let the wild rumpus begin!

i don't know if any of you are as ecstatically crazy to see where the wild things are as i am, but just in case you are, here's some stuff for you:

you can watch the awesome official trailer here (complete with one of my favorite songs by the arcade fire.)

you can listen to the entire (fabulous) soundtrack here. 

paste magazine did a great article about the movie version, the book version, and maurice sendak that you can read here.

there's a blog devoted to all things "wild" called "we love you so" here.

* p.s. the movie opens october 16th, in case you were wondering.

it's back, it's back, IT'S BACK!!!

what's back, you might ask, and why are you getting all crazy about it?
it's

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE

and it's really my favorite show of the summer, possibly of the whole year. (i am a little crazy about lost, too.) but there's just something about sytycd that makes me happy. which is weird because i can't stand american idol and haven't watched it in years ( i know i'm strange, please still be my friend!)

anyway, it looks like they're off to a great start already this year. and more bollywood dancing? yes, please!

doesn't this movie look great?

i can't wait to see it.
p.s. sorry about all the videos lately.

have you been watching...

masterpiece classic lately? little dorrit has been on for the last few weeks, and i'm loving it. it's making me glad i have a t.v., even though sometimes i think we should just give ours away.

here is the synopsis from the pbs masterpiece website:

Amy Dorrit's (Claire Foy) gentle spirit has never been dampened by the confining walls of the Marshalsea Prison she's lived in her whole life. Despite the dark shadow of debtor's prison, Amy lovingly cares for her father William Dorrit (Tom Courtenay), the longest serving inmate. A possibly redemptive light unexpectedly shines in the form of Arthur Clennam (Matthew Macfadyen), who has been left with the intriguing threads of a mystery after his father's death — threads that will intertwine his family and fate with the Dorrits. Clennam's exhaustive search for answers involves murder, fortunes gained and lost, the upper echelons and lowest dregs of society, and most surprising of all, a tender romance. Adapted by Andrew Davies (Bleak House, Pride and Prejudice), Little Dorrit, based on the book by Charles Dickens, is a sprawling story as timely as it is moving.

in most of dickens' stories that i've read/seen produced there is at least one character that is just amazingly good. you know, the kind that almost seem too good to be true; completely selfless, sweet, kind, concerned for everyone, devoted. in this novel/movie there are at least two of those characters. 

when some writers attempt to create characters like this it can end negatively. the person seems too perfect, maybe a little "goody two-shoes." but i really enjoy they dickensian characters i've seen who are like this. amy dorrit and arthur clennam in this story, agnes in david copperfield, and a lot of others i can't really think of right now. but i find that when i'm reading these stories i'm inspired and i want to be a better person. i want to work industriously and serve selflessly. plus, let's face it: no one can interweave dozens of characters and plot lines in such an entertaining and convincing way as dickens. (in my opinion, at least.)

the last of the little dorrit series is on tomorrow night, sunday, on pbs. or you can view the entire series online, i believe until may 3rd.

hooray!

this video of a lady named susan boyle singing on "britain's got talent" made me so happy. trust me, you have to watch it. it made my day, possibly my week.
sometimes you see things that just make you think, anything is possible. and life is lovely.

via

if you don't expect too much- you'll love it

are you a fan of flight of the conchords? one of my favorite things about their show is looking for the new zealand tourism poster that's hanging in murray's office every week during the band meeting. they usually have some pretty funny sayings on them. i know i'm a nerd but i write them all down. here are some of my favorites:

new zealand: it's not going anywhere

new zealand: come visit us down underer

new zealand: better than old zealand

new zealand: like scotland, but further

new zealand: take your mum

new zealand: ewe should come

new zealand: only 18 hours from new york

new zealand: worth a go

now, voyager

i've always been interested in transformations: makeover shows, movies about people who drastically change their lives, etc. 

if you ever get a chance, watch this movie with bette davis

she plays a woman who is sad, who feels locked in by her life, who still lives with her controlling mother and has some kind of nervous condition. a friendly psychiatrist treats her kindly and helps her to change her life. when he's getting ready to send her off on her own and she's nervous, he reads some lines from a walt whitman poem to her.
"The untold want by life and land ne'er granted,
Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find."

those are lines that i keep coming back to in my own life. they run through my head now and then. i feel lost and stuck sometimes, and i have to remind myself that i'm the only one who can get myself unstuck, and that now is the time to do it. now, voyager.

whacha doing?

listening to:

vetiver's latest album: tight knit. listen to clips here. favorite track so far: maureen.
watching:
yo gabba gabba! CONFESSION: i would watch yo gabba gabba even if i didn't have children. it's just that cool, and i'm that much of a dork. plus, JACK BLACK is going to be on the new episode on april 3!. cool.
reading:
the satanic verses by salman rushdie.

northern exposure favorite moments, pt. 1

hi everyone. sorry for the long absence. another computer crash and some never-say-die stomach bugs are to blame. it went around the whole family, more than once.

northern exposure was my very favorite tv show when i was in high school. i don't think i ever even saw it in its prime time slot, just in reruns. but there was something about it that just stirred my soul, y'know? i wanted to marry chris when i grew up, and listening to his philosophizing made me want to read more and get smarter.
i don't know if i would like the show as much now. i've been out of high school for eleven years now and i'm a lot more cynical and a lot more demanding in what i'm willing to call good t.v. but here is a moment from northern exposure that i still think is really wonderful, and reminds me why i loved this show in the first place. yes it's cheesy, and yes there is an enya song playing (double cheese!) but it's lovely.


what t.v. shows have been influential in your life?


p.s. nene had her baby on monday, march 2. but i'll let her tell you all about it! i can tell you mom and baby girl s. are both doing well, and our parents are down under for a month to help her adjust.