A Very Martha Halloween

Last year we started a tradition that I hope continues for a long time. While pumpkin carving and seed roasting are nothing our of the ordinary, they are perfect ways to usher in the fall. And now that we have a house, we couldn't not liven up our front porch with some tea-lit gourds. Inspired by a photo I saw on Martha's website, I decided to go the drill-holes-in-your-pumpkin route. They were simple and classy, yet festive.

Until  you put them next to the ones Justin carved...

If you couldn't tell, that's Yoda. He also did R2D2. So now, all of a sudden, my simple, classy pumpkins look like the star field background for our Star Wars themed halloween decorations. We are the nerd house on the street.

If you plan on taking your kids trick-or-treating this year, be sure and swing by our house. We'll be the ones passing out light sabers and bookmarks.

However all was not lost. The seeds were salvaged an roasted in not one, but two different varieties. We went savory and sweet this year. The first round was fairly classic: olive oil, salt, pepper and Cavender's (which Justin believes with all his heart makes everything taste better. Can't say I argue with him.). Round two was the sweet batch, inspired by a coworker who mentioned about two months ago that his mother always roasted their seeds with cinnamon and sugar, so I thought "why not?"

That's not true at all. I thought, "holy cow that sounds amazing. I can't wait until they start selling pumpkins." For this batch, I used butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Both kinds were super easy and turned out great. We've been snacking on them for the past week.

The process is super simple as well. As you're cleaning your pumpkins, have a bowl set aside to collect the seeds. Rinse them in a colander and dry them with a paper towel as best you can. Spread them on a baking sheet and coat them in whatever seasonings you want. Roast them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes "stirring" them about halfway through.



Pin It

Awesome Still Photo Dance Films

The 360 Project takes still images of dancers from 360 degrees and then places them together to make cool art pieces.

KRUMP 360 (The 360 Project) from Ryan Enn Hughes on Vimeo.

BALLET 360 (The 360 Project) from Ryan Enn Hughes on Vimeo.

Pin It

The Unknown Citizen

We've recently brought you two posts (here and here) on a project known as the Unknown Citizen. Written and Directed by Neil Osam, the film is a call to action for American travelers and for the website FeedASoldier.com.  What is the call you ask?  Well to anonymously buy soldier's meals in airport restaurants as a show of support and thanks.  Here's the film below:

Pin It

We'll Call it Inspiration

Are you stumped on what to be for Halloween? Do you have an unnaturally steady hand and a plethora of facepaint? If so, my vote is for this Frank Miller Sin City-inspired comic lady. Check out the tutorial below by anaarthur81.



Pin It

Balloon Man

borrowed from here

Tim Burton is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade's newest balloon man. Yup, the good people over at Macy's asked Tim Burton to contribute to their 2011 palatial motorcade and he oblidged. And in true Tim Burton fashion, he plans to deliver a deranged little character named B. Boy complete with backstory and all according to the New York Times blog:

According to an origin story dreamed up by Mr. Burton, B. was created, Frankenstein’s monster-style, from the leftover balloons used in children’s parties at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Forbidden from playing with other children because of his jagged teeth and crazy-quilt stitching, B. retreated to a basement lair, where he obsesses over Albert Lamorisse’s film “The Red Balloon” and dreams that he, too, will be able to fly someday.

borrowed from here

Pin It

Quick Hit: Trailer for Chronicle

This happened to come out while we were on our honeymoon but I think it is worth a post today.  Check out the trailer for next year's Chronicle.

 



Pin It

Honeymoon in La La Land

For Justin and me, the big day has come and gone and we made it through our first week as hubs and wifey. The wedding (pics to come soon!) went off without a hitch, which was to be expected because the honeymoon was full of hitches. You see, when two good people get married and a hurricane hits the honeymoon destination the week before the wedding causing those two people to suddenly switch all their plans, karma dictates that nothing is allowed to go wrong with the wedding itself. At least that's what happened with us.

We've had our honeymoon planned for lovely Puerto Vallarta for months now. We checked Expedia and Travelocity, consulted travel agencies, asked friends and family and, of course, scoured the internet for possible destinations. We settled on Puerto Vallarta when we read that it's situation on the Pacific Ocean exempts it from the hurricanes which typically plague the Carribbean during the fall. That meant 7 days of hurricaneless beach-laying for us!

Until a hurricane hit.

So that left us last-minute-mid-wedding-madness honeymoon-switching. We found an ultra-swank hotel in Beverly Hills and slapped our names on the list. We switched our flights, rented a car and the crisis was averted! Honeymoon saved!

P.S. Can you believe I forgot my camera? Sadly, the iPhones had to suffice.



Justin checking out the view from our balcony





Champagne from the hotel when they found out it was our honeymoon | Of course we had to stop at In-N-Out (twice!)

 

We did some touristy things and some things the locals love!
Grauman's Chinese Theater | Pinkberry

We visited Justin's cousin at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences



Jalapeno Margarita | Shopping in Malibu

Pin It

Behind the Scenes of the Unknown Citizen

A couple of months ago we gave you a cryptic sneak peak to some sort of film production.  Well now we can tell you what it is and bring you two new videos we shot with Kelly Duda at the filming.  The Unknown Citizen is a short film supporting the Feed a Soldier movement started by Little Rock's own Neil Osam.  The film premieres tomorrow night (10/25/11) at Argenta Community Theater as part of a fundraiser put on by the Little Rock Film Festival.  For more information on the event click here!

Pin It

Where Has Lindsay Lohan Gone?

From a tween darling to this?

My how quickly we all forget.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that 4/5 of my graduating class from Russellville High School would end up more successful and classier than precious little Lindsay Lohan.

And never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that she would be accused of smoking meth in public by her father. I thought people only accused people of smoking meth on Bravo reality television shows.

Anyway.

Lohan's headed back to community service at the LA County morgue after skipping out on just about every one of her court-mandated probation guidelines. And it's with this ruling that I pray with all the prayers I have in me that Kim Kardashian's marriage doesn't fall apart because I just don't think my heart can take anymore heartbreak.

Pin It

Clinton Foundation gets a skit from Celebs: Ben Stiller, Matt Damon, Sean Penn, Kristen Wiig,

I am very honored to be guest-blogging while Justory or Mallostin (Justin + Mallory) are on their Honeymoon. The wife and I were in attendance at their super fabulous wedding at the Terry House last week and it was stunning and both the bride and groom looked great. Anyway, back to what you guys really want POP CULTURE!

Well my background is mainly in tagging local pop culture (at least at my Newspaper job) that might fit exactly on this blog but I think this find is a great blend. There is definitely a lot of buzz going on with Lady Gaga herself being prominent at the 10th anniversary of the Clinton Foundation, including dropping an F-bomb (NSFW) in front of former President Bill Clinton and first-lady Hillary Clinton.

The video below is actually pretty funny and also features local Arkansas Celeb or Mrs. North Little Rock as I like to call her Mary Steenburgen (Back to the Future III) and her husband Ted Danson (Bored to Death). Everyone is good, especially Penn and a surprise cameo cast brilliantly in the video; however, the Tenacious D Jack Black shtick hasn't really been funny since School of Rock. Kudos to everyone who can poke fun at themselves and if the Clinton Foundation is ever looking for a comedy writer I can guest sketch write too.

Pin It

Culture That Pops?

Hi. LC here filling in for the freshly married, Mallory and Justin. Never ones to leave people hanging they've set up guest writers for each day of their honeymoon. Admittedly, I'm not super into pop culture-- unless it involves a Kardashian or a Real Housewife. I don't have any movie buzz or celeb gossip, but...I do have a gift for finding and sharing YouTube videos.

My guess is that you've seen some of these and that's fine by me, but it is Monday morning and everyone needs a minor LOL on a Monday morning, right? Right.

Here's to you, internetS and all your video glories.

Pin It

Cool Imperial March Mash-up Video

Don't hold back, just push things forward from Ithaca Audio on Vimeo.

Pin It

AVENGERS Trailer

Pin It

The Original Fashion Blogger

borrowed from here

Bill Cunningham. Ever heard of him? Admitedly, I had not until yesterday when Justin netflixed a documentary he "thought I'd be interested in." Bill Cunningham, as it turns out, is a New York Times fashion photographer who's been at it for, are you ready for this?, about 50 years. And you thought The Sartorialist had been around for a long time! While he's not actually a fashion blogger, he does log every. outfit. he. sees. No, I take that back. He photographs every good outfit he sees. He's got an eye for this stuff and doesn't waste his time chasing down an outfit that's not printworthy. Take a look at one of his Times layouts:

borrowed from here

One scene in particular stood out to me, and even to Justin. It may have involved Anna Wintour and she may have stopped to be photographed by Bill while completely bypassing the paparazzi. Because Bill, as everyone in New York seems to know, is NOT a paparazzo. He is a journalist and an institution.


borrowed from here

There are so many more fascinating things about this man that I couldn't possibly verbalize as well as this film illustrates them. Fashionistas big and small, Bill Cunningham New York is something you'll definitely want to look into.

Pin It

Cool Behind The Scenes of the Marketing for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Check this out.  It also features some of Trent Reznor's score.



Pin It

Little Rock Film Festival's Argenta Film Series - Marathon Boy

October 7: HBO’s Marathon Boy with Director Gemma Atwal

BUY TICKETS HERE

7pm Argenta Community Theater

“An Unforgettable Documentary….Rivals any Dramatic Thriller” Hollywood Reporter

A Tribeca Film Festival official selection from HBO Documentary FIlms, MARATHON BOY is the story of a four-year-old boy who is plucked from the slums of India by his coach and trained to become India’s greatest runner, but what starts as a real Slumdog Millionaire turns into the stuff of film noir: a tale of greed, envy and broken dreams.

Director Gemma Atwal will in Little Rock from London to discuss the film.

http://www.marathonboymovie.com/

Little Rock Film Festival Kicks off Argenta Film Series

The Argenta Film Series is a new year-round film series, emphasizing in-depth discussions on the craft of filmmaking, and will showcase indoor and outdoor screenings of local, national and international films. The complete fall and winter line-up for the AFS will be announced at the opening night event. John Gaudin of the Argenta Arts Foundation said, “we are excited to add the film series to the growing list of cultural events that are happening everyday in the Argenta Arts District. We are proud to partner with the Little Rock Film Festival in support of the creative and talented Arkansans involved in film.”

All AFS screenings, will cost $10 at the door. Admission is free for LRFF 2012 Gold pass holders. Tickets are also available online at www.littlerockfilmfestival.org.

The Argenta Film Series continues the expansion of the Little Rock Film Festival into one of the premiere year-round film advocacy organizations in the American South. “The AFS will bring the kind of world class film programming, featured at our flagship event each June, to the Argenta Community theater all year round,” LRFF founder and artistic director, Brent Renaud said. “We fully expect this series to become a must attend for anyone in central Arkansas who loves film and wants to delve deeper into the craft in almost a salon type setting”. The series will emphasize in-depth discussion with filmmakers and industry professionals from around the world while also highlighting Arkansas’ booming local filmmaking scene.

The Little Rock Film Festival is one of the premiere film advocacy organizations in the American South, promoting the film industry in the state of Arkansas and bringing filmmakers from around the world each June to its flagship event in Little Rock. Current LRFF year round programs include, the 48 hour film project, the Reel Civil Rights Film Festival, and the Argenta Film Series..



Pin It

New Official Photos from The Avengers

Check out these new photos.  Pretty exciting!

Pin It

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT BACK TO TV!!!

News is breaking that Arrested Development is coming back to TV thanks to possibly Netflix and Showtime.  Maybe this will bring Netflix's stock prices back up.  Word is the creator of the show has decided that he needs a 9 to 10 episode run to lead up to the feature film.  Jason Bateman has said that this is all a go via his twitter.  This is exciting news for fans of the show.

Pin It