#flicks!

one of my readers has commissioned me to create a mysterious magical fox for holiday gift giving. 

step one:  the man with levers & i brainstormed.  a dream became a prototype.

step two:  find the perfect magical scraps. 

many of my creatures are made from scraps.  scraps that many humans would discard are seen as a treasure to the man with levers and i.  we see scraps as an opportunity to create a GRAND creature.  scraps opportunities!

step three:  building phase!  the creature begins to come alive.  muhahaha. 

as  i begin to build the creature the leggies will start kicking, the arms will start flailing and the brain will start ticking.  i have to be extremely cautious.  my creature creations do not have horrid intentions, but when their parts are scattered all across the table... well how do you think you would deal with your head being unattached from your body?! or your leggies being threatened by a CHOW?!

check back next week to meet the mysterious MAGICAL fox and learn about his exciting bewitching adventures. Want your own CREATURE?!  leave a comment or sign up here. 

a sprinkling of sweet stuff: 

if you adore Back to the Future & time travel you should watch Looper. 

i admire the director, Rian Johnson.  He has managed to make it on my favorite director list.  if you like this one you should definitely find his other films and check them out too!  LOOPER is creative and entertaining.  it managed to solidify my appreciation for Bruce Willis and his acting.  by the end i also realized that joseph gordon-levitt may in fact be the new Jimmy Stewart... i guess i don't have just a dead guy crush anymore. 

sprinkling of sweet stuff: 

The Holden Age of Hollywood, written by Phil Brody

Phil Brody is "doing time" in Hollywood.  However, instead of finding himself a prisoner to the congested highways, the polluted air, and cut throat film industry... Brody has managed to use his experiences to write an original story that will keep you turning the page.

i discovered Phil Brody's book -- The Holden Age of Hollywood while i was playing hide n' seek in the library.   i seek a book that i feel is hiding from the world... it wants to be taken home and discovered but no one has been able to find it yet.  This is how Phil Brody's book and i became acquainted. 

i borrowed the book on a Monday and completed it Wednesday. 

a sprinkling about the book:

The book's focus is Sam Bateman.  Sam moved to Hollywood, to settle a score.  After his father passed away, Bateman discovered that his father secretly penned several scripts that had been rejected by a big-wig Hollywood producer.  Bateman decides to move to Hollywood to learn about the script development process... while living/working in Hollywood, he is told about the legend Meyer Holden-- the greatest screenwriter Hollywood ever met.  Holden, got fed up with Hollywood and walked away after writing several scripts.  He then began to write scripts under a pseudonym and send them out to random development companies.  Bateman ends up risking it all to go on a quest for a Holden script.  Bateman buries himself in thousands of terribly written scripts searching for a man that does not want to be found-- Holden.  During his quest Bateman becomes a detective and ends up discovering things that he wasn't sure he would ever find... love, a reputable career in Hollywood, and a man that almost got away. 

i sent Phil Brody an email:

this is Phil.  i truly believe all grand writers drink the sauce. 

hemingway, brody, kicks!

After i finished reading the book i turned to the "about the author" page and was pleasantly surprised to find Phil's contact information.  i dropped him an email informing him that i thought his book was RAD and he should continue to write.  (i believe people need to know when their work is grand, you often just hear from people telling you it stinks or nothing at all) well.. he wrote back and we conducted an interview!  here is the inside scoop about the author, Phil Brody.

favorite sundae:  good ole' fashioned banana split

where did he come up with this idea:  well much like his character in the book, Brody is doing time in bLAh (as he refers to it).  Brody believes in the old adage, write what you know.  He feels that he knows Hollywood -- and decided not to write the typical story, about struggling talent wanting to be found.  He gave the story a new spin... to write about a writer who did not want to be found. 

what was the inspiration:  like his character... Brody also worked in development.  He had a desire to find out what happened to his scripts after he sent them into the sea!  This experience helped him learn a lot about the business and then the characters began to whisper to him.  Their whispers resulted in his debut novel. 

why Los Angeles:  Brody ended up in Los Angeles after living in Chicago and working in advertising.  One day he realized he was not happy so he quit his job and headed left.  He wound up in bLAh and started to write.  His move led to happiness and success. 

this is rad:  Brody described writing-- as painting the ideas in his head on paper.  He finds this action to be rewarding.  But at the same point the blank page can be intimidating (agreed!).  To help combat the writer's block he will switch to different mediums:  novel, screenplays, or a blog post.

he resembles this character: his main character, Sam Bateman.  People often ask Brody if he is Bateman (i am one of those people).  Brody sees this as a compliment since he feels he drew a compelling and believable character. However, he does feel that each character does have their own distinct voice in his head and on paper.  Wow! i wonder if he has a man with levers like me?

does he have a 2nd Job:  Phil Brody is always writing.  Anything from freelance copywriting to documentary TV writing. 

what made Phil Brody become a writer: Lots!  He was a comic book kid and loved movies.  Also, during college he rad a novel What Makes Sammy Run.  This book made him want to to move to Hollywood and become a writer.  

how does he conduct research: well for things he doesn't know, he will read books about the topic.  otherwise, he turns to the good ole' internets... which he describes as:  "it always there and scarily knows everything."  in the words of my own father... everything is online. 

what is Phil Brody's favorite film:  He is a big fan of the Condor starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunnaway.  This film is even mentioned a few times in the book.  He also had to mention Star Wars.  This movie influenced him like so many others to want to be part of the movie business.

before Phil was a writer: he caddied for ten years.  starting in 7th grade, he did this every summer throughout high school and college to help pay for school.  Brody finds it funny that by the time he graduated school he already worked for a decade. 

SEPTEMBER is an important month for the Benjamin-KICKS! relationship.

Last weekend while i was laid up due to my wisdom teeth extraction Benjamin & i viewed the horror classic-- Bride of Frankenstein:

this was not my first viewing.  when i was a sminy (small and tiny) child my uncle Weazel exposed me to all the classic horror films.  i thought they were simply grand!

When i first viewed the Bride of Frankenstein as a sminy child i specifically remember the TINY people:

the TINY people frightened me.  i would never want to spend my life trapped in glass and being picked up by a pair of tweezers! you would be doomed to a life as a pickle-- crammed in a jar!  how would you bathe?

however, this time it was not the tiny people that stuck out to me.  even though the Bride was really only on the screen for a mere five to seven minutes, the story reminded me of benjamin and i. 

The movie Bride of Frankenstein shows the gentle side of Frankenstein.  He is in search of friendship (FRIENDDDD), he wants to enjoy the simple things in life (Belgian beers, baguettes, & tunes), and attempt to understand why he was created.  He desires a mate-- someone that can relate to him and his hardships. 

When the Bride is brought to life-- Frankie is ecstatic and he immediately comforts her.  He can't wait to show her the joys of life (like treat stacking and comic books). Instead she screams in horror at the site of him. Frankie was willing to do anything for her...  just like Benjamin.

September 2007 was when i decided to "try".  For several months previous i was afraid.  Benjamin was like Frankie-- misunderstood, compassionate, sweet, and a patient man.  I on the other hand was like the Bride-- the simple sight of Benjamin caused me to scream in fright (well when it came to a relationship that is).  as we regularly did we would meet for a picnic lunch in the park.  one picnic in September-- we were just chit chatting and i realized how grand life was.  i wanted everyday to be like this.  i decided to try. 

now i think benjamin screams in fright-- you would too if you saw my experiments in the lab! 

a random sprinkling:

Artisan Boulanger Patissier

i was never a huge fan of croissants until i visited Paris.  i quickly realized why i was not a huge fan previously-- Similar to the way America fails at beer brewing can be said about their croissant skills. 

ever since we got back from Paris! i have been in search of a grand croissant.  well who knew that in the heart of south philadelphia admist the cheesesteak smells would be a french bakery ran by 2 Asian Parisian transplants.

the croissants will definitely fill the void until i get back to Paris! and i am definitely stoked to bite into this baguette later tonight at the Phillies game.