is a long way to go before you like a book! Elizabeth seemed to like the book, Sara not at all, Meredith and Miriam thought it was ok and Craig couldn’t seem to get past page 30!

Super flexible super hostess Miriam somehow whipped last weeks Russian themed Stroganoff, perogis and cabbage with beef salad into this weeks fresh and delicious dinner. Boy, did I wish I was there to dig into that! I was especially bitter though when she brought out this incredible looking chocolate bread pudding. Did you know how much you were torturing me Miriam?

If a novel doesn’t inspire great literary conversation this group is never at a loss and the casting always brings everyone around and although we usually don’t name a director of our book’s film, with it’s Jewish theme this time we have chosen Woody Allen to direct. He is especially good with ensemble casts, and boy do we have one!

Our cast is as follows and yes, more than a few liberties have been taken. Sorry Woody….
Vladamir Glaskin – Michael Cera (sigh, who else?)
Challah – Ricki Lake
Vladimir’s mother – Elizabeth Taylor
Vladimir’s father – Richard Dreyfus
Vladimir’s Grandmother – Betty White (had to be!)
Fan Man – Ed Asner
Baobab – African American male “model” in the Porn for New Mom book Craig brought. This really makes NO sense at all, but so what, who cares?!!!!
Francesca – LeeAnn Rhimes or Karen Carpenter
Francesca’ s mom – Sharon Stone
Francesca’s dad – Michael Douglas
Baobob’s girlfriend Roberta – Selina Gomez
Groundhog – Danny DeVito
Gusee – Charlie Sheen
Magazine Editor – Michael Jackson
Morgan – young Tina Fey
Jordi – Erik Estrada
Frantisek – John Cusak
Gusev – Gary Busey
Work out/Church guy – Sly Stallone
SKINHEADS
Ed Norton
Eminem
Courtney Love
Groundhog’s girlfriend – Cher
Jan the BMW driver – Jason Statham
NEW YORK EXTRAS
Shirley Temple Black (???)
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson
Lindsey Lohan
Jessie Eisenberg
Natalie Portman
Andy Samburg

PRAVA EXTRAS
Mila Kunis
Viggo Mortensen
Adrian Brody
super models Natalia Vodianova, Karolina Kurkova and Carmen Kass
Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brinn
Mikail Barishnykov
All the thugs from any Guy Ritchie film doing Russian accents
Mel Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva
Olga Korbut and Nadia Comeneci

Sure to be an Academy Award winner!!!!

Stay tuned Bad Boy and Girls, our next book is Elizabeth’s choice – Olive Kittridge by Elizabeth Strout.

Meeting date tbd but lets get READING!!!!
Much love and literature to all!
Yours truly,
and

I’m sure the tech nerds don’t often hear the word cozy but I just want to inform them that there actually is a big correlation between the two. I mean email has us communicating 24/7 and when you do actually want to speak to someone (yes, the real cozy) then picking up the phone is still the real thing. But video skyping someone is even better -the next best thing to being there! Muti-media above as Skype catches Elizabeth photographing the party with her iphone! Below, Craig mans Mission Control!

And that’s is how I once again participated in my Bad Boys and Girls book club – I from my dining room in Seattle, chatting with my homies in Los Angeles about our latest book The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.

There was something else super special about this meeting and that was the addition of a new member – Miriam’s tiny new baby Henry born October 30th!

Although Henry had definitely read the book he seemed more interested in sleeping than commenting and was very quiet and I might add, well-behaved. He was a fabulous addition!
The book was Meredith’s suggestion and thus the club was held at her new house which from what I could tell and knowing Meredith’s amazing taste looked adorable. Yummy appetizers!

The menu that night included salad with pomegranate, feta and Girard’s Champagne dressing and the main course was mushroom risotto and boy was I bitter that I couldn’t have a plate of that, dang it looked good! When I asked through my screen what was for dessert little plates of bundt cakes in chocolate chip, lemon and pumpkin pecan praline appeared. That’s when I just got over it and poured myself another glass of wine! Here is the mushroom risotto. See very end of post for the recipe!

The Art of Racing in the Rain was written after author Garth Stein watched a National Geographic documentary about how dogs in Mongolia are thought to be reincarnated as men. Several years later he was at a Seattle Arts and Lecture event hearing the poem “The Revenant” by Billy Collins (which means words from the dead) which was written from the viewpoint of a dog who had been recently euthanized. The dogs words started out “this is the dog you put to sleep come back to tell you one simple thing, I never liked you, not even one little bit”… This stuck with Stein who then knew he would eventually tell a story from a dogs viewpoint who would come back reincarnated as a man.
Watch the interview with Stein here!

Stein moved back to Seattle from NYC and begin a career as an amateur race car driver. He says that he would sit around with the other drivers talking about the mental aspects of race car driving – balance, anticipation, patience and how if they could apply those same principals to their own lives at home with their families they’d be much better people. This jelled the idea. He now had a voice, the dog, the main character – the race car driver and the story of the dog observing human life so he when he came back as a man he would be prepared.

A brief synopsis:
Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver. Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn’t simply about going fast. Using the techniques needed on the race track, one can successfully navigate all of life’s ordeals.

On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through: the sacrifices Denny has made to succeed professionally; the unexpected loss of Eve, Denny’s wife; the three-year battle over their daughter, Zoë, whose maternal grandparents pulled every string to gain custody. In the end, despite what he sees as his own limitations, Enzo comes through heroically to preserve the Swift family, holding in his heart the dream that Denny will become a racing champion with Zoë at his side.

I think the club really enjoyed this book and here it is, as usual, our highly creative and flexible casting!

Enzo: (voice of) Morgan Freeman or Michael Cera. Majority voted for Morgan Freeman. Elizabeth voted for MC.Somehow Elizabeth won but I am still putting Morgan Freeman for his wise voice.
Denny: James Franco
Zoe: Elle Fanning/Ava Witherspoon
Annaka: Lindsay Lohan/Mariah Carrey
Twins: Laura and George Bush
Eve: Nicole Kidman
Mike: Tom Cruise
Andy: John Travolta
Denny’s parents: Randy Quaid and his wife
Old Italian guy: Marcello Mastriano
Wife: Sophia Loren
Lawyer: Tom Brady/Gloria Allred
Coffee Shop girl: Cher (we have to have her!)
Policeman: Sting
Annika’s girlfriend: Lil Kim
Veteranarian: Jack Klugman

The next book is suggested by me, The Russian Debutante’s Handbook by Gary Shteyngart. It just looked different and interesting and I have always been fascinated by Russian things! There is a crazy rumor that the book club might venture to Seattle – wow! that would be fantastic! So date tbd!
In the meantime, thanks again for a fantastic read everyone!
And we can’t forget our mascot….

Because we are, after all, the Bad Boys and Girls book club!

Marcel’s Mushroom Risotto
Grocery List:
1 sweet onion
1 package of assorted dried mushrooms
1 lb. crimini mushrooms sliced
4 cups Arborio rice
Canola OIl
Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
white wine (chardonnay)
Parmesan cheese
mushroom bouillon

Soak dried mushrooms (diced) for 4 hours in a warm water in a medium sauce pan, just enough water to cover them only

Prepare:
Dice crimini mushrooms into small slices
Dice 1/2 the onion into small pieces

In a large pot bring 6 cups of water to a boil, add mushroom bouillon mix (this I got from my friend Marcel from Switzerland but I am sure any mushroom boullion will work) – set aside

In your pan, heat up approx. 6 tblsp. of canola oil, enough to cover the floor of the pan
Add onions, leave them in the oil (do not stir) until they start to gloss 2 min.
Add all the diced crimini mushrooms and stir well for 2 min.
Add arborio rice to oil, mushrooms and onions, stir completely to cover the rice
Add 1 cup of white wine (stir well) Simmer for 2-3 minutes
Add your dried mushrooms (diced) and the entire water they were soaking in, stir well for 2 min.
Under consistent stirring, add one cup of the mushroom bouillon let it simmer and soak into the rice, then add the next cup of bouillon water, let it simmer and soak into the rice and so on until each cup of the 6 cups of bouillon water is added and soaked in this should take approximately 30 to 40 minutes
You must STIR continuously during that time
As the bouillon water soaks in, keep stirring, when it is finally absorbed by the rice, add the next cup of bouillon water
After all the bouillon water is gone, taste the rice, if the rice is not fully cooked, keep adding water in the same process as above until the water is fully cooked through
The whole process should be done under medium heat on your stove top
Once the rice is cooked, stir in 1/2 a cup of unsalted butter let is sit on LOW HEAT
The rice should be thick like porridge
Before serving add, your 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream, stir under thoroughly

Serve with grated parmesan on top.
Delicious!!!

This past weekend Seattle Library held their Friends of the Seattle Public Library book sale in a giant warehouse in Magnesun Park. We almost didn’t go, thinking the crowds would be horrific, but with prices like this, who could resist?

We were so happy to find the sale totally organized and although we arrived at around 10ish on Saturday morning the crowds were really bearable, I mean the place is huge – suddenly cavernous becomes COZY!

Seriously, there must have been hundreds of thousands of books! All categorized by genre, you basically just had to take a deep breath and dig in to find that gem you were looking for! Great books and great people watching!

There were people of all shapes and sizes but you could definitely tell who were the dealers – they literally were gathering up boxes of books all on little roll carts and some had the mobile “scanner” app to get a retail price on the book. It was all very interesting and there was definitely something for everyone!

Some managed to find space better than others (and not get trampled!)

So Seattle!

And don’t forget the little ones! Gotta get them started off on the right literary foot!

In case you need re-fueling – it wouldn’t be Seattle without a caffeine kick!

Time to check out – a little overwhelmed, we didn’t go super crazy but walked away with at least a dozen or so books!

Maybe your local library is doing something similar? Check it out and for all your Seattle bookworms, until next time…
Holiday Mini Book Sale Saturday, November 20, 2010

Spring Book Sale April 15 – 17, 2011

Thanks to modern technology – and in this case the wonders of SKYPE, although I now live in Seattle and my book club is in Los Angeles I was still able to participate via this application! Of course this was not nearly as fun (or easy) as actually being there but at least it was something! Thanks to everyone in the book club for taking the photos and helping with the notes, could not have done it without you!

A Hedgehog. Spiky on the outside, elegant on the inside!

And of course, host with the most, Craig who somehow managed to work probably a 10 hour day and then still come home and welcome 5 book club bombshells into his home!

Below, the gang at Craig’s house. Yup, here we are – spiky on the outside, elegant on the inside?

It seemed that not everyone fell in love with this book and the discussion was not as thorough as usual. Some thought the author was verbose or nothing seemed to happen and the story just didn’t move enough? Coupled with maybe we were a bit distracted when Elizabeth brilliantly asked everyone to go around the table and tell the highlight of their summer? There were several juicy stories but
can you say “multi-colored sarape?

And were we further distracted when we each gave Miriam our favorite childhood book as our own book club version of a baby shower?

Little Henry already is off to a good start into the world of Literature!

Come on Craig, who needs to cook lasagne after a day like that?
Middle Eastern cuisine delivered right to the doorstep! Lots of it and delicious!

And the usual gallons of wine!!!! Cheers Meredith and Miriam!

I too was not a big fan of this book at first although was liking it more and more towards the end. I have found that being in a book club, and actually being “assigned” a book to read makes me finish books I would otherwise abandon. And then to refresh my memory for the club’s discussion I went back and re-read quickly and found parts that I really liked.

I liked that the book takes place in Paris (although it really just centers around the various different apartments in one particular building and rarely ventures out of this setting).

I liked how there was a lot of tea drinkers in this book. A quote from Renee “when tea becomes a ritual it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things”.

The good guys seemed to own cats!

And most importantly, and one of the points of the book, they had an appreciation for the simple, smaller things (camellias on moss) in life that many overlook.

Elizabeth and Sara enjoying the simple things. Or, just drunk.

So then on to what seems to be the favorite part of the evening, where we cast the book as if it were a movie. What can we say, this is a Los Angeles book club….

The casting:

We are pleased to announce with this ensemble cast and Parisian location our director is none other than Woody Allen.

And I will take this time to note that although no hedgehog ever appeared in the book, if it did, it would be played by Craig’s dog Coco.

The concierge, Rene – Kathy Bates or Yolande Moreau (a French actress who looks like Kathy Bates!)
Paloma – 12 year old Jodie Foster or Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird
Manuella, Renee’s tea drinking friend – Sophia Loren playing a Portuguese
Ozu Koiziumi – Former Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi or Nobu
Ozu’s assistant Paul Nuygen – Jason Wu
Lucien, Renee’s husband – Jacques Cousteau
Maman – Carla Bruni
Papa – Roman Polanski
Colombe – Paloma’s sister – Lindsay Lohan or either Olson twin or both…
Tibere, the drug addicted son – Michael Cera
Tibere’s father – Nicolas Sarkozy
People in the building:
Jacinth Rosen- Anjelica Huston
Arthrens – the food critic – Jeremy Irons
Arthrens druggie son Jean – Justin Timberlake

Perhaps because of a lack of affection for this book, a little dose of Attention Deficit Disorder and little to no knowledge of French actors, that is as far as we got in the casting, highly unusual for this club! But we did manage to scrape together a pool of actors who we thought could fill in those gaps. Keep in mind we were going for a kind of haughty, snobby and potentially mean spirited crowd..
For the assorted men in the building we would consider:
Edward Norton
James Spader
Mr. Green Jeans (are we sure?)
Mr. Rogers
Morgan Freeman
Andrew McCarthy
Anthony Hopkins
The entire Obama family
(I’m adding two of my favorite French actors for authenticity : Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel)
Women in the building:
Blythe Danner
Gwyneth Paltrow
Chloe Sevigny
Gina Rowland
Catherine Deneuve
Juliette Binoche
Ines de la Fressange
Cher (she has to be in there!!!!)

Did we forgot to cast the homeless man that was ultimately the cause of Renee’s fate? Or did I just not hear that? Please club members, let me know! (maybe this is where Cher fits in?)

The book club also selected the next selection of books. Next club meeting is being hosted by Meredith and is to be held somewhere on the weekend of December 4th:
Below, the order, with the host and the book!

Meredith – The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Leslie – The Russian Debutante’s Handbook by Gary Shteyngart
Elizabeth – Olive Kittridge by Elizabeth Strout
Sara – Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Craig – The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Miriam – Menonite in a Black Dress Rhoda Janzen

Until next time bad boy and girls,
Yours truly, Leslie
and our mascot

I think it would be unanimous to say that the club reached a new level of RAUCOUS and I’m not sure if it was because of the exciting news of Miriam’s pregnancy (congrats!!!) or of Marc and my decision to move to Seattle or maybe the pic below had a little something to do with it….

We drank DELICIOUS WINES! Thanks everyone for the great choices! To usher in the springtime and having absolutely nothing do do with the book, participants were leaning towards roses and whites last night although Miriam brought a gorgeous bottle of Amarone which will be enjoyed by the private book club of Leslie and Marc! Thanks Miriam! but please don’t ask for any book reports from us on that one!

Seems our hostess was in need of a little (translate a lot) of help and Meredith and Sara were happy to pitch in. Couldn’t have done it without you girls, great job and Meredith those Asparagus were pretty darned delish!

Conversation started out on the patio and then drifted inside for dinner. All members were in agreement that they really enjoyed this book and found it thought provoking and inspiring.

Mr. Pip is set against the stunning beauty on the island of Bougainville in the South Pacific during the civil war in the early 1990s. Only one white person, Mr. Watts stays behind on the island after the soldiers start the invasion. Mr. Watts steps in to teach the children when there is no one else. His only lessons consist of reading from his battered copy of Great Expectations, a book by his friend Mr. Dickens.

The novel Mr. Pip really shows what magic a child’s imagination makes possible even in the face of terrible violence and what power stories have to fuel the imagination.

I think our book club can definitely agree with this as we all seem to really enjoy escaping into all the different worlds the books we read offer us.

I think this review I found sums it up well:

“Mister Pip is sheer magic, a story about stories and their power to transcend the limits of imagination and reside in the deep heart’s core. Lloyd Jones is a brave and fierce writer, and he has given us Dickens brand new again.”
—Keith Donohue, author of The Stolen Child

The main course, pasta with peas, mint and tomatoes

Luckily, there was food to soak up the fine wine, however you wouldn’t know it from our “extra-creative” casting. Buckle up, here we go!

The Casting:
Matilda – Beyonce/stand in Rhianna
Mr. Watts – David Bowie
Mrs. Watts (Grace) – Iman
Dolores, Matilda’s mom – Madonna/soon to be replaced due to control issues by Whoopie Goldberg
Mr. Gilbert – Tracy Morgan
Daniel Gilbert – Gary Coleman
Mrs. Gilbert – Michelle Obama
Older Matilda – supermodel Alek Wek
Matilda’s dad – Tiger Woods
2nd wife of Mathilda’s dad – Margaret Cho
Pip – Michael Cera. As if there could be anyone else.
Miss Havisham – Faye Dunaway
Estella – Kim Kardashiam
Joe Gargery – Michael Landon
Pips bitchy sister Mrs. Joe – Shannen Doherty
Abel Magwitch – the convict -Padma Lakshmi
Jaggers the lawyer – IDEAS ANYBODY? Cloris Leachman?

School Women:
Oprah
Aretha
RuPaul
Eddie Murphy
Dennis Rodman
Dr. LaFaye (topic: the color blue) and Sara’s aunt!

Redskins:
Sharon Stone – Jaundiced Redskin
Aasif Mandi
Deepak Chopra
Cher
Ghandi
Djimon Hounsou
Betty White

Slain dog – Osama bin Laden or Cujo (yes, we did cast this)

Rebels:
Tyrese
Tyson
Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and their kids
James Dean
Fonze
Dennis Hopper
Peter Fonda
Billy Holiday
Billy Idol
Grace Jones

Pigs:
Mario Batali
Tom Colicchio
Babe
Arnold Ziffel

Log Matilda floats on:
Barack Obama (yes, we also really did cast this….)

My crazy barely legible notes…

A barely legible guest…!

Next time I better buy 2 Raspberry Tarts, sorry ’bout those skimpy portions gang. I didn’t realize we would have our two “dessert crashers” Ryan and Marc who I’m pretty sure were traumatized by our idea of a book club but you can’t say we didn’t warn them!

What are we reading next? It’s Craig’s pick:
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Meeting slated for the week of July 19th
Cross your fingers everyone until then, be good (or be bad, love you all either way!)

good night from yours truly,
Leslie and our mascot,

Well, the bad boys and girls book club was true to form the other night when although most people did show up, only half had read the book! What the what????

We convened at Miriam’s beautiful new house on Laurel Canyon to discuss the novel Lying: A Metaphorical Memoir by Lauren Slater. This was Brandy’s choice and since Brandy is now a reality TV star (The Amazing Race) she was unable to attend but everyone else was there: Elizabeth, Craig, Meredith, Sara, myself and of course, hostess Miriam.

And kudos to the group for actually having an interesting discussion on a book most had not read! The topic was the disease Epilepsy and the biographical story or a woman growing up with this disease. The novel is complex, dark, disturbing and bitter sweet. Also interesting and educational. Brandy if you are reading, please comment below as to what made you choose this particular book?

Comforting certainly does not describe the book but did describe the delicious short ribs and mashed potatoes with celery root that Miriam served. The food was perfect and everyone had seconds but did manage to just save room, as we always seem to do, for the lemon cake!

Of course anyone who follows our book club knows that lots of wine is consumed during these meetings and perhaps that is why our “casting” of the book we have read gets so darned creative.
Here it is, the casting of Lying: A Metaphorical Memoir

Lauren: Winona Ryder/stand-in Ally Sheedy
Mother: Anne Heche
Dad: Michael Stuhlbarg (from A Serious Man)
Piano Player: Michael Cera (our mascot)
Dr. Neu – Ho Chi Ming Ling Cohen
Her lover: Jeff Bridges
The Alcoholics:
Courtney Love
Brittney Spears
Lindsay Lohen
Brittney Murphy
Cory Haims
Both Belushi Brothers
Ben Affleck
Michael Vartan (we just want him in our movie)
Jeff Conoway
Matthew Perry
Steve Jones (from the Sex Pistols)
Keith Richards
Tommy Lee
Danny Bonoducci
The Racoon that ate Sara’s seafood delivery (not sure why, but who cares????)
The Writers Clinic:
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Keanu Reeves
Matt Damon
Diablo Cody
Jessica Simpson
Joyce Carol Oates
Jackie Collins
Ethan Hawke

Not sure how we’re going to afford our fabulous cast but that is the producer’s problem! And we never worry about that part anyhow, we have already moved to thinking and hopefully READING our next novel which is:

Mr. Pip by Lloyd Jones. Hopefully, Leslie might have to wrestle Craig to host this one as she is long overdue. The date is May 13th (uh-oh, Marc’s birthday) so we’ll see you around then!

The Bad Girls (and Boys) Book Club got off to a good start this 2010 with a Feb. 10th meeting at Sara’s house to discuss the inspiring fable The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho. The ambitious club has decided to speed reading up a little and is scheduling their next meeting for March which considering they are the Bad Girls and Boys should be a feat! (but we’ll keep our fingers crossed!). All were in attendance except new-Reality Star Brandy who is traipsing around the globe competing in The Amazing Race. Brandy we miss you but we’re all routing for you guys! AMAZING RACE PREMIERS THIS SUNDAY NIGHT! And don’t forget to become a fan on Facebook.

So while Brandy’s Personal Legend now includes things like bungee jumping and wire walking the rest of gathered round the wine bottle to discuss the book and our own Personal Legends, what the Soul of the World meant to us and whether or not we believed in Omens.

This was all discussed over an amazing dinner (we have one VERY GOURMET book club!) beautifully prepared by Sara. Appetizers galore, delicious meatloaf, cornbread-pudding (!) and a gorgeous salad with really really good tomatoes. Super fresh ice cream and pastel macaroons – decadent! Sara thank you so much for this amazing spread!

Lots of nuts, figs and chili lime jicama!

Meredith (the book was her selection), wine and salad!

Macaroons served with pieces of dark, sweet chocolate!!!!

I think the group had mixed reviews about the book but certainly whether it was expressed or not, it certainly stirred many ideas. And speaking of many ideas, that brings us to the hilarious part of our evening, the casting!

The Alchemist Movie – directed by Peter Jackson, produced by Lawrence Fishburne
Casting by the Bad Girls and Boys Book Club CSA

Santiago – Michael Cera or if Michael can’t grow enough facial hair Gael Garcia Bernal
Gypsy Lady – Cher w/stand-in Victor Mature
Old King Melchizedek – Sean Connery
Merchant’s Daughter – Pam Anderson w/ flat chested versions – Paris Hilton and/or Kirstin Dundst
1st Thief – Christian Bale
Crystal Shop Owner – Ben Kingsley
Bar Owner – Bea Arthur
Englishman – Ralph Fiennes
Old Man – Carol O’Connoer
Camel Driver – Tom Selleck
Alchemist – Omar Shariff
Tribal Chief – Tony Soprano aka
Wind Tribal Leader – George Hamilton
Tribal goons – Lorenzo Lamas and Sasha Baren Cohen
The Wind – Don Rickles
The Sun – Susie Orman
God – Mick Jagger
Monk – Dom DeLouise
Candy Maker – Alexander McQueen
Tribesman – Charleston Heston
Village Whore – Mariah Carey
Village extras – Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony
Camels – Meryl Streep and Shirley McClaim
Sheep Wrangler – Sherri Lewis
All sheep are being played by LambChop except the black sheep being played by Eddie Murphy and Tiger Woods
Animal Cameos:
Flicka
Lassie
Gentle Ben
Ben the Rat
Bambi
Samba
Nemo
Old Yeller
Black Beauty
Joan Rivers
the Grinch
All the Snakes on the Plane

Until we strike again, we are……

and finally, our mascot…

We were thrilled to be welcoming new member Craig and commiserating that Brandy was out of town and Miriam was stuck on a commercial shoot across town. Especially disappointing since she really loved this book, as we all did!

The evening started out with an almost-disaster when the the unbelievably delicious beef stew that Elizabeth had been cooking for two days decided to become a toxic mess after the saran wrap that Suzanne Goin’s Lucque cookbook explicitly instructed to put over the pot, followed by foil, followed by a lid and then into the oven- seemingly disappeared (aka dissolved) into the stew. What? this heavenly concoction of beef, kalamata olives and thyme was now poisonous and had to be thrown out? A crime against humanity! And then there’s the question of whats now for dinner? Leave it to Elizabeth to be able to whip out an amazing pasta from out of nowhere and the evening was saved! (We ate every bite!)

I think the name should be changed to the Last Supper at Lucques!!!

Stew or just plain stupid?

Of course the evening is not all about food however Elizabeth did outdo herself as usual and to compliment the smoked salmon I did some “Potato Peel” appetizers in honor of our book!

Delicious smoked salmon and all the goodies

The book is coincidentally about a book club, or Literary Society as they called it, which was formed rather spontaneously during the occupation of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands during WWll. The story is told through a series of letters and the sweetness of the characters within the rustic beauty of Guernsey is balanced by the grittiness and pain suffered through the occupation making this a really well rounded read.

This book ranks high in Coziness combining friendship and literature, what books mean to people and how they help to educate them and offer the escape to get them though hard times. Love that and believe in it fully!

Also believe in gorgeous, decadent deserts!!! Great job Elizabeth, wow!!!

Pavlova

And we can’t forget our casting which this time made me laugh till I could hardly breath, Sara and Craig I think you especially know what I am talking about!

THE CASTING

Juliet: Kate Winslet
Sidney & Piers: Hugh Jackman & Ellen DeGeneres
Susan: Sandra Bullock
Sophie and Alexander: Scarlett Johanson
Mark Reynolds: George Clooney
GUERNSEY GANG
Elizabeth: Natalie Portman
Amelia: Meryl Streep
Dawsey: John Krazinski
Isola: Kathy Bates/Cher
Eben: Liam Neesen
Booker: Michael Cera (of course…..!)
Kit: Abigail Breslan/Tatum O’Neil/Shirley Temple – yes, that is what we actually said that night!
Remy: Winona Ryder
Sally Anne Frobisher: Kathryn Heigle (we must have been really tired/drunk at this point?)
Will Thisbee:Jamie Oliver
Micah Daniels: Ellen Burstyn
Adelaide Addison: Suzanne Goin (villaness of the night/Author of Elizabeth’s aborted recipe!
Billie Bee: Lindsay Lohan
Cecile Touvier (the Nun): Cloris Leachman
Young Juliet: Ellen Page
Wheelchair guy: William Hurt
Bar guy: John Goodman
Scabies girl: Charlize Theron (I mean, like who else?)
Todt workers: the Olson twins, Adrian Brody, Terry Hatcher, Christian Siriano
Tara Reid was playing someone but I can’t even read my own writing!!! help?
Eli: we never reached a conclusion so by default he is obviously played by Michael Cera
People we forgot who will also be played by Michael Cera:
Gilly Gilbert, Ivor, Oscar Wilde, Mr. Dilwyn, the Benoit sisters, Granny Pheen

So book club, we did pretty good this year! Our next read is The Alchemist, Meredith’s choice We’ll pick a date for the new year and hope to see everyone then! Long live our fabulous Literary Society!

Snuck off yesterday and treated myself to an afternoon showing of The September Issue, the documentary by R.J. Cutler about putting out Vogue’s largest issue to date back in September 2007.

This is a real insider movie and I think if you don’t know who these people are you are not going to enjoy the movie that much. Unless that is, you really love the fashion industry!

Anna Wintour is pretty much the cool cucumber/bitch you always think she is although she did warm up in the scenes shown with her daughter Bea (who pretty much pooh pooh’s fashion in favor of studying law). And was that one scene really shot inside Anna’s townhome? Not at all how I would imagine her house would look (more folksy than elegant?)…

You get to see superstar photographers Mario Testino, Patrick DeMarchalier, editor Andre Leon Talley (love the LV tennis towel!) and assorted models but the star of the movie is Grace Coddington, Vogue’s Creative Director. A cloud of red hair and always dressed in black, she is the stylist of all stylists and creates the most gorgeous shoots. A lot of the movie is her frustration as her pages are criticized or omitted by Anna who always has the ultimate say in what stays or goes.

BTW, Grace is also a huge cat lover and had a great book out called The Catwalk Cats which she illustrates and her partner Didier Malige photographs. I am happy to say that this book has been by my bedside for about 2 years now and I love it (thanks emb!)

I have to say I loved this movie but I still don’t love Vogue that much. Guess I’m showing my age when I can say that many years ago it used to inspire me and now it’s just like a palate for photographers and artists to create fantasies not known to real women. Thing is, it doesn’t even make me dream anymore and I thought that’s what fashion magazines were supposed to do!