In the Headlights

The Mane Event

I have a lot of odds and ends of shampoo and conditioner lying around.  When my Mom buys something to try and doesn't like it, she gives it to me.  Then there are literally dozens of little hotel bottles I've accumulated over time.  I like to switch them around.  I think it works better that way.

I used to like Vidal Sassoon conditioner, and Mom gave me an old bottle a year or so ago, which I just finished.  Next time I went to the store, I looked for more, but couldn't find any.  Don't know if they no longer market in grocery stores, but it wasn't there.

However, I spotted something else I had heard of:  "Mane and Tail" conditioner.  I'd read about this stuff.  It was originally used for grooming horses, then word got around that it did a great job on human hair as well.  So I bought a bottle.  Something like $3.59 for a quart.  I've used it a couple of times, and it does a great job of conditioning my hair, leaving it shiny and tangle free.

It's a real animal product.  The horse pictures on their website are amazing.  I'd kill for hair like that... 

Next stop:  Mane and Tail shampoo.

The conditioner is a great product.

Broadway Ballroom

Last weekend, a friend and I went to see "Simply Ballroom" at the Times Union Center in Jacksonville.

It was fun.  Hosted by a couple of American Idol finalists, Anthony Federov and Vonzell Solomon (season 4)who did introductions and sang, it featured ten couples dressed in ballroom show gowns doing numbers which showcased typical dances, like the quick step, waltz and swing, with a bit of introduction about the dances themselves. 

The dancers were good, though we could tell they weren't all ballroom dancers.  Some appeared to be Broadway dancers doing ballroom numbers. Equally adept doing amazing things on stage. Tom would comment "You can tell she isn't ballroom trained.  She keeps bending her knee doing the cha-cha," and the like.

Some didn't seem very into it, though one part, when they competed against each other seemed to bring out the best in the dancers.

Debbie Reynolds was the featured star.  She held the stage a few times, telling stories about her days in Hollywood, and jokes about her multiple husbands.  She talked about her first role in "Singing in the Rain" with Gene Kelly, and pretending to Mr. Kelly when she met him that she could dance.  She even sang one of her hits, "Tammy."

The show was a lot of fun.  I take ballroom lessons whenever I can fit them into my schedule.  Good exercise and incredible fun, so I can at least appreciate some of the moves the dancers were making.