Web Sites »Everyone Wants Me Dead

wantsdeadTeenage Diary

Re-reading old personal diaries can be excruciating. Funny? Sure, but it hurts. To share the words of your teenage self to the world? I’m not sure I would have the guts (and sadly, my most angst filled stuff is long gone after a whole big mess where my mom found my diary and drama ensued).

Lucky for us, Lexi Borowitz isn’t too shy to share. Entries on her blog Everyone Wants Me Dead, often accompanied by spectacular illustrations like the “Sexual Baseball Field” pictured, let us relive those roller-coaster adolescent years and all the triumph, self-loathing, embarrassment, heart break, and bitchiness they entail.

Great find, Refinery 29! Now, let’s just hope she keeps the entries coming.

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Posted on June 28, 2013

Movies,TV Shows »The Wallace and Gromit Collection

WallaceGromitby Nick Park

It’s no secret that most stuff made for children is garbage. Real gems, like the Nick Park Wallace and Gromit shorts and films are the exception and I am so thrilled that Van is a huge fan. The contraptions and inventions of the hapless Wallace and his best pal pup Gromit are mesmerizing for a little boy obsessed with machines, pipes and wheels.

The first set of shorts include the noirs A Close Shave and The Wrong Trousers as well as the moon adventure A Grand Day Out. They were followed by the feature Curse of the Wererabbit. The hand sculpted characters are not only charming – what they are able to achieve with the painstaking technique is remarkable.

If the first movies represent the pinnacle art of stop motion claymation, the later short A Matter of Loaf and Death shows that old techniques don’t have to be abandoned for new, that computers, which were used can actually inhance the animation and make for quicker production. I’m hoping that eventually means more Wallace and Gromit some day even though most of the original claymation figures and sets were destroyed in a fire years ago (sob).

Beyond the meticulous designs and techniques, these films are well written and as entertaining for adults as they are for children without being crass or stuffed with pop culture references.

I know I am very lucky that my son has taken such an interest in such a great series. I’d gladly chat about what happens in Curse of the Wererabbit a thousand times than have to sit through one Barney. You can find them on Netflix instant with the exception of Curse of the Wererabbit, available for purchase on iTunes.

allwallace

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Posted on June 7, 2013

Laughs »Hey! Why Should I Be On The Internet?

Circa 1995

Cat food cupcakes (WHAT?!)

Was 1995 really that long ago? (yes) and can you imagine that we lived most of our adolescences without the Internet? (no).

Another gem unearthed by Refinery 29.

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Posted on August 16, 2012

Movies »Unzipped

directed by Douglas Keeve (1995)

I adore the documentary Unzipped. I have probably seen it a dozen times and all those times, seen it alone. Of all the passions and tastes Jim and I share, movies about the fashion industry just isn’t one of them so they’ve become a private pleasure.

With this Isaac Mizrahi ode to high fashion being on Netflix instant, I couldn’t help but indulge in another viewing.

Before Project Runway, before any of the many fashion docs, there was this movie. Its inside look at the creative process was truly inspiring and amazing to me as a young woman and still fills me with joy to watch. Mizrahi is charming, the show is excellent (looks as fresh today as then), the cinematography is beautiful and even the score is perfection.

I feel like this movie is almost forgotten and buried behind The September Issue and realty tv but any lover of fashion should see it right away. It’s divine.

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Posted on May 18, 2012

Songs,Web Sites »I Want Someone Badly, Your Daily Song Fix

by Shudder to Think featuring Jeff Buckley (1998)

Jeff Buckley makes me sigh. Has since I was in 8th grade getting my heart constantly broken.

Today I sighed anew after finding I Want Someone Badly, a song by him I’d never heard before. It reminds me of Terence Trent D’arby (in a great way).

Thanks to Daily Sound Fix for introducing me. A look through the site, which features forgotten music, promises more gems are waiting to be found. Too bad it hasn’t been updated for a year.

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Posted on April 11, 2012

Movies »The Big Lebowski

directed by The Coen Brothers (1998)

Continuing my Top Best Movies You’ve Probably Seen But If You Haven’t You Better Get On It Marathon, I give you the oft quoted, nearly universally loved Coen Brothers’ masterpiece The Big Lebowski.

There’s a reason everyone adores this movie. See it. It’s infinitely re-watchable with more unforgettable lines and characters in ten minutes than in the entirety of most comedies ever made.

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Posted on April 6, 2012

Songs »Kiss Them For Me

by Siouxsie and the Banshees (1991)

Kiss Them For Me will always call to my memory the hallways of junior high.

I had bought an oversized Siouxsie and the Banshees tee based solely on my love for this exotic 120 minutes hit (which, of course I owned in cassingle format).

A really cool mom schooled me on Siouxsies’ history when she saw me wearing it (that mom later got arrested for running a brothel, but was super nice, had the kindest son and is the reason I knew about the origins of punk when I did).

This 90’s comeback which featured a very sexy Siouxsie in sequins and champagne video is perfect listening for those pining for the best the 90’s had to offer (aside from naive optimism and allowances from our parents.)

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Posted on March 24, 2012

Songs »Don’t Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)

by Monica (1995)

90’s radio R&B is one of my favorite genres and Monica’s Don’t Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days) is one of the best examples.

I love that it feels like a teenage girl wrote the lyrics, its incredibly catchy and no one makes hit songs about their sensitive BFs getting all whiny anytime a lady needs her space.

Girl’s got to get cranky sometimes!

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Posted on February 22, 2012

Movies »A Chinese Ghost Story 1&3

directed by Siu-Tung Ching (1987 and 1991)

The East does weird in a way that the West simply can’t and the fun, crazy Chinese Ghost Story trilogy proves it.

I remember hearing about these films years ago as elusive, cult classics; and with demons, tongue battles (that would be battles fought with giant monster tongues), walking tree spirits, rapping warriors, slapstick beheadings and ghostly seductions, “cult” is the only way to effectively classify these unique films.

The plots are similar between the two: Beautiful ghost spirit is under the control of a tree demon. Kind, handsome traveler stays the night in her haunted temple and falls in love. Must defeat demons to save her.

The original is more romantic and serious, but both include a healthy dose of humor and slapstick–the third almost to the point of tedium. The second… well sadly I can’t tell you anything about it: see, Netflix instant issues dictated a strange viewing order. First I watched what I assumed was the first movie only to find out afterwards that Netflix had mislabeled it and I had actually watched the third. So, not wanting to forgo seeing the original I watched the first movie (which was labeled Part 2 on Netfilx). At that point I thought we might as well finish up the trilogy, but found all three movies were no longer available. So, only reviewing 1 and 3 and no screen captures from me.

It’s a shame they’ve been taken off Netflix because they’re not readily available in the US–but are worth seeking out for lovers of bizarre cinema. I hope to one day see the second installment and complete the trilogy.

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Posted on January 21, 2012

TV Shows »Two Fat Ladies

on Cooking Channel, Sat at 10

You’d be hard pressed to find to women on television as utterly charming as the Two Fat Ladies whose cooking show graced the airwaves in the mid to late nineties.

Their motorcycle and sidecar are as iconic as they are. Their locations and food are thoroughly British. Think castle boarding schools, cricket matches, pheasant terrines and an intriguing anchovy paste called “gentlemen’s relish”.

It was very sad when Jennifer passed away, ending the show in 1999.

Cooking channel had a marathon on Christmas day which I dvr-ed and have been enjoying intermittently since.

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Posted on January 14, 2012