Joss & Eliza give the scoop on 'Dollhouse' S2

Have a little art with your coffee

Made by Boey. With his Sharpie pen.

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The full story.

Forget boring company logos these are so much cooler!.

Source: Neatorama.com

Comedic cat cartoons

Yes I know I'm being totally lazy with nothing but videos lately, but these are too good not to share.

Maura Tierney 'optimistic' about her health scare

FORMER ER actress Maura Tierney has spoken out about the breast tumour which led to her new show being delayed.

The actress, who played Abby Lockhart in the medical drama, recently revealed that she will have to go through an operation to remove the lump.

The 44-year-old she has been assured by her doctors that her condition is 'very treatable'.

She added: "I will not know either my exact diagnosis or course of treatment until that surgery is performed.

"I'm very optimistic as to the outcome and want to thank everyone who has sent positive thoughts and support. I look forward to going back to work soon."

Her latest show, Parenthood, has been pushed back.

Source: thesun.co.uk

Here's to a speedy recovery! =).

'Bones' Comic-Con Panel

Plenty of juicy tid-bits to mull over until the 5th season premiere on Sept. 17th 2009.

Cyndi Lauper as Angela's psychic?, can't wait!.

Joss Whedon & Eliza Dushku 'Dollhouse' Panel Comic-Con

I've been waiting for this. Joss never fails to make me laugh.



Joss and Eliza Comic-Con interview.

Joss Whedon talks 'Dollhouse' Season 2 @ Comic-Con

SAN DIEGO — Before the screening of the fabled lost episode of Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse,” “Epitaph One,” the man behind the hit show took a few minutes to talk to the media about the upcoming (and unexpected) season two.

“Epitaph One” has long been rumored to be a game-changing episode for the series, a rumor that was proved true both when the episode screened and when Whedon was asked if the episode could be considered a “second pilot” for the series.

“I wouldn’t call it a second pilot but it is definitely a different vision and it will contain a lot of things about the characters and who they are and where they’re heading that people might not have seen or expected,” Whedon said.

There are a lot of developments expected more specifically for the character of Echo, portrayed by Eliza Dushku. When asked if it was somehow the case that the other dolls and the other characters in the show were somehow “projecting” onto Echo, Joss replied, “Yes, you’re very right to say that they’re projecting on her. A lot of her life, not just because she’s a doll, but also just in general, has to do with the fact that people become obsessive about her. But we are going to learn and starting in this season that they’re not wrong, that there is something truly special about her and that she is going to be a major in factor in what happens to Dollhouse over the next few years.”

Tahmoh Penikett’s Paul Ballard, an FBI agent who was focused on finding the Dollhouse and eventually did, (In fact, at the end of the first season he appeared to be joining the Dollhouse in some capacity) is another character facing some changes for the new season.

“We had always intended for Paul to find the Dollhouse and for his interaction to change because we didn’t want him to be like the reporter in ‘The Hulk,’ showing up too late every episode,” Whedon said of the Ballard character. “And now they’ve been working on him from the outside with November and his alliance with Echo is going to be really tested, because he’s going to be in there with her partially to protect her but also to find out what’s really going on. You know you can gaze into the abyss or you can actually live in it, it’s going to affect you. so we are going to see that while (Echo) is starting to grow, we’re going to see that everybody else really starting to come apart a little bit.”

“Dollhouse” is certainly a kind of abyss — without a doubt, it is the only show on television to so brazenly portray such ethically questionable and morally deep actions and situations. This is not lost on Whedon.

“I think with this show, I want to say to the people who have, you know, felt a connection with me, that maybe you want to back away and avoid eye contact,” he said. “That maybe there’s something horribly wrong with me, and this is my very poetical way of expressing that. I think of it as a work that actually frightens me at times in a way that my shows seldom got to. At the same time I have that sort of jolly love of everything that’s going on and have to be reminded that what I’m doing is reprehensible. So it’s a mature work in the sense that I grew up and went insane.”

On a more serious note, the ethical dilemmas and the role of human nature embedded in the premise of “Dollhouse” are what interest Whedon and are what he will elaborate on more in the upcoming season.

“Well I think ultimately the thing that fascinates me is morality and personal politics; the politics of the personal, of the person in the moment as opposed to the statement,” Whedon said. “Yet I would say in terms of the second season, the abuse of power and the different kinds of forms it can take is going to become broader and more, in fact, political, and we’re going to see the Dollhouse in the world a bit more.”

Perhaps it is that same uncomfortable material that the show deals with that is partly to blame for why “Dollhouse” had a hard time getting renewed.

“I’d say it came extraordinarily close to being canceled,” Joss said. “I’d say it was probably pronounced on the table and we went, “Nooo!” (feigns CPR) and the camera pulled back and it went (gasps) and the music came up and we all cried,” Whedon dramatized. “It came down to some very simple numbers that people worked in a very complicated fashion to fudge laughs and ultimately the fact that my shows have never gone that big, you know they’re marathon runners, they’re not sprinters. This is the studio where I did those shows, even when they weren’t on that network. And they know that, so they fought hard to make it as easy for the network as possible. So it was really the hardcore fan base, the people who are here, to tip the scale. And that scale was tippy.”

Certainly Whedon is no stranger to one of his shows getting axed. The cancellation of “Firefly” infuriates embittered fans (and Whedon, himself) more than half a decade later. With “Dollhouse” so close to the brink, almost from day one, people did wonder if Whedon treated the new show differently than he did “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” or “Firefly.”

“I have been hurt before, it’s true. So I made the decision early on just to phone it in. I really feel that that’s better for me,” he joked. “No, you know what — I’m a little bit wiser and a little bit more removed in terms of how I deal emotionally with the whole business of it, but when I get into the story that’s the only world I live in. And I love the characters and I love the cast so much, so that when I get into the writer’s room, and we’re talking about them, that’s our life. And in the same way that’s our only life and all we do is get excited and come up with things that we’re a little embarrassed we thought of.”

Source: blastmagazine.com

And if that's not enough good news for all Whedonites out there.

LATimes Blog revealed that more Buffy alums would be joining the Dollhouse in the new season.

Aside from Summer Glau (which was already reported on earlier in the year) Felicia Day (also from Firefly) and Angel's Alexis Denisof will be making an appearance (yay!!).

Hmm...could his appearance mean a possible one for his wife Alyson Hannigan as well?.

Nah, that's probably asking too much. But I can dream.

'Spartacus' and 'Seeker' thrill @ Comic-Con

WOW. Is it January yet?!. Looks like Rob & co. have outdone themselves once again.

Speaking of the new season 2 trailer for Legend of the Seeker was also released.



Word is that Buffy alum Charisma Carpenter aka Cordelia Chase will be on the show as well (I hope she gets a big part).

Can't wait to see the sneak-peek for Dollhouse.

Roger Federer a father of 2!!

Roger Federer's wife Mirka has reportedly given birth to twin girls, Myla Rose and Charlene Riva.

The tennis champion updated his Facebook page this afternoon with the news, declaring it the best day of his life.

"I have some exciting news to share with you: Late last night, in Switzerland, Mirka and I became proud parents of twin girls," he wrote.

"We named them Myla Rose and Charlene Riva and they are both healthy and along with their mother, they are doing great.

"This is the best day of our lives!"

The birth of the twins comes just weeks after Federer won Wimbledon for the sixth time, giving him a record 15 grand slam titles.

The win, which pushed Federer past Pete Sampras for the most majors won, prompted many commentators and former greats - including Sampras - to declare Federer the greatest ever player.

Twins?!. Wow even in his personal life Roger knows how to keep things interesting.

I guess this means we might see him at the Rogers Cup after all.

Congratulations to the proud parents on their new additions :).

15 Grand Slams and twins, I think Roger will be on cloud nine for quite some time.

Source: theage.com

Taylor Hanson shares family portrait

While four kids may sound like a handful to many, for Taylor Hanson, the arrival of his newest child, son Viggo Moriah, didn’t send his stress level over the top. “After two kids, you’re outnumbered,” he tells Celebrity Baby Blog with a laugh. “So once you cross having three, having four is not such a big deal.” Viggo’s digging the big family, too. “He’s so interested in what everyone is doing around him,” says Taylor. “He loves to be in the middle of the action and doesn’t want to miss a thing.”

There’s no shortage of action for Taylor, 26, wife Natalie, 25, and their brood (left to right: Penelope Anne, 4, Viggo, 7 months, River Samuel, 2 ½, and Jordan Ezra, 6 ½). “I think it’s pretty much ‘the more the merrier’ for them at this point,” jokes the proud dad, whose bandmate brothers Isaac and Zac have families of their own as well.

Bryan Johnson for use on CBB

When Viggo arrived back in December, each of his siblings welcomed him in their own way. The eldest, Ezra, happily took the new addition in stride. “He’s always been really sweet with other kids and babies,” says Taylor. “My wife jokingly calls it the Hanson gene.” Big sis Penelope, “immediately wanted to hold him and said to Natalie, ‘Oh, Mommy, if you need any help, I can get Viggo dressed!’ It just clicked for her.” And the former baby of the family, River, “was a little indifferent when he first met Viggo,” says Taylor with a laugh (adding that River pronounced his brother’s name “Biggo“). “He appreciates that he’s got another brother, but he’s kind of busy right now. He’s like, that’s great! I’m gonna go play with my Legos.”

As for resemblance to mom and dad, Taylor reports that most people say he looks like Natalie more than any of their other kids, but Viggo, “has these fat little cheeks that are just like I had when I was a baby.”

Now, as dad gets back to work — Hanson will be back on tour in September to promote a new EP and have a new full-length album out in the spring — he says nothing compares to life at home with his wife and kids. Years ago, “I never saw myself having this big family at a young age,” says Taylor. “But I can’t imagine anything else now. It’s just the greatest.”

– Rennie Dyball

Source: celebrity-babies.com

Those kids are so darn cute!. The Hanson brothers have some seriously good genes.

Amazing shadow art

Real Life is Rubbish, 2002: Image via: Pantherhouse

British-born and -based artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster skilfully skirt the boundaries between beauty and the shadowier aspects of humanity, playing with our perceptions as well as our notions of taste. Many of their most notable pieces are made from piles of rubbish, with light projected against them to create a shadow image entirely different to that seen when looking directly at the deliberately disguised pile.

Dirty White Trash (With Gulls), 1998

Image: pashasha

The photo above shows White Trash (With Gulls), one of Webster and Noble’s earliest trash-based pieces. Six months’ worth of household waste plus a pair of dead seagulls comprise the heap of refuse. It’s no accident that it took the couple a further six months to make the piece, during which time they were eating and consuming – as you do. On the wall, the shadow figure self-portraits of the artists take a break with a cigarette and a glass of wine.

Real Life is Rubbish, 2002

Image via: Pantherhouse

Less within the domain of disgust, the trash pile in Real Life Is Rubbish is constructed out of studio instead of everyday waste. Tools that the artists would eventually run out of – like a screwdriver that serves as Noble’s nose – and discarded items such as used up brass polish are piled together. Out of the apparent jumble of chaos, two perfectly formed silhouettes of the artists emerge.

HE/SHE, 2003

Image: pashasha

That the next piece, entitled HE/SHE, looks to display shadows of Noble and Webster urinating is less shocking given that the artists have often chosen to deal with ostensibly cruder themes in their collaborative work. Having met whilst studying at university in Nottingham in the late ’80s, the couple later moved to London, where they gained a reputation for being rebels of the art scene, not content with the position of artist as celebrity.

HE/SHE, daylight view

Image via: Pantherhouse

Notwithstanding their distaste for the conventional, Webster and Noble’s sculptures and installations are not only brilliantly conceived but consummately executed. The second image above of HE/SHE shows more clearly the junk sculpture from which the image of Noble emerges in the light of the projector.

Metal Fucking Rats With Heart Shaped Tail, 2007

Image via: Simplistic Art

Not all of Noble and Webster’s work uses low grade materials drawn from the rubbish dump or the scrap yard – like this welded scrap metal piece of rat love. No, some of it borrows from the aesthetics of the shopping mall or the Las Vegas light show, with flashing displays and gaudy neon inspired by some of the most crass that culture has to offer. As far as the artists are concerned, it’s all worth recycling.

Dark Stuff, 2008

Image: Jose Luis RDS

Yet the idea of reusing materials to create art gets one of its most visceral treatments in this last piece. Casting the by now familiar shadows of the artists’ profiled heads – severed and impaled on spikes in this case – the sculptures are composed of various mummified animals. A nod, perhaps, to aspects of popular culture like vulgar living history, it’s another work by this irreverent pair that might mean you now look at all kinds of trash and waste in a rather different light.

Source: environmentalgraffiti.com via Neatorama

Weird and cool kitchen gadgets

When it comes to Kitchen Gadgets, there are many different kinds, sizes, and limitations, but that doesn’t mean they cannot be bizarre and practical at the same time. Here are 17 different Bizarre kitchen gadgets that are sure to entertain the chefs out there, who may be looking for a different design and change in their kitchen tools and want to go a little against the grain.

Throwing Knife Block

Not to be taken literally, this cool knife block combines the bizarre circus life with freaky kitchen gadgets.

Image Credit

Gross Egg Separator

This funny and weird kitchen gadget is to separate eggs but looks completely gross as if snot runs out of its nose.

Image Credit

Egg Cuber

Besides making people say ‘WTF?’, this kitchen gadget is simply one to change the way eggs have always looked. You can now make them square, so they could fit nicely in a ’square container’.

Image Credit

Rabbit Mixer

This Rabbit designed mixer could make you laugh every time you use it in the kitchen for all your mixing needs.

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Roll n Pour Gadget

Not necessarily for cooking, but this useful contraption could allow chefs to pour a drink easily even while their hands are dirty and messy.

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Medieval Espresso Machine

This crazy looking espresso machine seems like it is some Medieval torture device that is used to killing enemies after you made them coffee.

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Banana Handle

With so many things going on at the same time, you could forget to use a towel when handling hot pots and pans, so this Banana holder is a great solution that remains useful.

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Pacman Oven Mitts

The geeky chefs would love to bring Pacman in their kitchen and make sure they are not burnt when handling hot items and food.

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Corn Kernel Cutter

An easy and painless way to cut the Corn kernels off of the cob, bringing the freshest corn kernels to your plate.

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Microwave Smores Maker

Almost everyone loves Smores, and this is a great kitchen gadget that lets you make them easily and quickly with your Microwave.

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Duck Can Opener

Have a laugh with this can opener as the Duck toy on top quacks…keeping you company.

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Toolbox Pizza Cutter

A wacky looking pizza cutter that will slice your Pizza to the slices you wish and make you feel that it came out of the toolbox.

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Alligrater Kitchen Gadget

A little break from the norm is brought here with the Alligator shaped grater that could be used to make your audience excited.

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Food Evaporator Gadget

Evaporate any flavor of your cooking with this sophisticated and advanced kitchen gadget, which allows you to mix your ingredients as you wish and create a syrup and flavor to return to.

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Smoking Gun

Use some hardwood sawdust in the pipe of this smoking gun, light it up and smoke your meat, vegetables and any other food you wish to smoke.

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Pig Nose Bowl Cover

A regular bowl and pan cover that will give you an extra laugh in the kitchen and gives a whole new meaning to ‘Pigging Out’.

Images Credit

Cherry Chomper

Some would argue that it is fun to eat a cherry and remove the pit alone, but after they see this kitchen gadget they would probably never go back to the old ways.

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Source: Gadgether.com via Neatorama

Roger Federer lucky 15

With the way Federer is going Nike is going to have to make a LOT more of these in the future *LOL*.

I'm also going to take this opportunity to vent. Why is it that I always miss the epics? *sigh*.

Last year I missed the marathon Wimbledon final between Federer and Nadal. And this year it's Federer vs. Roddick.

I picked the worse time to go on vacation *lol*.

Hopefully I'll be able to find the matches on the net. I have so much to catch up on (when I get home), I think a tennis marathon will be in order :D.

In all seroiusness I want to say congratulations to Roger Federer on his 15th Grand Slam title.

Now he truly is one the GOATs (Greatest of All Time).

Needlepoint graffiti

Berlin 1
20" x 17"
needlepoint on canvas







Berlin 2
18" x 16"
needlepoint on canvas







Chicago 1
15" x 13"
needlepoint on canvas







Berlin 3
16" x 14"
needlepoint on canvas

Source: http://www.jacquelynroyal.com/ via Neatorama

Song of the Moment: Pink- Funhouse

I was hoping this would be her next music video. It's my fave track on the album.

Sand sculpture expressions

Really quick post. I love arts-y things. My vacation is half-way over (hard to believe).

When I get back in mid-July. I should be updating full time again. Till then, enjoy.

Agony

Artist: Bert Adams/Sand in the City®
Competition: 2003 Texas SandFest
Location: Port Aransas, Texas
Fun Fact: The title is “Under Pressure”
Photo courtesy of portofbellingham.com

Despair

Artist: Unknown
Competition: Antalya Kum Sehri 2007/Sand City
Location: Antalya, Turkey (Arapsuyu)
Photo courtesy of Onur Zeybek via Panoramio.com

Purposeful

Artist: Carl Jara
Competition: HarrisSand2008
Location: Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia
Fun Fact: The title is “What Lies Beneath”
Photo courtesy of Grain Damaged via Flickr.com

Perturbed

Artist: Ludo and Anique from the Netherlands
Competition: HarriSand 2008
Location: Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia
Photo courtesy of HarriSand.org

Skeptical

Artists: Pat Harsch, Dan Belcher and Mark Mason
Competition: Mount Myrtle Sand Sculptures
Location: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Fun Fact: The theme was inspired by The Colbert Report
Photo Courtesy of TeamSandTastic.com

Contemplative

Artist: Lucinda "Sandy Feet" Wieranga
Competition: Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpture Competition
Location: Hampton Beach, New Hampshire
Fun Fact: This creation was dubbed “The Inner Child”
Photo courtesy of Lucinda via SandyFeet.com

Watchful

Artist: Calixto Molina
Competition: Mazatlan Concurso de Escultura en Arena de Mazatlan (7th Annual)
Location: Mazatlan, Mexico
(Credit info verified by sculptor Bert Adams/Sand in the City®)
Photo courtesy of RemovetheLabels.com

Awe

Artist: Unknown
Competition: Lommel Zandsculpturen Wereldwonderzand 2005
Location: Lommel, Belgium (Blankenberge)
Fun Fact: This competition’s theme was “The Brothers Grimm”
Photo courtesy of Gerard Bierens via Flickr.com

Wonderment

Artist: Unknown
Competition: Lommel Zandsculpturen Wereldwonderzand 2005
Location: Lommel, Belgium (Blankenberge)
Fun Fact: This competition’s theme was “The Brothers Grimm”
Photo courtesy of Gerard Bierens via Flickr.com

Determined

Artist: Steve Topazio
Competition: Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpture Competition 2008
Location: Hampton Beach, New Hampshire
Fun Fact: This competition’s theme was “The Angry Sun"
Photo courtesy of HamptonBeach.org

Source: WomansDay.com via Neatorama.com

To all fellow Canucks....

I may be out of the country but I haven't forgotten (well I almost did but my dad was kind enough to remind me;).

Hope all of you have a good one!.

Btw. thank you Google for the wonderful graphic of the Mountie on Google.ca =).