Hello My Friends:

Hopefully I got to see many of you on my Sticky & Sweet travels. While I’m happy to have more time to breathe and sleep, I miss my touring family. Sometimes I have to remember that I won’t be seeing them for afternoon rehearsal and the big show. It was great visiting countries that I’d never been to before and of course returning to lots of my favorite places.

I’ve just finished a script for a film that I hope to make next year. Its working title is W.E. It’s two love stories intertwined together. One is about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and the other is a fictional story of a woman searching for love. That’s all I am going to reveal at the moment. Stay tuned for further info on this.

I am just back from Malawi and Brazil. Was so exciting to see the results of many of the projects that are underway in Malawi and to see first hand the improvement in the lives of the children that we have all grown to love like family. I’m especially looking forward to watching the building of the Girls Academy which hopefully will give a new meaning to girl power and produce the future leaders of Malawi. Thanks to all of you who contributed n the matching donation program, and feel free to keep helping in any way you can. You will be hearing more about the programs in Brazil in the near future, I look forward to sharing that endeavor with you all.

Earlier this month I got to work with one of my favorite photographers, Steven Klein. We did a photo shoot for the next Dolce & Gabbana women’s campaign – it’s always an adventure when I work with Steven.

Lastly, thanks to everyone for helping CELEBRATION reach No. 1 in so many countries. It’s a wonderful reminder that my fans continue to celebrate music – old and new – and I can continue to inspire people to dance and dream. To quote the great Stevie Wonder from “Sir Duke”, “Music is a world within itself. It’s a language we all understand. You can feel it all over.”

Blessings to all of you

Love Madonna. [SOURCE]

Aww, I miss Madonna as well, I’m still listening to her greatest hits CD, while I wait for the tour DVD and a new album  to come out

Hurry and Justify My Love Madge 

Hard Candy

Serves:for days

CarbsPerServing:0 carbs

Prep Time:3 minutes

Effort:Easy

Ingredients:

Jell-O 1 large package

1/2 cup of water

8 gelitine packages

How to Prepare:

mix jello and jelitine in bowl add water will not mix well at all but do your best..put on medium heat until melted. Take off heat.what I do is freeze it in the bowl I mixed it in until hard (5min).Remove from bowl and cut into picese.. wait a few days it will get harder and harder…Lasts a long time and gets harder and harder from the air.. lasts for days

These paintings were initially inspired by the contrast between tough and sweet. I wanted to challenge traditional ideas of masculinaty. I painted these over a period of almost 3 years and am hopefully gonna develop this concept further in future.

Hello there. I’m Kristin. I thought I’d try out this blog thing. Not really for anyone to read it, but for a cool outlet just for me! If you want to read it, then that’s cool too. I guess I’ll just write about my life to start out. Hopefully I’ll find a theme or something.

So I’ll just tell you about the things that I’m into at the moment. I will be including, of course, the internet! I love the game Jelly Battle! Have you ever played it? You should because I bet you cant beat me. I have one more rank to go until I get to the top! I know that sounds really nerdy, but at least I’m not into World of Warcraft. I’m just kidding to all you WoW fans, but I simply just don’t get the obsession. I used to play it actually. Come to think about it, I was a bit addicted to it, but look at me now! I’m a functioning member of society. How nice for us all.

I am a General. I want to be a Field Marshall!

So let’s talk about the music I am currently into. I love indie rock music especially the soft acoustic stuff, like Fleet Foxes, Blind Pilot, and, most recently, Horse Feathers. I’m really into guys with bears for some unknown reason. Actually, I can think of a reason because I’m a psychology major and we learn a lot about these weird theories, but that’ll be for another time. So, anyways if you have a beard, you’re cool with me.

I think he's a cool guy...he has a beard...

The most recent movie I watched was Hard Candy with Ellen Paige. It’s a decent thriller, I thought. If you like movies that make you follow the storyline really intensely, then I recommend this movie to you.

Well that’s all I got for now! See ya!

-Kristin

I had planned to do some firework themed nail art for you today, but to be honest, it turned out a bit kack so I didn’t bother in the end! Maybe next year!

A quick history lesson for those of you who may be unfamiliar with British culture. In 1605, a chap called Guy Fawkes was discovered in the cellars beneath the Houses of Parliament with a shed-load of gunpowder, in an attempt to blow up the King and anyone else who happened to be there at the time. He was caught before anything happened, and along with his fellow conspirators, was hung, drawn and quartered (the worst punishment of the age).

So ever since then, it has been a British tradition for children to make a full sized “Guy” - basically a dummy wearing old clothes and stuffed with newspaper. The children would then wheel the Guy through the streets, asking passers by for a “penny for the Guy”. You don’t see so much of this these days as it seems to be a dying tradition. In the evening, the Guy would be placed right on top of a massive bonfire and set alight. Nice eh?

These days we have less of a “Wicker Man” mentality and more of a love of a good firework. During this week, you can hear fireworks going off all over the place, and most towns and villages have some form of an organised display. The ritual is meant to serve as a reminder that Guy Fawkes failed in his mission to blow up the Houses of Parliament, but it’s generally a good excuse to stand in a field, eat hot dogs, drink beer, and oooh and ahhhh over some pretty fireworks. We’re going to a massive display on Saturday and I can’t wait. A firework display, that is, not a burning effigy. I hope.

So, onto some varnish. Hard Candy’s Mr Wrong, in fact. This is one of the polishes I got in my swap with Beauty Judy and I could not wait to try it out. I never had any Hard Candy things when it was trendy a few years ago. No idea why – I was more into Bourjois and Urban Decay, I think.

There was a flurry of excitement when Hard Candy returned to the polish world last month. And I can see why. I am devastated that this range is destined to be a Wal-Mart exclusive, at $5.00 a bottle. Wal-Mart may be one of the biggest retail outlets in the US but we don’t have them in the UK, so I am planning on bombarding Hard Candy with emails til they give in and start selling it here.

Because it is beautiful. This is an unbelievably amazing Precioussss Slink polish. I haven’t stopped looking at it since I put it on, and it has done four days with no chips or tipwear. Perfect.

A foily silver, this also has gold and purple shimmer meshed into it, and flashes all different shades depending on the angle and the light. Application was absolutely perfect and this was two coats. It dried fast and wasn’t gritty at all. I adore it and it is hands-down the best polish I have used in the last few months. Straight into the top five favourites of all time! I need back-ups!! So if any US readers happen to spot this in Wal-Mart and are feeling generous enough to send it my way, I will be eternally grateful. 13ml is  not going to last me long!

In fact, it is so cool that even Adam from Illamasqua (MUA to the PussyCat Dolls, no less) ran over to ask me what polish I was wearing when I was visiting the counter last week. Fabulous!

Hard Candy (2005).

Si  bien la película dejaba que desear en muchos aspectos, Ellen Page era, precisamente, lo más destacado de ella. Bajo la apariencia de ingenua pero sofisticada adolescente, amante de las, uhm, deliciosas tartas de chocolate, se escondía una caperucita roja que había aprendido a invertir la jugada del lobo, y convertirse en una dulce y perversa vengadora: Su aparente condescendencia final con el hombre al que tortura se revela como el más pérfido y cruel plan de los posibles. Una falsa redención. Por su crueldad, inteligencia y belleza púber consigue ser mi escogida.

Pero qué demonios…

Seamos sinceros, vamos. Fue culpa tuya, Ellen. Nunca te hubiese elegido la reina absoluta de mi Halloween si no me hubieras llamado temblorosa, embaucándome bajo tu supuesto candor. Llegaste a mi casa tan ávida de Eros y Thanatos que sólo la mitología griega podría compararse con la noche que pasaste en mi cubículo londinense, que había mutado en la ciudad de los muertos vivientes. De aquella noche permanecerá en mi memoria de fantasma tu obra maestra : Tu vestido ensangrentado, y la sardónica y retorcida sonrisa que me clavaste mientras me enviabas al infierno. Feliz Halloween.

- Por Satanic Salanova.

Just because they look so uber cute! =P

Stila 24kt Luxe Lipgloss in “Brilliant Pink”

Stila Convertible Lip Color in “Rosette Bloom”

Pop Beauty Ribbon Gloss in “Pink Ribbons”

Smashbox Limited-Edition Tokidoki Lip Gloss in “Drammatica”

Hard Candy Lipgloss Keychain

Hope none of them goes out of stock.
Only Hard Candy is not available in Sg and even if they are available like the others, I think they’re much cheaper. Too bad the spree has a cap, else….Hiak Hiak…

A few days ago I purchased some of the new Hard Candy cosmetics at Wal-Mart! Here are my impressions of the line so far…

Hard Candy Walk the Line liquid eyeliner in Night Sky:
Night Sky is a grey eyeliner with multi-colored glitter. It takes a long, long time to dry. It may flake off even with eye shadow primer underneath it. I really wanted to like this product, but probably won’t repurchase this for everyday wear because I can’t be certain that it’ll last all day.

Hard Candy Kal-eye-descope baked eye shadow in Break Up:
Break up contains two colors: a champagne-golden cream color, and a golden olive color with gold glitter. It retails for $6.00 at Wal-Mart. When used dry with an eye shadow brush, the color is quite sheer. When applied dry with fingers (as in the swatch), the colors look great. When applied wet, the glitter and shimmer really stands out. I personally think this product looks best when applied with fingers. There is decent length of wear when used with Too Face Shadow Insurance (I always use eye shadow primer). The Kal-eye-descope eye shadow is a nice product overall.

The packaging on the Hard Candy line is really cute. Their Wal-Mart line is very glittery in general, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing if you don’t wear glitter often but want to have some on hand without paying almost $20 for some Urban Decay or other high end brand.

Next on my list: I’m hoping to try their plumping glosses (I’ve heard they’re much like Bare Escentual’s Buxom glosses, which I adore!), their blushes, and their lipsticks.

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Wow. Truth be told, I was worried that my 24th birthday wouldn’t be special, since I was in a new area and still getting my feet wet. But it was tremendous!

I had class, of course, but it seemed representative of what my life will be in the future. Cadaver stuff in the morning, much like surgery. MD/PhD meetings and classes, much like research meetings. But interspersing the normalacy were Facebook posts throughout the day, as well as birthday wishes from a few classmates who knew from Facebook that it was my birthday. Guys, I know it was really simple, but you have no idea how much I appreciated it. Those of you I hugged in response might have some idea.  

When I got back home, my housemates had baked my favorite cake: a devil’s food cake with vanilla icing. They also gave me Mint Milanos and pocky, a snack that will be on my Things I Like list. How they can know me so well after having lived with me two months still astounds me.

My family sent birthday cards, iTunes gift certificates, birthday letters, Powerbars for studying, cinnamon sugar (a guilty pleasure) and the game Wii Sports Resort. Very awesome indeed. They weren’t the only ones. My community group from Trinity Presbyterian Church sent me another awesome package, containing Mint Milanos, trail mix, sugar-free Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip-flavored hard candy, superglue, popcorn, some nutrition bars, an assortment of soft chocolate candies and a very lovely birthday card.

And then there’s David Ferrell. In a previous post, I commented that he always gives a tremendous gift. He did so again this year, with an Amazon.com wrapped present (shown above) containing a DVD box set of Batman The Animated Series, Volume 2. He sent this because naturally, he knew I had Volume 1.

***

As I look back over the people who took time to wish me a happy birthday in big and small ways, I’m impressed by the range. New friends and old friends. Immediate and distant family. College and med school classmates. People who I’ve hurt who nevertheless treat me better than I deserve, and people who are as close to me as family. 

Everyone can have surface level friends, but they disappear once you leave them. I’m blessed to have this many real friends remember me. Thanks so much, guys! You all are wonderful!

Josh Pothen (UVM’s Meager Med Student)

Donate $1 to The Meager Med Student!

What a lovely parcel to cheer me up on a miserable day!

This must be the fastest swap in history. Judy and I have been chatting on email for a little while now and we started talking about doing a swap. The next thing I knew, she’d ordered some bits and was racing round her town trying to grab other outstanding things she thought I’d like. WOW! Puts my efficiency to shame!

So… feast your eyes. Not the best photo I’m afraid as it was taken on my mobile phone, but rest assured there’ll be full reviews of these in the not too distant. From L-R, we have:

BonBon lipglosses (sugar cookie and sparkling raspberry flavour) and a shotglass with pictures of Judy’s hometown, Philadelphia, on it, Hard Candy liquid eyeliner, Love My Nails glitter in All That, Sally Hansen Opulent Cloud, China Glaze Fortune Teller, China Glaze Atlantis, China Glaze Stellar, Hard Candy Mr Wrong, Hard Candy Envy, Hard Candy Hot Pants, Hard Candy Break Up, 2x Jesse’s Girl eye dusts, and a box of marshmallow ghosts!

The bag at the back is candy corn. I’ve heard of this but never ever tried it so it’s all very exciting!

I absolutely LOVE everything that Judy chose for me. We have a little joke that I am her English twin, and I swear, everything she chose is amazing. The only ones I asked for were Fortune Teller and Stellar, and Judy chose the rest. Good taste or what? I also can’t believe she found me a Sally Hansen Opulent Cloud. This is really hard to find, if I’m not mistaken.

So, Judy, thankyou so much - everything arrived safely and in one piece and I absolutely love it all!! And if you’re not familiar with Judy’s blog, shame on you. She is a fellow WordPresser, and I love her writing – she is bright, funny and informative and has a fantastic nail polish collection! Check her out here!

Few things chaff my thighs more than damned teenagers who don’t know when to hang up the pillowcase and stop trolling for free candy on Halloween.

I have no objection to doling out some boxed raisins or wintergreen lozenges to a damned 3-year old in a Garfield costume but I get pretty incensed when some pock-marked 17-year old smelling of old bong water and sloth shows up at my door with a insolent scowl and a demand for free food.

In my day, teenagers didn’t go trick or treating – we were too busy holding down jobs, harvesting crops or overseas serving in the armed forces. But nowadays it seems young people trick or treat into their early 20s. Half the “kids” that bang on my door are over six feet tall, have five o’clock shadow and voices deeper than Elaine Stritch.

And, Jesus Christ, if you insist on coming to my door looking to scrounge some hard candy at least work for it. These damned teens refuse to say “trick or treat,” won’t make eye contact and sure as hell don’t bother with costumes. They dress as “rappers” or “gangstas” and stick a sack under your nose while text messaging their location to other scurrilous moochers in search of easy prey.

If they intend to carry on with this shameless behavior the least they could do is dress like hobos or – perhaps more accurately – petty thieves.

And to add insult to indignity, they’re pounding on my door at 9 o’clock when I’m already in my nightshirt and well after the time that most legitimate trick or treaters have already gone home, gorged themselves senseless and thrown up on the area rug.

I’d send them running with their tales between their legs but they always have an air of violence about them. Rebuke their sniveling demands and you’re likely to find your pumpkins violated, your rose bushes covered in toilet paper and your windows spattered with eggs.

Well, threat or no threat, this year I’m saying “No”.

Be advised that any damned teenager who shows up at my door this Halloween won’t be getting anything but a copy of the want ads, directions to the local military recruitment centre and a cane to the side of the head.

Happy Halloween. Now get the Hell off my lawn.

p.s.

A while back my young friend Zman indicated that if he really wanted to scare the kiddies on Halloween he’d costume himself as Don Mills. I think it’s a fine idea so….here’s a mask for you lad. Try not to upset the young ones too much.

I never thought I would say this, but it looks like Walmart has come a long way from the days when I was in summer camp and had to buy the most ill-fitting, $7 jeans there. The Miley Cyrus/Max Azria collection is, kind of amazing. Shiny black zippered leggings, acid washed tshirts, leggings with cutouts, black on black leopard print skinny jeans, and fringed leather vests?  She pretty much took the coolest parts of the last round of trends and sells them for $4-$15.

Sure style has since moved on, unfortunately, to dressing like the cast of My So Called Life, but tweens are doing pretty good being only a year behind the curve. Walmart’s also resurrecting Hard Candy, and it looks pretty good.

The nail polishes are still as edgy and includes-a-ring as I remember, but now sell for $5. There are also neon creme eyeshadow sticks, metallic creme shadows, and lots of products heavy on the glitter.

The lipsticks have gotten cute, if juvenile, new packaging just like the rest of the line, and the super-dark black/burgundy pictured below proves they’re not backing off that edge.

The baked blushes look try-able for $7, and I’m kind of digging the Twilight-y packaging that everything is sporting. However, you do have to wonder if the formulas have taken a hit to get the prices down.

They also offer a few dupes. The first is a thing they’re calling Split Personality Eyeshadows, which are two complementary shadows in stick form. It’s the annoying sort with a sponge applicator at either end that fits into a tiny cap filled with pigment. It’s one of the stupidest, and least effective ways to apply eyeshadow, which makes me wonder why Physician’s Formula is also dabbling with this packaging style. A few months ago I picked up a new PF Shimmer Strip, and it came with something called the Shimmer Strips Custom Eyeliner, Eye Shadow & Highlighter, which is designed to coordinate with your eye color.

The brown was a useful color, but the shadows were horribly difficult to apply because the included sponges were painfully hard.

Hard Candy is also making press-on eyeshadow accessible to the masses (three sets for $10), and it’s just as hideous and ill-advised as the $25 ColorOn version.

I’m sort of wishing there was a Walmart near where I live…or…still maybe not.

Kuva: Herb Ritts Maaliskuu 12. 1986, Los Angeles.

Madonna nähdään The Rolling Stone -lehden marraskuun numeron kannessa. Kyseessä on 12. kerta kun Madonna nähdään kyseisen lehden kannessa.

Madonna paljastaa Rolling Stone -lehdelle mm. että Eminem hylkäsi mahdollisuuden tehdä yhteistyötä poplegendan kanssa. Useimmat artistit olisivat innoissaan ja otettuja mahdollisuudesta työskennellä yhdessä popin kuningattaren kanssa, Eminem ei.

Halusin työskennellä hänen kanssaan. En usko, että hän halusi tehdä yhteistyötä kanssani. Ehkä hän on ujo.

Madonna haki avioeroa Guy Ritchiestä lokakuussa 2008 ja erosta tuli virallinen joulukuussa. Keskittyminen työhön ja maailmankiertue auttoivat Madonnaa selviämään avioerosta. Madonna tunnustaa Rolling Stonen haastattelussa vuoden aikana tapahtuneista koettelemuksista.

Se oli totisesti haastava vuosi. Olisin voinut heittäytyä katolta alas. Uskon, että työskentely pelasti minut, ja olen onnellinen siitä, että töitä riitti.

Ero ei ollut ainoa vastoinkäyminen supertähden elämässä. Hän joutui myös taistelemaan saadakseen adoptoida malawilaisen Mercy-tytön. Adoptio näytti jo menevän läpi, kun huhtikuussa 2009 Malawin oikeus yllättäen päättikin toisin. Madonna valitti päätöksestä ja sai viimein luvan adoptoida neljävuotiaan tytön kesäkuussa. Kaikki tämä tapahtui fyysisesti rankan Sticky and Sweet -kiertueen aikaan, joka alkoi elokuussa 2008.

51-vuotias Madonna sanoo, että ei aio tulevaisuudessakaan tinkiä esitystensä vaativuudesta.

Muut ovat ehdottaneet, että voisin vain mennä lavalle soittamaan kitaraa ja laulamaan niin kuin Paul McCartney tekee, mutta minä vain ikävystyisin. Suuri osa esitysten nautinnosta tulee niiden luomiseen liittyvästä taikuudesta – koko teatterista. Olen perfektionisti. Pidän siitä, että saan työskennellä kovaa. Pidän hikoilemisesta.

Madonna suree myös lastensa elämän muuttumista ja myöntää, ettei yhteishuoltajuus ole yksinkertaista. Eron aikaan Madonnan ja Ritchien kerrottiin riitelevän rajusti lastensa kasvatuksesta. Madonnan on ollut vaikea tottua siihen, ettei hän saa olla koko ajan lastensa kanssa.

Elämä on erilaista. Elämä on sopeutumista. Poikani eivät ole nyt kanssani, he ovat isänsä kanssa, enkä oikein pidä ajatuksesta, että lapseni eivät asu yhdessä.

Madonna paljastaa RollingStone-lehdessä, että viimeisen albuminsa nimi ja levykansi muutettiin juuri ennen julkaisua. Madonna pelkäsi, että alkuperäinen kansi ja nimi olisivat olleet monelle liikaa. Loppujen lopuksi Hard Candy -nimen saanut levy oli alkujaan tarkoitus julkaista nimellä Black Madonna. Kansikuvassa Madonna oli meikattu tummaihoiseksi. Kuvan oli ottanut huippukuvaaja Steven Klein. Madonna kuitenkin tajusi nopeasti, että koko idea olisi ollut liian kiistanalainen. Monilla olisi ollut vaikeuksia suhtautua albumiin.

Maalasin naaman mustaksi, paitsi huulet olivat punaiset ja silmät vitivalkoiset. Siinä leikittiin sanoilla. Onko kukaan koskaan kuullut mustasta Madonnasta? Sitten ajattelin, että 25 prosenttia maailman ihmisistä voisivat ymmärtää asian, kenties jopa harvempi. Ei se ollut sen arvoista

Madonna nousi aiemmin tänä vuonna otsikoihin, kun hänestä uransa alkuaikoina ikuistetut alastonkuvat päätyivät huutokaupattavaksi. Supertähden mukaan kuvien julkaiseminen oli aikoinaan hyvä asia, sillä hän sai kohusta vain lisää päättäväisyyttä. Nuoresta laulajalupauksesta otetut rohkeat mustavalkoiset alastonkuvat päätyivät ensimmäisen kerran julkisuuteen vuonna 1985, kun Playboy ja Penthouse -miestenlehdet julkaisivat kuvat. Asiasta syntyi tuolloin suuri kohu.

Se oli ensimmäinen kerta kun huomasin omaavani myös “haistakaa vittu” -asenteen. Ajattelin että “Yritättekö tyrmätä minut tämän takia?” En anna yleisen mielipiteen vaikuttaa omiin tunteisiini itsestäni. En ole aikonut pyytää anteeksi mitään mitä olen eläessäni tehnyt.

80-luvulla levy-yhtiön johto pelkäsi kuvaskandaalin torpedoivan lupaavan laulajattaren uran, mutta myöhemmin kohun huomattiinkin edesauttaneen tulevan supertähden nousua poptaivaan valovoimaisimpiin lukeutuvaksi tähdeksi.

Lähimmän lehden myyntipisteen Suomessa löydät mm. osoitteesta www.lehtipiste.fi. Voit myös tilata lehteä www.akateeminenkirjakauppa.fi kautta

Remember the Hard Candy nail polishes sold at department stores with the plastic ring on top? There back and for sale (at great prices) at Walmart! Crazy, but true!

I think that it’s cool that prestige cosmetics, Sephora or Ulta worthy, are being sold at a store — and a price — that is affordable for everyone.It’s the first time a prestige cosmetics collection has gone mass and features unique, specialty products. And the selection is fabulous! From Lip Sticks, glosses to  lots of eye products to bronzers — yes, even the polish with the cute rings on top — fun products for many occasions.
 
I have received samples of the Just Nails Nail polish ($5.00)  with the ring (a cool red heart and yes, I am wearing it), Glitz Stick Glitter Pencil ($6.00), a thick glittery eye pencil and Plexi Gloss ($5.00) a supper glossy lip gloss. They all are really fun and will be great for a night out. And don’t forget the teenagers in your life. With these prices, stock up for stuffing stockings (I am always thinking ahead).

Visit www.walmart.com to browse the selection, or walk in to your local Walmart and see what fun products are there. Enjoy!

*I’ve noticed not a lot of people are finding the embedded links within my text.  If so, check them out.  You’re missing out on some cool pictures and videos that add to the blog.  Just double click on the words that look like this.*

Gerty made a movie.  That’s right.  Drew Barrymore complimented her early E.T. success with a drug/alcohol-fueled childhood to come out the other side as a very successful producer and now with this movie, a director.

Yes, Whip It is a chick flick.  If the chick in that flick was named Smashley Simpson or Jaba the Slut (LOVE the names), throws elbows, flips the bird, has tattoos and generally doesn’t give a crap if you like her or not.  Get your Barbie skates on and check this kickass movie out.

The Setup:
*Cue the movie trailer voice* In a land of small town bullies and big city dreams, where the only break in the monotony is a shift at the “Oink Joint” or participation in the local beauty pageant, Bliss Cavendar finds her calling in the brutal world of Texas Roller Derby.  *End movie trailer voice* cough cough.  Hard voice to keep up.

Ellen Page plays Bliss, a girl that doesn’t feel like she fits in (um, who doesn’t?) but finds it easier to go with mom’s (Marcia Gay Hayden) wants and “ideals” rather than hurting her feelings.  Well the path of least resistance hits a roller derby track and Bliss finds something she loves, much to the confusion of her parents and best friend.  From there on out, it’s about trying to grow up, embracing what you love (even if it’s briefly) while balancing a new family with old relationships.

Thoughts:
Coming of age story?  Check.  Sports movie?  Sure.  Chick flick? Already said it was.  Drew Barrymore has created a hybrid of styles that works.  A little big of column A mixed with column B equals a really great, emotional story about the lives we want and the lives we have.  The fishnets and flying elbows are awesome too.

Everyone is fantastic in this.  Marcia Gay Harden as the mom could have come off as the bad guy but you understand where she’s coming from.  Daniel Stern (where the hell has he been?) is just fine has the cool dad stuck between two very strong women.  Speaking of strong women, the perpetual losers, the “Hurl Scouts” – Zoe Bell, Eve, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, really help you understand the appeal of this new life Bliss wants.   Throw in Juliette Lewis as the “villain” Iron Maven and Bliss’ best friend Pash (Maybe from Arrested Development) and there’s not a missed note here from the cast.  And yes, that is Owen and Luke Wilson’s brother Andrew as Razor.

I will say it’s all a little predictable but who cares.  Really, there aren’t many movies out there that aren’t.  However there are few movies that have the heart, fun and tattoos of this one.

Whip It Rating:

2 tickets – good movie, take a friend. Go for the story and the acting, stay for the fishnets and clotheslines.  Nicely done Ms. Barrymore.  Looking forward to your next one.

Rating system:
½ ticket – rip up your ticket.
1 ticket – go, but don’t tell anyone.
2 tickets – good movie, take a friend. 
3 tickets – tell everyone you know.

Coming Attractions:
Youth in Revolt – Ok, it’s not a stretch for Michael Cera to play a flustered virgin but dammit if I love watching him do it.  I can’t say this immediately jumped out at me as my first choice for a Coming Attraction but with the Arrested Development vibe of Maybe in Whip It, I had to support George Michael.  Plus, mustaches are comedy gold.

Randomly Recommended

Hard Candy – So Ellen Page is a star now.  Thanks Juno. WRONG!  This is the movie that put her on everyone’s radar.  It’s dark, it’s twisted, it’ll mess you up a little.  The story of an online pedophile…or is it?  If you haven’t, you should.  (see the movie, not be an online pedophile).

Right Back At You
This is a new segment where I quickly review a movie recommended to me

Great Expectations – Katie from work dropped this on my desk for a watch.  Kudos.  Good movie.  Loosely based on the Mark Twain book of the same name, it’s a movie of angst and blue balls.  (I really wanted a better term but come on, there isn’t).  The obsession/self-loathing is played by Ethan Hawke, an actor I never see movies because he’s in them but he’s always good.  The blue balls, well that’s Gwyneth Paltrow.  Gorgeous and haunting.  Robert De Niro is kind of necessary for the story but still feels forced in.  Definitely worth checking out, especially now as a renter.  2 tickets to you.

I fail blogged this one.  So apparently when they say you need a candy thermometer, you actually need it.  Who knew?  So I boiled it to what I thought would be a sufficient temperature, but it wasn’t because it just turned back into sweet corn syrup.

See this hard candy is not so hard

And yes, I was going to make them marijuana shaped.  I thought I’d be funny.

Lesson learned – follow directions

Recipe:

2 cups sugar
2/3 cup white corn syrup
1 cup water
1 tsp. flavoring
red, blue food coloring
1/4 tsp. citric acid (optional)

Melt together first 3 ingredients and heat up to 300 degrees.  add in the others and pour into mold or onto greased pan (for suckers).

That’s all

I’ve been in the mood to craft lately. So tonight I decided to make some headbands.

I LOVE this one:

Sorry for the poor quality (cell phone photos) and sorry for the dorky smile.

Anyway… I plan to put some headbands like these up on Bebe Adore very soon! And for ten bones. You really can’t beat it.

Be sure to check it out.

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On a different note, I got a new candle today at Bath and Body Works. It’s “Fresh Basalm” my room smells like Christmas trees now. I’m in heaven.

And has anyone been to Wal-Mart lately??? They now sell Hard Candy cosmetics!

Remember these:

I died a little of excitement.

I full plan to go back and examine everything over like I tend to do.

Hope you all have had a good week thus far!

Sister’s looking pretty dang cute, 31 weeks along! Can’t believe it’s flown by so fast!

Can’t wait to meet my Lil’ Love!

I chose to look at the title sequence for Hard Candy, directed by David Slade with Patrick Wilson and Ellen Page. These opening credits are particularly interesting because without knowing what the movie is about, a viewer would never be able to decipher it from this sequence. Unlike Catch Me if You Can, Hard Candy’s title sequence gives away absolutely nothing of the movie. However, after someone has seen the movie they might make the connection of the main character, Haley, who wears a red sweatshirt, as the red square who is searching for something, hence the red square discovering cast and crew names within and behind other things. Otherwise, the sequence is perfect for the film because of how simple it is. I first watched the film without knowing anything about the plot and made my friends do the same because I realized that, taking lead from the sequence, the best way to watch this movie is to be oblivious to its plot. The movie is a psychological thriller, which can definitely be understood from the gentle but creepy music. About the sequence, designer Nic Benns said, “It’s a really peaceful sequence, which is good, because an hour later there are people fainting and walking out of the cinema due to the intense psychological terror.”

Видео на первый сингл американской автора-исполнителя Мадонны из её одиннадцатого студийного альбома Hard Candy, выпущенный 17 марта 2008. Видеоклип снимался в Лондоне с 30 января до 2 февраля 2008 при участии Джастина Тимберлейка и Тимбаланда. Режиссёром выступил французский дуэт Jonas & François (информация для поста позаимствована из русской версии Wikipedia.org) Далее обычный набор информации о качестве записи и ссылка на яндекс.диск.

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• 4 Minutes
• by Madonna ft Justin Timberlake & Timbaland
• from the albom Hard Candy
• directed by Jonas & Francois
• © 2008 Warner Bros. Records

 

• Качество: HDTV
• Формат: MPEG
• Видео кодек: MPEG2 Video
• Аудио кодек: AC3
• Видео: 1920×1080 at 29.970 fps ~ 17.5 Mbps
• Аудио: 48000Hz 2ch 384Kbps
• Размер: 510 Mb