Patches? We don't need no stinking patches!

I love living in Pasadena. There is absolutely no where else I'd live in the greater LA area. The 'dena has unique restaurants, gorgeous historic architecture (which much of Southern California lacks), it's close to church(aka Dodger Stadium), and it's a fairly walkable town, which is unheard of in LA. And compared to the rest of the City of Angels, there seems to be less gratuitous plastic surgery per capita. WORD.

And now, Pasadena has just gone up a couple notches for me. For the month of July, the city is hosting a FREE film festival every weekend (I could kick myself for not finding this out earlier). And as if this couldn't get any better, are you ready for this Saturday's movie? TROOP BEVERLY HILLS! UH. MUH. GAH.

What classic film were you expecting me to get worked up over? The English Patient? Nay. Here's one thing you should know about Jen: she loves awesomely bad 80's movies, and Troop Beverly Hills is the epitome this genre. She also likes to periodically refer to herself in the third person. Both of these things don't bother her. Deal.

Back to the subject at hand: the cinematic gem that is TBH. Besides Shelley Long's alarmingly fake red hair in the flick, I loved the madcap adventures of Phyllis Nefler and her Wilderness Girls of extreme privilege. It parodies all the ridiculousness that was (and still is) the lifestyle of the wealthy in SoCal. Yet in the midst of all this materialism, this movie manages to have a huge heart. I remember watching the film 3,461 times when I was a wee Girl Scout in middle-class suburbia, wishing I could be so lucky as to have a camping backpack made by Giorgio, and have the opportunity to sell girl scout cookies in Beverly Hills to the likes of Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Pia Zadora. Of course, I DID sell Thin Mints and Tagalongs to this guy and his wife every year, but somehow it didn't feel like it counted, as it was a Glendora tract home, and not the hills of Beverly. Of course, now I realize I was fortunate to be a normal girl scout selling cookies in front of the local grocery store, and not through a star-studded telethon. But when you're 9, your life's wishlist is a bit different.

In short, I adore this movie, and I can't wait for Saturday. I'm bringing the fondue.