It’s Thanksgiving morning!  Ovens are heating and turkey carving is put on hold as television sets all over America switch on to watch The 83rd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This Turkey Day event is stuffed with performances and floats meant to showcase America’s favorite performers, as well as shamelessly plug host-channel NBC’s own stars. Case in point- they cut the cast of Glee’s performance once NBC execs realized that they would be promoting a competing channel.

Anyway, I digress. Here are some of my favorite moments of this year’s parade, as well as some that I could have done without:

• Highlight- the digital aerial map that took those of us not too familiar with the NYC grid through the 2.5-mile parade route. Great way to make those sitting at home feel like they are in the midst of the action.
• Low Point- Cyndi Lauper’s performance on top of a giant pink castle. Her hot-pink,tinged mohawk hair hardly seemed appropriate or necessary when she is performing with several young girls below her.
• Highlight- The Broadway cast of Hair kicking off the show with “Aquarius.” Maybe those oblivious Americans who hadn’t yet had the privilege of watching this Tony-award winning cast perform will finally realize what they’ve been missing.
• Highlight- the New Jersey Nets dance-off between kids and seniors. Even though their performance was only about 45 seconds, it was by far the most heartwarming performance of the show
• Low Point- Jane Krakowski’s singing some hokey Christmas song on an even hokier float that served absolutely zero purpose other than to plug her hit show, 30 Rock.
• Undecided- While the Yo Gabba Gabba performance quite frankly creeped me out, my 7-and-8-year old cousins took this as an opportunity to jump and dance in unison.
• Highlight- Jimmy Fallon and The Roots performing a medley of Christmas songs atop a huge electric guitar. It looked like Fallon was having the time of his life. My favorite performance of the morning.

Need something to do while the turkey’s in the over? Keep NBC on to check out The National Dog Show. Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

To my loyal readers,

While I would love all of my fellow entertainment fiends out in the blogosphere to think that my life is chock-full of entertainment 24/7…there are other tasks at hand that need tending to, which, to my dismay, occupy the time that would otherwise be spent writing rants and raves for all of you. So, I figured that it might be a good idea to let you peek in to my interests (albeit miniscule) outside of the entertainment realm. Here we go!

I LOVE:

• staying in when it’s raining
• driving with the windows down
• sarcasm
• memorizing lyrics
• Deer Park sports water bottles
• sleeping with lots of pillows
• taking Body Pump at the gym
• grammar

I HATE:

• when my road rage gets the best of me
• eating chocolate without milk
• not being able to fall asleep
• long waits at restaurants
• doing laundry
• feeling uninformed
• when something I’ve liked for a long time suddenly blows up…like Twilight. Posers.
• not being in town for a concert I want to go to

So that’s a bit about me, readers. Clearly a life without entertainment is no life at all, but hey, call me multi-dimensional. Furthermore, I encourage all of you to share what your life is like when you’re not burying your nose in the latest news. Don’t be shy…speak up!

I extend my deepest apologies if my out-of-the-ordinary post threw you for a loop. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Warning: This Video may contain strong language. There are also scenes of violence, people’s genitals being ripped off and their toe nails being pulled out in slow motion. Then there’s a scene where you can see EVERYTHING – and even more! Be aware, be alert, be careful.

Sono stata assente per un po’…ma ho una buona giustificazione:mia figlia si è sposata.

Guardate cosa mi ha fatto fare!!!

Siccome mia figlia è una testa matta come me, ha voluto non solo che le facessi io le bomboniere, ma le ha volute tutte diverse una dall’altra per forma, dimensione e colore! Che faticaccia…ma devo ammettere che sono stata davvero brava!Che ne dite?

Se volete sapere come le ho fatte contattatemi, vi manderò qualche schema e consigli su come fare!

Last night I attended the Youth Proms at The Royal Albert Hall with my family. My son Ewan – aged 10 was singing with a massed York choir numbering 550 children. Everything about the evening was special – the venue, the stage sets, the meticulous organisation to make sure that everything ran smoothly but most of all the joyous energy of all the children who took part. They ranged in age from 8 year olds to young adults and they did very different things – jazz, brass, choir and dance, to name but a few.

The finale was Land of Hope and Glory with fireworks, hundreds of balloons and huge streamers of confetti.

I shall always remember it.

Bear with me as I try to gather my thoughts.

If you know me, if you read this blog, if you are an extremely perceptive person who can catch the nuances of my writing, then there may be one thing you might have caught on to: I am an extremely passionate person. When I love something…I LOVE it. When I hate something, I HATE it. And so on, and so forth. Some may consider this one of my vices, but I actually like this about myself. I like that I am invested, and I like that I give a damn about stuff. Yeah, stuff.

So where am I going with all of this? I’m going to music. I’ll say it again. Music. Those five letters  make my day what it is and simultaneously narrate my life. When I look back on different moments, I can almost always find the song that was present within them. Music is something that I feel so passionately about and if possible, would find a plastic surgeon who would surgically implant ear buds in my ear and attach an iPod to my hand.

The motivation for this particular blog post is as follows: It is 1:36 a.m. I have approximately one test to study for, two articles to write, three e-mails to send, five TV shows to catch up on and a lovely queen-size bed calling my name. Yet instead of doing any one of those things, I am sitting at my computer, positively overwhelmed by the new music released this week. These so-called tasks that need tending to have floated out the window. And all I can think about are the chills running up and down my arms as I decide if my mother would be upset if the credit card bill said there was a $1,000 charge to the iTunes store.

OneRepublic, Dashboard Confessional, JASON MRAZ, podcasts, playlists, singles, Adam Lambert…and this is all just in one week. How many people can say they love something with this much passion and commitment? Not many, I would gamble. But I am lucky enough to count myself among them.

If you are not a music addict at this point, maybe this blog post has converted you. If you still remain unfaithful to the cause, let me know and I am happy to provide you with a slew of songs that will quickly change your mind. For those of you that may be alarmed at my fervor for music, I apologize. But I assure you that my passion is well-founded and well-invested. If I have motivated just one curious reader to take a deeper look into music and all that it encompasses, then I shall rest easy tonight.

Now, about studying for that test….Oh, who am I kidding?!

Genetically engineer a bull (yes a real bull) that has party favor horns that shoot confetti

This bull would get upset and stomp his hoof and then his horns would roll up and then shoot out confetti and this would piss him off even more until it was an endless rage cycle of confetti, sweat, and party favor sounds (high pitched Brrrr / whirrrr kind of sound)

I have had this thought in my head starting some time in 2005/2006 until now…

NYC was awash today in confetti(and toilet paper) up the Canyon Of Heroes to City Hall. This was the day the City thanked the NY Yankees for winning the World Series of Baseball. People came from far and near to see the celebration and to witness the history-making 27th time champions ride the floats up Broadway.
One only had to be there to see how huge it was. Each player and the Manager got a Key to the City. I wonder what door those keys open! Does anyone know? Well,if you missed it, perhaps we’ll see you there next year!

According to a piece in NY1 news, the Yankees are going green with their victory parade:

Atlas Materials in Red Hook, Brooklyn is donating recycled confetti strips for the Yankees parade down the “Canyon of Heroes” in NY’s financial district.  They say parades these days are much more environmentally friendly than ticker-tapes of the past.

“What we’re doing here today is taking 1,200 pounds of shredded, recycled paper to be delivered to the buildings of Lower Manhattan to start the process of what kind of paper should be thrown from the windows tomorrow. It will all be cleaned up by the sanitation department and recycled yet again. So this is going to be a green parade,” said John Cioffi of Atlas Materials.

From the looks of this pic, lots of New Yorkers will be emptying their waste baskets as well.  Wonder if that stuff will be recycled too.  All in all, good news, but small consolation for Phils fans.   Next year, if the Phillies win, there would be no ticker tape parade in NY at all, just a good ol’ fashioned Philadelphia parade.  Now that would be the most environmentally friendly thing of all.  So, wait ’till next year!

Read more about the production: Syndicate

painting, blue-green 2009-no.02, 16″x20″ acrylic on canvas, by alyse radenovic,  at http://www.aelisheva.com

Filmat på Syndicate Cinematic BNC-R Canon 7D med en  Bauch&Lomb Baltar prime set. Materialet lagrades både på memory card i Kameran men oxå okomprimerat på en mac bredvid. Sedan postades allt i HD för att sedan sändas på svenska biografer.
3D bilen byggdes och renderades i 3DS-Max med  syndicate subsurface scatering render plugin.

högupplöst fil

San Colombano, il vino DOC di Milano

I milanesi hanno il loro vino DOC (forse non tutti lo sanno), viene prodotto a San Colombano al Lambro, da uve Barbera, Croatina e Merlot. La verde collina di San Colombano è un’oasi paesaggistica, rivestita di vigneti, che si trova alle porte ed in provincia di Milano, tra la Pianura Lodigiana e la bassa Pavese.

Il SAN COLOMBANO DOC partecipa al progetto di marchio comune Vino Parlante, che identifica vini di qualità realizzati da produttori scelti per il corretto rapporto qualità-prezzo, per l’impegno nella valorizzazione del territorio e per la volontà di raccontarsi ai consumatori attraverso un’ettichetta ‘parlante’.

L’ Azienda Pietrasanta effettua forniture del proprio S.Colombano DOC ai migliori ristoranti del milanese, consigliando l’abbinamento con i diversi piatti della cucina tipica lombarda. Organizza inoltre degustazioni abbinate a cucina tipica regionale, presso la propria sede.

Domenica 18 Ottobre abbiamo aderito alla Proposta di Enotour a San Colombano al Lambro, organizzata da e presso Cantine Pietrasanta all’interno della Barricaia, in cui il San Colombano DOC annata 2007 e l’edizione RISERVA del 2004 hanno accompagnato, con grande armonia di sapori, preparazioni di cucina tipica a base di funghi. L’occasione è stata allietata anche dalla presentazione ed assaggio di confetti della tradizione campana abilmente confezionati e distribuiti dall’azienda ConLeMieMani di Stapane Lucia & C. da Voghera PV 0383/644182

Produttore: Pietrasanta Vini e Spiriti
INDIRIZZO: Via P. Sforza, 55-57
LOCALITA’: San Colombano al Lambro MI
TELEFONO: 0371/201168
www.cantinapietrasanta.it

Progetto: Vino Parlante
www.vinoparlante.it

AC, ER

A bride recently asked us when people throw the confetti. There is no one answer to this as with so many wedding questions. Usually confetti is thrown at the church before the bride and groom get in the car to the reception. However there can be restrictions as to where confetti can be thrown, and often photographers lead the way so that they get a great picture of the moment.

It is a lovely tradition, but it can also be personalised. You could give young attendants bubbles to blow instead, or gather rose petals or buy personalised confetti and put into cones for guests. The tradition of rice is also lovely and simple, often the best way.

cones- www.notonthehighstreet.co.uk

Our very own Director at Pearl Pictures, Lucy, got married to Matthew Barbour on 5th September this year with an English country garden wedding in Wiltshire. “We wanted a wedding that was truly personal, so chose to have a marquee in the garden where I grew up” says Lucy. “The idea was to start with a very english, country feel at the church and move the day through to a chic and contemporary styled marquee to reflect our life in London, where we have lived for the last 10 years.”. With guests transported to the quaint country church by a red London routemaster bus, Lucy and Matthew opted for a horse and carriage. Once back at “The Chestnuts” the champagne flowed and guests mingled in the garden to music by the “Stickey Bass Jazz Trio”. Once in the marquee the guests sat at tables named after trees in the garden and dined on cannon of lamb with summer vegetables, followed by lemon and passionfruit tart. At 9.30pm, one of the Ushers, Nick, played with his band “The Black Hats”  and the guests danced the night away until carriages at 1am. Photography by Graham Morgan & Jemma Watts.

Guests arrived at church in a red London routemaster bus

The two bridesmaids wore chiffon gowns in taupe from Dessy

Lucy's lace gown was from Caroline Castigliano, while Matthew's suit was hired from R.Scott & Co in Cirencester, Glos.

Fresh rose petals where thrown as confetti

The guests mingled in the garden while listening to the Stickey Bass Jazz Trio

ivory, apricot and pale pinks were the colours for the church and garden flowers

The black vases and carpet set off the "city" look

The happy couple cut their wobbly cake!

So, my family has been known to get carried away. On occasion we have been known to take something silly and run way to far with it. My sister recently discovered a list we made a few years ago while having lunch at our favorite Italian restaurant. We’d just gone to see one of those sub-par superhero movie. (It’s hard to remember which, because there are so many of them). Our conversation drifted from sub-par superhero movies to to sub-par superpowers. The resulting brainstorm session yeilded the following list of superheroes, villains, and a few that we’re really not sure about, all of whom are equipped with mysterious but rather lackluster special powers. While the moral character of your average superhero may range from transcendentally righteous to heinously evil, these not-so-super heroes range from slightly convenient to mildly annoying. Sure, Superman just stopped that missile from hitting a bus full of schoolchildren, but we can all agree that the Temprighture is the real hero of the day for reheating my latte.

Superheroes

• Confettiman: Shoots confetti like Spiderman.
• Genulaughman: Makes courtesy laughs sound sincere to the person telling a corny joke.
• Temprighture: Dips his finger into a drink and makes the drink the perfect temperature to sip.
• Radioman: Can tune the radio perfectly to the station for the clearest signal.

Supervillians

• Tablerocker: Walks into a room, and one leg of every table and chair is slightly shorter than the other three, making it wobble.
• Tiltawirl: Walks into museum, and makes all the paintings slightly crooked.
• The Sneeze: When he looks at you, you sneeze every time you say the word “the.”
• Snortman: When he tells a joke, everyone who laughs, inadvertently snorts.
• Awkward Introduction man: Can’t decide whether to handshake or hug.

Not quite sure

• Caralarmer: Sets of the alarm of every vehicle he walks past.
• Rhymeman: Everyone in the room speaks in rhymes.
• Popeye: In his presence, a faint “pop” noise can be heard any time anyone blinks.
• Gollyman: Every time he points at you, you say, “Golly!”