'Up in the Air'

Yes, I am on a roll here.

This is the legit movie that Anna Kendrick aka Jessica from the Twi series in. With George Clooney, the director of Thank You For Smoking and Juno, and Oscar buzzing... this is a win.

SUPER DELICIOUS

And this is the genius ad that had us all calling everything "super delicious".

Yes, I do watch too much tv. It's research.

BumpIts - As Seen on TV Network

For my darlings abroad / who don't watch TV, here is a bump it. Yes, it is the most hilarious invention since the Snuggie (now available for dogs). I know a girl who has one, and it actually looked ok.

I DIY'd a bumpit the other night out of one third of a paper towel roll. On the third attempt, it looked pretty great. But definitely could not go out knowing there was a recycled cardboard tube giving my hair its body. Because it would probably fall out.

Bangs

So in the end, I did get bangs. Half out of love for bangs, and half out of a desire not to maintain the brows.

This is me playing with photobooth at work. I chose the thermal effect because then you can't see how deathly grey my skin is in natural light. Instead, you can see how oily my nose is.

Anyway, note that I am wearing a headband. Most days I have to wear a headband, or hair pins, or have it up, or back comb it, or have it curled... So I can look like this:

(And OMG, isn't Lily Cole super adorable / delicious here?)

And not like this:

Or:

Which I do, if I just brush my hair and do nothing else. Am seriously contemplating investing in a Bump It, so as not to have to spend so much time / stolen hair products on back combing. Not sure if I could suffer through the humiliation.

Thoughts?

Work Woes

Today my boss pretended to stab me with my scissors in a Psycho-esque manner. Then he put them in my coffee cup. Looking confused as he spotted my pen holder right next to it, he asked "Wait... does this not go in there?"

"No," I responded. "That's my coffee."

Embracing English Roots

In the last week, I watched 2 indie films (which I believe were pretty mainstream in the UK), and zero blockbusters. (I have absolutely no interest in seeing 2012, for some reason. Oh, probably because I think that John Cusak and Amanda Peet are the most irrelevant has beens to cast as romantic leads in any film after 2004. Don't get me wrong... I loved John Cusak... when I was 10).

The Boat That Rocked (Or, to American Audiences: Pirate Radio)

I have been anxiously awaiting this one since I saw the trailer when I took my 15 year old brother to see the Hangover as an attempt to buy his love back after not picking him up at the airport.

Anyhoo, what's not to love? The peeps from Love Actually (which I made NB watch in prep for both this and Christmas), with particular hearts to Bill Nighy. Jack Davenport, aka Steve from Coupling, who is showing up everywhere these days, most notably Flash Forward...

...And that hottie mc hot hot, Tom Sturridge, who you might remember from previous posts as being the hottie son from Being Julia, Robert Pattinson's bff (apparently he was sleeping on his couch in NY?) and also from briefly dating Camilla Belle. (Side note: on LaineyGossip, she had a hilarious posts about "why is?" and one of them was Camilla Belle which I thought was dead on). Except Holy Mutha I thought he had a monobrow when he first came on. But it's ok, it was just his greasyEnglishboy mop of hair.

Thoughts on Talulah Riley? I just can't decide on her. She was in St Trinians, which I loved, but I didn't love her. She was in Pride and Prejudice (the Kiera one) as the sister that no one remembers. She was in a little movie with RPattz (there's that cinema incest...) which I didn't see but she looked annoying in. She was the love interest in this. IDK. She's ok. She's pretty. I feel like she's one to look out for, if anyone is interested. Bet you she makes it big.

Oh. Right. The film.

The plot: A bunch of dudes operate an illegal rock and roll radio station from a boat in the English Channel and have to thwart the government peeps who try to shut them down.

I liked it, it was hilarious. The dialogue was super snappy, and it was really fun and campy. I had some issues with the story... it was just kind of like... whaa? The whole bad guys trying to shut down the radio thing felt like it was just thrown in to give some kind of structure to the happenings on board. Most of the attempts by the bad guys were shut down by a line from Bill Nighy ("Well, I hired this awesome DJ, so our sponsors will give u

s money from abroad since it's illegal in the UK..."). But whatever, who really cares about a little thing like emotional investment in the plot? I'm just rooting for the boy to get laid.

Although I did cry in the end. NB hinted that he might have gotten misty-eyed also. Here's a hint: they might have borrowed some shots from Titanic and The Perfect Storm. Yeaaaa.

~

An Education

LaineyGossip told me to watch this, and apparently I take whatever gossip blogs say to their millions of readers as personal messages à moi. Oh, also I saw the trailer on iTunes and it looked trés bien.

At first I was hesitant about Carey Mulligan, because I think she looks slightly lesbionic with her new haircut for Wall Street 2, but now that I've seen the film I'm thinking she is way too awesome for Shia. Not that I don't love him. But... I love her more.

Jenny, a swotty 16 year old trying to get into Oxford, decides that school isn't that awesome when you can just marry a rich, exciting older man.

I loved this movie because Jenny was so so so real. At the beginning of the film, I was like ugh, she is so much cooler than I was because she's clever and witty, and drops little bits of french into her speech, which I remember being the thing to do at that age but my accent was always dreadful. Hers is perfect.

Then she goes out with Peter Sarsgaard's friends, and meets Helen who is all sophisticated and chic and does her hair and wears jewels and in real life was a Bond girl one time... and Helen says she got her fur from King's road, and Jenny says something like "c'est trop cher pour moi." Very subtle, I like it. But Helen looks at her like she is a complete alien and goes "What did you say?" and Jenny says "I said it's too expensive for me." and Helen says "No you didn't." and Jenny says "I said it in French." And Helen says...

... Why?

And it is like whooosh you are a little embarrassed girl, and it's not like Helen is being rude, she is just genuinely perplexed. I was right thurr with Jenny.

Also later at dinner, Jenny gets all excited about the art and has a burst of enthusiasm and gives her very adult, flippant view on art, and they indulge her and make it so so clear that she is such a child playing grown up. And her man would tease her about being so bourgeois while doing ironically bourgeois things like drinking champagne at dinner and going to auctions.

Anyway, those were my two favorite moments. And also this white and red dress that she wears.

Also love: Olivia Williams as her teacher, and Emma Thompson as the head mistress. This was set in the 60s, by the way, which was interesting because the only thing women could do with a degree was go into public service or teach, and it was pretty normal to be insanely racist...

One thing I did not love: again, the plot was a little weak, or rather the overall lesson was. It was basically one big PSA to stay in school and not have sex. Um, that might clue you in on how it ends.

Hmm. It seems Emma Thompson shows up in both of these. Also bangs, which made me very analytical of my own. More to come on that topic. I also found myself sounding more English for a good half hour after... then I lost it again.

Speaking of Gossip Girl

Eeeyoh, the two main girls in the Plasticines have adorable desirable enviable hair. I think it's time to get my bangs back.

Anya Marina - Whatever You Like cover (Gossip Girl)

This was on Gossip Girl on Monday and gave NB and I a good case of the giggles.

I know, I am on a blogging spree.

If You Don't Already Love Quinn Fabray...

You should now. Know that my roommates and I once spent an entire drunken evening doing this song and dance around Korea Town. It was really ugly.

Girl Crushes

1. Olivia Thirlby

Have loved her since Juno. Saw New York, I Love You last weekend and while I can't say I appreciated all of the films (uh... someone please explain the Shia one to me), I loveddd her in it with that dorky kid from Star Trek and the newest Terminator.

2. Dakota Fanning

Already expressed my adoration for her pretty recently, but her Teen Vogue shoot was BEAUTIFUL. Tell me her eyes weren't retouched. I'm excited for Joan Jett and the Runaways, and also for New Moon. She is the perfect Jane, with that creepy perfect child star face.

3. Diana Agron

Oh Quinn Fabray. How can anyone not love her? She's pretty, and skinny, and hilarious. And she can sing. 'Nuff said.

4. Candice Accola

Vampire Diaries is a dreadful show full of bad story and cheap rip offs of other vampire things that shall remained unnamed. Saving grace: Handsome boys and the hilarious things that Caroline says.

Oh wow, also, she was in Juno as the female lab partner. Was she the chick who had to go lie down in the nurses office who was bitching at her boyfriend for having a wine cooler at his brother's frat house? My love deepens.

5. Anna Kendrick

I know, I should be ashamed, 2 of the Twilight chicks made it on here. But she cracks me up every time I see Twilight. "Oh... you're so... funny... heh..." and "She's right though, my boobs do look awesome in this."

And apparently she is pretty legit in whatever real movies she has coming out between the Twilight saga stuff. Am excited.

Hmm... It would appear that other than D Fanning, all my girl crushes are the pretty, bitchy, occasionally bimbotic frenemies. Can't help it, they get the best lines.

Other mentionables: The Emmas: Watson and Roberts. I will always love you both. KStew, I love you but just not quite as much.

Lady Gaga - Still Bat Shizz Crazy

This video is like the 5th Element meets Thriller meets Alien meets several BSB vids (Backstreet's back? ALRIGHT!).

Weird - the shoes she's wearing at 3:30... I swear I read a blog yesterday with the python ones saying that Lady Gaga will probably fight JLo to wear them first. I guess Gags won.

Perspective - very small tree = far away?

A few years ago, there was a PSA in Singapore that encouraged looking away from your computer every 45 min and out to some greenery in the distance. It's meant to rest your eyes or some balls. The only window I can see from my desk is behind me and all I can see through that is a wall. Solution:

My daddy bought me a bonzai tree and book on bonzai care for either xmas or my birthday quite some years ago. At the time, I was like whytf would you think a teenaged girl would want this small tree thing over something like say a bottle of tequila? The maid took care of the tree for a while, then she left and it died and the next maid used its little pot to grow some other crap in it.

When my eyes started to ache after two hours of being a working woman, I remembered both the PSA and the bonzai incident. Taking advantage of my papa's fondness for buying me doodads, I requested another bonzai and he obliged. My theory is this: When you look out a window into the distant trees, they seem very small. Perhaps I could just have a very small tree placed closer, to give the illusion of large trees in the distance.

One problem: Small pumpkin has been displaced and now sits sadly on a pile of scripts.

Candle in the Wind

Speaking of smelly things, I bought a scented candle from the cute little store across the street - Jonathan Wright and Company. That is not a very cute name for a store, am disappointed now that I have checked the receipt. But they had a cute little poodley dog running around that looked like a very small lamb with a bald patch on it's rump. And their website is cute. So I guess it's ok.

My tropical chutney or whatever from Bath and Bodyworks has been running down, and as I said, NB has very smelly farts, so I decided I needed to invest in a new candle. I only like citrussy ones, don't ask, just personal preference. This is 'Goji & Tarocco Orange' by Voluspa and it smelt quite delicious, but now that I have it lit I can barely smell it at all.

Still, at least it is brightening up my lonely office and keeping my mini pumpkin company. When is the appropriate time to throw away a mini pumpkin? Should I keep it through Thanksgiving? It doesn't seem to be rotting yet.

*Update -- two coworkers have said that my office smells rocking the stockings so I guess it's just my nose. *

Sprouts

Here is my champion weekend purchase from Trader Joes. I don't even like brussel sprouts but it was like $3 and who knew they came on a vine and were such freaks?

Roasted with EVOO, salt and pepper... for an hour... on 400F. A bit of a failey fail, the house was very hot and the outsides were a little black and the insides were a little raw and the stalk did not cook at all even after another 20 min sans sprouts. That was sad. In the end, we should have just plucked em off and roasted them so they would be cooked evenly. But that seems like such a waste.

Now everyone is farting sprout farts, which are similar to cabbage farts but stay in the air longer.

Oh, yes, that is NB in the background. He bicycled all the way to LA from Washington state. I know, what a crazy. Now he is all hairy and all his clothes have holes and his shoes are smelly and actually orthopedic shoes for elderly women. My receptionist is going to queer eye him this weekend.

Bring on the Waterworks

Bad news guys.

Nicholas Sparks + Army movie + Handsome Man + Karen from Mean Girls = Tears for SURE x I'm a mouse, duh.