Are crossed arms the new Blue Steel?

Christian Bale and Ewan McGregor, former on-screen lovers in Velvet Goldmine, now share the same look upon June magazine covers. Is it me, or is Bale a tad gaunt like he appeared in The Machinist? Christian tells his GQ interviewer that he's glad people created dance mixes out of his famous temper tantrum and he absolutely despises having his photo taken. Yeah, sure.

Nerds by Lauren Gregg

Video game nerd

Skate nerd

Lauren's got a shop on Etsy. Her prints are too funny. Band nerd? Will cook tofu for beer nerd? Yes and yes! One of the most amusing details in Lauren's work is the shoes each nerd is wearing.

Nathan Fletcher remix to "Lights Out"

As I watched the original video of Nate Fletcher hitting the waves, I kept imagining it to Santigold's song "Lights Out." So, a friend remixed it for me and wasn't too pleased that I failed to be patient enough for him to correctly fade the music to the end of the video.  

Holy randomness: Rock Hudson

In 1956, producers for the movie Battle Hymn, flew twenty-five Korean war orphans to California to star as extras in the movie. Battle Hymn follows the true story of the documented rescue of 950 orphans and 80 orphanage staff from the path of the Chinese advance during the Korean War. Air Force colonel Dean Hess took charge of the airlift, and was later protrayed by (the dashing) Rock Hudson. Hess also penned an autobiography about his wartime efforts, with the proceeds going towards establishing orphanages in Korea.

What became of the twenty-five orphans in Battle Hymn?
Larry Harnisch of the LA Times researched this and found they were likely adopted by Americans when the movie filming ended.

Domo does 7-Eleven

Be on the look out for Domo-kun Slurpees at 7-Eleven convenient stores in the fall. Red apple flavor, brown flocked cups. Why Domo? Evan Brody, marketing manager for Slurpee and Big Gulp Brands tells Adweek, “Domo lends itself well to the store and our proprietary products and our consumers who... love crazy Japanese shit.” Read the complete Adweek Domo article.

There's a new sheriff in town...

I have one question. Would I be allowed to shoot people?

I'm a piggy slave 4U

Guinea pig factoids: Four toes up front. Three in the back. They can chirp like birds, though no one is sure why they do this.

Hey, it's Ajumma and her husband caring for our three guinea pigs! Actually, if you've ever been to my house you know each of my pigs has a cage the size of a basketball court.

Spencer is our 4-year old lad from a shelter in Baldwin Park, California. He likes carrots, his girlfriend Yachi (who he can see only through his cage bars), and long walks on the beach. Spencer used to have a bell in his cage that he could ring for a treat, but we got tired of him ringing it at 4:00 AM.

Up in your business

Have you ever noticed how excited people feel about having their own business cards? At first I felt a twinge of envy since I have none of my own, then I remembered that business cards lead to people CALLING and WANTING crap from you. If you do have cards, Ajumma suggests you invest in a cute card holders. Here we have ramen and kimchi, and kalbi and soju. That's real kalbi, the kind that requires the restaurant owner to come by with charred, industrial tongs to change the grill every 10 minutes. We're not talking the American kalbi cooked on tabletop gas grill. Korean card holders and more cute stuff at MoMA Store.

My dreams are one step closer to reality

A former law school student is selling cupcakes from a NYC truck. New Yorkers literally chase his Cupcake Stop mobile down the street. I would chase it down and then puncture the tires so it couldn't go anywhere. Drool over Cupcake Stop's menu here.

Because they're not getting any younger

Shesh, shesh y'all. The Beastie Boys announced yesterday they're releasing a new album titled Hot Sauce Committee. Adam Ad-Rock Horowitz says of the album, "It's political, depending on what you call political. You know, if toilet talk and fart jokes are political, which they can be, in that sense yeah, very."

Happy Memorial Day

Blessings to the good folks who have served in the U.S. military, past and present.

Know this: He screams a lot

I stumbled upon some magazines I'd been saving, today!

In 2004, I was excited to see Christian Bale on the cover of any magazine, since he mainly starred in indie films until that time. Bale, young and beefy, was on the cusp of stardom with his blockbuster Batman. Who knew that stardom would come to mean dance mixes of Christian's temper tantrums?

Also in the Bale issue of Entertainment Weekly was giddy chatter about Heath Ledger's gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain. The Oscar-winning drama was scheduled for release the following year.

In 1997, between ads for horrid fur coats and million dollar rings, Gong Li graced Town and Country magazine. Of course, she looked AMAZING. This was the glorious period before Miami Vice, Hannibal Rising and Memoirs of a Geisha. Basically, this was back when Gong Li had a career.

In 1991, Seventeen magazine asked "Where Are They Now?" about actors from '80s movies. It pin points each actor's career high and low points. Since it's 18 years later, I think it's due for an update:

Wil Wheaton
Career high point: Star Trek: Next Generation, as Wesley Crusher
Career low point: Toy Soldiers (even though I saw it in the theater). Cue the Martika song.
What he's doing now: Wil's blogging and writing. He loves the new Star Trek movie.

Corey Feldman
Career high point: The Goonies (It's loved by more people than Stand By Me, so I disagree with Seventeen magazine)
Career low point: Drugs, drugs, drugs. That, or his recent TV show, The Two Coreys with Corey Haim.
What he's doing now: He's vegetarian, holla. Corey's making music and presenting an award to the filmakers of 11th Hour on May 31.

River Phoenix
Career high point: I'm going to say Stand By Me or Mosquito Coast. And hello, he played the original young Indiana Jones.
Career low point: Being dead
Drugs, drugs, drugs! River was an amazing actor and I'm disappointed he didn't stick around to make more films, advocate for animals and shake shit up. I get shivers when he fades away at the end of Stand By Me.
What he's doing now: Not much

Jerry O'Connell
Career high point: Marrying swimsuit model, Rebecca Romijn
Hooray for the fat kid getting the hot girl. If he didn't marry a model, this definitely would have been Jerry's high point.
Career low: He was in the recent Beyonce movie, so I'm going to say THAT.
What he's doing now: Jerry and his wife just had twin girls. He also joined the cast of the movie, Piranha 3-D. He's certainly not allowing himself to be type-cast.

Awkward much?

Anyone who has tuned in to Jon & Kate Plus 8 for even a nanosecond could tell it was a matter of time before Jon started stepping out on Kate. She's bossy, loud, and tends to publicly reprimand him. But Kate's also honest, strong and watches out for her family. She's actually the quintessential ajumma, except with a reverse mullet rather than a tight perm.

L.A. Chinatown loft for sale

Remember the fabulous loft in L.A.'s Chinatown featured in Dwell Magazine? The property is now for sale. The asking price for the renovated space is a mind blowing $2.59 million. For that much money in Los Angeles I'd demand at minimum a few acres and an ocean view. And a hot gardener. To see more photos of the colorful place on Sun Mun Way, visit Curbed Los Angeles.

Most dog attacks on postal carriers

Ajumma's city of Whittier, California has had the highest number of dog attacks on postal carriers this year. This is especially disturbing since Whittier is only 15 square-miles in area. With 3,000 letter carriers attacked by canines last year, the United States Postal Service calls dog biting a nationwide public health problem.

First Octomom and now the most dog attacks on postal workers. Whittier is going to hell in a handbasket, I tell you!

Wonbin at Cannes '09

Wonbin brought his mop top and skinny bod to the 62nd International Cannes Film Festival, yesterday. The Korean actor and his co-star, Kim Hye-Ja, made the festival rounds promoting their new film, Mother. More pics here.

Looking at Wonbin at Cannes, I realize I miss the old Wonbin. Here he is about a decade ago, broadnosed and wide-eyed. You know he's about to bust out his famous wonky grin.

Here's Wonbin today. Emaciated. Tired. Not to mention he's altered his handsome face. Binner pics from Teazed

Do you get enough maracas in your life?

nataliedee.com

Blonde Joke of the Day

An ambitious young blonde man, in need of money, decided to hire himself out as a handyman. He began knocking on doors in a wealthy neighborhood looking for work. He met the owner at one house and asked whether he had any jobs for him to do.

“Well, you can paint my porch. How much will you charge?”

The blonde said, “How about $50?”

The man agreed and told him that the paint and ladder were in the garage. After a short time, the blonde came to the door to collect his money.

“You’re finished already?” the owner asked.

“Yes,” the blonde answered, “I had paint left over, so I gave it two coats.” Impressed, the owner reached in his pocket for the $50.

“By the way,” the blonde added, “that’s not a Porch, it’s a Ferrari.”

Flossin'

Georgians love emo jeans

Ajumma assumed all women were repulsed by boys in leggings, but apparently females in Georgia love them.

"It's happening again."

Carol Struycken, the actor who played the mysterious giant in Twin Peaks, is scheduled to appear at this year's Twin Peaks Fest in Washington state. Twin Peaks Fest, which celebrates David Lynch's hilarious and disturbing TV series, occurs July 24-26, 2009. Carol will dine with fans on the second night of the annual gathering. "New shoes!"

Speaking of Twin Peaks, artist Jesse Riggle has created eight character portraits (such as the Log Lady, above) for a show in Los Angeles. See more of Jesse's Twin Peaks portraits here.

Happy fortune cookies

Lovahandmade

Linkin Park's new song for "Transformers 2"

Mike Shinoda is blogging about Linkin Park's new song for Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. The band is also helping to score parts of sequel. I don't know about you, but I am totally getting T2 (Transformers 2) and T4 (Terminator 4) mixed up in my head these days. Transformers 2 is due in theaters on June 26, 2009. Pic: Joe Hahn gallery

On a related note, Transformers 2 star Shia LaBeouf recently proclaimed that his ma is the sexiest woman he knows. He told The Insider, "If I could meet my mother and marry her, I would." Lovely.

Jun Ji-hyun in "Blood, The Last Vampire"

Opening in Asia and Europe this month

Hard as concrete...

Last fall, a college in Ajumma's town installed a sidewalk at the edge of its campus. This sidewalk was meant to be a gateway, or welcome, to the rest of the town. It didn't take long for students to notice how the sidewalk resembled a male reproductive organ. Word spread on campus and online, and eventually the college performed a circumcision on the sidewalk.

I think the college should have responded by saying, "You're all a bunch of pervs! It's a beautiful sidewalk and since we're not made of money, it stays."

The sidewalk now looks like this.

Read more at Locally Grown, from where these sweet photos originated.

100% the future USA

Kip Fulbeck, photographer/creator of Part Asian, 100% Hapa, is working on a new photo book with a focus on multiracial kids. His book is due out next spring.

Cherry Blossom Festivals '09

Koreans are celebrating the blooming of Cherry Blossoms across the peninsula! Festivals are going on, April through May, throughout Seoul and various provinces. For a relaxing cherry blossom experience Ajumma recommends strolling through palace grounds around the capital.

Check out the JoongAng Daily for more details on festivals in Korea.