Brian, being the most wonderful boyfriend in the world, surprised me recently with tickets to a screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World with director Edgar Wright and director of photography Bill Pope doing a Q&A session. I was thrilled to say the least. There are not many films that I think are worth the trek to a movie theater and the 13 bucks for a ticket (NYC prices are nuts). However, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is an exception to this rule. The screening made my 4th trip to a theater to see Scott Pilgrim kick the asses of Ramona's seven evil exes. For me Scott Pilgrim is a perfect marriage of old and new. It combines nostalgia such as 8 bit graphics and music from classic games like Legend of Zelda with fast-paced anime style fight choreography and indie rock. To quote a panelist at the Q&A it is an "Action-muscial". Each time I left the theater after watching this wonderful film I felt a surge of energy and my passion for making media was rekindled. During the Q&A Edgar Wright discussed how many years of work had gone into the film, and I must say it shows. There are so many little details that you can examine upon multiple viewings and so much spectacle to take in. Everything from the choreography to the music, the set designs and the costumes play an integral role in making this film feel like it belongs to the world of graphic novels and old school video games from which the script was born.
Needless to say I was extremely hyped as Brian, our friend Guido and I entered the old movie theater in which I had spent so many Saturday afternoons of my childhood. As we walked up the curved staircase to the large screening room the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack pumped out of speakers behind the concession stand. The theater was officially a nerd haven for the night. Though we had arrived nearly an hour before the screening was set to start, we were amongst the later crowd and thus had to search carefully for 3 seats next to one another. After a few minutes we decided that sitting in the lower level directly under the screen was better than not sitting together. I am SO HAPPY that we made this BRILLIANT decision! Though we had to crane our necks a bit to watch the film, our pain was not in vain as Edgar Wright, Bill Pope, Kieran Culkin and Bill Hader ended up sitting about 10-15 feet away from us during the Q&A session! I hung on every word as the film makers discussed what it was like to create one of my favorite movies. I feel revived, I have been reminded of what all of my tiring school work is for. This is exactly the push I needed to get me through the end of this semester. I feel inspired!
Many thanks go out to all of those who made this film possible, and of course to Brian. Without him I wouldn't have this resurgence of drive and spirit.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
American Idiot on Broadway
Last weekend (on October 30th to be exact) I went with a friend of mine to see American Idiot. It was a wonderful experience to say the least. In fact I have not been able to stop listening to my old Green Day albums since I saw the show.
To preface the rest of my post about the show I must explain what the original American Idiot album and Green Day in general means to me. I can't claim to be Green Day's biggest fan, my friend Mikey officially claimed that label at the tender age of 5. It is because of Mikey that I care so deeply for this album. For a shining moment in 2005 he and I were the best friends that you could possibly imagine, and of course American Idiot became and integral part of the soundtrack to our friendship. We were a couple of angry restless teenagers on a mission to show the world that we didn't have to play by the rules. We were fiery, rebellious and full of life.
The Broadway show was able to capture that feeling. It captured the energy, the frustration and the pain. It raised an incredible amount of nostalgia in me, although nothing Mikey and I lived through was ever quite as dark or dangerous as the subject matter of the stage show. The performances were very good, especially John Gallagher, Jr. and Tony Vincent. Most of all I liked the costumes, lighting and set design. The lighting design was amazing, using unique shapes and creatively using color in a way that captured the mood and tone of the music. The set design really made a statement. There were harsh metal structures towering over both actors and audience and screens everywhere in varying shapes, sizes, and time periods. The costumes were great because they enabled me to identify the various types of "Punks". The costume designer clearly did their research into the subculture and i found my self looking around at the cast and thinking I know exactly what the designer is trying to say with that piece. In addition Johnny's (the main character) costume evolved along with him and symbolized his emotional journey into adulthood.
I loved the show and it is a memory I will treasure right along with all of the memories I have of my crazy year with Mikey. So thank you to everyone who made this wonderful show come about, and to those of you who have not seen it, I highly recommend that you change that ASAP!
To preface the rest of my post about the show I must explain what the original American Idiot album and Green Day in general means to me. I can't claim to be Green Day's biggest fan, my friend Mikey officially claimed that label at the tender age of 5. It is because of Mikey that I care so deeply for this album. For a shining moment in 2005 he and I were the best friends that you could possibly imagine, and of course American Idiot became and integral part of the soundtrack to our friendship. We were a couple of angry restless teenagers on a mission to show the world that we didn't have to play by the rules. We were fiery, rebellious and full of life.
The Broadway show was able to capture that feeling. It captured the energy, the frustration and the pain. It raised an incredible amount of nostalgia in me, although nothing Mikey and I lived through was ever quite as dark or dangerous as the subject matter of the stage show. The performances were very good, especially John Gallagher, Jr. and Tony Vincent. Most of all I liked the costumes, lighting and set design. The lighting design was amazing, using unique shapes and creatively using color in a way that captured the mood and tone of the music. The set design really made a statement. There were harsh metal structures towering over both actors and audience and screens everywhere in varying shapes, sizes, and time periods. The costumes were great because they enabled me to identify the various types of "Punks". The costume designer clearly did their research into the subculture and i found my self looking around at the cast and thinking I know exactly what the designer is trying to say with that piece. In addition Johnny's (the main character) costume evolved along with him and symbolized his emotional journey into adulthood.
I loved the show and it is a memory I will treasure right along with all of the memories I have of my crazy year with Mikey. So thank you to everyone who made this wonderful show come about, and to those of you who have not seen it, I highly recommend that you change that ASAP!
Re-decorating
So I have decided to re-decorate my room. So far pretty much everything I've picked up has been bird themed. As you all should have guessed by now, purple is my favorite color. So I ordered this great duvet set. I can't wait for it to arrive!
I've also gotten this wonderful bird on a branch wall rack in white.
Its absolutely adorable in person. Perfect for hanging my necklaces and scarves and such. I've also got this great little bird themed mirror/jewelry organizer and a peacock earring stand. Its just a start but I'm really excited about all of the changes I'm making. Next I have to figure out what color to paint my walls which are currently royal blue. I've gotten really into this whole out with the old in with the new thing. Especially the out with the old part. I've begun the arduous process of going through all o my stuff and deciding what to get rid of in order to un-clutter my life. There is something very satisfying about getting old stuff/ thing I no longer need out of the house.
I've also gotten this wonderful bird on a branch wall rack in white.
Its absolutely adorable in person. Perfect for hanging my necklaces and scarves and such. I've also got this great little bird themed mirror/jewelry organizer and a peacock earring stand. Its just a start but I'm really excited about all of the changes I'm making. Next I have to figure out what color to paint my walls which are currently royal blue. I've gotten really into this whole out with the old in with the new thing. Especially the out with the old part. I've begun the arduous process of going through all o my stuff and deciding what to get rid of in order to un-clutter my life. There is something very satisfying about getting old stuff/ thing I no longer need out of the house.
Monday, October 18, 2010
RIP Louie Appel
Its funny how a person can be the furthest thing from your mind one minute and all you can think about the next. This morning I woke up and got dressed and was fairly happy. Brian and I were supposed to be going out to celebrate 3 years and 3 months since we didn't go out for our 3 year anniversary.
Then I found out that a relative of mine, Louie Appel passed away last night. He and I weren't very close or anything like that, but he was a part of my family and he was still quite young. He was a talented drummer and a kind and funny individual.
His death scares and saddens me as he was just a couple of weeks older than my father. Its made me think about mortality as a whole today. Even as I sat talking with my friend Tyler and Brian, I could not help but think about our lives and what it would be like when one of us was gone.
This is not a foreign concept to me and has in fact been the driving force behind my health conscious ways. Since I met Brian I have been on a quest to be as healthy as possible and to help him become healthier as well in hopes that it will extend our lives and give us more time together. My relationship with Brian has shown me that it is possible to love someone so much that the thought of never being able to see or talk to them again, the thought of never being able to hold their hand or kiss their cheek, closes your throat and make you feel as if you could break in half. I can only imagine how badly my cousin Anne (Louie's wife) is hurting right now.
My thoughts and prayers go out to her and to Louie. He will be greatly missed.
Then I found out that a relative of mine, Louie Appel passed away last night. He and I weren't very close or anything like that, but he was a part of my family and he was still quite young. He was a talented drummer and a kind and funny individual.
His death scares and saddens me as he was just a couple of weeks older than my father. Its made me think about mortality as a whole today. Even as I sat talking with my friend Tyler and Brian, I could not help but think about our lives and what it would be like when one of us was gone.
This is not a foreign concept to me and has in fact been the driving force behind my health conscious ways. Since I met Brian I have been on a quest to be as healthy as possible and to help him become healthier as well in hopes that it will extend our lives and give us more time together. My relationship with Brian has shown me that it is possible to love someone so much that the thought of never being able to see or talk to them again, the thought of never being able to hold their hand or kiss their cheek, closes your throat and make you feel as if you could break in half. I can only imagine how badly my cousin Anne (Louie's wife) is hurting right now.
My thoughts and prayers go out to her and to Louie. He will be greatly missed.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The TARDIS cake and other adventures in Birthday Fun!
Good morning blogosphere! It is a bright and beautiful morning here in NYC, and I FINALLY have a spare minute to post!
My 21st was nearly a week ago (last Saturday) and as promised I am posting pictures of the TARDIS cake, the cupcakes, all that good stuff.
This is a photo of me about to blow out the candles on my TARDIS cake!
As you may or may not know, the Friday before my birthday was spent preparing. The largest task was the TARDIS cake. Originally I wanted to make it look a little something like this:
Sadly the fondant did not work... at all. My friends and I spent hours trying to make it work so that we could turn the cake into a mini TARDIS. We got close at about 3am Saturday morning, but I in my sleep deprived stupor ended up dropping the cake as I was putting it into the fridge (EPIC FAIL). Later Saturday morning my wonderful sister Daria came to the rescue with her magic cake decorating skills!
I must say that although the cake was a far cry from what I had first envisioned, it was wonderful and just so perfectly me! Its a bit hard to see in the picture, but Daria frosted the entire cake with triple chocolate frosting. Then I mixed buttercream with blue food coloring and she piped on the TARDIS. The writing is purple buttercream and there are pink sugar pearls around the side of the cake. The cake itself was 2 layers : chocolate and pumpkin spice. It was delicious :) So the combined efforts of myself, my friends and Daria ended up coming out pretty well as far as I'm concerned.
In addition to the TARDIS cake we had banana cupcakes with TARDIS cupcake toppers created by TheBlissfulBaker
I chose to make banana cupcakes because "You should always bring a banana to a party"Video by TheDoctorsAssistant
All in all it was a fabulous party, and I had a tremendous amount of fun.
You can see more pictures of the baking process and the party here
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Just a few more days...
My birthday party is this Saturday, which mean there is PLENTY to do this week on top of my already heavy school load.
I'm sure there will be tons to post about as we begin to bake the cakes and prep the food :)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Tardis Cake
Good morning blogosphere!
I woke up this morning after literally dreaming of flying away in the TARDIS all night, and so I decided that would be the subject of today's post! For those of you who are not yet whovians I will do a little explaining. The TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space) is the time machine/space ship used by the Doctor in the British television program Doctor Who (Americans can use this link here). The Doctor is a Timelord, an alien that looks like a human but can live for hundreds of years due to their ability to regenerate. Timelords have mastered the ability to travel throughout space and time, and the Doctor does so as a way of trying to restore balance to the universe with a companion in tow. I really suggest giving the show a shot, no matter your tastes Doctor Who has a little something for everyone. If you are a Netflix user you can watch all of the new seasons (the series began in 1963 and was rebooted in 2005) on the instant watch right now.
It should be fairly obvious by now that I totally and utterly love all things Doctor Who! In fact I have decided that for my birthday (which is in just a few days) I would like a Tardis cake that looks something like this :
I found this picture after googling tardis cake and my friends and I have been using it as inspiration for our own creation. We are going to make the cake 4 layers high (alternating layers of chocolate and pumpkin spice cake) and then wrap it in fondant and decorate it to look like the above picture. We are also baking banana cupcakes (the Doctor says you should always bring a banana to a party). The banana cupcakes will be iced and decorated with edible ball bearings (the Doctor was thrilled with them in the episode Fear Her) and mini Tardis cupcake toppers. All in all my party is set to be an incredibly nerdy event :). I will be sure to post many many many pictures here for all to see how everything went and what the end result looked like. I hope you enjoy!
I woke up this morning after literally dreaming of flying away in the TARDIS all night, and so I decided that would be the subject of today's post! For those of you who are not yet whovians I will do a little explaining. The TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space) is the time machine/space ship used by the Doctor in the British television program Doctor Who (Americans can use this link here). The Doctor is a Timelord, an alien that looks like a human but can live for hundreds of years due to their ability to regenerate. Timelords have mastered the ability to travel throughout space and time, and the Doctor does so as a way of trying to restore balance to the universe with a companion in tow. I really suggest giving the show a shot, no matter your tastes Doctor Who has a little something for everyone. If you are a Netflix user you can watch all of the new seasons (the series began in 1963 and was rebooted in 2005) on the instant watch right now.
It should be fairly obvious by now that I totally and utterly love all things Doctor Who! In fact I have decided that for my birthday (which is in just a few days) I would like a Tardis cake that looks something like this :
I found this picture after googling tardis cake and my friends and I have been using it as inspiration for our own creation. We are going to make the cake 4 layers high (alternating layers of chocolate and pumpkin spice cake) and then wrap it in fondant and decorate it to look like the above picture. We are also baking banana cupcakes (the Doctor says you should always bring a banana to a party). The banana cupcakes will be iced and decorated with edible ball bearings (the Doctor was thrilled with them in the episode Fear Her) and mini Tardis cupcake toppers. All in all my party is set to be an incredibly nerdy event :). I will be sure to post many many many pictures here for all to see how everything went and what the end result looked like. I hope you enjoy!Thursday, September 9, 2010
Chegg
Since I started this blog to talk about things/ sites/ people that I think are really cool I thought I could start out with Chegg. Chegg is a textbook rental website that has helped me save a ton of money, and they're helping the environment to boot! Basically how it works is that you place an order and they send your books out to you, then at the end of the term (or whatever length of time you have chosen for the rental) you send them back with free return shipping. Simple and easy enough right? The great part is that not only are you saving a few bucks, but for every book you rent Chegg plants a tree! So in addition to all of the paper that you are saving by using a rented book instead of buying a new one, you are actively contributing to the bettering of the environment. Better yet, you can save 5% when you use my promotion code CC123325 so rent away and save a tree!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Hello
Welcome to my shiny new blog! I guess I should start off by telling you a little bit about myself. I am an undergrad student living in New York City, where I was born and raised. I'm double majoring in English Language Arts and Media Studies, which can be TOTALLY overwhelming sometimes, but Its also totally rewarding :). I've got pretty eclectic tastes in well, everything. I guess that's why I wanted to start this blog; to show the world all of the different sides of myself through talking about my interests. I hope you enjoy it and perhaps some of the things that inspire me may inspire you :)
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