127 Hours

I love the internet. From the comforts of my own home I watch TV, but not in the regular sense of it being ordered through Cox but streamed through the internet to my television on Justin.tv.  There are random TV channels that people have set up for movies, TV shows, personal web cams and every so often you have the gem of finding a brand spanking new movie to theaters. So was the case tonight.

As I was about to sit down and scan some film, I flipped on one of the Justin.tv channels and started watching whatever was on. Low and behold, it's 127 Hours. Having just gone to see James Franco win his award the other night and not having caught his new movie yet, I settled in to watch the story of Aron Ralston. I knew the jist of the story, that without telling anyone where he was going Aron fell into a crack in the middle of nowhere and got his hand stuck under a boulder. Watching the series of events unfold in the movie was unnerving and it mad you squirm to see what he would do next. Seeing all the ways he tried to free himself and actually seeing the technique he used to get his arm away from the boulder was almost too much to bear. Director Danny Boyle did a wonderful job using different camera angles and adding music to each scene to make the one man movie/set interesting to watch. If you haven't already gone out to check out this movie, Go, it's definitely one for the history books.

James Franco at SBIFF

Last night I had passes to go see James Franco receive The Outstanding Performance of the Year award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Despite the fact that I crammed down my first real meal in a week and rushed over to the Arlington Theater to not miss a thing, the guest of honor proceeded to be an hour late to his own award ceremony. 8:00, 9:00, same difference. Roger Durling, the creator of the entire film festival, chimed in a few times during the hour to apologize for the delay and to report that James was actually coming from direct from LA. He was coming from the Oscar's rehearsal because he is a host of the show this year, and also happens to be an Oscar-nominee. Once he was in the building all eyes were on him, lights were turned down low and moderator Leonard Maltin cruised through James' filmography and playing clips of his career's highlights.

James Franco's career started over 10 years ago when he starred in the One Season TV show Freaks and Geeks (Watched a few episopes recently, pretty dang funny). From there he landed the role of James Dean for a TV movie and ever since he's been steadily working. I've seen him in a few movies like Spiderman 1 & 2 and Pineapple Express but found out about others I hadn't heard much about, like a Nick Cage directed Sonny and James' latest venture 127 Hours directed by the super talented Danny Boyle. What's so appealing about James is that he is such a diverse actor who is not at all afraid of holding back with his roles, whether he be a gay man or a complete stoner type which he is the complete polar opposite. He is wickedly smart and down to earth, and did I mention he is ridiculously good-looking? What a dream boat, or Captain of the Dream Boat I should say. 

To give him his award, Seth Rogen come out and said some words about James. "I have never seen a theater built inside of a Mexican restaurant," said Seth of the Arlington Theater to start. He continued to be brash and funny just like in his movies, dropping F-bombs and talking about how many times he's been high in front of Franco even boasting, "I've even blown it in his face a few times and he always just walks away." Overall it was a good speech and great Date night. 

Free Snowboards?

I came across this Blog after someone posted it on Facebook, AWESOME. What's even better is that the conversation that's going on with the store owner in the Blog is from Virginia, which is my home state and have many friends that went to college in the town this happened in. I hope someone I know knows where this shop is and can laugh along with me when reading this... http://www.27bslash6.com/f4s.html

My New Subaru

I can't believe I'm just getting to this now, but last month I became the proud owner of a 2010 Subaru Impreza Hatchback. I hadn't posted any pictures of it yet so I went for a drive with Andrew down the PCH and took a picture for the folks. My new Subie is a sleek sparkle black that I feel suits me well. My last ride was a '92 Oldsmobile, which was a boat of a car that I'd been driving around since high school. My new car is smaller but has the capacity to move what I need and can take me the distance with it's All-wheel drive, soon to be in the Santa Barbara back country off-roading or in the snow up at Tahoe. I need a few more bells and whistles to make it more customized for me, throw some racks on the ride and get some sort of subwoofer and I'll be good to go!

Ask me for a ride sometime, I love to drive!  

I Grew Broccoli!

Ok, so this is my second attempt at growing my very own Broccoli. The first time I grew them in the ground and the plants got HUGE, almost up to my hip by the time it stopped growing. The mistake I made last time was letting it go for too long. Did you know that if you don't pick Broccoli in time it will actually flower?! I had no idea! The first time I just let it go, thinking it would make the Broccoli - the edible part - get bigger. Low and behold... the plant got so big that eventually the little florets turn into flowers like this...

THIS time I had a little container garden and used about a 24in deep black pot. I grew three plants and just harvested them yesterday. Even though these plants didn't get as big as the one's that I planted in the ground, we caught them before they flowered : ) Here's a pic of our plants:

Yay for container gardening! YAY FOR GARDENING!

Coachella Lineup Announced

So here's the Coachella 2011 lineup all announced

Some good ones on there... not so sure about which day really takes the cake for me. To be honest, none of the headliners really stand out at me. When you comb through the fine print there are some good names in the electronic music department. 12th Planet, Skrillex, Mary Anne Hobbes, Boys Noize, Bloody Beetroots, Chuckie, Crystal Castles, Chromeo, Daedelus, not to mention the classic duo The Chemical Brothers are some of the notable few. I don't know, maybe I'm not up on what is popular in music right now but I can't help but be reminded of this poster I saw recently...

To each their own. I'm saving my money for LIB!

Antoine Dodson - Hide Yo Kids, Hide Yo Wife

OH MY WORD. If you haven't been living under a rock the last six months, I hope you've heard about Antoine Dodson. My boyfriend Andrew showed me the news story that first got Antoine noticed. Check it out here and see what kind of character Antoine is:



Ok, Antoine is awesome.You can see why someone would find him such a character right? Here's what a couple of kids created, a remix of the newscast, all auto-tuned and in its fresh new form:



Run and Tell THAT, Homeboy! Ok,  so here's the kicker. After months of knowing that Antoine's song is out there and is awesome, how could it get any better? Oh, somehow it can. Andrew, being super sleuth music finder, has dug up the Dubstep remix of Antoine's song! YES. I love this song already but to unify my two worlds together?! The God's have smiled upon us and now I will share it with you.... check it out in all it's glory :D


Bed Intruder Song (Wick-it Dubstep Remix) by wick-it

Mango with Cayenne Pepper & Salt

MMMMMMmmmmMMMM! I went to get my car washed on my lunch break the other day on the East side when I found myself in the right place at the right time. Who, none other than the Mexican Corn-cart Man, comes around the corner ringing his bell. He drew me like a kid to an Ice Cream truck, so was I to his Corn cart. But a stick of corn was not what I wanted today. I wanted a juicy Mango sprinkled with Cayenne Pepper and salt.

I don't know if you've ever had this but let me tell you, this is the most delicious concoction I've ever had. It's like an explosion of flavor in your mouth! Needless to say, I was extremely excited to track down this yummy Mexican treat and proceeded to snack on it all and get it all over my face. The price you pay for YUMMM.

Photo LA

Man, what a great weekend. Yesterday I got myself down to Santa Monica to check out Photo LA.

I've never been to a photo convention, or any convention for that matter, and wanted to see what all the hubbub was about. Located at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, I really had no idea what to expect. I was expecting vendors and a big bustle of people but it was anything but. The auditorium was a mid-sized building that housed probably 100 different galleries and/or artists. There were a few hundred people there at any given time which was perfect, not too overwhelming. We had a celeb sighting of BJ Novak from The Office. The space was setup to show, sell, and facilitate artists with inspiration and conversation, book signings and artist meet and greets. Before going to the show I did some homework and wanted to check out the gallery photokunst out of Harbor, WA. photokunst was showing work from two impressive photographers, Joey L. showing portraits of African tribes and Ernie Brooks II showing his latest photographs from Antarctica. There's nothing like seeing an artists' work in person and seeing which paper the artist has chosen. It's exciting to see the final product and to basque in the glory of its presence. Here is my favorite piece from each photographer

©Joey L

©Ernie Brooks II

While walking around checking out all the great art I ran into a few wonderful pieces by Nick Brandt. I love this man's work.

 He has the most ethereal nature photographs. It was wonderful see the images large, printed, matted and framed with the subject staring back. It was fun going to Photo LA, I highly recommend it !!

Lucy the 39 year old Cat

My co-worker Joy shared this article with me. A family in Wales owns a cat that's been around since 1972.  "She is great with the grandchildren and still likes to patrol the garden every day looking for mice," says the cats owner. Lucy has gone deaf but other than that, she's in good shape and still romping around. In human years she's about 172! Check out Lucy's story here.

The Lovely Lucy Cat 

Breakin'

I don't know where it came from but Andrew and I watched the 80's movie Breakin' after his radio show broadcast Tuesday night. I've seen Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo but I've never seen the first one. Breakin' is the classic "our kind doesn't fit in amongst the mainstream" kind of movie but with dance. The Venice peeps show everyone how its done out on the boardwalk, but when Ozone and Turbo throw down at the club, another crew takes the spotlight. The other crew's special ingredient? A chick. Ozone and Turbo recruit Kelly to be part of their team and try to teach and meld her traditional dance moves with their new, fresh street moves. After throwing down again, Kelly (dubbed Special K) wins back the spotlight with her ariels and newly learned dance moves. One more person stands in their way from getting a legit gig, but when they show up to the audition and give it all they got, they wow the judges and get to star in their own Broadway-like show. What a great movie, if you enjoy watching dance and reliving 80's style from the you should definitely check this one out. Sweet soundtrack too!

Thom & Pecora

I didn't get to post yesterday because the internet was down at my house allllll day (stupid Cox). Anyway, over the weekend I took care of my co-workers dogs down in Ventura. I've never really hung out with Basset hounds before but man, let me tell ya, those dogs are CuuuuuUTE! Here are a couple of pictures of my new buddies,Thom & Pecora

Cross Stitch Project

FINALLY. Done with this project... Now to find a cute frame for it....

Zombie Fluxx

Coincidently my Saturday had some more zombie's involved in it. I went over to a friends house to hang out and have dinner and after dinner they broke out a deck of Zombie Fluxx. This card game is pretty cool but pretty intense at the same time. It takes a little getting used to and requires a full attention span. The first time I played this game I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty stoned and was just not getting it. Every round there is the potential for the game to change, setting a new goal of how to win, determining how many you can play or even have in your hand at one point. We played two rounds of the game and I won both rounds. I call it beginners luck. No big deal. 

The Walking Dead

My Friday night was pretty mellow. It consisted of finishing up a needle work project I've been working on forever while watching the new zombie show The Walking Dead. If you haven't watched this show yet, you are missing out! As an avid Zombie enthusiast I would highly recommend downloading, purchasing, viewing this show in whatever way possible. Regularly airing on Sunday nights on AMC, this six episode 1st season is pretty impressive for a prime-time show. What AMC allows in terms of zombie killings and graphic content.... A+!! I can't believe they're showing this on network TV! Whatever, I'm not complaining, I'm all for the blood, guts and BRAINS! Plot line is pretty good, I like the cast so far, especially the Boondock Saints guy Daryl and the main Sheriff guy Rick. What's real juicy is the love triangle between Rick, Rick's wife Lori, and Rick's partner Shane.  Set in and around Atlanta, a group of 20 people or so are trying to figure out what to do with themselves. Risk going into the city to find what might be there, or stay put and hope for the best? Check out the show, Season 2 is around the corner!

1st Thursday - Mick Lestrade

Tonight I'm going out to see some art for Santa Barbara's 1st Thursday that happens every month. I don't know all the places I'm going yet but I do know I'm going to check out French painter Mick Lestrade. He's come into where I work to pick up prints we've done for him but tonight I'm going to check out his real pieces. One of the reasons I want to check him out is because he gave me some kind words of encouragement one day. I was kinda down and out and he picked up on it while I was ringing him up. He shared with me the story of how he came to use the eggs he paints in his pieces. One morning he was microwaving eggs for breakfast and they proceeded to explode all over the inside. At first he was upset that they made a mess but after seeing the way they were tossed about the inside of the unit it inspired him to use this happy mistake in his work. If you check out his page you can see how far that idea has gone, and is fun and inspiring to see that a shit situation can turn around and actually be for the best. Excited to finally see his work and excited that I finally REMEMBERED 1st Thursday , it always seems to creep up on me. Here's some pieces by him for you to check out: 

And of course the website if you'd like to see more : www.mickart4u.com

For more about Santa Barbara's 1st Thursday click here.

Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (Matta Dubstep Remix)

Another hot track for you today. I heard it remixed for the first time last night on my boyfriend's Radio Show. Hearing the first "lyric" of the track threw me back like 10 years, thinking about all the times I've heard this song in passing and instantly knowing the words. I really like what the artist has done with the track, super mellow and a little deconstructed and done Beauuuutifully. I love, Love, LOVE it! Don't let it get stuck in your head like it did to me! Or do....? : )

 Suzanne Vega - Toms Diner (Matta Refix) FREE DOWNLOAD by Matta Music

I really enjoy Matta by the way. If you like what you hear check out another cool track by them, "Closer"

Phaeleh - Afterglow Feat. Soundmouse

I've had this tune stuck in my head since I heard it on Dubstep.fm during JVIZ's show, New Years Eve morning. Its the perfect tune to start your day out with... or even your year. Enjoy xo

TODOR & PETRU

My coworker Emily and I were hanging out by the Mac like we usually do, skimming the news and sharing music, when she started telling me about this rad music video she had watched recently. She described it as this crazy Drum and Bass meets Hip Hop / animation video... I wasn't really sure what to expect, except what I've seen with the Gorillaz, so I had her bring it up and checked it out. This video is RAD, the animation is original and fun and is illustrated perfectly for what these dudes are doing. Kinda reminds me of Die Antwoord at first but I'll let you decide...

TODOR & PETRU from CRCR on Vimeo.

Sick vid though, right? Fuckin Frenchies do it again... !

First Day of the Rest of My Life

I've had this idea brewing for a little while now, that once a day I would Blog about something that caught my eye, or my ear, found interesting, or whatever. A little something every day should add to a fun collection of random thoughts and ideas, eventually culminating into a visual web of what my life entails.

I didn't get to Post yesterday but I started off 2011 by doing something I've never done before, driving up the coast on Highway 1. It was nice to go somewhere I hadn't been before, to see something for the first time. We drove through Lompoc all the way up to Pismo Beach. Did you know you can drive out on the beach there for $5? We didn't this time, didn't want to get my new car all wet and sandy. Maybe next time...

A couple of pics to share: