Amanda Kenney

While surfing blogs this week, I stumbled upon some lovely jewelry:




To see more, please visit her Etsy shop here.

Sitting Bull Falls

Hopefully this will be our next camping/hiking destination:



It was hard to find large pictures of the place...I found the above pictures here.

Sitting Bull Falls lies just northwest of Carlsbad, New Mexico. "The water of the 130-foot falls is highly mineralized and has deposited a massive travertine bluff that towers over the picnic ground." There is also a cave hidden behind the waterfalls that is only accessible via an appointment with a park ranger.

Here is a set on flickr that shows the falls in a bit more detail, (including the swimming spots.)

Sunday in the Park

From the latest issue of W Magazine; photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. See more from the series here.

Inglourious Basterds

Oh, yes.

Eli Roth was gorgeous in this movie. So was Melanie Laurent. The scenery, dialogue, costumes...all fantastic. It was everything I hoped for and more.

Josef Sudek

Click to see larger:

I adore the picture above. I think the lighting and shadows are absolutely beautiful.









You can see more examples of his work here.

Express

I know it sounds silly, but I was watching "The Office" last week, and there was a comment that caught my attention. One of the managers said, (during a "ladies only" meeting,) "You should dress for the job you want, not the one you have." Lately, I've been wanting to spruce up my wardrobe, and I've been eyeing more professional looking clothing. I know seasons come and go, but I find the recent Express items to be really appealing:










I definitely need a new winter coat; I might splurge and invest in the one above. Visit Express to see more.

By the way, I loved Angela's response to the comment I mentioned above:

"I'm not gaining anything from this seminar. I'm a professional woman, the head of accounting. I'm in the healthiest relationship of my life. I just think it's insulting that Jan thinks we need this. And apparently, judging from her outfit, Jan aspires to be a whore."

District 9

"District 9" is definitely unique as far as sci-fi flicks go. Most movies of said genre either rely on alien creatures being hostile or helpful--these were considered a nuisance. The film is shot like a documentary; we're told the large alien spacecraft hovering above the South African city of Johannesburg has been unable to leave for twenty years, allegedly due to a ship malfunction. The city creates a temporary habitat for the aliens, but this soon turns into a kind of ghetto. The whole thing wreaks of concentration camp. (I thought the movie was better with limited knowledge of the plot, but for a more details, see here.)

What got me most about this movie was the portrayal of alien emotion. There is one part in particular, that I don't think I'll ever be able to watch again. It made me feel so much pity for the character that it was almost unbearable. Is it a sad thing to realize that I feel more sympathy for a CGI alien than an actual human being? I've become rather numb towards human suffering...

Aside from the shaky camera cinematography, the movie is awesome. The special effects are spectacular, and the storyline is intelligent and engaging. I can't say the acting was fantastic, but it was damn good for being a cast of newcomers. It's definitely worth a watch; the perspective on our response to extra terrestrial life is disheartening, but highly probable!

Sarah Silverman by Scott Sternberg

Comedy

I've been watching a lot of comedy movies lately; most of them recent, some good, some...not so good. I thought I'd share a few here:

Zach and Miri Make a Porno: This one was cute. I wouldn't say it was hilarious, but it had it's moments. It's obvious from the title that there are a lot of sexual elements to the movie, but in this day and age, most people are pretty numb toward movie nudity anyway, so I wouldn't consider it a big deal. Jason Mewes plays an interesting part, (considering he's pretty much been "Jay" from "Jay and Silent Bob" forever.) For all of it's perversion, it's a sweet movie, but I dunno if I'd watch it again.

Funny People: Oh my, this one had to have been my least favorite. In fact, it was awful. I love both Eric Bana and Jason Schwartzman, but Jason's character was embarrassingly effeminate, and you have to sit through an hour and a half before you see Mr. Bana in all of his Aussie splendor. Not only was it way too long, but the bits that were supposed to be funny, (ie the standup,) were inconsistent and, well, boring. Great cast, but bad writing! It almost felt like the audience was intruding, which had to be its only redeeming quality--it's realistic depiction of life. But in that sense, it worked better as a drama than it's suggested title.

The Hangover: Everyone I talked to raved about this movie, so I had a momentous comedy built up in my head when I sat down to watch it. I must say that the first half of the movie is hilarious! The main characters are all well written, and the whole idea of backtracking through a long night of partying is a pretty unique idea. It's worth watching to the end, if only for the picture reel during the credits. I was just a little disappointed once everything started coming together...And perhaps that sprung from the build up in my head, but I just felt it lost it's consistently funny moments after about an hour. But I'd watch it again!

I Love You Man: This one was suggested to me by a girlfriend, and I found it pretty humorous. The boyfriend's overall response was that it was "gay," I suppose because Paul Rudd goes on "man dates" throughout the movie, but I really didn't get a chick-flick vibe from it. In fact, I thought it was endearing. I particularly liked the way Rudd's character coined random phrases and words such as "totes my goats." It's a cute coming-of-age kinda story, and it definitely has some great moments.


Role Models: This one by far was my favorite! (And I was so surprised when I realized it was directed by none other than David Wain!) The movie was not only consistently funny, but it was a sweet story that revolved around more than just a typical romantic relationship. It was smart, humorous, and had a great cast, (including an awesome performance by Jane Lynch as a former cocaine junky-turned child advocate.) There are so many great subtle jokes in the movie, that you have to watch it a second time to catch everything. I highly recommend it!

On a side note: I thought it was awesome that Seth Rogen's character wore an "Upright Citizen's Brigade" shirt in Funny People, and then Matt Walsh from said show appeared in Role Models, as well as I Love You Man. Plus Reno 911!/The State actors made cameos in a few of the movies...It's neat to see actors that started out doing bizarre humor on the big screen.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Last night, I tried out the demo for Batman: Arkham Asylum on Xbox 360. I first saw the game trailer a few months ago, and I was a little skeptical, but after having tried it, I'm pretty impressed! The graphics are awesome; great details and textures, with simulated lighting reminiscient of Gears of War and Bioshock. They've managed to pull off the underground, macabre vibe of horror videogames without going overboard. The characters are interesting, and the dark twist on classic villains is great, particularly Harley Quinn! The only thing I'm worried about is whether or not the levels will be unique enough to keep it engaging. You can only have so many parts to an asylum, ya know? Other than that, it looks like it's worth buying!







To see more, check out gamespot.