WEEKEND PIE

This weekend was a very nice, sometimes relaxing, sometimes entertaining and exciting weekend. I got a new iMac, (wahoo!) after spending too much time going to work early to use that or my lagging 5 year old macbook. It was time for something I could rely on - especially with design school on the horizon.

Later on Saturday I saw Beach House with Tim and our friend Emily in Athens, Georgia, at the Georgia Theatre. I love taking little trips out of town to see a show. It's funny, and it's exciting. Of course the best part was the post-show hotdog from the guy who sells them outside the venue. It's a must.

So let me explain this whole "Almost breaking leg" thing. I was standing on the toilet seat lid, slipped, and all my weight via my shin hit the edge of the clawfoot tub's edge. I'm not sure I've experienced pain like that. I was laying on the ground sobbing my eyes out for 15 minutes before I looked at my leg, half expecting the bone to be sticking out. No bone, and I'm assuming no break, because it's just sore now. One hell of a knot and bruise came up, but I was able to stand on it after a few minutes of icing it down. It sure is a ghastly sight, but I'm fine. Totally scary though.

Mother's day was sweet. My mother and grandmother live in Florida, so I skyped with them for a while in the morning. It was nice to see them and talk about things. ♥ The dinner later in the day was spent with Tim's family and his mom, who is also a doll. We went back to his parent's house after dinner and caught up on all our shows. I don't know if any of you watch Girls, but I loveeee it. Lena Dunham is a genius.

Hope you had a lovely Mother's Day, all you mamas out there!

mad men.

I realize I still have a few more months till the wait is over, but I CAN'T WAIT FOR SEASON FIVE!!!!!!




amazing design by Radio

show review: pan am

"It's true! Americans love the 1960s - as seen from all the outpouring on Mad Men - Quick! Let's pump out several 1960s shows too!"

I'm sure that's what the producers of Pan Am and The Playboy Club were thinking. It's also a possibility that if you copy someone's idea, you might not get as far as they do. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Pan Am, it takes place in the early 60s with four Pan Am flight attendants. This is when flight attendants were practically models and flying in on plane got you more than just free peanuts. The idea of this show is not bad, I have to admit. I was genuinely excited to watch the pilot and hoped that it could fill the huge Mad Men hole in my heart.

Any time period film or show has one essential - make the period authentic. If the settings are authentic and true to that period, you're half way there. Build a strong plot after that and you have the beginnings to a sustainable show/film. However, mess up that period, and you've already lost. Thus are my feelings towards Pan Am.



Over the last few weeks as I've been researching the set design for Mad Men, I came to understand the part of the reason it has such a huge fan base is because the costumes and furniture aren't set pieces. Almost every piece of furniture and costume has been found as an authentic vintage piece realistic to that time period. It would make sense that in the 1960s, not everything is contemporary and on the cusp of trendy, as there were still chairs and dresses floating around from the 50s and sometimes 40s. The designers behind Man Men incorporated this truth.

In regards to Pan Am, I think they spent more of their budget creating virtual buildings, planes, and airports than they did on having genuine 1960s settings. One of the characters, Bridget, is seen wearing her long wavy blonde hair down in an almost 2000's beach wave style. In another scene bottled water clearly from our era is sitting on a table in a diner. The virtual effects aren't even good. They look futuristic, almost dreamy, and reminiscent of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Everything is too clean, too manufactured. There was a short clip of Maggie's (Christina Ricci) apartment and it seemed to be the only believable setting. We nearly cheered when we saw it!

Bridget shown with long waves
Modern bottled water seen on the table

So even if the set and costume design was lackluster, but the writing and acting was superb, I'd still be watching the show. Here I am, disappointed again. Seemingly trying to nail a good plot, the story line is all over the place. The lives of four women interwoven together with men, 1960s expectations and wait, THE CIA?! That's right! Good ole' espionage to keep the interest up. Soap opera meets futuristic retro meets spies.

I'm not usually so passionate about matters such as these, but I can't help it. My hopes were very high for Pan Am and I was really disappointed. Have you watched Pan Am yet? What are your thoughts towards it?



photos found here and here.

weekend: flux and dinosaurs.

scenes of flux 2011 by artrelish.


This weekend was a lot of fun. It was just what I needed - a little bit of fun, a lot of rest and relaxation. The video above is a collection of scenes taken from Flux, the art event/public art happening that I mentioned in the last post. The majority of the stuff in the video I witnessed first hand, and it was all amazing.

The opening and closing scenes show the dance, "Livers" by gloATL. The smoke and music made the whole experience just bewildering. You felt as if you were in another realm seeing something you weren't supposed to.

One of my favorite art demonstrations of the night wasn't shown in the video. It was an iron pour - which I had never seen before. It was commenting on the similarities in the way that humans and bees work. They heated the iron, pour the molten metal into molds, and out came a still glowing, very hot, bee. The molds were quickly reset and more bees were made. Poles were inserted into the bees and they were paraded around in a bee dance. Beautiful and fascinating to see molten iron in a modern and very removed society.



In other highlights, Tim & I tried a new restaurant, HD1 (Haute Dog One) that just opened up. When in doubt, pinkies out for gourmet haute dogs. (and maple glazed waffles fries, OMG, I KNOW!) Delishhhhh. And for brunch on Sunday we went to the Flying Biscuit where I got a salmon and cream cheese egg scramble with creamy dreamy grits. My fav. There was also a in-store show at Criminal Records, where Young Rapscallions played. AKA the drummer is McLovin' from Super Bad. (But don't call him that!) I didn't want to pester him for a picture or anything, but I did stare at him for a while. haha. We also stopped by our favorite vintage shop, Highland Row antiques. They were having their monthly market sale, so we got to see a bunch of new stuff. yay!



We also watched another episode of Pan Am, which I might dedicate a whole post to. It's just that bad. SNL with Melissa McCarthy was better than I hoped. Goodness, she is just hilarious. Side splittingly hilarious. And I watched another Woody Allen film, Zelig, which I'll talk about later also. My mother told me that she had seen the first episode of Terra Nova and loved it, so we gave it a shot. Honestly, it wasn't so bad. The dinosaurs could look a whole lot more realistic, but hey, it was the pilot. Hopefully it will get better.

Here's some homework: Go watch the Melissa McCarthy SNL Hidden Valley Ranch clip and get back with me. You will never see ranch the same way again - and it's a good thing. :)


instagram photos by tim lampe @knowsurprises

couch potato.

Day Twenty-one:
fav show:
I love lost. I'm not a big tv watcher to begin with, however. I don't even have cable. But sometime after the fourth season of lost, enough of my friends convinced me that I would love it and that I HAD to watch it. So during the entire fifth season I caught up and was able to watch the last season live. Best decision ever. Yeah, it's a little cheesy sometimes and yeah, it leaves a whole ton of questions unanswered (still!) but hey! I really love it nonetheless. If you're not a fan of lost, you need to get on it!

the above lost posters were created by the awesome mattison|creative.