Filed under: Internet Finds, Non Sequiturs | Tags: david cross, Halloween, UNICEF, Do They Know It's Halloween?, The North American Halloween Prevention Initiative, Beck, Rilo Kiley, Feist, Peaches, Smoosh, the Arcade Fire, Devendra Banhart, Thurston Moore, Les Savy Fav, Karen O, Jimmy Tamborello, Wolf Parade
I nearly forgot that three years ago, a plethora of indie artists grouped together to create a parody of epic proportions (see: the 80’s cheesefest “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by the uber-group Band Aid). This new installment of holiday endorsement benefitted UNICEF under the alias The North American Halloween Prevention Initiative. This wacky video bashing the most ludicrous aspects of Hallow’s Eve employed the vocal stylings of Beck, Jenny and Blake of Rilo Kiley, Feist, Peaches, Chloe and Asya of Smoosh, Win and Regine of the Arcade Fire, Devendra Banhart, Thurston Moore, Syd Butler of Les Savy Fav, Karen O, Jimmy Tamborello, Dan and Spencer of Wolf Parade, David Cross (yes, that David Cross), and many more.
I’m still not one hundred percent sure how I feel about the video, but the song is somewhat catchy, no? And it’s about time we take some of the attention away from gosh-darn Christmas and have more options than just Thriller or Monster Mash on constant repeat at countless Halloween parties. Who knows how to actually do the mash, anyway? Some graveyard smash.
Filed under: Events, Non Sequiturs | Tags: phillies, world series, shane victorino, champions, brad lidge, carlos ruiz, phanatic, charlie manuel, game five, philadelphia
Ball game over! The Phillies clinch the World Series Championship Title! Brad Lidge and Carlos Ruiz embrace in phanatic bro-dum! Shane Victorino’s eyes bulge out of his head! Charlie Manuel’s mother is giggling in heaven! Cole Hamels’ cougar-wife has a brand new Camaro! Philadephia goes completely nuts!
Boyfriend and I considered skipping out of work respectively so as to stand around for hours yelling “whoo” at the victory parade. Alas, we need money more than strained vocal chords, so we opted to start our own riot/march. I’m sure the neighbors will certainly appreciate a couple of twenty-something hooligans draped in red and wielding pots, pans and bells producing quite the uproarious racket.
Filed under: Internet Finds, Non Sequiturs | Tags: melissafriebe.com, photography, handmade, earrings, italy, boston
I today wandered upon the a website of Melissa Friebe, an extraordinarily talented photographer with a penchant for turning her stunning photos into adorable earrings (made of recycled bottle caps, no less!). She lived abroad for a stint in Italy and traveled throughout Europe, recording the most minute yet important instances of life overseas in raw, humanistic film form. She currently resides in Boston with her boyfriend and cat. And what’s best? That boyfriend is my brother.
Be sure to check out her other exquisite photographs at MelissaFriebe.com. And if you want to snag a pair of those fetching earrings, you can special request them right here. Lucky me, I already own two.
Filed under: Internet Finds, The Best of Stumble Upon | Tags: alfred hitchcock, casey affleck, charlize theron, emile hirsch, gwenyth paltrow, james mcavoy, javier bardem, jodi foster, josh brolin, keira knightley, naomi watts, renee zellweger, robert downey jr, scarlett johansson, seth rogen, stumble upon, to catch a thief, vanity fair
Haven’t we all wasted an entire restless afternoon glued to the computer ferociously clicking the beloved and intriguingly mysterious “Stumble Upon” button that Mozilla Foxfire so ingeniously installed? No? Just me? Well, I am not about to let my hours of tiringly strenuous work be for naught; nay, I shall share the best of Stumble Upon in my little-read blog. Who doesn’t love a random stumble?
This week’s happenstance is a series of cleverly and gorgeously-wrought photographs first published in Vanity Fair magazine. Photographers Julian Broad, Norman Jean Roy, Mark Seliger, and Art Streiber concocted classic scenes from Alfred Hitchcock’s most revered films and cast a bevy of high-profile names in the dramatic vignettes. My best-loved reenactment sets Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwenyth Paltrow in the firework-lit French Riviera to recreate the 1955 Cary Grant classic To Catch a Thief.
Seth Rogen, Naomi Watts, Jodi Foster, Casey Affleck, Josh Brolin, Renee Zellweger, Emile Hirsch, James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Charlize Theron, and others make cameos in other stunning film photos. Check out the rest of the candied treats here. Happy stumbling!
Filed under: Events, Everyday, Internet Finds | Tags: cellophane house, home delivery, loftcubes, MoMA, museum of modern art, plywood house, prefab exhibit
Brother and Girlfriend-in-Law wandered down from their new house in East Boston long enough to pop over to the MoMa in order to meet up with Boyfriend and myself. This particular jaunt over there was planned due to the Home Delivery Prefabricated Houses Exhibit and the fact that my Architect brother would be simply enamored with what it had to offer. And oh, how we were. I adore modern art at its most practical, and while some of these free-standing homes, erected in the neighboring MoMA lot, were created with function following form, the effect of low-cost easily-constructed houses did something to me.
My particular favorite was created by a professor and his students in an effort to offer temporary housing to Katrina victims. They constructed a one room home, complete with porch and decorative gingerbread trim, made entirely of jigsawed plywood pieces. No nails, hooks, or glue were used in its creation, and it mirrors the traditional New Orleans style of architecture. The famed Cellophane House was also quite incredible; it was constructed in under one week using nearly nothing but plastic. Its five tiers offer a kitchen, a laundry room, two bathrooms, a sun deck, and a 360 degree view.
The picture above is a slight variant of the one heralded at the Museum of Modern Art, but the concept is generally the same. To learn more about the exhibit, visit the official MoMA site and check out some of the other featured pre-fab homes. Also, check out the LoftCubes site, which ingeniously reinvents modern living spaces for the highly nomadic and subtly posh.
Filed under: Internet Finds, Non Sequiturs | Tags: bonjoyage, etsy, luggage stickers, travel, vintage luggage
I’ve just listed a few more lovely little luggage items on my brand-spanking new Etsy page Bon Joyage. Am I beyond shameless self-promotion? Apparently not. Come on, you know you want to travel in style next time you take that long-awaited road trip across the midwest or jaunt to Toronto.
- Currently watching: Kabluey.
- Currently listening: The detestable music blasting from the boombox of my fence-installers.
Filed under: Movie Reviews | Tags: arrested development, david cross, jason bateman, kat dennings, michael cera, Movie Reviews, nick and norah's infinite playlist
Call me a sap, but there’s something sacred about each and every actor who ever graced the television screen in the classically cult-ified exploit that once was Arrested Development. Now, don’t get me wrong – many of these faces were nothing new to me; I’ve been a fan of David Cross’s sketch comedy Mr. Show for years, and I couldn’t help but swoon over Jason Bateman in all of his lackluster roles. But AD iconized these meager actors, launching them directly into the hearts and fangs of a once-weary audience. And thus it was born: pure, unadulterated love. That is, of course, before creator Mitch Hurwitz cleverly pulled the plug post Season Three so as not to jump the shark. Ah, the days of yore are longingly missed, but one little glimmer of its legacy bravely lived on. And that, my friends, is Michael Cera.
I’ve been enamored with Cera since he uttered the words, “I thought you meant of the things we eat.” He’s been the uncomfortable itch you just can’t bring yourself to scratch; the underdog in us all, the adorable boy-next-door. Cera’s knack for delivery is what makes him such a sought-after commodity, and – what’s best about him – he carefully chooses his roles so as to maintain his independent credibility. So when I learned that he was to star in yet another film, I was expecting an Apatow gem. I catalogued the release date in my head, easily talked Boyfriend into taking me to the cinema, and waited for the awkward laughs to be released. But alas, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist did not bring anything but the crashing and burning of a teen legend.
Sure, Michael Cera didn’t stray far from his normal mannerisms; in all honesty, he was truly not at the problem at the root of this evil. However, this film provided nothing more than a few cheap gags, a wash of plot, and an obnoxiously false belief that it is indeed worthy of the actors it employed. What irked me so much about this film was how it sold itself prior to release, making the masses believe it actually held some time of profound, heartwarming credibility. It seems that no one was one the same page when this waste of energy was created, and somehow, the casting agents and trailer editors weren’t even reading the same book as the rest of the crew. This film tried so incredibly hard to be poignant and snarky, but it could not rise above the ranks of unrealistic, unimportant teen movie. Any Gossip Girl actor would have more aptly suited the role of Nick, and the cantankerous Lindsay Lohan might have been a perfect Norah. If I wanted to see Just My Luck, I would have Netflixed it for free. I’d save the ten bucks.
Filed under: Non Sequiturs, TV Shows | Tags: cole hammels, fashion week, leanimal, leanne marshall, nlcs, phillies, project runway, shane victorino, world series
Today was quite the banner day as two of my hand-pecked favorites reigned supreme in the competitive world; the Phillies, of course, effortlessly clinched the NLCS title to advance to the World Series (a long time coming since 1993!) thanks to the impeccable showmanship of Shane “the Flyin’ Hawaiian” Victorino and the-little-engine-that could Cole Hammels. However, after all was said and done, after the champagne Boyfriend bought to commemorate this sacred moment was popped, after our hands were sore from relentless high-fives, I headed home to romance my TiVo. On the roster? Why, Project Runway, of course.
The second portion of the finale, featuring a showdown at the prestigious New York Fashion Week, brought a flash of gorgeous garments and sweaty-banged designers. Season Five proudly displayed three women filling the coveted spots as the top of the crop, and after three extraordinarily polished collections, it was anyone’s game. I had long since picked Portland native Leanne Marshall as my trusty stead, having drooled over her modern designs from the get-go. I promptly checked out her site, Leanimal.com, and added her Etsy page to my favorites after her very first designs hit the runway. Imagine my utter jubilation when she also clinched her coveted win, bringing the score to: Kate, 2; World, 0.
And thus, Leanne is off in her new Saturn Hybrid with a pile of money sitting on the back seat – and deservedly so. All the while, I can’t help but think that perhaps writing isn’t the best career for me. Where are the free cars and piles of cash in that? I’m turning in my pen and ink and turning over a new leaf. Now if I could only learn how to catch a ball or sew.
Filed under: Non Sequiturs | Tags: chase utley, dodgers, manny ramirez, matt stairs, pat burrell, phillies, ryan howard
So the Phillies won game three – and somewhat epically, I might add – bringing them two games up on the Dodgers for a count of 4 and 1. Thanks to Boyfriend, baseball has become my latest vice, and the Philadelphia Phillies have sauntered their way to the top of my list. Living in northern New Jersey barred me from watching any games not involving a series with the Mets over the summer, and my latest abode is just north of the cusp for “Philadelphia Programming.” And thus, until these fated play-offs, I had to meander over to Boyfriend’s in my leggings and slipper socks in order to take in the game.
One can imagine my excitement when the Fightin’ Phils pulled off enough bottom-of-the-ninth shake-ups to land them this close to the World Series – in nationwide syndication, no less. Tonight set them once again in Los Angeles, seemingly falling victim to the home-team-advantage curse until they pulled out all the stops with two highly productive innings and set the score straight. After last night’s inane display of frat-house debauchery (take a walk, Manny Ramirez) and a sorry loss, I’m elated to see the boys, well, back in the game. I’ll be looking forward to seeing a whole lot more of Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, and Chase Utley in the coming weeks. Thanks, Boyfriend.
Filed under: TV Shows | Tags: charlie day, dayman, fx, it's always sunny in philadelphia, nightman, TV Shows
Tonight’s brandy-new episode of the most hilarious show on television, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, had me in such stitches that I nearly forgot to breathe. I’ve been trying to sell this show for years, and finally, its meager audience is beginning to grow. For anyone who has not jumped on the bandwagon, I urge you to do so immediately. The entirety of the show is listed in totally legit, full-episode form on the infamous Hulu.com, so there is simply no excuse for turning a blind eye. To further entice, I leave you with a clip from last season’s most uproarious episode.
