Saturday, August 13, 2011
Water for Elephants meets SYTYCD Top 8 thanks to Tyce Diorio
During the So You Think You Can Dance Top 8 Group routine a few weeks ago Tyce Diorio choreographed an amazing group routine using "Setting up the Circus" from the Water for Elephants sountrack.
The only thing missing was a kiss from Reese and Rob ;)
Se more of my favourite group routines from SYTYCD Season 8 HERE
Monday, August 8, 2011
Teen Choice Awards 2011 Results (and my snark)
Choice Movie Action: "Fast Five."
Choice Movie Actor Action: Johnny Depp, "The Tourist."
Choice Movie Actress Action: Angelina Jolie, "The Tourist."
Choice Movie Sci-Fi/Fantasy: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1."
Mandy's Mind - All the Harry Potter awards were given at the end of the night. Tom Felton and Rupert Grint accepted then via video conference from NYC Daniel Radcliffe accepted his. They were so cute!
Choice Movie Actor Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Taylor Lautner, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."
Mandy's Mind - He is so polished, almost robotic isn't he?
Choice Movie Actor Romantic Comedy: Ashton Kutcher, "No Strings Attached."
Mandy's Mind - was he high? no, for realz? He gave some good advice about not using a credit card if you don't have money but then he broke out in a Katy Perry Song...
Choice Movie Actress Romantic Comedy: Emma Stone, "Easy A."
Mandy's Mind - #girlcrush
Choice Movie Actress Comedy: Cameron Diaz, "Bad Teacher."
Mandy's Mind - She looks old now... Remember her in The Mask?
Choice Movie Actor Drama: Robert Pattinson, "Water for Elephants."
Mandy's Mind - of course ;)
Choice Movie Villain: Tom Felton, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1."
Choice Movie Liplock: Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1."
Mandy's Mind - this was gross. In the movie, it was gross!
Choice Movie Hissy Fit: Ed Helms, "The Hangover Part II."
Mandy's Mind - Hangover 30 he will still make hissy fits fun.. he promises
Choice Movie Male Scene Stealer: Kellan Lutz, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."
Choice Movie Female Scene Stealer: Ashley Greene, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."
Mandy's Mind - this wasn't really presented, it was them introducing aperformance and they were awkward and lame.
Choice Summer Movie: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
Choice Summer Movie Star Male: Daniel Radcliffe, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2."
Choice Summer Movie Star Female: Emma Watson, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2."
Choice TV Show Drama: "Gossip Girl."
Mandy's Mind - Blake Lively accepted and she was quite plesant.
Choice TV Actress Drama: Blake Lively, "Gossip Girl."
Choice TV Show Fantasy/Sci-Fi: "The Vampire Diaries"
Choice TV Actor Fantasy/Sci-Fi: Ian Somerhalder, "The Vampire Diaries."
Choice TV Actress Fantasy/Sci-Fi: Nina Dobrev, "The Vampire Diaries."
Choice TV Male Scene Stealer: Michael Trevino, "The Vampire Diaries."
Choice TV Female Scene Stealer: Katerina Graham, "The Vampire Diaries."
Mandy's Mind - I loved the Ian, Paul, Nina bit... adorable!
Choice TV Villain: Justin Bieber, "CSI."
Choice TV Reality Show: "Jersey Shore."
Choice TV Male Reality/Variety Star: Paul "Pauly D" Del Vecchio, "Jersey Shore."
Mandy's Mind - WHY are teens watching Jersey Shore?
Choice TV Show Comedy: "Glee."
Choice TV Actor Comedy: Cory Monteith, "Glee."
Mandy's Mind - I loved that they all went up to accept and that both Cory and Darren Criss spoke. I was shocked Lea Michele didn't go - she tweeted some lame excuse about needing to sleep and prepare for shooting Glee the next morning - um, so does everyone else, snob!
Choice TV Actress Comedy: Selena Gomez, "Wizards of Waverly Place."
Mandy's Mind - not into Selena but her damn song is STUCK in my head "love you like a love song baby oh oh"
Choice TV Breakout Star: Darren Criss, "Glee."
Mandy's Mind - LOVE
Choice Music Male Artist: Justin Bieber.
Mandy's Mind - He is Canadian and I don't hate him, but I am not a dan of his gf and he said to put god first and family first. This means he is either god's son or confused. Then he said Jesus loves us all... I don't think that is true and I think the beibs is trying too hard.
Choice Music Female Artist: Taylor Swift.
Mandy's Mind - I LOVE HER but I do not get the clique. She is holding hands with Selena who dated Taylor Lautner before Taylor Swift did. She is also holding hands with Ashley Greene who dated Joe Jonas after Taylor Swift did. So... it's like all the teeny-bopper celebs (and fame-whore Ashley Greene) date each other then spill their guts to Taylor Swift who writes awesome songs about it all? Hey, works for me!
Choice Music Group: Selena Gomez and The Scene
Choice Music Single: "Who Says," Selena Gomez and The Scene.
Choice Music Female Country Artist: Taylor Swift.
Choice Music Country Single: "Mean," Taylor Swift.
Choice Music Love Song: "Love You Like a Love Song," Selena Gomez.
Choice Music Breakup Song: "Back to December," Taylor Swift.
Mandy's Mind - YAy Taylor! Enough Selena already please Wait - this is a teen show, I will let it slide!
Choice Summer Music Star Male: Bruno Mars.
Choice Summer Music Star Female: Katy Perry.
Choice Summer Song: "Skyscraper," Demi Lovato.
Mandy's Mind - Cool she addressed her "issues" this past year - good for her!
Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Female: Taylor Swift.
Choice Male Hottie: Justin Bieber.
Choice Female Hottie: Selena Gomez.
Choice Comedian: Ellen DeGeneres.
Choice Twit: Justin Bieber.
Choice Vampire: Robert Pattinson.
Mandy's Mind - used this opportunity to promote Cancer Bites and educate people on Blood Cancers... smart move.. esp because Robert Pattinson uncensored is NOT approporiate for a teen show ;)
Choice Web Star: Rebecca Black.
Mandy's Mind - kill me please
Ultimate Choice Award: Taylor Swift.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Alleged mistreatment of Tai the elephant

Yesterday the animal activist organization Animal Defenders International (ADI) filed a lawsuit, along with a few civilians, against Tai's trainers at Have Trunk Will Travel.
So what exactly does the lawsuit claim about how our favorite Water for Elephants costar learned to do circus tricks in her scene-stealing role as Reese and Robert Pattinson's beloved Rosie?
"The suit is about assurances given to the public that the elephant Tai was trained with kindness for her role in Water for Elephants," reads a press release from Animal Defenders International. "Video footage released by ADI showed Tai and other elephants being electric shocked with a stun gun and jabbed and hit will bull hooks during her training for the same types of tricks seen in the movie, at the Perris, CA ranch of Have Trunk Will Travel."
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And although reps for Have Trunk Will Travel have stated that the training facility "does not condone using electrical devices to discipline and control elephants except in situations where elephant or human safety is at risk," a home video was leaked that seemed to show Tai being given electric shocks and being beaten to get her to perform tricks.
Since California law dictates that animal abuse lawsuits need to be brought to attention within a year of the alleged mistreatment, unfortunately, no one depicted in the incriminating 2005 footage could be found criminally responsible for their actions.
Instead, ADI is claiming that Have Trunk Will Travel "defrauded" and "duped" the public by luring them into the false sense of security that Tai had been treated kindly during her training for the film.
Another organization, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, has also jumped on the save-the-elephants bandwagon. Last Thursday, it announced that it is offering a $10,000 reward for any leads regarding elephant abuse during production of a film or TV program.
Executive director for ALDF, Stephen Wells, commented: "The glamour of the big screen and television productions belies the suffering of elephants forced to perform on Hollywood sets. Elephants are wild animals, not actors, and the barbaric techniques routinely used to force elephants to learn tricks can qualify as abuse under California law."
But now that Tai's career has skyrocketed, this elephant ain't slowing down! Tai can be seen next in Zookeeper with Kevin James, which is set to be released next week.
Let's just hope that Kevin is as sweet to his animal costars as R.Pattz is.
[Source]
Monday, June 13, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Fan Story - Water For Elephants Premiere in Berlin
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| Rob signs fan autogrpahs |
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| Setting up the night before |
Read her fantastic story by clicking the link....
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I went with a friend of mine to Berlin the day before the premiere of „Water for Elephants“. We headed straight to the Sony Center and saw that the preparations had already begun. The sponsor wall was there and the red carpet but no fences. We had a pizza there and watched for a while. The first fans prepared for the night to stay there. We drove home to the familiy of my friend. They were so kind to invite us at their place. Thanks!
Next morning we arrived at half past nine at the Sony Center. There was a little crowd at two places, let’s say north of the carpet (I don’t know whether this is correct, but we will need the position). No need to hurry. We decided to place ourselfs near the cinema after the sponsor wall south of the carpet. But they began to build a fence there for the press area. So we moved a litle bit further to the entrance of the cinma. An hour later they started to shut the whole side south of the carpet in front of the cinema for VIPs. Of course now the north side of the carpet was crowded. It was about 10 rows. No chance there!
So we went to the other side of the sponsor wall, again south of the carpet. On the north side was only a short space directly on the carpet with many folks. There was the driveway for the cars aswell. The south side was devided into two areas by another drive way. So we stood firstly near the sponsor wall directly at one of the drive ways. We made nice contacts and watched the elephant to be brought in.
Then we figured out that we stood on the way out, not in. So we moved on the other side of the way out opposit of the crowded north of the carpet with a good sight on the carpet and the sponsor wall. Later we had to move a little bit further again and were then in a small official fan area. Woohoo!
We spent the afternoon with nice chats. At 6 p.m. started the radio show. The hosts heated up the fans by giving away tickets for the premiere screening. This made everybody greedy and was not to my liking. The stars arrived over an hour later.
First was Francis Lawrence. The incoming cars stopped nearly in front of us. Lawrence had a lot of fun. He started with the autographs at our side. He was very gentle and asked me if I wanted my book signed on the cover or inside. I wanted it on the cover and so he did. He made his round and was enjoying himself a lot.
Next came Christoph Walz. He started on the north side. When he came to us he only gave about every 10th the honor of an autograph and I was not with them. The girls to our right asked for a picture what he refused. Mr. Waltz is not everybody’s darling.
Then came Rob and the Sony Center was exploding! He left the car and was already on his way to the north side giving a short wave in our direction. But then, he was turned around, guided round the car and started to sign on our side about 5 meters to the left! But I didn’t see anything because of all the books, magazines and cameras that were held up for Rob. He came along very slowly because he signed every single item and made photos with everybody, who wanted one.
Then Lawrence came back with a little camera in his hand. Obviously he wanted to document the crazyness for Rob. He wanted us to wave and shout. Of course we did and he took photos or a video. This man was having fun a lot! I took a photo from him too!
When Rob came nearer I managed to take a photos from him two steps to my left. And then he was there! Right in front of me. And suddenly I nearly didn’t see anything because of about 100 arms that came from behind me holding stuff to sign and cameras to take photos. I struggeld for sight an position and managed to give him my book and asked him in english to please sign. Perhaps because of that he looked up: straight into my eyes! An arm length away from me. OMG! He smiled and signed my book on the cover as well. Suddenly I was very busy not to pass out! But it was so crowded now that it would have been impossible to fall down. I was barely standing on my toes because of all the pushing.
Rob is really someone to look at. And he ist tall and well built. Not to speak about his face and eyes and hair. But I was most impressed by his personality. Rob has an adorable aura that can fill empty halls. You could feel this. He looked not 100% at ease. You could see that this situation in general is no favorite of his. I could watch him sigh once when he was a bit further to my right. But he gave his best. I think everybody in our row got his autograph or photo. The girls to our right made photos with him. So we could enjoy his presence a little longer. Then Rob went to the sponsor wall for the press. We could see him there but it was far away and very crowded. And that was it with autographs from Rob for normal fans. He could not go to the north side or the other side from the drive out where we stood in the morning. And from what we learned, after the press he just gave some autographs to the winners of a magazine in front of the cinema (the VIP area where we stood first) and was quickly directed in. He wanted to come back for the fans on the other side of the carpet in front of the cinema but wasn’t allowed to, somebody told us.
Rob waved from the balcony of the cinema before the beginning of the screening. At about 9 p.m. he left for the after party, what we watched from a distance.
My friend and I sat down again at the Pizzaria and watched them tearing everything down. We kept telling each others that this was true. She got her autograph too. We have been so lucky! Afer a long day in the right place just by chance! This was the jackpot! I will never forget!
It was absolutely crazy coming from Munich and near Frankfurt to Berlin to experience this premiere. We did not care to ask for more than beeing part of this and maybe see the stars (what not everybody did from the 1000 fans who were there) and feel the athmosphere of such an event. And we have been rewarded so much. THANKS!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Robert Pattinson arrives at LAX June 4 for MTV Awards

Robert Pattinson tosses his carry on over his shoulder as he arrives at LAX airport in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon (June 4).
The 25-year-old actor is currently in town to attend the 2011 MTV Movie Awards tomorrow night in Universal City.
Robert will not only be presenting new footage from his upcoming flick, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I, but will be presenting Water For Elephants costar Reese Witherspoon with the Generation Award.
See more here
Friday, May 6, 2011
WFE Premiere - Sidney Australia

Reese and Rob must be exhausted! World Wide Tour indeed! I have to say that I am not a huge fan of Reese's dress... sure she looks amaze in everything, but the cut of this dress is not my cup-o-tea. It seems futuristic and robotic, I don't know, I am not a fashionista but I am not a fan of the bust cut.
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See more at Twifans
Will the real slim tai please stand up?

Here is part of the press conference:
More Here
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
WFE Premiere April 27 - Berlin

He's robably thinking "this is so corny, I am posing next to a ceramic effin' elephant, I miss Tai"
Brelin WFE Photos


More from press conference in Berlin here
RED CARPET PHOTOS HERE
Monday, April 25, 2011
Water for Elephant - Novel vs Movie
I was glad the movie stuck fairly close to the novel, and have gathered a few comparisons and a lot of my opinions into this post.
Spoilers if you continue to read.... you have been warned.
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Overall I enjoyed both the book and the movie and felt it was a good adaptation. But here are some specific comparison's and comments...
Sara Gruen's book opened with the "stampede" from the Benzini Brother's Circus which enticed readers from the get go and then flashed to present day and through flashbacks told the story of Jacob Jakowski's life with the circus.
The movie, quite oppositely, opened with an old man outside a circus he missed. It then goes on to tell his story but with a very slow start. I think if you had not read the book the movie may drag a bit in the start.
The novel seemed to focus on Jacob's tribulations in life. The scenes in the retirement home and the interactions with the other "old folks" in his home as well as with the nurse 'Rosemary' showed the man he had become, while flashing back to see the man he was and how he got where he was now. The movie didn't even have any retirement home scenes.
The most obvious changes were:
-No Uncle Al
-The \celebration' and then fight between August and Jacob
-Scenes following August hitting Marlena including: Running away from the circus, Jacob's attempt to murder August, the motels
The elimination of Uncle Al (or rather a combination of August and Uncle Al into one?) I didn't like because I felt Uncle Al was a strong figure in the book, the only one really, that could put fear in August.
Speaking of August, sorry Christoph Waltz fans, but I felt underwhelmed by his portrayal. I didn't see the crazy, bad, bi-polar, snap I envisioned while reading the book. Sure, there were moments, but it just didn't come across as "crazy" as I imagined.
Another obvious change was towards the end. When Marlena prepares the celebration for August and he "walks in" early and assumes it is a private celebration for Jacob and Marlena. The fight was weak and not as intense or damaging as the novel.
Also the scenes with the hotel stay and Jacob's manipulation of "helping them get back together" etc. was all eliminated. I think it was important int he book to establish the "crazy" in August as well as the development of Jacob and Marlena's realtion and plan to run-away. This change also overlapped into the scene when Jacob goes to "kill" August.
In the book, he decides to go and struggles train car jumping to August's room then decides not to kill him, only to return to the news that his roomate has been 'red-lighted' The novel has them red-lighted first, a quick trip to the room where he sees Marlena and August asleep and decides not to kill... it did not invoke the same emotion or build up in my opinion. I think the scene of Jacob train jumping, in turmoil, anger and confusion could have been a great scene.... who knows.
It was mostly minor changes from novel to movie but they did cause other parts to not work as smoothly or detailed.
To be honest, even in the previews when Jacob gives his "good life" speach and they are about to jump off the train.... I didn't think they really would in the movie... it just seemed a bit rushed and odd to me. I prefered the book's longer development, but obviously movies can't always do as much and in two hours and a few minutes, they really didn't have much time left to add more, but perhaps a few things could have been cut or picked up, the start was a tad slow.
Another change is the death of Silver Star. In the novel of course August lets Jacob do it and makes sure Marlena is far away, in the movie, August is unaware and mad at the shooting of his star attraction, leading to a near red-lighting of Jacob. Also Marlena is there when Jacob puts the horse down, though it creates a bonding moment for the two in the movie that is needed because of the other parts cut out in the development of their love story.
I thought they included the right amount of characters from the circus (Barbara, Walter, Camel, Earl, Blackie etc.) and the interactions were good, though brief. I really enjoyed the scene where Jacob wakes up in the lingierie and clown make-up. Though this was more developed in the novel, it was handled just right for the movie.
I really liked the video and photos of Jacob and Marlena and the kids as he remembered their lives together. Besides the horribly bad "old man" make-up on Robert Pattinson, it was a touching scene to see them "growing old" together with the kids in the circus.
I think Reese and Rob were great. I found their chemistry to be real and shown well on screen. I really loved Reese's outfits and thought she handled 'August' well. Rob was sexy and played Jacob so well, I was really impressed, I barely saw "Edward" at all in him. While those two leads were amazing, the star was Tai who played Rosie. I loved Rob's chemistry with Tai and thought as far as animal actors go, she was absolutely fantastic!
I never imagined an elephant could portray fear, but after being beaten by August, Tai's eyes show pure fear. I was stunned!
Seeing 'Rosie' do her tricks was absolutely amazing, it reminded me of my childhood (though the 80s not the 30s) when the circus would come to town.
They included a lot of scenes that I thought were important or memorable for various reasons. I loved Jacob feeding Rex, the toothless Lion and the tender moment between Marlena and Jacob after the raid.
Though I highlight mostly changes in this post, I really think it stayed close to the novel and worked well. I enjoyed the movie alot!
The movie captured the magic of the novel and told a love story that really touched my heart. I loved the novel and the movie - differently.
WFE NYC - My Photos
Read on for PHOTOS, STORIES and MORE!!
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I arrived early Friday and did some site-seeing with Izzie from @Twilightish. We hit Times Square and got some breakfast. I got to meet my long-time twitter buddy @BeetingOnAlice1 and we got some tix for a show that night!
Later we met with "E" "T" (also from @Twilightish) and Hollie for some more site seeing and eats. Later that night we went to see How To Succeed on Broadway starring Daniel Radcliffe (from Harry Potter) who came out after the show for pics and autogrpahs - very fun (but busy) first day in NYC!
Planet Hollywood






Saturday I was up early and managed to transit my way to meet about 1 other girls for a NYC city tour / Remember Me Set tour. It was great to again see some familiar faces and meet some new awesome chikita's!
Remember Me Walking Tour






That evening I moved in with @Twifans and we attended the 'Cocktails with Team Rosie' at the Hilton Lounge. It was hosted my @h20forElephants and had a number of FOX Studio reps and WFE special guests.
Here is Mark Povinelli aka "Walter"

Author Sara Gruen

I have more photos with producer, "Barbara" and my bloggy and fan friends on my Facebook page.
That night I did NOT take many photos - the rain was so intense I barely took my cell out, however, friends in line took photos and they were NOT pretty. The cold rain was not fun at all. I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes ha ha - it was horrible! Luckily Fox sent pizza and then donuts, but it was ridiculous!
We started under a leaky metal scaffolding, surrounded by metal fences in puddles. Not confortable but when the thunder and lightning began it became unsafe. Later they moved us across the street where we had no covering and were exposed to the pouring rain. My friend messaged me saying flights were being disrupted, so imagine weather enough to disrupt flights - and we were standing in it!
I won't go on and on - if you followed my tweets you know how it went - miserable! Fox promised us a few things they did not deliver and I still can't believe a major production studio would allow it's reps to behave certain ways, but what is done is done and I won't dwell on it in my blog.
We got wristbands at 9am, slept, went to red carpet fan area.
Again, most pics are on my facebook - some are in my private collection but here are a few to share.



ROb and Reese were great, they came to all the fans who camped out and all the (smarter) fans who arrived an hour before the red carpet. Christoph Waltz didn't even wave or look at fans sadly. We saw a few other starts not associated with the movie and lot's of family of cast.
Once the movie began and we were told we would not get anything special (meeting Rob and Reese was "special" don't get me wrong, but I could have arrived an hour before red carpet like most fans and got the same thing) for our wristbands... defeated we walked to Chipotle for eats and drinks.
One our walk back we notice the "vehicles" (tinted, nice, new ones) that dropped Rob off before red carpet. We decided to walk down the back street of the theatre and sure enough security was heavy, trying to tell people they couldn't walk on "this side of the street" and to cross over.
We decided to wait and within a few moments out came Kristen Stewart arm in arm with Robert Pattinson. They quickly hopped into an SUV and I snapped a few photos of them. Shortly after they left for the after party and Sam Bradley came out and hopped into a vehicle which sat for a few moments then also left.
We wandered to the front of the theatre and learned that Christoph had come out and signed for fans who were gated in - a diversion we opted out of this time. See once movie started we were told our wristbands would give us "the privlege" to stand in a gated "pen" until the movie was over for a chance to maybe see stars leave... yuh-huh.
Anyways - we went to the hotel to rest, debated going by the after-party but I was so exhausted I had NO desire to stand outside a party for a maybe shot at seeing them again. The next morning a few people went to Regis and Kelly while others went to the Today Show... I had planned to do one or the other but to be honest, I was so exhausted and had to fly out at 1pm so I slept in then watched the Today show from the hotel room and saw lot's of my friends and was happy for them. Then I shuttled to the iarport and flew home.
Anti-climatic I suppose but I was still catching up on sleep this weekend ha ha!
Anyhow - there you have it - my WFE NYC trip in a nutshell :)
If we met there and haven't connected since PLEASE comment or email or tweet me - I haven't found everyone yet (I am horrible ayt connecting real names/faces to twitter names/avi's ha ha)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
New York Update
Many are from regular site seeing, Remember Me Walking Tour, Red Carpet for WFE, Rob & Kristen Leaving the Premiere, and just fun times with great gals in NYC.
I also have a few videos to post.
This all takes time and am at work today so I can't upload them.
Tonight I plan to upload and hopefully get some posted but for sure by tomorrow.
In the meantime here are some great pics from others from NYC.


Monday, April 18, 2011
Rob & Kristen in NYC - kisses!!

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And video - - -
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What I love is that he goes in for it and she coys away knowing they are clearly busted... adorable!





