A Visionary (Mad) Genius

Tarsem Singh first caught my attention when he created a living Caravaggio painting in the video for R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion. After that, I was interested to see what he could do on a bigger canvas. Unfortunately, The Cell, while filled with some awe-inducing compositions, boiled down to more S & M serial killer nonsense. Tarsem's latest, The Fall, looks like it may be similarly nonsensical, but visually dazzling enough that Spike Jonze and David Fincher got behind it to get it released. I'm interested to see more, if only from what I can tell from the above costume design. You can watch the trailer here.

Cupcakes and Lost bingo at my place tonight!

This season's Lost episodes have had me puzzling over recap after recap after recap, reading EW's Doc Jensen's theories on each plot point and its accompanying allusions till my brain hurts. Do I need to start re-reading C.S. Lewis? Is Locke Jacob? When Locke moves the island will this result in 815 crashing into the ocean in the past? Agh, brain cramp. So my current plan for tonight is to start with some simple refreshers and review the island's 17 enduring mysteries -- tell us about those four toes already! Then I may have a cupcake party inspired by katipeck's, above, and play some Lost bingo. After I'm done obsessing over the finale, I'll catch up on my correspondence, courtesy of Betty Turbo:


And then I will officially stop being a total geek. Maybe.

Tagged! Twice!

I've been tagged twice by the lovely Missa over at Thrift Candy!

First, in response to the following Five Things:
Five things in my purse:

Five favorite things in my room:


Five things I've always wanted to do: attend a Lebowskifest, drink a glass of champagne in Champagne, own a bakery that opens late, Drive Route 66 in cowboy boots, and live in Florence.

Five things I'm currently into: Thrifting for cool vintage patterns to use in gocco greeting cards, waiting to see the season finale of Lost, waiting to see if The Dark Knight is as good as it looks, finding the perfect recipe for red velvet cake, and Monk reruns.

Five impressions on Missa at Thrift Candy (who tagged me): Missa is sweet, has an impeccable eye for color and pattern, looked amazing while she was pregnant, has a beautiful garden and has the good taste to think of Enid from Ghost World as a style icon.

Next is Six Quirks. Here are mine:

Quirk One: I will straighten everything out on your desk, even if you don't ask me to.
Quirk Two: I photograph my shoes so I can locate them in my closet.
Quirk Three: I curl my eyelashes every day.
Quirk Four: I love to fall asleep with the TV on.
Quirk Five: I love drinking white wine over ice.
Quirk Six: I walk around the house wearing boots for no reason whatsoever.

Now I'm taggin' girl friday, Nice-etc., made in Mississippi, paper schmaper, and the women within.

Want + Art = Have

The artists behind Wants for Sale have come up with a pretty simple concept: they want something, they paint it, and then try to sell the painting for the cost of that item. They have sold paintings of everything from their favorite buffalo wings to a month's rent. Still available is a painting of financial security, but you'll have to pony up $1,000,000 for that one.

Raiders of the Overcrowded Cargo Truck

I have been trying to muster up some excitement for this Indy film, but the reviews are almost as divided as the democrats right now. The film "miraculously" surprised Stephanie Zacharek with its inventiveness, while Joe Morgenstern watched it "waiting, in vain, for the sort of dazzle, dash and clarity that made us love the series in the first place." Roger Ebert may be feeling the love, but the pessimist within me has taken over. I have a feeling I'll be getting more happy nostalgia from Dunechaser's lego photo above. Prove me wrong, Señor Spielbergo!

That lab has been hitting the gym hard!

It may be because summer is coming, but I am in the mood for some silliness, so I was checking out the collection of the world's smallest (and wackiest) coffee table books to buy over at Blue Q. I've decided my favorite is Labs With Abs, which is filled with portraits of just that by Andrew Jeffery Wright. I'm also loving Yo, Check The Perm (where the perm is reinvented as "the most dangerous haircut ever conceived") and 50 Sad Chairs (Bill Keaggy's document of discarded chairs in downtown St. Louis). See the whole collection here.

Happy Happy Joy July

Lately it has been hard to avoid Miranda July, but I haven't gotten tired of checking in to see what she has her hand in. Turns out that she is working on a follow-up to Me and You and Everyone We Know. And she is still writing on her stove and making little short films on subjects like buttons. She and Harrell Fletcher are also continuing to give the public regular art assignments on the website Learning to Love You More. Above are some of the responses to my favorite assignment, draw a scene from a movie that made you cry. The top is a scene from The Unbearable Lightness of Being created by Francesca Lentini, and the bottom is a scene from Casablanca created by Trevor Alixopulos. It's fun to see not only what movies make people cry (one person used Super Troopers), but how that emotion is translated through the filter of the viewer.

My Fantasy Weekend

Relaxing in the grass in one of LaMadeleine's custom vintage fabric dresses, under a canopy of petit chandeliers by Mary Holcomb at Oh Merci, while listening to the Marie Antoinette soundtrack. Happy Friday!

Tony Shalhoub is Sweet as Cinnamon

How can you not love the teddy bear that is Tony Shalhoub? Nothing makes a bad day better than finding some Shalhoub on the telly. Or even just saying "Shalhoub." My personal favorite Shalhoub performance is his Freddy Riedenschneider from The Man Who Wasn't There, but I also love me some Monk. Above is Cinnamonk, created by Rakka over at Suspect and Fugitive. I'm always checking out Rakka's nonarchival creations made from yummy materials, like her Sugar Ray Charles. You can check out Rakka's daily offerings here.

Would you like some juice?

I would love to have an enormous kitchen so that I could hang these vintage juice cup paintings by Holly Farrell. I fell in love with her work at the recent Intuit show. She can make a plunger look beautiful. See more of her work here and here.

Your Monthly Gyros

I love Bill Swislow's website Interesting Ideas. It's filled with such great roadside and outsider art. Bill is compiling various Chicago gyros signs in his Gyros Project. And you can bring the project home - Bill's storefront is selling Gyros Project calendars! Mmmmm, mystery meat.

Robert Downey Jr.'s Renaissance

I have always adored Robert Downey Jr. His earlier performances, even in crap like Chances Are, were always so supernatural that I imagined him as one of Caravaggio's boys, overripe, ironic and provocative. Apparently I'm not the only one who derived this kind of aesthetic from him; check him out participating in a Pietà performance piece in 2001. Feels like we could be in the golden age of Downey: he finally has his blockbuster (a terrific one), and I am waiting breathlessly to see him in Tropic Thunder (that trailer!!).

Something for the ladies of the world

Flight of the Conchords' album beat Ashlee Simpson. Murray knows what he is doing. I want to live in these boys' cereal bowls. I need this Jemaine poster now.

Put some south in your mouth

Last week I visited the elegant open-air mansion of Savannah, Georgia, and one of my favorite finds was Back in the Day Bakery. Their bourbon bread pudding and red velvet cupcakes were perfection, and everything was served with such retro flair. I just adored the art on the walls of the bakery. Some is by Jenny Heid and Aaron Nieradka, the artists behind Everyday is a Holiday. Check out their etsy store and website for more nostalgic art to satisfy your sweet tooth. The gorgeous Back in the Day cupcake painting, above on the right, is by artist Cedric Smith, who does the most fantastic nostalgic collage paintings. Check out his work here and here.