Best Long-Awaited Totally Awesome Party

So yes, like I was saying, Saturday night Carol had her Tom Cruise Party. Why "Tom Cruise" of all the themes to pick? It's a little out there, right? Why not a robot party? Answer is simple, it's because Tom Cruise lived in Carol's very apartment in the 80's. Seriously.

When I got there her apartment had already been converted to the Scientology Celebrity Center for the evening.

But the party was not yet full-blast, some folks were just having dinner, others watching Top Gun.

But give it 45 minutes and the costumes come out. Carol as a...wait, just now I don't know what Carol was going for, I assume a Last Samurai geisha? That must have been the idea. Collin was a Risky Business Tom Cruise.

Di's Wide Shut.

Me, I was Nazi Tom Cruise from Valkyrie.

Grace was Keri Russell in Mission: Impossible III. Maybe you should click here to understand how spot on her get up was.

Dave: Goose. I've never really seen Top Gun. Or any Tom Cruise movie. In fact, I think I've only seen him in the Mission: Impossibles and Minority Report.

Jeff was a Rain Man.

Helen, the Unicorn from Legend.

Hillary a Suri Cruise.

And here's the winner: Lexia as the Top Gun girl. Perfect.

How about another one, just to drive the point home?


Collin kept trying to feed Tom all night.

Jared showed up as Goose, too. Great uniform, right?

Turns out HE DREW THE WHOLE THING ON. Wow. So maybe it's a battle between Lexia and Jared for best costume?

Reghan: Girl from Cocktail.

Chris: Outsider.

Emily: The Outsiders girl.

Ashley: A Magnolia.

Nick: Also an Outsider.

And now we party and dance. Who's Jeff? He's Joe, from Joe vs. the Volcano. Jeff misunderstood, he thought it was a Tom Hanks party.

Chateau: Cocktail Tom Cruise.

Lexia: Hair + Ray Bans problems.

Mindy: Katie Holmes.

Maria and Katie: Pretty sure they were just chillin'.

Like Jamar.

Kim was the girl in Jerry Maguire.

A highlight, as mentioned: Droppin' Old Time Rock n Roll for the various Risky Toms. I had no idea Abby was at the party until this song played and I think she vanished when it was over...or maybe the song just summoned her out of thin air? Who knows.




Adam: Couch-jumping Tom Cruise.

Amber: Also a Suri.

Hostess, happy, because she's got a totally excellent party.

Then getting serenaded with a little "You Lost that Loving Feeling" a la Top Gun (apparently.)

Ty: Mission: Impossible T. Cruise. Hilarious.

It seems there's a scene in Rain Man where Tom teaches Dustin to dance?

No dancing lessons necessary.

Whatsoever.
Jamar was just chillin and keeping it low key all night so I had to play something to bring him out.

And that's why I played Single Ladies.


Suvi, also enthusiastic for the dancefloor.


Collin and Jared fly into the Danger Zone.


Apparently marker runs when it gets wet? Or soaked?


Well into the night, Amber teaches some Brazilian dance steps.

It's for the song about the stolen scooter.

And finally, a knee slide.



Totally excellent party. Can't wait for the Hootie and the Blowfish gathering in the fall (Because, yes, Hootie [and I know that's not his name] lived in Carol's house in the 90's. Deal with it.)

Best Old Time Rock and Roll Setlist

After months of planning and dreaming, Carol threw her Tom Cruise Party Saturday night. It was a monstrous success. I had the honor and the pleasure of picking the music for the party--thanks to Carol's input I had plenty of hits from T.Cruise's movies and lots of crowd pleasers to play in between them. Plenty of party pics to be posted tomorrow, but I'll start you off with the most important thing that happened that night:


What Was Played:

"Everything In It's Right Place" by Radiohead (from Vanilla Sky)
"Playing With the Boys" by Kenny Loggins (from Top Gun)
"Black Hole" by She & Him
"Take Me, I'm Yours" by Squeeze
"U Got the Look" by Prince
"Kiss Me" by Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy
"Sometimes" by Les Rythmes Digitales
"Lights and Music" by Cut Copy
"Deceptacon" by Le Tigre
"I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5
"Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
"New Sensation" by INXS
"Ready for the Floor" by Hot Chip
"Shut Up and Let Me Go" by the Ting Tings
"Poker Face" by Lady Gaga
"Time to Pretend" by MGMT
"White Collar Boy" by Belle & Sebastian
"Mission Impossible Theme" by Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. (from A Few Good Men)
"Nothing to Worry About (Troublemaker Remix)" by Peter Bjorn & John and a bunch of rappers.
"Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn & John w/o any rappers
"P.Y.T." by Michael Jackson
"Iko Iko" by the Belle Stars (from Rain Man)
"Girls & Boys" by Blur
"To Die a Virgin" by the Divine Comedy
"Old Time Rock & Roll" by Bob Seger (from Risky Business)
"A Little Respect" by Erasure
"Sweet Dreams" by Eurythmics
"Mama Said Knock You Out" by LL Cool J
"Take On Me" by Aha
"You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC
"I Believe in a Thing Called Love" by the Darkness
"Get Low" by Flo-Rida (from Tropic Thunder)
"Kiss" by Prince
"You've Lost that Loving Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers (from Top Gun)
"That's Not My Name" by the Ting Tings
"Je Veux Te Voir" by Yelle
"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" by Daft Punk
"Common People" by Pulp
"Like a Prayer" by Madonna
"Single Ladies" by Beyonce
"Just Dance" by Lady Gaga
"We Are Your Friends" by Justice & Simian
"Talk Like That" by the Presets
"Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins (from Top Gun)
"Age of Consent" by New Order
"See You Again" by Miley Cyrus
"Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners
"Kokomo" by the Beach Boys (from Cocktail)
"You Should Be Dancing" by the Bee Gees
"If I Ever Feel Better" by Phoenix
"When I Get You Alone" by Thicke
"Daft Punk is Playing at My House" by LCD Soundsystem
"Around the World" by Daft Punk
"Motinho Roubada" by Some Brazilian
"Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson
"Requiem for O.M.M.2" by Of Montreal
"Take My Breath Away" by Berlin (from Top Gun) Technically this was the last song of the evening, but I followed it up with my...

HARDCORE TECHNO AFTERPARTY!!

"Three Little Birdies Down Beats" by the Chemical Brothers
"Kalifornia" by Fatboy Slim
"Lovelight (Soulwax Ravelight Vocal Mix)" by Robbie Williams
"Original Nuttah" by UK Apache
"Up to the Wild Style" by DJ Supreme

And after the party, the Hotel Lobby:

"Long-Forgotten Fairytale" by the Magnetic Fields
"Secret Garden" by Bruce Springsteen (from Jerry Maguire)

What I absolutely loved about this party was playing next to no hip hop. It was nice to take a break and play some different stuff.

Now Please Tell Us About Breakfast

Clif Bar and what I thought was juice. It's not juice, it's drink and there are some serious problems with it.

V8, you have betrayed my trust.

Dinner!

Here at the office, every Thursday night is Quesadilla Night and all through the day the workplace anticipation is absolutely electric.

And What About Today's Lunch?

I'm the worst at salad bars.

Best Welcome to the Fun Corner

Don't these two pictures remind you of those "Spot the Difference" picture games? You know?

Let's Try?

Can you Spot 10 Differences between these two pictures?



(Confession: I only know of one difference, but certainly there will be many, right?—Ed.)

And What Do I Think About Dinner?

Meatloaf, carrots, spinach...all could use more salt.
What is it with this place?

My Review of the Firm Cafeteria's Low Sodium Split Pea Soup

needs salt.

Best Yes, It was a Long, Long, Time Ago

"Growing Up Star Wars: 1977-1985" Only visit this flickr pool if you've got time and tears of nostalgia to spare.

And yes, drawings of Chewbacca would count for hairy monsters.

Best SEE

Blanket got the memo.


And didn't we all feel a little ashamed of ourselves when we realized he really was someone's dad?

Best I've Got a Better Idea

Old & Busted: Chalkboard paint
New & Awesome: Permanent markers.

(Don't forget, this is a style/design/dessert ideas/etc. blog now.)

Best a Plug for the Underdog

I finished filling another Moleskine the other week, actually, I set a new record for Moleskine filling: 3/15/09-6/29/09, RIP. Put it up on the shelf and it was time for a new notebook, and I did something different and daring. I bought one of these:


It's a Leuchtturm notebook, probably world famous somewhere else in the world, but to me, new and unknown. Why did I buy Leuchtturm? Curiosity over several potential advantages to the notebook. They are:

• Includes the little bookmark (which actually I always try to rip out as I just use the elastic band for a bookmark) of a Moleskine as well as the little pocket in the back, so right off the bat you're not missing anything essential to the small, booklike notebook experience.
  
• Approximately 1/2" taller than a comparable Moleskine.
• Numbered Pages. BIG selling point.
• Space for date at top of page.
• Table of Contents: may prove useless to me, but I have begun to fill out.
• Perforated Pages in the back. A feature to some, but not all (likesay, the ones I've been using) Moleskins.
  
• The paper stock strikes me as being whiter than a Moleskines. Could not be true, though.
  
• Surprise Super Bonus Feature: Includes stickers to date and label the notebook when you're done and it's time to archive the little guy. Very good move here, Leuchtturm. I had been wanting to find little labels for my Moleskine spines.
• Also: $3 cheaper than a Moleskine.

For me, it all adds up to: Worth a shot if you're the Moleskine sort.

Best You Might Have Missed It

Hey! Check out all the fun we're having in my lunch post from Friday.