I know we’ve been semi-lame lately, but Tricia is mad-busy, and I’m packing packing (my poor room is beginning to look so very empty). Also, there were a few Wordpress upgrade problems, all of which hadven’t been fixed. In time. In time.

But while and between packing I’ve been happily entertained by several new (er, okay, only new to me) and inexpensive products of the entertainment industry. REMEMBER in addition to books, libraries also usually have lots of DVDs and CDs, so there is no need to spend a cent, unless you are lazy like me and have Netflix.

1. Enchanted. So two years ago? Yes, but I’m still Enchanted. Hee hee. This movie is great for me for three reasons: (a) It takes place in NYC, a place I’m Currently Obsessed with because I’m Currently About To Leave It; (b) It makes fun of Disney movies while BEING a Disney movie at the very same time (very meta); (c) great musical numbers (nominated for several academy awards, but beaten out fairly by Once), case and point:

2. Bon Iver. I just discovered this new band via Adele’s musical selections in a recent issue of Oprah Magazine (*air high-five with Tricia*). His song “Skinny Love” blew me away. (I also love: For Emma, Blood Bank — alright, I like most of them). Check it:

3. Shakespeare in the Park! This is the deal. Central Park in NYC puts on a FREEEEEEEE summer series (two plays, one always Shakespeare). It is a professional production, this year starring Anne Hathaway as Viola in Twelfth Night.

This was the best Shakespeare production I have ever seen. If you are afraid of Shakespeare (“I don’t know what’s going on!!! What language are they speaking!?”), fear not! This is so well done that you won’t have to struggle to understand. To get tickets, you have to get online early in the morning (ex. I got online at 8:30 and was safely a ticket-getter), though late-comers sometimes get lucky. Bring something to sit on and games to play for the line — you can’t hold a spot for a friend whose coming later, either. They hand out tickets at 1:00, and everyone is entitled to two. The show is at 8pm, and it’s outside so bring appropriate clothes! Twelfth Night runs until July 12 2009. (PS A raccoon tried to crawl on stage during the performance!)

4. Colbert Goes Commando. I love that Colbert is making it fashionable to support the troops while not necessarily supporting the policies that got them where they are. If you haven’t heard, Steven Colbert of the mock news show The Colbert Report recently voyaged to Iraq, entertaining the troops by filming a week of episodes on location in one of Saddam’s old palaces.
Full Episodes from his trip to Iraq are available on Colbert Nation. The first episode, from Monday June 8, is especially good.

5. Persepolis. Yes, I’m also years late on this obsession, but I’ve been thinking a lot about this autobiography / graphic novel concerning a young girl growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. I’m disappointed in myself for being so generally uninterested in foreign affairs (though I do think it’s my duty, as a human, to be informed), so I’m thrilled that this “novel” makes the plight of people in other countries seem so personal and real.

6. Marlon Brando. Last week, I really let my Netflix account go. Suddenly I was getting movies in my mailbox that I had meant to keep forever on the bottom of my Netflix queue and never actually receive. So there I was with A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront. In order to get my next movies, you know what I had to do. I had to watch them. What did I discover? Old movies are hella well-written, and Marlon Brando is hella hot. Also, you will get to see one of the most famous scenes in movie history, which I think is much better in the context of the movie, but here we go:

So, go enjoy yourself with all your new entertaining suggestions! (And let me know if there is anything I should add to my list!)

In my quest to see NYC-things before I leave NYC, I spent this Saturday cavorting around the city. I went to the Whitney, but that only paled in comparison to the pilgrimage I took with my friend George to see the house where Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums was filmed. The house (not on Archer Avenue, not in an inconspicuous city) is actually on 144th and Convent Ave in Harlem.

“Though we never call it New York in the film, I was looking for a certain feeling of living in New York, not the real New York, more a New York of the imagination.” — Wes Anderson, mooviees.com

One thing I discovered on my trek was that Alexander Hamilton also lived on Convent Ave (his house is a National Monument, btw). (So, the Tenenbaums & Hamiltons lived on the same street in Harlem — who’d of guessed?!)

Actually, the weirdest thing about the trip was Harlem itself: I’ve never been that far North! At that point, Manhattan starts to feel as small and level as the other boroughs. Some of it is bedraggled, but when you get to just around the point where the fake Archer Avenue stands, it becomes suddenly very dainty and cute (it’s known as “Hamilton Heights”). In this way, you feel doubly out of place, and doubly not-quite-in-Manhattan.

“It was apparent that the house was one of the characters in the movie.” — David Wasco (production designer for RT), mooviees.com

If you want to visit, you can take the A, B, C, or D to the 145th Street stop or the 1 to the 145th Street stop (way up there, the 1 isn’t even underground yet!).

As a warning, this is not some kind of *actual* landmark, and you can’t go inside! According to our friends at The Rushmore Academy (if you want to visit more Wes Anderson or Tenenbaum landmarks, that’s the site to check!), it’s a private residence so don’t go insane or hold a seance.

After the jump, some pictures of the house from the beginning of the movie, and a few other treats for Wes Anderson fans! (more…)

I know this is slightly off topic (are we ever on topic?! what is our topic?!), but I think American Sign Language (ASL) is one of the most beautiful and artistic languages. The internet, and particularly YouTube, has an active Deaf community and I always feel ecstatic when I find videos that not only have great ASL or ASL translations (not just Signed English) but that are also high quality or well-produced.

Here are some of my favorite videos that include music and ASL. I think you will find them beautiful and interesting even if you don’t know any ASL. (Yes, there is some discussion about the irony of how much hearing signers seem to enjoy translating music into ASL.) (If you don’t know anything about ASL, check out some fun facts at the end of this post.)

(1) Sia’s music video for Soon We’ll Be Found is not only unique and creative (glow in the dark sequence! painted hands!), but also is a very cool and very loose, interpretive ASL translation of her lyrics.

Lots more after the jump!… (more…)

Had to share immediately for some reason. Where the Wild Things Are trailer (“I didn’t want to wake you up. But I really want to show you something.” HAHAHA). Check out all the cool people involved (ie Dave Eggers, Paul Dano, Forest Whitaker) on the IMDB page.

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:

PDF of Oscar Ballot

PDF of “Instructions”

1-Minute Video of the Oscar Ballot Instructions

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

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:
(more…)

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…)

I don’t know how to make this sound not dorky, but I enjoyed watching this PSA-style DON’T VOTE video starring a billion famous people like Tobey Maguire, Ellen, Dustin Hoffman, Sarah Silverman, Leonardo DiCaprio, ETC ETC ETC.

In some states the deadline to register to vote is TOMORROW!

Anyway, in some states, the deadline to register to vote is tomorrow, so watch and register away! (Declareyourself.com, the site where you can register, also has a simple page that breaks down where each candidate stands on some key issues.)

Google maps will tell you where to vote & your registration deadline!

ALSO you can go this page on google maps to easily find out your deadline to register (just put in your address!). And, mid-October, they’ll also provide you with your voting location (that stuff used to be such a pain to find! I mean, back in the day… when I voted for the first time… in college… four years ago… by absentee ballot…). Anyway.