A Dardo, Me?

The Dardo Award is given for cultural, literary and personal values in the form of creative and original writing. These stamps were created with the intention of promoting fraternization between bloggers, a way of showing appreciation and gratitude for work that adds value to the web.

I can't thank Anh Khoi Do enough for this lovely Dardos award. That you would think of me considering I only started blogging a few months ago, means a lot! Now that I blog, I'm hooked, and I love being part of the film blogging community. You guys are all the best!

In accepting the award, which I gratefully do, I must do two things:

1. Accept the award by posting it on your blog along with the name of the person that granted the award and a link to his/her blog. 
   
2. Pass the award to another five blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment, remembering to contact each of them to let them know they have been selected for this award.
   

It is, of course, difficult to pick only 5. But these 5 blogs have really inspired me as I got started, and they are all top of the line. (I realize some of these have been awarded Dardos already, so make room for another one!)

DJ Heinlein at Matte Havoc :: The Independent Film Commentator

Matthew Lucas at From The Front Row

Mark from Mark Grambau Illustration

Cut Print Review (Specifically Anders who took me on as a weekly writer!)

Blake at Bitchin' Film Reviews

Thanks to all of you for your great writing and art! And thank you again to Anh Khoi Do! 

And please check out the Blogs I'm Following to the right, they're all amazing. 

Plug a Friend Day!

Get your mind out of the gutter!

These days it seems I know more than a few people with websites floating out in the ether of the interwebs. So today, I'm declaring it "Plug a Friend Day," and taking a few minutes to introduce a few of these sites to you. Check them out, pass them along, and henceforth let it be known as "Plug a Friend Day!"

Emmett Farley, The League Film

Good friend and incredible Sound Engineer, Emmett Farley, worked on the film score recording, mixing and sound design for this pretty damn good film noir-esque movie about the world's first superhero labor union. Watch The League online and get to know the Grey Raven, Sparrow and the Blue Blaze! I still can't believe it was a university thesis project...

Alex Yacovelli

Long time friend and actor, singer, songwriter Alex Yacovelli recently launched his site to help chronicle where the hell to find him (the guy is very busy)! Whether he's playing guitar at Starbucks, or performing The Libertine on Lafayette, his site will help make sure you never miss a gig. So if you're a New Yorker, and you're looking for a show to go to (or an actor to hire), head to alexyacovelli.com.    

Mark Grambau Illustration

You might remember I mentioned Mark around Valentine's Day to promote his lovely penguin themed e-card. I've known him now a long time, and he is flat out talented. His blog has been getting some notice lately for his series of superhero portraits. To the left you see The Flash, and on the site you'll also find The Green Lantern, Spider-man, Wolverine, Superman, Batman, The Hulk, and Captain Marvel. You'll also find sketchbook pages, character designs and tons more. So if you're into illustration, comics, or penguins, Mark's site is a must click.

Katina Zulakis

Fellow Skidmore grad, art major, and comm design lab junkie, Katina Zulakis, did a truly amazing thing for her senior thesis art show... she drew a portrait of every single graduating art major. There were 56 of us, not including herself. Prof. Sattler said it couldn't be done, but she did it anyway. Here, you can check out all incredible 56 pencil drawings, and get to know the art majors of Skidmore's '08 graduating class. And that's me, fourth row down, second one from the right! To the left you'll see another talented artist, Ms. Alex Labriola. 

Adrian Negenborn

Currently a grad student at Mass Art, Adrian was by far one of the most "art school" looking of the Skidmore art majors. Constantly covered in paint and charcoal, this kid was always in the studio, bashing around trying to see what was there, or what could be there. He's a really gifted guy so take a minute to go on his site where you can find examples of his paintings and drawings, and stay up to date on new works. 

John Yost, Name in Use

Not a Skidmore grad, but a Skidmorian all the same, Yost came in as official "tech guy" during my junior year. But in his spare time, John's a filmmaker, with two full-length features already under his belt. You can check out Every Good Thing to Rust here, and The Brave and The Kind here. On his site you can also find examples of his pretty incredible photography and some of his short films. 

That's all for now, but I'm sure there will be more to come! And as always, check out all the incredible blogs I'm following on the sidebar.

Now go plug your friends (it still sounds dirty...)

IT IS YOUR BIRTHDAY.

First let me say, I'm amazed I'm even posting right now because my eyes have literally felt like they were melting out of sockets all day, caused by intensive computer research for work... but it seems after a nap and dinner out I'm back on track (I hope). Also, if you live in the Pleasantville area, and happened to see me fall on Manville, IT IS BECAUSE I WAS BLOWN OVER! Not because I tripped or anything embarrassing like that... the wind was insane. 

Anyway, moving on! 

• If you haven't checked out Google's newest version of Picasa, do so NOW! It's pretty cool and allowed for me to make the above collage of Vanity Fair Hitchcock portraits in about 2 seconds (yeah I know it's kind of lame looking, but I'm sure if I spent more time, it could have been much awesomer [and yes, awesomer is a word... that I use]).

• Here's my sum up of tonight's Office ep...SPOILER ALERT...Angela licks a cat, Kell(e)y gets to choose between an hour of television or an hour of napping for her birthday, Holly still loves Michael, Dwight can't blow up balloons, and Pam is AMAZING with chainsaw noises! The end result: one of my favorite eps this season so far.

• I'm trying out some new things with the blog. On the right side, I've added an alphabetical listing of my reviews with links, but only the full ones. Hopefully this will make the reviews easier to navigate. I'm also trying out the stretch template, which should make the line length easier to read. Yesterday I applied to join LAMB (Large Association of Movie Blogs), and should hopefully be a member soon. Bahhhd ass... yeah that was lame, sorry. And below is a pic of the new blog cards!

• Lastly, if you're looking for the perfect e-card to send to your valentine then look no further! Created by Illustrator Mark Grambau (hi Mark!). Penguins have never looked so cute!