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Last summer we drove miles and miles and refilled the gas tank so we could drive miles and miles more (and this was after traveling by train and Greyhound bus) to go see The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. This museum has been on my list of things to do for years, and [...]

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There is an elementary school nearby and the playground is filled with snowballs, sitting by idly, just waiting for someone to do something with them. It’s kind of eerie when you walk by at night, because they look like disembodied snowmen. Read more after the jump. When I saw those snowballs, I was reminded of The [...]

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Keep reading if you’re looking for a real nail-biting kind of page-turner… Read more after the jump. Based on the television series Sesame Street, The Monster at the End of This Book: Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover is written by Jon Stone and illustrated by Michael Smollin. Grover is horrified to learn that there is a [...]

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No, I’m not “down” with comu-dramas. I mean to say, DOWN with comu-dramas, because they suck. In the past couple months, I’ve seen both Dinner for Schmucks and The Other Guys. Both are portrayed as comic and campy, via trailers. But in fact, Dinner for Schmucks was not funny; The Other Guys was hilarious. Now, let me tell you why …

Dinner for Schmucks is about Tim (played by the adorable Paul Rudd. Remember Clueless? I sure do). Tim is an executive climbing the corporate ladder. He’s climbing so fast that his boss invites him to a “dinner for idiots,” a monthly event in which attendees find an idiot to bring to dinner. Whoever finds the biggest idiot gains certain advantages around the office. Steve Carell plays Rudd’s idiot of the evening, Barry—a divorcee who’s obsessed with finding dead mice, stuffing them, and then, setting them into shadowbox-esque scenes. Such promise in this plotline! And yet, what utter failure.

In contrast, The Other Guys … Will Ferrell and Marky-Mark (excuse me, Mark Wahlberg) play disgraced New York cops, pushing paperwork while the stereotypical good cops—played by Samuel Jackson and Dwayne Johnson—run around, saving the day. Through an amusing mishap, the good cops die, leaving an empty space for Ferrell and Wahlberg to take over. The mismatched duo must look past their differences when they take on a high-profile investigation of a shady capitalist and attempt to fill the shoes of the notoriously reckless officers they idolize. Also a promising plotline, and in this case, epic comic success!

So what made Dinner for Schmucks so bad and The Other Guys so good? I chalk it up to a new film genre, that I hope and pray will soon go the way of Alicia Silverstone.

They call ‘em “comu-dramas.” They’re comedy flicks with some drama thrown in. Case in point would be Dinner for Schmucks. After some mildly funny stuff, Paul Rudd starts to feel bad about what he’s doing to Barry. He has a moral crisis, and oh, isn’t it so sad? Don’t we feel so awful? … NO! We don’t feel awful, because Dinner for Schmucks was supposed to be a comedy, and it failed! It FAILED! The Other Guys has some scenes that could easily have turned dramatic. There’s the scene in the dance studio, where Wahlberg confronts his old girlfriend. This could have added a touch of emotion, but instead, Marky-Mark busts out some ballet moves, and I swear, it’s one of the funniest moments in the movie.

I don’t understand why writers/directors see a need to add drama to perfectly good comic flicks. Did we feel a moment of remorse in Old School? What about Super Troopers? Most recently, what about The Hangover? No, we feel no remorse in these movies, because these movies make us laugh. Although I found parts of I Love You Man to be hysterical, this movie danced along the edges of comu-drama, but it still worked, because it never got too serious. And it shouldn’t have. It was supposed to be a comedy!

I say down with comu-dramas. I don’t want to see them anymore. I don’t want to be force-fed emotion

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I don’t know how many versions of “Little Red Riding Hood” I have, but I couldn’t stop myself when I found this 1960s version in the collection of children’s books I came across at the St. Lawrence Antique Market. Read more after the jump. This copy of “Little Red Riding Hood” was obviously well loved because [...]

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Every Sunday at the St. Lawrence Market, vendors gather with their vintage and collectable items. The antique market is a treasure hunter’s delight and a perfect place to sharpen your negotiation skills. Part of the appeal of the market is also its people, the stories and the bits and pieces of conversation you overhear as [...]

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Last week I went and did an Earth Day project with the Woog's kindergarten class and we made Junk A Doodles®.

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My sister and I received identical teddy bears when we were young. I figure it was my Mom’s way of preventing sibling rivalry – no bear was bigger, better or stronger than the other. My bear was named after a boy I had a crush on, Christopher – sigh. My sister named hers after RuPaul. [...]

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The Old School exhibit is going on now at Uppercase Gallery. My piece is there and for sale here. The above is an article I found (photo via uppercase on Flickr) that features my piece. My piece was also chosen as the backcover of the book. You can see great images from the exhibition here.

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I finished up my Old School piece for Uppercase Gallery. I'm please with how it turned out (you can click on the images for a larger view).

Here's the front:

Here's a looky-loo behind the key:


And here's the back (what school desk would be complete without old chewing gum underneath?):

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