A Portrait of Childhood Alienation: Sorry I Missed Your Party

Sorry I Missed Your Party is good for chuckle or two to break up the wearisome monotony of the dull work-day (Or for me, dull non-work day. Online job searching and under-employment are mind-numbing and sort of a drag.) The site's photobombing and snarky comments are consistently forward-able and funny! The comments underscore the hilarity in the image, and the carefully curated image provides the precious material for comedy. So, when I checked out Sorry I Missed Your Party today, I expected the typically caustic post, but instead was oddly affected by this heartrending photo of childhood angst. This posting perfectly captures both an image that is both poignant, yet still characteristically captioned with playful scorn that is SO Sorry I Missed Your Party.

Via: Sorry I Missed Your Party

Fabio Seeks Fame and Fortune

Fabio: His food was always uneven, but his personality was somewhat winning. After landing Top Chef Season 5's Fan Favorite, he is advantageously poised to cash in on his fame through frozen-food endorsements and more reality TV self-exploitation. Will I ever tire of the Top Chef post-mortem?

Fabio and his 15 Minutes Via Village Voice

Frozen Pizza Press Release Via PR Newswire

Fabio's New TV Show Via Gossip Sauce

Ramona in Hollywood

For a dorky latch-key girl like me, reading Beverly Clearly books was one of the many ways to pass time after-school, among other activities, such as gazing at anything on HBO, waiting for Cyndi Lauper videos to come on, rolling my eyes during piano lessons, and eating Zapp's dill-flavored potato chips.  So, I was pleased to hear that the Ramona Quimby series of books from my childhood would be made into a movie starring, Ginnfer Goodwin, Bridget Moynihan (Natasha!) and John Corbett (Aidan!). 

Back in the day, Cleary's books were entertaining enough, featuring the daily, guiltless hijinks of Ramona, usually with her friend, Howie, or sister,  Beezus.  Compared to the average Judy Blume novel rife with titilating themes of sexual awakening and puberty, the subject matter depicted in the Ramona Quimby books are less hormonally charged and more G-rated. (ZZZ!)

For at least one book, Ramona and Her Father,  the tenor is pretty relevant for these economically down-trodden times.  The book is specifically about Ramona's dad, who gets canned, and how the family has to cope by penny-pinching and attitude adjustments.   I particularly am fond of one chapter involving nothing in the kitchen pantry to eat, but some pancake mix and eggs in the fridge. So, the dad whips up breakfast for dinner.  How I longed for such a whimsical alternative to the typical spread of leftovers at our table. To this day, I delight in morning meals at supper time...

Video Diversion: Louis CK

This video hit its peak on the interweb a few weeks ago, but just remembered how funny it was yesterday. Comedian, Louis CK blusters about folks who take the wonders of technology for granted. Via VideoGum

Top Chef Update

Season 5 just ended and the producers at Bravo are on to Season 6.... A funny run-down of potential contestants.

http://eater.com/archives/2009/03/eater_exclusive_meet_next_seasons_top_chefs.php

More Top Chef Nonsense

Hosea and Leah sittin' in a tree. Blarg, indeed!

Hootie Boo Hoo!

Carla, admittedly, it took me till about the mid-point of Top Chef Season 5 to realize that you were a true contender. Throughout this crazy, cookery competition, you were indeed the steady tortoise padding along, while consistently picking up the pace with each challenge. THEN, in this whopper of a final episode, your consistent stride came to a screeching halt when ya asked Casey (groan) for directions to the finish line. Sous vide? Why not braise or grill that beef? That would have been a cake-walk for you. A botched souffle? It's the FINALE!! Set the timer!

Personally, I think Hosea (a.k.a Ziggy) greased Casey's palms with some of his potential Glad Products prize money "to help turn her culinary dreams into a reality". I could also tell by his smug-ass smirk in the promo for the upcoming reunion show that he won the title, or at the very least, did the deed with Leah (The promo cut to her with her eyes welling up with "I had sex with a guy and shouldn't have" tears.). But, I digress...

I'm all about bringin' out the love in cooking and being collaborative in the kitchen, but Carla why on earth hand over the reins to CASEY of all people. Hung, Richard, Tifany, I get that...But Casey?? I'll stop whining, I've accepted the fact that you lost. You just had so much admirable talent and peppered the show with your kooky personality that I just had to root for you. I hope someone recognizes your ability and you open a restaurant of your own!

BONUS: Hosea's exit interview must be watched. What a dolt--so grating, yet entertaining at the same time. (Errr...although there is a fleeting, tender moment when he talks about his parents who are ill.) In his exit interview, he postures as a commensurate opponent to Stefan, claiming to have run neck and neck with the Finn! HA!

Congrats to Hosea, you executed the meal better than Stefan and Carla. Hootie Boo hoo!

Coraline

I think the moral of the story is that if you are lonely, bored and feel horribly misunderstood,  seek only temporary comfort in guilty pleasures such as, circus mice marches, personalized topiary, cotton candy canons, Scottie dogs, and mango milk-shakes served out of chandeliers, for fear of being forever banished to some strange underworld with weird, Olde-English speaking, stunted-baby ghosts.  But it's the guilty pleasures that visually delight in Henry Selik's Coraline, a lovely, artful stop-motion animated film. The  precision involved to make the movement in the film fluid and life-like is a technical marvel.  It took days to shoot merely seconds of certain scenes. It's astounding how much care and effort put into the design and blocking of each scene. If you like behind the scenes footage (yay!) and info on how the film was marketed, check out the following links:  

http://toysrevil.blogspot.com/2009/02/50-coraline-boxes.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0msoKWz4MjA

The website was well-designed and creates another world for the film-fan to explore. 

You have to mouse-around a bit to find them, but check out the custom tools. I "Coralined" myself here.  Fun stuff.  Oh, and watch the credits till the end, if don't already know to do that... 

The Class

A french film about a teacher and his students in Paris. Don't expect sweeping scenes of introverted kids, standing blindfolded on a desk and yawping "CARPE DIEM!"--it's hardly that. The verite depiction of the relationships are subtle, yet revelatory about class, culture, language and power. One of the very few worthy films I've seen, as of late...

Fish-sticks!

Fish-sticks, fish-sticks.

Roly-poly fish-sticks.

Fish-sticks, fish-sticks. Eat'em up. Yum. I want this on my mantle! http://gothamist.com/2008/10/09/banksys_village_pet_store.php?gallery14622Pic=11#gallery