I met Johnny Depp!!!

Johnny Depp

St. Anne, IL

Meet & Greet

Public Enemies

This is the best picture my camera took. The faces you can barely see, are my friends Colleen and Evan. Then, I put my camera in my pocket to shake hands with him. He took both of my hands and held them while he talked with me. I said, "Hi, Mr. Depp", the rest is a blur, I remember saying that it is very nice to meet you. He talked to me, but I don't remember exactly what was said. I'm hoping my friend Betty's video picked up the sound. Then he gave my hands a squeeze and patted my arm and moved on.

My kids wrote Johnny some really cute letters. I said to his bodyguard, "Jerry, these are from my little girls". Jerry took them without a question. We are hoping Johnny read them that night.

More later.

I haven't slept in 37 hours.

Dinner then sleep!

Thank you my wonderful new friends:

Colleen--you made my dream come true, and thanks for being my chauffeur

Betty--you are so sweet to step back and let me meet Johnny. You are awesome!

Vicky--love your accent. Thanks for all the fun!

Evan-you are an awesome kid, with a great sense of humor

Tiffany--I enjoyed your company while we waited

This sounds like an award speech--I better sleep. More tomorrow.

Pageant Life

On Saturday night, I went to the Wisconsin National American Miss Preteen pageant. 80-some girls, ages 10-12 competed. Before you start to think all of the stereotypical thoughts about pageants, let me give you my opinion. *steps on soap-box or maybe a podium with a mic*

All pageants are NOT created equal. I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. I've seen natural vs. glitz. I've been to all levels from local, to state, to National, to World.

I strongly believe in Scholarship pageants. I dislike beauty-only pageants. I really hate glitz pageants. I also hate the typical "stage parents". O.k. hate is a strong word, but you know what I mean.

So what is the difference, you ask? A scholarship pageant is an opportunity for any/all girls from all walks of life, to build self-esteem, life-time skills, make friends, and if they are lucky, win a scholarship. You all know what a beauty pageant looks like--Miss USA/Universe. You probably know what a glitz pageant is (Jon Bonet Ramsey). A good, natural, scholarship pageant is one that believes in inner and outer beauty.

For example, when I was in the Miss America program (3rd runner up at Miss Oshkosh) I had to practice interviewing for a panel of judges. They could ask you ANYTHING. We were strongly encouraged to read the newspaper and get knowledgeable about current events. We had to be prepared to have an opinion on them. We had to have a "platform". For example, equal rights, feed the homeless, etc. We had to turn in our college transcripts, because our grades were included in the judging. Also, community service, activities, etc. The grades and the interview were worth the most points. Swimwear was done to show that you take care of your body--physical fitness, and was the smallest percentage of the points. Oh--and talent was worth a lot of points, too. It cost nothing to enter. The entire pageant was sponsored by local businesses. They taught contestants everything they needed to know and even lent out gowns and interview outfits. Anyone can be Miss America. (All of those other pageants charge an arm and a leg to enter, then you have to pay for all your clothes, etc. etc.) I won $350 for college.

I started to compete in pageants when I was 17. When I was 18, I became the Wisconsin Young Miss of America, and competed at Nationals. I competed at Nationals again when I was 21. The experience was incredible. I met people from all over the country. I met a movie producer, modeling agents, movie stars (real ones), I was on t.v. etc. and won first runner-up in talent at nationals.

As a "visiting queen" I emceed pageants, entertained, judged, directed and produced.

Pageants made me a more outgoing and confident person. I became very good at doing interviews (both sides). They changed my life.

After I was married, I was Mrs. Madison, and Mrs. Dane County and competed twice in the Mrs. Wisconsin pageant. I was 3rd runner up to Mrs. Wisconsin.

I have since judged state and national pageants and coached a few other people. My children won national and World titles when they were little. When they lost interest, I was cool with it.

I have also seen the "other side". The side that gives pageants a bad name. I hope anyone that has read this has learned something new, because pageants changed my life.

Ciao for now!

Doesn't this look FUN?

House on the Rock

MSW, Movie Star, MSJr., MSWannaBe

A rock WITHOUT a house on it.

The Mikado

This guy always gives me the creeps. His eyeballs and eyebrows move.

This one is for all you gardeners out there.

In case anybody needs one. It made me think of the one-eyed pirate.

I am wondering if this belongs to Sir Jack???

The Infinity Room (and beyond)

Pictures speak louder than words. If you would like information about House on the Rock, they have a web site.

Ciao for now!

My Experience at Body Worlds

My Experience at Body Worlds

During the winter of 2007, I went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago to see a most unusual exhibit. It was one of the four Body Worlds exhibits that are traveling around the world.

The first thing most people think when they hear that it is an exhibit of real human bodies that have been preserved, is that it will be something gross. Certainly, if I was told about it ten years ago I probably would have said, "Eeeeeewww! No way!" (If you are thinking this, please read my whole blog so that you can understand why this exhibit exists.)

However, my entire life has changed over the last ten years. While I used to be completely repulsed by the thought of death, it doesn't really bother me anymore. I am going to school to become a nurse. It just so happens that when I was taking Anatomy & Physiology, I heard about Body Worlds. Anyone who has had to do a dissection (animal or cadaver) knows how smelly and disgusting it can be. THIS IS VERY DIFFERENT.

First of all, they use a special process to preserve the bodies, called plastination. Without getting into great detail explaining it, here is the cut and dry: nothing smells, nothing is gross, and it's really cool.

Why would anyone want to see these exhibits? For me it was definitely educational. There is only so much you can learn from human models and regularly preserved cadavers. With this plastination process, you can see things that you wouldn't normally see. For example, all of the blood vessels:

The main goal of the exhibits is education. Certainly anyone in the health care field or in school learning about it is going to get something out of it. However, this exhibit is designed so that every day people can get something out of it. For example, the effects of certain diseases and life style choices. They show a normal body organ, and then one that is abnormal. Here is a normal healthy lung and a smokers lung:

There are some bodies that you can see every single artery and vein. Some of them show you the entire spinal cord and nerves. You will never get that in a classroom or lab.

A lot of the bodies show the musculature of people doing various things. For example sports or ballet.

Finally, people going into the exhibit are very respectful. The displays are done very tastefully and respectfully, too. I would say most people are in awe as they walk through. My husband went with me and he actually seemed to enjoy it too (he is not in healthcare).

There were some older children at the exhibit. I heard parents explaining things and children asking really neat questions. I believe if you have a relatively mature, inquisitive child, they would really enjoy it. I chose not to bring my children with us, but after seeing it, I would bring my nine year old. She is very interested in learning about the human body and I know she would be mature. Their are two things that parents should be cautious about. They do use the entire human body (including genitalia), so they need to be mature enough to handle that. Also, there is a section about fetal development. This area is behind a curtain, so that if you want to avoid it, you can.

If you ever get the chance to see one of the Body World exhibits, I highly recommend it. If given the chance, I would go again.

For more information: www.bodyworlds.com

*all pictures are from their web site's press release section.

The Hole Formerly Known As Lake Delton

The Hole Formerly Known as Lake Delton

This one wasn't pulled out in time.

It's hard to believe how quickly a lake can drain.

This is the view of Dell Creek from the Hwy 12 Bridge, looking towards Lake Delton.

At the tip of the finger, you will see the ramp used in the Tommy Bartlett Water Ski Show.

This weekend our family went to the Wilderness Water Park in Wisconsin Dells. We know the traffic would be bad, since Interstate 90/94 was closed and all traffic was being detoured onto Hwy 12. It took us 2 hours and 45 minutes to get there. The windows in our van do not open (broken) and the fan on our air is broke. It was a long, hot ride.

On our way home, we took Hwy. 23 through Reedsburg. Near Plain and Spring Green we saw some major flooding in a residential area. I feel so bad for them.

The good news is that the weather was beautiful! Not a rain drop in sight. The forecast for this week is DRY! Hurray!

Well, gotta get to bed, work in the AM.

Ciao for now!

God Smiling and A Flood Story

I received this picture in an e-mail (don't know who took it), and thought it was really cute. It reminds me of "Hi, It's me Face!" from Nickelodean. (Yes, my daughter watched Blues Clues. A lot.)

This picture reminds me to look for God's presence in any and all places.

I hope God starts smiling on all of the people I know who are flooded. I spoke with my Mom in the West Bend area. She has to get to the store before the driveway is impasssable.

That reminds me of the first time the driveway flooded. We moved into that house when I was 19. That year I had my first, real, full-time, adult job. One day when I was heading to work--my car got stuck in the flooded driveway. It was still snowy and cold! I had to climb out of my 1980 Mustang and wade through the ice cold water. I was wearing a business dress and had to go barefoot through the water and up the long driveway in the snow. It was like having knives or nails driving into my feet and legs. Then, I had to call my boss and try to explain that my car was in a flood. I thought for sure they wouldn't believe me, so I took a picture. Naturally, when we got the picture developed, it looked like my car was in a puddle. I still don't know if they believed me. The Milwaukee river runs behind their house. Fortunately, the house is on a hill. However, the portion of the driveway that is by the swamp gets flooded occasionally during the spring melt. My car smelled bad for a long time after that, because the water came through the floor boards.

I am praying for all of my friends and family that are dealing with flooding. No more rain! I am also thankful that no one has been hurt or killed in the current flooding, and loss of Lake Delton.

Until next time--Ciao for now!

Happy Birthday Johnny Depp!

Happy Birthday Johnny Depp!

Today, my daughter wanted to me call Johnny Depp to wish him a happy birthday. Isn't that cute? She doesn't quite understand. She figures if Daddy is in his movie and Daddy has talked to him, we should be able to call him.

Speaking of Public Enemies. The week of my final exams for the semester, Public Enemies was filming in Beaver Dam. As a reward for my success in Pharmacology, I decided (demanded) that I get to go see some of the filming.

Mike and I took the girls, and my friend's daughter (who is crazy for JD) and as soon as we got to Beaver Dam, we saw them filming.

Here is the best picture I was able to get:

Johnny Depp is the one in the brown suit.

Whenever they were filming scenes, we couldn't get close enough to get decent pictures. Whenever he was really close to us I couldn't get a picture, because people kept jumping around and getting in the way.

Whenever he was driven past us, between the set and the base camp (where his trailor was), he was quite close. He had his window open and he was waving and smiling. Since the girls are small, they were able to get in front of everybody and see him really well.

When they finished in Beaver Dam they had to head to Columbus for a night shoot. As he passed us for the last time, my girls had a really neat experience. One was waving her "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" DVD and she said, "He looked right at me!" My other daughter blew him a kiss and HE BLEW ONE BACK!!!

It has pretty much been DeppMania at our house, ever since the filming started in March. When I finished school, I started watching a lot of his movies. After all, for the last 10 years I've been watching G movies (parenting). So I saw:

Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2, and 3,

Blow,

What's Eating Gilbert Grape,

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (for the millionth time)

Finding Neverland (My very favorite one so far)

Don Juan DeMarco (only 1/2 of it, I didn't get a chance to finish it and it was due at the video store)

So, in addition to reviewing my nursing stuff, this summer I am: watching as many JD movies as I can, started watching the TV show Lost (season 1) and will try to watch as many of those as I can, so that I can watch new episodes eventually, working, and enjoying summer! When school starts, I won't be able to do anything except study, eat, sleep, work, and study some more.

Finally, prayers go out to all my friends with flooding. :-(

I'm still dumbfounded about Lake Delton draining out. I wonder how that is going to play out.

Here's to better, and dryer days ahead!

Ciao for now!

Whether the Weather

Isn't this the coolest hummingbird picture? Take in Crivitiz, 2004, by Lee Maramonte.

Whether the Weather

Camp song:

Whether the weather be cold or whether the weather be hot,

Whether the weather be there or whether the weather be not,

Whatever the weather,

We'll weather the weather,

Whether we like it or not.

Yesterday brought rain, storms, funnel clouds, and floods. Yuck. For the second time in my life I saw cloud rotation. It is so mesmerizing to watch. It went right over our house and I stood outside and watched it. Don't worry, no lighting or anything. It got really windy for a moment, then it passed by and started to rain.

Some of my friends in Columbus are experiencing flood damage. That REALLY stinks. I'm keeping them in my thoughts and prayers.

Today, more of the same? They even cancelled our church festival, at St. Maria Goretti. Bummer. I was looking forward to volunteering in the first-aid tent. It's also fun to see our pastor, Father Mike, dunked in the dunk tank.

It's been raining on and off all day. At the moment it is clear. Here are some pictures to remind us of sunnier days.

Out West in 2004. Picture by Lee Maramonte.

Olbrich Gardens, June 2008.

Part IV--Christian Bale on the Set

Part IV--Christian Bale on the Set

When we last left our hero, he was sleeping. . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I went to my nursing clinical and then work.

Disclaimer: I will not disclose anything that will ruin the movie.

Filming was being done near Mirror Lake State Park, located by Wisconsin Dells. They were dropped off quite far from where they filmed and had to walk quite a ways to get where they needed to be. Side note--the extras and stand-ins were transported by van from the base camp (At Jellystone Park--hee hee) to the set.

This is what "Movie Star" said (not a direct quote):
When CB arrived on the set he was disheveled and very ticked off! Swearing and everything. From what he heard, it sounded like CB did not have assistance getting dressed. No one tied his tie. He also arrived a little late. Wow--sounded like some heads might roll.

The scenes filmed at Mirror Lake were meant to be outdoor scenes of the escape from Little Bohemia. The car crash had been filmed the one night Movie Star wasn't there. But he was there for all of the other nights at Mirror Lake.

When you see the movie you will enjoy the part with Baby Face Nelson after the crash. That is all I can say.

There was high speed chasing and lots of shooting and dieing. He had a front row seat for the whole thing. On that night he was the stand-in for Baby Face Nelson. He did sit in the crashed car for a while.

He arrived home at 7:00 in the morning.

Other details will be forthcoming. I have to pick his brain for what I can share.

Sorry no pictures today.

To be Continued.

Italians, Gangsters, and Christian Bale

Italians, Gangsters, and Christian Bale

On Saturday, we went to Festa Italia in Fitchburg, WI. It is a small festival celebrating the Italian culture. I go every year, because: 1. I am Italian 2. I love the Italian Sausage 3. I want some connection with my ethnic heritage. My father was full-blooded Italian and my grandparents came here from Italy (my maiden name is Maramonte). My husband is 1/4 Sicilian--which is where Alioto comes from.

It is so unfortunate that so many of us are out of touch with our cultural backgrounds. I had an assignment at school, wherein we needed to bring a box with things representing our culture. You wouldn't believe how few of us had any true, cultural traditions.

When I think of the word culture, it makes me think of costumes, dance, and wonderful foods. When I first thought about my own culture, I first thought "Italian". When it really comes down to it, however, I don't have very many Italian cultural traditions. We certainly eat a lot of great Italian food. We are Catholic, like many Italians are. However, I don't know the lanugage, music, or other traditions of Italy.

My culture is probably more "American" than anything. We celebrate the typical holidays and eat all kinds of foods. I typically wear jeans, t-shirts and tennis shoes. We speak English. We listen to a variety of music, most of which is typical American made music. Our family really enjoys learning about OTHER cultures. We attend cultural festivals and eat many types of foods.

As I get older, I have more interest in learning about my ethnic background. Someday I hope to go to Italy, to see where my ancestors lived. For now, though, I guess I will continue living our "Madison, Wisconsin,--Alioto Family" culture.

This is a picture of the pasta eating contest at Festa Italia. They couldn't use their hands.

Now, on to gangsters. Are you ready for Part IV of "Movie Star Filming Public Enemies"? When last I wrote, our hero, "Movie Star" was in hollywood withdrawal. Universal Studios had moved on to Oshkosh and even filmed here in Madison, without him. His 15 minutes of fame were over. Or so we thought. In late April, he received a call from the casting agency. They wanted to double check which scenes he had been in. If he was quite visible in the scenes, he wouldn't be able to be an extra in other scenes. So, he told them which scenes, they said thankyou and that was it. Then they called back. They wanted him to be the stand-in for Baby Face Nelson! This meant that 1. He IS VERY VISIBLE in the scenes he was already in, and 2. He gets to work on the movie again! So he was told that he would be needed in the Wisconsin Dells area for an all-night shoot. He had to be there in the early evening and wear his thermal underwear under a regular dark suit. It turned out to be near Mirror Lake. He didn't find out the when and where until that afternoon. If you don't know what a stand-in does, they basically stand wherever that actor will be, while they set up the lighting, cameras, etc. Then, when they are ready, they actor is called in to do the actual filming. Not super glamorous and he won't be seen in those scenes. BUT--he had a front row seat for EVERYTHING GOING ON. He didn't get home until 7:00 in the morning. He didn't say much and went straight to bed for the whole day. I went to school and work and was in suspense all day, waiting to hear about his evening. The only think I got out of him was, "Johnny Depp wasn't there, Christian Bale was. I'll talk to you after I sleep." Ugh. I'll let all of you digest this, so you can feel my anticipation.

To be continued.

Movie Star