then

and

now

Do yourself a favor and watch a Mel Brooks film tonight. It’ll make tomorrow a lot easier.

Some of these products which I’ve seen advertised are awesome – they really seem like they’d make life easier. I was watching the Food Network last night, and Pyrex was commercials were aplenty. They’ve made a hybrid cheese-grater/measuring cup, so you know how much cheese you have for your ‘dillas or whatever it is you’re making.

thacant approves this product

Pyrex has also released a hybrid whisk/bowl scraper. So when you’re trying to mix a bunch of stuff together, you can make sure you get it all, and that no un-mixed products linger on the side of the bowl. Check it:

also, thacant-approved

Craftsman tool company also has a new slew of products out for the holidays. Because men love building shit. There’s a single tool with sixteen commonly-used ratchets all in one, with no need to change ratchet heads.

There’s a drill with a “delicate” setting – so leave it on regular power when you’re drilling huge pieces of wood to other huge pieces of wood, but when you have to put a shelf in the bathroom for your wife, switch it to low.

But what confounds me the most about the Craftsman company is how bold they are – their audacity. Craftsman went ahead and reinvented the hammer. That’s right. The hammer.

Remember Jesus? His foster-father, Joseph, was a carpenter. He used hammers. This was over two-thousand years ago. Now, as we’re rounding out the last year of the first decade of the twenty-first century, Craftsman tells us we’ve been doing the hammer wrong.

wrong

right

Anyways. Merry Christmas, Chappy Hanaka, Kwanzaa.

I caught these people tabling and they were also hanging up posters showcasing of all the show’s characters, an intriguing little marketing trick.  I walked over and they were giving out condoms and pong balls with the show’s logo on it and drawing my attention to their upcoming premiere, tonight at 9 on ICTV, also streaming live at ictv.org

I know that a lot of us don’t care much for ICTV.  We aren’t really aware of them or the content they produce.  These condoms and pong balls, shameless self promotion, but what does it mean?  What is this show about?  Either way it pulls you in, so do those catchy posters.

Tonight at 9 on ICTV (Channel 16), or streaming live at ictv.org

All I’m saying is it caught my attention.  I want to see what happens, so have others I’ve talked too.  I think tonight I will be tuning in

I think you should join me.

This year, I saw a great deal of hilarious costumes and I hate to admit, that any pop-culture reference of a costume will get you higher on my list. This year I saw, from the recent film Inglorious Basturds, “Bear Jew” standing in my kitchen. Dressed in a wifebeater (the domestic abuse tank-top,) suspenders, with brown pants and a baseball bat, he was making other party-goers guess who he was.

“I’m from a movie.”

“Uh, Sandlot?”

“No, it’s not about baseball.”

“Is it a silent film?”

“I’m Bear Jew!”

Another favorite costume I saw this weekend, was “Mary” from “There’s Something About Moskey.” Ithaca’s own Sarah Moskey was dressed as Mary, complete with a red cocktail dress, a toy dog, and… something in her hair.

excellent costume

Costumes outside of Ithaca that caught my attention include this man dressed as “East Bound and Down’s” Kenny Powers.

I'm fuckin in, you're fuckin out!

This picture was sent by Michael Sokol, who was in Austin to celebrate Halloween, and while he was there, he also attended some media conference.

My final noteworthy costume pic of 2009 belongs to a childhood friend of mine, Danny Sullivan who was dressed as Maury Ballstein, from “Zoolander.” Perhaps one of the more obscure movie references, Sully executed it well, with fake dollar bills that he “made it rain with,” along with making people “kiss his rings.”

a la jerry stiller

pg 24 of this week's new yoker

If it’s not clear enough for you, one of our own contributors won himself every season of Curb Your Enthusiasm on DVD. Mr. Michael Sokol is in the running for world’s biggest Larry David Fan.

Congratulations!

geniuses

My love for the Coen Brothers continues to skyrocket. I just came across the trailer for their newest film that is being well received at the Toronto Film Festival, “A Serious Man.”

When they won their Academy Award for Best Director(s) for “No Country for Old Men”, it was the first time a duo had pulled that off since 1961 (West Side Story’s Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise).

Their films are so dark, intelligent and humorous.  I think they have something here. Check out the trailer- yet another example of ground breaking audio editing and work. I think they are two of the greatest storytellers of our generation: please do not over look  or underestimate them.

Bob Dylan's Danish exhibit will feature 100 acrylics and watercolors.

Bobby Dylan is Jewish and releasing an album of Christmas Carols.

But after you get over that one, try this on for size. Just like Mr. Macca, he is a painter. More than 100 of Dylan’s own paintings and artwork will be on display in the Statens Museum for Kunst, the Danish National Gallery in Copenhagen. So if you have time, swing by and check it out.

Its super crazy!

what it is

While this is our target audience, we promise you it’s not this boring.