Fun on the Boardwalk

We're all caught up on the happenings of Boardwalk Empire season 3 and let me just say these few things...

HOLY CRAP - when Richard Harrow was laying out his guns I was going insane chanting, "He's back!  Richard's BAAAAACK!!"



I LOVE when Richard gets in the killing mood.  I don't know why.  I think it's because he's normally so quiet and reserved and all he wants is a "normal" life but killing is what he does best.  So tragic, yet so romantic.

After a roller coaster ride with Gyp Rosetti, I somehow, fell in love with his volatile ways.  A man who took things way too personally and went to extremes to fix it was also a bit of a softy in some ways and that, to me, was kinda sexy.  I'm sorry.  Gyp was a crazy fucker but I liked him in the end.  Especially when he broke the glass on that soldier's uniform display and took the hat.  I called that so hard and flipped out when he actually did it.




Gyp was a kind of gentle maniac in the sense that he could be so ice cold and have a total poker face the whole time.  He wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, either.  And his smoky voice was enough to take the chill off.  Read this great write-up about Gyp.  My thoughts exactly!



Gillian can GTFO.  Tommy needed to be taken out of her care since the beginning and that mess with that poor Jimmy look-a-like was painfully obvious from the moment she first said she had to wait for Jimmy to come home (so she could take his money).  I'm surprised Richard didn't say anything.  You KNOW he knew that wasn't Jimmy in that casket.  Well, I guess he couldn't say anything, really.  Gillian had already kicked him out and I think Richard knew Nucky had gotten rid of Jimmy when Richard busted in at the Ritz to deliver some poor henchman to Nucky's office.  Meh - probably even before that.  Who knows - you can never tell with the "quiet ones".

I liked how they dragged out not knowing Jimmy's whereabouts.  Gillian's confrontation to Nucky about how she knew he killed her son was pretty intense and I wished there had been more between them because, after all, it was Nucky who brought The Commodore to see Gillian in the first place and there's all that awkwardly terrible history there...

Billie was adorable.  Too bad Gyp blew her up in an attempt at Nucky and Arnold Rothstein.  I wanted to see the eventual blowup (no pun intended lol) Margaret would've had at her.  And Billie is so preciously quick-witted that I'm sure whatever comeback she would've had would've been hilarious (and extremely bitchy).



Speaking of Mr. Rothstein, how much of an asshole is he?!  Holy shit!  The way he turned out Lucky and Meyer?!  They're just two mixed up kids trying to get a leg up on a good deal!  You can't get mad at them for trying.  And as ice cold as that was, that was a major power play from Mr. Rothstein.  You can't deny that.



Am I the only one who liked Margaret with Owen?  They were so cute together!  Too bad Mr. Slater went out for an errand and was sent back home in a box.  Ouch.




On a much, much lighter note, can we please give a shout out to Richard Harrow for gettin' some much needed lady-attention from his lovely friend Julia.




With all that major shit going down on the boardwalk, I'm glad Richard took Tommy to Julia's - even if her father is a terrible drunk.  They will, hopefully, come back to this storyline in season 4 because I'd hate for Tommy to end up all mixed up like the people he's used to.  He can rise above if he stays with Julia sans her father.  Who knows, maybe her father will straighten out and treat Tommy like his own?

Can I say a few things about Nelson Van Alden / George Mueller?
He bored me to tears with his straight-laced, Bible-reading, Prohibition-enforcing ways.  Even when he ran away and "started over" with the nanny, I was all, "Yawn" but this scene CHANGED EVERYTHING



YES! Finally!!  I was waiting for Van Alden's "gangster" moment because you knew as soon as they started setting up his character from his first second on-screen in season 1, that he'd turn to the "dark side" of the world he was trying to break up.  I was waiting patiently all through the rest of season 1 and all of season 2 but that scene above was THE defining moment for me for Van Alden.

After all that has happened on the boardwalk this past season, I cannot wait for season 4!  I want more Al Capone!  I'm sure Gyp was a vehicle to start bringing Al more to the front and center - the way it should totally be.  I  can't wait to see him evolve into the man we know him as today.  Exciting!

And maybe, just maybe, I'll stay on top of it this time.

Pardon me while I fangirl over Justin Timberlake

While I was watching Justin Timberlake perform "Suit & Tie" on SNL the other night, I loudly declared: "I'm going to buy the shit out of this album when it comes out".



Damn you, Timberlake!  Damn you for bringing sexy back AGAIN!

Here's the official video:

Jack Huston Appreciation Post

You know me - I love me some Boardwalk Empire but because I watch it through the HBO GO app on our Roku, I'm a little late to the viewing party. Most of the time, I don't know when the new season is starting until I start seeing spoiler Tumblr posts - which doesn't even upset me because by the time I've convinced the old man to pick it back up, I've already forgotten the spoiler post.

But I digress.

I'm writing this post because I have a very important declaration to make (which I already made on Tumblr).

I had felt it before when Richard Harrow first made his appearance on Boardwalk next to one Jimmy Darmody (another swoon-worthy fella) but my heart strings didn't tug until we heard that raspy voice and saw his handsome face.



This gentle creature scared the living shit out of Margaret's kids but stole my heart in a major way at the same time. And Margaret was gentle and kind to this masked man, calling him the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz in order to calm her children's fears.

But it wasn't at that point that I made my declaration. Oh no, not yet. It was on Saturday that this realization clicked in my heart.

Sunday would've been Nate's 31st birthday and even though we usually celebrate on the day, we moved it to the more convenient Saturday. Robert suggested Taco Mac - an extremely different choice from last year but the choice of Taco Mac turned out to have more sentimental value than I thought.

I arrived early - like I usually do - and sat under the glow of the many MANY flat screens that filled the spaces above the booths. Most of them were on "Movie Mode" or whatever mode it is to make HD look like the 24 frames/sec of film but there were a few HDTVs that had that 30 frames/sec look - which drives me up the wall. On one of those 30fps HDTVs, I saw this lovely commercial - which, I should add, I've seen before...



Um...HEEEEELLLLLLOOOOO DREAMBOAT. 

Mind you, I've seen some of Jack Huston's non-Richard Harrow photos from various Tumblrs that I started to follow immediately after seeing him for the first time and I'll have to admit - I love the Johnny Depp-like charm that oozes from him.

UGH

Handsome man is HANDSOME.  And he's just that handsome to make me declare my love for him.

Jack Huston deserves more face time (no pun intended) especially with the way he skillfully plays Richard Harrow on Boardwalk.  He has proven he's a major player and I feel like he should definitely have more major roles thrown his way.  I'll be first in line at the theater, please.

After The Oscars

Here we are - at my trademark Day-After-The-Oscars post talking about inspiration and fashion and jokes and all the fun stuff Oscar night provides for Monday morning.

I confess, I didn't watch the end so I didn't get to see Jennifer Lawrence fall - though I saw the video AND the gif - but you know what?  That girl WORKED IT.  The end.  Honestly, my most favorite thing she did was her reaction in the "We Saw Your Boobs" number


Yeah, girl! Get it!

Personally, I didn't get why everyone on Tumblr was STR8 H8N on Seth MacFarlane.  We've all seen Family Guy so we all know what's bound to happen, right?  People were calling the Boobs song "rape culture", "sexist" and all that but all the actresses willingly participated in the song by pre-recording their reactions (including JLAW above).    Someone posted a great comment in the article calling his jokes sexist:
"Why is it misogynist to make jokes that involve women? The punchline of the Jennifer Aniston joke is that she is exactly the opposite of the kind of person that you might expect to be a stripper. The joke about George Clooney is making fun of George Clooney. The joke about Jessica Chastain hinges on our agreement that her character is anathema to the reductive female stereotypes of women cast in romantic comedies and the like. It’s this kind of knee-jerk, brainless finger-pointing that waters down every deserved accusation of real misogyny. Jokes aren’t the problem, whether they’re funny or not. It’s the unwavering assumption that women require constant heroic sheltering from the slightest hint of supposed sexism that makes them out to be impotent, one-dimensional victims. These celebrities aren’t victims, and it’s more offensive to imply that they are than any silly joke a cartoon writer makes."

PREACH!  It's a fucking awards show - people are mean to each other all the time.  Seth is no different than Ricky Gervais or anyone else who hosts.  Granted, some jokes were a little too much but this is coming from the same guy who fucking performed You Have AIDS.

Despite all of that, I thought Seth MacFarlane did a pretty great job.  And people are majorly H8N on me for that via the Tumblr but you know what?  The producers heard the jokes, they approved the musical numbers and all that so they knew what was coming.  The stars were a little upset here and there but you know, they need a little tough love every once in awhile.

OKAY - I'm done.  If you don't respect me for enjoying Seth MacFarlane last night, it's okay.  We're each entitled to our own opinion.

ANYWAYS

I wasn't too jazzed (lol jokes!) at the Chicago performance.  Sorry!  I didn't care for it at all but Catherine Zeta-Jones was FABS.  Jennifer Hudson KILLED And I Am Telling You.  That song always gets me in tears and she didn't fail to have me crying by the first note.  The Les Mis performance was quite wonderful but I think I was more excited about Aaron Tveit's entrance.



Hubba hubba!  He stole the show (and my heart!) in the film and he diverted my gaze away from Hugh Jackman for quite some time.  WHAT?!  It's true.

Since I didn't last for the whole thing, I caught up via E! News here.

There was one more thing that irritated me more that the Seth H8 on Tumblr - it was Quentin Tarantino's win for Best Original Screenplay.  I have a few problems with this.
First, let me start by saying that, as a budding teen, I LOVED Quentin's films.  Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction were wonderful...when I was 15-16 years old.  Then, I watched them with my adult eyes and adult point of view in my 20's and realized I had seen the references Mr. Tarantino had referred to...in other, older films.  Nothing he had made was "original" and I get it - everything has already been done so how on Earth do you update it?  The worst instance of this, for me, was Kill Bill Vol. 1.  Why? That fucking yellow jumpsuit.  There's nothing original about it except in this incarnation of almost EVERY Asian revenge film EVER, it's a woman wearing it, not Bruce Lee.  It makes me sad that most people don't realize that it had been done before.



And don't even get me started on the "Trix are for kids" back and forth between Lucy Liu and Uma Thurman...
What was the most infuriating thing about Quentin's win besides the actual win itself?  He fucking looked like this



Everyone rags on the actresses all over the BEST / WORST Dressed lists and here come Quentin looking like he had started the after party already when he accepted his Oscar.  No. You're an Oscar winner now. Get it together.

All in all, it was a fun Oscar night but dammit, it was long. Like, really REALLY long. Please forgive my rants but I think it's worth mentioning that this is the internet, after all, and we're all entitled to our own opinions. If you don't like something I have to say, please don't leave me negative comments. I'm getting enough of that on Tumblr, unfortunately. Shame on you, Tumblr-ers! You should appreciate difference of opinion most of all!

How did YOU enjoy the Oscars?

Hearts for Marshall Lee

Sorry for the extreme lack of posts!  :(
Things are getting CRAY and I'm trying to get it together so I can blog on a regular-ish schedule...

Here's a few updates:
My weight loss challenge is going pretty well.  I had a bit of a  wagon-falling-off moment this past weekend but I'm trying to get back on - without any excuses!  Although, I know this - I HATE running in the cold so it's working out at work and the elliptical and Gossip Girl in my living room until the weather warms up.

Did anyone watch Adventure Time last night?  It was another cute Fionna and Cake episode.  You might have noticed a super special guest star as Marshall Lee...


That's right - it was Donald Glover!  I loved it!  It was too cute!  And, as always, Neil Patrick Harris as Prince Bubblegum was adorable, too.  It seems as though Tumblr is freaking out over Donald Glover as Marshall Lee.  Aww.  Fandoms.  Gotta love 'em!

Did you do anything fun for Valentine's Day?  I know it was a Thursday but I still *tried* to spread the love around the office with some Hello Kitty valentines for the ladies and Avengers valentines for the guys.  I don't think it worked because the aura is still weird here at the office...
Weird auras aside, Valentine's was good.  The old man and I used that Saturday as our V-Day date and cheat day for  February.  Where'd we go?  Bone Garden, of course!

I took a restorative yoga class with Lauren on Friday.  Man, I needed it!  At work, we don't stay in one position for longer than 30 seconds at a time so to hold one pose for 3 minutes, well, that was a challenge!  There were lots of great hip openers and I think I was able to let go of a few things - even if it was just for the length of the class.
If you're in Atlanta, please check out Sacred Thread Yoga.  They're wonderful!

I'm still working on my super-secret project that I'm hoping I can share with you guys soon.  We have some behind-the-scenes filming coming up and I'm hoping I can release that before the finished product is available.  It's going to be very exciting!

I'm also doing something that's way overdue - I'm trying to get my show reel together and on top of that, I'm also uploading the full videos to my Vimeo and/or YouTube.  I haven't decided yet.  I'll post links when they're ready!  I can't wait to share them with you!

I'm making a doctor's appointment now, to try and head off this cold!  I'll try not to let it slow me down!

Highway to the Danger Zone

Sorry for the lack of posts - work is running me into the ground right now with filming and all...

One plus, though, is this:



That's right, my most favorite movie is on IMAX 3D (for a short time!!) and I went to see it with Heather and her husband on Sunday night. I even convinced the old man to see it with me!  It was AWESOME!!

Top Gun is one of those movies that I LOVE but I never got to see in theaters because I was too young but I am so glad they re-released it because it was so much fun to see on the big screen!  And on IMAX no less!  Hurry up and check out Maverick and the crew before it's over!

Don't forget that Jurassic Park is next in the IMAX 3D experience and I CANNOT wait!!  I definitely saw that one in theaters and it was amazing when I was a kid.  I can't wait to experience it on the big screen now!  It's going to be AWESOME!!

Monday Morning Crafts

What do you do when you're transcoding a large-ish group of videos and the server where your working projects are is kinda down?  Make these cute little 8-bit Valentine heart boxes!

I found this wonderful tutorial through Craftgawker and pinned it for others to share!  Be sure to follow the Minted Strawberry blog because there are lots of other sweet DIY treats for you to try and share!




These will soon be ready to string up and hang once my mythical shelf (which has finally arrived - with a large gouge on one side - thanks Ikea!) is assembled and ready...  And who knows - maybe some lucky Valentines around the office will get one of these cuties next week ^__^