Dinner Party Talk – Oops!

While skiing at Sundance in Utah, a friend knocked over a huge glass display in the ski lodge gift shop. Crash! Heads turned, and there we stood, eyes wide, surrounded by broken glass. We were able to laugh it off, but how do you deal with a fall that causes damage to a $130 million dollar painting? Somehow “you break it, you bought it” doesn’t seem like much of an option. That’s exactly what happened to a woman at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, who lost her balance and tripped into a famous Picasso painting causing a tear in the canvas. Damage estimate: $65 million. Ouch. That’s a high-priced klutz.

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Not Sundance – Chimpanzee Movie

Chimpanzees make a movieBack in high school, I won the state science fair on my studies of the Hamadryas baboon. At Sundance, I’ve seen some movies that could have been made by baboons. Now comes, the world premiere of the only movie shot entirely by chimps. Yep, the Chimps of Edinburgh Zoo were part of a unique experiment to discover how they see the world. Watch the trailer here. Admission: two bananas.

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Pop Culture – Sundance Cult Classic

William Shatner a cult classic.


Yesterday at #Sundance, I sat through the “live” documentary film “Utopia,” a rather egotistical experiment of a movie “unlike all other movies” in that it can be only one place at a time with filmmaker Sam Green and musician Dave Cerf. The two things I took away from the film: Victor Gruen is known as the “architect of the American Dream” because he invented the shopping mall (before retiring to Austria in embarrassed disappointment.) And William Shatner starred in Incubus, a cult classic entirely in Esperanto, the most widely spoken international auxiliary language. Esperanto was created in the late 1800s by L.L. Zamenhof who thought that a neutral world language could foster peace and international understanding. Esparanto, which means “one who hopes,” has up to 2 million speakers in about 115 countries, including William Shatner. If you’d like to join this utopia, here’s a lesson.

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Dinner Party Talk – So Long, Conan

Last night Conan O’Brien ended his criminally short seven month run as host of The Tonight Show. Conan signed off with gratitude to NBC for his twenty years of employment and a big “thank you” to the fans who have taken up his cause in the past few weeks. His final message to his viewers (before rocking out with ZZ Top, Beck, and Will Ferrell!) was this: “Don’t be cynical.” Good luck, Conan! I’m sure we’ll be seeing you soon.

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Gossip – New Yorker at Sundance

Live from snowy Sundance Film Festival!


DATELINE: PARK CITY, UTAH
Snow, snow, snow. Traffic jams. Gorgeous people. And MOVIES! Have taken over quaint Park City. This year the swag is down and the quality of movies is up. Conversation around town is abuzz at the outstanding crop of cinema. I’m with the ever-fun Barbara Corcoran (#Sharktank). After the screening of Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu’s film, “Pumzi,” she said “nature is for the privileged.” Her stunning short film is the story of a botanist who risks her life to nurture a plant 35 years after WWIII (the water war). After her beautiful film, we suffered through “Saint Louis Blues,” a Glee-wannabee road-trip through the clogged streets of Senegal. Singing and dancing in taxis. Blech! After it, I did a song and dance routine through the Yarrow Hotel straight for cocktails. More soon. I’m skiing Deer Valley in the morning. Wherever you are, catch a movie this weekend.

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Life 101 – Lily the Bear

BEAR REALITY TV!!! Last year I watched a cow give birth at the Dutchess County Fair. Right now, thousands are watching on a live streaming cam as Lily the Bear is in labor within her den. UPDATE: She’s given birth to one cub and she might have two. In case you’ve never seen it, watch this video of a cow give birth. It is truly miraculous.

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American Pets – Piano Pug

Nothing like a pug with talent and a sense of humor. Play it pug! (Definitely worth 24 seconds of your time! His expression is true talent.)

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Dinner Party Talk – Communication

Operator. May I help you?

I’ve just arrived at #Sundance and will be Tweeting what I see and overhear live. Reminded me of a recent dinner party conversation: “We’ve gone from stone tablets to horseback messengers, party lines to chat rooms, answering machines to text messages. I just figured out what LMAO means. It means we have to squeeze what we mean into 140 characters or less.” Certainly not like the good old days, when you made a little ringy dingy to find out what’s really going on. Check out the link to hear Cher’s response to tabloid rumors… Did you hear that Captain Kangaroo and Cher are getting married?

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American Fun – Talking dogs

Westminster loves to hear from other dogs.

Here’s a giggle – Talking dogs. A husky that says “I love you.” A boxer that sounds the siren. And a puppy that whistles. Westminster wants to know what tricks your dog can do. He’s all ears.

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American Fun – Dolly

Hello Dolly!

Happy birthday to Dolly Parton!!! Every time I see or hear her, it brings a schoolboy grin to my face. There’s nothing more fun than putting a little Dolly in your day. Especially this version, which looks like my office most days. But, hopefully, it doesn’t sound like your 9 to 5 routine!

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