Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Style

We all know that I adore 500 Days of Summer, and since then, I have had my eye on Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He’s cute, there’s no doubt about it. But what puts him above the other actors of his generation who appear in monthly magazine publications is his style. Someone somewhere knows how to dress him. From cute sweater vests and skinny ties in 500 Days, to well cut suits and cool t-shirts, JGL has got the fashion thing down. Every guy I know wants to dress like him, and every girl I know wants their boyfriend to dress like him.

Not only does he have fashion style, but ol’ Joe is starting to make an impact in the production world with his ‘hitRECord’ manifesto. Bringing together film makers, artists and musicians online to create shared content that if sold, benefits all contributors.

Posted By: Cat

Blue Sky Noise - Circa Survive

Circa Survive: I promise I don’t want to like them, but I just can’t help it, Blue Sky Noise is just so darn catchy!

I fought it every step of the way, Anthony Green’s wailing near-falsetto is screechy and irritating on previous Circa tracks, but for some reason, since listening to Blue Sky Noise, I’ve kind of fallen in love with it. Imaginary Enemy is one of the best songs I’ve heard in a while and I find myself singing Every Way under my breath on an hourly basis.

If you haven’t heard Circa Survive here’s a taster:

Go Fug Yourself: Fugs and Pieces

Oh those fug girls, how they make me laugh. I've been reading gofugyourself for years and it keeps getting better and better. The site is basically two very witty and fashion-loving ladies who like to dissect the outfits worn by celebrities and either commend them for their (or their stylist's) good taste, or ask them rhetorically how much crack they've smoked to leave the house in such a ridiculous getup. 

The ladies over at Go Fug Yourself have started to post something a little different on Fridays. Fugs and Pieces is little things from the internet that are funny, interesting, heartwarming or down right disturbing. Its everything you need to see without spending hours surfing for it. I love it. I look forward to their shared links every Friday. An example of this weeks Fugs and Pieces. And from the list, a little treat: When vandalism is funny.

Enjoy!

Cadburys Mini Eggs

Oh Cadburys, you are always a constant in my life. Guys come and go, fashions change, but you are always delicious.

Easter has been and gone, and here in the US they do it a little differently. At home in England, we get big Easter eggs with chocolate bars and such; but here they have Easter candy, like pastel coloured m&ms, chocolate bunnies and weird marshmallow monstrosities called peeps.

What I like to do, the day after a big holiday like Valentines or Easter, is go to Walmart or CVS and pick up the candy half off. This Monday, I went to my local CVS and what do I find? Cadburys mini eggs! They have very little Cadburys chocolate over here, and it doesn’t taste quite right, but it’s better than eating Hershey’s which tastes like sick, literally.

I was overjoyed. A taste of home, with 75% off! I bought three large bags and they’re all gone. There’s nothing better than that sugar shell wrapped around a little egg of chocolate heaven.

Thanks Cadburys for being there for me, yet again.

Glee

Oh Glee, why are you so awesome? Is it because you have lines like, “I'm reasonably confident that you will be adding revenge to the long list of things that you are no good at; Right next to being married, running a high school Glee Club, and finding a hairstyle that doesn't make you look like a lesbian.” And “I’m rolling on a fistful of horse tranquilizers. I can’t feel my lips.”

Perhaps it’s the awesome mash-ups like Bon Jovi’s Its my Life remixed with Usher’s Confessions.

Perhaps it’s the fact that Jane Lynch is a comic genius and cannot deliver a line badly, ever.

Perhaps it's the writer's huge balls, writing story-lines that involve making fun of deaf people, wheelchair users, homosexuals and Jewish people, but always redeeming themselves.

Perhaps it’s because Corey Monteith who plays Finn on the show is super cute and adorable, even though he really can’t sing all that great.

Or perhaps it’s because all of these things combined makes Glee one of the best shows on television right now.

Glee returns to Fox in the US on April 13^th.

Posted By: Cat

War of the Roses

I have a bad habit of wanting to be all up in everybody's business. I can't help it. I don't exactly pry, but if you're going to lay it all out there for a perfect stranger to take in, I'll certainly give you the attention you're looking for.This is why I love War of the Roses. I thought it was a KDWB, (a Minnesota radio station) exclusive segment, but I guess radio stations all over the country have this feature.

Here's the premise: A lady, well, usually a lady, will get in touch with KDWB because she suspects that her significant other is cheating on her. A female DJ, will call then suspected cheater and pretend to be from a cell phone company, and she's wanting to give a short survey asking the suspect about their satisfaction with their cell service, and in return they can send romantic, red roses to a person of their choice. Three questions later, all hell breaks loose.

There is no happy way to end War of the Roses, but hilarity always ensues. Either, the person sends the flowers to a person who isn't on the phone, and leaves the culptit fumbling for an explanation or excuse as to why they're sending Sarah romantic red roses, and not Jane. Or the person sends the flowers to the 'right' person, but is pissed that their business is all up on the radio.

To hear an epic War of the Roses, visit http://www.daveryanshow.com/main.html, and look under the Dave On Demand feature.

Posted By: Nicci

Paramore's Use Somebody Cover

Oh we all know how I feel about Paramore and Hayley Williams. I can't help it.

This is old, but wonderful....

Posted By: Cat

Girls Aloud Eyelashes

I was never one for false eyelashes. The thought of gluing fake hair to my eyes seemed incredibly strange and incredibly vain to me. Of course, I didn’t bank on my love for Girls Aloud being combined with my need to thicker, longer lashes.

For so long I’ve spent a small fortune on mascara, trying to find the right brand and style that make my eyelashes full of impact. Maybelline, Bourjouis, Benefit, Rimmel, no one had the perfect formula. Then a few months back on a night out, I noticed my friend’s eyes looked amazing. I asked her the secret and she replied ‘Oh, I’m wearing Cheryl Coles.’ I was so confused. I’ve blogged before about my love for Cheryl and Girls Aloud in general. Turns out, the ladies each designed a set of eyelashes.

Each set is different, Cheryl’s are thick and flicked, and Kimberly’s are long but more natural. Between us, I think my friends and I have everyone’s, and we can chop and change for any occasion. When I dressed as Audrey Hepburn I wore Cheryl’s pair; for my birthday, Nadine’s. They’re re-usable, so the £5.95 price tag is a steal. They make your eyes look amazing and you can cut and trim them to suit your eyes.

Check out the range at Superdrug, Boots and New Look in the UK.

Posted By: Cat

Skype

Living abroad is a lot of fun, but there are always those at home whom you miss. It used to be, that when you were thousands of miles away, writing letters, postcards, or spending a small fortune on phone calls from crackling public phone boxes was the only way to keep in touch. Of course now we have the internet, email and the saviour of my bank account, Skype.

Skype is free to download. Free. You can make Skype to Skype calls for free. Free. Last week I had a ‘conference call’ with my friend who is living in Australia and my friend back home in the UK. We were in very different time zones, with me in an entirely different day, but not one of us had to pay for that thirty minute phone call. Free!

And even if you’re not calling a fellow Skype user, the cost is so low. My friends calling my American cell phone pay 1p a minute, and texting is 5 pence. Being in the US, I have to pay a little more, with a call to a cell phone being 14p a minute, but to a landline I’m still only paying 1p a minute. So I can talk to my parents for an hour for the same price as a mars bar. Amazing.

I can’t begin to explain how great it is to be in such easy contact with home when you’re away from everything you know and all the people that make your life at home. Skype truly is a life changing communication tool. My parents, at 63 and 58 years old, have just brought a webcam and downloaded Skype so they can video chat with me regularly. For a couple who still struggle to use more than one browser window, it proves how simple and easy Skype is to use.

Download it here.

£1 Primark Ring

I’m not going to lie, I’m a huge Primark fan. I know they have shady practices when it comes to the production of their clothing, but I am a student with little money and being able to buy accessories for £1 makes my life a little bit brighter. I wish I wasn’t this shallow, but I’m afraid I am just a little bit.

Oversize rings are cute and give an outfit a little oomph. I rarely wear jewellery other than necklaces, so when I want to have some effect, I choose a chunky ring. This one is perfect as it’s white and goes nicely with a faux pearl necklace set I have. And it’s ONE POUND. £1 won’t even buy you a litre of petrol now.

Give your hands some impact.

Posted By: Cat

Flipz

Now I’m temporarily living in the US, there will be many entries relating to food on here. The first I dedicate to Flipz:

When I was a young scamp of about fourteen, these chocolate covered pretzel snacks launched in the UK. I remember our school vending machines stocked them and I fell in love. Then they disappeared, never to be seen again in our Island nation.

But wait; I have been reunited with the Flipz and let us never be apart again! The salty pretzel and the sweet chocolate make a union of awesomeness to create a snack so more-ish, I’m surely going to double in weight while I’m living over here.

Posted By: Cat

I have never in my life related more to an animated character than I have Sally Brown. But as I read through the day by day tear off calendar I have on my work desk (I had about 5 months or so between jobs, so one morning was devoted exclusively to getting my Peanuts calendar up to date), I realized, "Holy crap, I'm the 25 year-old manifestation of a child cartoon character."

At first glance you would think that Sally and I don't have much in common. For one, she's fictional and I am real. Another thing is, Charlie Brown is her older brother, and I'm the eldest of my three siblings. However, we're both girls. We both have blonde hair. And there's a good chance something like this could come out of my mouth:
I'm addressing Christmas cards. Aren't they cute? Each one has a little bunny on it dressed up like a shepherd. Don't say I'm not religious!

And I feel I fit this description: She has a "take it easy" approach to life, preferring to slide by while doing as little work as possible. Her favorite pastime is sitting in her beanbag chair watching TV. She can be stubborn sometimes, and is usually convinced she's right until someone proves her wrong, but she also has a good heart and a strong moral sense; like her older brother she is extremely sensitive to the unfairness of life.

I even called my mom to ask her if she thought I was Sally Brownish, and she agreed wholeheartedly.

Posted By: Nicci

New Moon Fever

I love that the whole Western World seems to have gone crazy for New Moon. Our local cinema sold out all the

showings a week before the film opened and added double the screens on opening night and sold them out in hours. Everyone I know is talking about it.

We’ve blogged the books and the first movie, Twilight, so it seems only right that I continue the tradition. And it helps that New Moon is epic.

This time around we have a new director, a hotter, buffer Taylor Lautner (playing Jacob Black) and a now world famous Rob Pattinson. It helps that both of these gentlemen spend a good portion of the film with their shirts removed. Thank you. I would also like to add that this blog entry is merely an excuse to post hot pictures of the aforementioned gentlemen.

Twilight has its moments of being good, but New Moon is genuinely exciting. The moment that Jacob (spoiler alert!) goes from being all goofy, long haired kid to super hot, intense werewolf man is very hot. Almost everyone I know is now Team Jacob which would have meant nothing to anyone a year ago.

Don’t get me wrong, guys will hate this film; but if you’re a female who is easily sucked into the latest fad (such as myself), then you’ve probably already seen New Moon, and are probably seeing it again. Soon.

Posted By: Cat

Battle Studies

Finally, after three years of messing about with famous women and popping up everywhere from Fantasy Factory to the Oscars, John Mayer has remembered that he’s actually a musician and he’s made an album!

When Battle Studies arrived on my doorstep last week, I was excited. I’m a big Mayer fan and I’d been following the process of recording and putting the record together through his website, twitter and some leaked live shows. I already knew a few songs on the album but the majority of the ten tracks were fresh to my ears.

And...I hated it. No, hate is too strong; I was disappointed. It was a departure from the blues/pop/rock that I’d grown used to the last few years. Instead, it sounds like a California, laid back rock record. Considering I’m currently in rainy, flood ravaged England anything that sounds like it should be accompanied by warm sunny breezes was a bit of a stretch. Plus it’s a concept album on heartbreak. Concept. Album.

Then I gave it some time. I felt it out, listened to it over and over and now...I love it. Now I can feel that warm sunny breeze and I like the laid back feel. I like that I don’t have to pretend to appreciate long guitar solos and can enjoy the lyrical quality. I still hate the cover art though. So. Bad.

My favourite tracks are Half of my Heart with our favourite Taylor Swift (although really, she should’ve had a lot more to do on the track than the measly three words she was given), Assassin is the coolest song I’ve heard in ages and Heartbreak Warfare makes me excited to see him live next year.

Welcome back Mayer. Let’s not make it such a long wait next time okay?

Posted By: Cat

Charlie Brooker

My lovely friend Adam who is quite possibly the only reader of this blog is a big Charlie Brooker fan. I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t really know who he was until one day; Adam told me he’d watched a show called ‘You Have Been Watching’. You Have Been Watching is a tv panel game where the contestants and host – Charlie Brooker – pretty much just rip television shows to shreds.

Brooker started life as an internet site editor where he used his wit and humour to express how much he didn’t like things. It was such a hit, that he was asked to create his TV show, NewsWipe which was followed by ScreenWipe. He also writes for the Guardian and created the Dead Set television series.

Back in September I wrote about the Media Guardian event I went to, and we were lucky enough to have Charlie Brooker come and do a masterclass for us. He was hilariously dour and miserable. I liked him a lot.

A few weeks ago, Adam bought me ‘Dawn of the Dumb’, a book which is a compilation of Brooker’s Guardian columns. The articles are bascically an attack on anything pop culture at the time of writing and they’re greatly entertaining. I don’t know why, but I love when people complain about stuff in a dry, witty manner. I sometimes think it would be so much easier to write a ‘It annoys us when...’ blog.

So if you feel like revelling in a little bit of misery and agreeing that really, a lot of stuff is shit, go and buy Charlie Brooker's book and join in with his disdain.

Obviously he would hate this.

Posted By: Cat

Ear Muffs

After some unseasonably warm weather, we’ve now hit winter in the UK. I love the sunshine, but there’s something lovely about getting wrapped up in a coat, gloves and a hat and braving the cold.

I’m a big fan of hats, but sometimes you don’t want to go into class or work with hat hair. This is why this year, I will be rocking the ear muffs. They’re cute, kitsch and you don’t have to worry about messing up your perfectly styled (or in my case not) hair.

My ear muffs are the ones above. They are from accessorize who have a great selection this year, although they’re a little pricey at £16 a pair. I had mine as an early Christmas gift so I didn’t feel so guilty. I think that a lot of high street stores in the UK are running their own selections though – ear muffs are in!

Posted By: Cat

The JAM wedding

Nicci and I are both Office fans and I think I speak for us both when I say that the wedding of Jim and Pam has been the TV moment we’ve both been waiting for.

I watched as Jim loitered by reception a little too long in season 1 and made puppy dog eyes at Pam while she left at 5pm each night with Roy. I was on the edge of my seat when the twenty two second silence between them on the Booze Cruise pointed toward a shift in their relationship. My heart lept into my throat when Jim announced ‘I’m in love with you’ and Pam answered with ‘I can’t’. My hopes were dashed when Jim went to Stamford and a new voice in background answered the phone with ‘Dunder Mifflin, this is...’

Then Jim came back! But he had a Karen! I cried a little with Pam in the corridor and wanted to comfort her but Dwight got there first and talked about PMS. I felt pleasure in Karen’s misery when Jim admitted that he still loved Pam but booed loudly when Pam went home with Roy at Phyllis’ wedding. Then fancy new Beesley got up in front of the Office after walking over hot coals and admitted that she missed Jim. It was bye bye Karen, hello PB & J. The tears in Pam’s eyes when Jim asked her out to dinner were mirrored in mine.

I longed for my own Jim while Pam fell more in love with hers. A few fake-out proposals later and they got their perfect moment in the rain and Pam got a ring on her finger. Pam came back the wrong way to be with Jim and he bought her a house. Now they’re knocked up and proud and just had the wedding (or two) of the year. Getting married under Niagra Falls is an epic topper to an epic relationship.

Not only that, but this happened:

Love.

Posted By: Cat

Paramore: Brand New Eyes

I love Paramore. I’ve made it no secret that I love Hayley Williams and want to be her. She’s super talented and is the lead singer of a cool rock band and she’s not even 21 yet. I also covet her hair. I long to be alternative with red hair but when I suggested it to my hairdresser, she politely reminded me that I’m the palest woman in a thirty mile radius and I should avoid washing myself out anymore.

Brand New Eyes is Paramore’s new album; number three. I love it already and have been playing it over and over. It’s not a big departure from Riot or All We Know is Falling, it has some ‘turn up and scream along’ songs, but it also has some pretty, slower tempo tunes. There are eleven new tracks, with Decode, their song from the Twilight soundtrack, making twelve.

I love, love, love Looking Up, it reminds me of travelling. Listening to the lyrics, there are a few nods to the band almost breaking up a while back, but never fear for they are here to stay! .... I hope.

Posted By: Cat

Taylor Swift

We’ve been doing this blog for a year now, and although we agree on many of the things we post on here, Nicci and I have never written an entry together. And what is the honoured topic for this occasion? Well its right up there in bold. Taylor Swift.

Not only does she produce insanely catchy pop/country crossover songs, but she writes them, and performs them live. This is not a common occurrence in the world of teen pop idols. Her video for You Belong With Me is dorky and cute and the kind of video I would have made if I ever had an ounce of music talent or was a pop star. Playing two characters fighting over the same boy? Having a Cinderella style prom ending? Wearing huge geeky glasses? All amazing.

Sometimes I think that Taylor wrote the story of my teenage and early twenty years a few years too late. It’s amazing how relatable her songs are. Case and point: I sent a text to one of my best friends saying, “Youtube “Fifteen” by Taylor Swift.” She responded almost immediately saying, “Oh dear, that is us.” And there are like fourteen other songs of hers that tell the story of my life. I really think that most anyone can pinpoint a song on any of her two albums, or even a track of hers floating around that hasn’t found a home on an album and relate to it on an extremely personal level.

Not only does Taylor have major talent, but she genuinely seems like a classy and humble lady. She’s only nineteen, and where she could be out underage drinking and getting into cars sans underwear, she instead holds herself with respect. Her Twitter posts are witty, sweet and she never has a bad word to say about others. In other news, I covet her eyeliner. I, Nicci, love her because she represents for the tall girls. I should also add that besides her representing for the tall girls, she always seems legitimately excited to be wherever she is performing, always makes time for her fans, and seems genuinely interested in what her fans has to say and makes them feel like they’re one of her best friends.

Its rather topical for us to blog about Taylor. Since Sunday night she’s been the talk of internet Kanye West and his ever growing ego tried to steal her limelight with a jumped up idea of how he rules the world and ergo, award ceremonies. He’s almost twice Taylor’s age and yet she has a thousand times more class, composure and humility. Guess he's just mad because she's outsold him and his 808 repetitiveness.

Mostly we like her because we would like to be her best friend.

Posted By: Nicci and Cat

(500) Days of Summer

My friends tease me because although we watch a lot of movies, I rarely find one that I love. I like a lot of movies, but there’s always something which ruins it for me – an unbelievable plot twist, an annoying character, an unnaturally happy ending – it seems I can’t be pleased. Two movies lately though, I have loved. One was Up! Which I got to see in Spain before it’s released here in the UK in October. And one I saw last night, (500) Days of Summer.

Everything about this film was perfect for me. It was quirky and different with its non-chronological storytelling and direction. Zooey Deschanel is appealing, even though she continues to play the same character in every movie she’s been in. What I really loved though, was Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was great to see him in something cute and endearing instead of dark and unravelling. I’ve liked a lot of his work, Brick especially, but in this he was adorable. He can look so in love that it makes your heart flutter, and then when

he’s playing heartbroken, it makes you think of every time you’ve had it happen to you. On a side note, the wardrobe department sure know how to make him look amazing in a handsomely dorky kind of way.

It may not be the intellectual film of the decade, but it’s really enjoyable and I

loved it. See it if you get a chance, it’s real, funny and wonderful.

Posted By: Cat