Technicolor

As you know, I love making puzzles. But not everybody loves word puzzles. So this one's of a more visual nature. I've taken ten well known movie posters and removed the title from each film. Can you identify the following ten movies from their posters alone? To help you out, all of the movies have something in common.

I know. Too easy, right? Well if you didn't think so, don't worry. I'll have the answers posted this upcoming Wednesday.

Care Package of Love

So yesterday afternoon I received a care package from my best friend. She's a student in Washington D.C. and so sadly we don't see enough of each other as we'd like. This summer was particularly tough because she spent the entirety of it in Kenya doing Good Works. So I was particularly delighted when I received these awesome gifts in the mail!

Kenyan teas! Kenyan cards! This awesome hand made journal! And especially this gorgeous African (almost quilted?) apron! Now you might be saying to yourself, "An apron? That doesn't sound too exciting..." But there are two things you must understand:

1) I do an awful lot of baking. I've really gotten into baking bread over the last year. It's a very calming (though time intensive) hobby, that is also very very messy. By the time I've finished my first proof, the kitchen looks like a flour bomb exploded everywhere. If I'm stupid enough to have forgotten to wear an apron my clothes (usually work pants for some god-forsaken reason) also look like I got a big bear hug from the Pillsbury Doughboy. In other words, an apron is the perfect gift that only someone who knows me very well would even think of getting me.

My Apron is a zillion times better than this one.

2) This thing is gorgeous. It is now, without a doubt, the most attractive possession I own. Very vibrant, African patterns, lush greens, reds, etc. I tried to find a facsimile image online but I couldn't find one that replicates the vibrancy. All I found were bland aprons with a flag attached (see photo).

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!! She also sent two C.D.'s. One with authentic Kenyan music (which I haven't listened to yet...) and an incredible mixed C.D. that despite a Lady Gaga or two, had just the perfect kind of music to drive to, which I've been doing a lot lately since I've become more involved with theater down in Colorado. There's the Bird and the Bee, the Decemberists, Wombats, and more! Don't believe me? Check out my new favorite song from Scottish songstress Amy MacDonald:



Yes, Amy MacDonald. This is the life. With friends like these, who needs anything else?.

Tale of an NPR Geek-Out

Local NPR DJ and Geek Celebrity, Kyle Dyas

So last night I went took part in this reading of a screenplay at Wendy's house. It was a fun time, and unlike the other actors who either left right after the reading or stood quietly on the sidelines, I took a very active part in the workshop discussion afterwards. I may have even found a new writing group to belong to!

But that's not the reason for this post. Because, there was someone else at the reading. Someone, who I'm sure wouldn't turn the heads of most people, but for me it was a total celebrity geek out moment.

Now I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming where we get two NPR stations. We get Wyoming Public Radio and we also get KUNC. I listen to both pretty much all the time. I flip back and forth. If I don't like the programming on WPR, I usually like the programming on KUNC, and vice versa. For instance, WPR carries Talk of the Nation, whereas KUNC carries Market Place and the Splendid Table. They play This American Life at different times. What I'm trying to say is that I listen to an awful lot of KUNC, and there's this voice who DJ's the music selection, Kyle Dyas who I've listened to for the past three years and last night HE WAS AT THE PARTY!!

Garrison Keillor, a face for the radio if there ever was one

I know that for most people meeting a spindly local public radio personality wouldn't be much to write about, but for me it was like meeting an honest to God celebrity. I sort of freaked out, and babbled on and on about how much liked NPR and what an honor it was meeting him. I don't think he really understood. I think he just thought it was weird putting a face to the voice (which was a little disconcerting (ever seen a picture of Garrison Keillor?)) But I was in honest-to-god celebri-shock.

I have a good friend who lives in New York, and he's seen/met many celebrities. For him, it's like walking across the street. "Oh, Hi Gweneth". Me? Not so much. And honestly if I were to meet, say, a famous actor, I don't think that would even have the same effect on me as meeting someone whose voice I've been listening to almost every single day for the past three years. I know this makes me a huge NPR geek. I know that I need help. But if loving NPR and geeking out at the appearance of local DJs is a disease, then I don't want the cure.

The Wednesday Cheat Sheet - September 14 2010

So it's been slightly over a week since I started this blog and you know what? It's been pretty awesome. I've started drawing cartoons again, I get to publish puzzles, life is good. What else was going on in the world? Well... according to the Weekly Review from Harpers: 

In Amarillo, Texas, 23-year-old skateboarder Jacob Isom stole a Koran from David Grisham, director of Repent Amarillo, before Grisham could burn the book. “I snuck up behind and told him, ‘Dude, you have no Koran,’ and took off,” Isom said. ³ Religious leaders held an emergency summit in Washington, D.C., to denounce the “anti-Muslim frenzy.” “We know what it is like when people have attacked us physically, have attacked us verbally, and others have remained silent,“ said Rabbi David Saperstein. ”It cannot happen here in America in 2010.”⁴ The House of Representatives was evacuated after an unidentified white powder was found in the chamber. Some thought the substance was yellow.⁵ Tea Party activists rallied in front of the Capitol. “When we got here last year, at Union Station we could hear the roar,“ said Tea Party supporter Rob Pittman, who traveled from Long Island. ”I’m not hearing the roar this year." ⁶ An invasive species of predatory shrimp, which often leaves its prey uneaten after killing it, was found in the waters off England. 

And more!  But enough of that depressing crap! Click on the jump for the answers to last week's puzzles!

I Heart Belle and Sebastian

A few years back I was in a pretty dark place in my life. I was stuck in a cold house in the middle of winter all by myself for months on end. No car, no friends. It was pretty bleak. But whenever I'd feel really depressed there'd always be one way to get myself out of the funk (besides drinking a quart of cheap wine): I'd put on a Belle and Sebastian C.D. and instantly I'd start to feel better. Led my lead singer Stuart Murdoch, Belle and Sebastian has the kind of peppy calming melodies that instantly make you feel better. This is a new(ish?) video I found on their website, celebrating the release of their new album: "Write About Love".





The second half of the video after the jump...

Remember to Put on a Condiment

In this puzzle, each line holds three five-letter words, each going from left to right, and running into each other. Once you've answered all of the clues, there will be three related words running down the gray stripes. Have fun! I'll post the solution, along with the answers to last weeks puzzles tomorrow!


1. Bay city of Florida
2. Half of a 60's quartet
3. Sideways
4. Give the slip
5. Belief system of Benjamin Franklin
6. Scent
7. Puccini opera
8. Prickly plants
9. Give 10% to, say
10. Persian Gulf country
11. "Little Miss Sunshine" Oscar winner
12. Early Peruvian
13. Yellow tropical fruit
14. Gentleman's gentleman
15. Old-time anesthetic
16. Synagogue scroll
17. In the lead
18. Grown up
19. Nether world
20. County near London
21. An American in Paris, maybe

Why I'm Going To Watch "Top Chef: Just Desserts" (and Why You Should Too!)

The "Chef-testants" on Top Chef: Just Desserts

Anyone who knows me, knows that I like television. Anyone who knows that I like television, knows that I love Top Chef. Top Chef, for those of you who don't know, is a cooking competition on Bravo, a network devoted to producing trashy reality television shows about rich assholes (see here, here, here, and here), when they're not producing great competition shows (see here, and here). Unlike Hell's Kitchen (where they get a bunch of mediocre line-cooks and Gordon Ramsey screams at the top of his lungs at them for the entire hour), Top Chef prides itself on casting their show with talented and promising chefs. Many of the contestants have been James Beard award winners or finalists, and in general, they all know how to cook their pants off. (not literally but that might be a show worth watching...), and mostly the show is not about watching people out of their depth fail and fail again, but about watching professional craftsman performing feats of creative genius under ridiculous pressure. Previous challenges have included making gourmet meals from ingredients purchased in a vending machine, creating a healthy and fancy meal for a ton of school children using school's restricted budgets, and producing fine tasting courses using "offal" ingredients, like tripe, kangaroo, and duck tongues. It's an amazing show, and if you haven't been watching it you should. It deserved the Emmy, especially for its last season which was probably the best of the bunch.

Luckily she owns a restaurant in Vail, Colorado!

Unfortunately, this current season, Washington D.C. hasn't been Top Chef at its A-Game. Since now, it seems as if each season has offered a stronger crop of chefs than the last, but Top Chef D.C. has been sort of a slide in reverse, especially compared to some of the amazing skills shown by the previous season's chefs. (Kevin, I still love you!) And now that my favorite, Kelly Liken's been booted off right before the finale, I don't really have a dog going into the race.


But, none of that matters, because after tomorrow evening, Top Chef D.C. will have officially closed its season of "bleh". With its departure brings a new Top Chef spin off, which instead of focusing on savory chefs, will focus of poultry chefs. Here are a few reasons why I'm looking forward to this new spin-off show: