Vanessa & Ralph Still in the Running on Amazing Race 20 (so Far)

I'm grateful to still have Vanessa and Ralph in the running here on Episode 6 of The Amazing Race 20. Not only is Vanessa the Sexiest racer in this Race (though in the above pic she looks less made up than usual, having swam underwater in the last roadblock), she keeps the faith with her hot and awesomely suggestive quotes such as these past episode's gems during a challenge where they had to find the magic apple hidden in a carload full of 'em:

Vanessa: (Jumping out of the trunk of the car after rooting around the apples for the clue) 

"I Hope That's the FIRST and LAST time I'll ever be in the trunk of a car" LOL

And later as a Man yells at them from the sidelines:

Ralph: “Either that guy is telling us to go faster, or he’s looking at Vanessa’s Melons.”

Vanessa: “I don’t think he can even SEE my Melons…But I AM going Commando!”

Well, maybe that GUY wasn't checking it out, but I certainly was! Hope this team can keep up as the Race progresses! They came in second to last this time...Oooh, that's cutting it close!

The Descendants' Shailene Woodley

Shailene Woodley in The Descendants

 Living here in Hawaii, I was really looking forward to the much-praised George Clooney movie The Descendants, the story of a local man named Matt King who must come to terms with his wife’s passing while negotiating a huge land-deal that holds a huge community in balance. and while that film was terrific and gave me everything I hoped it would, the thing that really made the story for me was the interaction  he had between his daughters, and in particular, the older daughter Alexandra, played by actress Shailene Woodley.

George Clooney, Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller

Amara Miller as Scottie and Shailene Woodley as Alexandra

Shailene Woodley! Holy CRAP, where did this luscious young thing COME FROM? With a Sharp, Sassy and totally SEXY attitude, she came onto the screen like a no-nonsense, loud cussin’ locomotive, talking down to her Dad like SHE was the parent and HE was the kid! The scenes and dialog between Clooney and Woodley are fierce and fiery, and I just loved watching the two of them go at it, Alex breathing sparks as poor Dad Clooney tries to keep up!

Father and Daughter: Clooney as Matt King and Shailene as Alex

With her intense, arching eyebrows and condescending look, she takes control of every scene she’s in like a fresh-faced Rosmund Pike (with just a dash of Julia Roberts for good measure) ready to duke it out like Marcia Brady running for Class President, making her a package too cool to contain!

Above and Below: Dealing with Frustration

Chewing Out her Little Sister with Sid (Nick Krause) looking on

And besides all of that larger-than-life attitude, Shailene’s rocking’ the sexiest lil body, a wonderful figure that we are treated to many, many grateful times during the course of the movie! When You’ve a got a story with the backdrop of beautiful Hawaii, it only makes sense to have such a hottie running around in as many bkini outfits as possible!

Looking Lovely on the Shore

As well as lounging at the Pool!

Keeping sure to avoid tan lines...

And always remembering to tie back up before getting up!

Ahhh, looking forward to seeing MORE of this lovely young lass…

Notes on Amazing Race 20

It occurred to me while watching the latest chapter of Amazing Race 20 of how much contestant Vanessa Macias (the only resident cutie left on the show since Asian babes Misa and Maiya got eliminated) reminds me of exotic British model Leilani Dowding. They’ve been building Vanessa (and her teammate beau Ralph) up as the season’s trolls, but I find their comments more humorous than cutting, and anyway, hell, if trolls are gonna look like Vanessa, I’ll take it! 

Gotta love when she finds the next challenge is to taste 14 different salamis, and she coyly says “I haven’t had that much salami since high school, haha!” nudge, nudge, wink, wink, LOL! 

Hope this fun team doesn’t get eliminated for a long time to come!

Memories of an Indian Chief Tootsie Roll Wrapper

I remember back when we were little kids on one of my visits to my Aunt's house, my cousin Jan coming out and excitedly telling me she'd gotten a Tootsie Roll Pop Wrapper with an INDIAN on it! When I said I had NO IDEA what she was talking about, she told me, "Don't you know? When you find a wrapper with an Indian Chief on it, you get a FREE TOOTSIE ROLL POP!"


Well, I hadn't heard THAT one before, but, intrigued by such a proposition, agreed to go down with her to the corner liquor store where we ususally bought our candy to watch her redeem it. Sauntering into the store, Jan picked up a new Tootsie Roll Pop from the rack and went to the cashier. Before the lady could ring her up, she placed the Indian wrapper on the counter in front of her. "I have a wrapper with the Indian Chief on it." Jan said proudly, 'So that means I can get a free one, right?"


Well, that Chinese lady behind the counter squinted her eyes in a puzzled way and said (in the way only an old Chinese lady could), "EHHH?!"


Hmmm. This wasn't what Jan was expecting. "They said that if the wrapper has an Indian Chief, I can get a free Tootsie Roll Pop?" Jan began again.


The lady slowly but firmly started shaking her head, and pushed the wrapper back to her. Needless to say, we walked out of that store without any free candy THAT Day!


Walking back to the house, I actually felt kind of bad seeing as how bummed out Jan was, but her disappointment wouldn't last long- the very next week I was over at her house, she exclaimed, You gotta see what I got!"  She ran into the house and came out with a ziplock bag containing a withered weed or something in it. "Look!" she said proudly- "A Four-Leaf Clover I found in the yard yesterday!" And indeed, upon closer inspection, it WAS! AHAHAHA, That girl was always a true-believer in the wonderment of childhood!


*PS* Growing Up, I'd always wondered just WHERE Jan got it in her head that she could get a free pop with an Indian Chief Wrapper, but going online, I was to find that this was a widely held belief among kids since, like, forever! An early Urban Legend, just for us kids!
And completely false, to boot!

A Disneyfied Rap Song: "Super Bass"

There’s this terrific video making the rounds of this cute young girl playing her rendition of the Nicki Minaj song “Super Bass” with a decidedly sunny and uplifting twist to it! With her tursty ukulele and crystal clear voice, she takes the rap song and turns it into a positively “Disneyfied” poppy version (tho with all the swear words intact, so beware!)…You don’t have to know the Nicky Minaj version to enjoy it, but if you do, your appreciation of this wonderful arrangement can only increase a hundredfold!

Online buzz says this girl’s name is Nicole, though she goes by “uuuuuuuuukewithme” on Youtube, LOL. Besides this awesome cover, she does several others, all with the same cheerful demeanor and spunkiness! And Hey...Reading further online, it seems like EVERYONE is out there covering this song on Ukulele...WTH...? Is this some new kind of trend? "Tiptoe Thru The Tulips" for a new generation? AHAHA!