Cover boy, Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell has a technological wish list that includes edible beards. He talks about them in the August issue of Wired magazine.

A father and daughter in Hollywood

My brain is full of random, meaningless clutter. A few weeks ago the fleeting thought ran through my head that no one hears about actor Stephen Dorff anymore. Then poof, Sofia Coppola released a trailer for her new movie, Somewhere, starring STEPHEN DORFF. The trailer's been out for a while, but I feel like posting it now. There are moments in it that tug at my heartstrings.

Kudos on the felt nipples

If you haven't visited Regretsy, you have not lived. This doggie boob scarf is but the tip of the iceberg.

Pillow talk

After years of patiently searching for pillows that are just right for my sofa, I've finally found them. Behold the handpainted linen pillows with down alternative inserts (no nasty feathers) by Angela Adams.

Unfortunately, my sofa is now covered by a bedsheet and tons of dog hair. I'm contemplating still buying the pillows and putting them out for kicks when the bedsheet is being washed.

Wonbin: Mollusks and wool

Wonbin is like a Korean Johnny Depp. Both actors have been around forever, but barely age. Wonbin actually looks younger now than he did ten years ago. He's had a variety of hairstyles and fashion images, many of them unflattering. But one thing is for sure, he constantly revinvents himself (unlike Jennifer Aniston who won't even cut her hair) and the guy keeps ticking. Here's Wonbin at a press conference for his new film, A Man from Nowhere, earlier this month in Seoul. I dig his short, black hair but his crustacean-encrusted sweater not so much.

Best blog on the web: Call of the Small

Call of the Small is WHY we have the internet! This fab-o blog follows a miniature master as she pieces together a variety of midcentury settings on a tiny scale. Fascinating and addictive.

Sweets Bakeshop brings it (and then some)

Sweets Bakeshop in St. Paul, Minnesota puts gourmet cupcake bakeries in L.A. to absolute shame. Today I purchased a Triple Chocolate, a Snowball, and was so nicely given a free Smores cupcake from a Sweets Bakeshop employee, though the flavor wasn't on Saturday's menu. He explained it was on-the-house since the cupcake was a day old. How generous of him since cupcakes often taste best one day old!

The Sweets Bakeshop cupcakes I tasted were moist, flavorful throughout but did not taste artificial, delightfully pretty, possessed pleasant and fun textures, had good consistency and didn't slay me with heavy sugary frosting. (These qualities continually trip up L.A. cupcake shops.)

Biting into the chocolate ganache center of my Sweets Smores graham cupcake seriously made me feel like I had scored a home run. My husband, who is generally dismissive of cupcakes, proclaimed his Snowball "delicious" and enjoyed the frosting the best of all. If Sweets Bakeshop can please a picky cupcake connoisseur and a bored spouse, they're headed to the top of the gourmet bakery scene.

Wong Fu Productions: Picture day

Hot day. Cold noodles.

Ajumma had bibim naeng myun. Jet opted for mool naeng myun. Mmm!

Si, there is joy!

I gave this card to my friend today who is newly engaged. I want to kiss whoever created it for Hallmark. My friend was particularly excited about the glitter.

♥ ♥ ♥

nataliedee.com

Consider yourself warned, amateurs

Just because a book has a geeky, smiling child on the cover does NOT mean it will be as funny like Kick Me by Paul Feig. Case in point: Manhood for Amateurs by Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon, which read on my last vacation. I left it tucked between two seats at LAX hoping a stranger would find it and think it was "hilarious, moving, and pleasurable" (San Francisco Chronicle) because I surely did not.

Kick Me. The real deal.

Chatting with Nathan Fletcher

Nathan Fletcher talks about art, his folks, and the current state of surfing with Free Surf.

Photo by Russ Hennings

Shingo goes bananas

Shingo Katori, member of the Japanese boy band SMAP, stars in an unusal series of ads for Dole bananas.

The Last Airbender: Nerd talk (even for me)

I enjoyed The Last Airbender. This is sort of ironic because A. no one liked Airbender, and B. I'm Asian American. If I were still living in California I probably wouldn't have seen Airbender due to the outcry by the Asian American community over racism in the film's casting. But life is slow in the sticks and I wanted to see what the fuss is about.

THE GOOD:

Dev Patel is awesome as the banished Fire Nation prince Zuko. I didn't care for him much in Slumdog Millionaire, but his intensity and anguish won me over in Airbender. Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender the animated series are unhappy that minorities like Patel were cast mainly as villians in the movie. They have a point, but Patel's character is much more interesting and multi-dimensional than any of the protagonists. Shaun Toub, who plays Prince Zuko's uncle, turns out a solid performance as well.

Noah Ringer may be white, but he looks like Aang and is quite convincing doing the little monk's martial arts. I was impressed. Noah has an impish smile, too. I wish they'd give him some funny Aang-ish scenes.

CGI effects don't disappoint.

THE BAD:

Two white kids, dressed like Inuit, living in a tribe of all Asian people=WTH? Considering they were portraying (culturally ambiguous, though Asian inspired) cartoon characters, the actors did an okay job. But certain scenes felt awkward with white actors playing Katara and Sokka. The beginning scenes in Airbender when they were with their Asian tribe just didn't work.

While it's not surprising that adults are in an uproar over the Airbender casting, I wonder what Asian American kids think about it. Are they crushed? Could they not care less?

Aang you glad I didn't say banana? Airbender director M. Night Shyamalan decided to change the pronunciations of the characters' names from the way they're said in the animated series to their true Asian pronunciations. I give him credit for wanting to do this, but fans have been watching Avatar for years so why suddenly pull the rug out from under their feet?

Airbender the movie is devoid of humor, unlike the Avatar cartoon series.

All in all I felt entertained by The Last Airbender. I liked the costumes, sets and special effects in the film. If I could suggest two things to Shyamalan for Airbender: Book 2, I'd recommend he be faithful to the comic parts of the story and to give Dante Basco (Asian American actor and the voice of Prince Zuko in the Avatar series) a meaty role.

Wonbin is back and he's brought his glock

I'm over guns and shooting of people. But am I over Wonbin? To read a synopsis on Wonbin's new movie, visit Twitch. More photos from The Man from Nowhere here.

Angie's Caramel Kettle Corn

I am a compulsive eater who would probably eat both of my feet if they were covered in sugar and caramel. That said, even though I did not love Angie's new Caramel Kettle Corn, I ate the entire bag. It's not heavily sugar-coated, which is a plus, and it has the same calorie content as her original kettle corn. Angie's Caramel Kettle Corn has an unsettling bitter bite to it, however. Ajumma recommends sticking with Angie's original kettle corn, which is puffed pieces of heaven in a bag.

Guys who should have been in Vanity Fair's World Cup issue

Taking care of important business, my coworkers and I analyzed the World Cup issue of Vanity Fair on Friday. We determined that editors chose the wrong players for photoshoot. Though we really enjoyed seeing Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba on the cover, I feel some players were missing from the beefcake spread:

Winston Reid, New Zealand defender: No explanation needed here. Just look at that face! Winston's part Maori, but grew up in Denmark, and is playing for his birthland for this World Cup.

Diego Lugano, Uruguay defender: I am a sucker for blondes...and apparently men named Diego! Lugano's my first choice, but if he were busy I'd substitute in his teammate Diego Forlan.

Roque Santa Cruz, Paraguay striker: He's the complete package--talented, agile and purty. I also like his teammate, Dario Veron.

Eiji Kawashima, goalkeeper for Japan: My yakuza boyfriend. He looks like he could really kick some ass. The Japanese flag underwear might look awkward, though.

I'm not as pretty, skinny or rich as Katy Perry

But at least I don't have cankles. Amen to that.

Meanwhile in Little Tokyo...

Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids by Kip Fulbeck at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. Exhibit runs through September 26, 2010.

You know how the cute grade school kids dancing in the 2005 documentary Mad Hot Ballroom made you think, 'Not bad, but they're missing la passion of it all'? That is what I felt while viewing Mixed at JANM. Fulbeck's photos of young, multiracial kids are beautiful and fun to look at, but unlike the multiracial adults featured in 100% Hapa, the kids' writing about self identity is (understandably) simplistic. But hey, at least my husband didn't need to bring along his spray.

My husband got mad when I pushed a button in the exhibit claiming my relatives hailed from Mexico. (I wanted to see what would happen and the answer was absolutely nothing.) He said in an exasperated voice, "Now I know why censuses are so messed up!"