Over it

I’ve been out of commission for the past few days (third time I’ve been sidelined by a sinus infection this summer) and haven’t wanted to get off the couch and blog. You can deal.

There is a lot of stuff I need to catch up on but for time being, I’m watching my Bobcats be crushed by a bunch of OSU nuts … As I write, the band has begun to play Carmina Burana. As if I cued them. Great.

Til tomorrow, when I can actually get time together and write a proper post, I leave you with this video, shared by my high school friend Stan.

They have more available at upandoverit.com

unbelievable

The Informant!

Julie & Julia is getting closer but my Mom just showed me this preview for Matt Damon’s newest, directed by Steven Soderbergh.

Looks pretty funny. Now I’m wanting to read the book written about the real FBI informant – Whitaker.

My library list is getting pretty long these days. A drastic change from last summer, which was all biographies, this summer is turning out to be more fiction driven page turners, though they are all still loosely based on real events. Julie & Julia ended up being pretty good. I still can’t believe some of the dishes she tried – every time I think about poaching eggs in wine I start to cringe – why would you ruin wine like that?! … … … … … … … … … … p.s. I hate eggs.

But I am going to try a bit of my own recipe book cook-off – non-alcoholic party beverages to be served at a couple of baby showers i’m either throwing or attending this summer. I’m sure the guy in my library is going to laugh when he sees this next batch of books I’ve got to pick up!

Busy weekend ahead – concert on Friday and another wedding on Saturday with Joe the Photographer – can’t wait! Should be a fun time!

How to get to Sesame Street

101 Muppets of Sesame Street

Between working weddings, working out and just plain working, I’m not getting anything accomplished that I want to.

The laundry is backing up – at this rate, it should do itself – the apartment needs a good cleaning – I should hire the dust bunnies – but I managed to find this today.

Anyone who grew up on the ‘Street’ will recongize some of these characters, but I was amazed at the characters I remember most that are rarely used anymore. And the descriptions of the charaters are great. My favorites are Prairie Dawn, The Letter W and Captain Vegetable.

See how many you remember!

Look Up at the Clouds

Disney Pixar's Up

What a weekend!

Go see ‘Up’ immediately if you haven’t already. And if you have seen it, go and see it in 3D. Now.

Honestly, I think it’s Pixar’s best movie to date; I was in heaven from the very beginning. And the animated short – Partly Cloudy – that plays before is just another testament to the brilliant and creative minds that work for Pixar.

Partly Cloudy

Partly cloudy is a short story detailing how babies are made – by the clouds – and how they make it down to earth – via Stork, of course!

The two characters – Peck and Gus – have a working relationship. Gus is particularly good at making dangerous babies – alligators, rams, sharks, eels, porcupines – you name it – and poor Peck has the task of delivering them.

Pixar’s animation is just so incredible that one doesn’t really pay attention to the scenery anymore – it’s taken for granted – but to see the birds fly against the sky in the opening credit is amazing – even more so in 3D! The story line is amazing with great interaction between the characters – including an endearing moment when Gus attempts to help Peck with a feather loss issue. It’s just over 5 minutes but it’s the little details, such as when Gus gets upset and cries, it results in a storm below, that really make this a gem.

Up was just as great – especially liked that Mr. Fredrickson lives in house number 18 – with the flying balloons and talking dogs, as well as the anticipation of where…

Squirrel

… John Ratzenberger’s voice would be heard.

I also admired how the plot handled the life and passing of Ellie with such ease and grace. It made a moment that you knew would have to happen to advance the plot bearable, though I did shed a tear.

Russell was a hilarious character to use to soften Carl’s heart – he talked nonstop, whittling down Carl’s nerve in an effort to get his ‘assisting the elderly’ badge – the only gap on his otherwise complete merit badge sash.

Since I walked out of the theater, I can’t help but look up at the clouds and dream about what I might see – a stork or a bazillion balloons floating a house away?

What a weekend

Going, going, going, Gone!

Time got away from me so quickly this weekend that I barely had enough to breathe, let alone do anything that wasn’t previously scheduled.

Kristin & Justin, courtesy Joe Appel Photography

Saturday was my first day as assistant to my friend Joe Appel. I got to help him with the wedding photography of Kristin & Justin. Their wedding was in Heinz Chapel (my first time in the space – wow is it pretty!) and then their guests met up at Station Square for a reception on the Gateway Clipper. A great wedding to cut my teeth on as Joe’s assistant.

The excitement didn’t end there, either, as I also got to talk my way out of a towing and parking ticket for Joe’s car in Oakland – something that has never happened to me before – the talking my way out of it, I mean!

Coldplay

Then, after the wedding, I got to go to the Coldplay concert at PGP. It was a really great show with the band coming out into the lawn for a set of Green Eyes, Death will never conquer, and a cell phone wave/Beach Boys tune. It was really quite cool to be only 25 feet away from one of my favorite bands. The light show on stage was great, followed by confetti showers of tissue paper butterflies – a very cool effect.

Coldplay.com has a free album right now – Left Right Left Right Left – which they also passed out at the concert on Saturday – and it’s great. 100% Live. Give it a listen by going to their site and downloading the zip.

Work of Art Awards

Last but not least – or, really, part of the weekend, either – Tonight is the Work of Art awards, hosted by the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council. I’m going, along with a few other Art All Nighters to accept 2 awards for the event. Red Carpet arrival, Awards and an After Party – should make for a great evening at the Pittsburgh Opera!

Hopefully the weather holds out a bit longer and we’re not all rushing the red carpet entrance too quickly – but it will definitely be fun to get to see my Art All Night cohorts one more time before the summer really takes off!

Just killing time

Do you have 2 hours you don’t need anymore?

Seriously.

This is addictive.

And frustrating!!!

Anticipation

Julie & Julia trailer

While I didn’t exactly make it to the movies this weekend, I did manage to watch quite a few previews. Some looked good to me – though some of those choices may not be blockbusters. I’ll see soon enough.

One movie that does look fantastic is Nora Ephron’s “Julie & Julia”. I’m in love with the trailer – especially the interaction between Paul (Stanley Tucci) and Julia (Meryl Streep)

PC: “What is it that you really like to do?”

JC: “Eat!”

PC: “And you are so good at it!”

JC: “I know!”

But I’m more enthralled with the character (or real life person, as it were) of Julie, played by Amy Adams. She’s trying to find something better in life, as opposed to being a lowly cubicle worker, so she decides to cook every single recipe from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking – 524 recpies!

I’m interested in Julie Powell for three reasons. First: I believe her kitchen would have been about the size of mine and that gives me hope; I am a decent cook – when I take the time to go to the grocery store – and my mother did recently acquire Childs tome. Maybe I can learn to grocery shop. And to better use the things in my kitchen. Maybe.

Second: She decided to write (and subsequently kept up with) a blog. Again. Hope.

Third: She decided to do all of this to engage herself from her lack-luster life. Hope springs eternal.

So what does this all mean? Well, I can keep blogging and hope that, at some point, Nora Ephron decides to adapt my blog for the second ever movie based on a blog – which might negate the plastic fast … Or, I can keep chugging away – on my own!!! sans Hollywood – at My Plastic Fast (no more polos, you hear me Karma?) and eventually, move on to my very own bigger and better.

Chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug …

All I wanna do

All I really want to do today is watch movie trailers. I have no motivation to do anything else and I feel this is going to become a trend for the weekend.

I’m excited to see Up from Pixar, but am not happy it doesn’t start until Memorial Weekend. I understand the logic for it, three days of Box Office bliss and all, but when a movie mood strikes and there is nothing to sate it, well …

I guess I’ll just have to find something else in my movie arsenal to keep myself entertained this weekend, which could be easier said than done – I’ve seen all of them before!I feel a DVR clean-out marathon coming on.

Up looks so cute, from the talking dog to the idea of balloons lifting the entire house. I love the scene in the preview of the little girls’ bedroom bathed in colored light from the passing balloon house. It’s just too cute.

It’s going to be an anxious two weeks until the movie opens!

Sand Sculptures

This is just a link to the 2009 World Sand Sculpture Festival. These incredible works of art are on display until the end of May in Tottori prefecture, Japan. Since I know I won’t be making it to Japan within the next three weeks, these photos will have to do, but can you just imagine standing in front of one of these?

The photo above is just one of the 19 “Fairy tales and legends” crafted in sand that you can see here. I still can’t get over the detail. Check out those spires. In SAND! The best I ever got was getting the ratio of water to sand right in my bucket so I had a bucket shaped once tipped over and dumped. And that still took about 15 tries to perfect. Even with the two weeks they give these sculptors, there is absolutely no way I would be able to come up with work like this … Even if I am slightly right brained!

Right! No, Left!

I read Mental Floss every day – which is more than I can say about my blogging consistency – when I found this link on Saturday.

Not that I’ve been sitting here since Saturday working on it, but intermittently I’ve tried to get the dancer to spin clockwise and it still hasn’t worked. By this test, I am left brained, which is to say analytical, logical and detail oriented.

The detail oriented part is right, but I don’t think I’ve ever been told how logical I am – the rare instance excluded. Had I been told about this dancer, instead of seeing it first, I would have bet money that I would only see her turn clockwise, but here I am, days later, only able to see her spin counter.

Upon further research, I found that maybe this test isn’t set in stone, as the few internet tests I’ve found have said I’m extremely right brained. One quiz even went so far as to say I’ve got even use of both lobes. Gee. You think?

I think the reason it is difficult to focus and see her spin clockwise is the lack of shadow for half of her spin. If you see things like I do, when she gets to the “front” of her turn, her shadow disappears. I think if I could see her shadow for the entirety of her dance, that I might be able to spin her the other way. Maybe not.

After looking at lists of what each half of your brain is to stand for, though, I’m alright with about half of each list. I am very good with words and language (a left brain function) and consistently contribute new posibilities within a situation (a right brain attribute) but when it comes to things such as practical (a left brain) and philosophy and religion (a right brainer) I feel like I may not have it all quite together.

All this said, I’ve learned two things: 1. I am neither extremely left brained or right brained. 2. This dancer can make me sea-sick in under 30 seconds.

And on a side note, I’m not really sure how to credit where this came from, so if I’ve botched it, please let me know. The story I read is available here. And I believe the original was produced here