Feel like royalty
Today, I went to the Sweet Potato Queens' lunch at Bravo! in Jackson. For those of you who aren't from the South, the Sweet Potato Queens are a group of local women, led by author Jill Connor Browne. Browne has found fame (and probably no small amount of fortune) writing about the Sweet Potato Queens and gussying herself up for the annual Mal's St. Paddy's Day Parade. The parade, scheduled to take place in Jackson tomorrow morning, has become something of a Mecca for Sweet Potato Queens aficionados, and a host of related events has sprung up all around it.
Today at Bravo! at 11:30 a.m., I was treated to the amazing sight of quite a large group of women dressed in the loudest, most wonderfully tasteless costumes imaginable - long pink feather boas, huge hats, blinking jewelry, rhinestones, wacky sungalsses, wigs, tiaras and crowns. Everyone was nibbling something from the delicious lunch buffet (antipasto platter, sweet potato bisque, Ceasar salad, gourmet pizza, and delicious little pick-up desserts) and sipping a drink from the special Sweet Potato Queens bar. (The signature SPQ drink is known as the Re-Virginator. I can't tell yet if it worked.) Tomorrow, the Sweet Potato Queens and their entourage, along with women from all over the country, will march in the parade. What a hoot! And what FUN!
I also have tickets to the SPQ brunch on Sunday at the Hilton. I'm trying to decide if I'll wear my tiara again, or if I'll dig around for something new.
Also, I got the chance to see The Upside of Anger, starring Kevin Costner and Joan Allen, over the past week. I thought it was a great film. Terry (Allen) discovers that her husband has left her, presumably to run off to Sweden with his young secretary. In response, she goes on a boozy, angry binge and gets in touch with her inner bitch. Denny (Costner), Terry's neighbor and a washed-up baseball star, is only too happy to join in the alcohol-soaked pity party, and the two misery-loving drinking buddies find themselves drawn to one another. Costner and Allen were both amazing in this movie. I must admit, I had almost written Costner off after I saw several of his movies that did nothing for me. But in The Upside of Anger, he proves that he's still got it. Allen, who can sometimes come off on screen as a bit too repressed and buttoned up (a quality that made her perfect in Pleasantville), really lets loose here. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the director didn't throw away the roles of Terry's dughters on actresses who weren't up to the challenge. Erika Christensen, Alicia Witt, Keri Russell, and Evan Rachel Wood all turn in strong performances. The movie seems to explore both love and anger, with some interesting conclusions drawn via the character of Popeye (don't ask me where they got the name), one of Terry's daughters. (Popeye is played by Evan Rachel Wood, who blew me away a few years back in Thirteen.)
Today at Bravo! at 11:30 a.m., I was treated to the amazing sight of quite a large group of women dressed in the loudest, most wonderfully tasteless costumes imaginable - long pink feather boas, huge hats, blinking jewelry, rhinestones, wacky sungalsses, wigs, tiaras and crowns. Everyone was nibbling something from the delicious lunch buffet (antipasto platter, sweet potato bisque, Ceasar salad, gourmet pizza, and delicious little pick-up desserts) and sipping a drink from the special Sweet Potato Queens bar. (The signature SPQ drink is known as the Re-Virginator. I can't tell yet if it worked.) Tomorrow, the Sweet Potato Queens and their entourage, along with women from all over the country, will march in the parade. What a hoot! And what FUN!
I also have tickets to the SPQ brunch on Sunday at the Hilton. I'm trying to decide if I'll wear my tiara again, or if I'll dig around for something new.
Also, I got the chance to see The Upside of Anger, starring Kevin Costner and Joan Allen, over the past week. I thought it was a great film. Terry (Allen) discovers that her husband has left her, presumably to run off to Sweden with his young secretary. In response, she goes on a boozy, angry binge and gets in touch with her inner bitch. Denny (Costner), Terry's neighbor and a washed-up baseball star, is only too happy to join in the alcohol-soaked pity party, and the two misery-loving drinking buddies find themselves drawn to one another. Costner and Allen were both amazing in this movie. I must admit, I had almost written Costner off after I saw several of his movies that did nothing for me. But in The Upside of Anger, he proves that he's still got it. Allen, who can sometimes come off on screen as a bit too repressed and buttoned up (a quality that made her perfect in Pleasantville), really lets loose here. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the director didn't throw away the roles of Terry's dughters on actresses who weren't up to the challenge. Erika Christensen, Alicia Witt, Keri Russell, and Evan Rachel Wood all turn in strong performances. The movie seems to explore both love and anger, with some interesting conclusions drawn via the character of Popeye (don't ask me where they got the name), one of Terry's daughters. (Popeye is played by Evan Rachel Wood, who blew me away a few years back in Thirteen.)
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