Tag: entertainment

Soundtracking

On his blog, Jeffrey Ricker asks:

Here’s a question–or actually several: what music inspires you? Have you ever written anything inspired by a particular piece of music? Do you listen to music while you write?

Here’s my answer:

I do make mental and sometimes real soundtracks for the novels I work on. Off the top of my head: Three Fortunes involved a lot of R.E.M. and a bit of U2 (Kieran was Irish, after all). I listened mainly to George Michael while working on I’m Your Man because there’s a lot of yearning in his songs and in the novel. I not only listened to the Pet Shop Boys during the period when we wrote When You Don’t See Me, but their songs became our chapter titles and the band was special to Nick. A Coventry Wedding was all Beatles, all the time, and though a lot of Beatles songs are mentioned in the novel, there are also coded references to their songs or song titles. Here’s one: Jandy meets a crotchety old artist in the book whose name is Wayne Plochman. In reality, Plochman is a brand of mustard: thus, “Mean Mr. Mustard” from the album Abbey Road.

I’d probably need to reread the other books to remember what songs were inspiring me while I wrote.

I write in silence, usually. The exception to this is when Tim and I work in the same dwelling, because he always has music playing. So a lot of times I mentally connect songs to my mood when I was writing something, even though they didn’t necessarily inspire it or have anything to do with it.

Speaking of music… One regret I have is that we took a fragment of a song lyric out of It Had to Be You. Every time I hear the song, it makes me laugh because of the scene it evokes–and not using it cost the readers a laugh in a comic moment in the novel. We were beginners and afraid of being sued.

My first meme of 2011

I actually did this on Facebook, but figured I’d share it here, too. In no particular order, 15(ish) movies that almost made me stop liking movies:

1. A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon. The only good thing about this one was that Tom and I saw it at the Dollar Movie, and the tub o’popcorn was cheap, too.

2. The Godfather, Part III. You realize how thoroughly a sequel’s ruined a franchise for you when you don’t care that a Corleone daughter is gunned down.

3. The Last House on the Left. The original one. It forever killed my desire to score a joint from a stranger on an adventure in the city with my BFF.

4. Big Trouble in Little China. Sorry, Marika, but if I could have those 99 minutes with Tom, Tim, Lisa, and Mark back, anything would be more fun. Except that Jimmy Reardon movie.

5. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. You know, it may not even be Jar Jar Binks. But sometimes late at night, my mind still fumbles with the convoluted queen/decoy thing. Probably because I’ve endured this movie only once.

6. Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. I only remember this because someone else mentioned it. Though it did give Lynne and me the chance to start many, many sentences with, “You know, my old man told me, before he left this shitty world…”

7. I only watch movies with dogs if someone assures me the dog doesn’t get it. So any movie with a stealthy dog death makes this list, and I can’t name one because I probably required memory-erasing therapy after seeing it. Wait–didn’t a dog die in that movie with John Travolta as an angel? Quick! My Vicodin!

8. I think Russell Crowe must have killed my dog in a former life, because if he’s in it, I just can’t bear to watch it.

9. Nine Months. I think that’s how long the movie lasted, too. When good actors get talked into doing bad things.

10. Bedazzled. When bad actors get talked into doing worse things.

11. Queen of the Damned. Dreadful.

12. Rhinestone. Why, Dolly, WHY?

13. A Clockwork Orange. Yeah, I know. Whatever.

14. Jabberwocky. Do they take the Internet away from me if I don’t like something with tenuous connections to Monty Python?

15. The War of the Roses. HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE.

The Rhonda, the Vampire, and the Wardrobe

Rhonda has never made any secret of her disdain for Bella Swan, angsty, self-absorbed heroine of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. Through the first two movies, she was completely supportive of those vampires who track, stalk, and otherwise terrorize Bella. Rhonda says she hasn’t seen Eclipse, the third movie, but she’s heard rumors that Victoria is creating an army of vampires for the sole purpose of avenging the death of her mate–a death for which Victoria holds vampire Edward responsible. Naturally, Rhonda supports Victoria’s goal of killing Bella Swan to punish Edward.

Fans of the books/movies generally divide themselves between Bella’s two suitors/defenders, assigning themselves to Team Edward or Team Jacob. When we watched the extras from the second movie, New Moon, Rhonda appreciated the T-shirt given to actress Rachelle Lefevre, who played Victoria in the first two movies, by her stunt double:

When I got Mattel’s Victoria doll, Lindsey privately remarked that Rhonda should own one of those dolls–but wearing a Team Rhonda T-shirt. This was something I could make happen. I also thought about getting Lindsey an Alice doll, since we both like Ashley Greene’s character, and making a Team Alice shirt.

Sadly, when it came time to shop, there was no Alice doll on the shelves. But I did find the Victoria doll for Rhonda. Here, modeling the T-shirts I made for Victoria, are my Alice, Bella, and Victoria dolls:

Since we all saw and liked Alice in Wonderland, Tim suggested an addition to Alice’s T-shirt:

I think I finally found a Barbie doll Rhonda likes:

LJ Runway Monday: Finale, Part 2 (PR 8:14)

The final episode of Season 8 of Lifetime’s Project Runway aired last week, with three designers showing at Fashion Week and the winner announced. Five of five people at The Compound disagreed with the outcome.

Hopefully those of you who’ve stuck with my dolls throughout this season won’t be as disappointed by my results. I was a little miffed during Episode 10, the “make your own fabric” challenge, because that had been my plan all along for my final collection.

First, I painted sixteen 9×18 pieces of unbleached muslin:

I further challenged myself by deciding that I couldn’t cut the fabric. I could sew it, but after showing the collection, I wanted to be able to remove the designs from my models, take out all the stitching, and once again have intact paintings. I’m putting my twelve (plus one–the Heidi challenge) looks behind a cut because there are a lot of photos.

Click here to see the designs, please.

LJ Runway Monday: We’re in a New York State of Mind (PR 8:12)

Heidi: We’ve made it to the end of the challenges of this season’s Runway Monday. Though there are dust bunnies racing with abandon across the hardwood floors of Becks’ house, and The Compound grass has all died again, at least she’s managed to produce a record twenty challenge looks this season.

Barbie: Not to mention an additional fifteen looks for us throughout the season.

Summer: Tonight, however, we’re dressed in Mattel. Not just so Becks could concentrate on this week’s challenge, but because she’s working on her final collection.

Heidi: Why? How does she know she’ll be picked to show a collection during Fashion Week?

Summer: Maybe because she’s the only designer we’ve got?

Heidi: Oh. Right.

Barbie: I chose tonight’s dresses because–

Heidi: They remind everyone that Christmas is right around the corner, and Barbies are a girl’s best friend?

Barbie: –because I felt guilty about not using any of the Birthstone Beauties as models this season. So I thought we could at least wear their dresses.

Summer: I’m in May. Heidi’s in January. And Barbie’s in April. I wonder what this week’s runway model will be in?

Heidi: Manhattan. On the most recent episode of Lifetime’s Project Runway, Mayor Bloomberg gave the designers the entire city of New York to use as their inspiration.

Summer: Becks chose Midtown, most particularly the majestic Art Deco skyscrapers.

Barbie: She’s dressing Esperanza as the Empire State Building?

Heidi: Let’s see!

Please click here for photos.

LJ Runway Monday: A Look in the Line (PR 8:11)


Barbie: Wow, we look great in our vintage clothes.

Summer: Right?

Barbie: I’m wearing Mattel, circa 1962. What about you?

Summer: I’m wearing Lynne’s Mom, date unknown.

Barbie: I’m not sure I’ve heard of that label.

Summer: That shows you how exclusive it is. Speaking of labels, on the most recent episode of Lifetime’s Project Runway, the designers were asked to create a look for a special client’s label.

Barbie: Or as some former LJ Runway Monday designer calls it from the safety of Becks’ living room, “working in Heidi’s sweat shop.”

Summer: That’s even more applicable for this challenge, because the designers were asked to create a look to be included in Heidi Klum’s activewear line. Then they heard the challenge twist: They actually had to create three looks. The designs had to fit in with Heidi’s overall collection and use some of the fabric that’s part of her existing line.

Barbie: The winning designer’s looks will be sold as part of Heidi’s line on amazon.com. Unpaid labor!

Summer: Where’s Norma Rae when you need her?

Barbie: Making Boniva commercials. Heidi isn’t with us, because she’ll be on the runway with the other models I picked for this challenge, Neysa and Rocky. Let’s see how Becks dressed them.

Please click here to see.

LJ Runway Monday: There’s a Pattern Here (PR 8:10)

Heidi: On the most recent episode of Lifetime’s Project Runway, the designers were sent to the workroom to get their next challenge. First, they were surprised to see that photos of themselves growing up had been loaded onto their HP computers.

Barbie: Then they were told they’d be repeating a challenge from a previous season: They had to create an original fabric look using HP/Intel technology. (Becks’ response to that previous season’s challenge can be seen here if you’re interested.)

Summer: To either inspire or distract them, the show brought in their mothers (or in Christopher’s case, his partner) for a day away from the work room.

Barbie: We couldn’t bring in relatives for Becks, but we do know the stories behind some of her photos.

Heidi: For example, the photo below was one of her mother’s least favorites (Becks got sick later that night and was admitted to the hospital), but we think that even with illness looming, she’s fashion forward, wearing Ugg boots long before Kate Hudson and Sarah Jessica Parker were born popularized them.

Barbie: Here, Becks shows an early interest in dolls and the color pink, obviously already a candidate for Mattel and me!

Summer: In this one, Becks (far left), having been given a big box of clothes from her grandmother, chooses always-fashionable black. Note the sheer fabric used over the bodice and for the sleeves.

Heidi: Purple! Oddly, Becks has this same hairstyle today.

Barbie: Uh-oh. The hippie season. Long stringy hair, dark circles under the eyes, bellbottoms, and smock tops.

Summer: Instead of doing a close-up of those big fuzzy black house shoes–or subjecting you to the shoulder pad years–how ’bout a couple of little black dresses–and one lady in red?

Heidi: Classy! Can Becks measure up to Mattel this week?

Please click here to see.