"Don't let it get you down. After all, no matter how you feel, you have to live with people. You have to live with yourself, too!"
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How rad is this Lady Mary Heirloom Silk Scarf by artist Kelsey Garrity-Riley? Is there a more Downton Abbey-ish way of saying rad? TOPS. It's TOPS.
I know I will! Season 4 of the bestest, boldest, ballsiest show on television returns July 17th. If you haven't started watching it yet, you've still got time to catch up. So, you know, DO IT.
Let me just say this about the new Cartoon Network show, The Problem Solverz: There's a "half anteater, half man, and half dog" character named Alfe (pronounced al-FAY) who loves pizza. Also, there's a robot named Roba who isn't really a robot, just a neurotic boy who dresses like a robot to combat his fear of humanity. Then there's Horace who's totally normal except he pals around with these two crazies who, um, drive him crazy all while they're trying to--wait for it--solve problems.
Airing on Cartoon Network on Monday nights, The Problem Solverz is the brainchild of artist Ben Jones, he of the ultra-awesome art collective Paper Rad. Ben's work has been shown at PaceWildenstein, Deitch Projects, Tate Britain, and The New Museum of Contemporary Art among many others, and he has done animation for everyone from M.I.A. and Beck to the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba. With The Problem Solverz, comes a whole new bag of neon magic. I think I've watched the "Pizza Time" clip a dozen times already. H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S. Don't miss this show.
Everyone's puttin' in their two pesos on what their favorite _______s were in 2010. I've resisted because I'm not big on lists, but I've since caved. This was an interesting year in movies--or better yet, a polarizing year. There have been strong love-it/hate-it reactions to most of the films released during the holiday season (hi, Black Swan, True Grit, and Somewhere) and not too many standouts from the summer blockbuster extravaganza. I've had many a holiday party conversation about what cinema meant in 2010, and I found that few films actually touched people emotionally this year. The conversations often gravitated towards the subject of television instead, specifically long-form series' like Mad Men, Breaking Bad (my fave), and the now defunct The Wire, which has become a sensation in its DVD/download afterlife. Basically, TV shows that feel like a novel and movie combined are where it's at.
I have faith in the film industry, though. I'm hoping there's a zeitgeist around the corner. How long has it been since we've had a film movement? The internet puts opportunity in the hands of anyone who's audacious and hungry enough to seek an audience. Maybe this means the best is yet to come (or has yet to be discovered). We're living in a newer, faster, digital age, but I believe what we all continually crave is a really good story. Great stories never get old and stand alone regardless of whatever medium in which they're told.
Thus, here's a brief list of what touched (or tickled) me this year across the story spectrum. These are picture shows that appeared on film, on TV, on canvas, or on paper...
It's time to stop what you're doing and dive headfirst into the jittery New Mexico wonderland that is Breaking Bad. If last night's multiple (and consecutive) acting Emmy wins haven't swayed you, then please let me. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS ON TELEVISION. Also, it's in between seasons, so you have plenty of time to catch up and enjoy the truly spectacular serio-comic Odd-Couple-on-crack stylings of Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul (the Emmy winners of which I speak). Not to mention sweeping desert landscapes, neon pink teddy bears, bumbling gangsters wannabes, skull-toed bald-mute twins, yellow puffy spacesuits, pizzas on roofs, the best coffee filtration system you've ever seen, and some of the most daring acting and writing on the ol' tube today.
Here's a snippet of one of my favorite moments of the show. You've added it to your Netflix queue by now right?
Congratulations, Mr. Blaine. You did IT!
