Hogwarts Graduation

With the Harry Potter movies drawing to a close, James White has some suggestions for the young stars. Thankfully, the Harry Potter actors all seem pretty level-headed about their fame, so hopefully they'll follow a similar path to what White suggests--indie movies, theater, following in the footsteps of older British actors, etc.

He did, however, neglect one very important suggestion: the Harry Potter kids need to be friends with me!

I promise, guys, it'll be good for your careers. Somehow.

Another Slice of Pie

An update from Lady Facer Catherine: favorite canceled show of 2009 is back for three weeks! ABC is finally airing the last three episodes of Pushing Daisies. The first aired last Saturday and is now available at online. The next two will be on this Saturday and the Saturday after that.

And then...who knows? There's been mention of a movie or graphic novel to continue the adventures of Ned and Chuck, but nothing seems solid right now. So these final episodes are kind of bittersweet--just like a bittersweet chocolate pecan pie.

I like to think all the characters my favorite, canceled-too-soon shows hang out together in some alternate universe. Maybe Mal and Ned can solve crimes together, in all corners of the galaxy.

Children's Writers Have Sick Senses of Humor...Hurray!

Remember Shel Silverstein? Where the Sidewalk Ends? The Giving Tree? Yeah, good stuff from your childhood. Martyr-complex trees and funny poems are great and all, but what I really like is dark humor about dead ponies. And Shel delivers.

He has some great short plays, but The Best Daddy is, without a doubt, the most hysterical thing ever.

Catch the American Repertory Theater's production of Seriously Funny: an evening of short works by David Mamet, Harold Pinter, and Shel Silverstein to see it live

Seriously, guys. Dead ponies.

I love you so much, Shel Silverstein.

July Can't Come Fast Enough

I can't post it here directly, but here's the link to a sneak peek of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

And. It. Looks. Awesome.

It takes a long time to load, but be patient because it is so freakin' cool. I'm so excited I'm going to explode.

Eeeeeeeeeeeee!

Cheers!

I don't tend to write about my own experiences, but I thought this deserved a nod.



Sunday was kind of sucktastic for me. When I went to Starbucks for an iced tea, the girl at the register took down my name. I usually say "Anne" and then wait to see if they spell it correctly. (Sorry, Anns.) Most of the time they just write "Ann" but when they get it right, it's a total win. But this Starbucks Barista went above and beyond--she spelled my name right and drew a little flower next to it! When I got my drink, it made me so happy!

So thank you, Starbucks girl, for brigthening my spirits on a stressy day.

Also, the Soundtrack Was Awesome

Looking back, the visuals were better than the acting, but as a seventh grader I really, really, really wanted to be Claire Danes in Romeo + Juliet.

This is Beyond Anything I Imagined

This might just be the best one yet.






Eeeeeeeeeeeee!

The part with Cho (?) looks so creepy!

July needs to hurry along already.

Dr. Horrible-r?

Dare I say it? A sequel to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog?

Nathan Fillion says there might be one in the works:

"There is talk about a Dr. Horrible sequel. It's actually in one of the songs on the Dr. Horrible DVD commentary music."

Of course, Fillion also mentions that Joss Whedon is really busy right now, so I shouldn't hold my breath. But I hope this means more sing-along fun for everyone in the near future. Heck, I'd even settle for totally different short musical movies.

Basically, Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion could get wasted and tape themselves doing karaoke and I'd think it was brilliant.

Monkey Business

Maybe the most adorable surprise delivery ever. Kate from Color Me Katie received a monkey costume:

"The mailman handed me a bag with no name on it but assured me that it was mine. It was filled with new baby clothes, a little note, and an awesome monkey costume."

It makes me want to send costumes to random (adorable) people. I bet there's an American Amelie doing that right now.

I Want to Be a Weasley

I am a redhead! I'd fit right in!

Another Secret Family Member

I really should put together a family tree, since I have another secret family member to add. Tim Gunn, fashion guru and Project Runway star, would be my uncle. I want him around at holidays to tell me I look fabulous and say, "You should wear more wrap dresses," or "Purple would be such a great color on you." If I ever met him, I would freak out and giggle a lot and he'd think I was a total spaz. But that doesn't mean I don't dream about the day I'll meet him.

Michelle Collins, Best Week Ever blogger, got to live the dream.

Here's a depiction of the actual event. She's like me and kind of freaks out on the inside, but unlike me, she keeps it cool on the outside. Mostly. I love her for it.

My favorite moment:

Michelle: I hope my Spanx don’t roll down because of this. (Ed. Note: Shame? I have none.)

Tim: Are you really wearing Spanx?

Michelle: What? Three pairs! (The two laugh. They are fast friends.)

Tim: Oh, I’m jealous. I wish I could wear Spanx.

Michelle: What? Don’t say such things, you don’t need em!

Tim: I tell you, I want to invent Spanx for men… I would call them Manx.

Fashionable and hysterical? Tim Gunn is the next step in evolution.

Hear All the Bombs Fade Away

A couple of nights ago I tried to describe the Decemberists to my mom. They're not really rock, not really folk, kind of literary, kind of funny, really beautiful, and really talented. They write songs about people getting swallowed by a whale, ankles, fairy tales, Irish killers, and chimney sweeps. The best word I could come up with that she might understand was indie.

"Indian?" she said. "Like Ravi Shankar?"

"Indie," I said. "Like independent film."

If you can come up with a better word, let me know. But however you describe them, the Decemberists rock. I'd gotten to see them once before, at a free concert, but since that was with a symphony orchestra, they didn't play too many songs. (It would have been a lot for the orchestra to learn in a short period of time.) But when I saw them on their own, they put on such an amazing show. At one point, keyboardist/accordionist Jenny brought out a cardboard cutout of Obama, which them proceeded to crowd surf. At the end, when performing "Son and Daughters," Colin brought up about twenty audience members on stage to help the band along. Just a really lovely moment.

And they sounded just as good on stage as they do on CD. I tend to like it when a live show kind of resembles the song I've been listening to on my iPod for months. It means that the studio didn't mess with their voices.

One of my favorites is their "O Valencia!" Check out the music video below. It's such a different video than I would have expected just from hearing the song!





And here's a live version of "Sons and Daughters."




Try to see them if you can!

Flashback to Last Week, When We Were Nerds

There are certain things I like:

1. YA lit.
2. Funny songs
3. Being nerdy
4. Argyle

What event could possibly combine all of these things? The Great Nerdfighter Tour 2008, that's what. A good friend and I went to the Boston leg of the tour and had an awesome time.

"Wait, what?" you're saying. "Nerd what? Was this a concert? A reading?"

A little bit of everything, actually. In 2007, YA author John Green and his brother Hank gave themselves a challenge: They would only communicate via the spoken word--ie, no emails, no texts, etc. One of their major methods of communication was video blogging. Every weekday, they would take turns sending each other four minute-or-so updates with their thoughts about the world, books, politics, yetis, business cards, and more. But then they started getting viewers. Then Hank wrote "Accio Deathly Hallows" and they got a lot more viewers. Who were these viewers--nerdfighters. Basically, if you were friends with me in high school (or would have been friends with me) you're a nerdfighter.

Even though this was only supposed to be for a year, they've extended their project because of so many viewers and so much nerd love. Although they don't hold themselves to such stringent guidelines, they do update regularly, and also encourage other people to post their own videos/pictures/discussions.

My friend and I discovered we both had an affection for the Green brothers and their social experiment. So we packed up and headed to Cambridge, and were thoroughly entertained by John, Hank, Julia Nunes, and others.

So basically, I got to meet three members of my secret family last week. So excited!




Hank Green sang "Helena Montana."




And then Julia Nunes sang several songs, one of which was "Bye Bye Bye." Guess who's better than Justin Timberlake? My imaginary sister!

Please excuse the bad videography; I was excited and didn't always hold the camera straight. Overall, it was such a fun event, and the Green brothers seem really genuine and totally blown away by their success. And Julia Nunes was even better in person than she is on Youtube. She's going to have major success of her own.

Just Call Me Mom

I'm not the only one who imagines their fictionalized family.

Except, you know, here Allison Morris is talking about being a part of a fictional family of literary characters...not a fictional family of real people:

Poor, poor you! You're a literary orphan with no parents to call your own. What fictional family would you like to have adopt you?

Lots of good choices, with the Weasleys and Austins and Marches and Penderwicks. While I certainly love the Weasleys, I might have to choose the Finches. I might have to live in a racist small town, but Atticus Finch is the best dad ever, Jem is the best older brother, and Scout is smart and sassy enough to make growing up fun. Plus Boo Radley is down the street.

So does this mean Harper Lee should be in my imagined family of real people?

Who's in your literary family?

Time to Head to the Polka Raves

The hunt is on!

Any information about Steve should be posted in the comments.