Perfect gifts for everyone on your list…
Your It List presents our top picks for gifts this holiday season for everyone on your list.
Harry Potter Page to Screen by Bob McCabe
Coming in at over 500 amazing pages, Harry Potter: Page to Screen opens the doors to Hogwarts castle and the wizarding world of Harry Potter to reveal the complete behind-the-scenes secrets, techniques, and over-the-top artistry that brought J.K. Rowling’s acclaimed novels to cinematic life.
Buy Harry Potter Page to Screen or watch a video.
How I Got This Way by Regis Philbin
In this entertaining memoir, the irrepressible Reege—consummate talk-show host, man-about-town, loving husband, father, and yes, obsessive sports fan—looks back at his years in show business and is filled with stories of lessons learned—and elbows rubbed—with extraordinary, and often unsuspecting, teachers.
Buy How I Got This Way or read an excerpt.
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis by David Wills
In Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis, David Wills has gathered spectacular, museum-quality work from Marilyn’s key photographers to create this dazzling portfolio of images from every period of Marilyn Monroe’s adult life, from her wedding day in 1942 till just weeks before her death two decades later, this stunning collection pays homage to her continually evolving style and extraordinary beauty.
Buy Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis or read an excerpt.
100 Unforgettable Dresses by Hal Rubenstein
100 Unforgettable Dresses is filled with the stories, secrets, intrigue, and insights behind the most indelible dresses in our collective memories. This book celebrates the staying power of these gorgeous, sleek, sultry, and outrageous creations as well as the lasting impact they’ve had in fashion, popular culture, and our own lives.
Buy 100 Unforgettable Dresses or read an excerpt.
Dear Cary by Dyan Cannon
With unparalleled honesty, Dyan Cannon shares the heartwarming and heartbreaking story of her magical romance and stormy marriage to screen legend Cary Grant. He was the ultimate star, defining Hollywood glamour as well as cinematic achievement. She was a bright new actress, beautiful and funny. What could possibly go wrong?
Buy Dear Cary or read an excerpt.
The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories by hitRECord and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
To create The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1, Joseph Gordon-Levitt directed thousands of collaborators to tell tiny stories through words and art. Reminiscent of the 6-Word Memoir series, The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1 brings together art and voices from around the world to unite and tell stories that defy size.
Buy The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, read an excerpt or watch a video.
Manolo Blahnik and The Tale of the Elves and the Shoemaker by Camilla Morton, illustrated by Manolo Blahnik
International bestselling author Camilla Morton reimagines the classic “Elves and the Shoemaker” fairytale, blending elements of famed shoe designer Manolo Blahnik’s life story into the fabric of the immortal “Once Upon a Time” favorite, complete with original illustrations from Blahnik himself.
Buy Manolo Blahnik and The Tale of the Elves and the Shoemaker or read an excerpt.
The History of the World According to Facebook by Wylie Overstreet
Now, for the first time, a full-length history of the world, from its creation up through present day, as if Facebook had existed all along and Abraham Lincoln had written a status update about “taking the missus to the theater” and Ben Franklin had done the same alerting his network that he’d signed the Declaration of Independence. Filled with hundreds of real-life historical figures and thousands of not-at-all-real Facebook statuses, this is the definitive humor book for a new generation of scholars.
Buy The History of the World According to Facebook or read an excerpt.
The Art of The Adventures of Tintin by Weta Workshop
Go behind the scenes and explore the movie-making magic that comes alive on screen in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film The Adventures of Tintin, shown through text, photos and illustrations from Weta Worskshop, the ground-breaking and Academy Award-winning visual effects team.
Buy The Art of The Adventures of Tintin or read an excerpt.
Menagerie by Sharon Montrose
Celebrated author and photographer Sharon Montrose presents a compendium of wild and domestic animal portraits displayed in unusual and innovative ways-the perfect gift for the legions of fans of cute animals everywhere.
Buy Menagerie or read an excerpt.
The History of American Graffiti by Roger Gastman and Caleb Neelon
Unprecedented in scope, The History of American Graffiti is the definitive story behind the most influential art form of the last one hundred years. With more than one thousand photographs from more than two hundred photographers, The History of American Graffiti captures the look and feel of a genuine American art form with exceptional clarity and detail.
Buy The History of American Graffiti or read an excerpt.
Countdown to Uniqlo in midtown!
In a short 24 hours, New York Fashion Week (excuse me, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week) will begin and Lincoln Center will be abuzz with fashion editors, designers, models, and other artists. However, I believe the less couture-oriented among us will appreciate this other fashion tidbit: Uniqlo’s coming to midtown!
Uniqlo flagship store to come, 5th Ave at 53rd St.
Opening on Friday, October 14, the Fifth Avenue location (at the southwest corner of 53rd St.) will be the Japanese retailer’s largest global flagship store. Yes, Fifth Avenue has plenty of flagship stores, but Uniqlo will be a great addition to It Books’s little stretch of the avenue, saving us from Hollister/Gap/H&M fatigue. Come the holidays, tourists will no doubt choke up the sidewalks even more, but I for one am happy to have another mid-market shop. And it’s always nice to see an empty store front find a new store to call it “home”!
Casting !t: Just Kids
It was announced yesterday via MediaBistro that rock goddess and National Book Award winning author Patti Smith with be helping adapt her amazing memoir Just Kids (my Favor!te book of 2010) for the screen alongside screenwriter and Tony Award winning playwright John Logan.
If you haven’t heard (I can’t see how you haven’t), Just Kids is Smith’s memoir of arriving in New York in 1967 and the then 20 year old’s chance encounter with Robert Mapplethorpe, another 20 year old aspiring artist. It’s her story of their love, their friendship, their art and a New York few would recognize today.
So the question goes out… who would you cast as Smith and Mapplethorpe?
Kristen Stewart (age: 21) and Robert Pattison (age: 25)
Surely these two will be at the top of studio exec’s wish list. Stewart, proved that she could rock in her transformation into Joan Jett in the film biopic The Runaways and the resemblance between the two [rumored] real-life couple to the originals is uncanny. But the fit and the two megastars’ ties to the mega-Twilight-franchise may not hit audiences (or Ms. Smith) the right way.
Frances Bean Cobain (age: 19) and Ezra Miller (age: 18)
The Princess of Grunge as the Godmother of Punk? Can Miss Cobain act? Who knows? But if she can – and would want to step up into the Hollywood world, the photos by Hedi Slimane that recently were released prove she has the look – and the balls – to play Smith. I’d cast the currently almost famous Ezra Miller as Mapplethorpe against Cobain’s Smith. He has the East Village circa 1967 thing down already – and if his performance in the upcoming We Need to Talk About Kevin is as amazing as is being predicted, this could be the massive follow-up he will be looking for.
Emma Watson (age: 21) and Nicholas Hout (age: 21)
Former Harry Potter student Emma Watson seems poised for an image-crashing turn in to catapult her out of Hogwarts. I’d pair her with fellow Brit Nicholas Hout, who came to fame years ago in About a Boy and crashed his own child-star image in the amazing British take on Gossip Girl (but dirtier and better) Skins. His follow-up to that, playing the lovelorn college boy pining for a night with professor Colin Firth in Tom Ford’s A Single Man.
Jennifer Damiano (age: 20) and Eddie Redmayne (age: 29)
Perhaps the modern day Smith and Mapplethorpe might be found forty blocks north of The Village and on Broadway. Jennifer Damiano got amazing attention for her originating role in Spring Awakening. Followed by her Tony-nominated role in Next to Normal. Currently she’s starring in Spider Man. So she should be looking for a new job soon. The Mapplethorpe to Damiano’s Smith? Eddie Redmayne, the Tony award-winning star of Red and the upcoming film My Week with Marilyn.
So who do you think should be cast as Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe in Just Kids?
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I’m a fan of the revenge movies such as V for Vendetta (all time favorite), Count of Monte Cristo, Memento, and Man on Fire; just to name a few. However, after reading The Millennium trilogy and watching the 2009 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo starring Noomi Rapace as the epic Lisbeth Salander and Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist, I was hooked on this series and finished with The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest.
Mind you these movies were written and produced in Swedish, but when I heard that they were bringing it to America to re-make, I didn’t know if I should rejoice or be scared out of my mind.
The 2011 Girl with the Dragon Tattoo teaser trailer…was nothing less than epic. Can’t get over the Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” reproduced by Trent Reznor (NIN) and Karen O (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s). I am still nervous about Rooney Mara portraying the damaged Lisbeth Salander and I hope Daniel Craig can do Mikael Blomkvist justice as well. Very happy to see Christopher Plummer in the cast list though. The teaser trailer gives me hope for the movies and I am very excited and a little impatient for December to roll around.
If you have not already looked into this trilogy via movie or books (the books are ALWAYS better), you need to. I’m being very serious…you really need to step away from the computer or better yet hit up amazon that way you never have to leave your seat, and purchase the books.
Fair warning, these are very dark and twisted books with heavy rape, violence, and language; but we are all big kids here right?
You will enjoy it all the same because Lisbeth is just so badass.
The 90′s are BACK!
The 90′s are back but in the best possible way!
As a child born in the late 80′s and raised in the 90′s I feel it is my duty, nay, my honor to share with you the joy that Nickelodeon gave to me in my childhood years (dramatic much?). This week Teen Nick launched “90′s Are All That” promoting the late night 90′s shows that are now back at Nickelodeon. These shows include: All That, Kenan & Kel, Clarissa Explains It All, and Doug (a personal favorite).
It is rumored that the executives over at Nick are open to suggestions for other 90′s favorites to be added to the late night list. Personally, I wouldn’t mind Rugrats, CatDog, Hey Arnold!, The Secret World of Alex Mack, or my favorite, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, to be added to the line-up.
Did I stay up late last night giggling like the child I was over the epic shorts from All That?
You bet your bottom dollar I did!
If you are like myself, and many other kids of the 90′s, then what are some of your favorite shows from way back when?
The Hunger Games
If you don’t know what The Hunger Games is then you should know that this is definitely a bandwagon worth hopping on. Those dealing with “P.P.D.” (Post Potter Depression) can look forward to a new series that could be the next Harry Potter. Though these two series are vastly different, the underground fan following of Suzanne Collins’ book trilogy The Hunger Games is much larger than anyone has yet to see.
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
Now that Lionsgate has announced the movie to be released March 23, 2012 it has sent the fans into a frenzy and thirsting for more. Jennifer Lawrence, who recently played Raven/Mystique on the big screens X-Men: First Class, has been announced as the beloved heroine, Katniss Everdeen, for the Hunger Games movie. Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth have also been added to the casting list as the fans favorites Peeta (Hutcherson) and Gale (Hemsworth).
Lawrence has my vote!
As we await the 200+ days until the movie arrives, check out the Official Hunger Games movie website to grab their HOT poster widget and movie countdown.
Things are going to start heating up really quick.
In Permanent Ink
Enthusiasts around the world have shown their admiration in many different ways for the things they love most. However nothing seems as intense as permanently inking your body with symbols or designs honoring your favorite sport, movie, celebrity, hobby, etc. Some call it crazy, some call it awesome, and some call it just-plain-idiotic. Whatever label you put on it, it is what it is; “fan”atical tattoos.
The history of tattoos goes back thousands of years. Though how this artistic trend came about is hazy, the evolution of the tattoo is sometimes extreme. So to honor the crazy, the awesome, and the just-plain-idiotic (you can decide for yourself) enjoy this collection of “fan”actical tattoos.
There’s an app for that
The summer’s only half way over, so there’s still plenty of time to enjoy the warm weather, fun nights out with friends, and travel plans you’ve been considering, but haven’t quite gotten around to. Here are 5 free apps to download on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to help you get the most out of your summer and make your plans run a little bit smoother:
1. Gas Buddy: We all know that one of the most painful things to pay for this summer is filling up your gas tank. With gas prices constantly changing, this app will show you the cheapest place to find gas wherever you are. (Network/Wi-Fi needed)
2. Mixology™ Drink Recipes: Even if you’re not a bartender, this app gives you access to thousands of drink mixes to impress your friends. It allows you to search in several ways, depending on what you want to make, and gives enough options to be sure to please everyone you’re entertaining!
3. Urbanspoon: Finding a restaurant (especially while on vacation) can be somewhat of a hassle, trying to please everyone and find somewhere you don’t go every week. This app can help! Urbanspoon allows you to do an open search of restaurants in your area or a specific search where you can dictate price, neighborhood, and type of food you want to eat. (Network/Wi-Fi needed)
4. Lose it!: Has this been the summer you were going to lose weight… but it hasn’t happened yet? This app can help you get on track. It allows you to set personal goals and food choices. Each day, record your food intake and the amount of exercise you do to stay within your previously set goals, and start to lose the weight you want.
5. Fandango Movies: Tickets and Times: With the amount of movies that are coming out this summer, download this app to make sure you never miss one. This app shows the times of the movies you want to see at a theater near you… plus allows you to purchase tickets in advance! (Network/Wi-Fi needed)
Anything that comes up this summer, remember… there’s an app to help!
Happy National Kissing Day
Kiss: to express a thought, feeling, love, passion, etc., by a contact of the lips.
Today is National Kissing Day (or International Kissing Day) so grab someone and lay a big smackeroo on them. It is said to be originally started in the United Kingdom however it was quickly adopted by the rest of the world because, hey, who doesn’t love a good smooch on the lips? Let us appreciate the intimacy we get from a good kiss and not take one for granted by participating in this treasured day for years to come.
Take this as a reminder, or perhaps a warning to some of you, that kissing will be occurring and it may happen to you.
In the mean time enjoy this collection of famous kisses from the past.
“A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point.
That’s basic spelling that every woman ought to know.”
Mistinguett (Jeanne Bourgeois), Theatre Arts, December 1955
“A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.”
Ingrid Bergman
hitRECord + It Books + Tiny Stories
It Books and hitRECord Partner to Publish The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Series
The first book in a three-book partnership to hit stores in December 2011
NEW YORK, NY (July 5, 2011) – It Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced today that it has acquired publishing rights to the Tiny Book of Tiny Stories series with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s open collaborative production company hitRECord. The new book titled The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume I is scheduled to be published in December.
The ‘tiny’ book will feature a number of (very) short stories and illustrations developed through hitRECord. With the help of his entire creative collective, Gordon-Levitt will cull, edit and curate the massive number of contributions into a finely-tuned collection.
“It’s very exciting for me and hitRECord – now more than 45,000 artists strong – to be working with It Books and HarperCollins to bring ‘Tiny Stories’ to the mainstream – a dream come true, really,” says Gordon-Levitt.
“We think what hitRECord is doing is new and groundbreaking. We’re thrilled by the prospect of working with them to capture this mass collaborative art in book form,” says Mauro DiPreta, Vice President and Associate Publisher for It Books. He acquired the project from Creative Artists Agency.
Throughout the month of July, Gordon-Levitt is inviting the worldwide creative community to join in on the Tiny Stories collaboration. Artists can participate by submitting their writing and illustrations, and they’re also encouraged to edit and remix others’ contributions. The ‘Tiny Stories’ collaboration is already a hive of activity and can be found at the hitRECord website at: http://hitrecord.org/records/407384.
Click HERE to see a video of Joseph Gordon-Levitt announcing the Tiny Stories partnership (starts at approximately 9 mins).
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About It Books: Launched in September 2009, It Books is dedicated to publishing exceptional books in entertainment, music, fashion, design, art, celebrity, pop culture and sports. It Books has published numerous New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times bestsellers including the # 1 New York Times bestsellers Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern and Red by Sammy Hagar as well as Getting the Pretty Back by MollyRingwald, Booky Wook 2 by Russell Brand, The Red Hot Chili Peppers by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead by Neil Strauss, All My Life by Susan Lucciand The EveryGirl’s Guide to Life by Maria Menounos. Upcoming publications include Dear Cary by Dyan Cannon and Beauty, Disrupted by Carré Otis.
It Books is an imprint HarperCollins Publishers, one of the largest English-language publishers in the world and a subsidiary of News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV). It Books can be found online at www.YourItList.com, www.Facebook.com/YourItList, www.Twitter.com/YourItList and www.Twitter.com/ItBooks.
About hitRECord: Founded and directed by Golden Globe-nominated actor and artist Joseph Gordon-Levitt, hitRECord is an open collaborative production company where members can contribute their work in various forms including music, videos, text and drawings. Members are then encouraged to add, edit, remix and collaborate with each other. HitRECord currently has over 45,000 active members worldwide. Over 1,000 creative contributions are added daily and over 100 new artists join hitRECord each day. As with all of hitRECord’s money-making productions, profits for ‘The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories’ will be split 50-50 between hitRECord and the book’s contributing artists.
• hitRECord website: www.hitrecord.org
Tiny Stories collaboration page: http://hitrecord.org/records/407384
• hitRECord Twitter: www.twitter.com/hitrecord
Joseph Gordon-Levitt Twitter: www.twitter.com/hitRECordJoe
Cocktail Time! Pineapple Ginger Margarita
July 4th weekend has finally arrived and here’s a recipe that’s going to help you cool off this holiday. Enjoy the fireworks!
Makes 2 cocktails
- 6 oz of Corzo tequila
- 6 oz can of pineapple juice
- 4 oz of diet ginger ale
- 1 tbs of fresh ginger pulp
- 1 lime
Mix all of the ingredients together, with the juice of half of the lime and stir well Serve over a tall glass of ice and garnish with the rest of the lime.
For more cocktail recipes, visit www.OurCraftyHome.com
The Bunny Suicides
Discovered these morbidly hilarious cartoons a while back and find myself re-visiting them when I need a good laugh. Call me some what of a sadist. Though some would think bunnies committing suicide is horrifying, once they step into the cartoon world of Andy Riley you can’t help but laugh until you cry. This collection of very thought out bunny suicides will have you laugh-out-loud the whole way through. If you are a very outward emotional person, such as myself, you might want to consider reading this in a place where others won’t give you haughty looks for laughing so loudly. Who knew bunnies offing themselves could be so entertaining?
If you’re feeling bland then I hope this brings a little sunshine to your day. Enjoy!
Talking Animals
You may not know Andrew Grantham’s name, but you most likely know his voice. As creator of all the creatures on the Talking Animals YouTube Channel, Graham has been YouTube’s self-reining voice-over king for four years. His most recent video—“Ultimate Dog Tease”—has sparked watercooler chatter around the world, racking up 44,414,656 hits and counting. Perhaps as funny, if not more so, are his “Talking Beaver on the Highway” and “Cat Playing I Spy” videos. Being an aficionado of anything anthropomorphic, here’s a round up of some of my favorite viral talking animals:
Ultimate Dog Tease: The maple kind?
Talking Beaver on the Highway: Welcome to Canada!
Cat Playing I Spy: The rug!
Internet phenomenon Mishka, the talking Husky:
Odie, the talking pug, who’s made repeat appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman:
The “Oh Long Johnson” cat, videotaped saying an array of strange phrases, much like my Aunt Dot after three glasses of Manischewitz on Passover:
And then there’s Tiggy, the English sensation, who bemoans how alone she is. Aren’t we all, dear Tiggy?
I’ve heard there’s also Hoover, the talking harbor seal; Gef, the talking mongoose; and Batyr, the talking elephant. Internet stars Maru and Boo have it figured out.
Why do all that talking, when you can do what dogs and cats do best: look cute.
Cocktail Time! Blood Orange Sangria
This sangria is very easy and you can make endless variations by just combining any type of fruit juice or soda with sparkling wine. This blood orange version is dry and not too sweet, but certainly refreshing. Here’s the recipe:
Makes one pitcher:
- Two bottles of Spanish Cava (or your favorite sparkling wine)
- One bottle (1 liter) of Blood Orange-flavored French soda
- One cup of Triple Sec
- Orange and lime slices for garnish
Pour all the ingredients into a pitcher (be careful of the wine and soda foaming up!) and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Serve over ice and garnish with the orange and lime slices. Salud!
For more cocktail recipes, visit www.OurCraftyHome.com
BATTLES | A LOVE STORY
Cover of MIRRORED
Really, I could never have predicted this love affair. Battles is a band that, say a year ago, appealed to me as much as a needless appendectomy. No offense to the band but, I couldn’t bear them–hadn’t taken to their shtick. The listening experience was something like being thrashed by synth bleeps, lawn mower tugs, and engine growls.
Now, I have a difficult time listening to anything else. After fortuitously revisiting Mirrored (2007), their breakout album, I was spellbound by their garbled vocals, croaking samples, and arrhythmic drumbeats. Favorites:
Cover of GLOSS DROP
Gloss Drop (June 6th), Battles’ newly released album, marks the loss of key member, Tyondai Braxton, but also the diversification of the band’s overall sound.
With this album, they seem to have made a stylistic leap from songs that sound mechanical to ones that could pass for carbonated. Favorites:
At the end of the day, Battles is definitely not for everybody. But I’d urge you to give them a try. Listen to them take chances. Here is the band’s new, sense-bombarding video for the single, “Ice Cream (feat. Matias Aguayo)”:
BATTLES | Ice cream from MGdM | Marc Gómez del Moral on Vimeo.
That’s so F***ing Money
German artist Hans-Peter Feldmann, the winner of the Guggenheim’s 2010 HUGO BOSS PRIZE, decided to pin his prize money on the walls of the gallery in a grid of used $1 bills. 100,000 $1 bills. As I’m unfamiliar with that particular quantity, I thought I’d go check it out for the bargain price of $18—I figured I’d nick a couple bucks off the wall and call it even.
“I’m 70 years old . . . So for me $100,000 is very special. It’s incredible really. And I would like to show the quantity of it,” Feldmann said in an interview with the NY Times.
While one could say some vaguely poignant things about the piece’s interrogation of symbolic value, systems of display, and the wild inflation of the art market, what the curator of the exhibition and the NY Times art critics overlooked was this: dollar bills make great wallpaper (you’re welcome Apt Therapy). George Washington is a babe no matter how many times you see his face, and comparing the different signatures of United States Treasurers from the 80s to present day is more fun than you’d think (apparently no money was printed before 1983). Because the bills were pinned to the wall willy-nilly, the varying strings of front-facing bills and the backsides of bills created lovely, organic patterns connoting ivy-covered walls or palm trees.
Unfortunately for Feldmann, this cash-money wallpaper shtick is not new. It is, in fact, old news. See below 69 Bayard, my favorite late-night Chinese restaurant which has been open for at least twenty years:
69, located on Bayard and Mott, serves the greasiest food your beer-coated stomach can handle
So after schlepping up to the Guggenheim (in the pouring rain might I add, remember that monsoon on Friday?), I realized I could have just walked a couple blocks from my house to 69 Bayard and spent that 18 bucks on Lo Mein, fried squid, and Tsingtaos for the whole table. There the walls are covered with personalized bills, reading Jack <3s Jill, this butt likes that butt, or X has mad swag/bling/racks—these bills aren’t just “used” and anonymous as in the Feldmann piece, but singular and inscribed, their messages taped to the wall for posterity.
By the end of the weekend I was cashed out in every sense of the phrase. The excursion to the Guggenheim cost me a bus fare, admission fee, a new umbrella, and a dire Lo Mein craving, but as the museum guard so aptly put it, “It’s just money.”
The Burning House
Do you know about The Burning House? The brainchild of Foster Huntington, it’s a deceptively simple premise that provokes some elegant and profound responses: If your house were on fire, what would you take? In the mere month and a half that the blog has been in existance, its attracted enthusiastic responses from around the world. Among my favorite items spared the flames: a great grandmother’s prom dress.
We here at It Books are thrilled that Foster has agreed to let us publish a collection of the best entries from the site, along with never before seen installments. It will be the kind of book that sparks endless conversation. But for now, you’ll have to satisfy your curiousity here.
Cocktail Time! Spicy Pomegranate Blueberry Margaritas
We have all survived one of the hottest weeks in recent memory…so, let’s celebrate with a cool cocktail that has a spicy kick! Here’s the recipe:
Makes one pitcher
- One bottle (.750 ml) of Jose Cuervo Silver tequila
- One bottle (1.75 liters) of Tropicana Trop50 Pomegranate Blueberry juice (yes, it’s low-cal too!!!)
- One cup of Triple Sec
- One medium size jalapeno
- Lime slices for garnish
Pour the entire bottle of tequila into a large pitcher. Next, using rubber gloves, slice the jalapeno in half and add to the tequila. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes (or longer, if you’d like it hotter). Take the jalapeno out and add the rest of the ingredients and let it rest for about 1 hour. Serve over ice and garnish with the lime. Happy Friday!
For more cocktail recipes, visit www.OurCraftyHome.com
Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Did anyone on the East Coast watch the news last night? There was an interesting tidbit that got a little bit of coverage here in New York City…
IT’S HOT! Really hot.
Like the sun is exploding hot.
AHHHHH! RUN, don’t walk, to your nearest “cooling center”!! Buy an air conditioner! Have one? Buy another!! We’re in a heat wave baby.
You would think that in a major metropolis coverage of weather related matters would, perhaps, follow politics, crime, major national news stories, stories about dangerous teenage trends…but no. We LOVE complaining about the weather. As soon as the mercury starts rising out comes the steaming b-roll: Children frolicking in fire hydrants! Really sweaty men and women running on hot pavement! Old guys playing checkers in the Bronx looking, well, hot!
Movies We Love: Men in Black
Men in Black is among my all-time favorite New York movies. Yeah, it’s a sci-fi comedy about a secret order of g-men/interstellar immigration officials in charge of safeguarding the Earth—but it’s also a bit of a love letter to the five boroughs, as evidenced by its wide-ranging, non Manhattan-centric set pieces and attention to detail: Shea Stadium! The Unisphere! Crown air fresheners! (Remember those?) I often wondered how much of the movie’s winky humor about the Big Apple really played in Topeka.
Very little has been revealed about the plot of the upcoming Men in Black III (though true to its B-movie roots, it will be released in glorious 3D), however we do know that there’s a time travel element that involves Agent J (Will Smith) having to go back in time to the 1960s to visit a young Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones as interpreted by Josh Brolin).
Filming has already been done in Morris Park in the Bronx and on Coney Island, and several blocks of Court Street in Downtown Brooklyn were clearly the staging area for one of the time travel portions, as is evidenced by this row of awesome vintage cars, which I totally wanted to hijack.
Let's hope they can take the Game Stop out in post.
My kingdom for 1960s cab fares.
A car after !t Books author Brian Johnson's heart, I'm sure.
Sadly we have to wait a full year to see how Agent J and Agent K will save the Earth this time, so for now I leave you with a little vintage Will Smith (sampling Patrice Rushen’s 1982 R&B classic “Forget Me Nots”). You know, to help you to remember . . . Send In the Men in Black
Cocktail Time! Watermelon Sangria
Friday is here and here’s a fruity and sunny drink to celebrate! One of the best sangrias, we’ve ever made…
Makes 1 pitcher
- 1 bottle of Spanish cava (or your favorite sparkling wine, Prosecco or Champagne)
- 2- 12 oz bottles of IZZE low-calorie watermelon soda
- 8 oz of Triple Sec
- 1 small seedless watermelon
Split the watermelon in half and using a melon baller, scoop out one half of the fruit into a pitcher. Carve out the pulp from the rest of the fruit, saving a couple of slices for garnish, and strain out as much water as possible (we used a very fine strainer). Add the water from the fruit to the pitcher with the rest of the ingredients. Let it rest in the refrigerator for an hour before serving to let the flavors come together. Salud!
For more cocktail recipes, visit www.OurCraftyHome.com
Cocktail Time! The KITL (Kentucky Iced Tea Lemonade)
Summer has finally arrived and we’re celebrating the Memorial Day Weekend with a cocktail that is low-cal and super delicious! We’re making an iced tea/lemonade that packs a punch…we call it the KITL (like Skittles).
Makes 2 cocktails
- 4 oz of Marker’s Mark
- 2 oz of Grand Marnier
- 1 cup of Turkey Hill diet iced tea
- 1 cup of Tropicana Light Lemonade
- Lemons slices for garnish
Fill a couple of large glasses with ice and divide the ingredients into each of them, and stir. Garnish with a slice of lemon and enjoy! This is the perfect drink for a hot summer afternoon, a picnic or a BBQ. If you want to make a pitcher, just adjust the ingredients x4.
For more cocktail recipes, visit www.OurCraftyHome.com
My Dead Dad Was in ZZ Top
Last night an enthusiastic crowd of 400+ people packed into The Bell House in Brooklyn to enjoy an evening of “solemnity”, celebrity, and laughter in celebration of comedian and author Jon Glaser’s new book, MY DEAD DAD WAS IN ZZ TOP, published by our friends over at Harper Perennial. In attendance were Ira Kaplan, John Hodgman, Zoe Lister-Jones, Scott Adsit, Jon Hamm, and Paul Rudd, who all (hilariously) reenacted selections from this collection of “100% real” never-before-seen documents from the world of rock and roll.
In his introduction speech, Jon Glaser explained that he was inspired to “organize” this collection of documents after cleaning the attic of his recently deceased father and finding a box labeled “Do Not Show This To My Son”. In the box were dozens of letters written by his father to the fellow members of his band, ZZ TOP. Yes, Jon Glaser’s father was in ZZ TOP (an earlier incarnation of the band, not the one we know today). Jon never knew this fun fact about his father and so he set out to “discover” other important documents from the world of rock and roll, collected for the first time in MY DEAD DAD WAS IN ZZ TOP.
Inspiring.
Below, some highlights from the event!
Jon Glaser makes his opening remarks
John Hodgeman is first up to read from the book
Up next is Scott Adsit
Jon Hamm
Paul Rudd brings it home with The Tonight Show letters
Truly a hilarious evening for a very “real” book!
Lady Gaga shot by Nick Knight
All the blogs and the Facebooks and the Twitters and the hashtags #bornthiswayfriday are all a buzzing today with the release of the cover to Lady Gaga’s long awaited Born this Way. Since she debuted a small portion of the title track at the VMAs in December her fans have been desperate for more information about the song and the album.
But we’re here to talk about Nick Knight, the famed British fashion photographer. Having already shot for the world’s top designers, Alexander McQueen, Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, Levi Strauss, Yohji Yamamoto. Yves Saint Laurent it only seems natural that he’d turn his lens toward Gaga. Knight’s image is sure to be one of the most viewed photograph of the decade. He recently published a midcareer retrospective of his work, from 1990 to the present day, called Nick Knight. Looking through the pages of his book you can see many similarities with the way he has captured Gaga and the transition of his work over the past twenty years.
