Baz Movie Mania

Baz Luhrmann

Over the past few weeks I've rediscovered my love for all things Baz Luhrmann. If you aren't familiar, Baz is the visionary director behind...

These three movies, referred to as his "Red Curtain Trilogy," showcase the wonderful, whimsical world of Baz. Each film uses a specific creative expression to tell the story - dance in Strictly Ballroom, the poetic words of Shakespeare in Romeo + Juliet, and music in Moulin Rouge. I love each one for the way the most elemental and basic love stories are infused with beauty and emotion, saturated with color and modernity. Fran & Scott dancing wordlessly, back lit behind the curtain. Romeo clutching the barrel of Tybalt's gun to his forehead, screaming "Either thou or I or both must go with him." Christian cradling Satine's dying body surrounded by rose petals while the unsuspecting crowd cheers on. To me, this is the very best sort of storytelling - a heightened version of the most real and simple archetypes and emotions. Baz's films are transporting, imaginative, impossible. I love that!

This weekend his latest and most ambitious film opens, the sweeping period epic Australia.

The movie, set in and about Baz' home country and starring Australian actors Hugh Jackman & Nicole Kidman, seems poised to be for the Land Down Under what Gone With the Wind was for the deep South. I can't wait to see how Baz applies his exuberant and over-the-top film making to a movie like this.

It's been a fun time to be a movie lover! First Bond, then Twilight (twice in 48 hours), and this weekend another great movie to look forward to. See you at the theater!

Boomer Sooner, Baby!

Last night the Sooners officially put the smack down on previously unbeaten Texas Tech, beating them 65-21. And that is the score of a football game, not basketball. OU scored 35 points in the second quarter alone.

Coach Stoops (who is now 60-2 at Norman with a 24 home-game winning streak) and the boys were in rare form, with their defense amped up to match their typical high-strung offense. The 85,000 strong crowd in the stadium was deafeningly helpful in its enthusiasm as Bradford and company ran and threw the ball all over the Red Raiders.

This picture is kind of what the whole game was like...

OU scoring touchdowns with Tech players laying around helplessly on the field.

The most interesting part is that this sets up a three-way tie for the Big XII South between OU, Tech, and Texas. Each team has the identical conference record with one loss apiece - OU fell to Texas, Texas fell to Tech, and Tech lost to OU. With one more week to go, if all three win next weekend, the league will be forced to rely on BCS standings to break the tie and determine which of the three will head to the Big XII Championship game against Mizzou. And of course, chances are good the winner of that game will be headed to Miami for the National Championship game.



In a nutshell, what a fabulous time to be a Sooner fan. Here's looking forward to an important road game next week against in-state rivals (and still ranked) Oklahoma State!

And One Thing I Forgot

This morning as I drove to work I realized I had neglected one very, very important item that I love very, very much on my list yesterday. So consider this the 101st thing I like...

101. My car has seat warmers

Car seat warmers are the types of things that I have always considered frivolous and rather stupid. But all those thoughts go flying out the window on frigid November mornings when the warmth radiating out of the leather and all through my backside is maybe the most blissful part of my day. Plus, those seat warmers nursed me through months of excruciating back pain, like a toasty little heating pad form-fitted to my lumbar region. Mmmmmm.

So thank you, Toyota, for putting seat warmers in the design of your 2003 Highlanders. My butt is eternally, cozily grateful.

100th Post! 100 Things I Like...

This is my 100th post on this blog! Little did I know all those years ago that I would be having this much fun sharing all my random thoughts with the world... or at least with my mom and the five other people who regularly read this blog.

I decided I would do a post about 100 random things I like... in no order, no rhyme or reason... These are not my top 100 things, or an exhaustive list of things I like. I just typed out everything as it came to me, and sometimes saying one thing I liked made me think of something else. Also I did some linking in case you like these things too.

Now on to the list!

1. Sleeping with lots of pillows
2. Baby name books
3. Libraries
4. Popcorn at the movie theater
5. Writing blogs
6. Shel Silverstein
7. Swimming
8. Artisan & Craft fairs
9. Leggings
10. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
11. Red airheads
12. Getting stupid-excited about the Twilight movie
13. Kristin Wiig on SNL
14. Driving
15. Chubby cheeks on babies
16. Scalding-hot showers
17. Really bright red fall trees
18. Taking pictures
19. Target
20. Shredding papers
21. Guinea pigs
22. The music of Leeland, especially "Sound of Melodies"
23. Watching figure skating
24. My graphic designers I work with
25. Cookies & Cream icecream from Braum's
26. Snow
27. The really snarky writing on Gossip Girl
28. Exclamation points
29. Writing and receiving real letters
30. When Heather calls at 9 pm and asks if I want to go to Sonic
31. The movie "Can't Hardly Wait"
32. Estee Lauder's Beautiful Sheer & Ralph Lauren Romance perfumes
33. Garth Brooks
34. Hugging my dad after I haven't seen him in a long time
35. Acoustic guitar driven music
36. Celebrity gossip
37. Scruffy and how cute he is
38. The St. Louis Zoo
39. LOST
40. Daydreaming of working for a really cool company like Google or Pixar
41. T-shirts with pockets
42. Fresh flowers
43. Calvin & Hobbes
44. Knowing all the words to Kanye West's "Golddigger"
45. Re-reading books I love
46. The words to hymns
47. Michaelangelo's Pieta
48. Holidays
49. Having parties at my house
50. 1 John 3:1
51. Horses
52. Going to art museums and remembering all the art history I learned
53. Apples with peanut butter
54. My momma
55. Traveling to new places
56. Being barefoot
57. Getting a haircut
58. Fuji Apple Chicken Salad from Panera
59. Baz Luhrmann movies
60. The city of Chicago
61. Cello
62. Being goofy with Ben
63. Scrapbooking
64. Shopping for scrapbooking stuff
65. Potatoes
66. Children's books
67. Going to a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game in Busch Stadium
68. Headbands
69. Cute flat shoes
70. Quoting shows and movies I love
71. Steve Carell
72. Purple irises
73. My red purse
74. When kids say funny things
75. French fries from Kriegers with extra seasoning
76. Mountains
77. Doing laundry
78. Being "outdoorsy" through kayaking
79. When people have a funny laugh
80. Office supplies
81. My friend Rob & his family
82. Jason Mraz
83. Watching college football
84. Finding people on Facebook and looking at their pictures
85. When Jesus heals the little girl in Mark 5
86. The smell of outside in the spring
87. Milk
88. When my whole family is together at Christmas
89. Wearing jeans
90. Nicknames
91. Reading in the bathroom
92. Chips and cheese dip
93. Falling asleep to rain and thunder
94. Mark Rothko's color field paintings
95. Looking at beautiful wedding pictures
96. The X-Files
97. Getting a pedicure
98. Needtobreathe
99. Natural lighting
100. Taking naps

A Little Friday Randomness

Song that makes me drive like an insane person

I love driving on the highway to tobyMac's "The Slam." Especially in Ben's little Honda Fit. I can't help going crazy fast and weaving in and out of traffic like I'm in a movie car chase scene when that song comes on. Man! So I try not to listen to it very often, because I have a perfect driving record to maintain.

Color I am digging right now

I have purchased about 5 purple shirts and sweaters in the past few months. Just yesterday at Target I got this super deep indigo sweater. Love it. Next I would like to get some crazy adorable purple accessories... like headbands and gloves and some shoes.

Funnest Ads of the Season

I got the recent issue of Vanity Fair and it had a huge spread of Gap's adorable winter ads featuring a super random assortment of celebrities all bundled up in Gap's traditionally colorful sweaters and scarves. They have done a similar campaign for the past couple years and I love it. The ads are cute and funny and happy and warm and very Gap. The one with the SNL guys? Perfection. And, PS, Jason Sudekis is pretty good lookin'. Oh, and the one with Jason Bateman and his precious daughter? Too cute. And, PS, Jason Bateman is very good lookin'.

And, let's face it, these ads are doing their job. Because I haven't been in a Gap in years but this totally makes me want to go buy a scarf. Maybe they have a purple one.

Twilight in the Sunlight

So I promise this post is less about my Twilight obsession and more about my love of beautiful photography. In the new issue of Vanity Fair they did a story on the Twilight phenomenon and it was accompanied by the most breathtaking photographs. Principle stars Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, along with the rest of the cast, were shot at a farm near LA by photographer Peggy Sirota. It's sort of a basic concept - put pretty people in a sunny field and they're going to look good - but the lighting she captured as the sun was behind them is so magnificant. Here were a few of my favorites:

Everything is just bathed in this warm golden sunlight, and I love it. Looking at these I can practically feel the warmth of the sun and smell that dry grassy earthy scent of outdoors in the afternoon. The styling is great too - love the color palette, love her dress with the Chucks. The whole vibe of the photos is so classic and Americana... and makes me want to go take pictures in a sunny field.

Of course it is cloudy today, and cold, and raining, and also I don't have the gorgeous cast of a major motion picture on hand to shoot so... maybe some other time.

Click here to see the rest of the Vanity Fair shoot and outtakes.

FujiAppleChickenLove

It is BACK! My salad is back! Thank you Panera, from the bottom of my hungry heart.

I love it so much. I guarantee you I will eat it at least once a week until they take it away again.

At Long Last: Sleeping at Last

It is pretty late so forgive me if this is a less than eloquently written entry. But I couldn't NOT write about the concert I was just at while it was so fresh in my mind, so here goes.

If you've ever listened to anything I've ever said on this blog ever, listen to this: Sleeping at Last is a band you should know - and once you know them, one you will love.

Two brothers and their friend, all hailing from the Chicago area, make up the trio that is Sleeping at Last. I hardly believed there were only three of them in the group until I saw them in person. They just produce so much sound for so few people! Of course by "sound" I mean so much more than noise. Their songs are lush, rich, full. The band members themselves are industrious, with the lead singer switching back and forth between keys and guitar (at one point playing both on the same song, I kid you not) and the bassist/keyboardist/looper/pedal pusher doing so many things at once I lost count. The drummer kept himself busy too, at several intervals shaking his little heart out with one hand and knocking the snot out of the toms with the other.

The best part about this show was that they were joined by a guest string quintet. The band uses a lot of orchestration on their cd and to hear the full effect with the strings live was unreal.

And the craziest part? These guys could not look less like rock stars. I present you Exhibit A, the lead singer:

I dare you to envision what you think his voice might sound like and then go visit their MySpace page and listen to some of their songs. He is so unassuming looking - like any random baby-faced twenty-something you might pick out of a coffee shop - and then he opens his mouth and out comes this insanely unique and lovely voice.

Did you think I was done gushing yet? Well too bad because we're just getting to the good stuff - their lyrics! The songwriting is so different - he finds this way to string together all these really great, unique and visual words in a subtly striking way. And then, as if sounding cool wasn't enough, the words have such great - even worshipful - meaning. So I'll leave you with the words from one of my favorite songs, Needle & Thread. And for the love of all that is good, just go listen to their music okay? I'll loan you my CD.

Needle & Thread

When the world welcomes us in
We're closer to Heaven than we'll ever know
They say this place has changed
But strip away all of the technology
And you will see
That we all are hunters
Hunting for something that will make us okay.

Here we lay alone in hospital beds
Tracing life in our heads
But all that is left
Is that this was our entrance and now it's our exit
As we find our way home

All the blood and all the sweat
That we invested to be loved
Follows us into our end
Where we begin to understand
That we are made of love
And all the beauty stemming from it
We are made of love
And every fracture caused by the lack of it

"You were a million years of work,"
Said God and His angels, with needle and thread.
They kissed your head and said,
"You're a good kid and you make us proud.
So just give your best and the rest will come,
And we'll see you soon."

All the blood and all the sweat
That we invested to be loved
Follows us into our end,
Where we begin to understand

That maybe Hollywood was right:
When the credits have rolled and the tears have dried,
The answers that we have been dying to find
Are all pieced together and, somehow,
Made perfectly mine.

We are made of love,
And all the beauty stemming from it.
We are made of love,
And every fracture caused by the lack of love.

Water Weirdo

As I sit here at my desk, I have within arm's reach no fewer than three individual cups filled with assorted levels of water. This is because I am insane.

No really. If you go to my house you will notice the same thing. When I do the dishes I always have to walk all over the house collecting my many half-full glasses of water. I have no idea why I do this, although Ben and I compare it to the little girl in the movie Signs. So I suppose if aqua-phobic aliens invade Earth my little quirk might come in handy.

My only other explanation is that I like to drink water when it is cold, but I also drink it slowly. This means that often the water is room-temperature and I still have half a glass left. Which I then leave strewn about on some flat surface and help myself to another glass. Why not just dump that glass out and fill it with fresh cold water? I have no idea. Like I said, insane.

How to Make a Pot Roast

I am a person who likes to cook and loves to bake. With baking, I am becoming more and more willing to take some risks and try more difficult and challenging recipes. Last week, for example, I made something brand new from a recipe book - Pumpkin Apple Spice Muffins. I don't like pumpkin and I don't like cooked apples but surprise, they were YUMMY. In fact, some people asked about that one so I will try to remember to post the recipe later.

With cooking, however, I am so picky and cheap that I like to stick with tried and true recipes and ingredients. Pasta with meat sauce? Check. Baked chicken w/ steamed veggies? Check. Tacos? Check. Chili? Double check, I make one tasty turkey chili.

And pot roast? Well, pot roast gets a triple check. Because, literally, it might be the easiest meal to make and the one with the least potential for screwing it up. And that, my friends, is my kind of dinner.

Here's what I did.

1. Get up in the morning and get out my big ole crock pot.
2. Put the pot roast meat in the pot.
3. Stab meat in a few places with knife, rub with minced garlic and poke some in the holes I stabbed.
4. Sprinkle one packet of Lipton Onion Soup mix on top.
5. Pour one can of Cream of Mushroom soup on top.
6. Fill just-emptied soup can w/ water, pour that over the top of everything.
7. Arrange hunks of potato and carrot over and around meat. You can do onions too, I guess, if you're into that kind of thing.
8. Cover crock pot. Leave for work, school, life, whatever. Come back in 8 hours.
9. Remove lid. Scoop out food and pour the leftover gravy stuff on top.
10. Eat.

Bonus steps:
11. Say "mmmm, yummy" while eating.
12. Save a little bit of leftovers for lunch the next day.