Last week I saw my first James Dean movie, Rebel Without a Cause. I loved it so much (male teenage angst + dysfunctional family = Maria’s favorite genre). As soon as it was over I completed the obligatory post-movie wikipedia-ing. Some things I learned: (1) All three main stars of Rebel Without a Cause died in strange ways (James Dean: Car Accident, Natalie Wood: Fell Off Boat, Sal Mineo: Murdered), (2) James Dean was only ever in three movies, (3) James Dean is so hot I can hardly stand it. (more…)
Either click on the picture above or click here for the pdf of your own Printable Oscars Ballot.
I love the Academy Awards. The only way I can get friends to watch is by pretending it’s an exciting contest for them, too. Thus, you can usually find me printing off the internet a stack full of ugly full-page Oscar Ballots the day of the awards (though, yes, I usually have mine filled out way ahead of time).
Anyway, to help you if you should have this very same problem, I made my own Stickers & Donuts brand of Oscar Ballot, but this one is cute and pocket-sized! You can carry a bunch around with you and pass them out. There are two ballots per page, so you’ll always have one for a friend (or mistakes).
If you’d like, check-out my previously posted Oscar Ballot How-To Video where you can see me cutting out my Oscar Ballot and marking it up at Top Speed with my special Oscar ballot mark-up method (read: I am insane). Or, look below to check out my instructions, which are also downloadable in pdf.
One Way to Use your New Pocket-Sized Oscar Ballot
1. Print & cut out your ballot. (Yes!!!)
2. Get a card from your wallet to help you make your ballot *truly* pocket-sized.
3. Starting at the bottom of the ballot, fold the paper around the card until the paper and the card are the same size. (Too complicated? Just watch the video.)
4. Place a sticker on the flap where the front of the ballot folds over the bottom. This is mostly for cuteness. Carry your tiny ballot in your wallet and ponder your choices daily.
5. Select favorites carefully over time using whatever method you choose. Mine? Highlight those I WANT to win, X off those I THINK will win.
6. On the big night, take out your ballot and circle the winners. Hopefully you’ll have made a few ballots for friends and you can compete with them. Revel in glory or cry in defeat.
In Summary:
So I made this cute, printable, pocket-sized Oscar ballot, which I will put up in ample time before the Academy Awards (Feb 22, in case you aren’t counting down), sometime next week when I pdf-it and have it all ready to go. Anyways, I’m not sure what possessed me to make a little video about how to fold up your ballot and carry it around in your pocket, but I did, and here it is.
And yes, there is a Stickers & Donuts You Tube Channel, but it has only been used twice, and once when I was 20 lbs fatter. If you do like my videos, check out my (Maria’s) Personal You Tube Channel, which is full of silly videos (such as a nine second stop action valentine), serious projects, semi-infrequent vlogs that I use in conjunction with my personal blog, shorts starring my fabulous cousins (such as This is Boring, though I apologize in advance for my apparent inability to act), and me dancing on a table at age seven.You know, the You Tube usual.
Alright, that was not supposed to be a tour of my forays into filmmaking, but alas, it is one AM and not the hour to think clearly. Thursday I will do another Valentine’s Day post, and it will be fabulous, and you’ll want to make several overnight purchases, I assure you. xo, me
Congrats on your song of the year win, Coldplay! Viva La Vida was one of my favorites of this year, and this video cracks me up!
Alright, I swear this blog isn’t sponsored by Pepsi, even though we just featured their well-timed Refresh campaign which was seen around DC during the inauguration, but this commercial was my favorite Superbowl moment (er, I’m not too into football), not only because it featured Bob Dylan (and that song makes me feel all fuzzy and nostalgic and I love the old footage) but because it relates perfectly with their theme of “refresh” by revamping an old song, by chosing an artist who did “refresh the world” during his time, etc. Ah, so meta.
K, another little post-ie coming up tomorrow sometime. xo
OMG, after one episode I was instantly obsessed with The United States of Tara, a new Showtime series which has a lot of things going for it, including:
ONE it stars Toni Collette who is gritty, fun, and just my kind of off-the-beaten-path, high-quality actress. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role as the mother in The Sixth Sense, she played a minor role in The Hours, and also played the mom in another favorite film, Little Miss Sunshine. (Also, did you know she’s Australian?! She and Hugh Laurie should hang out and discuss how awesome they are at American accents.)
TWO it is written by Diablo Cody, most prominently know for winning a little gold guy for her original screenplay, Juno. And, while Juno wasn’t my favorite-favorite, it does mean the show will have some spunk, attitude, and witty dialog.
THREE Steven Spielberg is the producer and creator of the series (even though the intro sequence says Diablo Cody is the creator, apparently it was SS’s idea).
FOUR AND THE BEST REASON: It’s about a woman with Disassociative Identity Disorder (DID, the disorder formerly known as “Multiple Personality Disorder”). I was majorly obsessed with mental disorders in college (and, by the way, am currently reading the biography of Freud), and tacked a psych major on with my English major. I carried around the DSM-IV for a semester. Pocket version.
ANYWAY, the first video is a preview. The second video, after the jump, is a little one from the Showtime web-site about DID as a disorder in reality. I find that stuff fascinating. There is also a good FAQ about DID on the Showtime page. So glad that even though this an over-the-top dramatic series (as a tv series usually is), the network at least recognizes the true disorder and hopes to de-stigmatize it.
And last but not least, if you don’t have Showtime (I don’t even have cable), then you can watch the full first episode online here.
Preview:
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Copyright Pepsi
Last weekend, I was in DC for a reunion right before the Inauguration. While there, I tried to spot as many of the Pepsi “HOPE” advertisements as I could. Unfortunately, my camera didn’t want to cooperate with the single digit temperatures, so I wasn’t able to snag them all. The above are just a few of the spots we saw plastered over Metro stations, buses, and billboards.
Although I think the general consensus from the various design blogs I read is that the Pepsi re-branding is a bit of a flop, I do think this campaign was great. Maybe it was just being in DC and around all of the excitement for the Big Day, but I thought seeing all of the uplifting signs added to the atmosphere. That, and I respected that they went with pinks and yellows and oranges rather than the patriotic color palette they could have. It broke up all of the American-flag-monotony around town. Check out more images/video of the campaign at this French site and read about it and the other Inaugural campaigns at Creative Review.
Maria’s Note: This post introduces a new S&D blogger, Lorraine, whose great design-sense I discovered through her own personal artsy blog. I’m very excited to have her here, and very jealous that she went to the inauguration!
By way of introduction: Lorraine grew up in Missouri, but claims Nebraska as her home state after spending half her time visiting family there while growing up. After college at Missouri State, she interned in Nuremberg, Germany for a summer and fell in love… with Nürnbergerbratwürste. She is currently working as a graphic designer and, in no particular order, enjoys: cheesecake, printmaking/letterpress, languages, badminton, watercolors, and antique doorknobs. In her “free time,” she reads a ton of books, plays around with her gocco printer, and blogs about design and DIY culture at her personal site, Lorraine Design. We are glad to have see her very first post on S&D!
Just a little fun for the holiday season… The LeeVee’s “How do you spell Channukkahh?” The video is funny, & I think the art is great, too!
I found this today, and have been considering posting all day. Whether it’s just application-fatigue and procrastination or true love leading the way, it is hard to tell.
I know that typography in video is popular nowadays, but I still enjoy when words move around in pretty ways and their size and location on screen have an emotional effect on me. (The music & speed of the words also helps.)
Also, among the gift-giving, it’s important to remember the ultimate holiday message. Hopefully you have someone on your list who you don’t know that could use your help. And don’t send them World Map Dinner Mats, no matter how cute they may be.
(By the way, the site that put out this video is girleffect.org and you can give directly by going here.)
Okay, talking about Kate Winslet, I feel kind of like a lame People magazine, stalker type. But she’s been in the news a lot lately (see long story short, below), and she has two new movies coming out that are going to be spectacular. (That’s sort of art & design related, isn’t it?)
LONG STORY SHORT: Kate Winslet says she has had weight problems and knows she’s not the skinniest actress. Vanity Fair did this hot shot of her naked. Everyone said she was airbrushed. She was not. (PS I think she’s beautiful and that everyone’s perception of overweight in Hollywood is completely distorted.)
Okay, enough with the gossip. The movies! (more…)
