Diaper-free???

MSNBC is carrying a story from the Associated Press on the "diaper-free" movement. To quote one of the diaper-free moms, "being able to travel without a big, bloated diaper bag is terrific”. Now I'm all for advancing the potty-training concept, but I'm thinking it may be a bit tough to potty train someone who can't focus more than 8-10 inches in front of their face, don't you?

And, as for the diaper bag. I'm all for travling with a "big, bloated diaper bag". I spent much of my adult years trying to cram everything a girl needs into a Louis Vuitton pochette (i.e. cell phone/blackberry, house keys, lipstick, money, credit cards, etc., etc.) and now I can finally carry a giant bag. I get to be like Batman. I can carry all of man's greatest inventions in travel size. In fact, I not only have one diaper bag, but two. One is stylish the other utilitarian (and plain enough that the Husband can carry it too, if need be, and it doesn't look like a "man bag").

I've not only got diapers but I have three different kinds of purell (before having a baby I didn't even know they made different kinds of purell... for what it's worth, I prefer the "aloe and vitamin e" formula-- it's very soothing), band-aids, sensitive baby wipes, multiple pacifiers, baby wash, shout pads, a small duck that contains deodorizing diaper disposal bags (courtesy of in-the-know and ever resourceful Sister-In-Law), cell phone, blackberry, lipstick, wallet, car keys, burp cloths, baby socks, hat and onesie, sample packs of Boudreau's butt paste (hoping that we never need to use that...), ready-to-feed Similac, spare bottles, changing pad. give me a stick of gum and some toothpicks and I could be MacGuyver. I'm sorry but diapers or not, you totally *need* the diaper bag. Once Miss S. begins on solid food I'll have to add the bibity, food, spoons, etc. to the mix.

Babies travel with their own entourage and that entourage is made up of stuff.

Potty trained or not, you have to have the bag.

Big Day Out!

Today we had an exciting adventure as Sophie and I took Miss Kitty to the vet. Sophie was outfitted for the occasion in her Zutano zoo crew pants and a stylish white Gordan Ramsey style short sleeve kimono top.

For those of you familiar with the Carnegie Cat Clinic you know that it is essentially "down in a hole". For some reason the dogs get the top level of the animal hospital and the cats get the space below grade.... it's a new building, so why they didn't just make it to storeys above ground beats me. Regardless, luckily they have an elevator so I didn't have to try and maneuver baby and feline down a flight of stairs...

On the way over I figure Miss Kitty must have felt it was some sort of a coup as she was riding shotgun with Miss Baby in the back (we don't need to mention to her that Miss Sophie always rides in the back...). But of course to make things interesting once we arrived and as I am steering the Bugaboo, Kitty decides to roll up into a ball and put all of her 12 pounds of cat weight in the back of the cat carrier in a vein attempt to throw off my balance... I think she must have known a distemper booster was in her future.

Once inside we were in line behind another Miss Kitty. That Miss Kitty's owner then felt our life would be highly improved if we also knew that Catwoman named her cat Miss Kitty too. Perhaps this is why they put the cat people in the basement.

Extinction for Redheads???

An article in this month's National Geographic Magazine suggests that redheads will be "extinct" in about 100 years... but alas, we'll always have hair dye.

C&C Baby T!

Love the C&C California Baby T-Shirts.

Hmmm. I Don't Think So...

AOL has declared that "Everyone Loves a Ferris Wheel!" I have to beg to differ.

Adventures in the Hampton and the Meadowlands...

Today we headed up to Stamford for a lovely BBQ in the "Hampton" at Leda and Demetri's house. The whole gang was there and a good time was had by all. As if this adventure wasn't enough for our little lady we followed BBQ-ing with a trip to Giants Stadium to see a preseason Giants/Jets tet-a-tet. Yes, that's right we were those people in the third row of Section 133 with the three month old. I do have to say, if you're taking a three month old to an NFL game, going to a Giants Jets game is *much* *much* better than going to an Eagles Packers game. But that's another story for another time.

What have we learned from this experience? Mainly that Sophie will have a much better time at the Met. She loves opera, classical music (and disco) but loud fans, big plays, bright lights and planes flying overhead? Not so much.

And This is How Bad Things Happen...

I checked my voicemail at the Job today. I had one message. It was a recording from "Maria at Loehmann's" wanting to let me know that the new shipment of items by Italian designers has arrived! To delete voicemessages, you hit star 3. To forward a voicemessage to another person you hit star 2. I was using my blackberry phone to check messages and needless to say the keyboard is a bit tight. Next thing I know I've not only hit Star 2 but I am about to forward my message from Maria at Loehmann's to the entire San Diego Office. I sat there, frozen. What do I do now? Do I just hang up? Do I hit zero or pound? How the hell do I cancel this?? They'll never take my maternity leave extension request seriously now if suddenly I've alerted everyone in San Diego that Italian Designer fashions are now in for Fall at their local Loehmanns!

Soup Week.... continues!

Last night was the french onion soup and goat cheese tarts. The goat cheese tarts (I technically made tartlettes....) were very good, the french onion soup? Even dressed up with a slice of sourdough bread and much gruyere, it was only okay. I've made better-- the Mom's version is better. But hey, soup week is a learning experience right? Tonight we're working on the Rosemary White Bean soup. I have already departed from the recipe slightly, after our experience with the Corn Chowder.

My time in cooking class at Cornell taught me that the key to any soup is mire poix. Ina starts off the soup recipe with onions only, I, instead included carrots and celery. I thought this would help to give the soup a bit more flavor. I also used canned cannellini beans instead of dried (in order to cut down prep time). Finally, I also added to the soup a touch of cream (as everything is better with cream...), a bit of grated Parmesan (same goes for cheese as with cream) and a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar (I keep the balsamic vinegar people in business). Instead of using a food mill I popped the soup in my trusty blender (One of these days I'll get the immersion kind...) and the Husband claimed it was the best soup of soup week so far.

Also, if you're looking to recreate soup week at home, don't forget that the official bowl of soup week is Emile Henry's red lionhead soup bowl. Happy souping!

Random!

See when Nicolas Sarkozy went on vacation in New Hampshire and had his shirt off while boating it didn't seem odd. Put Putin in Siberia without a shirt but with combat boots on, it just seems odd, don't you think?

Halloween...

We are now taking votes on what Sophie should dress up as for her first Halloween. So far the suggestions have been:

(a) Lincoln (with the cat dressed as a badger and the Husband in a diving bell so we can recreate a Rozerem commercial)... or

(b) One of the Singing Bee's "Honey Bees".

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Cheddar Corn Chowder....

Wasn't bad, but also wasn't the best corn chowder I've ever had. The Husband wasn't a fan of the bacon. I liked the bacon (as how can you really go wrong with bacon, unless of course, you're ordering it on something from Burger King, but that's another story entirely...) As for the soup, it definitely needed another vegetable in it (other than just onions, potatoes and corn... carrots maybe?) Not sure, but regardless, the Husband proved that he is not only the toastmaster but he is also the breadmaster. He picked up for us at Whole Foods a loaf of pecan raisin sourdough bread and it was the *perfect* companion for the corn chowder.

Well, onward and upward. Tomorrow French Onion Soup with a Goat Cheese Tart. Oh dear, our digestive systems are in for a wild ride.

Go Big Red!

Cornell ranked "Hottest Ivy" in Newsweek Magazine.

Welcome to Soup Week

This week we've decided to try Soup Week, like Shark Week on The Discovery Channel (only with soup).

On Friday the Husband picked up for me the original Barefoot Contessa cookbook. After the success of Ina's Potato Leek Vichyssoise, mac and cheese and various other goodies which we had at the pool party we've decided to give six of her soups a go this week for dinner. Last night's trial run was with Parker's Split Pea Soup. Ina claims that Steven Speilberg has said this soup taste's just like his mom's. We were hoping Steven's mom makes good split pea soup, and indeed she must as it went over quite well! I added a little bit of white wine and a touch of heavy cream (but otherwise stayed true to the recipe). After all, what doesn't taste better with a bit of heavy cream? The real winner though? Parmesan croutons which Ina recommended as an accompaniment. You just brush olive oil on 1/4 inch thick slices of french bread, sprinkle with salt, pepper and grated parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes and Voila! Perfect tasty soup toppers.

Tonight's soup project is Cheddar Corn Chowder (looking forward to this one!)
Tomorrow is French Onion Soup (which we may try with the goat cheese tart that Ina recommends). Thursday is roasted-potato fennel soup (never worked with fennel before). Then it's Rosemary White Bean Soup and finally thenRoasted Tomato Basil Soup (to be served with grilled cheese, of course. Each morning we'll let you know how the soup from the night before went over!

Ark Building 101

Okay, its been raining now for three days straight!

I Love The Nightlife...

On Saturday we got our first official laugh. Sophie has been making laughing faces for a while now, but no sound was coming out. That all changed on Saturday. In what will I'm sure be the first of many times her parents will make fools of themselves in order to get a good laugh, the Husband and I were singing and dancing along to Alicia Bridges' disco hit "I Love the Nightlife". Then, during one of the choruses' where we sang "I've got to Boogie on the disco 'round", we got an official giggle noise. We've been trying to reproduce it (without much success) ever since!

How Did I Miss This?

Ewan and Charley just finished their 15,000 mile motorbike journey, Long Way Down. Click on the button below to see their official BBC website!!!

Ravioli...

The latest cooking adventure was last night's homemade ravioli. The Mom had tried out Giada's recipe for ravioli caprese and highly recommended it so we gave it a go. The dough is simply 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour mixed with one cup of water. We mixed it in the kitchenaid (using the dough hook) and then let it set up (covered with saran wrap for 10 minutes). After the ten minutes are up you cut the dough ball into 4 parts and roll out each one separately. Giada gives you specific dimensions in her recipe but I just rolled it out into basically a rectangle as thin as I could (without making the dough split). For the filling the Mom had advised to use one small container of ricotta, salt, pepper, one egg, chopped fresh parsley and parmesan cheese... I also added some pecorino romano as I had some in the fridge. Mind that you don't over stuff the ravis and be sure to add a good bit of salt to the water when you boil them. The Mom recommended boiling them for 5 minutes. The Husband said he would have preferred them a bit more al dente (but I'm a soggy pasta lover so they were perfect for me). I paired them with a light tomato basil sauce and they were very fresh, light and tasty. If you have any trouble forming traditional ravioli shapes I would suggest trying agnolotti (pardon my masacre of proper Italian spelling...)

ps. with this I also tried this new artisan frozen demi baguette from Pepperidge Farm. You pop it in the oven for 15 minutes at 400 (or thereabouts) and it was really good-- a great item to stick in the freezer for those nights when you haven't had the chance to go out and buy a fresh loaf of bread!!

One More Thing...

While reading a story on AOL about a Chinese couple who wanted to name their baby "@", I came upon a few links to Baby Name generators. By far my favorite is the Baby Name Genie. Not only does the Genie give you witty retorts when you reject a generated name (such as Dalton Irving or Reba Chloe...btw, don't these sound like Cabbage Patch names???), it also has a "Baby Name Test Drive" feature where you can plug in your name of choice and have real life phrases generated such as: "Sophie ****, come on down, you're our next contestant!!!" or "You have reached Sophie ****'s voicemail, I'm not here to answer the phone right now but if you'd leave your name and number I'll call you right back."

Mini Storage, Major Uproar

Last night on the news they made quite a stink about the new Ad for Manhattan Mini Storage (See below)



Thoughts? First Off, Manhattan Mini Storage is getting a *lot* of free advertising right now. Who would have guessed that an ad on the West Side Highway could bring such great TV coverage?

Second, it's Manhattan Mini Storage... do you really think there are that many conservative Christian or otherwise pro-life folks who's usership of Manhattan Mini Storage will be affected because of this ad? After all, it's not 'Bama Mini Storage or Baptist Mini Storage.

Tasteless or not and regardless of your views on abortion it's still cheaper than an apartment with good closets.

The Nanny Diaries...

If you're telling me about your child care provider I really don't want to know whether they're illegal. Scratch that-- perfectly appropriate to share that said provider *is* in the country legally, if they aren't... I don't want to know. Thanks.

Maternity Leave?

Yesterday I took the plunge and spoke to my firm about "returning" after Maternity Leave.

The call started off well enough with some random pleasantries about how things are in the office, how the office move went, who the new hires are (two guys-- I guess they finally wised up after 5 of the women in the department all became moms during the same calendar year...) and of course an always encouraging description of how work just got so busy that Partner had to cancel his vacation.

To get to the nitty gritty, I think it's pretty standard in the New York Market for folks (and when I say folks I mean women-- because god forbid a lawfirm would let a man take off for more than thirty seconds if they have managed to find a free moment to reproduce...) to get 3 months paid leave and up to 3 months unpaid leave. Alas, though my firm is an "international/national" firm, god forbid they could be market.

Encouraging though it was for one of my co-workers (who had her baby in April) to advise that she was able to swing an extra 3 months of leave.

I mention this to Partner and he basically does the plausible deniability thing and claims he knows nothing of Co-Worker's status. In one breath I'm told how Partner will try very hard to get me whatever it is that I want and when I say 3 months unpaid leave (with an offer to be available on a project basis if needed during the year end-crunch) then in Partner's next breath it becomes clear that three months wasn't what he was looking for. I guess he was hoping for just a request for part-time? (Isn't that worse?) Maybe he was hoping that I'd just ask for my office to be moved closer to the coffee maker (noting that I don't drink coffee) or better yet, perhaps that I'd just ask to take a vacation at Christmas (since end-of-year vacations are always verboten in our department??) Or, most easily accomplished, a new chair (got one already) or a request for some fancy Bic pens to be ordered for me from Staples? Clearly, 3 months unpaid leave was asking too much. I could go back and offer 60%, 100% from home, but I doubt they'd take on that challenge.

How Its Made...

Okay, I know I've posted about this before but I'm still mesmerized. Below are a few of the latest episodes of "How Its Made" on the Discovery Channel:

Inflatable Watercraft, Couscous and Modeling Dough

Prepared Mustards, Violins, Nuts and Bolts, Toilet Paper

and, not to be outdone:

Fresh Cut Flowers, Adhesive Tape, Tofu and Lottery Tickets.

I think there should be a reality show that challenges contestants to make something useful out of the items depicted on that day's "How Its Made" episode. It could be a cross between MacGuyver and Survivor.

Your Challenge: Cross the Mississippi with only Fresh Cut Flowers, Adhesive Tape, Tofu and a bag full of Lottery Tickets.

100 Good Things...

Thisbe has added a new blog!

Credit Crunch...

So there's an interesting story in this week's New York Magazine. To quote it, "You’re probably losing money here or there, you’re probably losing money everywhere (except maybe from your savings account and wallet).... Unless you keep your money in cash or Treasuries or CDs or the First National Bank of Sealy, there’s a pretty good chance that you’re in a fund or funds that are mismarked and worth less than they and you think."

King Tut!

I think the photo says it all... this afternoon we visited the King Tut exhibit with the Thisbe Family at the Franklin Institute in Philly. I think it is fair to say that we were all a bit surprised when we got to the end of the exhibit and there was no mummy-- just a holographic image of the mummy, but what do you want, that Egyptian antiquities guy is like something straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark! We're lucky we got to see a replica of the death mask in the gift shop! The highlights though included various fancy Egyptian jewelry and a nifty little gold and jewel encrusted mini-tomb for Tut's liver. Ah yes, a liver coffin for the afterlife. So, tell me, if you're the guy who makes those-- how explain that industry on a business card back in 1322 BCE?

Overall though, a few observations about going to museums in general.

First-- those people with the audio tours. I swear, it's like you put on an audio tour headset and suddenly you become some sort of audio tour drone. I've never seen people walk around in such a trance before-- completely oblivious to personal space and/or whether or not other human beings were in their path. It was kind of like Night of the Living Dead, only with head phones. On the plus side-- I've recently read that certain museums are offering their audio tours to be purchased on itunes and/or downloaded off the museums' websites. At least this would be a step in the right direction for hygene. I'm not an audio tour fan-- in big part because of the whole communal headphone concept. ANYHOO...

Next item: While walking around I came upon some sort of monolith/ballustrade carved item that depicted a couple of ancient egyptians holding up some sort of sacrifice to a "sun disk". There were two other folks standing in front of this item discussing it-- more specifcally trying to figure out where exactly in the image Nefertiti's boobs were. It was a very "Sex and the City" type of conversation. Here I'm thinking "interesting craftsmanship, gee, I wonder if this is alabaster or limestone" and these people were trying to figure out if Nefertiti had sagging boobs.

Finally, after we left the exhibit the Husband found a little hands on item called the "Age Machine". It was a computer and a video camera which allowed museum patrons to have their photo captured on the computer screen and then an "aged" photo of you would be generated. Cool concept-- especially if you're travelling with a 2 month old baby! Whoopie we're thinking-- this could theoretically settle the "who does Sophie look like" debate. So, we get an image captured and suddenly there is an older husband and wife couple hovering behind us. The Husband and I both assume these two want to use the machine-- the image mapping process was getting a bit complicated and the hover-ers just kept getting closer so we get up to walk away and then the couple says to us... "No, we don't want to use it, we just want to see how it works! Let's see how she ages!" OKAY, CREEPY! Get your own baby for the age machine!! We go to walk away and the people then take over the machine with our daughter's picture still on the screen and they're trying to make it work as if she's some sort of guinea pig! Hello!?! Am I the only one who thinks this is a bit odd? As we hurriedly get on the elevator to leave my last parting statement is-- "can't we get her picture off of there???"

Do You Speak Bocce?

"Of course I can, sir. It's like a second language for me."

Yesterday afternoon we had our first pool party and lots of friends were kind enough to join us including Dave and Em, the Thisbe Family, Leda and Demetri, Raf-Oh and Katy, 410 and Jackie, Mel and Mike and Gretchen and Moritz!

We had a menu which relied heavily on The Barefoot Contessa including her potato salad, tomato and feta salad, peanutbutter and jelly bars and frozen key lime pie. Melanie and Mike joined in on the theme by bringing uber-tasty home made coconut cupcakes (also an Ina specialty!) and they also brought fabulous cookies from Lulu. We were also in further sugar shock in the form of cupcakes from the Buttercup Bake Shop thanks to Dave, Em and the rest of the NYC gang.

It was also Sophie-kins first event with people and she did well! When asked she said she had a nice time and really loved meeting everybody but she still wasn't quite sure why she couldn't have any cupcakes.

Overall, fun was had by all (especially the Thisbe Family's Wee Kraken). Folks went in the pool (playing what appeared to be a variant of baseball with wacky noodles) and in an interesting turn of events the bulk of the menfolk appeared to very much enjoy playing Bocce.

All this talk of bocce and all I can think of is "Bocce Balls!" as an exclamation but I can't remember for the life of me what movie that is from...

And, let's not forget that in two weekends it will be time to BBQ in the Hampton! :)

Tonight's Cooking Adventure...

Royal Icing. Heard of it, never used it or made it until tonight. I used powdered egg whites as a subsitute for regular egg whites (alas, we didn't want any salmonella scares, even if we are using "Eggland's Best"). I also tried my hand at Ina Garten's "frozen key lime pie" which required a double boiler (improvised out of two pots that almost fit together) for me to heat my egg yolks. Yolks, whites, so many eggs, so little time.

Interesting....

So in the past few days I've had page views from people in Turkey and the UK looking for information on Restasis and a person from Illinois doing a google search for a former high school classmate. Not to mention somebody from New Hampshire searching Sarkozy and Winnepesaukee!

Random Home Disaster #312

We live in an old house. Okay, that is an understatement. It's a pre-revolutionary war house. What does this mean to you and me? No central air. Today was a *really* hot day, a really *humid* day. Such that, after the whole "tornado" in Brooklyn thing, Mayor Bloomberg had said the next weather event for NY to deal with would be the heat. Now, back to the house. Not only do we not have central air, but our bedrooms are in what is essentially the attic of our house. Heat rises. In order to abate this situation we have window air conditioner units. We have 5 of them-- two in each room on the second and third levels of the house and then one big one which is permanently attached to the wall in the family room on the lower level. The exterior our of house is stone. In between the stone is mortar. What happens when your attic bedroom gets really humid? According to the Frigidaire website, window air conditioner units (when attempting to cool very humid rooms) will leak water (aka condensation created water) out of the unit.

This afternoon I was sitting in the kitchen next to the window that, two floors above, contains one of our window units. I had noticed a drip. At first I thought it was outside the window and just assumed it was coming from the a/c unit. A little while later I looked closer. (To be fair, last night I had noticed that the ceiling above this window in the kitchen looked a little funny. I told myself, oh, it's probably nothing, it's probably just shadows on the paint. Note to self: In a house from 1760, it's never just "shadows on the paint"). Upon closer inspection I noticed that the ceiling had bubbled-- water was dripping from it. I took a piece of paper towel, touched the ceiling and a big section of plaster became stuck to the paper towel and thus no longer stuck to the ceiling. I went outside, looked on the side of the house and there was a giant line of wetness coming right from the air conditioner. Yes, the a/c unit was condensing so much water (and presumably has been condensing so much water) that it was wicked in to the mortar between the stones and was now leaking out of the lowest point-- the ceiling above the kitchen window.

I scraped off as much of the wet plaster as I could and this revealed-- more mortar. I had always wondered what the ceiling above the windows in the kitchen was made out of. I hadn't really been that interested to find out, but now I know. Turn off the a/c unit and an hour or so later the drip stopped. Turn it back on? Drip resumes. Yes, water from the third floor window is making its way out on the bottom floor's ceiling. Once the Husband came home he managed to install a plastic sheet (aka a tray from IKEA) under the a/c unit to divert the water for now. The leak has stopped. I guess there will be some replastering in our future.

iTunes makes for Strange Bedfellows...

I'm sure that no one else's iTunes transaction has included songs by both Fergie and Perry Como.

French Cat Culinary School...

This evening I am trying out a recipe for "Oven Fried Chicken" as seen on Epicurious.com. I've been marinating a whole cut-up chicken since yesterday in buttermilk, olive oil and various spices and began breading this evening. Miss Kitty was very interested in this whole process, especially once the marinating chicken came out of the fridge. She made numerous attempts to jump up on to the counter to inspect said chicken.

"Just looking to make sure all of the pieces are there..." I'm sure is what she was thinking...

"Just wanting to make sure you coated all of the sides of the drumsticks, that's all..."

The recipe called for a breading mixture of bread crumbs, flour, paprika and cayenne pepper... various reviewers indicated that panko was a good addition, so I used half regular breadcrumbs and half panko. I assembled my breading in a large emile henry baking pan (also placed on said counter). Miss Kitty then became insistent on trying to inspect the bag of panko.

"I've never seen *real* Japanese panko before.... surely you'll let me take a peek?" she was thinking.

My response was simple-- "I'm sure in your days at Le Cordon Bleu" (where she studied in her summers between semesters at Sarah Lawrence, of course) "you worked with panko plenty."

That cat, always up to something. For now though the breaded chicken is "sitting" for about a half an hour, per the receipe, and then will be drizzled with butter and placed in the oven for 50 minutes at 425. In the mean time I have also breaded red onion rings (as onion slices were also part of the original marinade).

Miss Kitty seemed to find the onion rings vulgar. Perhaps she would have preferreed french fries.

Gigli...

This morning Jennifer Garner was on Martha and Marc Anthony was on The View... leaving open the question of-- just where were Ben Affleck and J-Lo?

Those Wacky French...

While vacationing at Lake Winnepesaukee in New Hampshire, France's president Sarkozy apparently yelled at news photographers loudly in French. The reporters indicated that they repeatedly advised President Sarkozy that they did not speak French.

Seems Like Old Times...

Tonight I went out to get Wegman's sandwiches for the fam for dinner... on the way home I decided to drive through town. It was a nice night-- 75, so I rode with the windows down and in an homage to 1984 I listened to Van Halen's version of "Dancin' in the Streets". Ah yes, David Lee Roth blaring out of a wagon. Yes, I felt old.

Farewell to Tom...

One night while sitting around in 411 Lyon Hall at Cornell with my then roomate Cynthia from Maine, I received an odd phone call. Cynthy had answered the phone and in a rare moment of clarity introduced herself with her full name and home town/state. It was the Late Late Show with Tom Snyder-- Live. Nancy Cartwright (aka the voice of Bart Simspon) was the guest. I don't remember the exact specifics now (and alas, I didn't have cable at the time, so I didn't see the show as it happened), but Cynthy handed me the phone and I was called upon to sing like Ethel Merman. Truly there is no business like show business.

(This was all coordinated by my mother, you see, who had written to Tom letting him know that I watched the show religiously before heading off to college and was now without TV-- somehow or another the whole Ethel Merman impersonation came out, as well... noting that, anyone, really can impersonate old Ethel... but I digress).

There I was, on late night TV on CBS chatting it up for a few moments with Tom, Nancy and singing like Ethel.

In an interesting turn of events, 410e9th, while still a high schooler at the time, claims to have seen the show.

Tom passed away this week and will be missed.

As he would have said, for the rest of us-- "Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."

Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka

Sophie will be taking over for Johnny Depp in the Willy Wonka sequel...

It wasn't me....

I swear, the Cookie Monster did it.