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