Star Trek Celebrities

I went to see Star Trek Beyond last night (fun), and then someone sent me this video on celebrities who have appeared in the series and movies that we might not remember or be aware of. It's a little long, but I found it interesting.

If you're not a Star Trek fan, consider this a fangirl interlude. I have some other posts lined up for the future (repurposing placemats, next year's upcoming solar eclipse?) that might be of more interest.

Note: I was going to put a trailer here, but most of them gave away too much of the story. I hate when that happens.

Have a great day!

Myrna

One More Hobby...

We've been in a flurry of revamping our family room after not doing anything to it for many years. We're not the most accomplished decorators, but we try. Comfort tends to trump style. I do have to admit, though, that I love looking at the interiors of houses. It always fascinates me to see what other people do with the rooms they live in.

Here's a Mental Floss video of 21 Famous Homes with Amazing Features.

Happy Birthday, Audrey Hepburn

If you've been to the front page of Google today, you know that it's Audrey Hepburn's 85th birthday. Here's a tribute featuring the song Moon River.

Although she passed away in 1993, she is still viewed as an icon of fashion and film (and philanthropy). Here is an article (with several video re: her history--Keep watching after the commercials, as there are a number of Audrey Hepburn videos separated by ads) from biography.com.

Yesterday when I was watching part of the Kentucky Derby, I thought of Audrey Hepburn. She looked lovely in hats and would have fit right in. Always elegant. 

Happy Birthday, Audrey

Will Wheaton Hits a Home Run

At a Denver Comic Con, a young girl asks Will Wheaton if he had ever been called a nerd when he was growing up and how he dealt with that. His answer is inspiring.

(Note: Someone in the comments section noted that they didn't think the word "nerd" was an offensive word anymore, and...that may be true, but there are scores of young people who, while they may not be bullied, are always aware that they don't quite fit in to the popular crowd. Whether those people are simply shy, not pretty, not slender, not...whatever, there have always been lots of people who felt "less than" or "different from" other children. It's good to hear someone broadcast this kind of positive message).

Gummy Bears

If you haven't already heard, last week Hans Reigel, of gummy bear fame and the son of the founder of Haribo confectionery, passed away. I suppose candy isn't a major deal when we look at the big picture of life, but those little bears have provided lots of fun to children (and adults) everywhere. They've become an institution, so in honor of Hans Reigel, here are some gummy bear images.

This one, by Tau Zero, is titled Gummy Bears Shouldn't Try to Play Hacky Sack

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A giant gummy bear made of gummy bears

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A gummy bear layer cake

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This is from the Raspberri Cupcakes site, which has lots of gorgeous, fun, delicious recipes.

And then, of course, there's the world's largest gummy bear (not sure if this is in any way associated with Haribo, but it does exist and can be purchased at the Vat 19 website).

(The world's largest gummy bear, shown above, weighs 5 pounds, is 9.5 inches tall and has a 6,120 calorie count. Wow)! 

For All the Tom Hiddleston Fans, the Man Can Dance!

Of late, I've mostly been posting about books without very many videos, but as a romance writer, I'm always on the lookout for potential hero material and Tom Hiddleston qualifies. Besides being great playing Loki in the Thor moves, as Prince Hal/Henry V in The Hollow Crown, and F. Scott Fitzgerald in Midnight in Paris (among other roles), he's a pretty good dancer. Watch.

And, of course, here he is in Thor: the Dark World (out in November). I wonder if he'll have some redeeming features or still be the total villain in this one.

I Love These Facts About Mr. Rogers!

Yes, I know that I've already posted one video about Mr. Rogers this week, and only last week I posted a John Green Mental Floss video, but this one (which combines both of those) was just too much fun to pass up. I learned some new facts about Mr. Rogers, and that's always fun. (This is the John Green who is the author of The Fault in Our Stars, the book I was discussing the other day).

Happy 100th Birthday, Julia Child!

It's a remix by John D. Boswell for PBS (and isn't PBS one of the blessings of life. Love it)!

What...is Your Favorite Color?

No, that's not really one of the questions in this remix of James Lipton's Actors' Studio that showcases Lipton asking celebrities 10 questions, but the whole setup reminded me of the bridge keeper in Monty Python and the Holy Grail ("What is your name? What is your quest? What is your favorite color?")

'Actors Studio Remixed: 10 Questions' by Jordan Laws from ScreenWerks on Vimeo.

If You're a James Bond Fan

Here's the background on James Bond's appearance.

Designing Bond's Look from Barbican Centre on Vimeo.

Mr. Rogers Shows Us How to Live Again

A redditor posted a letter he had sent to Mr. Rogers years ago (in the 80's). He was looking for places to purchase Atari games, so he went directly to a man he trusted. Here's Mr. Rogers' response:

What a class act he was! Still miss him. The funny (or maybe sad) thing is that when I was in my early 20's I thought he was kind of silly. It just goes to show you how much a person's attitude changes as they mature. I'm glad I grew out of that "too cool to appreciate Mr. Rogers" phase. Here's the link to the original reddit discussion. 

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David Attenborough Narrates a Video of a Tortoise Trying to Impregnate a Shoe

I love David Attenborough. He's got the greatest voice and has been part of such wonderful documentaries. Here, however, he's on The Graham Norton Show where he was asked to do a bit of unusual narration. (I apologize in advance if anyone feels that this is offensive. It's pretty tame, but I know that some people might not feel that way).

Celebrity Illusion

Things like this make me a bit crazy. I keep wanting to look right or left...which, of course, spoils the illusion.

James Bond: Still Going Strong

James Bond hit the movie screens in 1962 and, despite the passing of time (and the actors who played him), he still makes money at the box office. Here's one of those alphabet video quizzes, this time with a Bond theme. See if you can guess the answers (I confess that despite having seen every one of them, I was horrid at the quiz).

It's Shakespeare's Big Day

Record keeping being what it was back in the day, there is debate about Shakespeare's dates of birth and death, but it is believed that he died on April 23rd, and as he was baptized on April 26th (and people were typically baptized soon after being born back then), some believe that he may also have been born on April 23rd.

But April 23rd or not, there's no questioning the fact that his work has lived on through the ages. So here is his greatest monologue as presented by THE VOICES PROJECT by The Australian Theatre for Young People. Even if you're not a Shakespeare lover, you might find that you like To Be.

TO BE from The Voices Project on Vimeo.

A Trip Back in Time: (February 2009, the Romantic Novelists' Association votes Richard Armitage The Sexiest Thing on Two Legs)

A couple of days ago I was writing a post for a blog and I referred to a blog I'd taken part in several years ago for The Wedding Planners series. The blog is still up (although no longer updated), so I looked back over some of the things I'd posted there. One of them was about Richard Armitage (as in the title of this post).

The video that went with that post (via the Romantic Novelists' Association  website) is the one below. It's still as romantic as ever (and yes, the music is Somewhere in Time by John Barry.

History of the Academy Awards

Lots of Oscar talk since the nominations were announced last week. Here's a bit of history about the awards.

In an Alternate Movie Universe

All of us, including actors, make choices, and sometimes it's fun to see what might have happened (but didn't) if an actor had made a different choice. Although people tend to wonder if the original actor didn't end up kicking him or herself when the movie they turned down ended up being a blockbuster...I'm not so sure. For one thing, we all find ways to rationalize our actions and most of us are pretty darn good at it, but also...who's to say that the movie would still have been such a success with a different actor at the helm? That's not to criticize any performers. I'm just saying that some roles click with certain actors, and changing the arrangement, even with the most accomplished actor in the world might change the dynamics enough to make a difference in the final product. Of course, all of this is pure speculation, so enough of my nonsense. Instead, set aside 5 or 10 minutes (or an afternoon) to gaze at this awesome image of Matt Damon. I adore Matt Damon. I want Matt Damon to be my state senator or my lunch buddy, to stand outside my grocery store passing out free hugs...or to just not complain that I'm writing like this about him and gazing at his picture. (If he ever read this blog. Which I'm sure he won't, so...hey, problem solved).

Image by claire_h

And then, when you've finished kissing your computer screen (or at least gazing at it for a very long time), go read If Movies Followed Their Original Casting to see who might have starred in what if the stars had (literally) been aligned differently. But I wouldn't dwell on any of this too much. The past is past, those movies are made, the actors have moved on to new projects, and there are are new movies coming out every week. What's on your "I want to see this movie" list?

via Misscellania