jersey shore gone wilde

I am posting this on the off-chance that you haven't yet seen or heard about it--two actors in the cast of The Importance of Being Earnest performing excerpts from Jersey Shore transcripts as if Oscar Wilde had written them.  It is, in short, absolutely brilliant.

Aside from the sheer hilarity of it, I discovered something interesting while watching these with a couple of friends last night.  My companions had both seen a fair amount of Jersey Shore, but were unfamiliar with Wilde.  Their reactions (in addition to manic laughter) were generally on how the British accent made certain quotes sound more or less ridiculous than the Jersey accent.  I was coming at it from the perspective of someone who has seen and read a great deal of Wilde but had never seen an episode of Jersey Shore, and my reaction was nearly always "Holy hell, that actually sounds like something Wilde would write."  Which my companions found extremely difficult to believe ("Seriously?  Oscar Wilde?  I thought he was, like, stuffier." and, pointing to the image of him on the video "THAT guy??").  I suggested they both check out some of this plays.

There are four videos in addition to this one.  Check them out here: second, third, fourth, fifth.

toys and words

On the list of recent things that have really been rocking my boat is the work of Aled Lewis, who composes these genius little scenes with toys and clever word balloons.  Some are available as prints!  (I want all of them.)

the boy amelie

If you love stories of people doing kind things, the movie Amelie, photos, travel, people...basically, if you are a human person with a beating heart, you need to watch these little films.  If they don't completely enchant you, then I seriously doubt you actually are a human person with a beating heart.

Todd Bieber (who is making me rethink my knee-jerk negative reaction to hearing the name "Bieber") found a film canister in New York's Prospect Park during one of the city's big blizzards this past winter.  Seeing as how he had recently made a vow to seek more adventure in his life, he decided to develop the photos and try to find their owner.  Also, seeing as how he is a videographer, he did so by making a short movie about it.  And then another.  And then, after the owner was found, a third and final film.  Because along the way he had made contact with hundreds of strangers, many of whom he met when his quest to reunite the film with its owner took him all the way to Europe.

Watch these videos.

via Pret a Voyager, who probably loves Amelie even more than I do and makes me wish I had the courage to up and move to Paris, too.

new favourite blog

I can distinctly remember the moment, sometime in fourth grade, I think, when I was reading a history textbook, saw a photo of a particularly handsome historical figure, and realized Oh my God, some of the dudes back then were cute!  I never shared this revelation, because at the time liking history was totally uncool and I was convinced that I was the only girl who ever thought a historical figure was hot.  And I somehow continued in this belief, despite going on to major in art history and studying lots and lots of attractive dead guys.

Thank God Bangable Dudes In History has set me right.

Reasons why this is my new favourite blog:

1. History is cool
2. PIE CHARTS
3. Dudes

Do I actually need to say anything more?

clever (and warm!) marketing

How clever is Caribou Coffee?  To promote a new line of warm sandwiches, they've installed some special transit shelters around Minneapolis that resemble giant ovens.  The best part--they're heated!  This would definitely make me want to wander into a Caribou Coffee and sample a sandwich.  It's certainly an innovative way to promote--please forgive the pun--warm feelings.

via Food Beast

funny things, cute things

If this is not the cutest thing you have seen today, I will eat my hat.

via Pajiba, my newest, guiltiest pleasure blog

Also, have you seen this genius video of Josh Groban singing Kanye West tweets?  If not, watch it now.  It's genius.

via dooce

listening to, christmas edition: addendum

Of course this shows up on the web the day after I post about my favourite Christmas tunes.

Zooey Deschanel singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with She & Him partner M. Ward and...Conan O'Brien?  Yes.  It was close, but this has edged the Glee "Baby, It's Cold Outside" from the top of my list.  Now if I could just find a place to download it so I can listen to it forever.

this ain't your kid sister's recorder

Have you all seen this yet?  I hope you have not, and that I'm the one to bring this magnificent piece of viral video into your lives.  It's a guy playing an instrument he made out of PVC pipe.  Let's try that again.  A guy, playing an extremely large and complex musical instrument he constructed.  He plays a medley, and it is no Hot Crossed Buns on the recorder, dude.  Watch the whole thing (I'm looking at you, Mom), and if your jaw is not gaping open by the time he gets to the James Bond theme, then I don't think I want to know you anymore.

Edit: I guess the video's been blocked.  Whoops!  Well, for those of you who saw it, I hope it was awesome.

city hall station

 Can you guess how much I loved waking up to discover this post about the abandoned City Hall subway stop in New York?  If you guessed "So much," you are so right.

The station was built in 1904, but closed in 1945, primarily due to low ridership.  It isn't open to the public, but if you ride the 6 train past the end of the line, you'll get a firsthand view of this beauty as it loops around.  I know what train I'll be hoping on the next time I'm in the city.

Looking at these is making me think fondly of Neverwhere.  Photos by John-Paul Palescandolo.

via Adam

trompe l'oiel is people

Alexa Meade has a way of panting people which is simply something else.  Looking at the above photos, you might think "Sure, they're great and all, but I've seen other artists do similar."  But have you?  Because then you see these:

I say again: Alexa Meade has a way of painting people.

I urge you to check out her portfolio, gallery page, or Flickr portfolio.  Challenge yourself.  I find that the eyes, hair, and surroundings are generally the things that give it away.  But only if you're looking for them.  Because this girl is good.  Plus, she's based in D.C.!  You can bet that I'll be making it to her next show, oh boy.  Here's the statement from her portfolio page:

Alexa Meade has innovated a Trompe-L’Oeil painting technique that can perceptually compress three-dimensional space into a two-dimensional plane. Her work is a fusion of installation, painting, performance, photography, and video art.

Rather than painting a representational picture on a flat canvas, Meade paints her representational image directly on top of her three-dimensional subjects. The subject and its representation become one and the same. Essentially, her art imitates life on top of life.

cluster of worlds

So this weekend, while I was not putting together door posts (maybe they'll get done, but no promises. This looks like it'll be a maybe/maybe kind of week) I dragged a towel out into the yard to bask in the sun and finally read the latest Elle Decor.  There were several things which were marked for "tear out and ogle at leisure," but the most immediate was actually an ad.  Behold:

It's an ad for closets.  But why, I ask, if you really want folks looking at your sleek and pretty closets, would you include that incredible chandelier?

Want want want want want.  Whoever came up with this is officially the coolest person ever.

this week in awesome

A day late, but when I got home and sat down to write this post yesterday, I was distracted by the day and ended up spending the afternoon wrist-deep in dirt. No regrets.

Things I loved this week:
if this braid were a person, I would marry it
in my fantasy someday-house, this pattern covers one dining room wall
wedding party photo turned cartoon--love it
hand-drawn map + push pins = perfection
most adorable skirt ever? methinks yes

A very merry weekend to you all!

photo by lifelovepaper

censorship

Hey y'all!  I hope you enjoyed the little diversion this morning.  I'm playing around with different blogging ideas for when I'm living in the boonies with an internet situation which is currently unknown.  We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, I shared this on Twitter this morning, but loved it so much that I had to repeat it here.  Author Phillip Pullman on censorship, after being asked whether his new book was offensive:

"It was a shocking thing to say and I knew it was a shocking thing to say. But no one has the right to live without being shocked. No one has the right to spend their life without being offended. Nobody has to read this book. Nobody has to pick it up. Nobody has to open it. And if you open it and read it, you don't have to like it. And if you read it and you dislike it, you don't have to remain silent about it. You can write to me, you can complain about it, you can write to the publisher, you can write to the papers, you can write your own book. You can do all those things, but there your rights stop. No one has the right to stop me writing this book. No one has the right to stop it being published, or bought, or sold or read. That's all I have to say on that subject."

Amen.

via Boing Boing

this week in awesome

This is another two-weeker, because the week before last was a little crazy and I didn't get to it. Whee!

the Doggie Gaga Project: love it.
I am ridiculously excited about l.l. bean's new signature collection
when I lived in Italy, all I ever saw were skinny dudes with fauxhawks in acid-washed jeans: where was he?
dying over these wedding rings
can't decide what I like best in this fabulous house tour.  It might be the stove.
there is nothing not perfect about this book cover.
my good friend was bullied into removing a comment from her blog, and the DCist responded with a fantastic post about bloggers' rights.
extreme ironing.  'Nuff said.
the Scott Pilgrim trailer is up!  You have read Scott Pilgrim, haven't you?
INSTANT FILM IS NOT DEAD

photo by Rebecca...in honor of the sunny, sunny days we've had these past weeks

this week in awesome

This Week in Awesome returns!  Feel free the blame the weather for this.  It was sunny, warm, and gorgeous down here (I bought 4 pairs of shorts.  AND WORE THEM) until yesterday, when it got rainy, gross, and cold.  Ergo, blogging!  This is actually stuff from the last two weeks, since I was too ill to blog last Friday.  Here goes!

Did you watch the Oscars?  I adored Carey Mulligan's dress (check out the detail!) and RDJ's bowtie.

You have seen this fantastic Pedigree commercial, haven't you?

I love this handbag my friend Chris discovered.  Visual quirk, ahoy!

Speaking of handbags, I am super jealous of Marley's new camera bag by Ketti Handbags.  I want this one.

If I lived on the Hill, I would totally hire this guy to clean my house.

I made this sundried tomato risotto this week and it was SO GOOD.  I may spend the rest of my life making risotto.

LOVE these Max Wanger photos turned into t-shirts.  LOVE.

Maybe my favourite new discovery is this Collection A Day photography project (see above).  Makes me smile every day.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

this week in awesome: lame excuse edition

I have lots of cool stuff to share, but I am seriously exhausted from my week neck deep in Nancy Drew fashion.  Also my computer is running sloooooow like molasses.  So rather than the usual awesome Friday stuff, you get a photo by Angela Kohler (isn't it great?  I'm in love with that little ponytail) and Kate's fantastic manifesto (which was gonna be first on the list of awesomeness anyways).  Without further ado...

We believe in being glass-half-full sorts of girls.

We believe that often times, granny is chic.

We believe in peddling vintage Schwinns with flower baskets.

We believe in poetry, picnics, and piñatas.

We believe one is never too old to keep a diary, the secrets only grow more scandalous.

We believe in arranging fresh flowers unruly like an English garden.

We believe in adventure and traveling the globe, be it to Marrakech or Malibu.

We believe in mixing lucite with oriental rugs. Thrift store finds with heirlooms.

We believe in handwritten thank you notes, better late than never.

We believe in needlepoint, letterpress, decoupage and forgiving Martha Stewart.

We believe in piggy banks and cookie jars.

We believe in book clubs full of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Austen and Woolf.

We believe station wagons are hopelessly chic.

We believe in recycling our Grandmothers’ names. Eloise, Jackie, Faye…

We believe in collecting: stamps, shells, books, big glittering diamonds…

We believe in marrying the boy that writes us the best love letters.

We believe in highly competitive board games—Chess, Scrabble, Chutes & Ladders.

We believe in spontaneous road trips and charming, chintzy bed & breakfasts.

We believe there’s something to fortune cookies, wishbones and 4 leaf clovers.

We believe in classics, shaken and stirred.

Je l'adore, Kate.  It's perfect!

this week in awesome

a museum of flour sacks? This I would visit.

I learned more in the 3-odd minutes of "Meet the Elements" by They Might Be Giants than in my whole sophomore year in chem.

clever nerdy way to say "I'm sorry"

these polaroid collages are perfect and wonderful

liberty's is coming to target!

love this post about St. Charles cabinets from the fantastic blog DC by Design

you know about Kate's shop, Katie Armour Home, right?  It's wonderful.

"my life by buster" is the best blog written by a dog (and I wish I'd thought of it first)

Have a great weekend, y'all!

(my big news has been put off for a week, but it's coming and soon!)

dodos in action

There is nothing I don't love about this short film about the oddest requests ever submitted to the Getty Hulton Archives--a collection of images and film.  Maybe the most impressive thing of all is that this was a one-man project.  Laurie Hill filmed during the hours when the Archive was closed, and all his cut-outs were made from copies of images in the collection.  The film gives an excellent perspective on the sheer size of the archives, and the archivist comes across as a daring hunter, adventuring through the jungle of a warehouse.

Thanks to Gloria for the tip!

this week in awesome

I adore this mid-century stylin' house tour.  Best part?  The Japanese Amelie poster, hands-down.

Hoi An, Vietnam is evidently a photographer's paradise

Love this article about Victorian personal ads. I'm dying to know if the Suffolk soldier got his lady.

Kate creates more comics based on Edward Gorey book covers with hilarious results

Etsy-Love had some great finds this week!

That's all this week!  I might have some big news next week, so stay tuned!

photo by Rebecca...

this week in awesome

magnificent photos in the Pioneer Woman's shallow depth-of-field assignment (the above is one)

beautiful little film about true love

hey east coasters, if you were wondering what all that snow looked like from space...

this typeface makes me want to put on a bustle and go for a stroll

I wouldn't mind having this big dog hanging out in my yard

photos from polaroid founder Edwin H. Land's personal collection

I never get tired of frames

Have a great weekend, y'all--and Happy Valentine's Day!

photo by Cosi!