Sunday, September 29, 2013

Shonda Rhimes Gets New Gig on Kennedy Center's Board of Trustees

President Obama tapped Ms. Rhimes, along with Alexandra Stanton and David Rubenstein, to the board last week. What an important, influential position for such a powerful entertainment force. Not a whole lot of description about what the position entails, but if it can do anything, Ms. Rhimes will make it do something big. Pretty cool!

Pogo Sesame Street Mash-Up

Pogo's musical mash-ups are often weird and simultaneously weirdly soothing. His recent Sesame Street one is no different.



I don't know what it is about only hearing part of a word that someone's saying that feels so off to me, but at the same time it's always nice hearing any part of Sesame Street, especially when it's so well-edited.

[via HuffPo]

Merritt Wever on her Epic(ly Short) Emmy Speech

In case you missed Merritt Wever's probably shortest-ever Emmy speech, here it is:



And now you can hear a little bit more from the Nurse Jackie and New Girl actress via an interview with Vulture. What a classy lady.

If You're Not Following @ArtfulStew on Twitter, You're Missing Some Lovely Nails

For example, blue and orange wavy nails. Check that shiz.

Gorgeous.

Jhumpa Lahiri on Writing

Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my favorite authors. I'm really looking forward to reading her new book, The Lowland. Below is an interview she gave to the New Yorker on her both mystical and methodical process of writing:



I love how she describes her process of re-working and rewriting, how that the next draft may be worse or may be a little bit better. Sometimes it really is worse, and I feel like people so rarely admit that. It takes a lot more than just the number of drafts to make something great. You can read the rest of the article here.

It's Your Fault: Anti-Rape Comedy

Below is a great sketch from the group AIB 365 called "It's Your Fault" a parody rape-prevention PSA. It targets people who blame rape victims for the violence committed against them instead of blaming the attacker, calling them out for their hypocritical stance.



[via Neatorama]

Totally Biased's Tracy-Off

I know this is from forever ago, but it's still worth posting:



If only because seeing Tracy Morgan on TV is always a delight. But it is double-worth-it because Janine Brito's Tracy Morgan (or really Tracy Jordan) impression is hilarious.

[via The Comic's Comic]

Glove and Boots Test Products "As Seen on TV"

Goofy puppets test terrible "As Seen on TV" products. Enough said.


I really want them to test everything.

[via Neatorama]

New Spoon for Parkinson and Tremor Patients

A new spoon designed by Lift Labs helps cancel out a person's tremor when eating meals.

Here's the promotional video demonstrating the product:



What a great invention! One of the best jokes from the new Michael J Fox Show last week was about how determined Michael is to serve eggs (as a personal victory) even though it's taking a long time and the rest of his family is extremely hungry. This invention could make that joke irrelevant! Not that I want jokes to be irrelevant, but you know what I'm saying.

[via Neatorama]

The One Good Thing about Fall...

...Is this adorable Siberian Husky (with a touch of Siberian Direwolf, perhaps?) frolicking in an enormous pile of leaves.



And people told me jumping into piles of leaves was immature and gross. Now I know that my only mistake was in not being born a puppy.

[via Neatorama]

Mindy Kaling is Crazy Busy

Parade has a profile of Mindy Kaling. While it's pretty short, I really liked this section toward the end:

“I love being the boss,” she says, “but it’s lonelier because you know that everyone at some point has huge complaints about you. And I like to be part of the gang, you know?” Soon, she’ll have even more on her plate: She’s signed on to voice a character in the Pixar film Inside Out, and she’s writing another book. She has also bought her next home, “a dilapidated teardown in the hills that I plan on gutting and slowly rebuilding,” she says. “It’s going to take a few years.”

I absolutely loved Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? so I super approve of a new book. I'm also thrilled that she (and Amy Poehler!!) is voicing a character in Inside/Out. Also, I completely respect her for giving into the HGTV temptation of renovating and decorating houses. If I could afford to - and lived in LA with enough space to - I would totally do the same.

15 Things to Know from the IPCC's New Global Warming Report

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) released a new report last week. The biggest news is that it specifies that scientists have a 95-100% certainty over humans' role in climate change which is, that we're causing it. ThinkProgress has a solid round-up of 14 additional highlights from the report.

Tina Fey's Life Lessons

HuffPo claims this list of Tina Fey quotes is for teens, but I find it just as applicable to my life right now. That may mean I have the maturity of a teenager, but I prefer to think that her advice is simply more universal than HuffPo is admitting.

I love number one:

1. Don't be afraid to let it all out.

“Some people say, 'Never let them see you cry.' I say, if you’re so mad you could just cry, then cry. It terrifies everyone.” ["Bossypants"]

I was told that once at an internship after I was maliciously berated in front of the entire office. Don't get me wrong, I don't enjoy crying in front of others, but I couldn't believe this guy respected me less just for feeling my feelings.

Diversity Gap at the Emmys

This startling infographic by Lee & Low books of the lack of diversity at the Emmys is truly astounding but simultaneously unsurprising. We have got to get more writers, directors, and actors of color (and women) on and offscreen! I will say, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of women nominated for directing this year (and winning in comedy!). Also, a great win for Tina Fey and Tracey Wigfield for comedy writing as well as Abi Morgan for miniseries or movie writing. I hope it's the sign of a new dawn of women writers and directors!


[via HuffPo]

Hilarious Character Reel Meltdown

Courtney Peruso didn't get on SNL this year. I can't imagine why:



Just kidding! I love this hilarious takedown of character reels and the totally insecure actors performing them. Great job!

[via HuffPo]

New 'Frozen' Trailer

Below is the new trailer for Disney's Frozen. 



What do you think? I'm still hoping it's great (Kristen Bell deserves to be in a good movie and co-director Jennifer Lee wrote last year's delightful Wreck-It Ralph), but this trailer does not look super promising. The snowman character? Blarg. Let's hope it's just a bad trailer hiding a great - or at least good - movie.

[via /Film]

Feminist Makeup Tutorial

What a joy.



And, let's face it, some pretty good tips.

[via HuffPo]

Jimmy Fallon, the Roots, and the Muppets Sing "Sesame Street" Theme

A-flippin-dorable.



[via HuffPo]

The Hairpin's Interview with Dr. Susan Robinson is really great

As one of the last doctors providing third-term abortions, and one of the subjects of the new documentary After Tiller, Dr. Susan Robinson is a very interesting interview subject.

Two particularly interesting sections:

"Do you often have patients that require emergency care like that?
Well, not often, but things go wrong when you do abortions. They don't usually go seriously wrong, but it’s a complex procedure. Still, if you compare abortion at any gestational age to childbirth, childbirth is significantly more likely to kill the mother than abortion, which is something that no OB-GYN will ever tell you."

and

"What do you hope people come away with after seeing the film, or reading this?

I really hope that they'll understand that these late abortion decisions are carefully made by these women. They have been thought out, wrestled with, agonized over. They are never casual. And the need for late-term abortions will never go away."

Check out the full interview at the Hairpin.

Fantastic 'Fantastic Beasts' News!

If you're a Harry Potter fan, then you already know this, but I figured I should post about how pumped I am for the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film adaptation! Who knows how well JK Rowling's writing will transfer to the big screen (novel structures are quite different than screenplay structures), but with a good editorial team at her back, I'm sure it'll turn out great. Most interestingly, it'll be neat seeing how the wizarding world in America differs from that in England. Plus, how cool is it that it's set in the early 20th century? It's basically going to be steampunk wizards + insanely weird animals. How cool is that?

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Ask a Slave: Best New Web Series!

Ok, I don't actually watch many web series, so I guess that's not saying a ton, but I still think it's great! Here's the first episode:



And you can watch the rest here.

[via Gawker]

Let Grover and Dave Matthews Feel Their Feelings!

Grover and Dave Matthews have a lot of complex emotions running through their heads. I can definitely relate to both of them.Who doesn't want to fly a rocket to the moon and also be a superhero? Or, I guess more realistically, feel upset and angry when our dreams don't come true, or jealous but also proud when someone else achieves something we can't?



You cut me to the core, Sesame Street.

[via HuffPo]

Cookie Monster IS The Spy Who Loved Cookies

Sesame Street is doing a series of movie spoofs aimed at helping kids regulate their emotions and learn self-control and patience. It's a great idea, and the results are pretty fun, too!

Check out this one for "The Spy Who Loved Cookies":



Adorable! And chicken-full!

The 10 People You Meet in Improv Class

College Humor has a fun article about the types of people you meet in improv classes. I'd love to add a few:

1. The guy who plays all the female characters even though there are several women in class.
2. The guy who always makes the women he plays with his mom or girlfriend.
3. The girl who only plays children.
4. The quiet person who's only there because people told them it would help them to be less shy, but if anything it's made them want to never speak again.
5. The extremely competitive everyone.

Blue Sky Bakery Explains "Muffin Nirvana"

From Serious Eats:



I love Blue Sky Bakery muffins. I can't agree that they're the right size (it usually takes a few days for me to finish one), but they are the perfect muffin. And this is coming from someone who does not generally like muffins. The one featured here: pumpkin, walnut, apple is particularly great. Followed only by any of the ones that contain chocolate chips.

Literally Every one of Chris Traeger's Literally Moments!

I literally love Rob Lowes's character, Chris Traeger, on Parks and Rec. He is so refreshingly different and unique (which is pretty hard to do for a white guy character). I love his upbeat attitude and uber-healthy lifestyle. Sometimes I feel like the Chris Traeger of my office, and that makes me smile. I'm really sad to see Chris go (even if it won't be until mid-season), so I'm happy that Vulture put together a list of all of Chris' 'literally' moments. For some reason, twenty-six seems remarkably low, but I guess Parks has dispersed the literallys more sparingly than it felt like. Good for them! They are literally the best writers in TV right now!

Fun Princess Bride Facts!

The Daily Beast has a list of 26 fun facts about the production of The Princess Bride, one of the best movies of all time. My favorites are the ones about Mandy Patinkin and his dad, and the one about Cary Elwes and the head injury. It sounds like filming the movie was just as touching and funny as the movie ended up being. What a classic.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Save the Badger Badger Badger!

I know literally nothing about the cause, but the anthem is revolutionary.



[via Neatorama]

Cool it, Guys

This is how I feel after seeing that list
Oh man. This list of 18 GIFs of People Who Just Can't Hold It in Anymore is a delight. Nice work, Joanna!

Grantland's Battle for the Best Song of the Millennium

I don't totally understand their process or at all how voting works, but Grantland's Battle for the Best Song of the Millennium is really fun to look over as an excuses to listen to a bunch of fun song from the past thirteen years. Enjoy!