a welcomed visitor to my little garden...

my "Edenscape"

splendid... simply splendid...

Every now and again comes a movie that moves, thrills, and just generally makes one happy... this week I caught up with two such great and wonderful movies... The Oscar's had it right, The Artist and My Week with Marilyn are two movies that are just... well... splendid...

I saw Marilyn first, and just felt the joy of an era gone by as well as a little sadness of what could have been a spectacular life, but within the bittersweet is a gem.. a sparkling little diamond. The actors all perform within an inch of perfection... and I have to say Michelle Williams is so smashing as Marilyn, you'd think they were clones!! Eddie Redmayne, "new", so to speak to the world, but not to me (I know him from British TV series Tess D'Urberville and Elizabeth I). FANTASTIC!!! No matter what, this is a movie worth seeing!

The Second, The Artist, is just an homage to the old era of the silent films.. When movies were Pictures... and everything was Romantic. This story is not told through the dialogue, it's told through gestures, facial expressions and body language. and it is marvelous!!! I mean, really, truly marvelous. It's a movie within a movie, within a lost art form.... and I LOVED it!!!!

Loki Tote

I am currently making a tote for a fellow geek and friend, she is particularly excited about the character Loki who features in Marvel's Thor and Avengers, as well as in the movies....


This character is from Norse Mythology, and the actor who has portrayed Loki in the latest movies, is one Tom Hiddleston, a fine young British actor who has a voice that can melt a stone! (I am also a fan of his, in case you didn't catch that already... lol...)

One day as we were talking, I mentioned to her that I was making myself a Doctor Who Patchwork tote, showed her a picture of a sample of it and before you knew it we got talking and throwing out ideas... and that was the conception of the Loki-bag... lol....

I've been working on the patches for a while now, and am just finishing putting it all together. It's been really really fun, and this project has certainly challenged my creative juices!! But I think I have succeeded in making something that is pretty cool, and as long as Kat (the future owner) is happy.... I am happy.

The finishing touches have not been captured on film (so to speak) as of yet, but as soon as I get it done I will post it.... At any rate, it's been a fun project and I've learned many things about the creative process, what works for me, how I work creating things... it's been really interesting. And I'll admit it's been not all "smooth sailing"... But that's all part of the journey I suppose! 

one of the side panels

the inside pocket

Days....

Some days are better than others... some start out good and go "south" into a deep ravine by the end of it... others start out rather "grey" and end up on happy notes...

Today is definitely one of the latter for me... As I write this I am sitting in a Starbucks, in Manhattan, with a dear friend as we geek out over our favorite show... (Doctor Who)

Having not seen each other for about a week or so, we went and saw "The Bourne Legacy" this morning, starring one of my quickly growing favorite leading men; Jeremy Renner....

Then we relocated to a Starbucks and have been here for about five hours now... :) Comfortably so. They have almost everything we need... lol... and it's nice to just "hang out" together like this. For my part at least, I need my Areum "fix" every so often!

So here's me raising my glass (figuratively) to friendship and "Geek-dom"

thought's on filming...

...On Movie Sets:


Now people might think movie sets are exciting fascinating places... even fun... but I am here to tell you different!! It is a LOT of sitting around waiting, getting the scenes ready FOR shooting, the actual filming takes only a few minutes, (depending on how good and prepared the actors are) and then all the excitement is over...


To shoot even a minute of a film there is so much prep work and "build up" the actors really only shows up, portray the correct emotions, say their lines and that is it for them... The REAL work is done before and after, and a little "during"... The grips and riggers, the props department, the set assistants, Costume and Wardrobe, the engineers, electricians etc THEY are the ones who do all the work and gets little of the credit. (I mean come on, honestly how many of us sit through the credits all the way to the end!!!)

Then of course it depends on what kind of film it is, period pieces may have a TON more crew on say props and wardrobe than for instance a comedy or a thriller, or a Sci-Fi; has a lot more special effects crew and perhaps less people in props and set decor. Each genre has it's own "special needs". A rom-com is perhaps more about the writers and directors. On an action movie set it's about safety and stunts.. 

In my opinion the REAL "hero's" of a movie are the people behind the scenes. Not the producer/director, Not the actors, but the labourers who prepare everything and do the hard work... in many ways it's like building a house.. Sure the designers do a fabulous job, but the real credit is for the people who put in the support beams, who nail the walls and the ceilings together, who put in the piping, the electricity, the floors and stairs.... it doesn't matter who "lives" there... without these other people there wouldn't be a house!!!

So today my thoughts and appreciation goes to the "builders" of movies and tv shows.... you have my admiration and respect, and my thanks!!!!! In my opinion, just getting your name at the end of a movie you work on is not credit enough!!!! (Perhaps this is why I always take a lot of pictures of the crew and the "workings" when I visit sets....)


However this does NOT mean I will stop chasing my favorite actors... lol... I do still want a bit of them as well... but I will try to remember and appreciate more, the "background-ers"    ;)

A forgotten posting...

A while ago I came across a fun band playing at the south end of Union Square Park... 

I stood watching for a while, then went on my way...

When I came back to the park, the band had gotten a crowd and some other "participants"..

more sand art pictures

Joe Mangrum is the street artist, and his pieces of art are fantabulous!!!

You can find him on: http://www.joemangrum.com/artnews/