Ripple Effect

Dear Madonna,

This is a picture of the grrrls/Followers from my student dance team, Ripple Effect. They performed for the first time at last weekend's Toronto Open Swing Dance Championships. In fact they competed, but there was only one other entry in that division (Swinging Air Force - a Lindy Hop team from Montreal) so both teams ended up with 1st place trophies: ours for West Coast Swing.

They certainly did me proud! I was also happy to see the first Eppie Awards go to (mostly) my students...all of whom had never competed before.

We've had an unsually wet July here in Toronto - accounting for a month of bad hair days - however the weather cooperated long enough for us to dance in the streets at the Beaches Jazz Festival this week, and Ben and Crystal had a stunningly beautiful day for their outdoor wedding.

My good friend Shelley is due to give birth to a little Leader or Follower any day now.

And what's up with you? That whole A-Rod thing seems to have died down, thank goodness. Do you have any plans for your birthday, yet? It's only three weeks away....

Julie

Caving in Cancun

Dear Madonna,

This is my favourite pic from a visit to a 'cenote' (sink hole) located south of Cancun, Mexico. It was a bit of an Ekhardt Tolle moment....contemplating the million years that have passed since a meteor fell in the ocean, creating this geological formation. We even turned our headlamps off and sat in total, and I mean TOTAL darkness for a minute or so.

Otherwise the trip was the usual (for my business) quick visit to see various hotels accompanied by too much to eat and not enough time to exercise, though I did manage to make it into the sea for a tussle with the waves.

And you....I heard you've denied the whole A-Rod thing, but that he hasn't and that his wife is filing for divorce. There's lots of speculation that you and Guy are divorcing, too. Meanwhile I keep reading about extra dates being added to your Sweet & Sticky tour.

It's good to keep busy. Me, I'm taking a full day of Burlesque workshops tomorrow.

Va va va voom!

Julie

(a.k.a. Diva Luscious)

Maid of the Missed Opportunies

Dear Madonna,

Regrets, I've had a few....

I'm sorry I didn't get Mike Topel to dance with the two pregnant Madonnas during JulieFest.

And I'm sorry I didn't come up with the descriptor "thunderous finish" during our wine-blending team-building event in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The above photo was taken of our group on the Maid of the Mist tour boat, with the Canadian Horseshoe Falls in the background. Have you ever done it? It's a blast, but you do get very wet.

I was very surprised that Shelley seemed to like the Baby Tattoos I gave her as a shower gift last weekend. I thought they'd be my 'get-out-of-babysitting-free' card for sure. Perhaps she was just being polite.

We had our first Epplett Award Fund Steering Committee meeting last night, with a lot of great ideas and some concrete actions for the first "Eppies". Someone - who shall remain nameless - suggested that *you* may be eligible for an Honourary Eppie....

I'll send you a postcard from Cancun.

Julie

61 days, 3 hours, 52 minutes

Dear Madonna,

Did you know that there's an on-line birthday countdown on the Blog madonnasworld.com? It's accompanied by an annoying "Happy Birthday" sound bite. Oh well. I'm sure they mean well.

In this weekend's Globe and Mail there was an interesting article by Johanna Schneller, one of their movie reviewers, about the pre-ponderance of films this summer featuring mid-life actors. You got a mention, too, for your 4 Minutes video with featurig "pipsqueak Justin Timberlake" being crushed by your "mighty yoga thighs". LOL!

My life has slowed down to a dull roar following the excitement of JulieFest. I've gotten my bike on the road in the last week and been having some fun in the great outdoors, despite sudden downpours. (Bad for the hair, but at least it's not cold.)

'Till next time, Madge.

Julie

Desperately Seeking a Reply

Dear Madonna,

It's Sunday night and I'm watching 'Desperately Seeking Susan' on TLN. We're just at the part when she meets up with Roberta's husband and they're dancing to 'Get Into The Groove'. Love it!

Speaking of dancing, I was in Niagara Falls this week on a bit of a business junket an met up with a friend to go dancing. We ended up at Rumours on Clifton Hill (just about as old school tacky Niagara Falls as you can get.) Anyway, I wanted to make a request but couldn't figure out how to get to the deejay's booth so I hand-signalled from the dance floor:

I held up four fingers, then pointed at my watch.

The deejay got it and played 4 Minutes for me!!!

And we danced....

Julie

You missed one heckuva party

Dear Madonna,


It's now two weeks since the JulieFest weekend and the Madonna-inspired Fabulous Floor Show (which you missed!) and I'm finally able to catch my breath and drop you a line.

The turn-out for the dance workshops was excellent and Mike was amazing...as always. The show was fun, and my Papa Don't Preach/Sisters piece with Shelley, pictured above, went really well. Andy Haslett provided Cava for a toast after the show, and I was completely overwhelmed by the surprise presentation of a plaque representing the creation of The Epplett Award Fund. (Or as Mike coined, "The Eppies").

Hard to top, but the party continued the next day at The Gladstone Hotel with the Dear Johns - they were awesome! - and a guest appearance by Elvis. Best of all was just hanging around the hotel with friends and family, including my "sister by choice" Penny and brother, Andy.

Cava Karen stayed a few more days and we played tourist a bit, going to the Museum of Contempory Canadian Art (mocca), the CN Tower, and a final, fun cocktail hour at the Rooftop Bar of the Park Hyatt, where a "Mr. Zorro" bought us a bottle of champagne.

More pictures on my Facebook page. Friend me.

Julie

JulieFest Official Kick-off Party Tonight!

Dear Madonna,

Cava-girl Karen arrived yesterday, and she got a sneak peak at the opening number of the Madonna-inspired Fabulous Floorshow taking place this Saturday.

Mike Topel arrives today, and we'll be dancing to Karaoke at Noah's Ark tonight. (The address is 2777 Danforth Avenue at Dawes Road in case you arrive late and want to direct your limo on how to get there.)

Still many details to attend to but everything is coming together and everybody seems to be really looking forward to the weekend.

Still hoping you'll surprise us and just show up. Looking for a hotel? I recommend the new Hazelton Hotel in Yorkville. They have some beautiful suites, and it's within walking distance of my place.

Gotta run! I'm taking Karen to Christine's (my gym) today for a work-out.

Julie