Allison Brie in BUST

Long story short, I was searching for photos of bearded men in free magazines. One of the magazines was named Bust (Dec/Jan). Just like you'd guess, Bust is the last place to find men, especially ones with beards. What I did find was a nice little interview with actress Allison Brie who stars in one of my favorite shows, Community (NBC).

Ninja and luchadores ♥ the Honda Civic

Read about Honda's new ad campaign and see their print ads for their five Civic models.

Still out in the cold when it comes to boots

Damn you, Sorel, for putting last year's boots on sale (which are better looking than this year's models in my opinion) but only stocking sizes 5 and 6!  I want these boots but would have to wrap my feet like an 18th century Chinese woman to fit into them.

Top 4 places I want to visit

Bora Bora 

 Kyoto

Prague

Austria

Photos via Beautiful Places to Visit, Best Tourism, Wonderful Tourism Blog

Is Tate Langdon the new Edward?

Tate Langdon: Ghost

Edward Cullen: Vampire

You recognize him from
Tate: American Horror Story series on FX
Edward: The Twilight books


Object of his desire
Tate: Violet Harmon, the ballsy yet depressed teenage daughter of his new psychiatrist
Edward: Bella Swan, his accident-prone and love-obssessed classmate


Appearance
Tate: Frumpy and pale, like someone at a 1992 Nirvana concert
Edward: Well-dressed and pale, like a Banana Republic model


How he became supernatural
Tate: Shot by SWAT police in his home after gunning down his high school classmates in 1994.  American Horror Story fans wonder does he really know he's dead?
Edward: Turned from human into vampire at 17 by his adopted father to keep him from dying from Spanish Influenza in 1918


He may be weird, but he's a lifesaver
Tate: Helped Violet scare her school bully and escape from home invaders. Frantically revived her when she overdosed on sleeping pills.
Edward: Rescued Bella from alley attackers, fellow vampires, and from being crushed by a car, among other things


Big bummer about dating him
Tate: Cannot leave Murder House property unless it’s Halloween (when souls can roam Earth).  Plus there’s his history of killing people.
Edward: Gets weak and moody when he doesn’t feed on deer blood.  He’s cold to the touch and has to constantly fight the urge to suck the life out of Bella. 

How he woos his lady
Tate: "Because I care about your feelings more than mine. I love you. There I said it, not just on some chalkboard. I would never let anybody or anything hurt you. I've never felt that way about anyone."
Edward: "If I could dream at all, it would be about you and I'm not ashamed of it. I thought I'd explained it clearly before. Bella, I can't live in a world where you don't exist."

If there's one thing this ajumma hates, it's being manipulated with lovey storylines and contrived romantic dialogue from male characters.  I have grown to like Tate up to this point, but if he pulls an Edward and asks Violet to narrate her life's story because he's interested in every detail, I will walk way from American Horror Story forever.  I suspect Tate has a few psychotic cards up his sleeve that will come out eventually, probably when Violet finds a regular living boyfriend.  It will be heartbreaking and tragic for sure, and a horror story for everyone involved. 


Update: The American Horror Story episode "Rubber Man" aired last night, and for good or for bad Tate is SO not the new Edward. Yowza.

Photos Screencrave, International Business Times, fanpop, and Polyvore

The hardest freaking Tangram

Created by ancient Chinese, Tangrams are 7 geometric shapes put together to form a larger shape. I've been working through my Tangram book, but got mega-stumped last night trying to make the shape below. It even perplexed my husband who usually solves Tangrams in 2/3 the time it takes me. It took him 20 minutes to lay the pieces in the correct places.

John Frusciante

Red Hot Chili Pepper's guitarist John Frusciante's appearance has dramatically changed over the years.

I had forgotten how beautiful the 41 year-old musician looked back in the 1990's.

Photos via guitar.com, listal.com, and The Lebanese Blues Brother

Mug junkie

I can't cook myself out of a paper bag, but I can sure boil water. This means I consume large amounts of tea. When it comes to tea, I take pride in my mugs. Some women are into handbags or shoes. I like ceramics. The cherry blossom-festooned Emi mug sits next to me filled with Pu-Erh at this very moment. Come payday I'm sending away for the delightful Naomi mug, below. Both mugs can be found at ShopHotPots.

Clones Vol. 23: Alex Skarsgard & Teddy Sears

The big news when American Horror Story aired its Halloween episodes was that Zachary Quinto guest starred as the house's previous doomed tenant, Chad.  What about his tall, blonde and philandering lover played by actor Alexander Skarsgard? Yes, no? That wasn't Skarsgard, but another tall blonde with equally nice bone structure named Teddy Sears.

For those not familiar, Skarsgard (True Blood and Straw Dogs) is shown above and Sears (One Life to Live) is below with the popped collar.

I think Sears resembles Skarsgard with a hint of Grant Show from Melrose Place. And Skarsgard looks like Sears with a dash of Toby Maguire. I love their hair. There can never be enough blonde men in the world.

I leave you with a photo of Teddy Sears in his American Horror Story Halloween outfit.  I tried to find a photo of Alexander Skargard also wearing a cowboy hat, but apparently that's not his style. All I know is if I were Sears I'd wear a Stetson from this day onward wherever I went.

Photos via American Horror Story Mommies, Paperblog, FX

See more Clones on Ajumma's Pad.

Two movies that will make you shiver

It's snowing! It's gray outside and this has me thinking of my favorite winter movies. Let the Right One In and Transsiberian are two flicks where the frigid cold and barren landscapes are as much a leading character as the humans who occupy them. Just thinking about their endless icy landscapes makes me want to escape to a tanning booth for a spell.

Let the Right One In (2008) follows two children, one of whom harbors a secret, as they forge a delicate relationship in 1980s Sweden. This movie is a thriller for thinkers. Let the Right One In spawned a Hollywood remake in 2010. Transsiberian (2008), starring Emily Mortimer and Woody Harrelson, keeps pace with an unassuming American couple who encounter drug runners and worse upon the Transsiberian railroad. It may be the best movie aboard a train that you've never heard of.

Photos via goregirl's dungeon and ugo

Reporter loses her mind over South Korea's CSAT day

I feel like this editorial producer is doing a dramatic reading of a story put together by an aspiring intern who knows the producer likes to bring the crazy on air. CNN host TJ Holmes does his best to conciliate her with a chuckle here and a nod there. He overlooks her creation of new words "Yonsai" and "Confucism." In the end Holmes says CSAT day may be stressful, but 80 percent of Korean students attend college so booyah. The producer retorts that the Korean students may attend college, but they're all mindless droids. That's not actually what she said but that's what I think she means. 

Apolo works out

Sweet lord, Apolo Ohno gives exercise balls a run for their money during his workouts.  Holy core muscles, Batman!  I'm surprised by the Olympian's agility and impressed by his trainer's creativity.  Throw some yoga and a massage in there and Ohno's good to go.

Bring your coasters, everybody

My girlfriend bought this coffee table from Minnesota-based furniture design company, Eastvold, today.  I'm so happy for her!  It's a gorgeous hand-crafted table.  I told her if she didn't buy it, I would.

The F.O.B. and ME

My husband has a dream woman. She's not Angelina Jolie, Scarlet Johannson or that skinny actress from Rush Hour 2. She's a woman who can really scramble, multi-task, accurately work a register, balance four steaming bowls of soup on a tray, and clean tables 12 hours a day without complaining. Did I mention she's fresh off the boat? F.O.B.s are faster, work harder and longer, and they're better with their money that Americans, he tells me.  He's not sure how he ended up with such a bougie wife who likes staying at luxury hotels and who doesn't even know how to cook a fish without burning it.

If Matthew Stafford has a younger brother he probably was scared for his life during most of their childhood

I've developed a strange fondness for men slapping each other around on the athletic field as of late. Case in point, quarterback Matthew Stafford hammer-throwing defensive back D.J. Moore to the ground after an intercepted pass during last night's Bears-Lions game. Then as if Moore were a Twisted Sister, he tells Stafford he ain't gonna take it and pummels the beefy Texan with lightening speed. In the end the only player to be penalized was plucky Moore. Watch the squabble here.

I don't know if I've seen too much Spartacus or what. The last time I enjoyed myself this much was watching the Dutch soccer team man-handle Diego Lugano after his cleates-first dive into Robert Van Persie's ankle during the 2011 Copa America.

Update: The NFL has fined Stafford $7500 and Moore $15000 for the brawl. Moore says he "did the crime and will do the time." Stafford, meanwhile, says he doesn't care about the fine. Photo by Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune

It's a good thang

Good thang #1: Bumping into Hello Kitty at The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience

Good thang #2: Morris Chestnut as the home security guard on FX's series, American Horror Story. I don't think his character has a name, but it should be Daaamn!

Good thang #3: Cosmos, my favorite brand of Kimchi.  I spotted it at the Chinese grocery in Seattle last week.  I'm scheming on how to get bottles back to Minnesota.

Good thang #4: Give to the Max Day is November 16.  This is your opportunity to donate to your favorite charities and have local businesses match your donation.  If you give to charities, November 16 if your big day to make TWICE the difference.

Wonder niece

I have new baby niece.  When she was born she looked like this cartoon.  As a "visual person" I was somewhat distraught by this, but then I met her and she was the most rocking baby ever.  She sits on people's laps contently, sucks on her pacifier, and even smiles at people she doesn't know.  She instantly became the cutest baby in existence.

Paying respects to Bruce and Brandon Lee

At 8:45 on misty Seattle morning we wound our way up Capital Hill and came to stop in front of Lakeview Cemetary.  A security guard was opening the gates of the grassy property which sits in a neighborhood of historic homes overlooking Union Bay.  "Are you here to visit Bruce and Brandon?" he asked us.  In a welcoming way he told us how to locate their graves and mentioned people had left momentos on their stones the previous day.

We managed to jumble the guard's directions, but I spotted Brandon's black stone from the road.  Sure enough there were flowers, pennies and pumpkins left by fans.  Stones from other families sat right up next to Bruce's burial site.  It was a rather humble place to find a cultural legend.  We lay a photo of our beloved guinea pig Bruce on Bruce Lee's gravestone, and paid our respects to the martial artist and his son. I wished I had a decent bouquet of flowers and incense to leave for them.

We hope in a future trip to Seattle we will be able to visit a Bruce Lee museum.

Beautiful Snoqualmie Falls

with the Salish Lodge peeking through the sunlight

made famous in the television series, Twin Peaks

Nearby North Bend, Washington

Where's the Starbucks?

People of Seattle think we're a little cuckoo for visiting their fair city in November.  They tell us we must return in the summer.  It's rained all day today, but yesterday was clear and sunny.  As long as it's not snowing we Minnesotans are good to go.

This morning my husband asked me, "Where's the Starbucks?" Which Starbucks was he talking about because there is seriously one on EVERY STREET CORNER of downtown Seattle.

Breezing through Seattle Weekly I came across an ad for local eyewear store Eyes on Fremont. At first I thought it was Suchin Pak, but it's not.

Giant popsicle statue at 4th Ave. and Blanchard, I love you. Every time I see you I feel instant happiness. Photo nodsmile

Out of the office

I'm off to Seattle, a place I know will be half decent since there's a BCD Tofu House within 30 minutes of our hotel.

Update: There's many delicious places to eat in Seattle, but the BCD in Edmonds, Washington didn't rank high on our list.  I think we should have eaten at Hosoonyi, across the street, instead.