Women Over 40 Rock!

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Girl-Tox Cosmetics Introduces New Product Line for Children

Santa Monica, CA — September 2008 — Girl-Tox Cosmetics, an innovative new product line designed exclusively for children under age ten, is now available at a finer department stores near you.

At last, you can begin your daughter’s beauty regimen while she’s still in diapers! Ensure your little girl’s popularity and self-confidence now. Don’t take a chance on her future happiness! Stop those wrinkles before they appear! As your little sweetheart grows, you can solidify that fresh look with Princess Delusional Sealant, virtually freezing her face in time.

Remember, the earlier you begin, the better the results! Don’t delay… introduce your daughter to the wonders of narcissism now, with Girl-Tox Cosmetics.

For information: In The Trenches Productions

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We’re kidding, of course. If you haven’t visited our website lately, take a moment to visit In The Trenches Productions and enjoy our new short video, Girl-Tox, a tongue-in-cheek look at an out-of-control phenomenon… modern society’s shallow quest for physical perfection.

Our website is frequently updated with new material for you to enjoy and share. Relax, put your feet up and check out our other original videos:

Living Large with Less — This 10-minute film pokes fun at the serious business of corporate downsizing. How bad can it be, when along with your pink slip, you are given a book titled “101 Ways to Save Money?” Buck up!

Believe It Baby! — “It’s not about finding yourself. It is about creating yourself.” This is but one sample of the words of wisdom, grace, and humor you will hear in this five-minute film. In a few short minutes, these women — some you will recognize, some you won’t — will take you on a journey of discovery and self-awareness. Some woman state, rather convincingly, “I believe I am beautiful,” while others hesitate before uttering those words. By the time the closing credits roll, you will find yourself smiling and agreeing, wishing you could spend some time over lunch with this group. Women of all ages and, yes, men too, will enjoy this thought-provoking short film.

A Host of Trouble –  Being a good catholic girl has brought 8-year old Harriet Weber nothing but trouble. This amusing 15-minute film opens with her lament, “My nightmare was my mother’s dream… to have a daughter in the convent.”

The Forgotten Grave — We all know that during the civil war, women worked as nurses, cooks, and spies. But here is a piece of history you may not have been taught in school. There are 400-recorded cases of women who disguised themselves as men in order to become soldiers in the civil war. Please take in our 10-minute tribute to these brave women, who deserve their place of honor in history.

Our series, Transitions, profiles ordinary women who have made midlife changes due to necessity, or passion, or both. Somewhere along the way they have discovered that they are anything but ordinary. These short, bittersweet tales will leave you feeling inspired and empowered. You just might want to start thinking about your own transition, and the strength you never knew you had.

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Posted by Mandy Crest, Blogger for In The Trenches Productions, the first entertainment website for women over 40!

CLAIRE’S CORNER

I have developed a little space for my self called Claire’s Corner.  It’s in my brain and I am going to refer to it when I need it to: feel better about myself, smarter about myself, as well as hopeful, loving, healthy, and creative by myself. It’s a private club and I am the only member and I have nothing to prove except to myself. And I am not going to let it be judgemental about me.

Why and How did this happen you might ask.  Over the weekend I read a book  THE UNCOMMON READER by Alan Bennett.  ( the main character is a female over 40–yeah).  It’s a little book with a lot of punch and I would recommend it highly to anyone who is interested in learning. In this world of modern technology, that can sometimes feel beyond total comprehension, it’s a good feeling to know that reading and writing and the desire to learn anything new, especially at a late date, is a great feat to try and achieve.

I  learned a new word in the book, THE UNCOMMON READER.  It is Opsimath.  From the dictionary, Opsimath: one who learns only late in life. That is what happens to the main character in the book. She learns late in life so many new things and with such zeal that it was truly inspirational to me.  I want to be like her. Sometimes I feel that I am too old to really accomplish anything significant.  But that doesn’t have to be true.  Yes we have always heard about the Grandma Moses example but that kind of significance is difficult at any age. Choose what is significant to you: reading more, writing more, learning a new language, exercising more, getting into gourmet cooking or WHATEVER and see where it takes you. Maybe it is just learning a new word a week or a day.  That’s where I am starting out from, and my word is Opsimath.

I have been called a few things in my day but being called an Opsimath  wouldn’t bother me, in fact I would love it. To keep learning late in life is something to strive for because it takes courage and strength. You might learn about something that will help the world, your family, or just yourself. Maybe you will have to go to your private corner, like me, to get started. Even if I never move out of it, I will like myself and my life better.  And as we have always heard, IT IS NEVER TOO LATE.

Claire Callaway, Blogger for In the Trenches Productions, The First Entertainment Website for Women Over 40 on the web

S-l-o-o-o-w-l-y but surely….things do begin  to change. Just read some good news about us ‘ladies in the biz’. Evidently,  according to a report released by the Center for the Study of Women in TV  and Film at San Diego State University (and what a GREAT ‘Center’ to have!)   the percentage of female characters in prime-time TV series was at a  record-high 43% for the 2006-07 season. That’s 1% higher than it was a year  earlier. Okay, okay, I know…1% ain’t the greatest, BUT…it’s UP!!!  And while I would prefer it to have been up 10%, I’ll take  it.

Unfortunately the report also found that the numbers of  women working on those shows as creators, executive producers, producers,  directors, writers, editors and directors of photography had remained the  same as the preceding season, i.e. 26%.  So we still have work to  do.

Hopefully things like us helping keep “Mamma Mia” on the  top ten list all these weeks will help. Maybe the powers that be are  actually beginning to wake up to the fact that when they present products  with women in the leads, especially women over 40, there are millions  of us who will come out and watch them. - “The Women” is invading movie theatres with Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Bette Midler, Candice  Bergen and Cloris Leachman among others, and hopefully we will make this the  next “Mamma Mia” and once again show our clout.

And not only  on the Big Screen, either. I’m sure we’ll all be watching the wonderful  Shirley MacLaine in the Lifetime channel movie about Coco Chanel. I can’t  wait, personally.

Give us the entertainment we crave, i.e.  good, intelligent, fun films and tv shows with older women, and we’ll be  there! We do exist, we do have money, and we do count!!!

Judith  more-women-in-film-please Drake, blogger for In the Trenches Productions.com, The First Entertainment Website for Women Over 40 on the web

    Lately it seems that everytime I look at a tv show, a movie, or commercial I see some obviously well-known actress I can’t recognize, and it drives me crazy to spend the next ten minutes trying to remember who they are.  The faces that helped make them famous just aren’t there anymore.  They’re over 40, but their faces show not a scintilla of having lived…no thoughtfulnes, no empathy, no laughter…nothing.  Just a taut, emotionless, personality-less painting standing in for a face.  Okay, maybe working on our new short film “Girl Tox” (which luckily you’ll be able to see and enjoy here on our site soon) made me more aware of this, but this body-must-be-perfect disease seems to be worse than ever.

So imagine how pleased I was to see something about real people dealing with real bodies the other day when I recieved a DVD of a little indy film that I had done a minor bit in…”DISFIGURED”.

Written and directed by Glenn Gers, this touching and funny film tells the story of two women trying to come to grips with their own bodies. (Glenn was one of only two men on the set..the other ‘token guy’ was the P.A. with our 99% female crew) One of these main characters is Lydia, played by Deidra Edwards (in Rex Reeds’ review he says she’s a “radiant new star..real, unpretentious and charasmatic”), a fat woman trying to exist in fashionable Venice Beach. And believe me, as a woman who has spent 60 years dealing with life in Fatville, you’ll never find a more realistic picture of this daunting task that more than a few of us face daily. The other woman, Darcy, played equally beautifully by Staci Lawrence, is a recovering anorexic.  Watching these two characters meet up and struggle with their complex, and surprisingly similar issues with their bodies and the world around them, was a real treat.  Would that all of us could see ourselves as we really are and find ways to improve and accept what we see without turning ourselves into immovable pieces of art work.
You’d never believe that this full length film was shot in just 15 days with 2 cannon XL2 mini DV cameras. Awesome! It’s already been the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Dead Center Film Festival, and hopefully it’ll get a lot more notice.  If you’re interested in finding out more about what Steve Rhodes of InternetReviews.com calls “..a delightful and honest story, full of poignant and humorous moments”, check out their site: www.disfiguredmovie.com  .  If you, like so many of us, have more often than not felt like ‘you just dont fit in’, you’ll appreciate it.
Thanks, Mr. Gers.

Judith Fat-&-Facing-It Drake, In The Trenches Productions, The First Entertainment Website for Women Over 40

Not long ago, in a used book store, I found a copy of Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, a favorite from my childhood.  Looking at one of the pastel illustrations transported me back to cherished evenings when my mom would read to the five of us.  My mom, an avid reader, passed her love of books on to us.  But during high school, I got away from reading, claiming the smell in the public library gave me a headache.  Instead of reading, in my spare time I went to charm school to learn how to act like a lady.  I still remember the six point strategy for sitting onto a chair while wearing a skinny skirt and three inch heels.  This was the early ‘60’s and we were corseted like the women on Mad Men.  I religiously practiced the sitting exercise, preparing for what I hoped would be a life in high society.

When I got some sense, I re-discovered the joys of fiction.  Today one of my favorite authors is Anthony Trollope, an English novelist who wrote from 1845 to 1882.  He is a master story teller with a brilliant ear for dialogue, which is frequently ‘laugh out loud’ funny.  I especially enjoy his many strong female characters who reflect his sensitivity to the conflicts felt by women in Victorian society.  His women are always trying to better their situation in life and butt up against restrictions imposed by class.  His mother, Frances Trollope, a popular novelist, might have inspired many of his female characters.  She went against convention, supporting the family with her writing after her husband brought them to financial ruin.

One of Anthony Trollope’s best is the satirical novel, The Way We Live Now, written in 1875.  It deals with themes that could have been ripped from today’s headlines: financial scandals; reprobate society boys; a wealthy heiress looking a husband with a title; and the nobility’s reluctance to accept the nouveau riche merchant class.  Thrown into this mix is the charming but desperate character, Lady Carbury.  Trollope makes her a third rate novelist, clinging to appearances as her funds dry up.  You cringe as she clumsily tries to seduce an unappealing reviewer into giving her positive reviews.  What money she does have is gambled away by her son, Felix, whom she’s indulged and spoiled.  But she still has her title and tries to use it as bargaining chip to marry Felix off to a rich heiress so his cushy life will continue.  Sir Felix sleeps till mid-day, then heads to his gentleman’s club to dine and gamble, staggering home at 5 AM.  I was reading this when own son was 19, having too many all night adventures and testing the limits of our patience.  Many a night I sat up waiting for his return, feeling just like Lady Carbury.   Even though you hate the way she fawns over her handsome do-nothing son, you understand her misguided ways.   Who hasn’t indulged a child to improve their lot in life, only to be devastated by the results?

Lady Carbury is just one of the many flawed, but fascinating female characters living in Trollope’s novels.  I can relate to the desperate mother compensating for the errors of her child; and other characters, like the cold spinster who’s really just lonely; or the ingénue wanting to marry for love not status; and the relentlessly proselytizing firebrand, to name a few from his rich gallery of women.  Seeing myself in his women helps me laugh at my own foolishness.  As a young girl I aspired to be a Lady Carbury, going to charm school in case Jackie Kennedy should invite me to tea at The White House.
A good novel opens your heart to your past and present dreams.  No movie or TV show gives you that unique pleasure of blending your life with the lives marching off the page.  Diving into a Trollope novel is like boarding a time machine to walk the streets and country roads with the women of Victorian England.   It’s a trip well worth taking.

Jan Bina, blogger for In the Trenches Productions, The First Entertainment Website for Women Over 40

You have to give it to MORE - they don’t just talk a good game, they actually give us….more!  And I don’t mean just in their great magazine.

On Oct. 6 in New York City MORE will hold their second annual Reinvention Convention for women over 40.  What could be better?  More than 350 of us 40-plus-ers will be there, welcomed by Editor-In-Chief Lesley Jane Seymour, who’ll be performing the hosting duties for a l-o-o-o-o-n-g day packed full of interactive ‘happenings’ meant to help women transform their work, finances and health, with looks at beauty and fashion as well.

And get a gander at just some of the neat guest speakers: Vanessa Williams, Cybill Shepherd, Karen Allen, and fashion designer Isaac Mizrhi, along with several medical and financial experts.

Sounds like a fun and very informative day out! Certainly beats another day of never ending errands, if you ask me.

Leave it to MORE to offer us more, and more, and more! Interested in finding out -  more? For more info check out MORE REINVENTIONS .

Judith Reinvenion-Rules Drake, blogger for In the Trenches Production, The First Entertainment Website for Women Over 40

Of all the wonderful things I’ve enjoyed in watching the current Olympics…Phelps’ eight gold medals, the gymnasts, the diving, the runners, the volleyball….all of it…the above quote is my very favorite.  It was what Dara Torres, the 41 year old mother who was part of our womens’ swimming team said while being interviewed after they medaled in the team swim event. This was her fifth Olympics. Lots of people would have said she was too old to try again…but Dara knew better. She picked up three silver medals in this one.

And she’s not the only one of us middle-agers who has refused to run our lives by a time table:
Dolly Parton, at 62, though not appearing in it, is currently working on the previews of the stage version of her 1980 film for which she wrote the music & lyrics, “9 to 5″.  And in said show, among others, is Allison Janney, who, at 48, is taking on the role Lilly Tomlin played in the movie, with Lillys’ blessing.
Natalie Cole, at 58, is coming out with a new album, Still Unforgettable, the long-awaited follow-up to Unforgettable: With Love, her blockbuster tribute to her dad seventeen years ago.  Alfre Woodard, 55, and Kathy Bates, 60, have a movie about the lifetime friendship of two middle-aged women coming out: “The Family That Preys”, directed by Tyler Perry. Molly Shannon stars in a new NBC series “Kath & Kim”, based on an Austrailian sitcom of the same name. Ms. Shannon plays a divorced mom dealing with her daughter moving back in with her. (Gee, think their might be a few women who will totally understand that plot??) Helen Thomas, the ‘older’ reporter you’ve seen at presidential press conferences for the past 50 years, was the the subject of a recent documentary, and she’s still right there with the press corps at every presidential press conference.
And of course need we mention the ladies in “Mamma Mia”? Now in its fifth week on the top ten list.
So Dara Torres knew what she was talking about when she said “You don’t have to put an age limit on your dreams.” She didn’t. The other women above, and the many I didn’t have room to mention, didn’t. I’m not. And you don’t have to either. None of us need to put a age or time limit on what we want to accomplish, and by gosh, we ain’t goin’ to! So there! Thanks, Dara, for putting into words for us.

Judith 66-and-goin’-strong Drake, blogger for In the Trenches Productions, The First Entertainment Website for Women Over 40

‘’ Sordid Lives: The Series” debuted on July 23 on the Logo channel.  The series is an offshoot of the very successful play written by Del Shores.  Los Angeles Theater audiences are familiar with the hilarious writing style of Del Shores.  The titles of his plays hint at their rich humor:  ‘Daddy’s Dyin’ (Who’s Got the Will?), ‘Southern Baptist Sissies’ and ‘Sordid Lives’, to name a few.  Del grew up in what he describes as the “tiny Texas Republic Bible-thumpin’ town of Winters.”   His writing reflects his southern small town roots.  It is outrageous, and also big-hearted.  ‘Sordid Lives’ was called “a black comedy about white trash.”

In 2000 ‘Sordid Lives’ was released as a film, starring Olivia Newton-John and Beau Bridges.  The rest of the cast was mainly made up of what I’d call Del’s repertory company – actors who’ve consistently worked with him over the years.  Many of the actors who were in the play and film are also in the series.  Not only is Del Shores loyal to his actors but he also writes absolutely delicious roles for everyone, including older women.  His female characters are eccentric, opinionated, strong or loopy, but always pitch perfect and very, very funny.

IMDB described the storyline of ‘Sordid Lives’:  “We become intimate with the ‘Sordid Lives’ of a family in a small Texas town preparing for the funeral of the mother. Among the characters are the grandson trying to find his identity in West Hollywood, the son who has spent the past twenty-three years dressed as Tammy Wynette, the sister and her best friend (who live in delightfully kitschy homes), and the two daughters (one strait-laced and one quite a bit loose.)”   With all these wonderfully, richly-drawn characters thrown together, you know you are in for some huge laughs.   The series stars Rue McClanahan, Caroline Rhea and Olivia Newton-John, as a singing ex-con.  The rest of the ensemble cast consists of some of the finest character actors Hollywood has to offer.  Hopefully your cable provider carries the Logo channel because you don’t want to miss this series and what is sure to be a rollicking good time.
Jan Bina, blogger for In the Trenches Productions, The First Entertainment Network for Women Over 40

All aboard the self-esteem express! Carson Kressley is at it again.

Back for a second season of Lifetime Television’s How to Look Good Naked, Mr. Kressley works overtime trying to convince us that “how you carry yourself means more than having a perfect body.”

This is no ordinary makeover show. Here we are more concerned with fixing our perspective than fixing our bodies. It is about bridging the gap between what we think we see when we look in the mirror, and the reality before us.

The young women profiled are particularly susceptible to the images of primped and airbrushed supermodels, and live with oddly distorted feelings about their own bodies.

One episode features Grae, a successful and attractive young woman. Faced with a full-length mirror, and overwhelmed with humiliation, she tears up as she speaks of being nothing but an observer in her own life, unable to fully participate. All this over body image? As observers, we are perplexed by her words, as she despairs over her shape and searches for a mold to fit into. “I don’t even know what I am. I’m not a pear. I’m not an hourglass…” What we see is at odds with her confusion. We are hooked. We want to understand.

Confronted with three cardboard cutouts of women in their underwear, she is asked to comment on what she sees. She compliments the three bodies, finding them all attractive. She particularly likes the third one, finding beauty in the long legs and nice shape she so desires for herself.

Carson takes special delight in peeling the top layer from the cutout, revealing that this body is, in fact, her very own! It is a stunning moment of awakening for Grae, as she takes that first step to understanding how skewed her perspective has been. Now she MUST acknowledge her own beauty.

The series provides quick tips on makeup, hairstyle, and how to dress without spending a lot of money. There are no admonitions about diet and exercise, no mention of cosmetic surgery or treatments, no quick fixes. Carson gives the ladies credit for knowing these things already. He understands that the problem lies in the heart and mind, and once you “start seeing the possibilities,” the rest will follow.

The climax of each episode is the “naked” photo shoot, when a professional photographer gives the participants the full movie star treatment. The spectacular results speak for themselves. The average American woman, as glamorous as any magazine cover girl!

After her shoot, Grae was asked, “Do you look good naked?” She triumphantly replied, “Holy, Moses! Yes!” From self-loathing to self-loving in five days… yet nothing about her changed, at least not physically. Mr. Kressley gently persuades the women to see themselves as they really are, using a large dose of common sense, a flair for the dramatic, and offbeat sense of humor.

Season two of How to Look Good Naked, with its new hour-long format, is a breath of fresh air on the television landscape. It’s time to shatter those ingrained images of acceptable beauty and bring on the new. Carson Kressley, in his casual style, verbalizes what we all should instinctively know, but don’t. Beauty begins in the mind.

How to Look Good Naked has hit the magic formula.

Posted by Mandy Crest, Blogger for Women Over 40 Rock! and In The Trenches Productions

Well this film doesn’t star a woman over 40 ( it stars a 66 year-old African American male) but there are a lot of marvelous and interesting women over 40 in this magical, enlightening and inspirational new documentary. And since we’ve been talking about “therapy shopping” lately this film is a definite alternative to shopping for lifting your spirits.

A MAN NAMED PEARL moved me in such a way that I want to share this film with everyone.  I can’t say it any better than this review by Bill Thompson of the Charleston Post.“In a sea of pedantic, heavy-handed political documentaries,  A MAN NAMED PEARL offers both an effective social statement on race relations and human potential”

It tells the inspiring story of self-taught topiary artist Pearl Fryar.  It is a subtle and intriquing film that is certain to open hearts and minds.  It offers an upbeat message that speaks to respect for both self and others, and shows what one person can achieve when he allows himself to share the full expression of his humanity. Pearl’s garden is a living vision of peace, love and goodwill and this documentary reflects the true essence of this man and the amazing life lessons that can be learned or reaffirmed from the truly remarkable and astoundingly gifted Pear Fryar.

“Gardening books will tell you that some of these things in my garden can’t be done, but I had never read them when I got started. Not knowing ahead of time that something is supposed to be impossible often makes it possible to achieve. I didn’t have any limitations because I really didn’t know anything about horticulture. I just figured I could do whatever I wanted with any plant I had.”

“In this life you’re gonna have obstacles. The thing about it is, don’t let those obstacles determine where you go.”

Those are just two examples of Pearl’s philosophy to live by.  So instead of that shopping spree or that chocolate eating fest check your local newspaper this weekend to see if A MAN NAMED PEARL  is still in a theatre near you and if not the DVD is expected to be out in December 2008.  A MAN NAMED PEARL should definitely be in your DVD library or next to your pocketbook and the chocolate stash.

Debbie Zipp, blogger for In the Trenches Productions, The First Entertainment Website Celebrating the Power and Beauty of Women Over 40