RawStyle

Rachael Ray Clone

2010-06-12T12:57:00.000-04:00

As a raw foodie and chef/author, I love to watch cooking (as opposed to uncooking) shows to get ideas for recipes I can adapt. (Besides, there aren't any uncooking TV shows that I know of.) I just discovered a Rachael Ray clone on TV named Claire Robinson. She's got the same hoarse voice as Rachael Ray, the same upbeat personality--peppered with expressive, colorful phrases--and a similar appearance--the two women have dark hair.

When I first happened upon Robinson's Food Network Show, "Five Ingredient Fix," (without seeing the titles) I heard her voice before I saw any shots of her. When a few fleeting shots of her appeared (I bet they have brief shots on purpose to open the show, so people will think they're watching Rachael Ray), I thought that Rachael Ray had had some work done on her face, as her eyes looked different. That's how much of a clone Robinson is of Ray.

I wonder to what extent Robinson's Ray-like voice and personality helped her to get her own show.

A comedy video with characters named Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer

2010-05-24T13:18:00.000-04:00

I'm excited to announce that my comedy video, Anomalies, is now online! I made it in NYC in the 1990s as a demo of my writing and directing and it features characters named Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer.

To see it, click on the above link and use the login: Judy'sFriend and the password: secret77. If you would like to comment on it, please visit my Facebook page (Judy Pokras), where there is a thread.

Saw VI actress Jon Mack loves raw food

2009-10-29T04:42:00.000-04:00

The multi-talented Jon Mack is very different from the drug addict she plays in the popular horror movie Saw VI. In real life, she's spiritual, an animal rights activist and loves raw vegan food! I spoke with her recently and found her to be charming and smart.

Photo courtesy Jon Mack, seen here performing with her band

3 Questions for AMC re: Mad Men

2009-09-21T08:21:00.000-04:00

We love that Mad Men won the best TV drama Emmy--congrats to Matthew Weiner and the cast and crew!--and we have three questions:

1. Will AMC re-air the episode they ran last night during and just after the Emmys? We sure hope so, as many people (including me) missed it due to the Emmys, and can't bear the thought that we did.

2. Will AMC create an e-mail list by which it can easily notify fans of announcements related to the show? We don't know why it hasn't done this by now!

3. And finally, why hasn't AMC made a copy of Joan's pen necklace for fans to buy? We women (especially those of us who are writers) would love one.

Become part of this blog's community with Google Friend Connect

2009-08-14T02:41:00.000-04:00

We've added Google Friend Connect to make it easy to follow this blog and become part of it. See the link at the top left!

Free Marvin Gaye Song Download for Valentine's Day

2009-02-13T03:37:00.000-05:00

Singer with a Voice Just Like Christina Hendricks's

2009-01-15T18:49:00.002-05:00

I've never heard the actress Christina Hendricks (Joan on Mad Men) sing, but in some of the ballads ("Secret Love" "Accustomed to his Face") this singer named Jamie sounds just like what I would imagine Christina would sound like if she sang as her character Joan!

Rally to Get Mad Men Back for a Third Season!

2009-01-13T11:18:00.001-05:00

If you've never watched the coruscatingly brilliant TV drama Mad Men, you're in for a treat when you get a hold of their DVDs.

Mad Men is a period piece about a Madison Avenue (NYC) ad agency in the early 1960s--the office politics, the jockeying for position, the personal lives of the assorted employees--and is set in the context of what's going on politically and culturally at the time. The show, which also delves into the machinations of the ad business at that time, is picture perfect in every way: writing, directing, casting, acting, production design, costumes, hair styles--and anything else I might be forgetting!

Mad Men, which airs on AMC, won the Golden Globe award for best TV drama for both of its two seasons. Its gifted and devastatingly handsome lead actor, Jon Hamm, who plays the agency's creative director, the complex and mysterious Don Draper, won the Globe in 2008 as the best actor in a TV drama. He and the gorgeous and talented actress January Jones, who plays his on-screen wife, were nominated in the recent Globes as best TV actors in a drama.

Media are now reporting that the series's creator and executive producer, Matthew Weiner, says he doesn't even know if the show is coming back for a third season.

How can this be? Is there no justice in this world at all?

Green Holiday Gift Ideas

2008-12-07T14:29:00.000-05:00

If you like the idea of giving gifts that help the planet and those you care about, there's a very cool green gift ideas article at Raw Foods News Magazine. It features gifts that are hard to find (unless you know where to find them) and nifty, and most are very economical too, which comes in handy in this economy.
The categories include books, DVDs, foods and ingredients, really pure cosmetics, plus crafts and planetary healing. There are even holiday greeting cards as witty and pretty as a New Yorker cartoon.

Raw and Green T-Shirts, Bumper Stickers and More

2008-09-25T01:37:00.001-04:00

Check out the cool slide show (at the upper left of RawFoodGrrl.blogspot.com) of many of our raw and green T-shirts and other items. You can buy them and many others at the links below the slide show!

On TV's Fictional Characters Twittering

2008-09-22T01:59:00.000-04:00

Following is a slight rewrite of my comment appearing below a blog post about twittering TV's Emmy-winning drama, Mad Men, an hour-long drama about a NY ad agency in the early 1960s. I rewrote my comment only so that it makes sense as a stand-alone essay, rather than as a comment that addresses other people's comments to the same post.

In case you're not familiar with twitter, it's a site that makes it easy for people to send short (one sentence) messages (dubbed "tweets") to anyone who chooses to "follow" them. You can send direct messages to people you're following if they're following you, and they have the ability to message you back.

I didn't even know that Mad Men's characters were ON twitter until I got an e-mail tonight announcing that Peggy Olson (the only female copywriter among Mad Men's characters) was following me. I immediately went and signed up to follow her. But why stop there? I am also now following [the show's characters] Don Draper, his wife, Betty Draper, and Paul Kinsey (the agency's senior copywriter, if I remember his title correctly). I wouldn't have signed up to follow Paul Kinsey, but he started following me, and I find his tweets most interesting as a behind the scenes glimpse into his character. It tells me things I don't know about the dynamics between the characters just from watching the show.

The fact that the characters are on twitter is a real bonus for Mad-Men-starved fans like me, who don't want to have to wait an entire week to see a new episode (or two weeks, in the case of tonight's rerun because of the Emmy's).

I loved that detail in a recent Mad Men episode in which the Drapers shake off their picnic blanket and leave their litter on the park lawn. It spoke volumes.

How I wish that Boston Legal's Alan Shore were a twitterer, especially since BL is entering its final season. (Could it be that he is and I don't know?)

It's indeed a great match that Mad Men, a show about an ad agency that does product placement would use twitter as product placement.

I sent a twitter message to Peggy Olson that as an idea person, I probably should have become an advertising copywriter, except that as an idealist, I have to do work I believe in. (And she twittered me back with a response that was very true to her character.) How totally cool to be able to interact with the characters of a show you love! When in history has this ever happened before? I mean, before the days of the internet and TV, did people have the ability to write to characters in novels and have them respond? And what about our ability as fans, to thus perhaps influence the direction a storyline goes in? [Of course, as a writer myself who has struggled to get my projects out into the world to make me a living, I would prefer to be paid for such ideas, but that is another story.]

I mention this only to say that alas, although I'm too idealistic to work in advertising, I love that TV shows are using twitter to promote themselves. It's a type of advertising that finally makes great sense, because it honors the viewers in ways that ads never can.

It's Time to Replace SNL With a Sketch Comedy Show That's Actually Funny

2008-09-16T16:55:00.000-04:00

Saturday Night Live is just not funny anymore, and hasn't been for years, except for the very occasional Hillary political sketch, the coruscatingly brilliant Darrell Hammond, and Andy Samberg's Dick in a Box video. I can't believe SNL is still on the air. The quiz-show bits and Wiig's twitchy weird characters and the variety show bits just do not work for me, nor do Armisen's characters, except for his Obama.

If you've ever seen or heard (Mike) Nichols and (Elaine) May you know what intelligent, perfectly performed sketch comedy is about.

There was a syndicated sketch comedy show that aired in the 1990s called "The News" that was really funny. It had a broad variety of tightly written sketches with beginnings, middles and ends. The cast were infinitely varied in their performances, and cast members were fresh in each new sketch, meshing perfectly with whatever role they were playing, with no "character" mannerisms seeping through. The Newz aired a half hour of new material five nights a week! NBC should bring that show back to TV and retire SNL already. Damn, they should hire me as one of their writers! Want to audition me? Here's some of my comedy writing.

Where Vegetables and Movies Intersect

2008-07-28T14:42:00.000-04:00

A friend on LinkedIn answered a question about his favorite movie quote. I don't have one, so I went to imdb.com to look at the page for my favorite movie, Pierrot le Fou, to see what quotes were listed, in hopes I might find one that I love. I didn't find one I could call my fave movie quote, but I did find an adorable one.

And now, here it is on a whole assortment of T-shirts, totes and other items!

Whoops--It Was Twins! Fraternal Ones!

2008-07-19T21:54:00.002-04:00

BABYMAKER.MAURYSHOW.COM...because making babies is fun.

I think this baby looks like comedian Norm MacDonald:

Busy Day--I Just Had a Baby with Owen Wilson

2008-07-19T21:22:00.001-04:00

BABYMAKER.MAURYSHOW.COM...because making babies is fun.

Angelina Jolie's Scrabble Names for her Kids

2008-07-13T15:29:00.003-04:00

Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh Nouvel, Knox and Vivienne.

In naming her six children, Angelina Jolie seems to like names containing the letters that have high scores in Scrabble! All those "x"es, and also the "v"s in Vivienne and Nouvelle! And "Z" in Zahara! I wonder if she played Scrabble as a kid and this has some subconscious meaning!

Shayne Dahl Lamas and the Lure of Fame

2008-05-14T13:43:00.003-04:00

I hadn't been watching the TV reality show The Bachelor since an earlier season of it, but two seasons ago, my mother suggested I watch it again, and now, like my mother, I'm really into it. It's fascinating because it's very revealing of personalities and meanness/deception/lying/underlying motives.

My mother and I adored the contestant Shayne Lamas (the daughter of Lorenzo and the grand-daughter of Fernando Lamas and Arlene Dahl), the one who the bachelor, Matt Grant, from England chose out of 25 American women. The way the show edited what was presented as documentary (rather than scripted) footage, Shayne seemed genuine, warm, kind and compassionate, mature far beyond her 22 years.

We were surprised by the announcement yesterday, the day after the show's finale, that Shayne is appearing on the cover--and inside, in a six-page (non-nude) spread--of the second issue of Girls Gone Wild magazine, whose first cover featured NY Governor Eliot Spitzer's whore.

I guess having grown up in Hollywood, Shayne felt she had to jump at the offer to further her 15 minutes of fame. Sort of sad, because--despite the hair that she's been dying platinum since she was 12, which gives some people the impression that she's just another shallow Hollywood starlet--Shayne seems to have a depth that would make for real acting talent. I hope she hasn't derailed what could even be an Oscar-worthy career by typecasting herself in this way.

Totally Cool Conceptual House--Built!

2008-04-04T23:02:00.004-04:00

Artists Arakawa, age 71, and Madeline Gins, 66, his wife, have come up with a house that reminds me of a surreal dream I once had. The East Hampton, NY house, with bumpy floors of no consistent level and other assorted strange features, is totally cool. The couple designed the structure to be uncomfortable, so that the people who wind up living in it can experience life the way young children do, always confronting the new. Arakawa and Gins believe such an environment will keep residents from ever getting sick.

Don't miss the slide show of this house, with an audio commentary by the architect couple!

In Defense of Cavemen!

2008-03-30T15:31:00.004-04:00

With Geico's commercials showing those poor cavemen being attacked, we thought it was cool that at least someone is coming to their defense, with a line of fun T-shirts, tote bags, thongs, boxers, and household items. This online store has items with five different catch phrases, each with its own appropriate font. (Warning to any cavemen reading this: Although four of the phrases are very pro-cavemen, one of the phrases will still offend you!)

CRUSH, my new video about a guy with a crush on Hillary

2008-01-29T03:52:00.000-05:00

Great rhythmic dance music, free podcast

2008-01-18T03:47:00.000-05:00

Click here to get your own player.

Dancing With the TV Journalists

2007-12-20T19:01:00.000-05:00

NBC news correspondent David Gregory broke into dance on the Today show today while Mary J. Blige was singing. The guy's got rhythm. Gee, with his talent, he needs to be a contestant on Dancing With the Stars. You heard it here first!

James Spader Sings Love Songs (part 2)

2007-09-23T03:25:00.000-04:00

This is a strip I created. Click on it to see it larger.

Bravo to James Spader; We Want More of Him!

2007-09-17T01:53:00.000-04:00

Bravo to James Spader for winning the Emmy last night for best lead performance by an actor in a dramatic series. He's sensational as lawyer Alan Shore in David E. Kelley's brilliantly original and quirky Boston Legal. As Shore, Spader exhibits a fierce intellect, dry humor, and some of the authority and mystery of the sadistic boss he played in the movie Secretary, all while being an advocate for progressive views.

Hollywood success is dicey, because along with wealth, it often brings a lack of privacy. Spader is known for preferring to fly under the radar to hold onto his privacy, and who can blame him? But nor can I blame the media for asking him personal questions, like these that E!'s Guiliana Rancic asked him live on the air, following last night's Emmy's:

"Who are you here with?"

"My girlfriend."

"What's her name?"

"Leslie."

"How long have you been together?"

Spader either really couldn't remember (which I doubted) or he pretended not to remember in order to skip the question. He hemmed and hawed. Rancic moved on to another question.

"What do you like best about your girlfriend?"

Spader refused to answer, saying it was personal.

It will be interesting to see how Spader's newest Emmy (his third) will affect his career. It ought to get him a nice raise. But according to press accounts, he's also been hoping Boston Legal will add lots of new actors so he can have more time off. With this latest win, will David E. Kelley really let him have less show time? We viewers want to see more of him, not less!

An Arts Site That Rocks

2007-09-07T10:47:00.000-04:00

I love the fun music and the playful animations here. Check out both of the audio tracks!

Did Anti-Depressants Have A Bad Side Effect on Owen Wilson?

2007-09-03T01:35:00.000-04:00

I have a theory about why Owen Wilson tried to take his life. News reports said he had been on anti-depressants. I've read about people committing suicide as a side effect of anti-depressants. If the anti-depressants indeed had a harmful effect on Owen, causing him to try to harm himself, I doubt that he and his family would want to endure a trial in order to sue. So it's a shame if this is what caused Owen to do what he did. Thank god he's still with us. (We love you, Owen.)

We're not an item, honest!

2007-08-16T00:33:00.001-04:00

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!You're not going to get me to admit that Owen and I are an item. No way! We're just friends!

Make-Up With Pure Ingredients: An Open Letter to Entrepreneurs

2007-06-26T16:02:00.000-04:00

Dear Entrepreneur,

I hope you'll create a makeup line with pure (100% non-toxic) ingredients. (See the Environmental Working Group's Cosmetics Database to see what I mean.)

As a magazine writer (for Senses Art and Culture Magazine, and Positive Change, Sarasota) and as the editor and publisher of the online magazine RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com, I know I speak for many women when I say I have not been able to find a line of cosmetics with non-toxic ingredients.

Burt's Bees used to make some, but they no longer do. I believe they didn't market them well. With all of the media coverage about protecting the environment, the general public is much more interested in green products than ever before! If I created a line of pure makeup, I would market it with sexy ads in women's magazines. And I would make sure my company's lip liners and eye liners, blush, eye shadow and lipsticks were available in a range of colors to flatter all skin tones and age groups. I have olive skin, and the three products I need the most are a bright coral lip liner, a black eyeliner pencil, and a coral blush.

The first company to create a line of pure cosmetics that address all colors and that are marketed to all women--not just nature lovers--will make billions.

An Open Letter to Michael Moore

2007-06-18T03:39:00.000-04:00

If Michael Moore's people see this, please ask him to read the open letter to him that you can see by clicking on the above headline.

And by the way, I saw his new film Sicko tonight and it was brilliant! If anyone wants to see it (and I highly recommend it), there's a link to it free, online, at the blog of www.MySpace.com/rawgrrl

Sicko shines a light on what's wrong with the US health care system, and what's so right about the free health care systems in many other countries. As in: Why can't WE provide free health care for all?

As Awesome as Sweeney Todd

2007-06-11T17:00:00.000-04:00

I love the Broadway show Sweeney Todd for the way it expresses frustration at injustice. And now the Tony-Award winning Broadway Musical Spring Awakening stands right next to Sweeney Todd in that department. Click on the headline above to see the performance of "The Bitch of Living" from that show. It's breathtaking.

Morphing Past Art Into a New Work

2007-06-02T22:14:00.000-04:00

This animation (click on the headline above) is magical, awesome!
Whoever did this really took the time to arrange the faces in like-order.
Amazing. I wish I knew who did this so I could compliment them.
I'd like to see this done with celebrity faces.

Hemp Clothing's the New Fashion Craze!

2007-04-09T15:07:00.000-04:00

According to the business section of the Boston Globe, hemp clothing is on a big roll, thanks to the interest of the two largest markets, boomers and youth. Great news that sustainable clothing is in vogue!

A Famous Raw Foodist With a Checkered Past

2007-03-23T16:11:00.001-04:00

Movie star Woody Harrelson is a raw foodist and environmental activist. I met him a few years ago at the Sarasota Film Festival, where I told him about my online magazine, www.RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com, and tried to set up an interview with him--but he dissed me. His convicted murderer father died last week and the following profile of Woody explains a lot about the paradox of his life.

Here's a small excerpt from this fascinating article:

Woody Harrelson is, by his own admission, a wild and crazy guy. On the one hand, he is a bleeding-heart Hollywood liberal straight out of central casting: a vegan, a peace activist, a warrior for the environment and an agitator for the decriminalisation of marijuana. On the other hand, he has quite a temper and a track record of drinking and brawling.

During one stint on the London stage five years ago, he got into a shouting match with a taxi driver, ripped out an ashtray and smashed the door to override the central-locking system. (Charges were dropped after he agreed to pay for the damage.) Last year, he grabbed a paparazzo by the neck outside a Hollywood nightclub and, according to a subsequent complaint, broke the viewfinder on his camera.

Just a couple of weeks ago, he got into a fight with a bouncer at a trendy watering hole in Venice, California, after he was told he could not leave the premises with a glass of wine in his hand. Two traffic cops writing a parking ticket on the other side of the street slapped him in handcuffs, but eventually let him go with a warning after it became clear he had damaged himself more than the bouncer. (He cut his hand on a broken wine glass.)

Help Spread the Word: Stop Global Warming; GO VEGAN!

2007-03-21T23:50:00.000-04:00

I'm a raw vegan and I believe it's a great way to eat, for so many reasons. Most people in the world are carnivores and omnivores. When those people become vegetarians and vegans, they're moving closer to raw vegan. It so happens that in a United Nations report scientists found that when people switch to a vegan diet, it does more to prevent global warming than even switching to a hybrid car.

Buy a t-shirt or bumper sticker, send some to politicians, and spread the word:

Stop Global Warming, GO VEGAN!

Restaurant Chain's TV Commercial Inspired by Leno Show?

2007-03-20T23:38:00.000-04:00

Have you seen the Subway TV commercial where the customers drive up to a fast food place and order things like "a double chin" and "thunder thighs"? The Leno show's been doing this kind of humor for years, when they call products what they really are. Did Subway hire Leno's writers? Or did they "borrow" this style of humor for their commercials?

What Women Want--Truer Words Were Never Spoken

2007-03-18T10:54:00.000-04:00

I don't care what religion you are, or even if you're an atheist. But Rabbi Shmuley Boteach writes here about what women want, and he's right on!

What woman doesn't want what he's writing about? I exhort men everywhere to take heed of the rabbi's wise words!

My friend Jill's feature film, Creating Karma, Wins Award at LA Festival

2007-03-09T21:52:00.000-05:00

Jill Wisoff plays George's blind date in my short comedy video called Anomalies. Jill's an accomplished composer, musician, screenwriter, actress, and more. And now, Creating Karma, the first feature film that she's produced, directed, co-written and acts in, has just wrapped up its LA festival premiere at the 2007 Brilliant Light International Film Festival of Los Angeles, where it won the award for Best Narrative Feature Comedy in the category About Women By Women.

Creating Karma is about a corporate climber who becomes a poet after moving in with her new-age sister. The film is rounding off a festival year and is scheduled to screen in the Cannes Film Market for the international buyers. Jill writes: "With songs you'll leave the theater humming, it features top billed Karen Lynn Gorney of Saturday Night Fever Fame, Joe Grifasi, Carol Lee Sirugo, Jill Wisoff and Rahad Coulter-Stevenson as the puppet wielding love interest, with DP work by Carter Bissell and score by Joel Diamond."

Mazel Tov, Jill!!! I can't wait til it's gotten a major distribution deal!

My Wish Comes True Re: Cavemen Commercial!

2007-03-05T21:24:00.000-05:00

News articles say that my wish--for Geico's Cavemen to become a TV show--is in the works!!!

Here are some excerpts from a Wall Street Journal article:

http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0305wsj-geico05-ON.html

Although the project is at a nascent stage - there's no script and no cast - plans call for the comedy to be titled "Cavemen" and focus on a trio of prehistoric characters who battle prejudice in modern-day Atlanta. Walt Disney Co.'s ABC will pay for the pilot and show, if one eventually materializes. Geico, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will have no creative control but will receive a royalty payment for the use of the character.

The initiative for the cavemen pilot came from Joe Lawson, the writer behind the cavemen commercials and a Martin Agency employee, who decided in late fall to pursue a TV show. With Geico's approval, the ad firm hired entertainment services agency Management 360 to shop the idea to networks.

A spokeswoman for the ABC Television Studio, which will produce the pilot, said no executive would speak about the project because "it's way too premature to comment." She cautioned that there is no guarantee "Cavemen" will result in a prime-time show. ABC has ordered 15 other comedy pilots for the 2007-2008 television season and will likely give the green light to fewer than five for full-fledged series production.Much remains uncertain. It isn't clear whether ABC would use the three little-known actors who have starred in the ads. The three are identified by a person close to the agency as Jeff Daniel Phillips, Ben Weber and John Lehr. It's also not clear whether Geico would continue to use the cavemen ads if the series was to get off the ground, although ABC would see that as a positive, according to a person familiar with the network's thinking, as the ads would help promote the show.

Icons: Turtles and Cavemen

2007-02-26T23:38:00.000-05:00

Because Comcast's turtles The Slowskys and Geico's cavemen are such compelling and complex characters, I look forward to their commercials. They trancend ordinary commercialdom. I mean, ordinarily, I hate TV commercials. These characters are so iconic, I'd like to see them in a TV series or a feature film. I can picture them in indy-style films like American Beauty. They're that real.

Free Online Myers-Briggs Personality Test

2007-02-22T00:40:00.000-05:00

I was fleshing out my profile on StumbleUpon, when I stumbed upon an online Myers-Briggs personality test. I took a self-scoring one many years ago in NYC. When I did this online test a little while ago, I had a feeling maybe my score would be different this time, because I couldn't tell if I was answering certain questions accurately (perhaps lacking self-knowledge). But sure enough, like years ago, I came out once again as an ENFP. Very interesting indeed.

ENFP - "Journalist". Uncanny sense of the motivations of others. Life is an exciting drama. 8.1% of total population.

Free Jung Personality Test (similar to Myers-Briggs/MBTI)

New Judy Pokras Artwork Shop

2006-09-19T02:11:00.000-04:00

I'm excited to announce the opening of the new online Art by Judy Pokras shop.

The first items are now listed--t-shirts and notebooks and totes and baby clothes and more, all adorned with nifty original Judy Pokras artwork--and I'll be adding new items all the time, so stop by and take a look! It's a great place to find unique gifts.

Zlango, a Fun Language to Replace Text Messaging

2006-06-20T09:39:00.000-04:00

Yoav Lorch has created Zlango, a "language" of cartoony icons to replace cell phone text messages. While it may be true that few adults (at least in the US) use text messaging, it would be a lot more fun to use with Zlango! It would probably catch on! But it would probably have to be called Zlango-messaging, because Zlango would eliminate the need for text. (Although Zlango doesn't prevent people from adding text to their messages.)

Zlango is a brilliant idea, and can actually go a long way towards helping to bring about world peace, by uniting everyone with one common language. Who knows, maybe one day it will win Lorch the Nobel Peace Prize.

One suggestion for Zlango: Because vegans (and raw vegans) would prefer to have an icon for food that didn't feature a hot dog, we hope there will be an optional Zlango icon for "food" that features someone eating a piece of fresh fruit.

Julie Bowen in the Movie Night Fall

2006-06-16T16:58:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading Nelson DeMille's thriller Night Fall. I pictured Julie Bowen playing the book's character Kate, if and when this book gets made into a feature film. I hope the director's reading this! I hope it gets made into a film, and I hope they cast Julie. She'd be perfect!!!

He Could Play Ricky Nelson in a Biopic

2006-06-02T21:42:00.000-04:00

If you go to singer-songwriter Jeremy Fisher's site and watch his video called "High School," you'll see a performer with more than a trace of resemblance to the late rock and roll heart-throb Ricky Nelson. Although the resemblance isn't apparent in the still photo on Fisher's home page, in the video he not only evokes a similar shyness to Nelson's. Fisher also resembles the '50s icon physically, and moves like he did.

Jeremy Fisher would be a great choice to play Ricky Nelson if a film were made about him. This is the kind of uncanny similarity directors rarely find when casting a biopic.

I'm a writer/director with a great instinct for casting; I had the idea that Teri Garr should play Phoebe's mother on Friends, and eventually she was cast in that role, although I had nothing to do with the show and knew no one involved in it.

Boston Legal and Dolphins Referring to Themselves By Their Own Names

2006-05-19T15:09:00.000-04:00

"Bob's in a Picture!"

This Newsweek article says that dolphins name themselves with "their own unique signature whistles and clicks." That's not surprising, because they're known to be very bright. What I like even better is that, according to this article, dolphins say their own names a lot. This scientific discovery gives David E. Kelley new options for storylines for the next season of the wonderful Boston Legal. Does Bill Shatner's Denny Crain have a long-lost dolphin doppleganger who goes around proclaiming to other dolphins, "Denny Crain, Denny Crain"? Maybe the dolphin seeks Denny's representation in a defamation lawsuit?

A New Syndrome: Continuous Partial Attention

2006-03-22T02:49:00.000-05:00

Steven Levy's brilliant essay in the March 27 Newsweek (click the above headline to read the article) says it like it is. Electronic gadgets have changed the fabric of our lives. We're so busy IM-ing, reading e-mail, checking our BlackBerries (if we have one--I wish I did), and being interrupted by cell phone calls and text messages, we're not able to commit to anything at hand. As a serious astrologer might say, it's as if Gemini had taken over our culture. As a sociologist might say, it's as if the psychological "fear of commitment" had extended to society at large. Going on a date in the days before cell phones was an idyllic time, because it was just you and your date. Nowadays--as sitcoms and real life reveal-- you're not out on a date with one person; you're out with him and all the people calling him on his cell phone. About 20 years ago, musing about how previous generations grew up without TV, I wondered what things the next generation would have that we didn't have as kids. The future is here and it's moving so fast, it's tripping over itself.

James Spader Sings Love Songs

2006-02-21T02:43:00.000-05:00

That's the name of an album I wish I could buy.

It seems that women of all ages and marital status (and even some men, of all sexual preferences) are in love with Jimmy.

I have no idea if he likes to sing. But if he made an album of love songs, it would be a best seller. The people who idolize him would have his sexy voice all to themselves, in their heads or rooms or cars, as if he were singing to them alone.

I have no idea how to get this idea to Jimmy himself. Agents don't want to hear about ideas unless you're signed up with them, and besides, I'm no record producer. I don't know what my role would be. Idea person? The one who chooses the songs and writes the cover notes? I'd love to. I'm compiling a list of songs I'd like the album to contain. But of course it's up to Jimmy. What he feels like singing. If he feels like singing. Jimmy? What do you think?

Catching up with James Spader's body of work--and what a body!

2006-02-02T01:41:00.000-05:00

Since I only fell in love with Jimmy recently (where was I all those years?), I've been renting or buying his movies and catching up with them.

So far I've seen:

White Palace
I found the storyline unbelievable, not because of the age difference between Jimmy's and Susan Sarandon's characters but because of their class difference. Also I didn't feel there was much chemistry between them.

Alien Hunter
(I happened upon this TV one night) I liked what Jimmy did with the role, although it's not my favorite film genre. Plus, I found the visuals too dark (color-wise, not thematically)

Secretary
I really enjoyed this, in spite of the strange subject matter. Jimmy did a great job, and so did Maggie Gyllenhaal. They were perfectly cast. I was surprised to see that the screenplay was based on a novella by someone I once worked with when I lived in NYC (Mary Gaitskill), only because I hadn't heard that her writing had turned into a big deal film. She and I were freelance legal proofreaders on the midnight shift, when she became a famous and critically acclaimed writer.

Pretty in Pink
Although there's not enough Jimmy in this film for me, I loved what there was, and really enjoyed the movie. Molly Ringwald is excellent and so is Jon Cryer, especially his lip-synch dance. The film also features the cute Andrew McCarthy.

Stargate
A woman who works in the local Blockbuster raved about this one. Jimmy plays a shy, good-hearted linguist. I loved Jimmy in it--I love him in anything--but this Star Wars clone was not the type of movie I can sink my teeth into.

[By this point, having watched all of the above films plus TV's Boston Legal, I was seeing how incredibly versatile Jimmy is from one role to the next. Unlike some actors who are the same from role to role, basically playing themselves, Jimmy's always a different character.]

Sex Lies & Videotape
I had seen this ages ago when it first came out in theaters and had forgotten much of it. It was quite wonderful seeing it now. And the screenplay was brilliant. I

Personal Shopper As Fairy Godmother

2005-11-12T10:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I drove an hour to Tampa in search of a dress to wear to a black-tie family party in NY. I'd been looking for months. The problem isn't so much that I'm fussy (which I am, in spades). It's that designers aren't making dresses this season to fit my hourglass shape. I have to say here that my shape is all natural. Hasn't been enhanced. Which makes finding a dress that much harder.

The vast majority of dresses and tops this season are empire waisted. Not a good style for someone like me. I was ready to throw in the towel. Well, not the towel. (Where did that expression come from anyway? Boxing? Dishwashing?)

Then, in the way that fate sometimes has of putting the perfect person in your path, fate aligned me with a saleswoman in the WestShore Plaza Tampa Saks. The saleswoman, Dagny Rivers (who I think should be immediately promoted to the store president), had infinite patience, a lot more than I did. For hours, she brought me more and more things to try on, clothes best suited to my body type, which takes some vision when your own body type, like Dagny's, is tall and willowy like a model. All of the dresses, skirts and tops she found for me were wonderful, even if they didn't fit me (blame the designers for that, not Dagny), although some (like the Nanette Lepore skirts) were a bit more wonderful than others.

I felt like a movie star or a princess. I guess it's my Leo moon. Dagny went beyond the call of duty to snap photos of me in the various outfits, with my cell phone, which I then sent to my mother's cell phone. My fashion-maven mother called me back each time to give me her always-expert opinion.

Dagny made what would have been an ordeal that I wasn't willing to go through something fun! I told her that I would be writing about her, but that she might wind up getting too much business, which would then prevent her from doing what she does so well. So, if you do seek her out and find that she's too busy, this article might be why. (But maybe Saks will promote Dagny by then, anyway. In that case, Saks shouldn't worry, because the Peter Principle won't be operating!)

The Ultimate in Fashion

2005-10-23T13:38:00.000-04:00

I certainly don't want to give a fast food chain any free publicity, because basically their food is bad for us. But this ad is, well, brilliant. Here's what the top of the ad says:

On this page:
Marielle Lorenz dress,
Ana Testa make-up,
McDonald's necklace®.

It took me a while to realize what the necklace is made of!

This Will Get You Dancing

2005-08-25T09:06:00.000-04:00

Maybe you've seen this already, but it was new to me. It's a very funny animated short by the brilliant animated video director Dan Meth called Shake That Ass. It features a wild assortment of dancers, such as cartoon monsters, a little yarmulke-wearing boy, and the characters from Peanuts as African-Americans. Even if you don't think of yourself as a dancer, I dare you to sit still while you watch it.

Making of America--an online library

2005-08-17T23:02:00.000-04:00

The New York Times has a piece in today's paper about a wonderful digital library of Americana. Here's a 1921 selection they highlighted from the archive:

Adventures of a Working Woman

In New York

By anonymous (an upper-class woman who set out to investigate the life of laboring women). 1921.

For years I had heard persons, men and women, declaim against the incomprehensible devotion of "shop-girls" to chocolate éclairs and gumdrops ... instead of a bowl of oatmeal and milk, or of "good, nourishing soup."

The first time I tried lunching on a bowl of oatmeal and milk I began to experience a most uncomfortable sensation under my apron before three o'clock. By five that sensation had become a sharp griping pain. The day following I tried soup. In the middle of the afternoon when Nora learned how I was suffering, she went scurrying around among the girls in various departments and returned with three gumdrops, which she made me eat.

After that when I had 10 cents or less to spend for lunch I invested in a chocolate éclair and gumdrops. Without a doubt such a diet does produce pale faces and a predisposition to tuberculosis. Experience taught me that it staves off the griping agony produced by hunger and standing on one's feet longer than any other food to be had in New York City for the same money. When a girl's wage is seven dollars a week, or less, 10 cents a day is all she can spend for lunch.

Topless My Ass!

2005-07-18T23:32:00.000-04:00

In Wedding Crashers trailers, we see Jane Seymour's naked back as she stands before Owen Wilson, apparently bare breasted. Indeed, the Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman actress (and real-life 54-year-old mother of six) has been making the rounds of talk shows, where hosts have been lauding her for her bravery in taking on this role.

But all the talk about her daring topless scene is fake. With the camera shooting a profile view, and with the strategic placement of Owen Wilson's hands, the movie reveals no more of Jane Seymour's anatomy than a bra would.

I realize it's all a publicity campaign, but c'mon guys. This is NOT truth in advertising! The word of mouth buzz about the movie's laughs ought to be enough to drive traffic to the film.

[By the way, the photo posted here isn't from Wedding Crashers, and it's not even Jane Seymour, but it's similar to the backless shot of her that appears in the trailers.]

Crash the Wedding Crashers Trailer!

2005-07-11T09:20:00.000-04:00

I'm not being a shill for some corporate scheme. I'm telling you about this link because I think it's super cool! They make it soooo easy to put yourself in a movie trailer (or yourself and someone else too) and then send it to friends. It's a brilliant publicity strategy. Whoever through this up is a genius! Maybe it was Owen Wilson, who stars in Wedding Crashers along with Vince Vaughn. I can't wait to see this movie! Click on the headline at the top of this post to go to the page where you can put yourself in the trailer. And please e-mail me a copy of whatever you create! I want to see it!

Petition for a Pink Floyd Comeback

2005-07-04T00:28:00.000-04:00

I hope you'll help to spread the word about this petition. Pink Floyd did really well in their amazing reunion performance at Live 8. They sounded awesome! This was the first time they performed as a group in 25 years!

Press reports say they don't want to make a comeback because they feel they are "too old." We have to let them know they that aren't too old. After all, Tony Bennet is much older than they are and he's still going strong. To see the petition, click on the headline above.

I met Pink Floyd's David Gilmour a long time ago, when the group performed in Boston. I somehow managed to get backstage after the performance. I had had a boyfriend (when I was a student at The London School of Film Technique--now The London International Film Schoool) who said that his girlfriend Verity had left him for Gilmour. My boyfriend, whose name was also David, was gorgeous and smart and nice, and I wondered what this Gilmour guy could be like to cause her to leave him! So I had to see Gilmour in person. It turned out that he and my boyfriend resembled each other. Tall, well built, with handsome sculpted faces and glamorous long rock star hair, both of them artists. Somewhere I have the whole backstage conversation typed up.

Check out what Brad Kava writes in the San Jose Mercury News. He's right on about Pink Floyd's "simply stunning" performance leaving us wanting more, more more!!!

Like Bradgelina

2005-06-15T21:08:00.001-04:00

photo scanned by www.pittcenter.com

As reported widely, it was Brad Pitt himself who suggested that W magazine shoot a photo essay starring him and Angelina Jolie playing husband and wife. Brad didn't let those nasty rumors--which he and Angie have been denying--get in the way of 60 pages of photos.

Well, I have an idea. This is an open letter to any glossy. Despite the rumors that Owen Wilson and I are an item--which we both continue to vehemently deny--I volunteer to pose with Owen for the same type of 60-page photo spread. Let the rumors fall where they may. We're really not a couple! Honest!

My Drawing of TV's Dan Abrams

2005-06-13T17:12:00.000-04:00

MSNBC's Dan Abrams

I drew this of Dan Abrams when he covered the OJ trial.
Now I'm watching him covering the Michael Jackson trial.
I'm watching Michael's fans release doves outside the
courthouse as the not guilty verdicts are announced.
This is great news! Justice!!!

I've Got to Make Some Edible [Raw Food] Books!

2005-06-11T17:20:00.000-04:00

Peter's Book of Lasagna
Photo by Paul Heydenburg

Take a look at some gorgeous creations at The 6th Annual Edible Book Show and Tea held at The Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts.

I'm so excited to find out about this yearly competition for edible books.
Since I'm both a foodie and a writer, this is sort of perfect!

Now to put my chef's hat on and make some edible raw food books! Yessssssss!

Here's info on how you can participate in next year's event!

Are Movie Theaters On Their Way Out?

2005-06-11T10:54:00.000-04:00
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has a long post on his blog asking what's going to become of movie theaters in an increasingly crowded media marketplace. I posted a comment on his blog suggesting two main things:

(1) There ought to be more theaters that have built-in cafes, like The Angelica on Houston Street in Manhattan. An on-premise cafe (with a nice assortment of interesting food, including raw vegan recipes) would create a sense of community and would attract people.
(2) Megaplexes ought to dedicate one or two of their screens to indy films, ones less likely to get distribution.

As a writer/director, I prefer to watch movies in theaters, as there's something magical about an experience shared with a large audience, not to mention the larger screen and top-notch sound.

But there are a few things that bug me:

(1) When we're paying $8 to see a film, we shouldn't have to sit there watching commercials.

(2) It used to be that films would have long runs, but now they're here and gone in a flash. The window of opportunity to see a film in a theater has become way too small.

(3) There's just not enough intelligence and wit in most theatrically distributed films. Hollywood keeps sliding downhill--maybe it's the mud?--and we wind up with dreck: RawStyle

(4) There are lots of films that get made that don't ever find distribution. Google will soon be showing people's films online, and that will make a huge difference in the quality of films that are out there and widely available. https://upload.video.google.com/

China Issues Ban on Naked Fish-Dish Girls

2005-05-31T01:08:00.000-04:00

A naked sushi girl at work

China Bans Restaurants From Serving Sushi on Naked Young Women

Using women this way is going too far. Ever wonder how the women felt who had the job of being living dinner plates?

It's still going on in Seattle. And apparently also in NY and LA. And probably Las Vegas.

Here's a London magazine that features some polls on the topic. But online polls are self-selecting, so they're not worth much.

And here's something about a "raw" (but not raw foods) catering company that riffs on the idea. Anything for a buck, huh.

Standardizing Beauty Digitally

2005-05-29T16:06:00.000-04:00

Hollywood is digitally reducing breast size on some actresses

I have two responses to this development (excuse the pun). The most glaring offense is that Hollywood is making well-endowed women feel there is something wrong with the way nature made them. As we know, the culture has been doing that to overweight women for a long time. But overweight is something a person can do something about, by exercising and choosing what to eat; and overweight is not good for one's health.

Unlike fat, bust size (for those women who are "born that way," without surgical enhancement) is a given. By digitally remaking a woman's chest, Hollywood is thus telling women that if they are more than an A or B cup, they are to be looked at as nothing more than a sex object. There is something seriously wrong with this picture.

How would men feel if their genitals were on display to be judged by the culture? (Since men are free to go topless, their penises are the part of their body most parallel to women's breasts.) I don't think men would like that! The author Eldridge Cleaver (Soul on Ice) once designed jeans for men that had a penis-shaped pocket that would display their organ the way a bra or bikini top displays the shape and size of breasts. Maybe we need to start sending these jeans to Hollywood moguls and insist that they wear them from now on.

My other response is that Hollywood's decision to digitally reduce starlets' breast sizes opens the door for actors of all sizes and shapes to play the coveted high-paying lead roles in films. So what if your face isn't symmetrical, you have double chins, you're a midget, you have a paunch or a big butt? Digital artists can make you, too look like a supermodel, or like the flavor of the month, whether that be big boobs or small ones. They can even make you into the other gender, if you really want a certain role.

The Birth of a Blog--Why and What

2005-05-29T14:45:00.000-04:00
When I first created this blog, I thought it was going to be about the search for pure cosmetics and everything related to style in all realms--especially things designed with materials beneficial to ourselves and the environment. I created it because I don't see why there needs to be a gulf between design/fashion/architecture on the one hand, and health on the other. Unfortunately, the standard seems to be on the one hand, for designers to ignore healthful materials and on the other hand, for those makers who focus on health to ignore forward-thinking design.

I wanted to deal with topics like: "What constitutes a pure ingredient in a cosmetic?" and "Do raw foodists need to shun cosmetics and style?"

But then this blog developed a mind of its own, much like characters do when you write something creative. This blog wanted to include certain pop culture elements as well, whenever they touched upon raw food or healthful lifestyle. My other blog, sketchgrrl, which was born first, encompasses raw food, topical observations and humor. It would seem now that both of my blogs are veering in the same direction. Not a huge surprise, since are both coming from my imagination. But they already have their own links out there on the net, and to combine them would cut one of them off from from potential viewers. So as they develop, I imagine they will eventually have more distinct identities.

I refrained from creating any blogs for a long time, not seeing the point, as I've had an online magazine, Raw Foods News Magazine, since March 2001. I didn't understand why blogs were getting so much more media attention than online or print magazines. I still don't completely understand, although I can see three distinct advantages to blogs--it's easy to see what's new on them, it's easy to subscribe to their "feed", and it's easy to link them to other blogs. So--not wanting to be antediluvian--I jumped onboard. Feel free to post your comments or trackbacks any time.