LAMB Casting Results

Just popping in to... gloat, I guess, over the fact that my picks for recasting All About Eve won! There were some really intriguing choices for who could star in a remake of the movie. But I'm glad mine won, because that means this tricked out photo I made doesn't go to waste. You can read more on the LAMB post.

Pride: New Pulp Cards and New Pulp: The Blog

I am very excited to share with you my latest creative adventure: NEW PULP. This is my new business, started from the ground up in early March 2011, registered with the Ontario government and well on its way to being launched! The whole concept is about consciousness, of your surroundings and the impact you have on them. Based on this I've developed two parts of the business: one side is made of Greeting Cards made from recycled materials (books, posters, flyers, etc.), with crazy graphic designs on them. The business will run like the fashion industry, designing the cards in collections of 15, each with their own theme, and released in seasons (Spring, Summer, etc.). Also, each card is left blank intentionally - I'm not going to write a few phrases for you to sign your name under and pass off to your dearly beloved.

I believe in saying what you mean and not letting others speak for you, which leads to the other half of the project, New Pulp: The Blog. I really wanted an outlet for myself and other creative people to share their projects, musings and discoveries. So far we have approx. 15 authors and a few posts up already! The big launch for the card business and website is set for July 28th (also happens to be my birthday)- the party is at 7pm (location TBA). Should be a great night!

New Pulp Cards - http://www.newpulpcards.com

New Pulp: The Blog - http://newpulplives.blogspot.com

FYE: Janis Joplin Forever

Janis Joplin is a Goddess. She works out her life through the microphone, sings from her core and hits on so many good levels I get chills. When I said before that I wanted Dusty Springfield to REALLY TELL ME that Billy Ray was the only one, I meant SING IT LIKE JOPLIN. What an unbelievable voice this woman has, and the soul to bang it out with heart, and make me fucking BELIEVE Bobby McGee was the only one. Really wish this beauty was still alive, what a shame she died so young. Now listen to that and then try to tell me she isn't fucking incredible:

 

Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee

Gluttony: Poor Man's Food

I am terrible with my money. Saving and investing are two words I have yet to learn the meaning of. However, because I find myself penniless on countless occasions, I have come accustomed to making really inexpensive meals (I can also make an expensive one too, which is sometimes how I end up in this mess!). Today I experimented with PESTO! I recently bought some herbs and planted them in pots, left them on the window sill and after a few weeks of daily watering and great weather, I have some awesome growth! Two of the herbs I bought were Basil and Purple Basil, they smell delicious - so when I found myself out of numerous items I would normally consume, I turned to my plants for help.

Turns out I had two servings of spaghetti noodles that could be cooked (they were over a year old - but still good!!) and some Parmesan cheese (best before date was about March 2010, so naturally I have been continuing to eat it for several months), AND some garlic (I cut off the green part that was growing out of it). I looked up a PESTO recipe and I had all of the ingredients except for the pine nuts. They are expensive, and I buy them for salads when I'm RICH, but gobble them up quickly so they never last long, I used some walnuts and cashews instead (also had them laying around).

This is the recipe I used: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fresh_basil_pesto/ and this is what happened:

 HERBS!

 Wash the leaves and then dry them. Blended them in a food processor with the nuts and then with the garlic and then with the olive oil.

 Then with the CHEESE! I love cheese. Also, cook the noodles while you're at it so everything finishes at the same time.

  

Mix some of the pesto with your freshly cooked noodles. And then die and go to heaven because it's so fresh and creamy and delicious:

 And then I ate some watermelon with Feta cheese. I love cheese:

 

Also, I must point out that Sneaky Dee's on College at Bathurst has the best nachos. Feast your eyes on their KINGS CROWN plate. Everything, it has everything, including orgasms:

Gluttony: Homemade Ice Cream Cake

 This weekend I made an ice cream cake for my sister, Kat. It was her 21st birthday, and she has recently developed an interest in tattoos. Last year's gift was $100 for her to get the tattoo on her side coloured in, and an orchid plant (white flowers, the theme was "what's missing? = colour!")... this year was a magazine for women of tattoos and the cake. Kat had mentioned to me that she wanted her next tattoo to be a Native whale on her leg, so I topped the cake with a fondant whale. It turned out to be a bit warped - the fondant was very soft from working it in my hands.

The rest of the cake was outstanding! I used a Betty Crocker Vanilla Cake Mix and instead of water I used 1% milk. I layered it with vanilla ice cream and RAINBOW ice cream. In case you are unaware, Loblaws has a new collection of ice cream and is marketing the freezer section as an ice cream parlour. Included are flavours like Tiger Tail, Party Cake, Rainbow and other crazy types. Rainbow consists of BUBBLEGUM, GRAPE and BLUE RASPBERRY. You may be thinking, "Um, that sounds like overload," but I assure you, it is just the right amount of sweetness.

After multiple rounds of popping this bad boy in the freezer throughout construction, I was finally able to cover the entire outside with Duncan Hines Whipped Vanilla Icing - holy crap, was it so good. The entire cake ended up being light, fluffy, sweet and creamy: the perfect summer treat to follow a BBQ.

FYE: Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man

I'm really digging this song right now. Wish it was a little grittier, like Billy Ray is REALLY the ONLY one who could ever reach her and teach her - when Dusty sings it's like there could possibly be a couple others that might be able to. I really want her to sound like Billy Ray is THE ONLY ONE, but it still has a groovy-ness I can jam to over and over again.

Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man

Aretha Franklin does a great version too, but I like Dusty's more.

 

Aretha Franklin - Son of a Preacher Man

One, two, three

No, I don't mean the Billy Wilder movie. Just three little things to share.

One, to go along with my last post on 12 Angry Men, I wanted to show this cool pixel art from Andy Rash. He makes iotacons, low res portraits that are amazingly still recognizable. He has tons on his site representing all different people and characters. I really like his Hitchcock series.

Two, another link to something neat. I found an Etsy seller who makes charm bracelets with very detailed book covers. I contacted her about making one with DVD covers, and she said she absolutely could, that in fact she has in the past. How cool would it be to have a bracelet with charms for all your favorite movies on it? Maybe all from one director, or in a theme like Film Noir? What a unique piece that would be, and a great gift for a movie lover! Here's the shop, if you're interested.

Three, some LAMB stuff. You may know about the Large Association of Movie Blogs and how right now it's been announcing the LAMMY award winners. While I wasn't nominated for any awards (and didn't expect to be) I did notice that on the list of all vote getters, this blog was listed under Best Rating System, Best Classic Film Blog, and Best Blog. Now, that could mean I got one vote in each category, but I was flattered nonetheless. So thanks to whoever of you put my name in for consideration!

Also on the LAMB blog right now, there's a chance to vote for LAMB Casting. That's where members are asked to recast a movie with current actors. While I'm not always a big fan of remakes, it is fun to imagine how different a movie would be if it were redone, and who could make the roles work now. The latest recast is for the classic All About Eve, and it's currently time to vote for which imagined cast would do it justice. If you're interested, you can see the lists and vote here. I did put in a suggestion this time, but I can't say yet which one is mine. There's a lot of interesting choices there. I can't wait to see which redux cast will win!

(OK, so I guess technically that was four things and not three. But there's three pictures so I'm calling it close enough.)