I've been listening to the Kevin and Bean radio show on KROQ-FM in Los Angeles for a number of years now, and Ralph Garman is a member of their show. Among other things, he does their entertainment news segments every day. Ralph has also done some movies and television shows and does a number of voices for "Family Guy".
I didn't hear the segment itself last week, but I heard the blurb in passing that Ralph had announced that he and his wife Kari had become parents to twins, a baby boy and baby girl. Both were born very premature, by two months, but I didn't hear much else about it. I hadn't even heard that they were expecting, since I only get to hear bits and pieces of the show, but I'm not sure if they even announced it on the show or not.
Today, Bean tweeted a link to the show website with news that had been announced on the show today, news I hadn't heard. Over the weekend, Ralph's and Kari's little boy, Lincoln, had complications arise, and he passed away on Saturday. Their little girl, Olivia, is presumably still in the hospital and not yet able to go home.
I cannot imagine what Ralph and Kari and their families are feeling right now. And I'm sure that everyone on the Kevin and Bean show is devastated by the news as well. As Bean wrote on the site, all their loved ones want to help them, but there's really nothing they can say or do that will ease the pain of losing their little boy.
From an appreciative listener and total stranger, I'm sending out my prayers and best wishes to join those of all the other appreciative listeners and total strangers to Ralph and Kari and their families and all their friends who have been so terribly hurt by Lincoln's passing, and to little Olivia as well, that she will grow stronger and be able to be taken home by her loving parents very soon.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
dinner at Napa Rose
A friend and I had previously made plans to spend the day at the Disneyland Resort today since it was a company holiday for the place where we both work. The husband was planning to join us after he got off work. Because of other circumstances, I very much had Napa Rose on my mind, but I didn't know if my companions would be up for a visit with such late notice, and with the busy holiday and Spring Break season, I figured Napa Rose would be booked up for the day already.
We ended up having lunch at Whitewater Cafe, and on the way, the friend actually said she wanted to stop to look at the menu outside Napa Rose. The outside menu doesn't list the current Vintner's Menu, so I suggested we see if there was anyone inside so we could look at that menu. I noticed a couple of employees inside, so we went in, and then I saw one of the hostesses we've become familiar with. I asked if I could see the Vintner's Menu, but she said no, which surprised me. She said they hadn't printed them out yet (Friday night is the first night of the new weekly Vintner's Menu), so she didn't have anything to show me. I then asked offhandedly if they happened to have any openings for that night. She looked in the reservation book and said they had one table open. The friend said she was up for having dinner there, so I called the husband, and luckily, he was up for it as well. So, we were booked for dinner.
After spending the afternoon at DCA and Disneyland, we made our way back to Napa Rose in the evening for our reservation. We were taken to our table, and our server was someone I liked, the same one I'd had when I'd gone with another friend last December. I had my first look at the Vintner's Menu - and I was hooked. Everything on the menu sounded really good.
I was interested to see that for the entree, there were two different choices. Normally, there's just one entree. I asked our server if they'd been doing the choice of entree on the Vintner's for long, and he said it was just something they were trying out. The husband and I both had the Vintner's, me having the lamb entree and him having the fish entree. The friend chose a starter and an entree from the regular menu.
The Vintner's Menu always comes with an extra little taste, called the amuse bouche, and customarily, if most of the table orders the Vintner's, they will also give the amuse bouche to the others as well. The amuse bouche this evening was a tomato caprese salad with basil foam. It was a tiny little tasting portion, but it was really very tasty. The friend and I were trying to get every drop of the basil foam because it was so delicious.
Amuse bouche - tomato caprese salad with basil foam.
The next course was the scallops. I think this was my favorite non-dessert course of the night. The scallops were nicely cooked, great texture, and the grapefruit pieces and very light sauce was a really lovely accompaniment. A very nice dish indeed, and it would make a wonderful entree addition to the menu in summertime.
Scallops with lavender thyme noodles and grapefruit.
The third course was a baked asparagus tart. I love asparagus, so I liked having the asparagus pieces on top, and the yellow tomato sauce was delicious with the tart.
Baked asparagus tart.
I love lamb and am not that much a fan of risotto, so deciding between the two entree choices was easy, even though I'm also not a fan of rosemary, which was an ingredient in the lamb dish. The lamb was very tender and tasty, and the ragu made for a nice addition to the dish. It was all quite a bit of food, though, so I ended up taking home the whole "lamb roll", as I called it, on the top left. The picture below isn't very good because my camera doesn't do well taking pictures in low light, and as dinner wore on, the light from outside was diminishing as the sun went down, and our table wasn't brightly lit.
Lamb entree.
In the menu picture above, the items listed directly above the Vintner's Menu are the sides that are available. I love both brussel sprouts and parsnips, so I also ordered that for the husband and I to share. The brussel sprouts were perfectly cooked, still crunchy and flavorful, and the parsnips were tasty too. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a decent picture of the dish.
The husband very much enjoyed his dinner as well. He enjoyed his fish entree, which had the skin still on, so it was nicely crispy. He liked the risotto and the lobster pieces as well.
Then it came time for dessert. I love bread pudding (as long as there are no raisins in it), but the menu failed to mention that not only was there an individual portion of bread pudding, there was also a little portion of banana shake. Seriously yummy all around. The best bread pudding I've had was at another favorite restaurant, but this came in a very close second. The bread pudding was very moist and underneath were the caramelized bananas. The banana shake had a layer of caramel at the bottom. A great way to end a great meal.
Banana shake and bread pudding on caramelized bananas.
The service was a little less than stellar tonight. Our server was good (because of the many courses in the Vintner's, there was a lot of silverware constantly being replaced, so we joked with our server about that), but the busboy wasn't quite up to par. There was at least one occasion when he was a little sloppy when refilling my water glass and so spilled some of it on the table and splashed it a bit on other things sitting on the table. I only really noticed because we usually have no issues with the service whatsoever. The kitchen was also a little slower than normal, with longer waits in between courses, but I expect that was because the restaurant was so crowded. But all in all, it was still a very lovely dinner all around.
This Vintner's Menu is available through Thursday.
We ended up having lunch at Whitewater Cafe, and on the way, the friend actually said she wanted to stop to look at the menu outside Napa Rose. The outside menu doesn't list the current Vintner's Menu, so I suggested we see if there was anyone inside so we could look at that menu. I noticed a couple of employees inside, so we went in, and then I saw one of the hostesses we've become familiar with. I asked if I could see the Vintner's Menu, but she said no, which surprised me. She said they hadn't printed them out yet (Friday night is the first night of the new weekly Vintner's Menu), so she didn't have anything to show me. I then asked offhandedly if they happened to have any openings for that night. She looked in the reservation book and said they had one table open. The friend said she was up for having dinner there, so I called the husband, and luckily, he was up for it as well. So, we were booked for dinner.
After spending the afternoon at DCA and Disneyland, we made our way back to Napa Rose in the evening for our reservation. We were taken to our table, and our server was someone I liked, the same one I'd had when I'd gone with another friend last December. I had my first look at the Vintner's Menu - and I was hooked. Everything on the menu sounded really good.
I was interested to see that for the entree, there were two different choices. Normally, there's just one entree. I asked our server if they'd been doing the choice of entree on the Vintner's for long, and he said it was just something they were trying out. The husband and I both had the Vintner's, me having the lamb entree and him having the fish entree. The friend chose a starter and an entree from the regular menu.
The Vintner's Menu always comes with an extra little taste, called the amuse bouche, and customarily, if most of the table orders the Vintner's, they will also give the amuse bouche to the others as well. The amuse bouche this evening was a tomato caprese salad with basil foam. It was a tiny little tasting portion, but it was really very tasty. The friend and I were trying to get every drop of the basil foam because it was so delicious.
Amuse bouche - tomato caprese salad with basil foam.The next course was the scallops. I think this was my favorite non-dessert course of the night. The scallops were nicely cooked, great texture, and the grapefruit pieces and very light sauce was a really lovely accompaniment. A very nice dish indeed, and it would make a wonderful entree addition to the menu in summertime.
Scallops with lavender thyme noodles and grapefruit.The third course was a baked asparagus tart. I love asparagus, so I liked having the asparagus pieces on top, and the yellow tomato sauce was delicious with the tart.
Baked asparagus tart.I love lamb and am not that much a fan of risotto, so deciding between the two entree choices was easy, even though I'm also not a fan of rosemary, which was an ingredient in the lamb dish. The lamb was very tender and tasty, and the ragu made for a nice addition to the dish. It was all quite a bit of food, though, so I ended up taking home the whole "lamb roll", as I called it, on the top left. The picture below isn't very good because my camera doesn't do well taking pictures in low light, and as dinner wore on, the light from outside was diminishing as the sun went down, and our table wasn't brightly lit.
Lamb entree.In the menu picture above, the items listed directly above the Vintner's Menu are the sides that are available. I love both brussel sprouts and parsnips, so I also ordered that for the husband and I to share. The brussel sprouts were perfectly cooked, still crunchy and flavorful, and the parsnips were tasty too. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a decent picture of the dish.
The husband very much enjoyed his dinner as well. He enjoyed his fish entree, which had the skin still on, so it was nicely crispy. He liked the risotto and the lobster pieces as well.
Then it came time for dessert. I love bread pudding (as long as there are no raisins in it), but the menu failed to mention that not only was there an individual portion of bread pudding, there was also a little portion of banana shake. Seriously yummy all around. The best bread pudding I've had was at another favorite restaurant, but this came in a very close second. The bread pudding was very moist and underneath were the caramelized bananas. The banana shake had a layer of caramel at the bottom. A great way to end a great meal.
Banana shake and bread pudding on caramelized bananas.The service was a little less than stellar tonight. Our server was good (because of the many courses in the Vintner's, there was a lot of silverware constantly being replaced, so we joked with our server about that), but the busboy wasn't quite up to par. There was at least one occasion when he was a little sloppy when refilling my water glass and so spilled some of it on the table and splashed it a bit on other things sitting on the table. I only really noticed because we usually have no issues with the service whatsoever. The kitchen was also a little slower than normal, with longer waits in between courses, but I expect that was because the restaurant was so crowded. But all in all, it was still a very lovely dinner all around.
This Vintner's Menu is available through Thursday.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
stylin'
This year's post is going to be a little different. I decided that this year, I'd play a trick on myself instead.
So, I'm not exactly a fashion maven. Wait, scratch that. I am about the furthest thing possible from a fashion maven. I mean, I like to think that I *can* clean up really nicely when I need to dress up, but I don't do anything super fancy, and my normal attire is pretty casual with the odd day when nothing I wear matches because I'm either too lazy to match stuff or I've just decided to go eclectic that day and wear whatever the hell I feel like. Yeah, those days happen.
Anyway, while there are some pictures of me as a little kid that are favorites for various reasons, and some even have me in decent clothing, there are certainly a ton of pictures of me in FOB/FOJ attire. Seriously.not.kidding. Don't believe me?
This is a picture of me and my sisters, both of whom are older than me. In this picture, I am just shy of 4 years old. I don't know where the picture was taken, but I do know it was in the Los Angeles area somewhere. Are you liking the design of my sweater and the yellow socks? I am APPARENTLY obliviously ignorant of what the outfit looks like on me as I do appear to be smiling. Now, in my defense, I am going to assume that I didn't dress myself, so someone else had to pick out this outfit. My sisters' clothes are pretty funky too, imo.
This is a picture of me and the brother who is six years older than me. This was also taken when I was just shy of being 4. From the background, it looks like this was taken somewhere around Chinatown. I appear to be wearing the same yellow socks and shoes from the previous picture, but this must have been on a different day because there would have been no reason for me to just randomly change clothes. Who knows, since we were pretty poor when I was a kid, maybe those were the only "dressy" socks and shoes I had. I do remember actually liking that dress.
And just for good measure, I found this picture as well. The writing on the back of the picture indicates this was taken on July 4, 1977. I do remember having always loved it's a small world, even as a little kid, so this picture doesn't entirely surprise me. Of course, I wasn't the Disney fanatic then as I am now, but while visits only happened once every couple years, I did grow up visiting Disneyland on a regular basis when I was a kid.
What I'm wearing doesn't look *too* bad. But, of course, that's because you can't see all of me. For various reasons, my mother made a lot of my clothes when I was little, and yes, it was pretty obvious as far as the styles were concerned. What you can't tell from the picture is that it was a pantsuit outfit, pants and blouse made from the same fabric. I'll stop to let you get that mental image in your head.
Done laughing yet?
Yeah, I was a dorky-looking kid, not helped by the dorky-looking clothes I wore.
Stopping to let you make disparaging remarks about my looks and clothes now.
Still waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
So, I'm not exactly a fashion maven. Wait, scratch that. I am about the furthest thing possible from a fashion maven. I mean, I like to think that I *can* clean up really nicely when I need to dress up, but I don't do anything super fancy, and my normal attire is pretty casual with the odd day when nothing I wear matches because I'm either too lazy to match stuff or I've just decided to go eclectic that day and wear whatever the hell I feel like. Yeah, those days happen.
Anyway, while there are some pictures of me as a little kid that are favorites for various reasons, and some even have me in decent clothing, there are certainly a ton of pictures of me in FOB/FOJ attire. Seriously.not.kidding. Don't believe me?
This is a picture of me and my sisters, both of whom are older than me. In this picture, I am just shy of 4 years old. I don't know where the picture was taken, but I do know it was in the Los Angeles area somewhere. Are you liking the design of my sweater and the yellow socks? I am APPARENTLY obliviously ignorant of what the outfit looks like on me as I do appear to be smiling. Now, in my defense, I am going to assume that I didn't dress myself, so someone else had to pick out this outfit. My sisters' clothes are pretty funky too, imo.
This is a picture of me and the brother who is six years older than me. This was also taken when I was just shy of being 4. From the background, it looks like this was taken somewhere around Chinatown. I appear to be wearing the same yellow socks and shoes from the previous picture, but this must have been on a different day because there would have been no reason for me to just randomly change clothes. Who knows, since we were pretty poor when I was a kid, maybe those were the only "dressy" socks and shoes I had. I do remember actually liking that dress.
And just for good measure, I found this picture as well. The writing on the back of the picture indicates this was taken on July 4, 1977. I do remember having always loved it's a small world, even as a little kid, so this picture doesn't entirely surprise me. Of course, I wasn't the Disney fanatic then as I am now, but while visits only happened once every couple years, I did grow up visiting Disneyland on a regular basis when I was a kid.
What I'm wearing doesn't look *too* bad. But, of course, that's because you can't see all of me. For various reasons, my mother made a lot of my clothes when I was little, and yes, it was pretty obvious as far as the styles were concerned. What you can't tell from the picture is that it was a pantsuit outfit, pants and blouse made from the same fabric. I'll stop to let you get that mental image in your head.
Done laughing yet?
Yeah, I was a dorky-looking kid, not helped by the dorky-looking clothes I wore.
Stopping to let you make disparaging remarks about my looks and clothes now.
Still waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
the best of two worlds
First of all, note the date of this post, so I am so not kidding.
Regular readers of my blog know that I'm a fan of sushi and I'm also a fan of Peeps. Well, what if you combined two great tastes together? No, I'm not talking about Reese's peanut butter cups, although those are really yummy too, especially if you have a nice tall, cold glass of milk to go with it. (And those in the know will be virtually staring at me because of how many rules that particular little snack would be breaking for me, but I digress.)
I'm sorry, what was I talking about? I got distracted there for a second.
Oh, right, sushi and Peeps. Now, it's not as bad as you might think. My first thought was, ummm, marshmallows and cold dead fish wouldn't seem to go very well together. But it's not really sushi, it's "sushi".
Here's the article that @thinkgeek tweeted today about Peepshi. (Hey, I didn't make up the term. I did almost make a huge mistake with that word though. I posted about the Peepshi in another location, and I added an exclamation mark after Peepshi to show my excitement. Ummm, yeah, that ended up looking really odd and was conveying a negative connotation that I totally didn't intend, so I left the exclamation point off. Wait, I think I'm sort of digressing again, aren't I?)
Beheading Peeps is a concept I can't quite wrap my head around.
[crickets chirping]
This picture is just so wrong.
I like the suggestion for what to drink while eating a Peepshi. But here's my favorite instruction.
Peepshi would make a terrific Easter treat!
Regular readers of my blog know that I'm a fan of sushi and I'm also a fan of Peeps. Well, what if you combined two great tastes together? No, I'm not talking about Reese's peanut butter cups, although those are really yummy too, especially if you have a nice tall, cold glass of milk to go with it. (And those in the know will be virtually staring at me because of how many rules that particular little snack would be breaking for me, but I digress.)
I'm sorry, what was I talking about? I got distracted there for a second.
Oh, right, sushi and Peeps. Now, it's not as bad as you might think. My first thought was, ummm, marshmallows and cold dead fish wouldn't seem to go very well together. But it's not really sushi, it's "sushi".
Here's the article that @thinkgeek tweeted today about Peepshi. (Hey, I didn't make up the term. I did almost make a huge mistake with that word though. I posted about the Peepshi in another location, and I added an exclamation mark after Peepshi to show my excitement. Ummm, yeah, that ended up looking really odd and was conveying a negative connotation that I totally didn't intend, so I left the exclamation point off. Wait, I think I'm sort of digressing again, aren't I?)
Beheading Peeps is a concept I can't quite wrap my head around.
[crickets chirping]
This picture is just so wrong.I like the suggestion for what to drink while eating a Peepshi. But here's my favorite instruction.
5. Don't let silent Peeps screams deter you from your task. You're a professional.
Peepshi would make a terrific Easter treat!
Friday, March 19, 2010
But do you mean that literally?
Some weeks or months ago, the husband mentioned to me about some funny videos he'd seen where people had taken the music videos of songs and re-written the lyrics of said song to match what was actually being shown on screen. Well, tonight, he had me pull up one of the videos, and dang him, he got me hooked. I ended up watching quite a few of them, and yep, they're pretty hysterical. The lyrics are actually pretty clever, especially since they generally rhyme as well.
Two things I discovered in watching the videos:
1. It's funnier if you actually know the music video and the song really well, because then you know what it's supposed to be and what they've changed it into.
2. I was turned off immediately when the singing was really bad. I tried Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl" but couldn't get past the first couple lines. I tried The Cars' "Drive" and couldn't get past the first line because the last note of the line wasn't even correct. Sorry, pass. I'm not a big fan of cover versions of songs anyway, but if it's at least decent and for comedy's sake, I'm ok with it. When it's a bad singer, nope, sorry, I'm out.
The video that the husband had me watch was a-ha's "Take On Me".
I then went to look up what other songs were available. I stopped on Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield" because I really like the song, but I've also always loved the video. The singing isn't quite what I'd like, but it's seriously hysterical enough for me to overlook that.
And then I saw that they had Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". Wow! There's a particular line that I loved, but instead of spoiling it here, I'll put it in a comment.
For some reason, the embedding on this video has been disabled, so here's the link instead.
The husband then had me watch Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf". This version is APPARENTLY done live in a karaoke bar or something because you can tell from the sound quality and the occasional laughing in the background.
And then, the husband had mentioned that there was an Air Supply video. He knows that I used to love Air Supply, but he couldn't remember the name of the song. And then it came up on the list - "Making Love Out of Nothing At All". A song and video I loved. And I got to see Russell and Graham the way they were back when I was totally into them. Perfect.
There are a bunch of other songs/videos available, so just go to youtube and search for "literal video". That should pop you up a good list.
Two things I discovered in watching the videos:
1. It's funnier if you actually know the music video and the song really well, because then you know what it's supposed to be and what they've changed it into.
2. I was turned off immediately when the singing was really bad. I tried Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl" but couldn't get past the first couple lines. I tried The Cars' "Drive" and couldn't get past the first line because the last note of the line wasn't even correct. Sorry, pass. I'm not a big fan of cover versions of songs anyway, but if it's at least decent and for comedy's sake, I'm ok with it. When it's a bad singer, nope, sorry, I'm out.
The video that the husband had me watch was a-ha's "Take On Me".
I then went to look up what other songs were available. I stopped on Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield" because I really like the song, but I've also always loved the video. The singing isn't quite what I'd like, but it's seriously hysterical enough for me to overlook that.
And then I saw that they had Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". Wow! There's a particular line that I loved, but instead of spoiling it here, I'll put it in a comment.
For some reason, the embedding on this video has been disabled, so here's the link instead.
The husband then had me watch Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf". This version is APPARENTLY done live in a karaoke bar or something because you can tell from the sound quality and the occasional laughing in the background.
And then, the husband had mentioned that there was an Air Supply video. He knows that I used to love Air Supply, but he couldn't remember the name of the song. And then it came up on the list - "Making Love Out of Nothing At All". A song and video I loved. And I got to see Russell and Graham the way they were back when I was totally into them. Perfect.
There are a bunch of other songs/videos available, so just go to youtube and search for "literal video". That should pop you up a good list.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
contortionist cat
OK, Orkid puts herself in some funny positions, but this cat just tops all that. And from a door jamb no less! Too freaking funny!
Friday, March 5, 2010
a lovely day
I had a lovely day yesterday. I lounged around at home during the day instead of going to work. Then the husband and I went to the Academy for a symposium for the Best Animated Film nominees. Unfortunately, a horrendous accident on the freeway meant we were crawling along at under 5 mph for about 40 minutes, which made us incredibly late for the symposium, so I'm really disappointed that we missed the segment on "Coraline", but there wasn't anything we could have done about it. Wes Anderson didn't end up being there, but I did enjoy the segments on the other three films, especially for "The Secret of Kells", an Irish film we hadn't known about but which I now want to see. The scenes they showed look great, and when all the directors went up at the end, it was pretty cool to see the director up there with his first animated feature being nominated for an Oscar, and he's sitting there with Henry Selick and Ron Clements & John Musker and Pete Docter. He seemed thrilled and excited to be there.
The husband was very sweet and thoughtful to me yesterday as well. There was a particular special gift that I was getting from Dianne's (the currently-still-open jewelry store at Disneyland in New Orleans Square), so the husband left work early on Thursday to swing by to pick it up so that I'd have it yesterday instead of having to wait for today. And, I'd been jokingly lamenting that with all the stuff going on yesterday, I was going to end up having dinner at Denny's, so the husband actually made reservations at two different restaurants for after the symposium, and then we picked which one to go to (with a friend who also came to the symposium) afterward, so we ended up at Genghis Cohen. It's been probably 8 or 10 years since the last time we were there, but the food was still good.
And to top off the evening, we then headed to the El Capitan to meet friends for a midnight screening of "Alice in Wonderland". The theatre was pretty crowded, and the audience was really loud and excited, and many were dressed in costumes. Loved the movie.
One of the trailers they showed before the film was "Tron Legacy", and it looks awesome! I'm just sad that I have to wait another nine months to actually see the movie.
Tonight, a bit more lounging at home, and then I'm hanging out with a friend at the DLR for a while, and then we're meeting the husband and other friends for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in DTD.
Yeah, it's all good. :)
The husband was very sweet and thoughtful to me yesterday as well. There was a particular special gift that I was getting from Dianne's (the currently-still-open jewelry store at Disneyland in New Orleans Square), so the husband left work early on Thursday to swing by to pick it up so that I'd have it yesterday instead of having to wait for today. And, I'd been jokingly lamenting that with all the stuff going on yesterday, I was going to end up having dinner at Denny's, so the husband actually made reservations at two different restaurants for after the symposium, and then we picked which one to go to (with a friend who also came to the symposium) afterward, so we ended up at Genghis Cohen. It's been probably 8 or 10 years since the last time we were there, but the food was still good.
And to top off the evening, we then headed to the El Capitan to meet friends for a midnight screening of "Alice in Wonderland". The theatre was pretty crowded, and the audience was really loud and excited, and many were dressed in costumes. Loved the movie.
One of the trailers they showed before the film was "Tron Legacy", and it looks awesome! I'm just sad that I have to wait another nine months to actually see the movie.
Tonight, a bit more lounging at home, and then I'm hanging out with a friend at the DLR for a while, and then we're meeting the husband and other friends for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in DTD.
Yeah, it's all good. :)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
"Fantasia 2000"
10 years ago, "Fantasia 2000" was released, and to commemorate the anniversary, the film is currently being shown at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, running through the end of the month.
The film's run actually starts tomorrow (Thursday, February 18), but there was a special screening tonight that included a panel discussion with some of the people who worked on the film. I was excited to be able to see the movie on the big screen again, but we also like the panel discussions that are often held at the El Cap, so we made sure to attend this one.
The film took a long time to make and complete and went through a lot of changes as far as what segments were going to be used in the final film. It was fun to hear the different stories that each of the participants had.
My absolute favorite segment of the entire film, though, is the Firebird Suite segment, and that's because I absolutely love the sprite that's the main character in the piece. She's just gorgeous.
During the panel discussion, they showed some screen shots from the film. This is the sprite during the early part of the segment.
This is a different picture of her, showing the details of her face and hair.
I love the story of the piece, and the firebird himself is pretty scary and cool, and then there's the rebirth of the sprite after the firebird sweeps through.
The husband has known how much I love the sprite since we saw the film during its initial release. Some years ago, for my birthday, he bought me the maquette of the sprite. It's a gorgeous piece, even though it's in maquette form and not fully painted, but then, I like maquettes. Here's a picture and description of the piece.
For anyone who is interested, it's definitely worth making the trip to see the film at the El Cap.
The film's run actually starts tomorrow (Thursday, February 18), but there was a special screening tonight that included a panel discussion with some of the people who worked on the film. I was excited to be able to see the movie on the big screen again, but we also like the panel discussions that are often held at the El Cap, so we made sure to attend this one.
The film took a long time to make and complete and went through a lot of changes as far as what segments were going to be used in the final film. It was fun to hear the different stories that each of the participants had.
My absolute favorite segment of the entire film, though, is the Firebird Suite segment, and that's because I absolutely love the sprite that's the main character in the piece. She's just gorgeous.
During the panel discussion, they showed some screen shots from the film. This is the sprite during the early part of the segment.
This is a different picture of her, showing the details of her face and hair.I love the story of the piece, and the firebird himself is pretty scary and cool, and then there's the rebirth of the sprite after the firebird sweeps through.
The husband has known how much I love the sprite since we saw the film during its initial release. Some years ago, for my birthday, he bought me the maquette of the sprite. It's a gorgeous piece, even though it's in maquette form and not fully painted, but then, I like maquettes. Here's a picture and description of the piece.
For anyone who is interested, it's definitely worth making the trip to see the film at the El Cap.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
he only *plays* Jack Bauer
I'd heard some blurb on the TV a couple days ago about Kiefer Sutherland needing surgery for something and was it going to affect "24", which is still in production. Well, then I heard something about some kind of cyst that burst, and then I found this story.
I don't know what kind of cyst he has, but things bursting inside your body is never a good thing. Jack Bauer can be shot and stabbed and go through heroin withdrawal while having a really bad day at work, but hey, Kiefer is only human! I'm glad to hear that there won't be any disruption to the episodes. I'm enjoying this season with Renee being a whackjob, but I'm not as much enjoying Dana's story. Yeah, lady, your sleezy ex-con ex-boyfriend is going to just accept some money from you and then leave you alone. What, are you from another planet? ;)
Here's to Kiefer healing quickly!
I don't know what kind of cyst he has, but things bursting inside your body is never a good thing. Jack Bauer can be shot and stabbed and go through heroin withdrawal while having a really bad day at work, but hey, Kiefer is only human! I'm glad to hear that there won't be any disruption to the episodes. I'm enjoying this season with Renee being a whackjob, but I'm not as much enjoying Dana's story. Yeah, lady, your sleezy ex-con ex-boyfriend is going to just accept some money from you and then leave you alone. What, are you from another planet? ;)
Here's to Kiefer healing quickly!
Monday, February 15, 2010
"The Last Station" - trailer
When I was going over the recently-announced Oscar nominations, I mentioned that "The Last Station" was probably not a film I was going to see, even though it boasted a fairly impressive cast. But a movie about Leo Tolstoy just didn't grab me.
While I was at the movies today, they happened to show a trailer for this film. And now, I want to go. It doesn't seem to necessarily matter that it's about Tolstoy - it's just a story about a man torn between two sides. It's just circumstance that it was him in this case. Christopher Plummer and Paul Giamatti look to be good, but the scenes of Helen Mirren looked amazing, and that was pretty much what made me decide to see it.
Here's the trailer that I saw today.
While I was at the movies today, they happened to show a trailer for this film. And now, I want to go. It doesn't seem to necessarily matter that it's about Tolstoy - it's just a story about a man torn between two sides. It's just circumstance that it was him in this case. Christopher Plummer and Paul Giamatti look to be good, but the scenes of Helen Mirren looked amazing, and that was pretty much what made me decide to see it.
Here's the trailer that I saw today.
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